Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. See Author Notes at end.
Chapter 1 – The meeting
Shanghai, China, 2001
Screams filled the air throughout the marketplace as explosions rang throughout the air. It was difficult to discern what was happening in the chaos that used to be a peaceful night market, however it was impossible to miss the group of black-robed men that were marching through, loudly laughing as they floated people above their heads and threw spells around.
As they marched around, they missed the two people hidden behind a few of the stalls, debris and signage providing a rudimentary barrier. One peeked out through a small hole in the barrier.
"Shit. It's Death Eaters." She looked back at her partner. "You think they're here for us?"
Her partner shifted slightly so he could look out. "No. If they were, then he would be here. I think they're just out causing mayhem. I didn't think they had expanded this far east yet."
She nodded, moving back to look out of the hole. "More are turning up." He didn't need to look; the tell-tale cracking sounds backing up what she had said. He didn't reply, instead just leaned back. His head thumped against the barrier as he rubbed his eyes. He turned to look at her. "I don't suppose it's too late to say it might be time to move? Maybe back to Australia. I hear they still have a lot of open space – somewhere in the middle of the desert maybe."
She chuckled, reaching over and grabbing his hand. He turned it and gripped her hand tightly, afraid to let go. "We're going to have to run for it. They'll find us here eventually, and that's the last thing we want. We can discuss where to go afterwards."
He nodded and shifted. She moved behind him, waiting for him to signal when to go. A few tense seconds past before he shifted. "Now." Crouching, they ran away from the barrier, making for one of the small alleyways. They had almost made it when she stumbled on a rock, kicking it into one of the stalls. They froze, looking back to see that a few of the Death Eaters had turned and spotted them.
They sprinted off, ducking as spell fire impacted against the side of the building. The small alleys and close walls meant that the Death Eaters couldn't just appear in front of them to try and catch them like they did to people in the market. However, this also meant that it was easy for them to get lost.
It wasn't long before they realised that they had run into a dead end. They turned around to see the Death Eaters were stood behind them. Before she could say anything, her partner had pulled her behind him.
"Well, well, well lads. Look what we have here." The leader scoffed while the others tittered. "A couple of filthy muggles. And look at this one! Thinks he could stop us from taking the girl." He stepped forward to stand right in his face, so that he could smell his breath. "Well, muggle, I think we should teach you a lesson, so you can respect your betters." He stepped back as they all raised their wands.
"Excuse me." The Death Eaters all turned to point their wand at the voice. The pair shifted, looking around the Death Eaters to see a young woman stood at the entrance way. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, wearing riding boots, jeans and a thigh length jacket, grey with red trim that was open to show her shirt underneath. Her hair was blonde and shoulder length, with green, red and blue tips, and eyes that were a bright violet. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
The Death Eaters stood there, dumbfounded before they broke out laughing. The woman didn't seem to mind, a slight smirk appearing on her face. "Listen here, muggle, once we're done with them, you're next."
"Ah" She nodded. She shrugged off the jacket. "Yeah, see that's going to be a problem. I'm also here for them, and sadly for you I need them alive. So, tell you what, I'll say it one more time. Leave, and I won't hurt you."
He growled and stomped over, his wand lifting. "Listen here you stupid – "
He didn't get to finish as, almost faster than their eyes could follow, she smacked the wand out of his hand and kicked his knee out from under him. As soon as he hit the ground, she kicked him again, sending him flying into the wall. With a sickening crunch, he fell to the ground and didn't move.
The other Death Eaters stepped back, suddenly wary. The woman dusted herself off, and their wands lifted. "Ok. You were warned." A sword appeared in her right hand as she moved forward.
The Death Eater closest to her fired a spell, but she twisted around it. Quicker then lightening, she brought the sword up and smacked his elbow making him drop his wand. Before he could react, she stepped forward and punched him, sending him spinning around and wrapped an elbow around his neck, lifting him off the ground. The Death Eater tried to break her grip, but it wasn't long before he went limp.
As she dropped him, the other three Death Eaters opened fire. Using her sword, she blocked and deflected the spells, sending one flying back and hitting one of them. He gave an unnaturally high shriek as he flew backwards, rolling to a stop.
She kept walking forward before dropping into a roll, coming up right in front of one as she sliced up, breaking his wand. She spartan kicked him into the wall before turning to the last Death Eater, who seemed to have finally realised that they weren't fighting an ordinary muggle. He snarled. "Stupid woman. Avada Kedavra!"
The pair gasped but could do nothing but watch as the spell flew towards the woman. She twisted and lifted her left arm, where the spell impacted. Silence descended on the alley as they all stared at the woman, her arm smoking but otherwise unaffected. She lowered her arm and with a snarl picked up the man by the throat before slamming him down onto the ground, an audible snap coming from where his head impacted the ground.
The woman stood there for a few seconds before rolling her shoulders and sheathing her sword. She turned back towards the pair, her jacket floating back over to her. "Sorry about that. Didn't really want to fight them." She walked over and held her hand out. The male looked at it before grasping it, easily being lifted onto his feet. She did the same with the woman before stepping back slightly.
"I'm Maddie. I've got to say, you two were harder to find then we thought."
The pair stared at her. The male pointed the wand he'd picked up at her. "What do you mean? Do you work for – "
"Voldemort?" the pair flinched and looked around, expecting company. "Relax – he hasn't got the taboo set up here – yet. But" she looked around at the Death Eaters "He clearly now has a presence in this country. To answer your question, Harry Potter, no. I work with a different group, one that is highly interested in stopping threats like Voldemort."
Harry looked back at her. "How do you know who we are?"
Maddie smiled. "Like I said – we've been looking for you, and you Hermione. Have been for a few years now actually. To answer why, however, will take a bit of time and I don't particularly want to be here when reinforcements arrive."
Harry glanced back at Hermione, only now just becoming aware of the sirens in the distance getting louder. A short but wordless conversation passed between them before he turned back. "Hand over the sword, and we'll go talk."
Maddie nodded, unclipping the belt and holding it out. Hermione took the belt. "I'll keep my hands by my side if that helps soothe your fears." Harry nodded. "Then I'll follow you."
Harry nodded again and set off. Maddie looked at Hermione who gestured and she nodded, following behind him. The trio walked for about 10 minutes, doing their best not to draw attention from the emergency services that went past them before stopping outside an apartment building.
The first thing that Maddie noticed about the apartment was that it was very empty. While the bare necessities were there, they looked like they had been salvaged from an op shop. Harry pointed towards the table and she sat down, hands placed on the table. Harry sat opposite her while Hermione stood near the door, still holding the sword.
"I've got to say, it's been a while since I've been on this side of an interrogation" she chuckled, though neither of the other two did. "Anyway, ask away."
"Who are you, and who do you work for?" he asked.
"Like I said, I'm Maddie. Just Maddie. As for who I work for … tell me, have either of you ever heard of the 'White Phoenix' unit?"
She heard a small gasp from Hermione while Harry just looked confused. Her eyes flickered to Hermione. "What do you know of them?" Harry turned to look at Hermione as well.
"Just what my dad told me from his times in the SAS. They were an extremely elite military unit, so well hidden that they were essentially a ghost story, even to the military."
Maddie nodded. "Yep, that's about right. The unit, in a nutshell from what I can describe to you right now, is a worldwide task force that works to protect the world from internal and external threats."
"What, you mean from aliens?" Harry scoffed.
"Aliens, beings from other dimensions, terrorist threats, war, diseases, magic – if it can threaten life on Earth, then we make sure that we're ready to prevent that. There are various other things we do, but that's all I can tell you now."
Harry stared at her for a minute, trying to see any signs of deception. Maddie looked back, not breaking eye contact or blinking. Eventually Harry blinked and the tension in the room seemed to melt just a bit.
"You said you were looking for us?"
Maddie nodded. "Yes. Years ago, we noticed Voldemort's rise, but while he was a menace he seemed to be relatively contained within Britain. Treaty's and agreements from long ago prevented us from acting unless called on, so we could do nothing. Then, he was stopped by you and your family, so we stopped monitoring the situation so closely."
"By the time we realised he was back, he had already taken over nearly all of Wizarding Magical Europe and several of the non-magical governments. Some of our teams went out to take him down, but no matter what we did we couldn't seem to hit him at all – though we slowed him down. Fast forward a bit, and our researchers discovered a self-fulfilling prophecy, one that named him and you. We realised that it was activated, and thus the only one who could stop him … was you Harry."
Hermione scoffed. "Prophecies are rubbish. Just because Voldemort attacked him doesn't mean that Harry has to stop him."
Maddie nodded. "Usually I agree - Prophecies are fickle things. Most can be ignored, and that's because they haven't been activated. When they are, then it becomes hard to circumnavigate them."
Harry sighed, his hand running over his face before it dropped into his lap. "Can I have a moment to talk to Hermione?"
Maddie nodded. "I'm not going anywhere."
Harry got up and moved into their bedroom, Hermione following. He activated wards that prevented anyone outside from hearing them. "Well, what do you think?"
Hermione sighed. "I don't know. It seems unbelievable, but what she said about the unit is what dad told me. Their unit, to those that know about them, are considered the Guardians of the Earth, but he told me that it was the best way he could think of describing them – there's just so little that anyone knows. However, we have no combat experience really, and eventually, he'll find us. We can only run for so long."
Harry nodded. "So, do we trust her?" Hermione sat silent, knowing the final decision came to her. Harry trusted her with his life, and she trusted him with hers, but knew that when it came to making decisions like this, Harry would always defer to her.
"Not yet. But we can hear her out."
Notes: So, there finishes Chapter 1 of the Dragon Riders! This is the re-write for the Riders of Hogwarts, and this time I'm going to make sure I don't open up too many plot-holes and continuity problems, as well as fix the grammar. This story isn't going to have fast updates, as I'm going to be editing and fixing chapters, as well as re-writing whole scenes and adding new ones. Hopefully you all enjoy it! Please like and fav, and review so I can fix problems I missed or just general ideas!