Harry Potter and the Heir of Hogwarts

Chapter 2: I Just Wanna Wish You Well

Author: Gryffindor Sebastian.

Author's notes: Chapter two! Hurrah! Lucky me! I finished Redemption Song and got this ARCHIVED! Hurrah! Best of Potter… lucky me…

Harry awoke the following morning to find a ray of sunlight stabbing through the curtains at his eyes. Rubbing them and blinking tiredly, he sat up and put on his round-framed glasses. It was quiet and the door was shut to his room. He got out of bed and changed into the clothes that he had brought with him from the Dursley's house the night previous.

Harry stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen and sat at the scrubbed wooden table, yawning and looking around him. Everyone there seemed to be in a state of shock. Ron was staring at the table and Mrs Weasley was at the stove, stirring a large pot quietly. Harry looked outside and saw Ginny and Hermione talking in the sunshine-filled backyard. Getting up, he pushed open the door and wandered outside. Hermione was the first to notice him.

'Oh Harry, I'm so sorry,' she said softly. Harry stared at her, slightly bemused.

'What's happened? Everyone's… so quiet!' Harry asked. Ginny ogled at him.

'Didn't Ron show you The Daily Prophet this morning? It was all over the front page!' she said. Harry shook his head. Hermione grabbed him by the arm and hauled him inside The Burrow. She snatched the wizarding newspaper out of Ron's hands and handed it to Harry.

'There… see?' she said, stepping back. It took a few moments for Harry's eyes to focus and understand what was written in block letters for the headline:

DURSLEYS MURDERED: SUSPECTED DEATH EATER ATTACK ON MUGGLES THAT PROTECTED THE BOY WHO LIVED

Harry looked up, shaking slightly.

'It's… it's my fault,' he said, grasping for something that would make it easier to deal with. Hermione swallowed.

'Harry, it's not your fault. Read on.'

Harry examined the front-page article.

Last night in Little Whinging, the former guardians of Harry Potter, Mr Vernon Dursley, Mrs Petunia Dursley and their seventeen year old son Dudley Dursley were murdered in an attack that was almost certain to have been directed at the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter.

The muggles have been Harry Potter's guardians for the last sixteen years, but Harry (who turned seventeen yesterday) is now of age and has the right to leave his guardian's house. The attack took place last night at approximately 11:30pm, when several Death Eaters are alleged to have converged on the house and destroyed every living occupant.

'It was terrible. I woke up and heard the screaming and shouting and all I could think of was poor Harry,' says Arabella Figg, former neighbour of Potter and registered squib.

More information on protecting your family against Death Eaters can be found inside.

Harry laid the paper aside. Sure, he'd never liked the Dursleys, but he wouldn't've wished this on anyone. Not after his own past was scarred with the works of such evil. Hermione laid her hand gently on Harry's arm.

'Harry, I know you must be scared right now, but don't do anything foolish,' she said. Harry looked at her incredulously.

'Hermione, they KILLED my last living relatives! Assuming that I never marry or have kids, I'm the last of the Potter/Evans line! There's no-one else!' Harry shouted. Hermione winced. Ron, shaken out of his shock, extended his arm and grabbed his friend's hand.

'Mate, I know it's tough, but…'

'No!' Harry yelled, jerking his hand away. Hermione and Ron looked at each other sadly. Harry leapt up and began pacing the floor. He turned to them.

'There's no time to lose. Those Death Eaters are coming after me. I'm the last threat they have! Don't you see? I'm the last line of defence this place had against Voldemort and those who follow him!'

Ron and his mother twitched at the mention of Voldemort and Hermione flashed him a scared look, but Harry ploughed on.

'Don't you get it? By the time Bill and Fleur are married, there might not be a world to save! I have to leave now!' Harry finished, out of breath and collapsed into a chair. The room fell silent again. Mrs Weasley stepped forward carefully.

'Harry dear?'

Harry swung around to face her.

'Yes?'

'Could you at least stay for breakfast?'

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, who were gauging his reaction. Harry sighed and slumped back in his seat.

'Sure.'

'Where are we going exactly?' Ron asked as he locked his trunk and dragged it over to where Harry was standing beside his own.

'Godric's Hollow. It's where my parents lived before…' Harry began, but fell silent. Ron nodded solemnly.

'I'm sorry things turned out this way, mate. I really am,' he said, shaking Harry's hand. Harry nodded and turned away so that his best friend didn't see him cry. Hermione came down the stairs, her trunk levitating behind her.

'Are we all ready then?' she asked. Harry and Ron nodded. Hermione used the same incantation as she had the night before and the trunks vanished. Harry turned to Ron.

'Are you going back to Hogwarts this year?' he asked. Ron shrugged.

'Not much point if you aren't, is there?'

Harry looked at Hermione.

'And you?' he asked. Hermione hung her head.

'Like Ron said, there isn't much point if you aren't there.'

Harry grinned half-heartedly. He still had some friends in this world, whether Voldemort liked it or not.

'Let's go then,' he said. Mrs Weasley, who had been watching the proceeding, burst into tears.

'Oh please… oh please be careful!' she sobbed, running to Ron's side and engulfing him in a bear hug. It was several minuted before she let him go.

Harry looked from friend to friend, then turned deftly on the spot. Again, he felt the squeezing feeling that indicated apparition. When he arrived, Harry had prepared himself. But what he saw, he wasn't prepared for. Where his house once stood was a pile of rubble and next to, a looming monument; a building with an enormous brass plaque set above the wooden doors:

POTTER INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS