The Scar

Arthur was lying flat on his back, breathing hard as though he ran for a while.

He had just woken up from the vivid dream he ever had with his hands over his face.

The old lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead started burning beneath his fingers, like someone pressed a white hot wire onto his skin.

He sat up, hissing through the pain with one hand still on his scar, with the other turning on a lamp on his bedside table, filling the dark guest bedroom with light.

Arthur continued hissing through the pain in his scar as he then got out of bed and crossed the room to open the door to enter the hallway outside and quietly made his way to the bathroom next to the stairs and looked right at the mirror, his bright green eyes focused under his untidy black hair. He examined the lightning bolt scar of his reflection closely, which looked normal, despite feeling the stinging pain.

Arthur was able to recollect most of the dream before he woke up. It felt so real, like he was there watching the events unfold in front of him.

The dim and dark room, the snake on the hearth rug, Peter Pettigrew, nicknamed Wormtail, that high, cold voice belonging to Lord Voldemort, a being that sparked rage within Arthur when he ever laid eyes on him.

He tried to remember what he looked like in the dream, but that proved to be impossible because when his chair swung around, Arthur felt a spasm of horror, which woke him up, along with the pain in his scar.

And that old man… Arthur suspected that he worked at that manor in the dream since he had the key to a back door and knew his way through the kitchen, along with the fact that he lived nearby as well, probably a gardener or something in that vein. He was old, as well.

Arthur leaned over the sink, remembering how that old man fell to the ground at the same time as that flash of green filled the room, which he suddenly realised with horror that it was the same spell that killed his parents, remembering there was a bright flash of green alongside that incident.

Arthur remembered Voldemort and Wormtail talking about a murder, forgetting the name of whoever Voldemort killed, but he did remember that they were plotting to kill someone else… him….

He faced the mirror again, eyes fully wide. He splashed some water on his face before he walked back to the guest bedroom he currently resides and sat on his bed, looking around at the seemingly unusual items around the room. There was a large wooden trunk that stood open at the foot of his bed, revealing a cauldron, an impressive looking broomstick, black robes that had scarlet insides and an emblem with a lion on the chest and various spellbooks.

On the desk were rolls of parchment as well as a large and empty cage that his barn owl, Athena, perches on normally.

And on the floor beside the bed was an open book, one that he read right before he fell asleep. In it were pictures that moved, which had people in red sports uniforms and broomsticks in their hands.

He picked the book up and looked at the image with the wizards and their brooms before he snapped it shut as even Quidditch, which was the best sport in the world, in Arthur's opinion, couldn't distract him from the dream he woke up from.

He then placed the book, which was all about the Quidditch teams for this year's Quidditch World Cup, the image was of the Bulgarian National team, on the bedside table and walked over to the window, drawing back the curtains and surveyed the forest surrounding Merlon Manor.

From the start of the summer holidays, Arthur stayed at his best friend's home. The home of the Merlon family, who are all descendants of the most famous wizard of all time, Merlin. Their manor was situated in the middle of a forest outside of a nearby village and looked as the early morning light created shadows in the dim darkness because of the many trees.

Arthur then sat back down on his bed, still restless. The pain of his scar didn't really bother him, as he's used to pain and injury from what he has experienced for the past three years. At one point, he lost all bones in his right arm, another time and got bit from a venomous foot long fang in his second school year alone. Then there's last year where he fell fifty feet from an airborne broomstick. Injuries were just unavoidable when you're a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he himself was like a magnet of trouble, no matter how hard he didn't look for it.

What really bothered Arthur was that the last time his scar had hurt like that, it was when Voldemort had been close by in his first year at Hogwarts. But he couldn't be here now….

He remembered that manor in the dream and he didn't recall any abandoned manor nearby Merlon Manor, or even at Privet Drive, where his relatives, the Dentlets, lived.

He went back to the window and opened it, looked through the trees for any sign of a cloak and to hear if there's any footsteps just to make sure. But then he shook his head and closed the window and sat on the floor, right next to the bed, feeling stupid for being paranoid at this very moment and the only other people with him right now are the Merlons, who are all fast asleep.

Arthur was thinking about the Dentleys and how he had to live with them thanks to Voldemort, who also gave him the lightning scar on his forehead as he was the murderer of his parents….

Arthur was only a one year old baby the night that Voldemort, possibly the most powerful dark wizard of all time, who steadily gained power for eleven years, arrived at his house and killed both his father and mother. He then attempted to kill Arthur, his main target, and had performed a curse that had previously disposed of many adult witches and wizards during his rise to power, yet somehow, it didn't work. And instead of killing the little boy, the curse had rebounded on Voldemort and Arthur survived with the lightning shaped cut on his forehead, leaving Voldemort to be reduced to near death and with his powers now gone. Voldemort fled, his terror over the wizarding community now lifted and his followers disbanded, resulting in Arthur becoming famous.

Arthur still remembered the shock he felt when he learned all this before he turned eleven at the same time he learned he was a wizard. And he still remembered his awkwardness and downright annoyance of his celebrity status when he first entered the wizarding world and at Hogwarts with all of the turning heads and whisperings that followed him.

But he did grow used to it begrudgingly. And at the end of this summer, he'd start his fourth year at Hogwarts and was counting down the days to when he'd be back at the castle again, which will happen in a fortnight.

He then looked at the birthday cards from his friends and the Dentleys that he got from his birthday at the end of July. He started wondering what his friends would say about his scar hurting.

"Your scar's hurting? That's not good, you might have to write to Professor Dumbledore about this. I'll research into this and see if there's anything to help out."

That would be Chrys' advice for sure: Tell the Hogwarts Headmaster about it as she consults through various books.

However, he didn't really know if there are any books that can help explain what Arthur's dealing with with his scar. And there's also the fact that Dumbledore could be anywhere during the summer, though Athena has yet to fail in terms of delivering letters and packages.

He tried thinking of what he'd tell Dumbledore, but everything he thought of sounded stupid.

So he decided to think of what his best friend, David Merlon would say, thinking of his short silver hair and those electric blue eyes.

"Your scar hurts? But Voldemort isn't anywhere near us. I'll ask dad what he thinks about this."

His father, Benjamin Merlon, is an Auror, dark wizard catcher, or the wizarding police. Therefore, he's a qualified wizard and has dealt with dark magic and curses when in pursuit of dark wizards. He'd probably speculate that it might have something to do with sensing Voldemort in more ways than one since he isn't anywhere near Arthur, which would be a good enough guess.

Of course, the rest of the Merlons would be concerned in various ways. David's mother, Martha, would try to alleviate the pain, Mary, David's younger sister, would say some comforting words and try to make him laugh, along with Jack and Kevin, the twins, who are jokesters.

Arthur always did find the Merlons to be an extended family ever since he met them. And staying with them during the summer really made that bond stronger.

But ultimately, he felt that they couldn't provide any kind of help.

Arthur tried thinking about who he'd tell, an adult wizard whose advice would be honest and helpful and has had experience with the dark arts, other than Ben.

That's when it hit him. His godfather, Sirius Black.

Arthur immediately went to his desk and grabbed a piece of parchment before loading his eagle feather quill with some ink, thinking about what to write to him.

Of course, he didn't immediately think of Sirius because he had just learned he was his godfather during his last school year. The reason for his absence in most of his life was because he was locked up in the wizarding prison, Azkaban, which is guarded by Dementors, sightless soul sucking creatures that searched for Sirius at Hogwarts after he escaped. But he was really innocent, the murders that he was convicted of were really committed by Wormtail, Voldemort's servant, of whom nearly the entire wizarding community thinks is dead.

But Arthur, David and Chrys knew otherwise as they actually came face to face with him a few months ago, the only other people who know the truth are Dumbldore, David's family, as well as Michael McGonagall, who Arthur had become proper friends with in the last school year and is the son of Professor McGonagall.

There was that one moment where Arthur thought that he'd be able to live with his godfather and live in the wizarding world proper when his name gets cleared, but it was snatched away from him, partly because Wormtail escaped before they could take him to the Ministry of Magic, therefore, making Sirius have to flee for his life.

Arthur had helped him escape on the back of a Hippogriff named Buckbeak and Sirius is now currently on the run.

The home he didn't get because of Wormtail haunted him throughout the summer, even more so considering he's at Merlon Manor currently.

Regardless, Sirius did provide help to Arthur, even if he wasn't physically with him. He did, afterall, get Arthur his Firebolt (the fastest broomstick in the world) after his Nimbus Two Thousand was destroyed by the Whomping Willow in the Hogwarts grounds.

Arthur only received two letters since he arrived at Merlon Manor. They weren't delivered by owls (the usual method for wizards) and instead with large, brightly coloured tropical birds. Athena wasn't too thrilled with these flashy intruders, though Arthur liked them, hoping that wherever Sirius was (never saying in case the letters were intercepted) he was enjoying himself, despite having Dementors still after him.

Arthur's lamp started growing dimmer as the cold grey light that normally precedes sunrise started creeping into the room. Eventually, the sun rose and his bedroom walls turned gold and heard movement throughout the manor when he had finished writing the letter he'll send to Sirius. He then reread it to make sure he wrote what he wanted to be written down:

Dear Sirius,

Thanks for your last letter, that bird was large, and was able to get through the window.

Everything is still well here at Merlon Manor and my progress to become an Animagus is going smoothly, I'm just so excited.

Anyway, something weird happened this morning.

My scar had hurt for the first time since my first year at Hogwarts. When that happened, Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But there's no way he's anywhere near Merlon Manor. David's dad thinks that I'm probably sensing Voldemort in a different way.

I'll send this with Athena when she gets back from hunting in the forest surrounding the manor. Do say hello to Buckbeak for me.

Arthur

Arthur felt that this was good enough for the letter. He decided to not bring up the dream as he didn't want to worry his godfather too much.

He folded up the parchment and placed it next to a pile of envelopes on the desk, ready for when Athena comes back.

Arthur then grabbed his wand and placed its tip over his heart and spoke the incantation "Amato Animo Animato Animagus".

He then got to his feet and opened his wardrobe to change into some clothes before he has breakfast with the Merlons, Chrys and Mike.


It may take a while to write the next chapter since it's the most original chapter yet since it's combining the next two chapters of the book and I'm trying to figure out how to write about how Arthur's been at Merlon Manor in the summer.