Harry Potter and the Darkness

Chapter 1

Difficult Times Lie Ahead

"Harry…you don't remember who I am?" Dumbledore asked, though from his expression it seemed as though he already knew the answer.

"I've seen you before…but I don't know anything about you," he replied confusedly.

The others also exchanged confused looks.

"What is your full name, Harry?"

Harry looked around at them and answered sincerely, "I don't know."

"Harry, if you will excuse us for just a moment…we will be right back," Dumbledore tried smiling at him, but the twinkle was gone from his eyes.

The lot of them stepped out of the Hogwarts infirmary, all looking expectantly at Dumbledore for some sort of an explanation.

"It seems as though Harry does not remember who he is, who we are, or anything that happened to him other than the past few minutes," Dumbledore said sadly. The others just gaped at him.

"I did not expect this, nor do I know why this happened," he continued, "but I can assure you that with some effort from everyone Harry's memory will be stirred and he will be back to normal. I do not wish to overwhelm him, but it is crucial that he learns everything about himself—starting from his past and current identity, up to the very last spell he knew before this happened."

"I am not sure what happened to his skills—perhaps he is still able to perform everything quite easily, he just needs to re-learn them. I will need as much help as I can get in teaching him all of this; we don't have much time. I will explain more later; now, however, let's get back to Harry and act as though everything is normal. We will introduce ourselves and provide company for now, but tomorrow we will begin teaching him everything we can about what happened. We will start from the very beginning, and by this I mean when Harry was born. We will work our way up to today's events slowly—this is not something that can be done in mere hours. Is everyone with me?" Dumbledore inquired, as though daring anyone to object.

The rest of the group nodded silently, aware that tough times are ahead of them.

They walked into the infirmary and up to Harry's bed, smiling at him.

"Well, Harry, I am Professor Dumbledore, and this is my colleague, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said warmly to the boy. McGonagall smiled at him weakly.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks grinned at him while changing her hair to bubble gum pink again.

"Harry, this is Nymphadora—"

"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," said Tonks.

"—Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only," added Remus and smiled having remembered saying these exact words to Harry two summers ago, "And my name is Remus Lupin."

Harry smiled at them and the first thought that came into his mind was that these two would make a cute couple.

"Hey, Harry. I'm Ron Weasley, and this is Hermione. Hermione Granger. And, erm, this is my sister, Ginny," said Ron awkwardly. It felt weird introducing oneself to someone you knew for years.

Harry smiled at everyone and felt as though he knew these people very well, though he could not remember ever meeting them before.

"So…are any of you my family?" Harry asked, observing each and every one of them as though looking for similarities.

"Er…no, not exactly, Harry," Lupin said. "Your family isn't here."

"Where are they? Where are my parents?" Harry asked, confused.

"Well…you see, Harry, your parents died when you were a baby," Lupin looked into his emerald green eyes. "And your godfather died two years ago. The only blood relatives you have left are Muggles, but they're not here," Lupin finished sadly.

"Muggles…" Harry muttered, looking deep in thought.

"Yes, I forgot, you must not know what that is...Muggles are—"

"Non-magic people…" Harry answered himself.

Everyone gaped at him.

"How did you know that?" Dumbledore asked him, taken aback.

"I'm not sure…heard it somewhere before, but I can't remember when…" Harry said confusedly.

Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged glances before Dumbledore said, "Well, be must be going now…try to get some rest, Harry, and we will be back to visit you tomorrow."

"Good night," Ron, Hermione and Ginny said as they left the infirmary. Lupin and Tonks smiled at him and left as well.

Lupin and Tonks left the school after promising to stop by the next morning. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny went up to their dormitories, while Dumbledore and McGonagall went up to Dumbledore's office.

"Albus…this is horrible, we cannot possibly teach him everything about his whole life…and why is it so important to do this in such a short time? Certainly we can afford to do it over the summer as well, I expect he won't be going back to the Dursleys again," McGonagall seemed to be talking more to herself. "Albus, how is he—"

"Minerva, I feel it is time that I share a piece of information with you, one that will be very important not only in Harry's life, but in all of ours. I will need you to listen closely, because what I am about to tell you is not something you will want to hear." McGonagall stared at Dumbledore for a few moments, but then nodded and sat down in front of his desk.

"First, I must start with my reason for hiring Professor Trelawney," Dumbledore started. McGonagall looked surprised, but nodded for Dumbledore to go on. "You always had your doubts about the subject of Divination, and until some eighteen years ago, so have I," Dumbledore continued. "My first impression of Sibyll wasn't the best; I was disappointed. It seemed to me that she did not have a trace of the Seeing gift. I turned to leave. Then, however, she made a prophecy—a real one, for that matter—and I could deny her talents no more." Dumbledore paused for a moment, as though contemplating something. Then, he stood up and walked over to the black cabinet where he kept his stone basin. He retrieved the memory out of his temple and deposited it in the basin.

McGonagall looked at him bemusedly, watching his every move.

Dumbledore smiled at remembering this very moment he shared with Harry two years ago. He then stirred the contents of the basin with the tip of his wand.

A/N: this is from book 5—this part is all JKR's! I own nothing!

A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but harsh, hoarse tones.

"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES…BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT…AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES…THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…"

Then slowly revolving Professor Trelawney sank back into the silver mass below and vanished.

A/N: end of copied part from book 5

McGonagall looked up at Dumbledore, shocked. She never suspected that Trelawney had a speck of Seer qualities in her; she always thought Divination was a joke.

"I can see you are as surprised as I was, Minerva," Dumbledore smiled weakly. "I, too, did not think Sibyll had it in her. However, she proved me wrong, and I felt she deserved the job of Divination teacher."

"As I am sure you have already guessed, this prophecy was concerning Harry Potter and Voldemort. This is why Harry was the one who had to kill Voldemort in the end."

"A few weeks after hiring Professor Trelawney, she made another prophecy to me; this time, however, it did not concern Voldemort." Dumbledore looked grave and serious.

Once again, Dumbledore took his wand and extracted the silvery strands from his temple. He put the memory in the basin and stirred.

A/N: the idea for this other prophecy also comes from book 5. It is part of one of the prophecies we heard when the glass orbs first shattered at the Ministry (where Harry only heard parts of it)

Another figure of Sibyll Trelawney appeared out of the basin, pearly white as a ghost; she began to speak:

"AT THE SOLSTICE WILL COME A NEW LEADER, ONE WE WILL ALL FEAR AND WHOM ONLY ONE CAN DEFEAT…THE ONE WHO HAD THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD, WHO HAD THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNEW NOT, WILL BE THE ONE TO DESTROY THE NEXT FORCE OF DARKNESS...A SACRIFICE MUST BE MADE, FOR NONE WILL COME AFTER THE AWAITING DARKNESS…"

Sibyll Trelawney evaporated back into the basin and a silvery mist was left in the air. McGonagall stared at Dumbledore, dumbfounded.

"But…but Albus, what does that mean?"

"It means that dark times are ahead of us, perhaps darker times than ever before…and we must be careful. It also means that Harry will be the one who defeats the runner up of Voldemort, which means that it is absolutely imperative that he learns everything there is to learn and re-learn, and it better be soon," Dumbledore explained with grim satisfaction.

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore, fear in her eyes, but one look at him assured her that somehow, everything is going to be ok.