Part 1

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A cat walked down a foggy street, lined with houses of rotting wood and broken brick. The evening sun cast long shadows on what was left of the neighborhood. Yet the sweet scent of daffodils, roses, and honey surrounded the area, as though coming from every building.

The cat looked at the addresses, checking for the right one. Eventually it walked up to a house of scorched black wood; 4776 was written on the bronze numbers of a door with the bottom hinges missing. The cat pushed the door open, and was about to enter, when a cold green flame shot across the street. It spread in front of the house surrounding the building as it formed a sphere. The cat jumped toward the flame, but bounced off, falling back through the door.

"Well now. It would seem that the mouse can catch a cat after all." Peter Pettigrew stepped out of the shadows, as the sphere of flame began shrinking.

The cat turned into Minerva McGonagall, who sent Pettigrew's wand flying effortlessly. Several masked death eaters stepped into the light as McGonagall sent a shocked Peter Pettigrew to the ground with a full body bind spell.

The fire got closer and closer to the house as spells fired at Mcgonnagall. "Protego!" She yelled, casting a shield of energy. Curses of all sorts bounced off, including a few killing curses.

Mcgonnagall dropped down, blowing up the floor as she yelled. "Bombarda!" She jumped down through the breaking floor, slipping under the floorboards. She lit the boards on fire with Incendio. As smoke filled the room, Mcgonnagall tried apparating away, but slammed into the flaming sphere again. A small bruise formed on her left shoulder as footsteps raced towards her.

The sphere kept shrinking as Mcgonnagall turned into a cat and slipped inside a heating duct. She climbed down into the long dead furnace, sending ash flying. The ash covered her fur as she scratched at an outer drawer. The metal soon gave way and Mcgonnagall jumped out onto what felt like a concrete floor.

She changed back to normal, raising her wand. It hit a wall as she said. "Lumos." Her wand glowed, showing a cellar barely large enough to fit 3 people at a time. A wooden trap door hung above her, which she silently unlocked and climbed out.

The green flames still surrounded her, only a few inches from her face as she stood up. Soon it was physically pushing her back toward the house. The death eaters still hadn't caught up, so she had a few seconds to think. How could she break out of the circular prison.

Sometimes opposites canceled out, so she tried it. "Glacius." Ice shot from her wand. It changed the flame's color, but the barrier still held. Next she tried water and fire, but neither had any affect.

Perhaps it was something no auror would try, so she hit the barrier with each unforgivable curse. That didn't work either. The barrier was starting to push her into the wall. Mcgonnagall tried apparating, and managed to get back to the house's main room. Ready for an ambush she checked for any death eaters, but they were gone.

She kept looking, but the house was completely empty; even Pettigrew was gone. The wood in the walls started caving in, and she kept trying to find a way out. But she didn't find any escape routes, and no spells she tried had any effect. As a last resort she cast Protego, the shield holding for the moment.

Mcgonnagall's mind raced, trying to figure out something, but she kept drawing blanks. The wooden roof fell and the flaming barrier broke through the wall as it kept shrinking. Soon it was pushing into her shield spell.

Her shield was starting to break, but she couldn't do anything else. She kept struggling as her shield got smaller and smaller around her. As the sphere touched her feet, Mcgonnagall crouched and closed her eyes. She waited for her spell to give way when she heard an explosion. Boom!

Mcgonnagall held her ears in pain, falling onto a strangely soft floor. Wind swept by her and she opened her eyes. Burnt wood chips and dirt surrounded her on all sides. The street was covered in a 10 meter diameter of scorched earth and ash. In the distance, Mcgonnagall saw a man with a long gray beard and long gray hair. Crescent shaped spectacles hung under his creased brow. He wore brilliant red robes, matching the color of the phoenix on his shoulder. The bird gave a mighty cry as though ready to breath fire.

"Albus? What are you doing here?" Mcgonnagall stared in amazement. "How did you break that flaming barrier?"

Dumbledore smiled. "A little trick an old friend taught me. Saved my brother decades ago." He laughed looking at the wreckage as he dusted himself off. "Perhaps history really does repeat itself."

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Part 2

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Ron and Hermionie were about to head back to Gryffindor Tower, when Albus Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing. He walked over to Mrs. Weasley, who didn't seem to notice him as she jotted down some notes on a paper. "Ah, Molly. Might I have a word?"

Mrs. Weasley turned around, somewhat startled. "Oh! Dumbledore! You must be here to talk about Harry."

"Uh, about young Mr. Potter." Dumbledore's tone seemed friendly, but somewhat awkward. "What about him?"

"Oh, you haven't heard yet? There was an incident. Perhaps I should let him speak to you when he returns from the ministry. I wouldn't want to intrude on his privacy."

"The ministry?" Dumbledore furrowed his brow in thought. "Why on Earth would he be there?"

She shrugged. "Sirius stopped by. Apparently he wanted to show Harry something there."

"What!?" Dumbledore rushed out of the hospital wing, panic in his eyes.

Mrs. Weasley followed him to the hospital wing's exit, before stopping. Then she looked at Ron and Hermione. "What was that about!?" A concerned look crossed her face. "I can't leave right now, would you two mind checking on that?"

Ron nodded, then he and Hermione followed Dumbledore. Hermione whispered as they walked. "Have you ever heard Dumbledore call Harry by his last name? That was really weird."

"No, but I'm more concerned about his reaction." Ron said. "What was that about?"

The two kept going through the castle until Dumbledore turned a corner and wasn't there anymore. Ron and Hermione checked for him, but had no luck. They headed to the headmaster's office, hoping to find answers, but couldn't find a way in.

Eventually they turned back, heading toward the common room. If Harry was back, he might have some answers. If not, they had a problem. Hermione could see the nervous look on Ron's face and was about to say something when she bumped into Percy Weasley.

"Ow!" She yelped as her butt hit the floor. A loud crash sounded as several cages fell to the floor.

"Ms. Granger, are you all right?" Percy helped Hermione up. "Ron?" He looked at the two students. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"We were visiting Harry in the hospital wing. Did you see Professor Dumble" Ron stopped his sentence when he saw the caged pixies covering the floor. "Uh...what's with the caged pixies?"

"A bunch of them invaded Filch's office, and I haven't seen the headmaster recently, why?"

A pitch of uncertainty krept from Ron's throat. "Well, when he was in the hospital wing, he was acting kind of weird. Then he freaked out when he heard about Sirius taking Harry to visit the ministry. Then he rushed out like the place was on fire."

"Really? He's usually so composed." Percy thought for a moment. "Hold on, why did Sirius take Harry to the ministry? I haven't heard about anything like that."

Ron shrugged. "Don't know. They headed off, and that was it."

"Hmmm. All right then, I can check on Dumbledore if you two can take these pixies to Professor Hagrid."

"Really? Yeah, that'd work great." Hermione said. She cast Wingardium Leviosa to levitate the cages in the air.

Percy headed off towards the headmaster's office, where he was almost certain he'd find Dumbledore. As he entered the office he saw what looked like red robes disappearing in green fire.

Percy checked the flu powder pot next to the fire, but it was empty. Dumbledore was likely headed to the ministry, but Percy would have to find another way to follow him. He exited the room and ran for the room where Filch had been tending his and Mrs. Norris' wounds. He went to a desk in the corner, opening up a drawer. Inside was a nearly full container of flu powder.

Percy grabbed a pinch and said "Ministry of Magic!" He threw the flu powder at the wall which engulfed him in green flame. He walked out of a ministry fireplace, looking for anyone around. A middle aged wizard in gray robes walked past, and Percy ran up to him. "Excuse me, have you by any chance seen Sirius Black, Harry Potter, or Albus Dumbledore around here?"

"Ummm...what?" The wizard stared at him in confusion.

"I guess not. Thanks." Percy started down the hallway when the wizard spoke.

"Actually, I did see Sirius Black and Harry Potter heading in that direction." The wizard pointed down a corridor lined with a black carpet.

"Really?" Percy looked down the corridor the man was pointing at. "But the only thing down that way is the Department of Mysteries. Why would he, oh no." Percy facepalmed before walking down the corridor grumbling to himself. "Sirius you idiot. Harry's not ready for that yet. What were you thinking? No wonder Dumbledore was so concerned."

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Part 3

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Harry and Sirius made their way through the department of mysteries heading for the exit, when footsteps sounded in the distance. A bald man in black robes appeared from behind a shelf. He had blood red eyes and what used to be a nose. "Harry Potter. I've been waiting a long time to see you again."

Harry stared at Voldemort, dumbstruck. Sirius smiled. "Hope the travel wasn't an issue."

"Oh it was well worth it for this." Voldemort waved a hand toward several people behind him. "Potter is mine. Do not interfere."

Harry looked at Sirius who's hair turned brown and face changed to that of Barty Crouch Jr. Harry backed away. "What?" His thoughts raced, searching for answers.

Crouch smiled at Harry mockingly. "Well Harry, looks like you'll be fulfilling your prophecy right here."

Harry darted behind a shelf, blasting it with Bombarda. Wood chips, glass shards, and who knew what else went flying. "Get back here Potter?" Voldemort flew after him, sending down killing curses. "Cut him off!"

Footsteps pounded all around as Harry kept running. He looked for an exit, or any form of escape.

Crouch yelled at Harry. "Guess you don't care about your godfather, do you!?"

Harry stopped in his tracks, turning back. Several death eaters cut him off, Crouch walking between them. He dragged a freshly wounded Sirius Black by the back of his shirt. Cuts lined his face, and bruises started to form on his body. Sirius' knees slid across the floor and a wand poked into his neck. He lifted his head weakling, mouthing out, "Run." to Harry.

Harry kept staring, his face slowly shifting as his rage built. "Let him go!" His raised his wand.

"Don't make me kill him." Crouch said tauntingly. Harry kept his wand aimed at Crouch. "Unless you want to see Sirius Black to die right now, I suggest you duel the dark lord."

Harry turned to the sound of footsteps as Voldemort approached from behind. A vile smile spread across the dark lord's lipless mouth. He aimed his wand at Harry. "Crucio!"

Harry didn't even see anything before fell to the floor, writhing in pain. The crystal ball in his hand rolled away. The pain subsided as Voldemort started talking. "14 years is a long time to wait." He picked up the crystal ball, pulling it into his robes. "The boy who lived. You're almost as famous as me now. But after tonight, people will only talk about how you begged for death. And no one will ever question my power again."

Voldemort raised his wand. "We should bow before a duel, your parents wouldn't want you to be rude. Imperio!"

Harry felt a floating sensation, his thoughts wiped away to bliss and happiness. A voice in his head told him to bow, but then something in him remembered Sirius. Two emotions fought between him, one pushing for mindless joy, the other an inferno of rage bursting to destroy everything in his path.

Harry's back arched into a bow before he yelled. "Expelliarmus!" An immense force crashed into Voldemort sending everything off the nearby shelves. Voldemort's wand went flying, but the dark lord stood firm.

Voldemort called his wand back in shock as Harry hit him with Bombarda, but the Dark Lord was ready this time. He deflected the exploding spell and shouted "Avada Kedavra!"

Harry yelled "Expelliarmus!", and two beams of green and red light collided. The darkness of the ministry seemed to vanish in the brilliant display.

Harry could barely make out anything. His eyes adjusted soon enough, but they must've gotten messed up because he saw golden light shooting out from the place where his and Voldemort's spells collided. The golden light spun off, arcing into a dome that surrounded Harry and Voldemort.

Ghosts began appearing. At first he didn't recognize any of them, but after a silver hand passed by and a few more ghosts he saw a woman with red hair and green eyes matching his. Next came a man who looked like an older version of Harry.

Harry gawked, not understanding what was happening. Those had to be his parents, but that was impossible. "Lily?" The voice caught Harry off guard as he turned to see Albus Dumbledore, surrounded by a dozen unconscious death eaters.

Lily and James Potter both stared at the old wizard before turning to Harry. "It's good to see you Harry."

They both turned to Voldemort, then back to Dumbledore. This time only Lily spoke. "Keep him safe."

Dumbledore nodded, as Voldemort finally realized who was standing just behind Harry with a pile of knocked out death eaters.

Dumbledore smiled. "Tom, did I ever tell you why Grindelwald chose not to escape prison? I can tell you, it wasn't because he enjoyed prison life."

Behind Dumbledore, several figures stepped into view: Mad Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks stepped into view. Lupin was holding up a barely conscience Sirius Black, glaring at Voldemort.

The dark lord's eyes bulged in panic as he broke the struggle between his wand and Harry's. He looked at the death eaters to see Barty Crouch Jr. had disappeared, then vanished in a cloud of smoke.