(A/n Firstly, thanks for all the feedback, you're all very kind! I own nothing, so don't sue me.)
- I want a Waldolf Salad!
- I'm sorry, but I think we're all out of Waldolfs….
La la la fluffy bunnies, la la la…
Thank you, reviewers - I love you!
Caius Julius
vmr
iNsAnE iCkLe CoRa*
Lord of the Net
Jona
Melanie
Thanks everyone, jona reviewed my fic!! Yay!!!!
Harry Potter and the War of Hogwarts
Glancing at the clock, Harry realised he had only been dozing for ten minutes. He reached a hand to his face and felt cold sweat trickling from his forehead. He noticed that it was shaking.
Surprisingly enough, that had been the first real dream he had experienced this summer. There had been a few nightmares about last year, but nothing like this. Seeing the dark mark again, even if it was in a dream, brought back the memories that he'd rather forget…Cedric - and Voldermort. Harry shook his head, as if to get rid of the dreams - In a way, he had forgotten how frightening they actually were. Well, Harry thought, no use worrying about it -
Harry, mind made up, climbed the stairs to his room to write a letter to Dumbledore. He'd know what to do.
The sun was setting over the countryside, sending rays of yellow up and over the horizon. Dumbledore stood transfixed at the window of his office, just looking at the reds and oranges. With a sky like this, one would think the world would be perfect, he thought with a sigh. But it wasn't. In fact, things hadn't been 'perfect' for a while now. Dumbledore had found himself weighed down since last year - understandable he thought , in light of recent events. One of the reasons that they had pushed back the beginning of the school year was the fact that they needed more time with the protection spells. They hadn't got all what they wanted done, and ten extra days wasn't half what they needed, but, he thought grimly, it was something.
His solicitude was interrupted with the arrival of an owl. It swooped through the window and dropped a letter on the headmaster's desk, blinked at him and flew out into the now dusk sky.
From looking at the envelope Dumbledore knew it was from the Ministry. He himself had never really trusted the Ministry of Magic, and last year, Dumbledore's suspicions were confirmed by Fudge's attitude.
His attitude was, " A sheer pigheadedness not to look facts in the face will see us through," or near enough, Dumbledore thought with a disdain. He had had trouble fighting back the anger when Fudge wouldn't admit to the blatantly obvious facts set before him and what they actually meant. He was too in love with his position as the Minister to admit to the fact that disaster was brewing, not wanting anything to taint his role as the head of the ministry.
As Dumbledore opened the letter, he skimmed it briefly. His expression changed from thoughtful to fearful in a sheer matter of seconds…
He closed his eyes in dread - It had happened.
The noise in the garden was terrible. Over the weeping of the relatives, could be heard the sound of cameras and loud mouthed reporters, as well as the neighbours wondering what on earth was going on. Most of the small crowd was huddled round a police officer, pointing into the sky and shouting at him as if he knew what was happening, and what that disgusting thing above the smouldering rubble was...
Remus Lupin and Padfoot looked over the scene, Remus with sadness and Sirius with confusion. There would be at lot of work to clean this mess up. Padfoot whined and looked up at Remus. He knelt down,
"Sorry, I had no time to explain. Dumbledore received an owl less than an hour ago from Fudge saying immediate assistance was needed - the Death Eaters up to their old tricks, as in the killing of Muggles…it was a family - two children, it's disgusting…those Muggle…policemen?"
The black dog nodded.
"They won't let us inside the house. Apparently it's a real mess - those bastards certainly had their fun…"
Sirius nodded to the gate and they both went out into the near by field. After checking for Muggles, Padfoot transformed.
"But why? I would have thought the last thing that Voldemort would need right now is Aurours running around after him…"
Lupin sighed, " Maybe that's just it - he wants to make sure the Ministry knows he's returned. Or it could be he just wants to scare everyone. At any rate we're going to have a hard time shushing all this up, aren't we?"
"Yeah - memory charms for all…" Sirius commented wryly.
Remus turned his head to look dully at the Muggle workers carry the dead family out of the wreck of their house. The noise of the lamenting wails grew softer as the bloodied bodies were covered with white sheets, as if the crowd were in shock. He could hear Sirius still talking and turned back to him, tuning in to the last of what he was saying,
"- we should have expected this - I knew it would come…only not so soon."
"Yeah…I suppose you're right."
Taking one last look at the Muggle car with it's flashing lights before it turned off at the end of the road and disappeared from sight, Remus heard the crowd disperse. Before Voldermort had disappeared fourteen years ago, he had seen a lot of the gore that he had just witnessed. He'd seen that, and worse. And it never got any easier, he thought grimly.
"Come on, Sirius," he said resignedly, "Let's go check it out."
He felt Sirius shrink back into dog form beside him and they walked out of the field back to the rubble of the former house, the Dark Mark floating eerily above.
Dark had descended upon Privet Drive. The lack of cars driving past on the road opposite created a stifling silence as Harry sat on his bed, reading. He had been thinking about the letter from Hogwarts on and off for a couple of days now. That was the problem with too much time and too little things to do, Harry thought. You start to over-analyse things to breaking point. He knew that the rules were never usually mentioned in the letters at the beginning of the year, rather at the Sorting Feast at school. Yet he knew why this was - Voldermort was back. Stronger than ever, and Hogwarts would probably be a main target.
Harry looked miserably out of his window, over the street lamps. In previous years, all he really had to worry about was homework, and the occasional Quidditch match…well, there was always the near death experience at the end of each year, but there was a difference, a fairly large one. Everyone used to get out alive…Last year he had been numbed, ever since the Third Task nothing really seemed as real as it once was. This summer had gone in a blur. He had pretended not to know why he felt like this - but he couldn't deny it any longer. He had felt overwhelming waves of guilt ever since last year. He couldn't stop thinking about it -
Harry let out a sigh. When he got back to Hogwarts, things would improve. Although there were still powerful memories there, waiting, he still had Ron and Hermione - and that's what he needed. People who cared, and wanted to help him. People who would encourage him to talk, he missed them. He always did, yet considering the circumstance, he missed them more than usual. It would be good to get back…
He was jolted back from his thoughts by a voice down the street. A woman's voice, it sounded strained. He closed his book and turned off his light and looked intently out of his open window, waiting to hear if she spoke again. She did.
"What is that…?" Her voice was panicked and it cracked as she spoke, its volume rising with every word, "What are you doing - get away from me!"
Harry's eyes were wide, as he listened to the woman. Automatically he reached for his wand and pocketed it. He had just begun to wonder if he would hear anything else when a shrill scream ripped through the humid night air. Harry jumped in shock as he heard a dull thump, panic starting to fill him. His heart was beating against his chest as he crept up to the window to look down the street - it was empty…
Harry bit his lip in internal debate. Whoever it was she was hurt - she must have been just outside, maybe down the next road. That's why he couldn't see her. Harry had made up his mind. He opened his chest and extracted his invisibility cloak. Quietly, he opened his door and ran down the stairs, careful to avoid the creaky stair. Swinging the cloak around his shoulders, Harry opened the front door. He noticed how humid the weather was. Harry inwardly shook himself - why think about the weather at a time like this? He made his way down the street, wand at the ready. Hearing a low, pained moan, he turned his head quickly, squinting to see through the darkness. Brow furrowed Harry followed the sound to the end of the street, rounded the corner -
and was gone.
Back Harry's dark bedroom, an owl landed on his desk, dropped a letter and flew away as quickly as it came. A light breeze rustled the letter's pages and they fell to the floor…
Dear Harry,
I cannot say much, but what I do tell you is desperately urgent. I cannot explain this now, for fear of interception - yet, you must know one thing. You were given a Secret Keeper when you were born, that person has released the secret that kept your location a secret, deliberately or not.
Voldermort knows where you are.
You must NOT leave the house under ANY circumstances.
Arrangements have been made, but remember; do not leave the Dursley's house. I cannot stress enough the importance of my words.
Sincerest apologies,
Professor Dumbledore
Through the open window, a stifled cry echoed down the dark street. The letter
remained unread, rustling innocently in the night's breeze.
- I want a Waldolf Salad!
- I'm sorry, but I think we're all out of Waldolfs….
La la la fluffy bunnies, la la la…
Thank you, reviewers - I love you!
Caius Julius
vmr
iNsAnE iCkLe CoRa*
Lord of the Net
Jona
Melanie
Thanks everyone, jona reviewed my fic!! Yay!!!!
Harry Potter and the War of Hogwarts
Glancing at the clock, Harry realised he had only been dozing for ten minutes. He reached a hand to his face and felt cold sweat trickling from his forehead. He noticed that it was shaking.
Surprisingly enough, that had been the first real dream he had experienced this summer. There had been a few nightmares about last year, but nothing like this. Seeing the dark mark again, even if it was in a dream, brought back the memories that he'd rather forget…Cedric - and Voldermort. Harry shook his head, as if to get rid of the dreams - In a way, he had forgotten how frightening they actually were. Well, Harry thought, no use worrying about it -
Harry, mind made up, climbed the stairs to his room to write a letter to Dumbledore. He'd know what to do.
The sun was setting over the countryside, sending rays of yellow up and over the horizon. Dumbledore stood transfixed at the window of his office, just looking at the reds and oranges. With a sky like this, one would think the world would be perfect, he thought with a sigh. But it wasn't. In fact, things hadn't been 'perfect' for a while now. Dumbledore had found himself weighed down since last year - understandable he thought , in light of recent events. One of the reasons that they had pushed back the beginning of the school year was the fact that they needed more time with the protection spells. They hadn't got all what they wanted done, and ten extra days wasn't half what they needed, but, he thought grimly, it was something.
His solicitude was interrupted with the arrival of an owl. It swooped through the window and dropped a letter on the headmaster's desk, blinked at him and flew out into the now dusk sky.
From looking at the envelope Dumbledore knew it was from the Ministry. He himself had never really trusted the Ministry of Magic, and last year, Dumbledore's suspicions were confirmed by Fudge's attitude.
His attitude was, " A sheer pigheadedness not to look facts in the face will see us through," or near enough, Dumbledore thought with a disdain. He had had trouble fighting back the anger when Fudge wouldn't admit to the blatantly obvious facts set before him and what they actually meant. He was too in love with his position as the Minister to admit to the fact that disaster was brewing, not wanting anything to taint his role as the head of the ministry.
As Dumbledore opened the letter, he skimmed it briefly. His expression changed from thoughtful to fearful in a sheer matter of seconds…
He closed his eyes in dread - It had happened.
The noise in the garden was terrible. Over the weeping of the relatives, could be heard the sound of cameras and loud mouthed reporters, as well as the neighbours wondering what on earth was going on. Most of the small crowd was huddled round a police officer, pointing into the sky and shouting at him as if he knew what was happening, and what that disgusting thing above the smouldering rubble was...
Remus Lupin and Padfoot looked over the scene, Remus with sadness and Sirius with confusion. There would be at lot of work to clean this mess up. Padfoot whined and looked up at Remus. He knelt down,
"Sorry, I had no time to explain. Dumbledore received an owl less than an hour ago from Fudge saying immediate assistance was needed - the Death Eaters up to their old tricks, as in the killing of Muggles…it was a family - two children, it's disgusting…those Muggle…policemen?"
The black dog nodded.
"They won't let us inside the house. Apparently it's a real mess - those bastards certainly had their fun…"
Sirius nodded to the gate and they both went out into the near by field. After checking for Muggles, Padfoot transformed.
"But why? I would have thought the last thing that Voldemort would need right now is Aurours running around after him…"
Lupin sighed, " Maybe that's just it - he wants to make sure the Ministry knows he's returned. Or it could be he just wants to scare everyone. At any rate we're going to have a hard time shushing all this up, aren't we?"
"Yeah - memory charms for all…" Sirius commented wryly.
Remus turned his head to look dully at the Muggle workers carry the dead family out of the wreck of their house. The noise of the lamenting wails grew softer as the bloodied bodies were covered with white sheets, as if the crowd were in shock. He could hear Sirius still talking and turned back to him, tuning in to the last of what he was saying,
"- we should have expected this - I knew it would come…only not so soon."
"Yeah…I suppose you're right."
Taking one last look at the Muggle car with it's flashing lights before it turned off at the end of the road and disappeared from sight, Remus heard the crowd disperse. Before Voldermort had disappeared fourteen years ago, he had seen a lot of the gore that he had just witnessed. He'd seen that, and worse. And it never got any easier, he thought grimly.
"Come on, Sirius," he said resignedly, "Let's go check it out."
He felt Sirius shrink back into dog form beside him and they walked out of the field back to the rubble of the former house, the Dark Mark floating eerily above.
Dark had descended upon Privet Drive. The lack of cars driving past on the road opposite created a stifling silence as Harry sat on his bed, reading. He had been thinking about the letter from Hogwarts on and off for a couple of days now. That was the problem with too much time and too little things to do, Harry thought. You start to over-analyse things to breaking point. He knew that the rules were never usually mentioned in the letters at the beginning of the year, rather at the Sorting Feast at school. Yet he knew why this was - Voldermort was back. Stronger than ever, and Hogwarts would probably be a main target.
Harry looked miserably out of his window, over the street lamps. In previous years, all he really had to worry about was homework, and the occasional Quidditch match…well, there was always the near death experience at the end of each year, but there was a difference, a fairly large one. Everyone used to get out alive…Last year he had been numbed, ever since the Third Task nothing really seemed as real as it once was. This summer had gone in a blur. He had pretended not to know why he felt like this - but he couldn't deny it any longer. He had felt overwhelming waves of guilt ever since last year. He couldn't stop thinking about it -
Harry let out a sigh. When he got back to Hogwarts, things would improve. Although there were still powerful memories there, waiting, he still had Ron and Hermione - and that's what he needed. People who cared, and wanted to help him. People who would encourage him to talk, he missed them. He always did, yet considering the circumstance, he missed them more than usual. It would be good to get back…
He was jolted back from his thoughts by a voice down the street. A woman's voice, it sounded strained. He closed his book and turned off his light and looked intently out of his open window, waiting to hear if she spoke again. She did.
"What is that…?" Her voice was panicked and it cracked as she spoke, its volume rising with every word, "What are you doing - get away from me!"
Harry's eyes were wide, as he listened to the woman. Automatically he reached for his wand and pocketed it. He had just begun to wonder if he would hear anything else when a shrill scream ripped through the humid night air. Harry jumped in shock as he heard a dull thump, panic starting to fill him. His heart was beating against his chest as he crept up to the window to look down the street - it was empty…
Harry bit his lip in internal debate. Whoever it was she was hurt - she must have been just outside, maybe down the next road. That's why he couldn't see her. Harry had made up his mind. He opened his chest and extracted his invisibility cloak. Quietly, he opened his door and ran down the stairs, careful to avoid the creaky stair. Swinging the cloak around his shoulders, Harry opened the front door. He noticed how humid the weather was. Harry inwardly shook himself - why think about the weather at a time like this? He made his way down the street, wand at the ready. Hearing a low, pained moan, he turned his head quickly, squinting to see through the darkness. Brow furrowed Harry followed the sound to the end of the street, rounded the corner -
and was gone.
Back Harry's dark bedroom, an owl landed on his desk, dropped a letter and flew away as quickly as it came. A light breeze rustled the letter's pages and they fell to the floor…
Dear Harry,
I cannot say much, but what I do tell you is desperately urgent. I cannot explain this now, for fear of interception - yet, you must know one thing. You were given a Secret Keeper when you were born, that person has released the secret that kept your location a secret, deliberately or not.
Voldermort knows where you are.
You must NOT leave the house under ANY circumstances.
Arrangements have been made, but remember; do not leave the Dursley's house. I cannot stress enough the importance of my words.
Sincerest apologies,
Professor Dumbledore
Through the open window, a stifled cry echoed down the dark street. The letter
remained unread, rustling innocently in the night's breeze.
