Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter and world belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
(A/N: I will try to update every other day or so. I have school, and I need to pass, you see. Note: This will not have any Slash in it. Just if you were concerned.)
Chapter 1: Number Four, the Transfer, and Invasion
The weather around Privet Drive in Little Whinging was just downright strange. Residents on the street didn't really remember exactly when it began, but all agreed it had started about the beginning of summer.
The drought from last summer was wished for, preferable over the constant rain that came nearly every day. As soon as the sun made an appearance, clouds came, covered up the rays of gold, and rained down on Privet Drive. When the sun sank into the horizon, however, the clouds stopped their downpour, faded away, and allowed the stars to come out more brilliantly than ever in the clear sky.
Three of the residents of Number Four had their suspicions about the happenings, but could not place blame where it was not warranted. The fourth resident was clueless about these happenings, and was currently lying down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
His name was Harry Potter, and he was far from normal. In fact, he was a wizard, freshly out of his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was also not a normal wizard, but considered a hero since the age of one, where he defeated the darkest wizard of the time, Lord Voldemort. Since then, Harry had come across Voldemort four more times, and was still breathing. Which was a miracle all by itself, as far as Harry and most others thought.
Harry closed his eyes as another wave of emotional pain hit him. Why did Sirius have to die? The images played through his head yet another time; Sirius, laughing as he battled his cousin in the Department of Mysteries, then the stunned look on his face as the spell hit him which knocked him back, back into the mysterious veil. When it all came down, Sirius was dead. And it was all Harry's fault.
Or so he himself believed. If only he had tried a little harder with Occlumency, only stopped to think about Sirius's Christmas gift, only thought before rushing off to save someone that didn't need saving.
And then that stupid prophesy… Voldemort had given Harry a false vision, just so that he could rush off to the Department of Mysteries, and retrieve a prophecy made about the two of them. It was destroyed in the ensuing battle between the Death Eaters, Voldemort's servants, and Harry and his friends. Yes, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry's two best friends, had come along, as had Ron's sister Ginny, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom. More like forced Harry to let them go. But they were a big help against the Death Eaters. No one walked away completely unscathed, all for a broken bit of glass.
But the worst part came after the battle. Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had taken Harry up to his office, and revealed that he knew the prophecy in its entirety. And showed Harry what the prophecy said through the use of a pensieve. All summed up, Harry was the only one who could defeat Voldemort, and he would either have to kill or be killed.
Harry wiped away a tear that fell. Ever since he had come back from school, the memories of that recent event, and one from a year before, haunted him. In the daytime, he relived those awful moments again and again. At night… those memories mingled with nightmares, and sessions Voldemort had with his Death Eaters.
His muggle relatives weren't really helping. They didn't even seem to notice anything was wrong, and treated him only a bit better than normal; giving him chores, and the bare amount of food needed to survive. For that, he was actually kind of thankful; anyone from the Wizarding World would have treated him like he was glass. But it still didn't help his current condition.
As a white owl flew the window, Harry straightened. His first friend, and the only thing that brightened his day was a Snowy Owl named Hedwig. She seemed to be the only constant in Harry's life, one he was glad of. Hedwig also brought news from what Harry liked to call "the outside world."
"Hey Hedwig. Did you deliver the letter?" Yesterday was a third day. Every third day he had to send a letter to the Order of the Phoenix, also known to Harry as his "watchdogs," so that they wouldn't bug the Dursley's, Harry's relatives.
Hedwig hooted softly, then flew to Harry's shoulder, where she looked at the tear trails on his face. As he reached up to pet her feathers, Hedwig pecked at him gently. Harry had by now learned to almost understand the owl, due to their long summers together.
"You're annoyed with me?" Hoot. "Why?" Shake of head. "Oh, you're not going to tell me, eh?" Another shake. "Oh, fine." Stroke of face with a wing. "I love you too, Hedwig."
Hedwig flew to her perch, and observed Harry. He hadn't even noticed that there was a storm going outside. The owl shook her head in alarm. In a few days, she would be off, and then Harry would get better. Oh, Hedwig knew of what happened, due to Harry's mutterings and dreams, but somehow knew that Fawkes's plan would work. It had to, or else all of them would be in big trouble.
Harry went back to his bed, where he continued his watch of the ceiling, occasionally through blurry eyes as the memories repeated themselves over and over again.
As soon as he woke up a few days later, Harry knew something was up. For one, he woke up without pain, yet he knew he dreamed about Voldemort's little meetings. Usually, the curses cast by Voldemort reflected a little back to him.
There was also the fact that he could make out all of the little items in his small room. It was 3:00 AM, dark, and he didn't have his glasses on. Harry could also detect a faint odor of parchment and ink, as well as some potions ingredients. All of those were in his trunk, which was downstairs and locked in the cupboard under the stairs. He also realized that the muffled thudding he heard was his owl Hedwig's heartbeat.
When Harry got out of his bed in alarm, he noticed a few more things had changed. He was extremely flexible, for one thing. There was now a noticeable muscle tone in his arms and legs, although not so much that it was obscene. The floor under his feet, which he thought was smooth, was, according to his feet, really, really rough. It still looked semi-smooth, though.
Harry looked around, just a little bit scared. He was pretty sure that puberty wasn't supposed to do these things, or show up so fast. And he knew of no magic spell that could do anything close to this. "What's going on?"
"Oh good, the transfer worked!" Harry spun around at the voice. There was no one in the room, except for him. "Fawkes will be pleased." Harry rotated his head, and his mouth dropped open. Hedwig, his Snowy Owl, was looking straight at him.
"Hedwig… was that you?" Harry asked, thinking he was going just a bit crazy.
The Owl blinked. "Well, who else would it be?" She replied reasonably.
Harry crawled back up onto his bed, shaking. "But… how can I hear you? Maybe this is a dream. A really, strange, odd, dream…"
Hedwig sighed inwardly. He didn't understand. But she had told him this would happen… When she thought about it, she ruffled her wings in irritation with herself. Yes, she had told it to him, but that was before the transfer, so he couldn't possibly know what's going on.
"Harry, I'll just sum it up for you. Fawkes and I were worried about you, so he called a Beast Council meeting. Everyone agreed on a plan, which just came into effect last night. All of the magical beasts and creatures on the Beast Council would decide upon a gift or two to give you along with all of their knowledge. Then Fawkes used some ancient ritual to transfer those gifts and knowledge to you while you slept. That's why you feel so different, and you can understand." When Hedwig looked over, she saw Harry shut his eyes determinedly. The Owl huffed, flew over, and pecked Harry on the head. "Were you even listening?"
Harry winced, and rubbed a hand over where Hedwig had pecked him. "Yeah, something about a transfer. And Fawkes…"
Hedwig did the owl equivalent of rolling her eyes. "You're impossible, Harry. Maybe if you get some sleep, you'll retain information better in the morning."
Harry agreed, and went to sleep, still suspecting that this was all some sort of dream.
The second time Harry opened his eyes, he didn't know what woke him up. The sun was just starting to rise. By all rights, he should have had at least another hour or so of sleep. Hedwig, in the corner, was sleeping. The snores he heard from the other three occupants in the house indicated that they were sleeping. So why wasn't he?
Out of instinct, Harry grabbed for his wand on the bedside table. All of his senses were on full alert, hackles raised. Wand in hand, he crept silently toward the door. Carefully, he opened it.
The sound of a muffled charm came to his ears. Harry made a quick decision, and then went back into his room. He nudged Hedwig awake, clamping her beak together to keep her silent. "Harry? What's going on?" She seemed to say, startled.
Harry shook his head. So it wasn't just a dream. "Hedwig, I need you to be very quiet, and very fast. Some people are downstairs that don't need to be. Grab the red ribbon on the way out." Harry's whisper was so low that even Hedwig had to strain to hear. Hedwig nodded, and flew out the open window, claws catching the red ribbon on the window sill on her way out.
Then Harry exited the room again, and flicked his wand, silently casting the spells he needed. If he were lucky, someone from the Ministry would come, and bring help with them.
Hiding himself from the view from the bottom of the stairs, he was ready when the dark forms made their way up the stairs.
"So, how do you like my home?"
The statement made the forms jump, one falling back down the stairs. Those in front whirled to see Harry, his wand at the ready.
"Potter!" Harry restrained his anger at the sound of that voice. It would do no good to lose control now. He schooled his face to become impassive, as he watched Bellatrix Lestrange take off her white, Death Eater's mask.
A big thanks to my first three reviews!
neosildrake: Thank you for reviewing. I hope this meets your expectations. The first chapter was really just a prologue, and didn't need to be all that long. There won't be any more that short, I promise.
StormFirestar: Thanks. I'm flattered you like it.
lmill123: Thank you. There are a few exceptions on the animals... Nagini, for one. Also, not all animal species in the world live in the Forbidden Forest. Just most of them. ;-) You also asked a very good question, which I had to work out. First of all, I don't know when Fawkes became Dumbledore's Phoenix. I'm just going to say that Fawkes was attracted to Dumbledore's Light aura during the final battle with Grindelwald. Before that, there were no other Phoenixes nearby, and the Beast Council must have a Phoenix to call them all together. So, he didn't get help during Grindelwald's reign. During the first rise of Voldemort, Fawkes tried to get the Beast Council to act, but they were cautious, and so didn't. Once they realized that Voldemort was going to attack Hogwarts (the Forbidden Forest along with it), they prepared to act, but Voldemort made a quick stop on the way. I'm sure you can guess where he stopped. cough Godric's Hollow cough. Since then, the Beast Council only needed to have its annual meetings. When Harry went to Hogwarts, he was carefully watched by Fawkes and the denizens of the Forbidden Forest. After five years, and the events of OotP, the Beast Council decided to go ahead with Fawkes' suggestion to use an ancient spell that the Phoenix knew (the transfer) on Harry. As for Dumbledore... let's just say that you were right, and the Beast Council wasn't too impressed with him.
Well, that's all who reviewed (at the time I'm writing this). Please, if you like, review! Questions and constructive criticism appreciated.