Book 1 - Harry Potter And The Dawn Of Chaos

Chapter 11 - Your Hearts desires

The holidays had been weird. Harry had gotten used to the busy corridors of Hogwarts over the past few months and having Hogwarts be so calm and quiet was a strange feeling.

It didn't mean he was not enjoying them. This was the first Christmas holiday he had ever enjoyed. Normally when he was back at the Dursleys, Christmas tended to be the time. Harry was busiest with housework since in Vernon's eyes since he wasn't at school, he should be using his free time to better himself. Harry thought that the betterment Vernon was suggesting was just the betterment of his cooking skills.

So far the holidays have been lovely. Ron and Harry were the only two first year boys left in Slytherin, well there was Theo Notts but he mainly kept to himself so it did feel like they were the only two left boys left. All of the girls have gone wood readily admits that he really missed Hermione and part of him was excited for the holidays to end so they could all be back as a trio. As a result of the empty castle the common room was often vacant which was something they had taken a huge advantage of. Ron and Harry now spent Most of the days now sitting by the fire in the chairs that were usually occupied by the upper years. Eating whatever snacks they can get their hands on and discussing random stuff. What were the chances of Ron's Quidditch team game this year or new ideas for how to avoid Hermione's impressively and scarily accurate ability to know just when the boys have started to slack off. None of the ideas would actually work.

Ron had even started to teach him a new game. Wizard chess and it played exactly like normal chess with the added addition that you had to deal with the fact that the chess pieces were alive and did not appreciate Harry's inability to play chess. Daphne had let Ron borrow hers while she was away. Ron was slightly annoyed at her because she hadn't mentioned that she had her own set up until she was leaving. Harry guessed this was because she didn't want to lose as badly as he was right now. Every time he began to lose you got angry, and the amount of times he had lost he was pretty frustrated. Ronald gave him some advice needed to keep calm, not let his frustration over the fact he was losing, get the better off him. Bugger off was all Harry had to say to him after that and Ron had just laughed at him and reset the board. Eventually Ron had accepted that Harry was never going to get better at this game so you found someone else to play with that person in particular had been Seamus, who was one of the few Gryffindor is to stay behind, apparently his family was going away and is in rather than to go on a trip abroad he chose to just stay at the castle. According to Ron it was a little tense at first, but after a few games they had gotten it quite a good rhythm. Ron still dominated Seamus but the Gryffindor gave a bit more of a challenge and Harry himself did.

As it came time to go to bed on Christmas Eve, Harry could say his spirits were higher than ever on a Christmas Eve. He was excited to spend the day with his friends, Ron, and Seamus. Plus from what he had heard of the great feast that Hogwarts hosted every Christmas. He couldn't wait for that either. However, one thing he was not looking forward to receiving anything. He was dreading how embarrassing it would be when Ron opened his presents from Daphne and his family, and he had nothing but with that thought he fell asleep.

"Merry Christmas." Harry was woken up by Ron shouting and as he got out of bed, moving the covers so that he could see the rest of the dorm room. Ron was already sitting next to his pile and clearly waiting for Harry to wake up.

"Honestly, I think this is the first time you've ever gotten up before me." Laughing Ron ignored the jab. "Wow, look at that I've got presents." He stared at the pile yet again. He couldn't get over how big it was, nothing compared to the pile that Dudley would get but that didn't matter. They were all for him and it was more than he had ever gotten before.

"Well of course you did, ready to open them?" Ron asked, clearly just as excited as Harry currently felt

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was 'To Harry, from Hagrid.' Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it - it sounded a bit like an owl. A second, very small parcel contained a note.

'We received your message and enclosed your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.' Sellotaped to the note was a fifty pence piece. "That's friendly." Said Harry, he turned to Ron who was holding a very lumpy parcel. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just this is from my mum."

"Are you going to open it?"

"Yeah, I will do it." Yet Ron didn't move instead he just stared at it.

"Ron."

"Oh yeah." Finally he slowly opened it. Inside was a big maroon jumper with a big W on the front. Attached was a letter. "Every year she always makes us all jumpers. Mine is always maroon."

"Do you want some privacy to read the letter?" Harry asked, he knew how long he had been waiting for this.

"Nah, it's Christmas. What do you get from Hermione?" Ron stored the letter in his bedside table.

Hermione had gotten him a large box of chocolate frogs which was good because he had gotten her a box of sweets as well. Same thing he had gotten Ron. That brought him to his final parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor. Ron gasped. "I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of every flavoured beans got from Hermione. " If that's what I think it is, they're really rare and really valuable."

"What is it?"

Harry picked up the shinning silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to touch. It felt cold and empty yet familiar, like it was something he had been missing his whole life. It felt like a liquid, water made fabric.

"It's an invisibility cloak," Ron said in awe as he looked at the cloak. "I'm sure it is. Try it on."

Harry threw on the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.

"I was right, look down."

Harry looked down and sure enough he couldn't see anything. His entire lower half had disappeared.

"There's a note."

Harry pulled on the cloak and took the note from Ron. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words.

Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A very merry Christmas.

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the Cloak.

"We should probably get going." Harry said, taking the cloak from Ron and putting it in his trunk. The two boys quickly got dressed and headed out the door.

As Ron and Harry walked through the corridor from the dorms to the common room, the mystery surrounding his new cloak and who had sent it swirled around his mind. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice they had arrived within the common room until Ron elbowed him in the side.

"Ouch."

"Well you haven't said a word since we left our room and now you're staring on into space."

"What's up?"

He contemplated telling Ron about how getting presents this Christmas was strange, he thought about explaining why the cloak grabbed his attention so much. Deciding not too, instead he just shrugged and walked forward. However both boys stopped when they saw the common room.

Dotted around the room were small sacks, each one made out of green fabric tied with silver ribbon. They all had a name tag on them. A golden flowing script told everyone who each bag was meant for.

"What is this?" Ron asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Ahh you're up." Daniel Avery, the fifth year prefect shouted from the chairs by the fire. "Hey guys, they are up." A collection of Slytherins were gathered in various chairs around the room. The bags with their names are either half open or empty.

"What is this?" Ron asked again, this time to Daniel directly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot your first generation Slytherins." He smiled as he said this. Harry always felt that out of the two prefects that dealt with the first years Daniel was the much nicer one. "Basically the house elf's collects any presents that aren't from family or your roommates and put them in these bags so we can open them in the common room, honestly it's pretty dumb but one of the heads of House started it ages ago, and for some reason the elves refused to stop it"

"That's weird." Was all Ron had to say.

"Yeah, pretty weird."

"Do all the Houses do it?" Harry asked.

"No, not really. I am sure you know what happens in Gryffindor." He said looking at Ron.

"Yeah, they got all the presents in their dorm room."

"Thought so, the Hufflepuff got all the gifts together in the common room."

"What about the Ravenclaws? What do they do?"

Daniel bent low and leaned in really close and whispered. "I have no idea, anyway, I put all of your presents near the fire, since I am the only prefect still at school and there are lots of free seats."

Daniel led them over to the fireplace and took a seat closest to it. Picking up an old book he started reading. Ron and Harry looked confused as to who could have sent the small pile of presents that lay within the sacks. Ron moved first, grabbing the bag and opening. He pulled out three small packages.

"Hang on, here are my presents from Daphne. I forgot about them but I know for a fact I left them in my bedside cupboard."

"Yeah, try not to think about it. The elves are very persistent."

The two boys looked at each other before continuing to open the bag.

"What did she get you anyway?"

"Dam her." Harry looked over to Ron worried as his friend cursed Daphne. In his hand he was holding brand new copies of all the course textbooks.

"Well I can guess what's in the other two packets." Dan said as he looked over his book to see what Ron had gotten. Ron turned and quickly tore open the other two packets.

"Haha Greengrass is good. I am guessing buying you all of the standard books for the first three years of Hogwarts is some sort of inside joke for you two?" Daniel asked, a small smile on his face.

Harry looked at his friend. His face was a battle of feelings. His face was slightly red from embarrassment. He knew that Ron was sensitive to his family's money problems and this gesture by Greengrass was probably making him uncomfortable, however a smile on his face made Harry think that perhaps he was touched more than he was willing to let on.

"How does she even know the book list?" Ron asked.

"Most of the book list stays the same every year. A few changes but those books will sort you for the core subject. Unless a teacher comes in and changes the entire curriculum."

"Ah cool. Anyway that's all for me. So what did you get, Harry?"

Harry turned back to his bag and opened it. He pulled out the first gift he saw. Reading the card he looked up confused towards Ron. "Who's Lord Crabbe?"

A loud laugh made Harry turn back to Daniel, who for a guy who said to ignore him he was talking an awful lot. "That would be your year mate Vincent's father."

"You mean the death eater?" Ron exclaimed. However the glare he got from Daniel stopped any protest.

"He was found innocent by the courts." A strange tension filled the air and Harry suddenly felt uncomfortable and suddenly he no longer wanted to find out what the gift was.

"Open it, if you don't then it will be seen as externally rude."

Slowly opening the paper it revealed a book. Dark blue with golden ink detailing the title.

The sacred 28.

History of the pure blood of magical Britain.

"What is this?"

"Ahh that is a very old book that talks about some of the oldest families in Britain. It's a bit outdated but still has some importance."

"Sure it does if you're a bigot. That book is the basis of the pure-blood movement. The death eaters." Ron was fuming, pure anger was clear in his eyes as he glared at the book. "That was You-Know-Who's basis for his war."

"Oh." Was all Harry could say. Even Daniel couldn't disagree with him. He put the book down by his side and pulled out the next present.

The next few luckily weren't politically charged books. Just random sweets and trinkets from different families. Ron had no idea why they would send him anything. It wasn't till he reached the bottom of the bag that the presents got interesting.

It was three gifts, all wrapped in dark grey paper. Tied neatly together by a black ribbon. Upon seeing the package Daniel let out a small gasp. Harry eyed him confused as to what the reaction was all about. Attached to the gifts was a card. Pulling it off and opening Harry read.

To Mister Harry. J. Potter,

As I write this note I feel my hands shake as I try to anticipate how you will react to me writing today.

I first must offer my deepest apologies for the part my late brother played in the deaths of your mother and father. His crimes against this house were many yet it was the final betrayal of your father that I hate him most for.

I do hope that going forward our two houses may grow closer and the pain of the past may be forgotten yet I leave such a decision up to you Harry.

I hope these gifts will show you that I write with the best of intentions and if not I hope they at least give you some joy.

Sincerely,

Lord Regulus. A. Black

Head of the Noble and Ancient House Black.

Upon reaching the end of the letter which he had read out loud to save himself time, since he knew Ron would ask what It said, he was confused.

"Fuck." Was all Ron had to say.

"What is House Black? It sounds familiar."

"They are the worst, the scum of this society." Ron's anger was clear. Even Daniel didn't stop him. "House black were his most loyal supporters. The maddest and most twisted of his followers came from that family."

"Then why isn't he in prison? And who's his brother that betrayed my parents?" Harry was angry, a swirl of emotions was flowing through him but one thought grounded his anger, this had been a good day. A good Christmas. His first ever yet now it was ruined by stupid people sending him stupid gifts. Pushing down his anger again he breathed.

"He was found innocent by the courts since Lord Black had never actually committed any crime they could prove. And I don't think I am the one to explain that second question. I recommend you talk to Cassy at some point. She will explain it better than I could. Just open the gifts and send him a thank you note, please." Daniel stood, walking away from the two first years. Harry was confused and Ron was angry.

He opened the first gift, it was a thin parcel, he carefully removed the grey paper and stared at the old photo. It showed a man in a suit holding the waist of a ginger woman with bright green in a white dress. Harry stared at the picture for a minute before he made the connection. The man looked exactly like him, the women's eyes were so familiar because he saw them every day in the mirror.

"Mum, dad." He whispered. Ron stared at him, not sure what to say as his best friend sat staring with wide eyes at a picture.

"There's writing on the back."

It took Harry a second to look away, as if he was afraid they wouldn't be there when he looked back. Turning the picture over he read.

Congratulations James,

Managed to get this one without Lily spotting so enjoy.

From Padfoot.

"Who's padfoot?" Asked Ron

"I don't know. He must have been one of my mum and dads friends. I think this is their wedding day."

"You good mate?"

"Yeah, just never seen them before." He carefully put down the picture. Not wanting any harm to come to it as he opened the next package. It was a crimson book with dark black ink inscribing the title.

The history of House Potter.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

"Great, another history book. God pure bloods really don't know what kids want these days." Harry moaned. As interesting as his family probably was, this was more a gift for Hermione than him, he was sure she would love to read all about his family.

"I mean better than the last book you got. What is the final present?"

Harry picked up the last box and opened it. Inside was an old fashioned silver pocket watch. The outside was engraved with the image of a staged head. Popping it open he read the inscription inside.

To Prongs,

Thanks for being the brother I needed.

From Padfoot.

"Padfoot again and now a Prongs. Who are these people? Are they normal wizard names?

"I mean there's a pudfoot but Prongs isn't even close to a real name. Sorry mate but I have no idea."

"It's okay." gathering the gifts he got he stood up. "We should probably get ready shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, good idea."

With that the two first years left the common room. They didn't notice the watchful eyes of Daniel Avery who was lost in thought about what he had just witnessed. The prefects were going to have a field day when he told them.

LINE BREAK

It was a few days before Ron found the courage to finally open the letter from his parents. It hadn't left his mind since Christmas Day and for all of Boxing Day Ron had struggled about what to do. He knew he should open it, he was going too but the fear about what it might say was horrible. Trying to remember how the twins had acted was helping, they hadn't treated him like Percy instead they had been just as teasing as normal. So as he sat in the empty dormitory, Harry was out with Hagrid, he finally opened the letter.

Dear Ron,

First, you should know in a while, I write this (your dad) but these words come from both me and your mum. She just starts crying every time she writes it, you know how your mum is.

Now onto the reason for this letter. Your sorting, or rather our behaviour after your sorting. How we both reacted was unacceptable and we let you down.

Ron stopped reading, he hadn't noticed how hard he was gripping the letter. His knuckles were going white. They didn't hate him.

Both me and your mum have suffered because of members of that house. A lot of really bad memories are linked to Slytherin however that doesn't make their reaction okay. I think we both just thought perhaps your sorting meant something. Funnily enough it was Fred and George who talked some sense into us, something they promised to never do again.

We have spoken to Percy and upon returning to Hogwarts he has been told to apologise to you. If he doesn't then please let us know. He was out of line.

We know you Ron, you may be a member of that house but you are better than them. You're our son, a good hearted boy and no matter what house you belong to Ron you will always be a Weasley.

Love always,

Your mum and dad.

Ron didn't notice the tears until they started to land on the letter. His head was a mess. A swirling barrel of emotions flew through his head and he couldn't figure out just how he felt. Relief was one, relieved that his mum and dad didn't hate him. Yet something about the apology felt hollow, he couldn't place it but he didn't feel content with the apology. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind he folded up the letter and put it on his bedside table. Wiping the tears from his eyes he stood up and decided it was a good idea to take a shower.

LINE BREAK

As Harry ran through the corridors under the cloak he was beginning to regret his decision to scope out the restricted section for information on Flamel; he had found nothing and was now being chased by Filch. The conversation between Snape and Quirrel was interesting; however, perhaps he was too quick to dismiss Neville's theory that Snape wanted the stone. He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without them noticing anything. They walked straight past and Harry leant against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in. It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket - but propped against the wall

However one thing in the room clearly didn't belong. It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an Inscription carved around the top:

erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. He stepped in front of it.

He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself screaming. He whirled around. His heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed - for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him. But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror.

There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least ten others, Harry looked over his shoulder - but, still, no one was there Or were they all invisible, too? Was he in fact in a room full of invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?

He looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close.

As he looked before his very eyes the mirror shifted, the people faded from his view, replaced with darkness. Now the mirror showed Harry standing alone in the dark. Just his reflection, no not his reflection. The Harry in the mirror stood slightly taller, he seemed to carry himself with the same sense of superiority that the pure bloods in the common room did. The darkness changed, shifting as the Dursleys moved into view. Harry's heart began to beat faster, yet the mirror Harry simply smiled, drawing his wand Mirror Harry slashed it down and the Dursley's began to scream, it was horrible to watch, no sound came from the mirror yet there faces twisted into such a pin filled expression that there was no mistake as it what was happening.

Harry stumbled backwards, wondering what this mirror was. He could look away as the Dursley's collapsed to their knees, tears streaming down their faces. Mirror Harry just kept going, a twisted smile breaking across his face. Then suddenly without warning the images in the mirror shifted again.

Reverting back into the people, the woman was back again. Looking at him like nothing had happened.

She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes - her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green - exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying, smiling, but crying at the same time. The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just like Harry's did, Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

'Mum?' he whispered. Dad?'

The mirror shifted again, the more confident Harry stood in front of him again, that creepy smile was still scaring his face. Harry jumped back in shock.

"What are you? Where are my parents?"

He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness. He had gotten to see his parents, just for a second. How long had he stood there, he didn't know. reflections did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. He couldn't stay here, he had

to find his way back to bed. He tore his eyes away from his Mirror self, that twisted smile stuck in his mind, the way the reflections eyes seemed lighter, as if he was free of a great weight. Harry felt sick, he needed to get away.

He threw his cloak over himself, vanishing and hurried back to his room. Not wanting to wake Ron he moved back into his bed. Harry tried to sleep, tried his hardest to get the image out of his mind, tried to get over the nausea yet he couldn't. Harry knew why yet he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't admit it.

Harry felt sick at what he had seen for a reason he couldn't say out loud, he hadn't felt sick at what he had seen, watching the Dursleys crumble in pain didn't make him sick. What made Harry feel so uncomfortable with what he had seen was the fact he had enjoyed it, he had felt not just satisfaction but enjoyment.

He had enjoyed not the pain he had inflicted but how freeing it had felt to see those who had controlled his life for so long crumple beneath him.