Harry Potter and the New Beginning

Chapter 1
The First Beginning

Harry looked out of his bedroom window and stared at the night sky. He just couldn't sleep. Bad dreams had become part of his nightly ritual since his return to Number 4 Privet Drive. He sat down on a chair by the window. He crossed his arms on the window ledge, and rested his head on his arms. He sighed heavily. He looked at the clock, 5:00am. Where was Hedwig? He had sent her out with a letter to Sirius, but that had been more than a week ago. He knew that Sirius was at Hogwarts and it shouldn't take that long for her to return.
Harry looked at the clock again, 5:04am. If only he could get word from someone. Anyone. He hadn't even received any letters from Ron or Hermione all summer. His calendar showed that he still had 5 more weeks until he would go to Kings Cross and take the train back to Hogwarts. There had been absolutely no contact from anyone he knew in the wizarding world. He felt so cut off and alone.
As Harry stared out over the trees he began to think about being back at school. How were things going over there? Would school still continue now that Voldemort had returned? Were his friends and loved ones still alright? These questions and 1000 more had been on his mind all summer. He slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep at the window.
Once again he relived the night in the graveyard. Cedric on the ground dead, Wormtail, Voldemort, and the Death-Eaters. Again his arm being pierced by the dagger caused him to flinch in his sleep. Then came the blinding pain of the Crucatius Curse. Harry woke with a start. The sun was up. He turned to look at the clock again 7:12am. Well, he had gotten a couple of hours of sleep. It was better than nothing, he told himself.
Harry got up and stretched trying to remove a small cramp that had developed in his back from sitting on the chair. He had just finished getting dressed when Hedwig flew in through the open window. She landed on Harry's bed and hooted softly at Harry. He sat down next to her stroking her head. "Where have you been? I've been so worried." Harry said as he removed a small note from her leg.
Hedwig sat there looking up at Harry as he opened the note and began to read. " Harry, we're coming to get you today at 12:00 noon. Be in your bedroom and don't tell your Aunt or Uncle about this. Just make sure that you are ready at 12:00 noon exactly." There was no signature. It looked as though it has been written quickly so he couldn't tell whose writing it was.
"Great," Harry thought. "Now what?" As the letter told him not to mention this to his relatives, he started to plan how to get all of his things ready without them noticing. Harry listened carefully at his door. There wasn't a sound. He quickly emptied his dresser and pulled his school supplies out from the loose floor board.
The lock clicked as he opened his trunk. Harry stopped and listened again for any sound from downstairs. Quietly he placed all of his things in his trunk and closed the lid. Just as the lock snapped in place, he heard those thunderous footsteps climbing the stairs. He sat down at the window and was talking to Hedwig when the door flew open.
Uncle Vernon glared at him. He didn't look as though he had slept very well. He had dark circles under his eyes and seemed grumpier than usual. Harry got up and walked out of the bedroom and went down the stairs to the kitchen.
Aunt Petunia and Dudley were sitting at the table. Dudley stared as he always did but didn't say anything. Aunt Petunia glanced at him over her cup of coffee and nodded her head toward the stove. Harry saw the empty frying pan and went over to start making breakfast.
The silence had been constant since his return. No one had said one word to him. They would simply glare at him and point. It didn't take Harry long to understand that they weren't going to speak to him at all anymore. The only voices that Harry heard besides his own were the neighbors or the sound from the TV. Occasionally there was some mumbling coming from Uncle Vernon as he talked in whispers to Petunia and Dudley whenever Harry was around.
Harry knew that they had been completely informed of the events that had taken place at the Triwizard Tournament. They knew that he had been kidnapped, that Voldemort had tried to kill him and that another boy had died in the incident. But there had been no words of comfort or accusation. He was used to them ignoring him, but at least they would speak to him. There had been nothing.
Every morning Harry would find a list of carefully detailed chores for him to do. It was always sitting on the table where he would sit to eat. He glanced over at the table as he broke the eggs into the frying pan, the list was there. How he wished that he could go back to the Burrow.
As Harry was buttering the toast, he was thinking of a way to be able to get back to his bedroom at noon without causing any suspicion. One big problem was that it was a Saturday and Uncle Vernon did not have to go to work today. That meant that he would be home and watching Harry like a hawk all day.
Maybe he could say that he wasn't feeling good and would ask to lie down for a while instead of eating lunch. Yes, that would work. Harry slid the eggs onto plates and brought them over to the table. As he sat down and bit into his toast, he scanned his list of chores for the day.
Morning dishes, mop & wax the kitchen floor, weed the flower beds, (he had just done that 2 days ago), scrape the garage door, paint the garage door, fix the torn screen in Dudley's bedroom (he tore it yesterday during a tantrum) and hose down the gutters. And this was just for the morning. The list for the afternoon was twice as long. Harry groaned as he looked over the list. Uncle Vernon looked up and glared at him. Harry stayed silent and kept on eating.
The morning was going along without incident. Harry was busy in the garden pulling the few blades of grass that had just begun to poke up through the flowers. This was his last chore before lunch time and he was curious as to what time it was. He stepped into the flower bed to peek through the window to see the clock on the kitchen wall. It read 11:56. A rush of panic ran through Harry. What if the clock was off? What if he was late? He turned to the door, wiped his feet on the rug and entered the kitchen.
He was about to ask his Aunt if he could go lay down when a commotion started upstairs. Hedwig was hooting, screeching and rattling her cage. The noise was so loud Harry thought that she was in the next room. Uncle Vernon came bounding into the kitchen with his face as purple as a plum. He didn't say a word, but Harry knew better than to stick around. He ran up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Upon seeing Harry, she calmed instantly and hooted gently to him. Harry heard a definite loud 'POP' behind him. He turned and saw Professors McGonagall and Snape standing there. Professor McGonagall twirled her wand at Harry's trunk, shrinking it to the size of a deck of cards. "Is that everything?" she asked. Harry nodded.
Professor Snape picked up the small trunk and placed it in his robe pocket. "Come over here Potter," he said to Harry as he extended his hand to him. Harry picked up Hedwig's cage and walked over to them. They both placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and instantly Harry felt his feet leave the ground. He saw nothing for a few seconds and then he felt his feet touch the ground again. He was in the main entrance at Hogwarts.
"That's one smart owl you've got there, Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "She knew exactly how to get you where you needed to be." Harry set Hedwig's cage on the floor. Sirius came rushing up to them and pulled Harry into a bear hug that he gladly returned. "How have you been?" asked Sirius. Harry pulled away and looked at him. "I've been pretty lousy. I was so worried about all of you. I haven't heard from anyone since I left." Harry was looking distraught. "What's been going on? And just how were we able to apparate directly into Hogwarts? That's supposed to be impossible," he said as he looked around.
Sirius placed his hand on Harry's back and led him towards the closed doors of the Great Hall. "There have been a lot of changes going on here Harry," Sirius said as he pushed open the double doors. It was totally black inside. Not one candle was lit. Harry took two steps inside and looked around. The enchanted ceiling didn't reflect the outside sky either. He turned around to look at his Godfather just in time to see the doors close. Harry was left in total darkness without his wand.