Book 1 - Harry Potter And The Dawn Of Chaos
Chapter 2 - The letters that changed everything.
Ron Weasley, a young red headed boy with bright blue eyes was far too excited to sleep, he had been too excited to sleep all week and in all honesty he was beginning to get really rather tired. However that didn't matter today as it was the day that he would be getting his Hogwarts letter, maybe, Ron thought to himself the day he might be getting his Hogwarts letter but that still didn't stop the excitement for building, he guessed that every child who knew about Hogwarts would be unable to sleep. Hogwarts was the oldest magical school in Britain and without a doubt the best, it only accepted those witches and wizards who had the most potential for excelling in the magical world, Merlin what was the time, surely he could go downstairs, Ron's mother Molly Weasley, who was a short plump women with a kind face and bright red hair, which could be one place Ron had inherited his own bright red hair, had told him that he wasn't allowed downstair till after 8 and that if she caught him down there any earlier she would make him wait a whole day before letting him open the letter.
He had spent the morning since waking up pacing around his room; it was lucky that both Bill who had moved out years before and Charlie who had gotten an apprenticeship straight out of Hogwarts so had gotten to immediately move out since Ron would have driven anyone who was in the room this morning would have been driven out of there mind. He had played a few games of wizard chess against himself, something he had gotten rather good at since his brothers now all refused to play with him because he could beat all of them without much challenge, this was one of the few things that Ron was better than his family at, ever since his late grandfather had introduced him to the game Ron had become obsessed. He spent hours playing with his grandfather and upon his grandfathers passing the young Weasley had been gifted his old chess board and pieces.
After much internal deliberation Ron decided he had waited long enough and got up, running as fast as he could down the rickety stairs of the old burrow and barging into the kitchen to find his mother sat there, like she had been expecting him,
"Well I am impressed dear" she said, chuckling as she spoke " you lasted a lot longer than either of your brothers did, I mean it is almost half seven"
"Please don't make me wait mum" he begged, trying to sound as sorry as possible
"Oh, dear I was never going to do that, did you really think that any of your brothers waited, every year I tried but not a single one of you could do it" she sighed dramatically a smile on her face
"Soooo has it come yet"
"No dear, the post doesn't arrive till 9, Hogwarts is no exception"
Ron couldn't stop the disappointment from showing on his face, he was going to have to wait ages, he was going to have to think of something to do until then "Mum is breakfast ready" Molly turned towards her eldest son and shook her head before telling him it was and with a flick of her wand everything she had spent the morning making began to fly onto the table, at this Ron's eyes widened and he ran for the food, grabbing a plate and piling as much on as he could, Molly sat at the end of the table and joined him in the feast.
Percy was the next Weasley to come downstairs, he had already washed and dressed himself and came to sit next to his mother, "Ron could you at least remember to breath, you are going to choke otherwise" his voice not at all hiding this disgust towards his younger brothers actions, before Ron could snap back some witty reply he began to choke on the latest piece of toast he had stuffed into his mouth, Ron's relationship with Percy was complicated, when they were younger they used to get on great, in fact Ron's used to be closer to Percy than anyone else, however after Percy's second year at Hogwarts he started to focus more and more of his school work and didn't spend as much time with Ron anymore, Ron was a little hurt by this but tried not to blame Percy, after all he should be happy for his family and support them no matter what.
The next Weasley to descend the stairs was Ginny, whose messy hair and dishevelled pyjamas told everyone that she has just woken up and had immediately come downstairs, walking over and kissing Molly on the cheek Ginny took her seat next to Ron, being not only his only younger sibling but his only sister he had always tried to be protective of the little Ginevra, who had in no way asked or appreciated his protectiveness,
"Has the Hogwarts letters come yet." Though her reason for asking was not solely to do with wanting to know about her family, Ron felt a little bit of annoyance that on the day he was getting his letter she only wanted to know so she could ask him to find Harry Potter
"Have not has my dear and no they haven't." Molly answered
"Oh okay." Ginny then proceeded to try and catch up with Ron who had already half emptied his plate.
The Twins came down next, Ron immediately tensed, the twins meant no harm, and in fact were the ones who on many occasions looked out for him, but often their pranks went wrong and he had been on the receiving end of those sorts of pranks too many times for him to relax in their presence, he still had nightmares about the spider incident and had forever been deeply afraid of the creatures.
"Hello little brother, excited for your big day." Fred or Gorge asked
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep one bit last night, I was far too excited."
The other twin chuckled.
"Yeah, neither of us could either, how did you do on mum's little game." At this point Molly filled them in on how well he had done, "Wow, we didn't make it to 7, well done mate."
Percy tried to tell them that Ron shouldn't be praised for failing to follow the rules but the twins shut him up quickly by reminding him that he didn't even make it too five and in fact was downstairs earlier than their mum was, which was an achievement not a single one of the children had ever been able to repeat it, it was creepy how there mother seemed to always be there before them, Rons laughed filled the room along with the laughter of the other Weasley kids.
Arthur Weasley was the last to come downstairs, to the shock of none of his children, they had all gotten used to their dad's inability to wake up on time for anything, their mother always said it was because of the late nights he had worked, "Hi, Kids." His voice filled with the usual cheer that he greeted the morning with, "Everyone excited for the big day."
A loud chorus of agreements made him smile as he walked over to his wife, kissing her on the head and sitting down to eat, Rons looked up at the clock on the wall, the one next to magical one, he only had to wait 10 more minutes, the excitement was too much and he had to stop eating, this early end to his feasting was met with a small chuckle from his father and excitement for Ginny who preceded to steal his leftovers, nothing was wasted at the Burrow, they couldn't afford to waste anything. The conversation in the room was pretty normal, Percy was asking Arther about how things were at the ministry, Fred and Gorge were planning the pranks for there return to Hogwarts and Molly and Ginny were talking about the plans for when the boys were away, Ron however hadn't moved his eyes away from the clock, ten minutes became five, five became two and two become zero.
CRASH
A loud sounds caused all of the Weasley children to turn their attention to the window where there old mail owl, Errol, had just slammed into the unopened one, however Ron didn't care as another owl flew through it and landed in the middle of the table, unlike Errol who resembled a moulting feather duster this owl was perfectly presented, it didn't have a single one of it's brown elegant feathers out of place, quickly before any of the kids could react, Arthur grabbed the letters attached to the owl, which flew away quickly, and began to hand them out.
He gave Percy his first, since getting his fourth year exams results, as he opened it a metal pin with a large P on it fell out.
"Oh Merlin, he's going to be insufferable." The twins groaned, they had been the first to notice. A loud scream of joy caused all the Weasley children to flinch as their mother threw herself at Percy, enveloping him in a great hug. After a few minutes she let him go and their dad gave him a smaller but just as proud hug. The rest of the family followed with different congratulations, with the twins helpful commenting how they hoped he would give them a special allowance for being their brother. The glare they received in response was enough for them to get the message. If the Weasley twins wanted to keep to their pranking ways then they needed to keep everything hidden from Percy.
Ron couldn't deny the fact that while he was happy for his elder brother, he really wished his dad would keep handing out those letters. Ron couldn't even see how many were left. Was it three, was it four. He didn't know. The anticipation was killing him. Fred and George were given theirs next, nothing interesting happened with theirs and much to Ron's annoyance his dad now had his hands behind his back, blocking Ron's view of whatever he held. If it wasn't a Hogwarts letter then this was a very cruel game for him to play.
"And to my youngest son I am happy to present you with this, your very own Hogwarts acceptance letter." Arthur dramatically bowed as he held out the letter. Ron sat frozen for a few seconds. Not daring to move less he accidentally wakes himself from the dream he must be having.
"I got in." The disbelief in Ron's voice was clear, as he held the envelope in his hands. Straightening himself Arthur smiled at his son.
"Of course you got in, you're a Weasley. Our family have been going to Hogwarts for generations," giving his son a quick hug he turned back to Percy, "now Percy, what can we do for you? You know the tradition, every Prefect gets a present."
The background noise faded as Ron opened the yellow envelope. He could feel his magic stirring inside of him, the excitement that filled him seemed to almost wake it. Ron Weasley was going to Hogwarts.
LINE BREAK
The rest of the day was spent in a buzz, chores seemed to fly by as Ron's excitement never seemed to end. The trip to Diagon alley was planned for tomorrow, Percy had decided he wanted fresh robes. This had concerned his mum and dad a little but they had promised to get him some new ones from somewhere. They wouldn't be top of the line but they would be new, something rare within the Weasley family.
Finally the day came to a close and Ron found himself back in his room. In the darkness Ron's mind began to think over the day. His fathers words kept playing over in his head.
'Of course you got in, you're a Weasley. Our family have been going to Hogwarts for generations,'
For some reason he could stop thinking about them. They made his stomach feel strange. An unusual bitterness seemed to rise. Ron was used to being clumped into his family. His siblings all had something that made them stand out. Billy was the popular one who every guy wanted to be and every girl wanted, Charle was the brave outsider who faced of against dragons every day, Percy was the successful one who would go on to change the world, the twins were the pranksters who everyone got on with and Ginny was his mum's perfect little angel whereas Ron was just Ron, not special.
He was just the other Weasley. All summer he had worried about today, sure he had been excited but the fear of not getting in was always in the back of his mind, whispering that he wasn't good enough, that there was a reason his family didn't treat him as anything more than the spare. Ron couldn't deny it to himself but when he held that letter in his hands he had hoped that it would make him different. He didn't know why, all his other siblings had gotten one so why would he make him special. As his dad said, all the Weasley got in.
Maybe that was why they hadn't celebrated for him because it wasn't an achievement. It was just something he was expected to do as a Weasley. Maybe that was why they didn't care. No, Ron refused to believe they didn't care, they were his family so they had to care and he should be ashamed of himself for thinking like that. Yes, that made sense as to why no one had focused on him. They were completely confident in his ability to get into Hogwarts which is why they didn't react like he expected them too. But even as Ron closed his eyes and began to drift off the voice spoke up one more time. What if you aren't special? What if you never escape the family's shadow?
LINE BREAK
Hermione Granger, a small girl with frizzy, untamable brown hair, dark brown eyes and protruding teeth, was sat at the breakfast table, eating a small bowl of cereal alongside her parents, her mother a short women with dark brown hair, green eyes and pale skin was drinking a cup of morning coffee while her father who was slightly taller than her mother, with blading red hair and brown eyes, sat on the other side of the table reading the morning newspaper and upon finishing the weakly crossword turned to her and asked if she had completed all of the summer work she had been set by the school, Hermione had gotten a place in an academy for those academically gifted children and her parents were really proud of this, but it meant they were being slightly more pushy about getting her ready for it.
"Yes Father, all work has been completed and I have done the work you and Mother set for me" her father nodded approvingly at her answer and went back to reading the newspaper.
Her parents had always prided themselves on their intelligence, both of them had achieved top marks all the way through school, college and university, which is where they met, and now they were both very successful dentists. Due to this pride they often pushed Hermione to excellence and made sure she worked as hard as possible, they wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than the best from her and she knew it. However they only wanted her to achieve in subjects they deemed as important, the sciences, maths and English being the key subjects she was expected to master, exploration of the arts were discouraged due to them not leading to fulfilling and successful careers.
This pressure had been difficult, anything less that 90% was not good enough. It wasn't all bad, she did enjoy learning and she would be very glad for the pressure later in life, she knew it. Sometimes Hermione felt isolated because of this pressure. No one really wanted to be friends with the girl who knew everything, the girl who every teacher loved, but she wasn't allowed to stop being the smart one and because of that she spent most of her time alone. Not that she minded.
Hermione's rambling mind was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. "Where are we expecting anyone dear?" Her father asked, looking up at his wife
"I didn't think so."
"Hermione, would you mind getting that?"
At her fathers words she got up and walked towards the door, she began to feel a small tug in her stomach pulling her forward, the closer she got to her front door, the harder the tug became until it was almost dragging her forward. She was at this point shaking with excitement and raised her trembling hand to the door, opening it to reveal a tall, stern looking woman with black hair tied into a bun, she was dressed in fancy robes that looked very strange and out of place.
"Hello Miss Granger, my name is Professor Mcgonagall," The professor smiled as she spoke with a thick Scottish accent clear in her voice. "Would you mind letting them know I am here and that I wish to speak to them about your future."
Turning around, Hermione walked towards the kitchen in a daze, who was this lady, what was that feeling she felt when she had been walking to the door, she couldn't remember a Mcgonagall from any of the orientations at the academy, why was she here, had Hermione lost her place, oh god her father was going to be so angry.
"Who was it dear." her mother's voice snapping her out of the spiral of anxiety she was starting.
"A Professor Mcgonagall, she wants to talk to both of you."
At this her parents exchanged a look before telling Hermione to bring the guest to the living room, walking back to the front door she found the teacher exactly where she left her.
"Mother and Father would be happy to see you, if you would like to follow me."
She lead the guest through the house where her parents stood.
"Forgive us for being unprepared for guest professors but we weren't expecting anyone today, especially someone from the academy, we expected to hear from you next week at the earliest, I'm hoping your early arrival is good news." her father said while gesturing to Mcgonagall to take a seat.
"Mr Granger I do not know which Academy you are referring too, I am a representative of a different school, one I feel your daughter would be much more suited to attend then this academy," at this Mr and Mrs Granger looked confused, they hadn't applied anywhere else. "What I am about to tell you will be hard for you to understand and hard for you to accept but you must understand that I speak the truth, magic is real, there is a world that has been kept hidden from those without magic, a world filled with wonder and terror and your daughter is special, she has the ability to use magic, she is a witch."
At this Hermione's mother began to laugh and her fathers faced morphed into outrage as he began to rant to the professor about how it was rude for her to waste the families time with some silly joke but Hermione didn't react, she simply watched the strange woman who claimed such wonderful things, the woman's words seemed to light a spark inside her, so much of her life began to fit into place, the strange occurrences around her which had always made no sense which she had tried to ignore now made complete sense. Hermione watched as she began to get annoyed at her fathers ranting, watched as she drew a long stick from her robes and watched as her father was silenced with a flick of it.
"Now I understand that this is difficult for you to expect, but if you wouldn't mind letting me explain this would all go much faster." Mcgonagall looked at both parents, who seemed shocked and a little scared but who both nodded."Thank you, now as I was saying there is more to the world then you know, my world is a world of magic and your daughter is a witch, meaning she is allowed to enter my world, to do so she must first study magic at any of wizarding Britain's magical schools, normally our government would approach families like yours and offer her a place at the closest magical school, and if you refused would remove the whole event from your memory, however your daughter is special, she has been selected due to her power and potential to attend the greatest and most successful magical school in the Britain and some would argue the world, Hogwarts." At this point the strange woman, with a twirl of her wand, made a letter appear on the table in front of them, looking directly at her parents. Mcgonagall began to speak again. "Your daughter is special, I am sure you have had moments where she has done things you couldn't explain, know things that should be known, I am sure she struggles to fit in with those around her and there are, I am sure, moments when you are afraid of her, unfortunately as she grows these moments will become more and more common until she is a danger to you and herself, if you allow her to attend Hogwarts we will make sure she is trained, allowed to full explore her potential, find a place amongst her peers and learn how to change the world" Mcgonagall looked at her mother "Do you have any questions?"
"This is a lot" was all her mother was able to say.
"Yes, I have found in my many years of doing this that muggles, that's the term for those without magic, do struggle to accept magic as being real, any questions you come up with can be added to your reply letter and we will answer them" the old lady seemed have said everything she wanted too and then stood "I truly hope you make the right decision for your daughter, if we do not hear from you by the start of term we will return to remove all of this from your memory."
At this the Professor turned and left the room, whatever she had done to Hermione's father left with her, the family sat in an uncomfortable stillness for a while, everyone was scared to break it. After a few minutes passed her father finally spoke "Hermionie, would you mind going upstairs."
"But"
"Now Hermione, your mother and I need to have a grown up conversation"
Getting up and walking upstairs Hermione could begin to hear her parents talking, wanting so badly to stay but knowing that her father had the best intentions and she could bring herself to disobey him. As she arrived in her room the words of the teacher began to fill her head again, a place amongst people like her, she wouldn't be alone anymore, she could make a real change, no more being bullied for being the smartest in the class, she would learn to change the world, to make it better and as this thought filled her head, something dark begun to stir in heart.
LINE BREAK
Harry Potter hated being trapped, he hated the confined cupboard he had grown up in, he hated the feeling of helplessness that he had grown so accustomed to in his years with the Dursleys. He couldn't remember anything from before them, he knew from the contest reminders that there had been a small window between him being born and him living with them but he had no clear memories from this time. He didn't know if his lack of memories makes it harder or easier to live in his current condition. His back was still hurting him, the latest punishment from his uncle still hadn't fully healed, and as a result of this pain he had been forced to lie on his front for the entire duration of his in prisonment. His joints had become stiff due to lack of movement, since while locked inside the cupboard Harry only really used them to eat the scraps of food that were given to him, trying to snap himself out of the self pity, he tried to stretch out his body as much as possible in the cramped space, it was difficult but years of practice meant he knew what worked and what made everything so much worse. It was very sad how much practice Harry had at this.
At the end of his stretching Harry heard the sound of the chain rattling, the slide of the bolt and the turn of a key. His whole body tensed ready for whatever the Dursleys had in store for him, the light blinded him for a second until his eyes adjusted and as the sight returned he saw the large face of his Uncle glaring at him, "Boy get out here, I want breakfast ready in 20 minutes, and then you have a list of chores I want you to finish by the end of the day"
Straightening his back his uncle turned his back and walked back up the stairs, most likely going back to bed, his uncle didn't have work today and he enjoyed his late rises so Harry got up and started making breakfast. Eventually the rest of the Durselys got up and came downstairs, not a single mention of Harry's reappearance or his time in captivity, he served up the breakfast for them and started to clean up but was interrupted by the sound of the post arriving.
"Boy go get the post"
"Yes uncle" Harry put down the frying pan he had been scrubbing clean and as he walked past his cousin dodged the smelting stick Duddley had been proudly waving around. Upon collecting the post from the front door, Harry went through it. Three letters had come today: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister aunt Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, god Harry hated that women and her vicious dog, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, his uncle would pay those while complaining about wastage and most likely trying to blame Harry in some way for this wastage and and the final letter was addressed to Mr H. Potter.
Harry's heart stopped, who would be writing to him, no one, ever in his whole life had ever written to him about anything, he certainly didn't have any other family that would be writing, no friends either, Dudley had made sure of that. How did they know where we slept? countless questions filling Harry's mind, could this be a joke? Could someone be trying to trick him? Taking some deep breaths Harry got his hammering heart under control and tried to quickly form a plan, if the Dursleys found out about this letter they would without question take it off him, they seemed to enjoy taking anything that could give Harry joy away from him which meant he couldn't let them know about it so the letter needed to be hidden, he could hide the letter in his room. The Dursley's never went in there. Slipping it through the side of his door on his way back to the kitchen and trying to push the content of the letter from his mind but for some reason Harry was certain it would be consuming his thoughts all day.
So Harry got on with his chores, he cleaned the kitchen, he mowed the lawn and clipped the roses, he completed everything on his Uncle and Aunts list and then completed everything they added to the list, he cooked dinner, cleaned up from dinner and then cleaned all the kitchen again but finally he was done, he collapsed in his room the door locked behind him and pulled out the letter.
The envelope was thick and heavy, made out of yellowish parchment, the address was written in emerald green ink and there was no stamp. Harry stared at the letter, it had consumed his thoughts all day, every chore he had been thinking of what this letter could possibly contain, turning it over showed a purple wax seal, bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H', around this coat of arms was phrase in a language Harry assumed was lattin, Draco dormiens nunquam titllandus, he had no idea what it meant but he assumed the first word meant dragon. Harry's hands were shaking as he broke the seal and pulled out the content of the envelope. It contained two pages, the first page simply read,
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Harry's eyes widened in shock, there were others like him, others who could move without moving, who could vanish glass and talk to snakes and this school, this Hogwarts, they would teach him how to get better at it, how to get stronger, for the first time in Harry's life he could see a way out from under the control of the Dursley's, a way to break free. Taking a look over the second page which seemed to contain a list of school supplies. Where was he expected to find any of this stuff and how was he meant to afford anything? He doubted that the magical world used the same money as the regular world. He needed to get a reply to this McGonagall lady as soon as possible, he frantically searched around his room for anything to write with, finding a broken pencil and tearing the front of an old book Duddley had been gifted but never read, he wrote his reply.
Dear Deputy Headmistress McGonagall,
I am writing to you about my recent letter inviting me to attend Hogwarts. I would love to attend however until this letter arrived I was unaware of such an institution so was hoping I could have some more information on where to buy my supplies and other basic information.
Yours sincerely
Harry James Potter.
Now Harry just needed to figure out how to get an owl to take the letter, actually Harry first needed to find an owl first.
