Disclaimer: I did not create most of the characters in this story. That
honor goes to J.K. Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books. So, I do not
own these characters except for the few that I created. If you have read
all the Harry Potter books, you will know what ones I have created.
This is my first fan-fic, and I did not proofread it although I probably should have. I know it doesn't have too much of Harry Potter in it at the moment, but it will in the following chapters. I feel that this chapter is necessary for the later chapters to make sense.
Times Are Getter Darker
Chapter One: The Warnings A black dog was running. To some it appeared that it had a definite place to go, but not like going home. It seemed that the dog was going somewhere else. However, these people dismissed their notions because dogs weren't that intelligent. Sure, many of them could pick up on a few words of English (sit, stay, lay down, be quiet), but the only places that dogs went with it in their minds were their homes, but the black dog was no ordinary dog; many people-wizards and Muggles-alike did not know it, but this dog was actually Sirius Black on an extremely important mission. He was an unregistered, and therefore illegal, Animagus, and the only people that knew he was one were Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwart's; Ron Weasley, a student of Hogwart's; Hermione Granger, another student at the same school; Harry Potter, another student at the school, a friend of Hermione and Ron, and Black's godson; Molly Weasley, Ron's mother and apparently a friend of Albus Dumbledore; Remus Lupin, one of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwart's, a werewolf, and a friend of Black's; Peter Pettigrew a.k.a. Wormtail, a former friend of Black and Lupin, and Pettigrew was the one that framed Black for a horrendous crime; possibly Voldemort, the Dark Lord, and the murderer of Harry's parents if Pettigrew told Voldemort that Black was an Animagus. Shortly after the death of Harry's parents, Pettigrew had approached Black, in a crowded area, cut off his own finger, yelled, "Lily and James! How could you, Sirius!" very loud, and "blew the street up," killing twelve Muggles in the process, transformed into a rat-Pettigrew was also an illegal Animagus, and hid in the sewers for some time, until he managed to become a pet of Percy Weasley who named him Scabbers and then gave him to his youngest brother, Ron. Shortly after Pettigrew murdered twelve Muggles and faked his death-the first time (he had also faked his death as Scabbers, making sure the evidence pointed to Hermione's cat, Crookshanks)- Cornelius Fudge showed up and Black was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent for jail for murdering thirteen people: Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles that Pettigrew had murdered. Black had managed to escape and was not caught since. Dumbledore had ordered Black to alert "Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg.the old crowd" So he had alerted two people already, and was on his way to Lupin's home. "Lie low at Lupin's for a while. I will contact you there," Dumbledore had said. 'Ah, finally, I've reached Lupin's,' thought Black, then he heard the noise, 'But what's that noise? Is tonight a full moon? Oh no! It is! Lupin probably won't be able to let me into his house in that state even though he's no harm to me as long as I'm in my canine state.' After several minutes of thinking, Black decided to go into the back yard and sleep there until morning. ****** 'Arabella Figg!?' Harry thought, waking up suddenly in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure where he had heard the name "Figg" before until now, when he remembered that the Dursleys had often left him with a Mrs. Figg whenever they decided to do something fun. But then, he dismissed that notion, seeing as how Mrs. Figg always looked like a Muggle.many wizards and witches were lacking in that quality. After struggling to get to sleep for half an hour, Harry finally succeeded. ****** "Woof! Woof!" Lupin heard a dog barking somewhere. 'That bark sounds strangely familiar to me,' he thought. 'Of course! It's Sirius! How could I have not known about that bark!.' He went to the door and opened it, and Black ran in. Lupin immediately closed the door, and Black transformed back into his human self. "Why are you here?" asked Lupin. "To alert you of the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." "What?!" "He has returned. Dumbledore told me to alert you, Arabella Figg, .--the old crowd. I've only alerted you, Arabella, and .. I still need to alert the rest of the old crowd. But Dumbledore has told me to lie low here, and he'll contact me here. "Well, I could alert the other people. After all, this is serious. We need international cooperation." "I know that. Warn Patrick McHenry. He's the Superintendent of the McMillen Schools of Magic in the United States, and I've heard that he has great influence on their government-both Muggle and Wizard. He's also one of the American Wizards that helped bring down You-Know-Who. Nobody but himself is quite sure how he got here, but they sure are glad." "I know that! I'll warn him though, but my question would be what would Albus want me to do?" "I'm not sure about that, but I'm assuming he'll tell us when he contacts me." ******
Lupin had planned to contact Patrick McHenry using the fire-place method as soon as it was noon, so he wouldn't disturb McHenry in his sleep. This, however, slipped his mind while he was sending owls out to warn the rest of "The Old Crowd" as Dumbledore had put it. So when he woke at six the next morning, he decided to contact him-forgetting about the five hour time difference. (Patrick McHenry lived in the United States Eastern Time Zone) 'Shoot,' Lupin thought, 'I forgot about the time difference! Well, I might as warn him now.' "Wake up, Patrick," he said. "Five more minutes, please," mumbled Patrick McHenry "It's very important that you wake up now, Patrick." "Please, just FIVE more minutes." "PATRICK, WAKE UP!" shouted Remus Lupin. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up," McHenry said. "What do you want at one o'clock in the morning? And who are you?" "I'm Remus Lupin, a friend of Sirius Black-," Lupin started to say, but McHenry interrupted him. "Sirius Black?! Didn't he help He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kill Harry Potter's parents?! And didn't he kill thirteen people with one curse?!" "No, he was framed, and will you please let me finish my sentences?" "Okay, go on." "I am Remus Lupin, a friend of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore's-," "Albus Dumbledore!? Tell me, how do I know this is-," "I thought you weren't going to interrupt me." "Sorry." "Well, as I was saying, I am a friend of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore's. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. Albus entrusted Sirius to alert the old crowd, which he and I have done. You're probably the last to find out. We need to figure out the plan, but the trouble is, not all of us are sure what Albus's plan is so far, or our roles." "Okay, how do I know this isn't a trick?" asked Patrick McHenry. "Well, you could contact Albus himself." "I think I will do just that. My Assistant Superintendent is the one that actually sends out the letters, and I've already got the list of students I've decided to accept to the McMillen Schools of Magic, and there are plenty of owls-most of the time there's extra owls." "One question, will you be able to find this house if Dumbledore tells you too?" "Of course, I have a knack for it." "Well, I hope I'll see you soon." "If you're lying about HIS return, I will be extremely mad at you," Patrick McHenry said. He needn't elaborate about the person that he meant by "HIS," for they all knew that it was Voldemort. Patrick had decided to set out immediately-even if he had only gotten two hours of sleep. He had a feeling that this day would come, but he always thought that there would be no warning, or that the warning would come directly from Albus Dumbledore himself. However, Patrick had been feeling that something was wrong, very wrong-it seemed to him that things were getting darker, so he decided to heed this warning seriously. He couldn't risk Muggle transportation-he didn't want to be unnecessarily delayed. He couldn't apparate because he never bothered to learn how to, and he didn't want to use Floo Powder. It was all too often that he ended up in the wrong place. So the one answer, would be to travel in his owl form-he was an Animagus, registered with the Department Of Animagi of his home state, and thus, with the United States Government of Magic-all three branches, but the United States had given the option to all Animagi to withhold the information from other governments in case of an emergency. He went to the nearest Owlery, where his friend Michael Smith, worked. ******
"Ah, Patrick, what brings you here?" asked Michael. "A warning about the Dark Lord-supposedly from Albus Dumbledore, indirectly." "Th-Th-The D-D-Dark L-L-Lord?" stuttered Michael. "Yes, Michael. Well, I've written a letter to Dumbledore to see if the warning is true; as much as I dislike to admit, I think it's true. I need you to tie it to my leg when I transfigure into an owl." "O-O-Okay." At that moment, Patrick transfigured into an owl. After the transformation was complete, Michael tied the letter onto Patrick's leg, and Patrick set off in search of none other than Albus Dumbledore, himself. 'Why is that whenever he comes here, it concerns HIM? Why? Why doesn't he come here, when he's delivery some of the letters accepting students into the McMillen Schools of Magic?' thought Michael when Patrick had left. He had an all-too-terrible memory of the American Death Eaters- they had killed all his family, killed his son, killed his wife, and had attempted to kill him. His mother, father, and wife were Muggles, making him a Muggle-born and his son was half wizard (although his father was Muggle born) and half Muggle. When Matthew Allen had found out that Michael's life was in danger, he decided to make a polyjuice potion, and have Michael either be covered by an invisibility cloak or in the form of a hamster, for Michael was also an Animagi albeit an unregistered one. The plan worked, but at the cost of Matthew's life. He felt that he was responsible for Matthew's life, and so he always felt in debt to the Allens much like Harry Potter, the boy who lived, felt that he was responsible for Cedric Diggory's death and in debt to the Diggorys.
This is my first fan-fic, and I did not proofread it although I probably should have. I know it doesn't have too much of Harry Potter in it at the moment, but it will in the following chapters. I feel that this chapter is necessary for the later chapters to make sense.
Times Are Getter Darker
Chapter One: The Warnings A black dog was running. To some it appeared that it had a definite place to go, but not like going home. It seemed that the dog was going somewhere else. However, these people dismissed their notions because dogs weren't that intelligent. Sure, many of them could pick up on a few words of English (sit, stay, lay down, be quiet), but the only places that dogs went with it in their minds were their homes, but the black dog was no ordinary dog; many people-wizards and Muggles-alike did not know it, but this dog was actually Sirius Black on an extremely important mission. He was an unregistered, and therefore illegal, Animagus, and the only people that knew he was one were Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwart's; Ron Weasley, a student of Hogwart's; Hermione Granger, another student at the same school; Harry Potter, another student at the school, a friend of Hermione and Ron, and Black's godson; Molly Weasley, Ron's mother and apparently a friend of Albus Dumbledore; Remus Lupin, one of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwart's, a werewolf, and a friend of Black's; Peter Pettigrew a.k.a. Wormtail, a former friend of Black and Lupin, and Pettigrew was the one that framed Black for a horrendous crime; possibly Voldemort, the Dark Lord, and the murderer of Harry's parents if Pettigrew told Voldemort that Black was an Animagus. Shortly after the death of Harry's parents, Pettigrew had approached Black, in a crowded area, cut off his own finger, yelled, "Lily and James! How could you, Sirius!" very loud, and "blew the street up," killing twelve Muggles in the process, transformed into a rat-Pettigrew was also an illegal Animagus, and hid in the sewers for some time, until he managed to become a pet of Percy Weasley who named him Scabbers and then gave him to his youngest brother, Ron. Shortly after Pettigrew murdered twelve Muggles and faked his death-the first time (he had also faked his death as Scabbers, making sure the evidence pointed to Hermione's cat, Crookshanks)- Cornelius Fudge showed up and Black was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent for jail for murdering thirteen people: Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles that Pettigrew had murdered. Black had managed to escape and was not caught since. Dumbledore had ordered Black to alert "Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg.the old crowd" So he had alerted two people already, and was on his way to Lupin's home. "Lie low at Lupin's for a while. I will contact you there," Dumbledore had said. 'Ah, finally, I've reached Lupin's,' thought Black, then he heard the noise, 'But what's that noise? Is tonight a full moon? Oh no! It is! Lupin probably won't be able to let me into his house in that state even though he's no harm to me as long as I'm in my canine state.' After several minutes of thinking, Black decided to go into the back yard and sleep there until morning. ****** 'Arabella Figg!?' Harry thought, waking up suddenly in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure where he had heard the name "Figg" before until now, when he remembered that the Dursleys had often left him with a Mrs. Figg whenever they decided to do something fun. But then, he dismissed that notion, seeing as how Mrs. Figg always looked like a Muggle.many wizards and witches were lacking in that quality. After struggling to get to sleep for half an hour, Harry finally succeeded. ****** "Woof! Woof!" Lupin heard a dog barking somewhere. 'That bark sounds strangely familiar to me,' he thought. 'Of course! It's Sirius! How could I have not known about that bark!.' He went to the door and opened it, and Black ran in. Lupin immediately closed the door, and Black transformed back into his human self. "Why are you here?" asked Lupin. "To alert you of the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." "What?!" "He has returned. Dumbledore told me to alert you, Arabella Figg, .--the old crowd. I've only alerted you, Arabella, and .. I still need to alert the rest of the old crowd. But Dumbledore has told me to lie low here, and he'll contact me here. "Well, I could alert the other people. After all, this is serious. We need international cooperation." "I know that. Warn Patrick McHenry. He's the Superintendent of the McMillen Schools of Magic in the United States, and I've heard that he has great influence on their government-both Muggle and Wizard. He's also one of the American Wizards that helped bring down You-Know-Who. Nobody but himself is quite sure how he got here, but they sure are glad." "I know that! I'll warn him though, but my question would be what would Albus want me to do?" "I'm not sure about that, but I'm assuming he'll tell us when he contacts me." ******
Lupin had planned to contact Patrick McHenry using the fire-place method as soon as it was noon, so he wouldn't disturb McHenry in his sleep. This, however, slipped his mind while he was sending owls out to warn the rest of "The Old Crowd" as Dumbledore had put it. So when he woke at six the next morning, he decided to contact him-forgetting about the five hour time difference. (Patrick McHenry lived in the United States Eastern Time Zone) 'Shoot,' Lupin thought, 'I forgot about the time difference! Well, I might as warn him now.' "Wake up, Patrick," he said. "Five more minutes, please," mumbled Patrick McHenry "It's very important that you wake up now, Patrick." "Please, just FIVE more minutes." "PATRICK, WAKE UP!" shouted Remus Lupin. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up," McHenry said. "What do you want at one o'clock in the morning? And who are you?" "I'm Remus Lupin, a friend of Sirius Black-," Lupin started to say, but McHenry interrupted him. "Sirius Black?! Didn't he help He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kill Harry Potter's parents?! And didn't he kill thirteen people with one curse?!" "No, he was framed, and will you please let me finish my sentences?" "Okay, go on." "I am Remus Lupin, a friend of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore's-," "Albus Dumbledore!? Tell me, how do I know this is-," "I thought you weren't going to interrupt me." "Sorry." "Well, as I was saying, I am a friend of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore's. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. Albus entrusted Sirius to alert the old crowd, which he and I have done. You're probably the last to find out. We need to figure out the plan, but the trouble is, not all of us are sure what Albus's plan is so far, or our roles." "Okay, how do I know this isn't a trick?" asked Patrick McHenry. "Well, you could contact Albus himself." "I think I will do just that. My Assistant Superintendent is the one that actually sends out the letters, and I've already got the list of students I've decided to accept to the McMillen Schools of Magic, and there are plenty of owls-most of the time there's extra owls." "One question, will you be able to find this house if Dumbledore tells you too?" "Of course, I have a knack for it." "Well, I hope I'll see you soon." "If you're lying about HIS return, I will be extremely mad at you," Patrick McHenry said. He needn't elaborate about the person that he meant by "HIS," for they all knew that it was Voldemort. Patrick had decided to set out immediately-even if he had only gotten two hours of sleep. He had a feeling that this day would come, but he always thought that there would be no warning, or that the warning would come directly from Albus Dumbledore himself. However, Patrick had been feeling that something was wrong, very wrong-it seemed to him that things were getting darker, so he decided to heed this warning seriously. He couldn't risk Muggle transportation-he didn't want to be unnecessarily delayed. He couldn't apparate because he never bothered to learn how to, and he didn't want to use Floo Powder. It was all too often that he ended up in the wrong place. So the one answer, would be to travel in his owl form-he was an Animagus, registered with the Department Of Animagi of his home state, and thus, with the United States Government of Magic-all three branches, but the United States had given the option to all Animagi to withhold the information from other governments in case of an emergency. He went to the nearest Owlery, where his friend Michael Smith, worked. ******
"Ah, Patrick, what brings you here?" asked Michael. "A warning about the Dark Lord-supposedly from Albus Dumbledore, indirectly." "Th-Th-The D-D-Dark L-L-Lord?" stuttered Michael. "Yes, Michael. Well, I've written a letter to Dumbledore to see if the warning is true; as much as I dislike to admit, I think it's true. I need you to tie it to my leg when I transfigure into an owl." "O-O-Okay." At that moment, Patrick transfigured into an owl. After the transformation was complete, Michael tied the letter onto Patrick's leg, and Patrick set off in search of none other than Albus Dumbledore, himself. 'Why is that whenever he comes here, it concerns HIM? Why? Why doesn't he come here, when he's delivery some of the letters accepting students into the McMillen Schools of Magic?' thought Michael when Patrick had left. He had an all-too-terrible memory of the American Death Eaters- they had killed all his family, killed his son, killed his wife, and had attempted to kill him. His mother, father, and wife were Muggles, making him a Muggle-born and his son was half wizard (although his father was Muggle born) and half Muggle. When Matthew Allen had found out that Michael's life was in danger, he decided to make a polyjuice potion, and have Michael either be covered by an invisibility cloak or in the form of a hamster, for Michael was also an Animagi albeit an unregistered one. The plan worked, but at the cost of Matthew's life. He felt that he was responsible for Matthew's life, and so he always felt in debt to the Allens much like Harry Potter, the boy who lived, felt that he was responsible for Cedric Diggory's death and in debt to the Diggorys.