Chapter II

Harry

"I can't catch a break" I thought as I ran, shouting at Dudley to run as well. There was nothing natural about how the storm had arisen, at one moment a dry, hot, dusty day and the next a cold wind blowing from dark clouds that had appeared seemingly instantly.

Of course what I recognized as dark magic Dudley thought was either a freak storm, or a storm caused by his freak cousin. Never the less he finally took off running as well and we found the shelter of the culvert. That is when the temperature dropped and I knew at once dementors were near. I had felt their chill before.

They came at us from the other end of the culvert and were on Dudley before I could use my wand. He couldn't see them, but was paralyzed as his life was slowly drained from him. I was in little better shape as I tried to remember the warm memory of my parents, before they were murdered, to produce the patronus I knew we would need to be saved. This is not an easy thing to do when your soul is being separated from your body.

The kid came out of nowhere. Well, I call him a kid, he was about my age but dressed in black and pale as a ghost. He reached his hand towards the dementors and it was as though he grabbed them in the air and threw them to against the wall as if it were nothing to push them around. Before I could summon a patronus to drive them off he drew a sword that was as black as anything I had seen and sliced through the dementors, each turning to black sand and sinking into the ground.

And then, after looking me over, he left. No introductions, no words, no name, and no chance to thank him.

Mrs. Figg's arrival merely added to the weirdness, and when you're "the chosen one" weirdness is an everyday thing.

"Keep your wand out, more may be back"

Mrs Figg had lived on our street for at least as long as I had. She had never shown any indication of being a witch before though. She explained that she was a squib and that Dumbledore had asked her to keep an eye on me since I had been delivered to the Dursley's so many years ago.

"Who was that guy?" I asked.

"I do not know, but if he can slay two dementors of Azkaban I suspect he is not one to be trifled with. Now lets hurry."

The first letters arrived by owl almost immediately, telling me I was kicked out of Hogwarts due to the under aged use of magic.

The second letters followed the first, telling me that upon further review the trace revealed that I had used no magic, but that a great deal of magic had occurred in my presence, including, if it was to be believed, the death of two creatures believed by the ministry to be immortal. An inquiry was to be held to determine if I had somehow used magic, and if so, how I had managed to kill the dementors.

It was frightening to know that the Ministry was as confused about the day as I was.

Finally an owl arrived with a message from Mr. Weasley directing me with contrary instructions to both stay put and to leave with parties being sent to collect me to take me to somewhere safer than Privett Drive.

When help did arrive it was in the form of Aurors who by broomstick took me to 12 Grimmauld Place, which I was to learn was the home of Sirius and the current headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, an organization of witches and wizards that stood up to the Death Eaters and at one time included my parents.

Although I had not used magic outside Hogwarts earlier, by riding a broomstick, I now had. This apparently went unnoticed as the whole of the ministry was busy trying to figure out what killed two immortal beings. I would later learn that it was simply a form of magic the trace could not track. At least I would get to spend some time with my god father before school started back, if it started back at all for me.

The Weasleys, all but Percy anyway, were already there, as was Sirius, Hermione, Professor Lupin and others I did not know. Mrs Weasley sent me upstairs while the adults met to discuss my day and my future.

People talking about me? That I am accustomed to. People shooing me away so they can talk about me? That is irritating. So I was glad that the twin Weasleys, George and Fred, had a listening device like an ear on a wire that we used to listen in, or at least until Hermione's cat ate it.

What we heard was an argument by Sirius on one side, and Lupin with Mrs Weasley on the other, as to who the kid in black was.

"From what Mrs Figg reported, he must be one of the people Dumbledore requested."

"With out a wand? And with a sword? What kind of witch is that?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"A powerful one. I suggest, based on what we're told, that either he had a wand hidden, perhaps in his sleeve? There is no other explanation" Lupin answered.

"Or he could be using source magic! If so, its important we find him before you know who does and recruits him"!

"No one has used source magic since the dark ages Sirius, you know that. Where would this child have learned it?" Lupin replied.

"Well, Albus asked Hecate for help, perhaps she taught him!"

"What is source magic? I asked Hermione both because she was nearest and because she was the most likely to know.

"Its magic used by a sorcerer as opposed to a witch or wizard. A sorcerer is able to control magical energies directly, without a wand. Its believed to be extremely powerful but no human has used it in years. House elves and goblins have limited sorcery abilities, they don't need wands, but in truth only have a few powers. A human sorcerer, well its believed they would be nearly unstoppable."

"And since he didn't have a wand, and defeated two dementors Sirius thinks he is a sorcerer?"

"Yes, but he must be wrong. There hasn't been a wandless human magician reported since the dark ages, and those reports are probably as bad as those of the alchemist that claimed to have made a baby in a glass tube. It can't possibly be right. Besides, I've seen you defeat a lot more dementors than that." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but I didn't use my bare hands, I used a patronus charm, and I only drove them away, I didn't kill them with a sword and then turn them to sand."

"He had a sword?" Ron asked, and I realized I had not as yet told them the events of my afternoon.

"Yeah, a black one, and he was fast… well, he knew how to kill with a sword, I suspect he's done it before" I said, meaning to continue until George and Fred in unison interrupted.

"Wicked"