Disclaimer: Surprise! I don't own any of the characters. That's why this is fan fiction and not original.
Summary: Harry has a living father?! If that isn't hard enough to absorb, what about the fact that it's Snape? May end up as a response to Severitus's Challenge. Sorry, no slash.
A/N: I think I might have a plot now. Sorry if this chapter is a bit more hesitant than the last, but I'm not quite sure what I'm doing now that there is actually a story line involved.
Truth Be ToldBy Witchmaster
Fortress FallsThe storm was building up around Harry as he searched frantically for the snitch, desperate to end the game. Lightening flashed around him, lighting up everything but that elusive golden ball. The turbulent air was nearly pushing Harry off his broom when he finally saw the snitch. Leaning forward, he dove for it, concentrating on nothing but that. Out of nowhere, a bludger appeared, outlined by the next flash of lightening. Caught off guard, Harry was knocked from his broom and, as he was fifty feet up, there was no chance of his surviving the fall. As he fell, however, the wind blew up stronger than before, and he was carried off into the building, black cloud.
Just before he entered, he felt a certain sense of cold dread build up to a crescendo. Then…nothing. At least, not at first. Slowly, whispers began to build up, until Harry could hear the exact words being said.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" "Wands out, d'you reckon?"" Cedric Diggory! Dead!"
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-"
" Somebody's coming."
" Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now…"
"Kill the spare."
The voices grew louder and louder, until Harry covered his ears to block out the noise as bad memories assaulted him over and over. Suddenly, the voices faded away and the cloud stopped moving with a bump. He looked up, surprised. He hadn't the cloud had been moving. He looked around as the cloud blew away until only a few wisps of mist hung around him. Harry found himself looking out over a grey, storm-tossed ocean. The sky was filled with iron-grey clouds and the rocky landscape was also a drab stone color. There was little plant life around, and what was there had long ago shriveled up and turned brown. An icy wind blew around the place, and even Harry's heavy Quidditch robes couldn't keep out the cold. He turned to see what was behind him, already expecting but still dreading what he would find. There, towering above him was an unfathomably large fortress, dark and forbidding against the sky. Harry felt as though he'd swallowed a bucket of ice upon seeing the infamous building towering above him, one whose name he knew without asking.
Azkaban.
Slowly, his gaze drifted to the front of the wizard prison, to a small group of beings. That was his thought, beings, for at least half the group was made of dementors. With a jolt, Harry realized the other half was Death Eaters. Unsure of what to do, he stood there, waiting to see how this scene would unfold. Lord Voldemort seemed to be quite unaffected by the power of the dementors, though his followers were shaking and staying as far away from them as they could without angering their lord. Suddenly, as one, both the Death Eaters and dementors bowed down, so only the Dark Lord was standing. Harry realized with a thrill of horror that the dementors had agreed to join the one who could give them more pleasure for their powers. As he watched all the Death Eaters stood and raised their wands, pointing them at the fortress. As one, all their voices cried an incantation. There was a blinding flash of light and the whole landscape seemed to glow with the sudden surge of magic. Then, complete and utter silence. Not a breeze blew and the sound of the ocean slapping against the unyielding stone was none existent. Everything down to the faint screams of those inside Azkaban, a sound Harry hadn't noticed until in was absent, was completely quiet.
Then, as suddenly as it had gone, the sound came rushing back. Except the despairing screams had turned into cries of relief as those still sane enough after years of imprisonment realized their cells had sprung open and the dementors had released their hold over the place. Witches and wizards accused of all crimes came flooding out of the freed prison. Some people were crying, or hugging each other, others were just standing there staring about in a sort of wide-eyed shock. Gradually, however, they came to notice the Death Eaters and the still bowing dementors in front of them. Or, moreover, to notice the tall wizard standing in front of both groups. The one most wizards considered to be the curse of all wizard kind was a savior to them. In unison, they bowed down, all murmuring. Even as far away as he was, Harry got the general idea of what was being said. They were indebted to him, all whispered. They would serve him forever. The Dark Lord had an army of wizards eager for revenge on their captors.
"NO!!" Harry screamed and was jolted awake by his own shout. His bed was soaked in sweat and he was shaking. He held his breath, praying his shout hadn't awakened the Dursleys. If it had, it certainly wouldn't be the first time that summer. He listened for any sound that might give any indication that a very angry uncle would soon be bursting through his bedroom door. No, fortunately. Otherwise, he'd probably spend the rest of the summer locked in the cupboard under the stairs.
Harry rolled out of bed and walked over to his desk, which was covered in rolls of parchment. He'd promised Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the summer that if he had any dreams concerning Voldemort that he'd write what the dream had meant and mail it to Dumbledore. He'd also promised to write exactly what had occurred in the dream in a book given to him for this purpose. It was this book he opened now and wrote what had been in the dream before he forgot. Then, he took out a piece of parchment and scribbled a note to Dumbledore.
Professor Dumbledore,
I had another dream tonight. Azkaban will fall to Voldemort. The dementors and all those sane enough to still use magic will join him. He'll have an army of followers, all bent on revenge against those who imprisoned them. Or, at least, that's what I thought in my dream.
Harry (a/n: That was in a different font. Sorry if it doesn't show up.)
Harry sat back and rubbed his forehead. Then, he reread the letter and walked over to where Hedwig was perched on top of his wardrobe.
" Hey, Hedwig," He whispered. She gave a soft hoot and turned her large, amber eyes on him. " I need you to take this to Professor Dumbledore. It's urgent." She fluttered down to his shoulder and held out her leg. " Thanks. And you can stay at Hogwarts. I'll be there in a couple days." She nipped his finger gently and flew out the open window.
Harry watched as she flew away with a kind of envy. Sometimes he wished he could fly away. There was always Quidditch at Hogwarts, but at the Dursley's, he was grounded, literally. This summer had been one of the worst. Dudley's diet wasn't working at all, so his cousin was constantly complaining. His uncle Vernon was having a hard time at work, and between her son's and husband's complaints, Aunt Petunia had been driven to near insanity. All this had climaxed last week when Dudley turned the table over because he didn't have enough breakfast. Aunt Petunia had finally lost her temper at him. Uncle Vernon had taken his son's side and much of the past month-and-a-half's tension had been put into the argument that followed. Harry had chosen that moment to make himself scarce and retreated to his room, but the argument shook the house for a long time after.
Finally, though, the summer was almost over. Two more days, he'd be back at Hogwarts. The Weasley's had agreed to pick Harry up and take him to King's Cross early on September 1st. Thankfully, they would be borrowing cars from the Ministry. Harry didn't think he would survive another summer if last year's incident was repeated.
As he stood there, thinking, a sudden wave of nausea over took him, and he grabbed the wardrobe for support. As he did, one of the wardrobe doors opened, and he found himself looking in the mirror. What he saw there was shocking.
His entire image was flickering, almost like a badly tuned television. Then, the flickering stopped, and, for a minute, he was no longer himself. Or, at least, not the self he normally saw when looking in the mirror. His scar was still there, but everything else except his eyes had changed, though even they were slightly darker than usual. His hair was still black, but now it hung past his shoulders, perfectly straight. He was taller, his skin was paler, his cheekbones were higher, absolutely everything "Harry" about him was changed. Then, his image flickered again, and he looked like himself again. He stared at the mirror, wondering if he'd imagined what he'd seen.
What was going on?
*****
What d'you think? Keep writing? Quit all together? Just click that little grey button, the one that says 'go' on it and tell me what you think. Feel free to ask questions if anything was unclear and I'll try to clear it up for you.
I still need to know if I should leave in the footnotes or not. I know there weren't any this chapter, but I have a vote in both directions.
Yay!! Reviews!! Thanks to:
Phoenix Flight- I wasn't bored and that wasn't that obvious. If only everyone would write reviews like that. I think I do have a plot now, even if that isn't visible yet. Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for the review.
Banaboo- Thanks for the review. Snape and Lily isn't really all that far-fetched. It's been done a lot. Thank you for saying mine is one of the best fics you've read. I'm touched * wipes away tear*.
izean- I agree that my Snape was a bit extreme, but I wanted to scare Lily badly enough so she would resort to marrying James to protect herself and her child. Thanks for your review!
bluebird161221- * Laughs * I guess I needed that reprimand. Thank you so much for saying you liked it and reviewing!
athena- I just hope you enjoy the rest of the story, too. You reviewed! Thanks!
CokeFreak- Here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
eris wannabe- With sugar on top? Thank you! You reviewed
ManicGrace- You like the footnotes, Phoenix Flight says lose them…* sighs * Guess they stay for now. Thank you for taking the time to review!!!
Hermione Weasley- * Smirks * And now I have 10. Hey, quit reading over my shoulder! * has a brief fight with younger sibling and wins * Siblings shouldn't be allowed on ff.net. Oh well, you reviewed!
jililes- Glad you liked it! And glad you took the time to review!
Another round of applause for all those who reviewed! Sorry this chapter is shorter than the last. The actual story in the last was nearly six pages. This one's barely four. This is Witchmaster, logging out. Goodnight!
---WM