Chapter One – Abduction
"Welcome returning students to another year of filling your heads with more knowledge. Welcome new students to your first year of having your head filled knowledge. Now, for the Sorting Ceremony to begin," Dumbledore's voice rang out through the hall. The silence after Dumbledore's welcome was broken by the laughter of someone or possibly someone's out in the entrance hall. The voices' owners came into the great hall, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Their laughter, however, quickly died out as they noticed all attention was on them.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter, thank you for joining us. Would you mind taking your seats, so that we may continue with the sorting ceremony?" Harry and Hermione mildly blushed, while Dumbledore's eyes kept twinkling. Harry and Hermione headed over to the Gryffindor friends to seat themselves only for Harry to burst out laughing while Hermione tried to hide the smirk behind her hand.
The silent hall that had been following their every move now burst into excited whispers and giggles. There was the Weasley clan: Ron, Ginny, Fred, George. Fred and George had come back to Hogwarts in order to finish their seventh year and N.E.W.T.s, as per the orders of Mrs. Weasley.
Ron was currently not himself, nor was Fred and George. Ron had somehow been given blond hair, the hair like that of a Malfoy. Right down to even having it gelled the proper way. Fred and George on the other hand both had green, silver, and black hair. The last of the Weasley clan, Ginny, however, was sitting very quietly and had a small twinge of red on her cheeks.
At the head table, Dumbledore sat with twinkling eyes and a beard that tried to conceal a smile. Snape had a twisted smirk on his face that made one wonder whether he approved of the state of the Weasleys or if he detested their mockery of his house. McGonagall still stood in front of the first years that were waiting to be sorted, tight-lipped, although, her eyes gave way to pure amusement.
"It worked!" Harry yelled out after he had stopped laughing long enough to say something. The scowls that were thrown at Harry after he yelled out only pushed him over the edge to laugh out loud again. Harry, however, very suddenly stopped laughing and took on a very mischievous tinkle in his eyes while he smirked.
"Ginny, how do you like your new tattoos?" Ginny only blushed a deep red. Her brothers and Hermione looked on astonished at this declaration; the other occupants burst out into excited whispers once again.
"Harry, did you do this?" Hermione voiced this question rather loudly throughout the hall.
"Of course I did, I have to keep up the namesake of the Marauders. Besides, I needed to have some fun. Getting you with that water balloon on my birthday was the only other prank I pulled. It was a perfect opportunity to get you, nobody around and you were lounging by the pool." As soon as Harry finished his sentence, he wished he hadn't said it. Hermione's eyes flashed with anger.
"I still haven't forgiven you for that Potter," unbridled hidden meaning lay within Hermione's tone of voice. It let Harry know that she was a very knowledgeable witch and that she very many curses she could use right now.
"Of course you haven't, especially after I dunked you in the pool twenty-three times and then threw you into the pool twelve times." Again, Harry wished he hadn't said anything again. Harry took his hand and ran it through hair while shaking his head. He looked up momentarily as instinct took over as he could tell he was about to have five people throw hexes at him. He backpedaled several steps before gaining enough momentum to do several back flips.
'Thank you Dumbledore for sending me that door,' Harry thought as he landed his last back flip and pulled out his wand to cast a shield.
"Protego." A large blue shield appeared in front of Harry that reflected all of the hexes thrown. The group of five was momentarily stunned before several more waves of hexes were thrown. The professors were all held at bay by a stern look from Dumbledore, he wanted to see what would happen and how Harry was going to fair. After all, it seemed he picked up several things over the summer.
Harry's shield finally buckled at the last hex thrown. Harry stood warily, waiting for the moment he knew would come in again in which he would have to put another shield up. The Weasleys and Hermione were all shooting glares and daggers at Harry. However, Hermione's look changed from one of anger, to one of curiosity and innocence.
"Harry, did you go in my room when you came over for your 'visit'?" Hermione asked it very sweetly in order to catch Harry off guard.
"Ye—NO! No, I didn't go into your room. Why would I go into your room? There was no reason for me to go in your room. I didn't even go up stairs or go through your closet and things." That cleared things up for Hermione, very nicely. She knew someone had been in her room and now she had found the culprit. Hermione took on a dangerous look again.
"You ever heard the muggle saying, 'curiosity killed the cat' Potter?" Harry minutely nodded his head in the affirmative. "Well then, I'm curiosity and you're the cat."
"Protego maximum." A golden shield appeared in front of Harry that bounced the hexes Hermione threw at him towards the enchanted ceiling.
"You know Hermione," Harry yelled over Hermione's hex calling. "I won't tell anyone about the things I found in your room." Then, with a mischievous gleam in his eye he said, "Such interesting things a book-worm, bossy-headed girl shouldn't have in her possession. Tut, tut, what would the student population think?" Hermione let out a guttural cry, before becoming oddly quiet.
"Run Harry. Come on, run. I don't want the professors to see what I'm going to do to you." Harry's eyebrows rose before wiggling suggestively and then he was off like a flash. Hermione exited the great hall skipping and chanting, "Oh-a Harry hunting we will go, oh-a Harry hunting we will go…"
The great hall and its occupants sat silently for an indeterminate amount of time before Dumbledore cleared his throat. The sorting ceremony and feast proceeded albeit somewhat subdued at what happened and what could possibly happen to Harry Potter if being chased by the most knowledgeable witch in all of Hogwarts and not a dark lord.
Hermione Granger did not appear again for several hours until almost curfew when she walked into the Gryffindor common room and was heard mumbling to herself about having an unfair advantage, illegal use of abilities, and slimy Slytherins, especially ones named Salazar Slytherin. Harry Potter did not come back to Gryffindor tower that night.
Hermione Granger waltzed, or it could have been skipping, into the great hall wearing a maniacal smile, but it was quickly wiped off when she did not spot a raven-haired boy. She immediately lost the jaunt in her step and meandered over to the Gryffindor table to nibble at some breakfast. Harry never appeared for breakfast or the lessons for that day. Hermione began to wonder if she might have gone a little too far in the threats. Harry, however, was very safe and sound, although he wished he was still in the Chamber of Secrets and not Dumbledore's office. The office wasn't as safe, anyone could come in, then they could alert Hermione to where he was and he would have to endure a torture provided worse than the combined efforts of Voldemort and Snape. Harry shivered at the thought and wondered if he possibly said a little too much.
"Harry, it's good to see you out and about again." Harry snorted at the comment.
"Hiding in the headmaster's office instead of the Chamber is out and about? Really, Dumbledore, you try staying alive when the most knowledgeable witch is after you, it makes Voldemort look like a kitten." Harry watched Dumbledore sit behind his desk and Harry gave Fawkes one last pet before sitting in a chair before Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore was about to open up the conversation, but Harry spoke first.
"I'm fine Albus, really. I want to thank you for giving me that present. It gave me time to think over Sirius' death and also learn some new things. Not to mention the added bonus of portkeys it came with so I wouldn't become overly bored. It was a very thoughtful gift. I bet Flitwick had a field day with all the charms that had to go into making it." Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes to once again, or maybe they just always did even in sleep, twinkling.
"I am very glad that you liked this present you were given Harry, but I did not give you one over the summer holidays." Harry gaped.
"Then who gave it me?"
"I do not know, but it does not seem to of dark magic or of ill intent as you are still alive and healthy. Why would you think it was from me?"
"The note that came with the door was signed and I thought it was a gift from you and the Order. Here."
I know it is several weeks until your birthday, but an early gift never hurt anyone. Use this gift wisely, but I know you will. Happy thinking, O.
"It was a door; it led to a room covered in mats. There was an area just for gymnastics of sorts, the room seemed like it was made for training of agility. For example, you could still stay on your toes until you got to your wand by doing like flip maneuvers, maneuvers like you saw last night. On the other side of the room was just a shelf of portkeys, all labeled to various places and some not charmed to places at all.
"It felt like the room had a calming charm on it because the first thing I noticed was that my thoughts weren't all jumbled. For the first time since Sirius died, I could think clearly. I started to think about the whole situation and also I started to learn the maneuvers, like it was being force fed into my head. I came to accept his death and kept learning, adventuring out using the portkeys once in a while."
"And you thought it was safe to go out adventuring without telling anyone?"
"I figured you had set up a charm to tell the Order where I was going that way I could have an escort. Besides, no one ever recognized when I went into a wizarding area, there was apparently a charm cast on me to change my appearance." Dumbledore and Harry sat in silence for a few moments while Dumbledore tried to figure out this little mystery of who had sent some gift that was beneficiary and non-harmful.
"I can follow your line of thinking Harry thinking it was a gift from the Order. Is this door still at the Dursley's?"
"No, it was gone the day I left for Hogwarts, so yesterday."
"Well, as it appears there was no ill intent towards you and no harm was caused, we can file this incident away for another day. Until then, I suggest we head down to dinner, I do believe you have had nothing to eat for nearly twenty-four hours." Harry grudgingly agrees even though by going down to dinner it could mean certain death by having to face Hermione again.
The walk to the great hall was one in comfortable silence with Harry getting more and more agitated as they neared their destination. When the duo entered the great hall, Dumbledore went to the head table, eyes twinkling admirably, and Harry nervously approached the Gryffindor table. He was keeping an eye out for Hermione and any possible unidentified flying objects, namely plates, silverware, and more hexes.
After a moment of sitting at the table, a bird flew into the great hall and dropped a letter onto Harry's plate.
Dear Mr. Potter,
I regret to inform you that you will unable to attend Hogwarts for the rest of the school year. You are expected to leave and be off the premises of Hogwarts by 6:30 PM on September 2. My condolences.
It wasn't signed. Harry looked at the letter disbelievingly before looking at his watch. Almost exactly the time it said in the letter. Harry yelled out "Professor!" before the portkey letter activated and Harry left the premises of Hogwarts.