A/N: I own none of the characters you recognize, only the plot. I love J.K. Rowling and admire her ability to create such a wonderful series of books.
It was a sunny, windless morning on Privet Drive, the birds were chirping and the grass was just shaking off what was left of the morning dew. Looking closely at number four, in the Begonia patch was none other than Harry Potter. His hair was wildly bouncing up and down and his eyes teared at the corners as he fought to keep his laughter silent from his whale of a cousin Dudley, who was frantically rushing about the small, clean little kitchen looking for the cupcakes. Eavesdropping on Harry's phone calls had been a recent past time of Dudley's, so Harry had decided to accidentally mention, very loudly, that his aunt Petunia had hidden a large batch of cupcakes she had made surreptitiously the night before. Harry could barely keep down his laughter as he peeked over the sill of the kitchen window. He could see Dudley's huge butt sticking out of the cupboard and hear his cousin's frustrated grunts as he failed yet again to locate the cupcakes. Still laughing, Harry fell back to the cool earth of the Begonia patch and wondered what his friends were doing that very minute. Harry had received a call from Hermione that day telling Harry of the plans the Weasley's had for the holidays. He would be going to the Burrow at the end of the month to spend the rest of the summer. Sighing, Harry rolled over and counted the days in his head until the end of the month. There were sixteen. He moaned to himself thinking of what he could possibly do for the better part of two weeks until he could leave this place.
Summer at the Dursley's had not been that bad this time around, maybe it was because of the confrontation at King's Cross when he had arrived back from his fifth year. Smiling, he thought about the horrified looks on the Dursley's faces when Moody had threatened them. Strangely, since he had been home, Harry hadn't been ordered or asked otherwise to do anything around the house. It was as if the Dursley's were ignoring Harry altogether, which was fine with him. Harry's thoughts shifted to the last couple weeks of the term and the battle in the Department of Mysteries and the death of his godfather. It hadn't been his fault, but he still felt guilty about it. Rustling noises in the bushes on the side of the house quickly shook Harry from his thoughts and he pulled out his wand and crept cautiously to the corner of the house. There was nothing to be seen, but looking more closely he could see an occasional patch of grass flatten.
"Ah," he thought to himself, "someone is creeping around here in an invisibility cloak!"
Keeping close to the house, Harry stopped just feet away from the flattened grass and waited. When he saw the grass move again he pounced upon his mysterious stalker and tore off the cloak.
"Arrgh! Mmpf! Get off!"
"Never!" Harry cried. When he turned his stalker over he saw none other than the magical rolling eye of Mad Eye Moody.
"Sorry professor! I thought you were a stalker or a Death Eater," Harry explained with a grin.
"Yes, Potter. I suppose its not everyday you get to tackle an old professor. I guess I have taught you well. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he bellowed with a grin.
"Hey, wait a minute," Harry said, "What are you doing here anyway?"
"Oh, that? Never you mind. I have been sent here to deliver a message from Dumbledore. You will be starting training very soon. But I must be going, got business to attend to." Moody said as he shoved a large parchment envelope at Harry.
"Wait! Professor, aren't you going to…" as Moody disappeared with a soft pop. "Aren't you going to explain what it is?" Harry finished to himself. Sighing, Harry walked in through the back door past his cousin who was still poking around the kitchen completely oblivious to what had just happened in his own backyard. Once he was safely in his room with the door locked, Harry opened the envelope and started to read:
Dear Harry,
It has come to my attention that soon, you will be of age and ready to be inducted into the Order. Induction, however, does not usually occur until the party to be inducted has reached the desired age and left Hogwarts, but exceptions are also to be made. Another thing has come to my attention as of late regarding your power as a wizard, something I believe to be very interesting indeed. Tomorrow you will begin your training. Enclosed is a portkey. To activate it you just need to tap it with your wand and whisper the words 'exploding snap' at exactly noon tomorrow.
Best regards,
D.
Please read and review. Be gentle with the flames. If I get five reviews I will update tomorrow as I have many ideas for this fanfic!
