I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. ALL CHARACTERS ARE FROM THE MIND OF J.K. ROWLING ALONE.
Chapter One: "Of Course They're Going To Close It"
If any average person were to look upon Harry Potter, they would think he was no different from any sixteen-year old you would see any other day. His untidy jet-black hair, large, round glasses, and green eyes would look like any average boy's appearance. However, even though any muggle would mistake Harry for someone who could never change humanity forever, anyone of Harry's kind - wizards that is - would be able to tell you Harry's life story just by a glance at his forehead. Settled behind Harry's dark, overgrown bangs was a thin, lightning-bolt shaped scar. This scar was the one reason Harry had been granted the nickname "The Boy Who Lived" at the young age of one. It was because of the evil Lord Voldemort that this scar lays on Harry's forehead sixteen years later. It was because of Voldemort that Harry had been given the nickname "The Boy Who Lived". It was because of Voldemort that so many people that Harry cared about - his mother, his father, his fellow classmate, Cedric Diggory, his godfather, Sirius Black, and his school headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, just to name a few - were all dead. If it was not for Voldemort, Harry would not have witnessed all of these innocent people be lost forever. The horrid memories crowded Harry's mind.
Harry was asleep on the Hogwarts Express – the train that was taking him back to London from his wizard school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Normally, Harry would be in a cart on the train with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, having a discussion about what had happened all year at their abnormal school or the strange goings-on in the wizarding world. This year was different. Harry lay asleep in a cart by himself while Ron and Hermione were in the cart across from it, wondering why Harry wanted to be alone. They both knew how hard it was on Harry to watch their potions teacher, Professor Snape, cast the killing curse upon the wise Hogwarts headmaster, who had saved Harry's life so many times. They knew how much Harry wanted to return the favor. But he was too late and Ron and Hermione could not figure out why Harry could not let go of the incident.
"Did you hear him when he said he wasn't coming back?" Ron said in a surprised tone. He glanced at Harry in the next cart again. He had always looked up to Harry as…well, a leader. Now Ron felt like he should be leading Harry, but instead he was sitting in a separate cart, staring at him worriedly. "Not come back to Hogwarts? That's mad!"
"If Hogwarts is even open next term," Hermione replied. Ron almost thought he saw a tear shed from Hermione's eye as she said this. They both had heard, after the headmaster's death, that there was a chance that Hogwarts would not reopen next term. Ron and Hermione could hardly blame them, but Hogwarts was still practically their home. Never going back would be like never returning to your family.
"Are you okay, Hermione?" Ron asked her. He realized she really was crying. "It's not for sure that they're closing it, you know. It's just a thought."
"Of course they're going to close it," Hermione said. "Of course the school whose potions teacher killed the headmaster will be closed. Who are you kidding, Ron?" Hermione turned her face away from Ron and toward the window where rain sputtered against the glass. "The Ministry will be sure that it is closed. They can't risk another attack like that. Oh, Ron. What are we going to do? Nobody knows what Harry is plotting in his dreams in that cart. And where are we going? I can't return to constant life with muggles. Not after all of this." Hermione cried. She leapt from her seat next to Ron, crying on his shoulder.
"Don't, Hermione." Ron said, trying to be comforting. "Harry isn't gone forever. If we're not going to Hogwarts then we have to do something. And the something that I'm doing is the same thing that Harry is. Are you with me?"
Hermione arose her face from Ron's shoulder. Ron knew how much Hermione loved Hogwarts, especially because she was muggle-born. Never going back to Hogwarts would send her back to the muggle world forever. "Harry would never let us come with him. He says it's too dangerous. He has to find Voldemort's final Horcruxes."
"I don't give a damn what Harry says. I'm going with him." Ron said in a brave tone that Hermione had never heard come out of Ron's mouth before. She almost laughed.
"I guess," she said. "Harry will just have to live with us." Ron and Hermione gave a final glance back to Harry's cart. He was starting to stir as Ron and Hermione felt the train come to a halt. "We're here."