Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. Anything you recognise is hers; everything else is purely my imagination-running wild…..
Hogwarts.
"Albus, do you think another player has entered the arena?" Snape asked…….
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Black Cottage.
Harry awoke the following morning, aching, 'why the hell am I am aching so much' he looked down at himself, 'why do I have so much cuts and bruises'
Harry started to remember the visit to Diagon Alley yesterday and his confrontation with the Aurors and the members from the Order of the Phoenix. His memory returned awfully fast and he remembered his encounter with Dumbledore, his battle with Moody and the others.
'At least they didn't get to see my face' he thought as he rolled out of bed and entered the kitchen, walking stiffly.
Harry went to the nearest cupboard and with drew a few potion vials, a pain-reliving potion, a pepper up potion and a muscle-relaxing potion. Once the steam had finished coming from his ears he sat down at the table, potion vials littering the tabletop.
"Well Hedwig, my little jaunt to Diagon Alley didn't go exactly as planned" he said looking at his snowy owl, who was sitting on her newly purchased perch, preening herself.
Hedwig stopping cleaning her feathers and gave her master a look that conveyed a looked that said, 'well that is an understatement'.
"I did manage to get all of my books for my sixth year though," Harry continued, "and a few more books on Occlumency and Legilimency". Harry moved towards the kitchen sink and filled a cup with water, raising his wand he heated it until it was ready to place the tea bag into it, adding a splash of milk, he let the tea stand before removing the bag and throwing it into the bin.
"I have just over two weeks to learn these before I have to return to Hogwarts, before running into Dumbledore and his team of slightly overcooked chickens", he smiled at his own little joke. 'Not too bad for the Order of the Phoenix – the slightly overcooked chickens' he thought.
"However, I think that a little pay back may be in order before I return, a visit to some of the lesser known deatheaters may be in order before I return", taking a sip from his tea, "they deserve something for their efforts in making my life hell"
Harry returned to his living room and began to read his books, absorbing the information and assimilating the knowledge contained within.
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Hogwarts.
Dumbledore and Moody made their way towards the Headmaster's office, following not too far behind were the other members of the order.
"Well, Albus, who do you think that this new wizard is? He seemed to be able to hold his own against you and he took me out before I knew what was happening – I don't like it."
"Alastor, what ever happened to 'constant vigilance'" Albus Dumbledore smiled as they entered his office, "I would have thought that you would have been prepared, however it does concern me that we appear to have a new player on the field", Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and continued, "and we are unsure of what side he is on"
The members of the order entered the office and sat down in the arranged chairs, in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"Sir, the goblins are not saying anything and the shop keepers did not see his face, however we did learn that he bought nothing out of the ordinary in any of the shops that he went into" Tonks said as she sat down. "Only owl treats, a perch and as strange as it sounds a complete set of Hogwarts sixth year books, perhaps it was a student?" she concluded.
"Nymphadora, I don't believe that a student would have the capabilities to hold their own in a duel against me" Dumbledore stated.
Tonks eyes flashed at the use of her full name, "It just seems strange that someone would want to purchase a full set of sixth year books without their face being seen"
"He was also extremely fast on his feet and he managed to disable the Aurors before we even got there." Moody growled, "I don't like it, something's wrong with the whole set-up"
"Who ever this new wizard is we will have to keep an eye on the situation and report any findings, please let everyone know what you find out" Dumbledore said as he now addressed the whole order.
"It has also come to my attention that Voldemort has not planned anything in a while and while this is good news I have a feeling that this may change. People will soon be going to Diagon Alley to obtain their school things and this would be a prime opportunity to make his mark" Dumbledore continued.
"I would advise caution to all of you in this room and remain alert for any activity when you are in the Diagon Alley".
"Albus, have you heard anything from Harry", sounded the voice of Mrs Weasley, "Neither Ron nor Hermione have heard anything from him since his last letter"
"No Molly, I have heard nothing from Harry since his last day from school in the summer, the only good news in all of this is that Voldemort does not appear to know where he is" Dumbledore said.
After a few hours off discussions the members of the order broke up
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A Week Later – Hogsmeade.
Harry stood in the corner of one of the alleys in Hogsmeade, his cloak wrapped round his body, his hood pulled up and his face was once again had the obscuring charm and the chameleon charm on it.
Since learning Occlumency and Legilimency from the books that he had purchased in Diagon Alley he had come to realise that he had a connection to Voldemort that worked both ways. Not only could he now prevent his 'visions' from Voldemort but he could sense what he was thinking and therefore could pick up on some of Voldemort's plans. His nightmare's were receding but not fully, however these were of his own making and not ones that were sent via his 'link'.
Harry had come to understand that 'clear you mind' was not an adequate technique for Occlumency, thoughts had to be centred and arranged, they had to be organised and orderly. This was just another thing that would have to be addressed when he next met Dumbledore, how the man thought that sending him to Snape would allow his training to block Voldemort with a 'clear your mind' and then attack using Legilimency was just criminal, just like a deatheater.
Harry had managed to absorb the books and even when sleeping his mind, without the blocks placed upon it, seemed to have a natural gift for organising his memories, rearranging his deepest secrets, placing them into different compartments throughout his mind.
Placing guardians at the edge of his mind was another thing Snape seemed to have forgotten to inform him of, the guardians were to alert you to the probe of an invading mind and alert the person of the impending mental attack.
Harry's guardians consisted of Thestral's which patrolled around his envisioned 'mental wall', these could sense attacks and not be seen, as they could fly it gave them the benefit of being able to not only walk around the perimeter but also fly above it as well. These were backed up by 'seeing eye towers' which in Harry's mind were towers placed evenly around his mental wall with eyes that would also alert him to the presence of a invading mind. He had placed traps randomly throughout his mind as well, he being the only one that would be able to release a trapped person, he hoped.
Mentally he had placed 'Fred and George's' portable swamps, where intruders would be stuck, Dementors which would 'suck the life' out of you, leaving the invading mind open to attack and finally his memories were locked behind walls so thick that even with a ballistic missile you would have trouble getting through them.
So Harry stood in the alley way, fully aware that Voldemort would be sending his deatheaters into Hogsmeade a week before students would be returning to Hogwarts, this was just a minor attack to ensure that no one had forgotten about him and his ability to ensure that the chaos would cause maximum exposure.
Harry turned around and faced the street, students and their parents could be seen walking up and down the length of the street going into various shops to buy their supplies, Diagon Alley was not the only place that people shopped for school supplies.
Hearing the familiar sounds of apparition, Harry waited and counted the number of pops that sounded. Ten pops could be heard, Harry quickly counted the ten black cloaks that appeared and before the familiar shouts of spells being cast could be heard he erupted into action.
His fight in Diagon Alley with the Aurors and the members of the order of the Phoenix had given him some confidence in his fighting abilities as well as the training that he had undertaken at Black Cottage.
Quickly launching a few quick spells at the deatheaters Harry literally flew out of the alley and into the mound of deatheaters, kicking and disabling all in his path. His spells were not what you would call light in any way. He had thought that he wouldn't be capable of causing permanent injuries to others, but his treatment at the hands of not only Voldemort but Dumbledore and his order had caused him to re-think his priorities, disable, disarm, even de-leg first, then ask questions later, if there was a later.
The deatheaters seemed momentarily confused as to what was happening, they were expecting to enter Hogsmeade unawares, create as much mayhem and chaos as possible and then leave, they were not expecting to be attacked the moment they appeared and certainly not by one person who seemed to decimate their ranks faster than they could react.
The spells from Harry were nothing short of unforgivable, with stupefies being the most light spell in his range, Reducto's, Blasting Curses, were all fired at the deatheaters. Harry did not want to get into a duel at this moment in time with any one, certainly not a deatheater.
The fight, or lack of it was over in a matter of seconds, the deatheaters not standing a chance against their opponent. The street had quickly cleared on shoppers as they fled into nearby buildings hearing the sounds of the battle and seeing the deatheaters apparate into Hogsmeade.
Harry quickly surveyed the damage caused and realised that they deatheaters had not managed to get a single curse off during their time in Hogsmeade, thanking the goddess of luck for her timely involvement in his life, he quickly cast a cutting hex at each of their left arms and removed the fabric from their robes exposing their left arms. He wanted to be sure that they were all marked and the easiest way was for the dark mark to be revealed. Making sure that the dark mark was exposed he threw a cutting hex straight at each of their legs, finally banishing their legs away so that they could no longer use them. It seemed to be his trademark, let the legless wonders all act like Moody, see if they could walk around with a peg legs, this would be their payment for working with a egotistical megalomaniac like Voldemort.
Harry turned to the nearest deatheater and banished his mask away revealing his face, not recognising the person beneath the mask Harry quickly entered his mind using his recently learnt Legilimency. Rummaging through the deatheaters mind Harry quickly sort what he was looking for, recent contacts, meetings with other deatheaters, meeting places and the like. He stopped looking through the deatheaters mind when he happened upon the man's liking for maiming and killing, not wanting anymore information from the deatheater Harry quickly moved to the side alley and grabbed his portkey and tapping it once appeared back at Black Cottage. He really needed to learn how to apparate.
For three consecutive days and nights reports flooded into the Aurors and the Daily Prophet that there had been attacks made against deatheaters, only a few injuries occurred to the general populous and no deaths which was remarkable in itself. The attacker, always hooded, exposed the deatheaters left arms and once discovering the dark mark removed their legs.
The Daily Prophet reported the event with undue clarity.
Daily Prophet
Mysterious Stranger Attacks Deatheaters
For the past three days a mysterious Wizard has attacked and removed the legs of various deatheaters. The last attack occurred in Upper Shillingfordham, a quiet village consisting of a few local shops where wizards and muggles alike could shop.
The wizard waited for the deatheaters to appear before knocking them all out, only a few injuries occurred and these were of a minor nature. This makes the total number of deatheaters removed by this wizard to thirty.
Is this wizard to be trusted or is he a vigilante. The Ministry had no comment to make on the subject, only that this wizard is sought for questioning in connection with the attacks. Another trusted source at the Ministry informed the Daily Prophet that this could only be a good thing.
Let us know your comments, do you know who this wizard is, are you scared to come forward in case of attacks, let us know.
Harry threw down the paper onto the table in his kitchen. After going out for three consecutive nights and stopping Voldemort's minions from attacking innocent wizards and muggles he felt tired. His Occlumency was working for him and continued to improve his mental skills. He had discovered Voldemort's plans and had successfully interrupted them, however after his previous excursions he had decided that unless there was a major offensive about to take place then he didn't want to alert Voldemort that something was wrong, just let him think that they were well planned random attacks.
Harry next course of action was to visit a few of the deatheaters that he had obtained from the minds of the past few days. He would not go after the inner circle as they were likely to be protected far better than Voldemort's other 'disposable' lackeys.
Quickly grabbing a bite to eat and settling down to a small nap, he thought back to when he had taken the Animagus potion, he had bought from Knockturn Alley. He had taken the potion and fallen into a trance like state, images occurring and jumping from one to another with no break in between. The images were not clear and did not stay long enough for Harry to get a good idea of what they were. As time continued a image kept reoccurring, an image of bird, black feathers, flight, majestic soaring, clear skies, keen eyesight, razor sharp bill. There were only a few animals that this could be, it certainly wasn't magical. There were only a few birds that Harry could be, a crow, a blackbird, however it was a raven, the harbingers of death and destruction.
At the time of Harry discovering his Animagus form his only thoughts were 'typical, just typical, I always wanted to fly, however to be the bringer of death and destruction is just typical – fate is a cruel mistress sometimes, however given my current feelings it is poetic justice'
Harry had read one of the books on Animagus transformation, which he had bought from one of the shop in Knockturn Alley and had tried the beginnings of the transformation. He had managed to settle his mind, via his Occlumency training but had had very little success, 'no wonder that his father had taken a number of years to perfect the transformation'.
Harry had given very little thought to the process and his mind kept bulking at the thought of his body becoming smaller and changing shape. Whilst Harry settled down to his nap his mind drifted once again to the transformation, he could see in his minds eyes what he wanted to become, he could visualise the transformation and had attempted small parts of the change. The backs of his arms and hands could sprout feathers, the feathers were small but defined. 'I will just have to keep trying' he thought to himself.
After waking from his nap Harry proceeded to put on his cloak, castings the various charms necessary to conceal his face.
A small hoot could be heard from behind him and Harry turned to observe Hedwig.
"I know that I shouldn't be doing this, but can you see anyone else taking these people out and stopping them from hurting others, Hedwig?" Harry said, looking at his owl.
Hedwig continued to observe her master, if an owl could frown then Hedwig was frowning.
"I will soon be back at Hogwarts and then I won't be able to leave to do this" Harry paused in his speech, "I can remove these deatheaters from hurting anyone else at the moment. Dumbledore and his club aren't preventing anything from happening and Snape isn't or won't inform Dumbledore of what Voldemort is doing and therefore they can not act".
Hedwig looked at her master and flew over and landed on his shoulder, a slight nip at his ear lobe was the only sign that she was worried.
"I'll be safe girl, I'll be back before you know it"
Harry turned round and grabbed a used tea bag, muttering Portus under his breath he turned the tea bag into a portkey and tapped it with his wand, disappearing from the kitchen.
Landing in a sleepy hollow, Harry could see a few houses in the distance, 'I have got to learn how to apparate, can't keep using tea bags as portkeys'
Harry slowly walked towards one of the house, he could sense the wards surrounding the property.
'At least those dark rituals are paying off, I wouldn't have been able to see those wards before' Harry thought as he approached the property.
They had the usual wards up, anti-apparation, anti-portkey, and muggle confusion wards. Glancing at the strongest point in the wards, Harry focused on the matrix where the wards began, he slowly pushed his magic towards to the centre of the wards focus point and gently gave the wards a push.
The display of lights that accompanies the magic push was quite impressive, a small visual light display could be seen and he cold see movement from within the house. There appeared to be a man, his wife and their two children. The man ran out of the property and stood at the edge of his property looking all around trying to figure out why his wards suddenly went off, soon his wife and children accompanied him at the front door and they all stood looking at the gate at the front of the house for any signs of movement.
Harry stood just beyond the gate, disillusioned, his cloak blowing slightly in the wind.
'Great, he has a family and I think that those children are about to start at Hogwarts looking at there faces, they look old enough' were the thoughts running through his mind.
Harry waited for them to return inside the house and then pushed his magic at the wards once again, this time it was not a gentle push, this was a trident missile attack, there was no plan, just overpower the wards and bring them down.
Harry was sure that there would have been detection spells that would have recognised intruders not keyed into the house wards and didn't want to give the occupants the time to make a break for it.
Blasting the wards Harry quickly made his way towards the house, his cloak billowing behind him, running at full speed Harry saw the man exit the house. Catching him unawares, Harry shot a spell straight at the man immobilising him where he stood. The man just fell over onto his face and collapsed on the ground.
Nearing the house he could see the rest of the family running towards to the open front door, cast a quick couple of stupefies the rest of the family fell down in the hallway. Quickly casting a few detection spells at the house Harry could only determine that they were the only occupants and was relieved that there was not any others.
Once Harry had reached the house and finally had his breathing under control, his adrenalin was running extremely high. Harry looked at the bound occupants, the man was out cold but the woman and children were very conscious and their eyes were frantically looking at Harry. All they would be able to see would be a tall man in a black cloak with an obscured hood.
Casting a wandless charm at the children, the equivalent of a dreamless sleeping potion, Harry put the children to sleep. He didn't want them to see what he was about to do.
"I'm sorry about this" Harry said to the woman lying on the floor, "but I have reason to believe that your husband here," pointing at the man on the floor, "is a deatheater"
Harry then proceeded to cast a cutting hex at the fabric of the mans left arm exposing nothing!
Harry stood back in shock, this wasn't possible, he had read the deatheaters minds and this man was definitely a deatheater. Looking more closely at the arm Harry could see a difference in the skin pigmentation on the arm and the hand. There was a glamour charm on his arm!
Relieved that Harry had not made a terrible mistake Harry cast a spell at the mans arm.
"Finite Incantatem"
The dark mark slowly appeared on the mans arm, Harry dropped down to the floor and lifted the arm up so that the woman could see the dark mark.
"I assure you that I mean you no harm Harry said, facing the woman, "but I can not allow this man to roam free as a deatheater"
"You and your children will be safe, however I will alert the Ministry to this event"
Harry dropped the mans arm and slowly walked away, turning round Harry cast a cutting hex at the mans legs completely removing them from his body, banishing them away.
Harry started to continue to walk away towards to the gate,
"The charms will wear off in a little while and the children will not wake for a few hours," Harry paused in his conversation, even though it was one sided, "I don't thank that the children should be punished for the actions of their father"
Harry left through the open gate and once outside tapped his wand to the used tea bag and moments later appeared at Black Cottage.
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Hogwarts.
It was a few day before the start of the new school year and a general discussion was taking place concerning the new students that were to start and the existing students and their choices for the courses for NEWT's.
"Albus, I still have been unable to send Mr. Potter his OWL results to him, all the owls are refusing to take him any form of message" Professor McGonagall informed the staff present.
"I know, we have been unable to contact Harry since the start of the summer, however I am sure that he will be attending school on the 1st of September along with his class mates" Dumbledore replied, "How did he do Minerva?"
"Well he did extremely well, he got 'O's in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration, he also managed to obtain an outstanding in Potions.
"I will not be teaching Potter anything" snapped Professor Snape
Not deterred by the snarky comments from Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall continued, "He also obtained Exceeds Expectations in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures". She paused whilst looking at the sheet of parchment in front of her, "However he did not do too well on History of Magic and Astronomy, however that is to be expected at what happened during those exams"
"Well, it appears that Harry did very well in his exams, however Severus if Harry decides to take potions as a NEWT level subject there is nothing that you can do about it, as he did pass with an outstanding grade"
Professor Snape went to comment but thought better of it.
The discussion soon turned to the general topic of the up and coming feast and the new students entering Hogwarts.
"We have received quite a number of families that have been effected by the wizard attacking the deatheaters" Minerva said at one point, "We will have to treat them with a lot more sympathy than usual, it appears that quite a few of the families were unaware that the fathers were deatheaters"
At that moment the fireplace flared into life and Kingsley Shacklebolt's face appeared in the fire "Albus?"
"Ah, just a minute Kingsley, we are just in the middle of a school meeting, please come through"
"I trust that everything will be ready for the opening feast and the coming of the new students" Dumbledore said addressing the remaining professors, dismissing them from his office.
The professors meeting had just about closed with all relevant discussions having already taken place, at that moment Kingsley Shacklebolt step out of the floo and into the headmaster office. The only remaining professors left in the office were also member of the order and were privy to any conversations that were to take place.
Sitting down facing the headmaster, Shacklebolt looked round the office.
"Professor" Kingsley said addressing the headmaster, "I have just come from a meeting of the Ministry, it appears that as well as the attacks on the deatheaters over the past couple of days, it appears that our mysterious wizard had been visiting a number of unknown deatheaters at their homes"
The silence in the headmaster's office was deafening, you could have heard a pin drop in the corridor outside.
Not waiting for any comments from anyone Shacklebolt continued, "It appears that a number of the deatheaters that have been visited by this unknown wizard worked in various departments within the Ministry, the Ministry is in chaos, no one is trusting any of their colleagues at the moment"
Dumbledore looked at his colleagues, they appeared to be shocked at the thought of so many deatheaters in the Ministry.
"How has this occurred Kingsley?" Albus asked the Auror.
Kingsley sat further back in his chair and considered the question before answering, "Well this wizard just appears at the home of a deatheater, breaks through the wards and attacks the occupants, however he does not attack anyone else only the deatheater"
Shacklebolt looked at the headmaster before continuing, "He does not attack everyone, although he does leave everyone bound and defenceless" Shacklebolt shuddered at his next statement.
"He also removes both of their legs before leaving the scene and then we receive an owl at the department informing us of the attack and the location, we arrive and find the family bound with the deatheaters arm displayed with the dark mark"
Everybody sat still, this was something that no one could comprehend. Having Voldemort attack was one thing, having another Voldemort on the loose was unthinkable, even if they were attacking deatheaters. To attack and overpower wards, any wards was a feat in itself and spoke of the individual having a vast amount of power. There were curse breakers that studied the breaking of wards, but this was achieved over a numbers of days or weeks at least, you couldn't just overpower them.
Albus Dumbledore looked at his assembled colleagues,
"Severus is there any news on Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked
Severus Snape, order member and deatheater, looked at Dumbledore,
"The Dark Lord is aware of this new threat to his dominance, he had lost over thirty deatheaters in the past week and is not happy with the situation" Snape responded,
"He has tasked a few of his inner circle with the task of locating this wizard"
"Then it is somebody that is unknown to both Voldemort and the Ministry" Kingsley Shacklebolt stated out loud.
"Of course!" Snapped Snape at Kingsley, "The Dark Lord would not attack his own men without reason"
It was well known that to displease Voldemort meant being placed under the Cruciatus Curse, however it was rare that Voldemort killed his own deatheaters, only in extreme anger did this occur and very rarely did it happen.
"Well we are dealing with other unknown wizard whose power appears to rival both myself and Voldemort, this is extremely disturbing" Dumbledore said to the people in the office, "We can only hope that he doesn't wish to join Voldemort and his attacks on the Ministry and the general population"
"At the moment I can't see that happening Professor" Kingsley said, "It appears that this new wizard does not like Voldemort or his deatheaters any more the we do, however he is also keen to show it and not afraid to use his power in showing it"
"Yes, yes, however power does tend to corrupt given enough time, Kingsley" Dumbledore interjected.
See as there was little more that could be achieved at the impromptu meeting, Kingsley and the Professor went there separate ways, leaving Dumbledore contemplating what his next actions would be.
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The Burrow.
"Ron have you got everything" Mrs Weasley shouted up the stairs at the Burrow.
It was that time of the year again and everything at the Burrow was as usual in complete chaos. There were things everywhere, robes on the backs of chairs, spare bits of parchment lying on the table with notes on, books littered the chairs in the sitting room.
"Yes Mum" came the hollered reply from Ron
"Not just have you got everything but have you packed everything!" came Molly's reply
"I'm getting round to it" replied Ron, although this time his voice would not be heard outside of his room.
"We won't have time to pack things tomorrow and they need to be packed tonight, Ginny, Hermione, have you got everything?"
"Yes Mum!" shouted Ginny from her bedroom, accompanied a little while later by "Yes Mrs Weasely" from Hermione.
"Do you think that Harry will be at the station tomorrow?" Ginny said to Hermione as she placed the last of her robes into the trunk.
"Yes, of course, he said that he would," replied Hermione
Both the girls were worried about Harry, usually he would come and stay at the Burrow for the last couple of weeks of the summer holidays, but this year he had just disappeared. Only one letter had been received from Harry since his disappearance and that was to let them know that he was alright and would be attending Hogwarts the coming year.
"I don't know what Harry is playing at," said Hermione as she placed the last of her books into her trunk, which was already overflowing. "He shouldn't just disappear where no one can find him, what would happen if Voldemort found him?"
Hermione and Ginny each closed their trunks within a second of each other and then sat on them facing each other.
"I don't know what to think Hermione" said Ginny, "He seemed so lost last year on the train home and then he left with those things he calls relatives"
Ginny sat contemplating her next statement, "It was funny that he turned them into animals before leaving" she said a large smile on her face.
She knew that Hermione would not find that funny and would probably cause a commotion when she next saw Harry, but it was a prank that Ginny could understand, being a Weasley did leave it mark and living with Fred and George had certainly made her aware of the variety of pranks.
"He should not have done that, he will be in so much trouble for doing that" stated Hermione, with a scowl on her face, "He should know better than to attack muggles, even if they are his relatives"
"Oh come on Hermione, they were turned back and there memories obliviated so that they wouldn't remember anything. It wasn't as if it was permanent," Ginny said still smiling.
At that moment the door to Ginny's room burst open and Ron looked in at the two of them.
"Well all finished?" Ron asked, his arms folded against his chest, breathing heavily, leaning on the door frame.
"Yes and you should knock before opening my door Ron!" said Ginny, "I could have been getting dressed or more importantly Hermione could have been getting dressed"
Ron flushed, as only a Weasley could, his ears glowing, his face lighting up the sides of the hallway.
"Well, yes….. come on Mum said that dinner would be ready in a few minutes" Ron said as he hastily made his way downstairs away from Ginny's bedroom.
Both Ginny and Hermione rose from their seated position and started to walk towards the door.
"I hope that Harry is okay and that he does turn up tomorrow" Ginny said quietly
"As I said before Ginny, I'm sure that he will be there. Come on lets get some dinner, I can see tonight being a long night" Hermione said
As they entered the kitchen they could see that Mrs Weasley had, as normal, outdone her self with the mountains of food laid out on the table. Ron was already sitting down and filling his plate with food.
"Ron! Leave some for the others" Mrs. Weasley said and Ron looked up from his plate, the spoon still in his hand.
"Ginny, Hermione, please take a seat and start, Arthur won't be too long" she said as she looked at the clock on the wall, it was indicating that Mr Weasley was travelling home.
Once everyone had settled down and started their dinner they all heard a knocking at the kitchen window. They all looked up and saw a snowy white owl sitting on the window frame waiting to be let in, letters tied to her leg.
"Isn't that Hedwig" Hermione said as Ginny rushed to the window to the owl in.
Hedwig flew into the kitchen and circled the table finally settling on an empty chair next to Mr Weasley.
"Yes, that is Hedwig, Harry's owl," Ginny said as she rushed over to Hedwig.
"Ginny please sit down, I will get the letters" Mr Weasley said as he leaned over to relieve Hedwig of her burden.
Hedwig held out her leg for the letters to be removed and once removed she flew up and out of the window.
"I take it that Harry is not expecting a reply," Mr Weasley stated, looking at the letters in his hand.
"Well who are they for dad?" asked Ron, his mouth still full of food.
"Well there seems to be only two letters, one addressed to your mum and I and the other addressed to you, Ginny and Hermione" said Mr Weasley.
Ginny had not quiet sat down and returned to her dad with a speed with some how defied logic. Chuckling to himself Mr Weasley gave the letter to Ginny, who promptly went and sat back down next to Hermione.
"Well Arthur what does Harry have to say" said Molly, ringing her hands against the dishcloth.
Mr Weasley read the letter quickly to himself before explaining what was written within.
"Well it seems that Harry has apologised for not coming to the Burrow for the remaining part of the summer holidays and for causing us any upset over his disappearance." Mr Weasley said looking at Molly, "He hopes that we are all well and will be seeing us at the train station tomorrow."
Mrs Weasley looked relieved at this and sat back in her chair, with a small sigh.
"Well Ginny, what does Harry have to say to you, Ron and Hermione?" Mrs Weasley asked, her attention drawn to the fact that both Hermione and Ginny were very quiet reading Harry's letter.
"It says much the same Mum," Ginny replied, "He says that he is sorry for causing us to worry and that he hopes that we forgive him. He says that he is going to meet us at the train station tomorrow."
"Is that all Ginny?" Mrs Weasley knew when something was being withheld from her, raising six boys had taught her something and from the appearance of both Hermione and her daughter something was definitely not being said.
"Err…. He says that he has also written to Neville and Luna and had apologised to them for getting then hurt in the Department of Mysteries and that he is sorry for getting us involved in something that could have easily been avoided"
"Is that all Ginny?" Mrs Weasley pressed.
"Well he also says that things will be different this year and he hopes that we all understand, I don't really know what he means mum?"
Mrs Weasley considered her thoughts, she knew that her daughter had a crush on Harry but had thought that she had gotten over it by now.
"I'm sure that he will explain everything once he is one the train tomorrow" she paused, "however he does have a lot of explaining to do, what with the mess in Diagon Alley with those deatheaters and not being able to be contacted by Professor Dumbledore"
Mr Weasley interrupted her before she could carry on, "Now Molly, I'm sure that Harry will have everything under control by the time he reaches Hogwarts, for now I believe that we should finish our meal and see what is left to pack, before tomorrow."
Mr Weasley knew that molly would have continued on about how Harry had changed his relatives into animals and that he would probably be talking to the Aurors about his involvement in the battle with the deatheaters in Diagon Alley as well as performing underage magic.
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King's Cross Station, Platform 9¾
Nearly the entire Weasley Clan was at King's Cross station, all clustered around their baggage and trunks. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the only ones leaving for Hogwarts, however both Fred and George had arrived to see them off and Bill had also turned up, as is was working at Gringotts, London, since being recalled from Egypt. The only ones missing ere Charlie and Percy, Charlie because he was looking after dragons in Romania, and Percy, well because he was Percy and had still not reconciled with his family.
"Now I'm sure that Harry will be here soon" said Ms Weasley as she looked at the clock on the station wall, it was fifteen minutes to eleven and the train would leave, without fail, at eleven o'clock.
"But he should be here by now, he will miss the train if he doesn't show up soon" moaned Ginny to her mother.
At that moment, a figured stepped through the wall at the edge of the station, his cloak billowing around his frame, looking as if he had just stepped out of a wind storm. The hood on his cloak was up and he parted the crowd as if he was royalty, his presence just screamed 'get out of my way'. A quiet hush descended amongst the crowd of witches and wizards as the figure made his way over the Weasley family. Stopping just short of them it was Hermione that noticed the quiet hush and turned round to see the stranger looking at them. A gasp left her mouth and Ron, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, George, Fred and Bill turned to see the cloaked figure standing next to them.
With a sweep of his hand the stranger within his hood from the cloak,
"Hi, guys."
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Sorry for the delay in getting this out, it is a bit longer than usual.
Let me know what you think…
Sheeps