It was a quiet night on a quiet street in a little town in England. From the houses on the street sounds from various television programs drifted out into the warm summer night. All along the lane lights flickered off as Mums and Dads put their children to bed and said their goodnights before retiring themselves.

Eventually the only light remaining came from a small window on the second floor of Number 4 Privet Drive. Inside this window sat a rather tired looking young man surrounded by all sorts of strange objects. In his hand he held a quill poised over a roll pf prachment. To his left a book sat opened to a page with a moving picture of a person turning into a lion and then back into human form. To his right a white owl sat perched on a bedside table hooting softly and watching the figure on the bed through hooded eyes.

The young man sighed deeply turning his head from the parchment to the book and frowned thoughtfully. He leafed through the book stopping a few pages ahead of where he had jsut been and then resumed his writing. For a long while he alternated between leafing through the book and adding to the roll of parchment. Finally he reached the end of the rool and he laid his quill down and a smile of satisfaction dawned on his face.

About bloody time i finished this essay. he muttered getting up and gathering the quill, parchment and book in his hands. He walked across the room and knelt down beside a rather large trunk that stood open and seemed to be overflowing with more strange items. He shoved the objects in his hand in the trunk before shoving the top closed with a grunt.

He snapped his mouth shut rather quicly and looked towards the door in apprehension. A faint snore could be heard just barely and the apprehension faded from his face. He sighed in relief and quietly crept back to the his bed, slipping underneath the the covers. He leaned over to the bedside table and deposited his glasses next to a small pile of evenvelopes and the turned off the lights. Within minutes he was fast asleep.

The house was dark and quiet, the only sound came from the wind rustling through the trees. Silenty and suddenly a cirlce of dark hooded figures appeared around the house. A trio of the hooded figures made their way to the door, the one in the lead muttered a spell and the door swung open.

Half of the hooded figures filed silently into the house leaving the rest to stand watch. They took up positions at each of the four corners of the house, with a small cluster in the very front.

Inside the house the figures moved like shadows up the stairs to the small room at the top. The leader pushed the door and it swung open into pitch blackness.

murmured one of the three and the room was suddenly bathed in a blue glow.

The figure in front smirked in satsifaction as he pushed back his hood to reveal long blonde hair. He turned to the other two and nodded as he raised his own wand. In the middle of this the figure on the bed stirred and sat up straight. The woman looked at the trio with terrefied eyes as she grasped the bedclothes to her chest.

The smirk on the blonde mans face appeared to grow more sinister. His eyes danced as he aimed his wand directly at her. His shout filled the room.

Avada Kedarva!

The room flashed in a brillant green llight and then all was black once more.

The trio filed back out of the house, hoods securely in place once more. One of the three raised his wand high into the sky and oonce again brillant green shot out. This time it hovered above the house in the form of the Dark mark. By the time it was in place all the figures had vanished.

Barely a block away Harry Potter sat straight in in bed clutching at his forehead and moaning in pain. He turnedd to the window and a silent tear trickled down his face.

Professor Figg he whispered hoarsely unable to tear his eyes from the green light that was just barely visible over the tops of the houses.

What a horrible start to his seventh year was his last conscious thought as the pain became too unbearable and he sank into darkness.