Author's Note: The following story was written entirely by me, hermyowninny. Of course, most of the characters belong to J.K Rowling; however, a few are the products of my own imagination, and I hold the rights to them. Another fact I must note is that this story was written well before Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was published, so yes, I did hypothesize correctly as to who the HBP was. (This story was first posted at GODRICS-HOLLOW over a year ago, if you would like proof.) So hopefully you will enjoy this story, and I hope that you will leave reviews. (If you are planning on leaving a review about an inconsistency between my fic and HPHBP, please do not, because I've already stated that I wrote and completed this story before the sixth installment was published.) Thank you once again, and I would appreciate any and all criticism:)
Chapter
One
False Alarm
It was nearing midnight on July 25, 1998, and a hooded stranger was walking through the abandoned streets of Hogsmeade. The stranger stopped and looked into every shop window and waited, as though expecting someone to emerge and take notice of this cloaked person. But no one did, and so the stranger walked on. The weather was cool, and an unusual breeze swept over the village. The stranger knew that everyone with any sense had abandoned that place, and surrounding wizarding areas long ago. (Even the Hog's Head was abandoned; that was the most unusual thing the stranger had seen all night.) Yet, the stranger walked on for a few more minutes.
Now outside of an old shack, The Shrieking Shack, the stranger pulled down her hood and unveiled flaming red hair. She sat down beside a trap door leading to a cellar, and tears spilled from her eyes and streaked her face. It seemed like centuries ago she had immediately fallen in love with a scrawny bespectacled boy with a scar upon his forehead at the train station. But she could not think of him right now. She wiped away her tears and stood up. She had to get a hold on herself. If she was ever going to help fulfill two prophecies and end a war between good and evil within six days, then she needed to clear her mind and focus on her mission.
After making sure no one was around that would know anything, (Though she didn't see the point; apparently, no one was there. Yet she had to follow orders, so she looked around.) she tapped the exterior of the Shack with her wand. The wall dissolved from the tip of her wand, and she returned it to her pocket. She stepped inside the ancient shack, which was known as haunted', and looked around; she knew the place all too well. It was the place where she discovered her important role in the battle that could cause disaster between the wizarding and Muggle worlds. She relaxed her mind, took a deep breath, and proceeded down the long, dark passageway.
"Lumos," the girl muttered, and her wand lit, illuminating the passageway. "STUPEFY!" she yelled, pointing her wand in the direction of a rat's squeak, and a jet of red light burst from the end of her wand and stopped the rat in its tracks. She bent down and examined the rat's forepaws. No toes missing: it was just a plain rat.
"Ennervate," she muttered, and the rat scuttled away. It was just a false alarm. Wormtail was most likely doing his master's bidding at that moment, not scampering around little abandoned Hogsmeade.