Another boring section. I promise it will get more exciting once some basic details are explained. By the way, for more Harry Potter fan fiction fun, check out my friend, Aurora's fan fics. Her pen name is Aurora. :) ~N. Skylarks

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in the books, J.K. Rowling does. Please help me reserve Natali Jo RBD and Devera V. Frost, please. Thank you.

~CHAPTER ONE. The White Dementor (2)~

Even more curious than before, Harry used the napkin to wipe his glasses…clean. Harry observed the strange owl some more. It was a huge eagle owl, usually not used for delivering standard mail, only important and confidential mail. As he observed some more, Harry realized that on the top of the owl's chest lay an imprint of what seemed like an intricate design of a star with a heart in the middle, but it was not clear. Taking one last glance at the eagle owl, he looked down and started reading Hermione's letter.

Dear Harry,

I wish you a very happy birthday. I am currently staying at Ron's until the start of the school semester. He has told me how the Ministry is letting you stay over. I don't know how fast his letter has come, but I shall come with him to pick you up on Thursday. I hope you've been studying very hard over the summer. This year's curriculum is one of the hardest I've ever found. I hope I don't fall too far behind. Just a few weeks ago, I met up with Snuffles as he was making his way due north. He could not talk for long, but he sends his wishes to you. I am afraid we won't be able to see him until much later. Do not be sad. The You-Know-Who business is, after all, taking over many people's time and effort. As for your birthday gift, he was the one who told me of the store where I could find this. It's a Broomstick Charm Remover. Just clip it onto your broom and it deflects all charms set upon it while in air. I thought it was quite thoughtful of Snuffles to help me find such a thing. With all the You-Know-Who business, I believe it shall come in useful in your Quidditch games. After all, Dumbledore will not let you play without it. Best wishes.

Hermione

Harry got excited. Dumbledore was hinting about not having him on the Quidditch team because of the many precautions that must be made. He took out the device and examined it. Now with this little trinket, he knew that nothing was going to go wrong.

Safely tucking the Charm Remover in his pillowcase, Harry once again turned his head toward the eagle owl. Cocking its head, it spread its wings and took flight, dropped a letter on Harry's lap, and soared out the window, its wings a gigantic silhouette against the moonlight. Harry was almost blown onto the floor with the wind produced by the owl's massive wings. Impressed by its power, he stood by the window, watching the eagle owl slowly diminish into the night sky. Heart somehow calmed, Harry looked at his letter. It was, as he had thought, sent from Dumbledore.

Dear Harry,

The Ministry has been quiet lately. There has been not many reports on Voldemort and his followers, but I fear this bad news. Something is obviously going on and I don't like it. We have no clue what this might be, but one person in the Ministry, though no one agreed with her except me, reckons they are heading your way. I advise you to keep on the lookout for any suspicions. Do not trust strangers so easily, whether they appear good or bad, and take close watch of those you do know. It might be a trap. Remember, at this time, the only person you can truly trust is yourself; please be careful with others, including me. Other than that, I believe things are doing quite well for the start of the school year. Nothing will be preventing you from attending Hogwarts this year and we are looking forward for another great year.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry's heart tensed again. So, Voldemort was up to something. Harry agreed with Dumbledore. Any precautions should be taken, but what did he mean by "please be careful with others, including me?" Even though this letter reported nothing going on with Voldemort's followers, it did, indeed have the most warning of all the letters combined. If Dumbledore believed that the Death Eaters were coming his way, Harry was on the lookout. Still, they couldn't be that bad, right? Harry had escaped Voldemort not once now, but four times, each just as fatal as the next, and even though he had almost died all four times, wasn't he alive and healthy right now? Suddenly, he remembered something from three years ago. The schoolboy form of Voldemort, three years ago, deep in the Chamber of Secrets, had told him that the only reason he had ever survived the Dark Lord was his mother's love. Now, Voldemort had risen again, with the blood of Harry himself, with some of his mother's own love. Harry could remember just the end of the last school year. Voldemort had touched him without wincing. His mother's love did not protect him any longer. Still, Harry remembered, he was still saved from Voldemort. True, the ghost of his mother had come back to tell him the way to transport back to Hogwarts, but it was Harry himself who conjured up the Priori Incantantatem, wasn't it?

Harry thought again. Voldemort coming his way was perhaps the reason why Harry was to go to Ron's. He couldn't stay under the protection of Muggles anymore; he needed real wizard protection. Harry thought back to the eagle owl. Eagle owls were only used for special mail. Any letter sent by an eagle owl was bound to get to the right owner no matter what charm was afflicted onto it. The eagle owl was an owl with the strength of a lion, the agility of an owl, and a little bit of magic in it to deflect charms, such as house elves. Dumbledore really had meant for the letter to be important.

Harry climbed into bed still thinking of Dumbledore's letter and the strange owl. Where had he seen the owl before? Harry slowly drifted off to sleep, but his last thoughts were not of the owl or the letter, but of the great days that lay ahead of him once Thursday rolled near.

~~~~~~~

A/N: The next section will be once again boring. I promise it will get better though! Harry tells the Dursleys of his stay and Ron and Hermione come to pick Harry up. I don't know if this telling of what's going to happen in the next section is too good. Oh well. It's fine for now.