Chapter 3: The Deadly Surprise
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Harry was playing quidditch and there it was- the golden snitch. He sped towards it on his Firebolt broom when the Bulgarian beaters cut him off. They pretended to mistake his head for a bludger and began to beat his head back and forth. Harry couldn't feel the bats, but he could hear them against his head. Click, click, click, they went. The clicking got louder and louder. Harry yelled for them to stop as he lost control of his broom and began falling - fast. He was about to hit the ground. It was getting closer. Click, click, click... He was going to hit the ground- BAM!
Harry awoke with a start. What a weird dream. Click, click, click... Harry looked at his window. His window was now, for some reason, closed, and Hedwig was tapping on it to get in.
"That was fast," Harry muttered as he sat up. He looked at his watch. Harry couldn't read it, then he remembered his glasses. He reached for them at his bedside table and put them on. He looked at his watch again. It was noon. Harry shook his head in disbelief. He had slept for almost 14 hours. How odd.
Click, click, click...Harry pulled the covers off of him and climbed out of bed. He stretched his arms and yawned as he did so, then made his way to the window and opened it. Hedwig soared in and dropped a letter at Harry's feet. Only one letter. That was odd. Harry picked up the letter and read it. It said:
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Hey Harry!
It's Ron. Hermione's at my house. No wonder you weren't replying to the letter I sent to the Dursley's. It must have arrived just after you left. The letter was inviting you over, but Hermione and I would love stopping by your new place!! I hope you don't mind if we showed up today because Percy is becoming annoying and Hermione and I both want to leave as soon as possible.
We'll probably show up around noon, hope that's ok. See you soon!
Ron and Hermione
P.S. We'll be using floo powder.
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Harry folded up the letter and smiled. He couldn't wait to see Ron and Hermione. He had to get dressed. They were going to be there any minute. Harry quickly got dressed and ran his hand through his hair. It was no use trying to brush it, seeing as how it would always stick up anyways.
Harry walked out of his room with a slight skip in his step. Ron's letter had made Harry forget all about what Sirius had told him the previous night, so at that point, Harry could not have been happier.
Harry stopped at Godric's picture. He was sleeping happily in his frame and Harry decided he would just wake up his ancestor once Ron and Hermione had arrived. Harry could just imagine the looks on their faces once he told them that he was related to THE Godric Gryffindor. As Harry walked away, a sinking feeling hit his stomach. He suddenly began to remember everything he had learned the night before. Harry's slight skip faded into a solemn march. How was he going to tell Ron and Hermione about the ill news he had received? Harry tried to shut out the thoughts from his head, but they kept coming back. Harry sulked down the Grand Staircase. He looked straight ahead as he did. He couldn't keep his mind off of Voldemort. He couldn't help but think about what Sirius had said about Voldemort - "It's all about honour to him." What honour? Harry thought. What honour does a powerful dark wizard get out of killing a 15 year old boy?
Harry shook his head of all those thoughts, and suddenly found himself walking past the living room. Harry turned around and (still solemnly) walked into the living room.
Harry was shocked to see Sirius in there, talking to both Ron and Hermione. Ron was brushing dust off of himself, which obviously meant they had just arrived by floo powder.
"Harry," Hermione exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're OK!" She ran over to him and gave Harry a hug. Harry wondered why girls always hugged people as a greeting. It was so weird...
Hermione released him, and, to Harry's amazement, she had tears in her eyes.
Harry was about to speak when Ron walked up to them and almost faked a smile. There was something very melancholy about Ron. He looked happy to see Harry, but also sad for some reason, almost pitiful.
"What's wrong with you two?" Harry asked, bewildered.
Hermione could no longer contain herself. She burst into silent tears and slightly turned away from Harry to hide her face. She was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Hermione?" Harry said in a gentler voice.
"Harry," Sirius interrupted, "Harry, I need to speak with you."
Now even Sirius seemed rather void of happiness. Sirius nodded his head towards the far side of the room, where a beautiful ray of sunshine was coming through the stained-glass window.
Harry, with one last look at Ron and Hermione, followed Sirius towards the window.
There was definitely something wrong. Harry's mind began to once again flood with curious thoughts and suspicions.
Harry looked at Sirius. Harry had never seen Sirius so sad before, save when he was almost sentenced to having the Dementor's Kiss performed on him at Hogwarts in Harry's third year.
Once they had reached the window, Sirius turned slowly to Harry, and, in a quieter voice than normal, said, "Harry, there's something I need to tell you. Hermione and Ron already know, but-"
"What is it?" Harry asked in almost a whisper. A sudden sense of foreboding came over Harry. He tried to prepare himself. Whatever Sirius was going to say was going to be absolutely awful, Harry knew it.
"Harry, there's been an accident at the Dursley's" Sirius continued.
Harry sighed loudly before he could stop himself. He didn't want to concern himself with whatever trouble the Dursleys were in. He had better things to think about than Dudley growing another pig's tail (which is what he expected Sirius to say, though deep in Harry's heart, he knew it was much worse than that).
"Harry," Sirius said softly, trying to sound as calm as he could, "The Dursley's were killed."
Harry didn't move or talk, nor did he take his eyes off of Sirius's face. Harry didn't even make any movements whatsoever that would imply that he had heard what Sirius had just said.
Sirius put his arm on Harry's shoulder, and as he did so, Harry felt the heat from Sirius's hand meet Harry's shoulder, which was shaking uncontrollably, along with the rest of his body. And for that second in which Harry felt Sirius's hand touch him, Harry was brought back to his senses, and he suddenly realized that everything around him was real. And for that second in which Harry felt Sirius's hand on his shoulder, everything that his brain had taken in within the past two days became a reality. Suddenly, all the events of the past few hours; all the surprises, all the emotions, all the fear; hit Harry hard in the stomach. He was for sure going to be sick.
"By who?" Harry finally managed to say, and even he noticed that his own voice was without any feeling or change of tone.
Sirius took a deep breath and Harry knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.
"Voldemort did," Sirius answered, even softer now, "About an hour after we left them. I tried to warn them, Harry, but they wouldn't listen."
"Warn them?" Harry said suspiciously, or rudely even, "You knew?"
"The Ministry had known Voldemort's plan to attack for only a few days," Sirius continued in a sensitive voice, "and Dumbledore knew them also. He alone convinced the Ministry to believe I was innocent, regardless of the witnesses who saw Wormtail. Dumbledore knew you weren't going to be safe with the Dursley's. See, Harry, Dumbledore has secret connections with a certain Death Eater. That Death Eater told Dumbledore you were in danger-"
"Snape?" Harry assumed aloud.
"Yes," Sirius answered, "Severus is the spy within Voldemort's circle. And once I was freed, Dumbledore explained everything to me and told me to get you. I didn't hesitate. However, the Ministry was forcing me to sign a lot of papers regarding my new freedom, which held me up for a few days. So, in the meantime, the Ministry sent people to look after the Dursley's home until I got there."
Sirius took a break from talking and looked hard at Harry. Harry could feel Sirius's hand slightly rubbing his shoulder, in a comforting way, just like a father.
Then he continued, "Once I did get there, though, the Dursley's were afraid and thought I had come to kill them. I explained that I was innocent, but they were still suspicious, and your cousin, most of al, was still very scared. But I persisted, and told them of the danger they were in. They said they didn't believe they were in any danger. They said I could take you if I wanted, but they refused to take the Ministry's help and go into hiding."
"I thought Voldemort couldn't go near them," Harry said, again in a toneless voice.
"Nobody knows how he did it, Harry. But I assure you, you're safe here with me. Aurors have been putting spells and counter-curses on this place for years. There's no way Voldemort or any Death Eater can get in here. Voldemort's never ben able to get into Godric Gryffindor's castle."
"Godric Gryffindor's Castle?" Harry asked, still with no sign of emotion, "So this is Godric's old home?"
"Yes it is, "Sirius said, now wary of Harry's lacking emotions. "That article on their death is in this morning's Daily Prophet," he continued, "Ron and Hermione read it when they came here."
Sirius continued to talk, but whatever he was saying, Harry never knew. Harry wasn't suffering from a lack of emotions, he was drowning in a flood of them. There were so many that he didn't know which one to feel. Harry turned towards the window. He put his elbows on the window ledge. The window was open and the wind was blowing a cool breeze on Harry's face. Harry thought he heard Sirius asking is he was ok, but he wasn't sure, because at that moment, Harry's stomach was once again punched hard by the pain and truth of reality. Then it happened. He leaned over the window and became sick. He vomited whatever little food was still in his stomach. When he was done, he pulled himself away from the window and found that he was very dizzy.
"Harry-Harry?"
But Harry no longer heard Sirius. Instead, he felt himself letting go of his consciousness and giving into his weariness. Harry passed-out, and his dreams were filled with nothing but visions of Voldemort laughing, and the Dursley's being tortured and killed.
***
"I think he's waking up," was the first thing that Harry heard when he came to, and he recognized the voice right away as Hermione's.
"Thank goodness," he heard Ron say.
Harry slowly opened his eyes to a blurry room. When his eyes finally managed to focus on his surroundings, he realized he was no longer in Godric's Castle - or was he?
"Where am I?" he asked with a slight note of paranoia in his voice.
Harry looked to his left, and saw Sirius sitting next to him. Harry was in some sort of hospital bed. Ron and Hermione were on his right side, standing over him. The room he was in slightly resembled the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
"Relax, Harry," Sirius said gently, "you're still at home, just a part of it you haven't discovered yet."
"Are you ok?" Ron asked anxiously.
"Yeah," Harry said, sitting up a bit, "What happened?"
"You passed out," Hermione said in a rather hush voice.
Ron, Hermione and Sirius were all giving Harry mournful looks, and as they did, Harry suddenly remembered why he had passed out. Then, the feeling which had overtaken him earlier was threatening to do so once gain, but Harry wouldn't let it.
Harry looked at his watch. It was now midnight.
"How long have I been out of it?" he asked Sirius tiredly.
"About 11 hours, maybe more," Sirius answered. He put his hand on Harry's and continued, "How do you feel?"
It took a bit for Harry to be able to think of the right words to explain how he felt. The closest he came to a right answer was, "Confused, I guess."
It was at that moment that Harry heard a familiar voice.
"Guests must now move away from Master Harry, sirs and miss, he needs medical help, sirs and miss."
Harry then saw what looked like a small child moving towards him, but he soon recognized it as a House Elf - a free House Elf at that, seeing as how it wore clothes. It's clothing looked like a doctor's uniform.
Harry's heart leapt, thinking it was Dobby, but as the Elf came closer, Harry realized that it wasn't Dobby at all. It was female. She somewhat resembled Winky, on the exception that this Elf was much happier. The Elf was even happier, though, when she saw that Harry was awake.
"Master Harry, sir! You're awake at last!" the Elf exclaimed, "Don't worry Master, sir, Lolly will take good care of you, sir!" And with that, the elf (Lolly, she was called) bowed and immediately scurried over to Harry, almost pushing aside Hermione and Ron. Lolly leant over Harry as far as she could and just barely managed to feel Harry's forehead. She then grabbed Harry's wrist and checked his pulse.
"You seem fine, Master Harry Potter. How are you feeling, sir?" she said, looking at him happily. Her eyes were very penetrating and Harry almost got the impression that Lolly could read minds.
"Better, I suppose," Harry replied, and it was then that Harry's stomach gave a mighty growl, "Just really hungry," he added.
"Ah-hah," Lolly replied, smiling, "You, sir, haven't eaten since you came here, sir! I will tell the kitchens to make you, sir, a big, nice meal, master Potter, sir!" and with that, Lolly ran from the room.
Harry looked at Sirius."We have House Elves?" Harry asked.
Sirius nodded. Harry looked at Hermione, who looked like she wanted to protest, but was fighting with herself not to.
Sirius must have noticed this, too, because he looked at her and quickly, but nicely added, "Free, and paid, House Elves."
Hermione somewhat smiled, but then she looked at Harry and suddenly regained her melancholy appearance.
Harry noticed the uncomfortable air surrounding them all. He knew they were all thinking about the same thing, but were too afraid to say anything about it. Harry decided to break the silence.
"I can't believe they're dead," Harry said.
Sirius, Ron, and Hermione all looked at him with a new kind of depression, or was it pity?
Harry seemed to be the only one willing to talk about it. He was sad, yes, but not heartbroken, for he never loved the Dursley's. They were all far too ignorant and cruel to ever love, but Harry certainly never wanted them dead. There was only one person in the entire world whom Harry wished death upon. Voldemort.
Harry now understood why he had passed out. His feelings for Voldemort overwhelmed him, along with the shock of the death of the Dursleys, as well as the constant fear of another attack.
"I don't get why Voldemort killed them, though," Harry added in a toneless voice, almost as if he was talking to himself, "I mean, he wants ME dead, not the Dursleys. The Dursleys don't have anything to do with it, Sirius. The Gryffindor blood in on my dad's side, not my mom's side. It had nothing to do with them"
Hermione and Ron looked at Harry in shock. Ron was cleaning out his ear to see if he heard right. 'Gryffindor Blood?' Harry could se Hermione whisper to herself in wonder.
Sirius, however, took no notice of it. "They were looking for you, though, Harry. And when the Dursleys wouldn't tell them where you were, they killed them."
"They?" Harry asked, "You mean there were other Death Eaters involved?"
"Well, I'm not sure who else was with him. But it was more than just one dark wizard who did it."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked. He had a very bad feeling about the answer to his question, but it wasn't like things could get worse, could they?
Sirius, Harry now noticed, was tightly clutching a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand.
"Is the article in that?" Harry asked, pointing at the newspaper.
'Er, yeah," Sirius said, "Did you want to read it?"
"Yeah," Harry answered, and Sirius gave him the paper.
Harry unrolled the paper and noticed it was very bent and curvy, as though Sirius had been carrying it around for a long time.
Harry took a deep breath and began to read:
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"You-Know-Who's Plan's Fail - Muggle Family Dead"
It has been reported that on August 6th, at about 2:00 pm, He Who Must Not Be Named attempted an attack upon Harry Potter.
You-Know-Who arrived at the house of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, Potter's aunt and uncle, and legal guardians. When the Dark Lord arrived, however, Potter was not home. He Who Must Not Be Named then killed Potter's Uncle and Aunt, as well as their 15 year old son, Dudley, Harry's cousin.
"It's a shame," Minister Cornelius Fudge states, "but at least we got Harry away in time."
As for Potter's whereabouts, the Ministry will not comment and it is therefor unknown to the public at this time.When the Ministry was questioned about the attacks, they refused to say much, but Reporter John Nickel met Mad-Eye Moody at the scene, and had a moment to speak with him.
"No one's ever been able to penetrate a Family Protection Spell before," Moody reported after being asked about the attack. "There's no way in hell You-Know-Who pulled this off himself, regardless of how strong he's gotten. And none of 'dem Death Eaters could do it neither. If y'ask me, I'd say he's got a strong newbee on his side."
The Ministry refuses to say anymore about the incident at this time.
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Harry looked at Sirius.
"Who could it have been?" he asked.
"I don't know," Sirius sighed, "Nobody does. The aurors still haven't even really found out who the majority of Voldemort's supporters are."
"But I thought that Snape was a spy," Harry replied as Ron and Hermione listened attentively (for they had no clue that Snape was a spy), "wouldn't he know who Voldemort's supporter's are?"
"Not necessarily," Sirius answered gravely, "You see, Harry, Snape knows who all of the Death Eaters are, but the Death Eaters aren't Voldemort's only supporters. Harry, our world has, for a long time, neglected the fact that there are other powerful, and independent, Dark Wizards and Witches out there."
"What?" Harry exclaimed, "Voldemort isn't the only one? Who else is there?!"
"Only the Ministry knows," Ron answered.
Harry looked at Ron, who seemed to have gotten paler over all the talk of Dark Wizards and Witches.
"Then, does your father know?" Harry asked.
"Nah," Ron sighed, "only the aurors and really important Ministry members know."
"Oh," Harry replied quietly.
As an eery silence was threatening to overtake them all again, Lolly came running into the room, with a large tray full of food.
"Here you are, sirs and miss," Lolly smiled, while putting the tray down on Harry's bedside table.
"How are you's feeling now, Harry Potter, sir?" she asked."Better, thanks," Harry replied while grabbing a sandwich off of the tray.
At Harry's comment, Lolly smiled and started clapping excitedly.
"Very good, master Potter, sire, very good!" she said, "You are very resilient, sir!"
But Harry wasn't paying much attention. He didn't realize how hungry he actually was until he started eating. His thoughts, however, trailed back to the Dursleys. Harry imagined them dying over and over again in his mind, and he couldn't stop. What if he could have saved them? If he hadn't left, he could have saved them all.
Harry now began to recall his last few minutes at number 4, Privet Drive. He began to remember the forlorn Dudley. Harry now began to realize why he felt so bad when he left the Dursleys. Harry somehow knew something bad was going to happen to them. But how did Harry know?
***
Harry was forced to stay in the medical ward for the rest of the night, but when morning came, Harry was let free, and made his way (after taking many wrong turns) into the living room. Sirius, Ron, and Hermione were all eating their breakfast. Harry sat down to eat and found that Sirius had told Ron and Hermione all about Godric Gryffindor being Harry's ascendant.
They were both awestruck, but both also claimed not to be surprised.
"Well, it does explain a lot," Hermione secretly said to Ron after breakfast.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked curiously.
"Well, he's been a model Gryffindor student, hasn't he?" Hermione replied, "I know he had some sort of old, magical power in his blood."
After the three of them all finished telling one another stories about their vacation, Harry insisted on showing Ron and Hermione around the house. Not only did he want to take his mind off of yesterday's events, but he had realized that there was a lot more to be discovered about his new house. He wanted to explore it all.
"Don't get lost," Sirius told them as they all hurried out of the living room.
Harry was surprised at how many rooms his house had. Within 5 hours of their exploring, they had all counted about 100 different rooms, and more were still to be found.
"This used to be Godric Gryffindor's old house, y'know," Harry told Ron and Hermione.
"Really?" Ron gasped.
"Yeah," Harry continued, "Sirius told me."
As he said this, Harry finally remembered something important he wanted to show Ron and Hermione; Godric Gryffindor's painting.
"Do you guys want to meet him?" Harry asked slyly.
"Meet him?" Hermione laughed.
"Harry, he died centuries ago," Ron said.
"I know," Harry said cooly, "But there's a painting of him near my room. I was talking to him the night before you two came over."
Hermione and Ron were both looking at Harry with their jaws dropped in awe.
"He's really nice, too," Harry added.
The three of them didn't wait any longer to get to the picture. Harry leading the way, they all hurried to see Godric Gryffindor.
"Almost there," Harry told them as they ran up the Grand Staircase.
They finally came to the painting and stopped. Godric was watching them all and he laughed a bit.
"Who's this?" he asked Harry.
"These are my best friends," Harry smiled, "this is Hermione."
"Nice to meet you," Godric said.
Hermione tried to talk, but simply whimpered a word that sounded like, "hi."
"And this is Ron," Harry said, pointing to Ron.
"Hello, Ron," Godric said.
"Cool," Ron sighed as he shook his head in disbelief.
"So," Godric continued after a chuckle at Ron and Hermione's amazement, "are you two in my house at Hogwarts as well?"
"Yeah," Ron said, still awestruck.
"Yes I am," Hermione said proudly, "I'm the new Gryffindor prefect this year." "Wondeful!" Godric smiled.
Harry looked at Hermione. "You are?" he asked.
"Yeah," Hermione replied, smiling brightly, "Ron must have forgotten to mention it in the letter he sent to you before we came."
Ron rolled his eyes, and Harry could tell that Ron had purposely left it out of the letter.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked with Godric for what seemed like hours. Harry informed Godric about the Dursleys, and who had killed them.
"Who's Voldemort?" Godric asked curiously.
"Er, Salazar Slytherin's heir," Harry replied.
"His kin still exists, do they?" Godric said bitterly.
Harry then told Godric all about Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and how his parents had been killed by him. He also explained about how he got his scar and why he was so famous.
Eventually, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to leave Godric to go eat dinner, but they promised they would see him again, and they stuck true to their word. Thy went to visit him the next day, and everyday after that for the next few weeks (Ron and Hermione's parents had both agreed to let them stay until the new school year started).
About two weeks before school started, Harry, Ron and Hermione all got their letters from Hogwarts.
"Hey!" Ron exclaimed as he looked at his letter, "I've just remembered, fifth-years don't need permission forms for Hogsmeade!"
"Great," Harry sighed with a chuckle, "the first year that I have a legal guardian who's willing to sign the form, and I don't even need one."
Harry looked at his letter and read it over. It said:
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Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been granted a fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please note that fifth-years no longer require permission to enter Hogsmeade other than that of a staff member. You're supplies list has been enclosed.
Sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall
Headmistress
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Harry put away his letter and took out his supplies list. He looked over it until one class list in particular caught his eye:
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History of Dark Magic- Cecil Pagery
Basic Hexes and Curses- Serena Blosworth
The Study of Simple Dark Magic- Margery Marsh
The Dark Arts: Chapter 1- William Shawville
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Hermione must have been reading this list also, because she gasped as she looked at her letter (with her shiny new prefect badge tightly clutched in her hand).
"Oh my goodness," she exclaimed, "I'm taking the Dark Arts? I never signed up for that! I didn't even know that Hogwarts teaches that stuff!"
"I'm signed up for it, too," Harry said as he showed Hermione his class- list.
"Me too!" Ron added, seeming curious.
"Why on Earth are they teaching us Dark Magic?" Hermione suspiciously thought aloud. "And why the hell do we need dress robes again?" Ron exclaimed.
"Dress robes?" Harry repeated and he looked at his supplies list again. It was at the top of his clothing supplies list.
"Ooooh," said Hermione eagerly, "Maybe we're having another Ball this year!"
"Ooooh," Ron mimicked sarcastically, "Because the last one was just so much fun."
"Oh shut up," Hermione retorted, turning slightly pink.
"Well," Harry interrupted, changing the subject, "I could probably get Sirius to bring us to Diagon Alley."
"You mean Knockturn Alley?" Ron said uneasily.
"What do you mean by that, Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Look at the bottom of the supplies list," Ron replied, "It says, 'students please note that History of Dark Magic, Basic Hexes and Curses, The Study of Simple Dark Magic, and The Dark Arts: Chapter 1 will all be found in Grachus's Study of Knockturn Alley.' Now THAT is weird."A moment of uneasy silence followed Ron's words.
"Just make sure that Sirius comes with us, then, okay Harry?" Hermione added with a slight quiver in her voice.
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-Summer :)
PS- someone asked when I started writing this story...I started in December of 2001.
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Harry was playing quidditch and there it was- the golden snitch. He sped towards it on his Firebolt broom when the Bulgarian beaters cut him off. They pretended to mistake his head for a bludger and began to beat his head back and forth. Harry couldn't feel the bats, but he could hear them against his head. Click, click, click, they went. The clicking got louder and louder. Harry yelled for them to stop as he lost control of his broom and began falling - fast. He was about to hit the ground. It was getting closer. Click, click, click... He was going to hit the ground- BAM!
Harry awoke with a start. What a weird dream. Click, click, click... Harry looked at his window. His window was now, for some reason, closed, and Hedwig was tapping on it to get in.
"That was fast," Harry muttered as he sat up. He looked at his watch. Harry couldn't read it, then he remembered his glasses. He reached for them at his bedside table and put them on. He looked at his watch again. It was noon. Harry shook his head in disbelief. He had slept for almost 14 hours. How odd.
Click, click, click...Harry pulled the covers off of him and climbed out of bed. He stretched his arms and yawned as he did so, then made his way to the window and opened it. Hedwig soared in and dropped a letter at Harry's feet. Only one letter. That was odd. Harry picked up the letter and read it. It said:
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Hey Harry!
It's Ron. Hermione's at my house. No wonder you weren't replying to the letter I sent to the Dursley's. It must have arrived just after you left. The letter was inviting you over, but Hermione and I would love stopping by your new place!! I hope you don't mind if we showed up today because Percy is becoming annoying and Hermione and I both want to leave as soon as possible.
We'll probably show up around noon, hope that's ok. See you soon!
Ron and Hermione
P.S. We'll be using floo powder.
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Harry folded up the letter and smiled. He couldn't wait to see Ron and Hermione. He had to get dressed. They were going to be there any minute. Harry quickly got dressed and ran his hand through his hair. It was no use trying to brush it, seeing as how it would always stick up anyways.
Harry walked out of his room with a slight skip in his step. Ron's letter had made Harry forget all about what Sirius had told him the previous night, so at that point, Harry could not have been happier.
Harry stopped at Godric's picture. He was sleeping happily in his frame and Harry decided he would just wake up his ancestor once Ron and Hermione had arrived. Harry could just imagine the looks on their faces once he told them that he was related to THE Godric Gryffindor. As Harry walked away, a sinking feeling hit his stomach. He suddenly began to remember everything he had learned the night before. Harry's slight skip faded into a solemn march. How was he going to tell Ron and Hermione about the ill news he had received? Harry tried to shut out the thoughts from his head, but they kept coming back. Harry sulked down the Grand Staircase. He looked straight ahead as he did. He couldn't keep his mind off of Voldemort. He couldn't help but think about what Sirius had said about Voldemort - "It's all about honour to him." What honour? Harry thought. What honour does a powerful dark wizard get out of killing a 15 year old boy?
Harry shook his head of all those thoughts, and suddenly found himself walking past the living room. Harry turned around and (still solemnly) walked into the living room.
Harry was shocked to see Sirius in there, talking to both Ron and Hermione. Ron was brushing dust off of himself, which obviously meant they had just arrived by floo powder.
"Harry," Hermione exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're OK!" She ran over to him and gave Harry a hug. Harry wondered why girls always hugged people as a greeting. It was so weird...
Hermione released him, and, to Harry's amazement, she had tears in her eyes.
Harry was about to speak when Ron walked up to them and almost faked a smile. There was something very melancholy about Ron. He looked happy to see Harry, but also sad for some reason, almost pitiful.
"What's wrong with you two?" Harry asked, bewildered.
Hermione could no longer contain herself. She burst into silent tears and slightly turned away from Harry to hide her face. She was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Hermione?" Harry said in a gentler voice.
"Harry," Sirius interrupted, "Harry, I need to speak with you."
Now even Sirius seemed rather void of happiness. Sirius nodded his head towards the far side of the room, where a beautiful ray of sunshine was coming through the stained-glass window.
Harry, with one last look at Ron and Hermione, followed Sirius towards the window.
There was definitely something wrong. Harry's mind began to once again flood with curious thoughts and suspicions.
Harry looked at Sirius. Harry had never seen Sirius so sad before, save when he was almost sentenced to having the Dementor's Kiss performed on him at Hogwarts in Harry's third year.
Once they had reached the window, Sirius turned slowly to Harry, and, in a quieter voice than normal, said, "Harry, there's something I need to tell you. Hermione and Ron already know, but-"
"What is it?" Harry asked in almost a whisper. A sudden sense of foreboding came over Harry. He tried to prepare himself. Whatever Sirius was going to say was going to be absolutely awful, Harry knew it.
"Harry, there's been an accident at the Dursley's" Sirius continued.
Harry sighed loudly before he could stop himself. He didn't want to concern himself with whatever trouble the Dursleys were in. He had better things to think about than Dudley growing another pig's tail (which is what he expected Sirius to say, though deep in Harry's heart, he knew it was much worse than that).
"Harry," Sirius said softly, trying to sound as calm as he could, "The Dursley's were killed."
Harry didn't move or talk, nor did he take his eyes off of Sirius's face. Harry didn't even make any movements whatsoever that would imply that he had heard what Sirius had just said.
Sirius put his arm on Harry's shoulder, and as he did so, Harry felt the heat from Sirius's hand meet Harry's shoulder, which was shaking uncontrollably, along with the rest of his body. And for that second in which Harry felt Sirius's hand touch him, Harry was brought back to his senses, and he suddenly realized that everything around him was real. And for that second in which Harry felt Sirius's hand on his shoulder, everything that his brain had taken in within the past two days became a reality. Suddenly, all the events of the past few hours; all the surprises, all the emotions, all the fear; hit Harry hard in the stomach. He was for sure going to be sick.
"By who?" Harry finally managed to say, and even he noticed that his own voice was without any feeling or change of tone.
Sirius took a deep breath and Harry knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.
"Voldemort did," Sirius answered, even softer now, "About an hour after we left them. I tried to warn them, Harry, but they wouldn't listen."
"Warn them?" Harry said suspiciously, or rudely even, "You knew?"
"The Ministry had known Voldemort's plan to attack for only a few days," Sirius continued in a sensitive voice, "and Dumbledore knew them also. He alone convinced the Ministry to believe I was innocent, regardless of the witnesses who saw Wormtail. Dumbledore knew you weren't going to be safe with the Dursley's. See, Harry, Dumbledore has secret connections with a certain Death Eater. That Death Eater told Dumbledore you were in danger-"
"Snape?" Harry assumed aloud.
"Yes," Sirius answered, "Severus is the spy within Voldemort's circle. And once I was freed, Dumbledore explained everything to me and told me to get you. I didn't hesitate. However, the Ministry was forcing me to sign a lot of papers regarding my new freedom, which held me up for a few days. So, in the meantime, the Ministry sent people to look after the Dursley's home until I got there."
Sirius took a break from talking and looked hard at Harry. Harry could feel Sirius's hand slightly rubbing his shoulder, in a comforting way, just like a father.
Then he continued, "Once I did get there, though, the Dursley's were afraid and thought I had come to kill them. I explained that I was innocent, but they were still suspicious, and your cousin, most of al, was still very scared. But I persisted, and told them of the danger they were in. They said they didn't believe they were in any danger. They said I could take you if I wanted, but they refused to take the Ministry's help and go into hiding."
"I thought Voldemort couldn't go near them," Harry said, again in a toneless voice.
"Nobody knows how he did it, Harry. But I assure you, you're safe here with me. Aurors have been putting spells and counter-curses on this place for years. There's no way Voldemort or any Death Eater can get in here. Voldemort's never ben able to get into Godric Gryffindor's castle."
"Godric Gryffindor's Castle?" Harry asked, still with no sign of emotion, "So this is Godric's old home?"
"Yes it is, "Sirius said, now wary of Harry's lacking emotions. "That article on their death is in this morning's Daily Prophet," he continued, "Ron and Hermione read it when they came here."
Sirius continued to talk, but whatever he was saying, Harry never knew. Harry wasn't suffering from a lack of emotions, he was drowning in a flood of them. There were so many that he didn't know which one to feel. Harry turned towards the window. He put his elbows on the window ledge. The window was open and the wind was blowing a cool breeze on Harry's face. Harry thought he heard Sirius asking is he was ok, but he wasn't sure, because at that moment, Harry's stomach was once again punched hard by the pain and truth of reality. Then it happened. He leaned over the window and became sick. He vomited whatever little food was still in his stomach. When he was done, he pulled himself away from the window and found that he was very dizzy.
"Harry-Harry?"
But Harry no longer heard Sirius. Instead, he felt himself letting go of his consciousness and giving into his weariness. Harry passed-out, and his dreams were filled with nothing but visions of Voldemort laughing, and the Dursley's being tortured and killed.
***
"I think he's waking up," was the first thing that Harry heard when he came to, and he recognized the voice right away as Hermione's.
"Thank goodness," he heard Ron say.
Harry slowly opened his eyes to a blurry room. When his eyes finally managed to focus on his surroundings, he realized he was no longer in Godric's Castle - or was he?
"Where am I?" he asked with a slight note of paranoia in his voice.
Harry looked to his left, and saw Sirius sitting next to him. Harry was in some sort of hospital bed. Ron and Hermione were on his right side, standing over him. The room he was in slightly resembled the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
"Relax, Harry," Sirius said gently, "you're still at home, just a part of it you haven't discovered yet."
"Are you ok?" Ron asked anxiously.
"Yeah," Harry said, sitting up a bit, "What happened?"
"You passed out," Hermione said in a rather hush voice.
Ron, Hermione and Sirius were all giving Harry mournful looks, and as they did, Harry suddenly remembered why he had passed out. Then, the feeling which had overtaken him earlier was threatening to do so once gain, but Harry wouldn't let it.
Harry looked at his watch. It was now midnight.
"How long have I been out of it?" he asked Sirius tiredly.
"About 11 hours, maybe more," Sirius answered. He put his hand on Harry's and continued, "How do you feel?"
It took a bit for Harry to be able to think of the right words to explain how he felt. The closest he came to a right answer was, "Confused, I guess."
It was at that moment that Harry heard a familiar voice.
"Guests must now move away from Master Harry, sirs and miss, he needs medical help, sirs and miss."
Harry then saw what looked like a small child moving towards him, but he soon recognized it as a House Elf - a free House Elf at that, seeing as how it wore clothes. It's clothing looked like a doctor's uniform.
Harry's heart leapt, thinking it was Dobby, but as the Elf came closer, Harry realized that it wasn't Dobby at all. It was female. She somewhat resembled Winky, on the exception that this Elf was much happier. The Elf was even happier, though, when she saw that Harry was awake.
"Master Harry, sir! You're awake at last!" the Elf exclaimed, "Don't worry Master, sir, Lolly will take good care of you, sir!" And with that, the elf (Lolly, she was called) bowed and immediately scurried over to Harry, almost pushing aside Hermione and Ron. Lolly leant over Harry as far as she could and just barely managed to feel Harry's forehead. She then grabbed Harry's wrist and checked his pulse.
"You seem fine, Master Harry Potter. How are you feeling, sir?" she said, looking at him happily. Her eyes were very penetrating and Harry almost got the impression that Lolly could read minds.
"Better, I suppose," Harry replied, and it was then that Harry's stomach gave a mighty growl, "Just really hungry," he added.
"Ah-hah," Lolly replied, smiling, "You, sir, haven't eaten since you came here, sir! I will tell the kitchens to make you, sir, a big, nice meal, master Potter, sir!" and with that, Lolly ran from the room.
Harry looked at Sirius."We have House Elves?" Harry asked.
Sirius nodded. Harry looked at Hermione, who looked like she wanted to protest, but was fighting with herself not to.
Sirius must have noticed this, too, because he looked at her and quickly, but nicely added, "Free, and paid, House Elves."
Hermione somewhat smiled, but then she looked at Harry and suddenly regained her melancholy appearance.
Harry noticed the uncomfortable air surrounding them all. He knew they were all thinking about the same thing, but were too afraid to say anything about it. Harry decided to break the silence.
"I can't believe they're dead," Harry said.
Sirius, Ron, and Hermione all looked at him with a new kind of depression, or was it pity?
Harry seemed to be the only one willing to talk about it. He was sad, yes, but not heartbroken, for he never loved the Dursley's. They were all far too ignorant and cruel to ever love, but Harry certainly never wanted them dead. There was only one person in the entire world whom Harry wished death upon. Voldemort.
Harry now understood why he had passed out. His feelings for Voldemort overwhelmed him, along with the shock of the death of the Dursleys, as well as the constant fear of another attack.
"I don't get why Voldemort killed them, though," Harry added in a toneless voice, almost as if he was talking to himself, "I mean, he wants ME dead, not the Dursleys. The Dursleys don't have anything to do with it, Sirius. The Gryffindor blood in on my dad's side, not my mom's side. It had nothing to do with them"
Hermione and Ron looked at Harry in shock. Ron was cleaning out his ear to see if he heard right. 'Gryffindor Blood?' Harry could se Hermione whisper to herself in wonder.
Sirius, however, took no notice of it. "They were looking for you, though, Harry. And when the Dursleys wouldn't tell them where you were, they killed them."
"They?" Harry asked, "You mean there were other Death Eaters involved?"
"Well, I'm not sure who else was with him. But it was more than just one dark wizard who did it."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked. He had a very bad feeling about the answer to his question, but it wasn't like things could get worse, could they?
Sirius, Harry now noticed, was tightly clutching a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand.
"Is the article in that?" Harry asked, pointing at the newspaper.
'Er, yeah," Sirius said, "Did you want to read it?"
"Yeah," Harry answered, and Sirius gave him the paper.
Harry unrolled the paper and noticed it was very bent and curvy, as though Sirius had been carrying it around for a long time.
Harry took a deep breath and began to read:
--------
"You-Know-Who's Plan's Fail - Muggle Family Dead"
It has been reported that on August 6th, at about 2:00 pm, He Who Must Not Be Named attempted an attack upon Harry Potter.
You-Know-Who arrived at the house of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, Potter's aunt and uncle, and legal guardians. When the Dark Lord arrived, however, Potter was not home. He Who Must Not Be Named then killed Potter's Uncle and Aunt, as well as their 15 year old son, Dudley, Harry's cousin.
"It's a shame," Minister Cornelius Fudge states, "but at least we got Harry away in time."
As for Potter's whereabouts, the Ministry will not comment and it is therefor unknown to the public at this time.When the Ministry was questioned about the attacks, they refused to say much, but Reporter John Nickel met Mad-Eye Moody at the scene, and had a moment to speak with him.
"No one's ever been able to penetrate a Family Protection Spell before," Moody reported after being asked about the attack. "There's no way in hell You-Know-Who pulled this off himself, regardless of how strong he's gotten. And none of 'dem Death Eaters could do it neither. If y'ask me, I'd say he's got a strong newbee on his side."
The Ministry refuses to say anymore about the incident at this time.
----------------
Harry looked at Sirius.
"Who could it have been?" he asked.
"I don't know," Sirius sighed, "Nobody does. The aurors still haven't even really found out who the majority of Voldemort's supporters are."
"But I thought that Snape was a spy," Harry replied as Ron and Hermione listened attentively (for they had no clue that Snape was a spy), "wouldn't he know who Voldemort's supporter's are?"
"Not necessarily," Sirius answered gravely, "You see, Harry, Snape knows who all of the Death Eaters are, but the Death Eaters aren't Voldemort's only supporters. Harry, our world has, for a long time, neglected the fact that there are other powerful, and independent, Dark Wizards and Witches out there."
"What?" Harry exclaimed, "Voldemort isn't the only one? Who else is there?!"
"Only the Ministry knows," Ron answered.
Harry looked at Ron, who seemed to have gotten paler over all the talk of Dark Wizards and Witches.
"Then, does your father know?" Harry asked.
"Nah," Ron sighed, "only the aurors and really important Ministry members know."
"Oh," Harry replied quietly.
As an eery silence was threatening to overtake them all again, Lolly came running into the room, with a large tray full of food.
"Here you are, sirs and miss," Lolly smiled, while putting the tray down on Harry's bedside table.
"How are you's feeling now, Harry Potter, sir?" she asked."Better, thanks," Harry replied while grabbing a sandwich off of the tray.
At Harry's comment, Lolly smiled and started clapping excitedly.
"Very good, master Potter, sire, very good!" she said, "You are very resilient, sir!"
But Harry wasn't paying much attention. He didn't realize how hungry he actually was until he started eating. His thoughts, however, trailed back to the Dursleys. Harry imagined them dying over and over again in his mind, and he couldn't stop. What if he could have saved them? If he hadn't left, he could have saved them all.
Harry now began to recall his last few minutes at number 4, Privet Drive. He began to remember the forlorn Dudley. Harry now began to realize why he felt so bad when he left the Dursleys. Harry somehow knew something bad was going to happen to them. But how did Harry know?
***
Harry was forced to stay in the medical ward for the rest of the night, but when morning came, Harry was let free, and made his way (after taking many wrong turns) into the living room. Sirius, Ron, and Hermione were all eating their breakfast. Harry sat down to eat and found that Sirius had told Ron and Hermione all about Godric Gryffindor being Harry's ascendant.
They were both awestruck, but both also claimed not to be surprised.
"Well, it does explain a lot," Hermione secretly said to Ron after breakfast.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked curiously.
"Well, he's been a model Gryffindor student, hasn't he?" Hermione replied, "I know he had some sort of old, magical power in his blood."
After the three of them all finished telling one another stories about their vacation, Harry insisted on showing Ron and Hermione around the house. Not only did he want to take his mind off of yesterday's events, but he had realized that there was a lot more to be discovered about his new house. He wanted to explore it all.
"Don't get lost," Sirius told them as they all hurried out of the living room.
Harry was surprised at how many rooms his house had. Within 5 hours of their exploring, they had all counted about 100 different rooms, and more were still to be found.
"This used to be Godric Gryffindor's old house, y'know," Harry told Ron and Hermione.
"Really?" Ron gasped.
"Yeah," Harry continued, "Sirius told me."
As he said this, Harry finally remembered something important he wanted to show Ron and Hermione; Godric Gryffindor's painting.
"Do you guys want to meet him?" Harry asked slyly.
"Meet him?" Hermione laughed.
"Harry, he died centuries ago," Ron said.
"I know," Harry said cooly, "But there's a painting of him near my room. I was talking to him the night before you two came over."
Hermione and Ron were both looking at Harry with their jaws dropped in awe.
"He's really nice, too," Harry added.
The three of them didn't wait any longer to get to the picture. Harry leading the way, they all hurried to see Godric Gryffindor.
"Almost there," Harry told them as they ran up the Grand Staircase.
They finally came to the painting and stopped. Godric was watching them all and he laughed a bit.
"Who's this?" he asked Harry.
"These are my best friends," Harry smiled, "this is Hermione."
"Nice to meet you," Godric said.
Hermione tried to talk, but simply whimpered a word that sounded like, "hi."
"And this is Ron," Harry said, pointing to Ron.
"Hello, Ron," Godric said.
"Cool," Ron sighed as he shook his head in disbelief.
"So," Godric continued after a chuckle at Ron and Hermione's amazement, "are you two in my house at Hogwarts as well?"
"Yeah," Ron said, still awestruck.
"Yes I am," Hermione said proudly, "I'm the new Gryffindor prefect this year." "Wondeful!" Godric smiled.
Harry looked at Hermione. "You are?" he asked.
"Yeah," Hermione replied, smiling brightly, "Ron must have forgotten to mention it in the letter he sent to you before we came."
Ron rolled his eyes, and Harry could tell that Ron had purposely left it out of the letter.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked with Godric for what seemed like hours. Harry informed Godric about the Dursleys, and who had killed them.
"Who's Voldemort?" Godric asked curiously.
"Er, Salazar Slytherin's heir," Harry replied.
"His kin still exists, do they?" Godric said bitterly.
Harry then told Godric all about Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and how his parents had been killed by him. He also explained about how he got his scar and why he was so famous.
Eventually, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to leave Godric to go eat dinner, but they promised they would see him again, and they stuck true to their word. Thy went to visit him the next day, and everyday after that for the next few weeks (Ron and Hermione's parents had both agreed to let them stay until the new school year started).
About two weeks before school started, Harry, Ron and Hermione all got their letters from Hogwarts.
"Hey!" Ron exclaimed as he looked at his letter, "I've just remembered, fifth-years don't need permission forms for Hogsmeade!"
"Great," Harry sighed with a chuckle, "the first year that I have a legal guardian who's willing to sign the form, and I don't even need one."
Harry looked at his letter and read it over. It said:
--------
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been granted a fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please note that fifth-years no longer require permission to enter Hogsmeade other than that of a staff member. You're supplies list has been enclosed.
Sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall
Headmistress
-------------------
Harry put away his letter and took out his supplies list. He looked over it until one class list in particular caught his eye:
-------------------
History of Dark Magic- Cecil Pagery
Basic Hexes and Curses- Serena Blosworth
The Study of Simple Dark Magic- Margery Marsh
The Dark Arts: Chapter 1- William Shawville
-------------------
Hermione must have been reading this list also, because she gasped as she looked at her letter (with her shiny new prefect badge tightly clutched in her hand).
"Oh my goodness," she exclaimed, "I'm taking the Dark Arts? I never signed up for that! I didn't even know that Hogwarts teaches that stuff!"
"I'm signed up for it, too," Harry said as he showed Hermione his class- list.
"Me too!" Ron added, seeming curious.
"Why on Earth are they teaching us Dark Magic?" Hermione suspiciously thought aloud. "And why the hell do we need dress robes again?" Ron exclaimed.
"Dress robes?" Harry repeated and he looked at his supplies list again. It was at the top of his clothing supplies list.
"Ooooh," said Hermione eagerly, "Maybe we're having another Ball this year!"
"Ooooh," Ron mimicked sarcastically, "Because the last one was just so much fun."
"Oh shut up," Hermione retorted, turning slightly pink.
"Well," Harry interrupted, changing the subject, "I could probably get Sirius to bring us to Diagon Alley."
"You mean Knockturn Alley?" Ron said uneasily.
"What do you mean by that, Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Look at the bottom of the supplies list," Ron replied, "It says, 'students please note that History of Dark Magic, Basic Hexes and Curses, The Study of Simple Dark Magic, and The Dark Arts: Chapter 1 will all be found in Grachus's Study of Knockturn Alley.' Now THAT is weird."A moment of uneasy silence followed Ron's words.
"Just make sure that Sirius comes with us, then, okay Harry?" Hermione added with a slight quiver in her voice.
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-Summer :)
PS- someone asked when I started writing this story...I started in December of 2001.