Disclaimer:
I don't own anything in relation to Harry Potter except for my own copies of the books. This was written just for the enjoyment of writing and i make no money off it.
Author's Notes:
I would just like to thank my first reviewers, all seven of them. Because of your support I was able to write this a bit quicker but I assume the next chapter will take me at least a week. I personally thank Shivakashi, Never Odd Or eveN, Completely Indecisive, loneicedragon, Bewittching, SilverPunk with an attitude and bandqsecuritiyaw.A note to Bewittching, I have removed the anonymous review blocker from my story. I never even knew it was there. Thanks for the tip.
Chapter Summery:
Harry wakes up from his dream, confused about whether it was just a dream or another vision. During a lengthy (okay so it's actually length-ish) monologue, he tries to correct a mistake but finds something out that shatters his world. A certain someone tries to comfort him (No, it's not Hermione. I told you already about there being alot more misadventures and comical coincidences before that) and a mysterious raven delivers something that is going to make things interesting.
Chapter Two
Beware Things Bearing Gifts
It was mid June, the day of Albus Dumbledore's funeral and the students of Hogwarts were on the home bound Hogwarts Express as it made it's way to platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station. Because of the murder of the school's headmaster within the grounds of the supposedly safest place in the country it was unlikely that the school would reopen in September again. So this was the last day that the students could spend time in each others company.
Not that it mattered to Harry. He didn't wish to return to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry next year, even if it as the closest thing to what he called home, as he had an important mission to complete before any such luxury could be afforded: he had to locate and destroy the remaining four horcruxes, the fragments of Voldemort's soul, for it was prophesised that only he could slay the Dark Lord
He was fast asleep in their compartment on the train while his best friends who had recently realised they had feelings for each other were discussing the aforementioned feelings over the murmurs of Harry's slumber.
"I think we should hold off getting any further until we have helped Harry to finally get rid of Voldemort, Ron" pleaded Hermione Granger, a seventeen year old with brown bushy hair and an insatiable appetite for knowledge.
The flaming red head opposite her, one Ronald Weasley a.k.a. Ron, was taken aback by this comment, "Are you really going to let Harry stop this relationship? It could take years for Harry to kill You-Know-Who, and we may not even survive to see it. We've been after each other every since fourth year. I can't allow you to ruin this"
"Don't you dare try to control me. This is my choice. Harry needs us more than we need each other at the moment"
Anger started to pour into Ron. Although Ron was Harry's best friend he was very susceptible to becoming jealous of him and seeing his 'girlfriend' show such caring and commitment to Harry was sure to make him become so again. Ron could become very hurtful and oblivious to the truth in these times, as Harry found out when he wouldn't believe that Harry had not put his name into the Goblet of Fire. "Admit it, you love him don't you? More than you ever liked me, I don't even know why I ever thought this would work out between us; we always argue and you are in love wi-"
"I am not in love with Harry, why are you being so paranoid! If this is how you really feel about us then maybe it was a mistake, maybe this wasn't meant to be."
"Nooo!" screamed Harry, his raven black hair messier than normal, thrashing about in his sleep. His eyelids flicked open and he leapt to his feet; genuine fear behind his emerald green eyes and sweat pouring off his raven black hair. The two friends immediately stopped their conversation thinking that he had been listening but when they saw the blood flowing from his reopened scar, they knew it was far worse. Hermione and Ron had been Harry's best friends for the better part of six years, ever since their first year at Hogwarts, and were familiar with the nightmares that would occasionally plague Harry's dreams along with the effects of this but they had never seen it as bad as it was now.
"Quick Ron, run and get a teacher or something while I heal his scar" bellowed Hermione. Ron dashed out of the compartment immediately to the front of the train.
Without saying a word Hermione held her wand pointed at Harry's head and a soft ray of blue light was emitted which instantly healed his reopened lightning shaped wound, a souvenir from the first time Voldemort had tried to kill him: when he was but one year old, the same night his parents had died protecting him and the fall of Voldemort (and hopefully not the last) which ushered in thirteen years of peace.
The Head Boy entered the compartment. "What happened? Who was making that racket?"
"Harry just had a nightmare, is all" answered Hermione.
"Just try to keep it down next time alright. A bunch of first years were in such a panic because they thought the train was under attack."
"How do you know how to do healing magic?" questioned Harry after the Head Boy had left.
"I read the technique in a book but anyway" replied Hermione as she put a silencing charm on the compartment. "What happened? Did you see what Voldemort was doing again? I thought you were really practicing you occlumency again."
"I tried but I just can't get the hang of it and what I saw was horrible. I saw Mundungus."
"Mundungus? From the Order?"
"Yes and he was being tortured in front of Voldemort. He wanted to find out what will happen to the Order now that Dumbledore is gone. Mundungus told him that Fawkes would choose the next leader and then they killed him! He's dead!"
"This is bad. Very bad. We don't know who the new leader is so we can't warn him or her. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know but I'll mention it to the new leader of the Order when he makes himself known.'
"Oh okay. Said Hermione." They were silent for a few second until she continued "So what are we going to do when we reach Kings Cross Station?"
"Well I'm going to stay with the Dursley's for a few days then I'll be off to find the horcruxes. Maybe Ron and you should go home for a while, have some time with your parents by yourself. I'll meet you later in the week."
"Oh no you don't. You were going to sneak off without us weren't you." Harry slowly and reluctantly nodded his head. She always knew when he wasn't being truthful. "Well we're coming to your house with you."
"Alright then, alright then. How are we getting there?"
"I think Professor Lupin and Tonks are picking us up. Hey, you could tell them about the nightmare you had."
"Oh okay then, I'll tell them. When we get to the Dursley's we only have to stay there for a little while… a week at the most, I think."
"That would be good."
Ron returned back with a large slab of chocolate which Harry happily accepted. "Sorry, couldn't find a teacher and this was all I could do on short notice." Harry began eating the chocolate silently after thanking him. "So mate, what happened?" asked Ron. Harry went on to tell Ron what he had told Hermione.
"I don't think it was real though" said Harry.
"Why?" inquired both Ron and Hermione.
"Well, the death eater who tortured Mundungus. Afterwards he read a copy of the Quibbler."
"The Quibbler? What death eater in their right mind would read that? You heard Malfoy making fun of it, it just… isn't acceptable." Hermione reasoned.
"And he also ran into Snape after that while he was walking to his room. It was weird because all my dreams involved Voldemort. I mean, I usually see it through his eyes or he's always in the vision but this time, it concentrated on the death eater."
"This is so strange… just doesn't sound right. Do you remember anything else in your nightmare?"
"No" said Harry omitting the part about the death eater looking exactly like him. He had some idea how his friends would freak out if they knew this. 'Ron would probably go on about how weird this was or that he was becoming very creepily like Trelawney, their former Divination teacher, every year or something along those lines. He was very unpredictable when it came to things like that' thought Harry.
'But Hermione however, would definitely try to psychoanalyse this piece of information in every minute detail and then advise me to do something that usually involved a ridiculous amount of studying which she would eventually do after she finds out that I didn't bother to do it. I always thought that that was a very endearing quality of hers; that she really cares about me and would do most anything to help me, like just before when I was planning to ditch my two best friends and go on this dangerous quest by myself. She's always there for me. That's what I loved about her.'
'Wait, where did that come from? Do I love Hermione? No, it can't be. Besides, she loves Ron who obviously loves her as well. Yeah, what I just felt isn't love. Love was what those two have for each other, that thing that make them fight all the time, that thing that made Hermione very out of character last year. I mean, where did that crazy jealous Hermione came from? That just must be love, then.'
'Besides, I'm in love with Ginny. Aren't I?' Harry had discovered that he had feelings for Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister by one year, near the start of the last school year: Harry's sixth and Ginny's fifth. He fought against these feelings at first thinking that they were just overprotective brotherly instincts when he saw her with Dean Thomas but he found that he was wrong. The two started dating after the last Quidditch match of the year but he had broken up with her at Dumbledore's funeral to keep her safe as so many people near him seem to die.
'I mean I still am, right? Wasn't that the reason I couldn't see her anymore; because I loved her so much I couldn't bear to see her harmed because of me. But who would hurt someone they love by breaking up with them? And if I really wanted to keep her safe, shouldn't she be with me so I can make sure she's safe. What I'm doing is wrong. When I get the chance, I have to apologise to Ginny and explain that I now realise what I did was stupid.'
"Harry… Hello? Earth to Harry, come in" said Ron pulling him back from his inner monologue.
"What? Oh, sorry. Must have got lost in my thoughts" apologised Harry, shaking his head. "We should forget about this though. It's just not the same. I've had so many Voldemort channeling nightmares that I can't even distinguish them from my actual dreams."
"Well, I still think you should tell someone" retorted Hermione. Harry stared out of the window and silence fell upon them. Five minutes later, Harry got up to leave.
"Where you going?" said Ron.
"Oh… I er…just need to er…take care of a few things. Besides, I think you guys deserve some alone time." And with a sly wink to the both of them he left, totally unaware of the uncomfortable situation he had just put them in.
Harry walked down the corridor, checking the compartments as he went along. A lot of the students had already gone home because their parents thought it was too unsafe for them to be without their family at the time so the train was not as full as it usually was.
He got near the end of the train and was starting to think that Ginny was on the other side of the train when he saw her in a compartment, on Neville Longbottom's lap, kissing him. He nearly had a heart attack and backed away out of sight to think about it. 'That couldn't be them. I mean Neville is my friend, or was, depending if what I saw was what I thought I saw. And Ginny was my girlfriend of whom I broke it off with earlier today so that she would be safe since I love her so. They wouldn't betray me like this.'
Harry silently and quickly took a peek back into the compartment and his earlier suspicions were confirmed. His world (and possibly his heart) shattered. He stepped back down the corridor a bit and leaned against the wall, finally slumping to the floor sitting, looking thoroughly defeated.
"Don't be so sad, Harry" said a familiar dreamy voice. Harry turned towards the source of the voice and saw he was staring at Luna Lovegood, another person on his list of friends (a shortening list at that after what he just saw). She was still wearing her butterbeer cork necklace and had her radish ear rings on. Her almost bulging silvery eyes were staring seemingly past him dreamily, her straggly dirty blond hair swaying to the motion of the train.
"Why do you think I'm sad?" asked Harry all too convinced that Luna was actually right.
"Well, number one, you just look very sad moping there on the floor."
"And number two is? I assume there's a number two if there's a number one" said Harry not all too convinced. Luna was very… eccentric, one could say (most said that she was just plain strange). She was in Ginny's year and also had a habit of believing in things that had no proof behind it at all: she had a pure, unfaltering faith in things and she had helped him get through Sirius' death, her being the only one to hear the voices beyond the veil. She was a great friend who Harry thought he was lucky to have and with that thought, Harry regretted having neglected her nearly all of last year.
"Number two is that you probably saw Ginny and Neville together."
"You knew!" said Harry thinking once again that he always had things kept from him or was at least the last one to know.
"Well, yeah. I was there when they started kissing" explained Luna. "About two hours ago." Luna can be very blunt sometimes. Usually it was a good trait but it just hurt at the moment.
"What am I going to do?" He buried his face in his hands. He felt Luna's hand tilting his head up to look at her face and clasped her hands to both his cheeks to make sure he kept doing so.
"You'll keep your chin up" said Luna probably unaware of the irony of what she just said and did. "There are plenty of fish in the sea. There's always someone out there who was just made for you. The lucky ones even get two. So buck up, get out and enjoy life. You just can't sit here and mope. You have to take the bull by the horns and take control."
"Thanks" said Harry bringing one of his hands to cover one of Luna's. Truth be told he was actually weirded out by the fact that she had not only just talked to him without one mention ofsome type of unbelievable creature or unfounded conspiracy theory, but had actually used a string of normal and widely used phrases (although the former usually made him laugh). "You always know what to say. Guess that's why you're in Ravenclaw. How comes you always help me through something at the end of the last two years?"
"Because you always had things to get through and that's what friends are for, right?"
"Are you sure you don't belong in Hufflepuff as well. That was very loyal of you."
"Are you sure you're alright, Harry? You just forgot that I'm in Ravenclaw. Have you by any chance notice a wayward Crumple Horned Snorkack. I think they may incur memory loss and that's the reason why they're so hard to find" said Luna, suddenly looking very concerned and slightly eager to find out if her theory was correct.
"No, no. What I meant was that you have enough loyalty that you could have been a Hufflepuff easily. And yes, I do know that you actually are in Ravenclaw."
"Yeah, well. Professor Dumbledore said to me at one point that it is these similarities that help people unite. We're all similar, we just have different levels of traits, I think." Harry winced at this direct mention of Dumbledore. Images of the funeral and the grief over his death started rushing back.
And as if reading his mind she said "I don't think that Professor Dumbledore would want you to feel so sad at every mention of his name. I mean he kept on saying how it was ridiculous for us to flinch at V-Voldemort's name. I'm still having trouble with it but I'm trying. And besides, wouldn't he want you to think about the happier memories?"
"You know, you're right. Professor Dumbledore once said to me that death was the next great adventure. I should think he would really be enjoying it."
"That's the spirit. Want me to walk you back to your compartment?"
"Sure" agreed Harry. After a while of silent walking Harry said, "Hey Luna, if you get me a birthday present for this year, could you get me a pair of socks? A nice pair of thick and woolly ones."
"Why?" said the confused girl. Luna was never confused (or at least never showed it).
"Because that's what Professor Dumbledore always wanted most as a gift, and I just realised why. No expectations go with socks. People expect me to do something great with the books they give me or expect me to finally enjoy life a bit with the sweets they get me. The socks are just a meaningful gift from a friend to show they care" replied Harry.
"Well then, I know exactly what to get you then." Harry looked at her "And yes, they're going to be socks" chuckled Luna. Harry couldn't help but grin and laugh with her. This was how they looked when Harry entered his compartment saying goodbye to Luna.
Harry faced his two best friends and instead of them having looked like they had been kissing intensely and only just broke apart from hearing him coming, he saw completely strange expressions on his friend's faces.
Ron had a look of disgust on his face which is slightly understandable as Harry had just broken up with his sister earlier that day and had just been seen enjoying the company of another girl. The second reason could just be the fact that he had been with Luna 'Loony' Lovegood. Hermione's expression however was unreadable.
"What in the world were you doing with Luna?" blurted out Ron.
"She was just comforting me over Professor Dumbledore's death." Ron's face suddenly lit with anger and Harry realised what that just sounded like. "Not in that way, we just talked. Last year she really helped me get over Sirius' death and she just helped me now."
"Oh" said Hermione, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, looking very relieved. 'She's probably just worried about Ginny' Harry thought.
"And I see you guys didn't use my absence to good use" said Harry, a look of mock disappointment on his face, which was instantly suppressed by a laugh. "Let me guess, you just argued while I was away."
Harry sat down next to Hermione and across from Ron and was laughing so much he missed the look his friends gave each other. Hermione was about to explain their situation when a raven flew into the compartment through the open window and squawked at them. This was not the last of the oddities as there was a box tied to its leg with a line of holes cut into the side. It seemed that someone out there decided to be different and trained a raven to deliver his mail instead.
The raven flew to Harry and settled the box on his lap. It then flew out of the compartment window, dissapearing as fast as it appeared. Harry looked at the box and saw a note attached to the top. Picking it up and with Hermione looking over his shoulder, he read;
Harry
I hope Edgar (my raven, like Edgar Allen Poe, as in 'The Raven'. Don't get it, Hermione will tell you then) reaches you well. I write to apologise for the certain bad decisions made by the late Albus Dumbledore. He was a great wizard but he was still human nonetheless. As a penance on his behalf, I have arranged three gifts for you.
The first is that I personally will find and destroy all the Horcruxes for you (yes, I know what they are and their effect on Voldemort and don't worry; I'll kept it on a need-to-know basis). It is important that you train to be strong enough to defeat Voldemort and with this, you will have to time to do so. I advise you to go back to Hogwarts and take your N.E.W.T.s next year (you definitely will live through the war and you need these to get a good future). I took measures to make sure that the school will be opened again in September.
The second is a pet that is in the box attached to this note. It is very loyal and quite friendly. It has a great effect on a person's magical power as well. It prefers grass but will eat other things. If you have time, show it to Luna Lovegood. She will be so happy if she sees it. Treat it well and it will protect you.
The third gift however is a surprise but you'll know what it is when you get it. This one took a lot of time to devise and I had to ask a lot of people to help with it. I hope to meet you after you get this one.
Anyways, have to go. So enjoy the gifts and kick Voldemort's butt for all of us.
Ira Gardener
Head Of The Proeliator Umbra
A Friend
P.S. If you see my friend Aramis, say 'hi' for me. Don't be afraid of his looks. He's quite sensitive about that.
After reading the note, Harry could not help but be confused. Who the hell is this Ira Gardner? Why was he writing him and sending gifts? Can he be trusted? What was in the box? 'I sure hope his taste of pets isn't like Hagrid's' thought Harry.
"What did it say?" asked Ron.
"Well" said Harry. "Someone sent me a gift. In fact he supposedly got me three but this box, or whatever is in it, is one of them."
"Ah, another fan, huh?"
"Harry, be careful. It could be dangerous" cautioned Hermione. At these words the note started glowing. Looking at it they saw an extra line being written on it;
Note to Hermione: It is safe I tell you. Why do you always doubt gifts? I mean, remember the Firebolt incident in your third year. Try having a little more faith.
"Well, it does have a point" said Ron. He then chuckled to himself.
"Are you siding with the note? It's obviously dangerous. It takes a lot of power to be able to make something intelligent to talk to some one. It could be like Riddle's diary" ranted Hermione. The note, yet again, started to glow and another extra line was written.
Note to Hermione: This note isn't actually intelligent. I just spelled it to put up arguments to anyone (and I just knew that it would be you) who thought the gift is dangerous. I wrote the arguments beforehand. You're just so predictable.
Hermione was fuming at this new reply. Harry took the distraction and got the box. Pulling the string that was holding the box together; he pulled the lid off and inside was a very peculiar sight. The box was lined with piles of chopped grass although it was noticeable that a lot of grass had already been eaten. Lying on its stomach in the middle of the box was what looked like a newt, one the size of his hand and fatter than a normal newt should be. It had dark grey scales and on its legs were tiny claws. On its forehead was a weird horn of sorts, but it was not sharp but quite rounded off so it looked like tiny reindeer antlers but without as many branches. All in all, anyone who saw it would think it was rather cute though they could never say why.
It let out what sounded very similar to a yawn and looked up at Harry. It immediately looked more excited and edged its way towards Harry's side of the box while yawning at a higher pitch. He held out a hand for the little creature and it crawled up onto it but it did not stop there. It crawled up his arm and finally rested on his right shoulder which was on Hermione's side.
"I can see why the note said it was friendly. It took to you like it's known you all its life. I've never seen anything that looked like that before. What do you think it is?" asked Hermione. She was eyeing it suspiciously as if it might sprout fangs and bite someone's neck. She however, had a right to be suspicious.
The creature yawned again and suddenly Harry, with the creature still on his shoulder, seemed to have disintegrated into a cloud of black dust which started to seep onto the floor until it just vanished. This took all of two second.
"Harry? HARRY!" screamed Hermione in terror. Once again the note glowed again and once again it did not elevate her mood.
Note to Hermione: Don't worry. Harry is perfectly safe. He'll be back soon, I promise and he'll be alive and well. Please don't tear this note into pieces. It took me a whole hour to remember how to enchant it.
Note to Ron: I think you should get some chocolate for Hermione. It'll calm her down and possibly save my note from a vicious death at the hands of a hysterical and enraged woman. (I hope she didn't read this last part).
I O >> >> >> I
Harry landed on the ground a little rougher than most would like. He was instantly reminded of various trips that involved Floo powder. When he looked up, he saw that he was no longer on the Hogwarts Express. He was in a stone lined room, with a number of flaming torches being the only source of light leaving the corners in shadows. Thankfully the floor had been covered in plush carpeting which make his fall not as painful as it should have been.
There was only one piece of furniture in the room; a chair near one of the walls, which was occupied by a woman who was wearing a black robe with a blue streak running down the side and had a cheerful disposition on her face. She had silver coloured eyes and long flowing black hair which was tied off with a blue bandana. This beautiful woman was in huge contrast to what can only be describe as a creature standing beside her.
It was about a head taller than Ron was and was standing upright like a human but it looked so much like a lizard. It was wearing pure black robes that were cut off so it did not have anything covering its muscular scaly arms, where he could see what must have been wings hanging from them. His head reminded him of that of a Hungarian Horntail but he could see a black bandanna wrapped around its forehead. The creature was the first to speak.
"Ah. You must be Harry Potter" said the creature in a deep voice. Then he turned to the woman and asked, "What was it that Ira wanted me to say when he got here, again?" He leaned towards her and she whispered into his ear. "Ah, yes. Now I remember."
Looking towards Harry, he walked forward a few paces towards him and said in an all too serious tone, "Surprise."
Author's Notes:
Whew, that's another chapter done. My friend Paul seems to think that I broke Ron and Hermione up a bit too early (but I say it should have been sooner). What do you guys think? Anyways, I thought that it just brought up a funny moment or two. You guys may be wondering why I put Ginny and Neville together. I just think that Neville deserves a break and gets the girl for once (we all know that he also has a low mortality rate compared to Harry, so Ginny won't be dissapointed). (Also I just needed a simple way to get rid of anything that may get them back together. The romance and some of the comedy will be much better if Harry becomes unattached.) You guys may also be wondering why I chose Luna to comfort Harry and I say that it was because Luna is one of my favourite characters and she helped him out in the fifth book so why not here. Also, she's going to be quite important to certain aspects of the story which may bring back jealous Hermione (although she's not going to be so OOC this time. It was barely mention that she studied at all and what happened to S.P.E.W.).
In the next chapter I plan to explain a few things like...
-What happened to Harry?
-What was that pet that Harry got?
-Who were those two at the end of this chapter?
-And finally, what the hell is the Proeliator Umbra?
If you have any guesses about these points, please feel free to add it with your review. Thanks for reading and remember, I'll be back.