I decided to do away with Gabrielle Delacour's accent, because it's hard to write and it annoys me. However, if everybody loves hearing 'Arry and zo instead of "Harry" and "so", I'll put it in in the next chapters.
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About seven years after the chance encounter in Hogsmeade...
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"All right, here it is. See that barrier between platforms nine and ten? We just walk through it. Let's split up to make it less conspicuous - Julien, you come with me and your mother will take Sophie."
Julien Potter watched his father walk confidently right through a wall. He closed his eyes and strode forward himself, surprised to see that he managed to go directly into solid concrete with no problem. Once on the other side, he turned around and saw his mother burst through the barrier, holding Sophie's hand.
"We made it, Harry!" she laughed, shaking out her long, silvery-blond hair. We ran at it like a couple of madwomen! At my school we never had to do anything so ridiculous."
Harry smiled. "Then your school must have been very boring, Gabrielle. And besides, acting like a madwoman becomes you."
"Oh, you-" Whatever good-natured teasing Gabrielle wanted to respond with was cut short by the whistle of the Hogwarts Express.
Turning to his children, Harry said, "All right, this is it. Before you board, let me just tell you a few more things. Remember to-"
Julien rolled his eyes and interrupted, "Really, Dad, we've heard it all. We've gotten the 'When You Go To Hogwarts' lecture a million times!"
"Oh, let's have it, Dad. You can give us a whole speech and then we'll miss the train," joked Sophie. "Just like you."
Finally Harry gave up. The Potters said their goodbyes and gave their hugs, and Harry reached out at the last second to ruffle Julien's short blond hair. Julien looks so much like his mother, he thought for the millionth time, except for the green eyes...
Sophie, on the other hand, had dark hair, but it fell neatly into silky waves that shone in the light. She'd also inherited her mother's mischievous blue gaze...and Harry strongly suspected that she'd inherited some of the Veela-charm as well. After Sophie got on the train, she leaned out of a window and waved one last time.
Harry watched her, feeling a touch of sadness. "Wow... somehow we've gotten old, Gabby - I remember my first time on the Express like it was yesterday."
Gabrielle leaned against him. "Well, mon cher, you are four years older than I am... but I still feel young!"
"You still look it. You're still as beautiful as you were the day I met you."
She laughed. "That doesn't say much, Harry... the day you met me, I seem to remember that I was underwater, tied to a slimy rock and waiting for my dearest sister to come rescue me."
"Oh, yeah... the good old Triwizard Tournament... that certainly was something." He smiled at the memory. "But I was referring to the day I really met you - when we were both surveying the damage of that Harpy raid outside of Paris..."
"Yes, and you tapped me on the shoulder, so I Stunned you," she giggled, "because I thought you were a Harpy come to attack me! Remember that?"
He made a face. "I've tried to forget…"
Mr. and Mrs. Potter held hands and watched the Hogwarts Express chug out of the station.
That evening, with the children gone, the Potter household was unusually tranquil. What the young couple didn't know, however, was that in some places, it was not nearly so peaceful…
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It was a moonless night. The stars too were invisible, and the world seemed shrouded in an inky blackness. In a quiet English forest, a little clearing in the woods where nobody ever visited, something was happening to disturb the stillness that was usually found there...
A wizard dressed all in black materialized between the trees. He walked slowly out into the open space and looked around. "Is anyone here? Come out," he hissed into the surrounding forest.
At that, some others came out from behind trees. Others soon Apparated, and within minutes there were over two dozen of them. Silent, clad completely in black, the wizards waited around cautiously until somebody took charge.
It was the one who had spoken originally. "Is this everybody? Let's assemble orderly somehow," he suggested, with an American accent. He looked around and noticed that many of the others wore traditional Death Eater hoods or masks. Some even wore robes with the Dark Mark embroidered on the collar. At the order to "assemble", these wizards wordlessly formed themselves into a circle immediately, and the others soon followed suit.
"Ah, that's much better," said the American. "I see some of you are experienced at this kinda thing. You look like a strong group. Good. And you're here because this is another chance for the Dark Order to take over, and you maybe think it can be done. I'm confident - I've brought some Dark wizards from America, and I'm quite a leader myself. I came here because I knew this was the best place to find support. I want to take control and make things how they should be! I want to take what should be ours. I know we can do this."
The crowd quietly absorbed the young man's exuberance, but didn't respond. Then, one old, masked wizard stepped forward to speak. With a pronounced lack of reverence, he demanded, "What makes you so sure of success? We failed last time, even though we had the most powerful Master ever known. How can you lead us to victory when he could not?"
Gesturing with both hands, as though used to having an audience, the American answered, "That's just it! I'm not going to lead you! I mean, I can be in charge, guide this mission, but we'll all work together. That's why you failed last time - you depended on the power of one instead of the power of the masses. You won't all be slaves to a master now. Now we are all equal."
He stepped back and found himself a place on the circle, between two other wizards. "Equal, just as we stand now. Our power combined is greater than that of any one sorcerer. We will call ourselves the Dark Circle. A circle which has no top and no bottom - we're all equally important. A circle, like a wheel which rolls on and on, unstoppable. We can do this, guys..." he pleaded, his voice vibrating with emotion. "...if you trust me."
The other wizards looked at one another hesitantly. Eventually, a nod came from the one who had first challenged the leader. This seemed to act as a seal of approval, and other former Death Eaters began to show their agreement too.
"Very well," said one of them. "We will do this thing. But we must be strong. What we have here today is not enough - In order to truly terrify our enemies, we must be huge in number and firm of purpose."
"The Ministries think we are defeated. They must learn that the Dark Order will never fail," affirmed another. "We will endure...as for our numbers, they will increase over time, as we recruit and as other wizards see the path to power and accept it...but as for showing that we are 'firm of purpose'... we can attend to that right now. Is anybody up for a little sport tonight?"
Malicious laughter echoed throughout the clearing. "Sure," the American answered. "And I think I saw a cabin full of Muggles a little over to the west... some kind of hunting party..."
"Hunters?" Laughed someone else. "Or hunted?" He conjured up a broomstick and mounted. "Let's go!"
Other broomsticks soon appeared, and the whole gathering took flight. The air was filled first with their laughter and jokes.
Then, all grew silent as they closed in.
And then, the peace and quiet of the night was shattered by a cacophony of agonized screaming...
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So there's part one. I'm sorry about any typos... this is my first try with html. Review and tell me what you think so far. I hope to have the next part up really soon. Sooner if more people review for me (hint, hint).
Thanks for reading.