There was a sense of distress in the air. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, could sense it. Firstly, he knew that Harry wasn't back yet. But there couldn't be anything wrong with him. He was with Sirius and his friends. What could possibly be wrong with him? All the same, he was still worried. He didn't know why though. For a start, nobody could see Sirius' house. Sirius was probably teaching Harry cheating spells or something. He had always been good at spells and charms. Not quite so good at transfiguration or potions though.
Suddenly a searing pain shot across his heart. It felt like someone stabbing him all over, or drinking liquid oxygen. Suddenly it went. Dumbledore had had this pain only once before. That was one of the saddest times of his life. It was when one of his good friends had died. James Potter. This time, he knew Harry was in trouble. How? He asked himself. But he knew he couldn't answer this question, so he grabbed is cloak, and sprinted down to the portkeys. But neither of them were there. So he pulled out his wand and murmured 'Accio portkey.' Immediately he heard the familiar whistle of something approaching very fast in the air. The portkey landed with a loud thud on the ground. He touched the portkey and felt himself get lifted of the ground. He landed again in thick long grass. He could feel heat on the left side of his face and on his left hand. He opened his eyes but immediately shut them again. He opened them again, trying not to believe what he had just seen, but it was real. Sirius' house was on fire with large chunks of wall missing. There was lots of rubble on the ground outside.
Dumbledore ran around to the front door and tried to open it but it was locked like always. The door handle was extremely hot so there was obviously fire on the other side. He stood back and muttered something and the door disappeared. Fire leaped out of the door like a flame-thrower inside. Dumbledore - knowing the extinguishing spell, quickly put out the fire before entering. He saw the door into the living room was completely burnt with bits of charred wood as a doorframe. He quickly replaced it with a simple spell that he muttered. The inside of the living room was relatively un-burnt so he went round making sure there was no fire in there and looking for Sirius, Harry, Ron and Hermione. They weren't in there so he went into the kitchen. The cabinets that were on the walls had door's hanging off their hinges and some on the floor. The tiled flooring was black with soot and the wallpaper was ripped, torn and burnt. He carried on into the dining room, extinguishing flames and looking for bodies as he went. The dining room was the worst room he had seen so far. The table was almost indistinguishable as a table but just as a few bits of charred wood and ash. The lovely lamps that Sirius had had in there were all smashed and bust. There were major holes in one of the walls and a medium sized hole in the ceiling. He could just see a charred body up there. Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat. They hadn't escaped. They were up there. Dead probably. Or one of them had to be - coz he had felt that heart piercing pain. He ran through the door way into the hall again and up the stairs. He stepped on each step softly, incase they fell, but the third to last one collapsed as he stood on it. He jumped to the top landing and turned to see the stairs fall to the ground. Dumbledore didn't care. He muttered something, and all the bits of stairs re-formed into a brand new stairway, identical to what it used to look like. Dumbledore rushed to the room where he had seen the body. The door had been bashed down, and there was a lot of smoke still. There were a few flames leaping up from places, so Dumbledore quickly put them out. Then he muttered a spell that made all the smoke disappear. He saw three body's lying on the ground, still, unconscious probably dead. His eyes opened widely, and he felt small droplets of water forming in the sides of his eyes. He turned quickly and ran downstairs into the living room where he slumped out on the sofa. He sat there, sobbing quietly, but then he though to himself 'are you sure they're dead? They could just be on the verge of death.' He needed to help them. How? Then he saw the fireplace. He got up, took a small brown leather bag out of his pocket took a pinch of powder out and threw it into the fire.
'Poppy, please come immediately,' he called still sobbing. Madam Pomfrey came almost immediately muttering something like 'I have patients to look after' but then she stopped. She realised that she was not in Hogwarts anymore.
'Professor?' she asked. But Dumbledore did not answer the question. He just beckoned her to follow him up the stairs, and he did, frowning. Dumbledore lead her into the room where the three bodies were. Madam Pomfrey screamed when she saw them. They were quite hard do distinguish, but Albus knew that the taller one was Sirius, and one of the smaller ones had long hair, so that must be Hermione. Madam Pomfrey ran over to Sirius who was definitely in the worst state.
Half an hour later, Harry, Hermione and Sirius were all down in the living room, drinking a large cup of hot chocolate that Dumbledore had conjured. All three of them were very worried about Ron. Peter must have taken him, but why Ron? Dumbledore told Harry, Hermione and Sirius that he could get Ron back with a simple spell. He muttered a couple of simple words, then told them to wait.
Dumbledore was very confused. Why had he felt that pain? Well, maybe it happens when someone very close dies. But, not Harry, Hermione or Sirius were dead. Well, Ron? He didn't know Ron that well, or at least, less than Harry or Hermione. But then he thought again. Loads of other people quite close to me have died as well and I didn't feel pain. Or maybe it's when Peter hurts someone. But he would have felt it last year when Voldermort came back to power. But then a stupid idea hit him. A really really stupid idea. What if James and Lily weren't dead? It could be true. Probably not though.
Dumbledore looked at Sirius. He looked dumbstruck. He was looking into mid-air, as if watching something, but there was nothing infront of him except the other sofa and a wall. He watched, and saw a small smile on his face get bigger and bigger. He looked almost as if he was about to cry. Then he got up and strided towards the door. He opened it. He gasped, as if he had forgotten that his house had been on fire earlier.
Ron was in a bag, flying high in the air. He couldn't see anything. He heard the humming of a fast broom above him. He'd bin there nearly twenty minutes now, and was getting very achy. Suddenly, he felt something fall out of his pocket onto the bottom of the bag. He tried moving his hand to feel what it was. It was his penknife! Quickly, he slit a seam down the side of the bag. One…Two…Three…he jumped. He flew down through cold, sticky clouds, getting faster and faster. Eventually, he broke through the thick cloud, and could see sea beneath him and land to his right. He fell like a bomb, ready to detonate, but he didn't. He saw the icy water coming closer and closer.
SMASH. He broke the water surface and plunged deeper and deeper. It seemed to be getting darker and darker because of the depth, but then started surfacing. He couldn't feel anything. His sense of touch had gone. He wondered 'is the water hot or cold?' Before he could even think, he fell into a different dimension of unconsciousness.
Ron could see himself, in a lovely big house with a large room full of Chudley Cannon's posters and memorabilia. A house elf entered his room, with a large tray full of Honeydukes Chocolate. He placed it down on a small circular table and said 'Mr Potter is here sir.' Ron ran out of the room, downstairs expecting to see Harry and ask him what had happened. But, he saw Harry and his mom, Lily Potter. Then he saw Harry's Dad behind her.
'Hi there Ron. All ready to go?' he asked. Ron looked puzzled. Harry looked about the right age, but why was Harry's Parent's there and how come he was in a big luxurious house? Then his mother came trotting in. Here you go dear she said, handing him a small bag.
'What,' Ron said to Mrs Potter, 'How come you're here?'
'Oh,' said Lily strangely, 'Have you forgotten? Remember that you were there. You Harry and Sirius bro…
Ron could hear silence. What had happened to the House and Harry's Parent's? He wanted them back. He opened his eyes a smidgen, and saw Dumbledore sitting next to Harry on a Red sofa. Then Ron realised that he was on a sofa himself. Dumbledore looked over and smiled.
'Welcome back Ronald.'
'Ron! You're awake!' screamed Hermione.
'How'd I get here?' Ron asked.
'I performed a simple spell that transported you here, although the further away you were, the longer it would have taken for you to get here,' explained Dumbledore.
'But why is everything seem burned?'
'Peter left a token of his appreciation when he took you, by setting the house on fire. What happened to you though?'
Ron told them the adventure that he had had. He told them about escaping from the bag, and falling into the sort of dream. He talked for about a quarter of an hour, and his voice was beginning to go hoarse because of all the speaking. At the end if it, everyone was looking stunned. Madam Pomfrey hardly believed that he could be alive after that fall. Harry and Hermione were just glad to have their best friend back.
'Well it's getting late,' announced Dumbledore looking at his watch. 'It's passed eleven. You can come and stay at Hogwarts, Sirius if you wish.
'Nah, I'll stay here thanks Albus. I have a strangely amazing Idea brewing in my head…'
'Okay Sirius, although Harry, Hermione and Ron, I'd like you to come back to the castle.' Harry nodded solemnly - he had wanted to stay at Sirius'. Suddenly, Sirius jumped up into the air. He was looking livelier than he had ever done before.
'Albus, Harry, I'd really like you to stay her for the moment because I'd like a word in private.'
'Okay Sirius, that's fine. Poppy, could you take Ron and Hermione back to the castle please.' She nodded and left with them either side of her.
'What was it you wanted Sirius?' asked Dumbledore.
'James and Lily are alive!' he half shouted. Harry widened his eyes.
'How in hell could they be alive?' asked Dumbledore, looking very puzzled.
'Well, you see, James, Lily and I all drank this potion that we created and it stops a curse. So, if James and Lily were cursed, then if we used a beozar we would be able to get them back to life.'
Harry felt a sort of explosion inside his shomach. They could be alive? He would actually be able to see his mum and dad. He felt just like when Hagrid told him that he was a wizard.
'All we need is a beozar.' Said Sirius.
'Well!' said Dumbledore, 'there's just one small problem Sirius. A beozar stops a potion, not a curse.' Harry's hopes immediately died.
'NO!' shouted Sirius. 'You're thinking of a beozar from a goat's stomach. When we were at Hogwarts, we discovered an animal that we'd never seen before. It was dead, and it had it's stomach slit. We clearly saw this silvery stone which we took out and nicknamed a beozar. We only found out its power when Snape shot a curse at me. I had the stone in my pocket. The curse bounced back, and hit Snape in the stomach. This may work with James and Lily, but the night they died, I was the one who had the stone, so they couldn't use it.'
Dumbledore looked amazed. Harry thought that Dumbledore had never heard of such genius.
'But how would you get it to work on someone dead?' asked Dumbledore.
'I don't know, but it might work.'
Sirius dashed out of the room and charged up the stairs to his smouldering room. He retrieved the stone, and brought it down.
'Here,' he said to Dumbledore.
'Come on then, let's go to their grave. We'll have to walk though. Harry can't apparate, and I'd have thought that you've forgotten,' said Dumbledore.
'What's apparating?' asked Sirius.
'See!' said Dumbledore in amusement, 'We can sort out your house later Sirius.'
'One question,' said Harry.
'Fire away,' said Sirius.
'Well, how come you've only thought of this now?'
'Well, you see, when you go to Azkaban, the Dementors don't only suck happy memories out of you. They take away all your memories so I'll be remembering things for the next few years.' Harry nodded. They walked in silence to the graveyard in Godric's Hollow. They reached a stone that read:
'Here lye James and Lily Potter, who were murdered by He Who must not Be Named. Their memory will live on forever.
Dumbledore had his wand out.
'Okay, here goes,' said Dumbledore. Immediately, a golden string slew out of his wand. It hit the soil, and the ground had begun to shake. Two large dirty coffins rose out of the ground. Dumbledore smiled, but then quickly turned around towards Harry and Sirius. 'AARRGGHHH,' he shouted, pointing his wand directly to Harry and Sirius who were standing a few feet away. Dumbledore shot a stunning curse straight at Harry. Time seemed to slow, as Harry watched the curse flying towards him. Why was Dumbledore shooting a curse at him? Was it really Dumbledore? Harry ducked as quickly as he could, and the curse passed inches over his head. Harry looked at Dumbledore, his eyes wide.
'I'm extremely sorry Harry, just look behind you.'
Harry looked behind him, and saw Peter a few feet behind Harry, stunned. Relief spread round Harry's body.
'So you weren't trying to kill me?' he asked.
'No,' said Dumbledore flatly. He tapped his wand against both the coffin's, and they flew open. A terrible stench wafted out. Dumbledore said another simple spell, and the smell quickly disappeared.
'Okay,' said Dumbledore, 'can I have the stone please Sirius.'
Sirius gave Dumbledore the stone, which looked like the centre of a peach. Dumbledore placed it so it balanced between both coffins. They waited for a few moments with bated breath. Nothing happened.
'Maybe I could give it a little help,' said Sirius, 'could I borrow your wand Albus?' Dumbledore gave Sirius his wand, and Sirius muttered a few words. There was a blast, like a bomb going off, although not from the wand, but from the stone. All three of them were thrown backwards. A beam of yellow light burst from both coffin's, giving off a high pitched scream. Harry heard Peter screaming as well. He seemed to be melting away, and a black dust was rising off him. Something else then appeared from thin air. Harry saw the same figure that he'd seen at the end of his last year - Lord Voldermort in his human form. Harry watched, as he slowly got smaller and turned back into Tom Marvollo Riddle, the boy who he used to be. The noise got louder, and Harry saw hundreds of souls flying out of Tom's body. Two of them flew right into his mum and dad's coffins. At that moment, several other coffins in the graveyard also rose. The screaming suddenly stopped. The large beam of light also stopped. Everything was still. Suddenly, two bodies emerged from Harry's parent's coffins. Bodies also emerged from the other coffin's that had risen.
Dumbledore shouted out loud.
'Sirius, do you realise what you've done? Lord Voldermort has truly gone, look at Harry.'
Harry looked at Sirius who was looking at him. Sirius gasped.
'What?' enquired Harry.
'You're scar has gone,' said Sirius. Dumbledore hugged Harry and Sirius. Harry looked around, and saw lot's of other people emerging.
'What's happening?' asked Harry.
'These are all the people that Lord Voldermort has murdered. They've come back to life. It's very advanced magic, that you won't even learn at Hogwarts,' said Dumbledore.
Harry looked up and saw his parents standing there beaming at him and Sirius. They didn't move, they just looked down at them.
'Are they actually alive?' asked Harry. He heard his father chuckle.
'Of course we're alive,' said James, 'You and Sirius brought us back to life.'
'I didn't do anything, Sirius was the one with the stone,' replied Harry.
'What stone?' asked Lily.
'Did you really use that stone we found?' asked James eagerly. Sirius didn't say anything. He just nodded. Harry suspected that he thought that it would work, but it did. Harry couldn't believe it either. His parents. They were alive. They were actually alive!
'Mum, dad,' he said slowly, but he didn't get to say anything else. Lily had run over and swept him into a big hug. He father followed suit. Then they turned to Sirius and Dumbledore to thank them.
'Wow,' said James, 'you've grown up a bit since I last saw you. I trust you've been taking good care of him Sirius?'
'I haven't been looking after Harry, though I'd have liked to,' replied Sirius.
'What d'you mean?' asked James.
'For the last twelve years, I've been serving Peters sentence in Azkaban, and Harry's been living with the Dursleys, and they've been treating like vermin. The best present he's had from them is a coat hangar.'
James and Lily looked aghast. James was speechless.
'I didn't know I was a wizard until Hagrid told me. They told me that you had died in a car crash,' said Harry quickly.
'A CAR CRASH,' bellowed James, sounding like Hagrid had done, five years ago. 'I'm very sorry Lily, but I'm going to have to turn your sister and her family all into warthogs.'
'I don't care,' replied Lily, 'I've never like their disgusting family anyway.'
Harry saw that Dumbledore had walked away to talk to some of the other bodies that had emerged. Sirius, who still had Dumbledore's wand, said Excuse me, and walked over to where the two carcasses of Lord Voldermort and Peter were laying. He conjured bars around them. At that moment, Harry heard a huge whistling sound. He looked up, and saw about fifteen broomsticks flying down. Harry knew that these were some people from the Ministry of Magic. One of them nearly feinted when he saw James, Lily and all the other people. The ministry took Peter and Tom Riddle on their broomsticks, so that they could get a little kiss from a Dementor.
'Shall we go back to Hogwarts then?' asked Dumbledore.
'Okay,' Harry, and the turned around and looked up the hill.
'There's a portkey in Sirius' back garden,' said Dumbledore.
'I don't think so,' said Sirius, looking back up at his house, 'Peter must have put a 're-igniting' spell on the house.'
Sirius' house was ablaze again. Despite this, they walked back up to his house in good spirits.