Author's note: This story was not only created by me. It is origionally my friend David Devrise's idea. Together, we created what lies under this note, so I cannote take full credit of the work. This is our first fanfiction so don't think too badly of us!! Oh, yeah. The characters in this story do not belong to David or me unless they do not appear in the original Harry Potter series. I'm talking too much. Please review and enjoy the story!
CHAPTER ONE
AWAKENING
The gem pulsed with a green light. It slowly felt a sense of awakening. As it awoke, it realized something. It had powers and it had a purpose. What this purpose was, it didn't know, but it was content just to be there.
The surface of the gem glowed. It looked like an emerald, but more exotic. It's colors flashed with brilliance, and the shape represented a skull. The top was larger and the bottom was squared smaller. If you looked really closely, dark patches appeared on the gem, where the holes of a real skull were. No one not realizing that would catch it.
As the gem's light grew stronger, it noticed where it was. It seemed to be in a cavern. Roots were hanging from the ceiling and the light from the gem was the only thing lighting inside it. The gem noted that it was buried.
The gem knew that it wouldn't take long for it to gain enough power to escape this underground burial, and find its purpose. Its lights flashed even brighter as it felt that it was going to power over something as it had done several years ago. Its lights reduced again to a dull pulse. Its time would come, but now, it needed rest...
The pulsing fainted and finally diminished, as the gem went back into resting. The cavern darkened, and it seemed that nothing had happened. It felt as if everything was right...
* * *
Harry Potter stood by his window and stared out onto the driveway of Privet #4. A light breeze flew in and moved his messy black hair. His gaze slowly shifted to the west, where the sun was setting, and he watched the brilliant colors morph and change, until they turned black. Stars twinkled where the darkness had fallen.
Harry sighed and observed the glittering, white specs in the night. He could identify quite a few, because at Hogwarts (the school Harry went to), they had a class that taught them the names and movements of stars and planets.
Hogwarts was a wizarding school, and Harry attended it because he was becoming a wizard like his mum and dad. Lily and James Potter had also gone to Hogwarts. They were both Head Girl and Head Boy at their time. When they had lived, Lord Voldemort had been in power, and he targeted the Potters. The Dark Lord had come one night to kill them. Harry's dad had tried to hold Voldemort by fighting him while Lily took Harry and ran, but he had failed. James had died and Lord Voldemort cornered Lily and the infant Harry. Lily had sacrificed herself so that Harry would live on, and when Voldemort turned his wand on the one-year old, his powers vanished. Voldemort's self had been ripped out of his body. He was still alive, but barely.
Harry had lived and became famous in the wizard's world. Because Harry had no relatives to live with, he was sent to the Dursleys. Petunia Dursley was Lily's sister, but only in blood. The whole family were muggles, non-wizarding people, and they acted more like muggles than they should.
The Dursleys didn't want Harry to become a wizard, so they hid his true identity. But on his eleventh birthday, Harry had the truth told to him, and he went to Hogwarts. At the school, Harry had made many friends. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were two of them.
Suddenly, Harry's thoughts vanished as Dudley Dursley, his cousin, came up the stairs. As Dudley is five times larger than Harry is, he makes a lot of noise going anywhere.
Harry noticed that his books, homework and wand were on his bed. He quickly grabbed them and put them in his trunk. If Dudley saw them out, he would probably run screaming down the stairs, "Harry's trying to curse me!!!" Although Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia knew that Harry was not allowed to do magic outside of his school, they blamed him for anything weird that happened around them. Since they all hated him, they would most likely believe Dudley's hysterical screaming.
To Harry's surprise and great relief, Dudley did not barge into his room, trying to find anything that would get him in trouble. He sighed, and sat down on his bed. Then his heart sank. He just remembered that he didn't have a ride to King's Cross Station for tomorrow, and he would have to ask Uncle Vernon for one. He wasn't sure if it was going to work.
Groaning aloud, Harry reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and made his way downstairs. Vernon Dursley was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.
"Er...Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked uncertainly.
Uncle Vernon looked up from the newspaper and said harshly, "What is it boy?"
"Er...I need a ride to London tomorrow to the train station. Um...can you take me?"
With an evil look on his face, Vernon said, "Let's see.... Do I have anything in London tomorrow. I don't think so..." He stared at Harry for a few seconds and then looked back at the paper.
"Well, then. I guess I'll have to ask someone else. My friends can't so...I guess I'll ask my godfather."
At that, his uncle's face contorted into fury and he said without looking up at Harry, "Fine. I'll take you."
Harry smiled. Sirius Black was his godfather and the Dursleys were very scared that he would come and hex them all, because Black was a convicted murderer, and Harry had "forgotten" to tell the Dursleys that he was innocent. It was quite convenient at times, because now, the Dursleys actually listened to him at times.
Harry made his way back up the stairs and went into his room. He heard something tapping at the windows and looked up. Hedwig, his snowy owl was trying to get in. Quickly, Harry went and opened the window. Hedwig flew in and landed on his shoulder. Harry stroked her and gave her a treat before realizing that she had a letter tied to her leg. He took the letter, and opened it.
Harry-
I know that you're going back to Hogwarts soon, and I just wanted to remind you not to get yourself into trouble. Now that Voldemort is back, you, Ron, and Hermione have to be extra careful. Stay inside the castle and don't go looking for trouble. Have a good 6th year. I might visit you sometime.
Sirius
Harry took out a quill and a parchment. He quickly wrote:
Sirius-
I will try and stay out of trouble. I promise. Since Voldemort is back, the school will be much stricter. I hope to see you soon.
Harry
Hedwig stuck her leg out and Harry tied the letter to it. He stroked her and said, "Find him, alright?" Hedwig hooted and nipped at his glasses before taking off into the night.
Harry watched his owl disappear before closing the window. He looked around to make sure that everything was packed. It was, and Harry contently went to bed.
He thought about being at Hogwarts the next day with all his friends. He could hardly wait. Harry grinned to himself and fell asleep.
* * *
That night, Harry tossed and turned in bed. A green gem kept surfacing in his mind about returning to Hogwarts. He woke up suddenly. What did it mean?
CHAPTER TWO
AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
The next day, Harry forgot about the strange gem when he saw his friends. Ron and Hermione were already at Platform 9 3\4 when he arrived, after a very "bumpy" ride with Uncle Vernon to the train station.
"Hey, Harry!" Hermione shouted as he went through the barrier. Ron stood by her and waved.
Harry waved back and walked towards them, dragging his luggage behind him. The last time that he had seen them was in Diagon Alley a month ago. They had gone there to buy school equipment.
"Hello," he said as he got to them and all three of them turned to store their luggage on the train.
After pulling and pushing, they managed to get all of their luggage on board. Then Harry and Ron listened to Hermione's long story about how surprised that she was to be named a prefect again.
"When I got my letter, I thought that it was just a normal Hogwarts letter, but when I opened it...how surprised I was!!"
Then, she took out the letter and shoved it really close to the boys' faces.
"You see? Read that! Where they wrote:
Hermione Granger-
I am proud to inform you that you are again a prefect of our school. It is a great opportunity and I hope that you make the best out of it.
Isn't that great?!"
"Ye..."
"And read that!!! I was so happy I was about to use some magic to celebrate, but good thing I remembered that I couldn't. No use in being an expelled prefect. I hope I get to be Head Girl next year!! Instead of using magic to celebrate, I..."
The intercom said, "ALL STUDENTS ABOARD. THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS IS LEAVING!!"
"...And then Mummy and Daddy were so proud of me they..."
"Er...Hermione?" Harry asked timidly.
"We went shopping at the mall. That's where all theses shops are put together into one large store. After that, Mummy and Daddy took me to this really delicious muggle restaurant called-"
"Hermione!!! Shut up! The train's leaving. Tell us the rest on board!" Ron yelled, shaking her.
"Oh...Sorry..." Hermione said and turned many shades pink.
Ron sighed and shook his head solemnly. Then he said in an exasperated tone, "Let's go."
* * *
Hermione was very quiet afterwards, even when Harry asked her, "So...What happened after that?"
"Uh...We ate there." She said and looked at her hands.
Ron was staring out the window as Hermione spoke and Harry felt very awkward. In another attempt to start a conversation, he asked Ron, "So, what did you do this summer, Ron?"
It didn't work. "The same," is all Ron said as a reply.
Harry bit his lip and said, "Well, Sirius wrote to me. He told us to be careful, now that Voldemort is back and all..."
Ron and Hermione flinched at the word Voldemort. There was a very long period of silence.
"Yeah. Dad's been working a lot at the Ministry and Mom says that he's going to die of overwork someday," Ron said. He laughed. "I haven't seen him a lot. The same goes for Percy, now that he is the Minister of Magic's assistant." This topic seemed to get Ron to talk, although Harry would've preferred something more cheery.
Ron turned to face Harry. "Do you know that You-Know-Who already has four countries in his power?" Harry shook his head. "I thought so. They said that he's coming after Hogwarts next." Ron looked away. "Take Hogwarts, take the world."
Harry knew that Ron must feel differently than how he was expressing. He knew that Ron cared a lot that his father and brother were gone from the house most of the time because of Voldemort. He knew that Voldemort could do this to a family. Since he was back in power, he was wrecking the world that had just started to forget the misery and the fear... He knew, because he had no parents...for the exact same reason...
Hermione slowly turned to face Ron.
"I'm sorry that you're dad and Percy are never home. That you don't get to spend time with them." She looked up at him. "It's You-Know-Who's fault Ron. You can't blame yourself."
Ron looked at Hermione and slowly showed his first real smile. Hermione grinned back at him, showing her now straight and perfect teeth.
Harry felt much better. This is how it was usually. Even if Voldemort was back, Harry didn't want to stay scared. He knew that his friends felt the same way. They just had a hard time showing it.
Ron and Hermione smiled happily at each other for a long time and Harry forced his laughter down, but when the lady with the cart suddenly came and interrupted them, Harry laughed so hard that his insides hurt. Hermione and Ron flushed red but joined in, choking from trying to stop.
When at last, sanity came upon them again; the trio went and bought candy. There favorites had always been Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts every flavored beans. They got those and other treats, then sat down to eat them.
Hermione finished telling them her story. "Mummy bought me an owl and Crookshanks isn't very pleased about that. He always hisses at Lenter when he sees him."
"By the way, where is Crookshanks?"
"Oh. He's probably wandering around the train. I put him in when I got here and I put Lenter over there." She pointed at a sleeping tawny owl in its cage.
"Pig is out on an errand. I brought his cage though," Ron said.
Harry laughed. "So that's why it's so quiet in here!"
The three of them went into another hysterical fit of laughing and they were numb when they stopped.
"Well, Hedwig's out sending my letter to Sirius. I hope he's okay."
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "I would hate if they caught him or if You-Know-Who got him." There was another slight pause. "You-Know-Who has already killed the Monosens and the Ketlets. He's also started to perform muggle murders again."
"Well, we shouldn't think about that. Dumbledore is already planning a rebellion. Anyways, Sirius says that he might visit us sometime," Harry added.
"I would like tha..." but just then, Ginny Weasley walked in.
"Hello," Ron's younger sister greeted.
"Hi."
Ginny stopped smiling as she looked around. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared dully at her. "What's the matter?" She said looked at them with a question.
"Oh...Nothing..." Hermione said as she turned away.
Ginny looked hurt. "Hermione! I don't keep secrets from you! Now what's going on?" Ginny asked again.
"Er..." Harry began, but suddenly, Draco Malfoy sauntered in. Crabbe and Goyle were on either side of him, like body guards. Malfoy crossed his arms, cocked his head, and looked at the four of them.
"Well, if it isn't the bunch of losers," Malfoy sneered.
Just once, Harry wished that Malfoy wouldn't bug them. Every time they came on the Hogwarts Express, Draco would barge in on them, acting like king.
Draco Malfoy was looking more and more like his father, Lucius Malfoy. His yellow \ silver hair, his pale pointed face, his gray eyes... They resembled his dad in every way.
Harry heard Hermione say," Shut up, Malfoy, and get out."
"Ooh...Granger. I'm surprised that a mudblood like you hasn't been finished off by the Dark Lord yet."
Ron almost stepped out to grab Draco. Mudblood was a very insulting word to call a muggle-born witch or wizard.
"What Malfoy, scared to say Voldemort's name?" Harry said. Malfoy tried to conceal a flinch, but Harry saw it. "You shouldn't be, 'cause your father is one of his closest supporters."
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "...And how would you know that, Potter?" he spat.
"I've seen him." Harry stared back.
"You've got no proof-"
"I don't need any. You and I know the truth. Now...Get out." Harry said slowly.
Malfoy blinked. "What if we don't want to? Huh, Potter?"
Harry, Hermione, and Ron drew out their wands at the same time. They had done this many times before.
Malfoy smirked. "You always need back-up don't you, Potter?" But he was staring at the wands. "Can't do anything yourself? Just like your no-good parents...."
That was too far.
"Relashio!" Harry yelled and sparks emitted from his wand. Malfoy covered his face and yelled as it got burned. He stepped backwards and Harry once again repeated, "Get out, now!" He was ready to curse Draco, but Malfoy seemed to be leaving.
Draco backed up. He knew that staying any longer would get him severly hexed and cursed, but as he went, he said, "One day - one day you will all see the wrath of the Dark Lord." He stared hard at the three of them, then motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him as he left.
The trio retracted their wands. Hermione looked at Harry and said, "You shouldn't have done that, Harry."
"Well, unlike you, I don't have a patience for people like Malfoy when they insult my parents," Harry answered as he put his wand in his pocket.
Ron was staring at the door where Draco and them had just exited out of. He looked back and saw Ginny who was looking very uncomfortable. She fidgeted her hands nervously and was biting her lip.
"Ginny, what's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, Ginny. You know that Malfoy's just being..."
"Oh...I'm fine. It's just that I was thinking of Daddy. He's always gone and everything. Also...What if You-Know-Who really conquers the world this time? What can stop him now?" she looked at Harry, then quickly to the floor. "You should dress now. We're almost there..." and with that, she left, very quickly.
There was a long pause of silence. It seemed funny to Harry how silence could ring in your ears so loud. Then, Ron said, "Hermione...We need to change so..."
"Oh! Yeah. I'm leaving."
She grabbed her robes and also left.
Harry and Ron changed, then settled down on the seats.
"It was very harsh of Malfoy to say that about your parents, you know?" Ron said.
"It's alright. Malfoy's just like that."
Harry grabbed a Chocolate Frog and opened it. He ate the chocolate and looked for the card. It was lying on the floor. It must've fallen out.
Harry bent over and picked the card up. He looked at it and gasped. It was...Voldemort.
"What?! Ron! Ron! Look at this card! It's Voldemort!"
Ron reacted the same way as Harry. "Wha-at?!" he yelled.
"Look! Read this!"
Lord Voldemort was a powerful dark wizard, who was said to only be afraid of Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster. In Voldemort's reign, he terrorized all the wizards and witches, and using fear, got many of them to follow him. He killed all those who opposed him. He is also known for mass muggle murders and having dementors and giants as followers. Many are still terrified of him, even after he met his downfall by Harry Potter, and they refer to him as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It is said that The Dark Lord has once again risen to power in the past year. Although many hate him, some still refer to him as the greatest dark wizard of our time.
"That's stupid! Why would they make a card of Him?" Ron asked.
"I dunno," Harry said.
"Ron took the card from him and looked at it. ""Uck! Throw it away Harry...He just looks so-so..."
But Harry didn't need Ron's description. He had met the Dark Lord in person, and he never wanted to again.
Ron gagged again and threw the card at Harry. He got it, and looked down at the picture. Voldemort had his back turned on the onlooker, but slowly, he rotated and looked straight into Harry's eyes. Their vision locked on for a second or two, but Harry's head started to burn. He broke his gaze from the card and put a hand up to his scar.
"Ow!" Harry said sharply.
"What is it? What are you doing with that card? Give it here!!"
Harry barely heard this.
Again, the stone appeared in his mind, but this time, it rotated slowly, and morphed into Voldemort's face. His bony features, his flat nose, his cold, red eyes...
"No! Not Harry! Kill me instead!" Lily Potter's voice sounded.
Flash!
"Avada Kedavra!"
The light was blinding, but the curse rebounded. Then... when the light faded, the green stone appeared once more...Why?
"Ouch!" Harry snapped awake. Hermione stood over him. She had poked him with her wand. Harry blinked. He saw Ron on his left, tearing the card up and putting it in flames.
"There!" he said triumphantly.
"Ron!" Hermione squealed. "Don't light a fire on a train!" She rounded on him and yelled about safety.
Harry sat up. He was a bit dizzy, so he blinked again and shook his head.
Hermione squirted water from her wand and the fire went out with a hiss...
"Hmmph!" she muttered.
Ron groaned and mumbled a few words. Then he turned to Harry and asked, "Are you alright?"
Harry nodded. "I'm fine," he answered, but he didn't feel that way. The stone was on his mind, also, his mum's voice. The last time that he had heard that was in his third year...
Ron looked down at the floor and said, "The train stopped."
Harry looked up at him, then down. The train wasn't moving.
"Yeah!" Hermione yelled, apparently frustrated with their ignorance. "The sorting is about to happen! Hurry! Let's go!" She breathed in and left.
Harry shrugged and the two of them followed her. When they got out of the train, Harry heard the familiar voice of Hagrid, calling the first years over to him. Harry looked over his shoulder towards the half-giant. A long line of first years followed him down a path.
The bunch of sixth years gathered together and started down another path. This is how they were getting to Hogwarts apparently. The road went through a dark patch of trees, then it followed a small stream.
"Wonder who the defense against dark arts teacher is going to be this year." Ron said.
"Maybe Lupin is back," Harry said hopefully.
Professor Lupin was their third year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Every year, another teacher had taught them that class. Many believed it to be cursed. Lupin was the best teacher they had ever had, but, he was a werewolf. Lupin had also been James Potter's friend. In their third year, Harry and them had found that out, and the fact that Black was innocent.
"Yuck! What if we get another teacher like Lockhart?" Ron asked.
"Don't think about it," Harry said, thinking about the obnoxious teacher they had in their second year.
From behind them, Neville Longbottom gave a small whimper. Harry and Ron swerved around and faced him.
"What's wrong, Neville?"
"Lupin isn't back, and the teacher isn't like Lockhart at all. It's worse." Neville bit his lip and trembled, before saying, "It's Snape."