Disclaimer: All places and characters belong to JK Rowling and WB and various publishers. No money is being made off of this piece of fiction.
Prelude:
It began with the sacking of Cornelius Fudge.
The debacle at the DOM and the following chaos of Voldemort's return cemented Cornelius's fall from office. Many people, Order members included, underestimated the public's fear and memory of the previous Dark War. Time had only deepened that fear, made the memories more insidious.
Rufus Scrimgeour, war-hardened ex-auror, was quickly elected Minster of Magic. There was something about the wolf-like, unyielding nature of the man that bestowed faith in the public.
Open assaults on muggles and muggleborns began two months after Tom's public declaration of return. Panic was spreading. Two months after that, Rufus Scrimgeour declared martial law across magical Britain, and Harry Potter went missing.
It was quiet. No sign of a struggle. No detected Dark magic. 4 Privet Drive unchanged, and intact. One moment the gangly, bespectacled sixteen-year-old was there, the next he was gone. The Dursley's had reported going to bed, and awakening to find the boy gone, (good grief!).
A week later all three Dursley's were found dead, skinned alive, hanging in an open square in Diagon Alley.
The second Dark War had begun.