Disclaimer: I'm not very happy with the mechanics of how this was written. Tried something new and it didn't work.
Death of a Hero
"May I have a moment of your time Harry?" Dumbledore stopped Harry on the way to the train, "I promise that it won't take but a moment."
"Of course sir," Harry agreed.
"Harry . . . this isn't easy to say," Dumbledore began. "But I'm going to have to ask you not to leave your relatives house without an Order escort this summer . . . I'd also like you to consider leaving your wand with me."
"But . . . but why sir?" Harry demanded.
"Harry's, I have recently come into some information that shakes my faith in our government." Dumbledore said sadly, "I'm afraid that there is a plot to discredit you and have your wand snapped. They plan to either provoke you into using magic. Or failing that, to manufacture evidence."
"You want me to leave my wand here so I can prove that I couldn't have used magic?"
"That is correct," Dumbledore agreed sadly.
"Alright sir." Harry handed his wand over. "I trust you."
IIIIIIIIII
"Do you know how to win a chess game Draco?" Voldemort asked his newest recruit.
"To kill the king my lord?"
"Close," Voldemort continued in a low voice. "You win by cutting the king off, by preventing him from making a move."
"Yes my Lord," Draco agreed dutifully.
"So how do you propose we beat your Headmaster?" Voldemort prompted.
"Trap him my Lord?" Draco asked. "Pin him down so that he can't stop us?"
"Very good Draco," Voldemort said. "We're going to tie up his forces, and those of the Ministry. After they've committed themselves, then . . . then we take their pawn."
IIIIIIIIII
"This is Susan Bones," Susan screamed into the fire place. "My Aunt is holding off several Death Eaters and the wards are about to fall."
"Help is on the way," the head in the fireplace said calmly. "I'm sending every available Auror, you just have to hang on for a few minutes."
"Hurry," Susan sobbed. "Please hurry."
IIIIIIIIII
"Headmaster," Molly called through the floo. "Our wards are falling, we need help."
"Don't worry Molly," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I'm calling the Order, I promise that your family won't be harmed."
"Thank you Headmaster," Molly said in relief. "I knew I could count on you."
IIIIIIIIII
Harry sighed, he was in the middle of the most boring summer to date. Thanks to Dumbledore's warning and a few select words to the Dursley family. He wasn't even allowed to do yard work thanks to a few select words to the Dursley family from his keepers. His first sign that something had gone wrong was two loud pops from the front yard signaling the departure of his two guards.
IIIIIIIIII
"That the place?" One of the death eaters indicated number 4 with a wave. The other death eaters were spared from having to answer by the appearance of a large white owl. "Never mind, kill the bird before it has a chance to get help." The death eaters absent mindedly flung several spells at Harry's pet before continuing towards the front door.
"What's all this then?" Vernon called as the masked men burst through the door.
"Avada Kedavra," the lead death eater incanted. "You two go after the aunt and the cousin, I'll get Potter."
"Right," the others agreed. The lead death eater slowly made his way up the stairs towards the room that their informant had said they'd find Potter.
"Throw out your wand Potter," the death eater called out.
"Come and get it," Harry replied through the door.
"Reducto," the death eater blew off the door. "The Dark Lord requests a meeting," the death eater said as he walked through the door. "You wouldn't want to oof." Harry raised his hand and hit the prone death eater in the head several more times with his makeshift club. Bending down, Harry grabbed the death eater's wand and gave it a wave.
"Guess that was too much to hope for," Harry said in disappointment when the wand failed to react. Dropping the useless wand, Harry crept down the stairs towards the sounds of his screaming relatives.
IIIIIIIIII
"Crucio," the death eater laughed. "Scream for me fatty, Crucio."
"Hit 'em again," his partner said.
"Crucio." the other death eater complied. "What's taking him?"
"Maybe he wanted to have a bit of fun with Potter before we take him to our lord?" His partner laughed.
"He'd better not have too much fun, wouln't want to deprive the Lord of his prize."
"Yeah, I . . ." the death eater felt a sharp pain in his kidney and screamed. "It's a trap."
"Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra." The Surviving death eater flung the curse in every direction. "Damn it." The man pulled out a small medalion. "We need reinforcements, Potter still has a few keepers."
IIIIIIIIII
A beaten, bloody, and above all triumphant Order returned to their Headquarters to meet and discuss the raid that they'd just foiled.
"I still say it doesn't make sense," Moody growled. "A attempt on Bones and the Weasleys on the same night."
"What doesn't make sense about it Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked. "It kept the Ministry from supporting the Order and the Order from helping the Ministry, might have worked if they'd had more men."
"That's the point," Moody snapped. "They do have more of the bastards, so what do you suspect they were doing."
"I'm sure . . . no," Dumbledore gasped as Harry's owl flew in and collapsed onto the table with a pitiful hoot. "It's Harry," Dumbledore screamed. "Their target is Harry." The Order reassembled and arrived on Privet Drive just in time to see the house collapse in a fiery inferno.
IIIIIIIIII
Arnold Lovegood felt another tear slide down his face as he tried again to force his hands to write the news of Harry Potter's last stand. "What can I write?" He asked himself, "and how am I going to tell Luna."
"Tell me what daddy?" Luna's voice asked. Arnold felt a chill go up his back.
"Luna . . . honey . . . I have some very bad news."
AN: Got this idea by reading about trench raids during the first world war. Started thinking about Harry using the same tactics against death eaters and it might have ended up in old soldiers if I hadn't had the idea of Dumbledore taking his wand before the summer. So what happens next? The wizarding world turns Harry into a symbol, they scream 'Remember Harry Potter' as their battle cry maybe? Thought I'd also make Volde a bit more intelligent then most seem to, less sadistic too. Like I said before, I'm not too happy with the way this turned out. I wanted to try a slightly different way of writing and I think it fell flat. As always, if anyone wants this then they are welcome to it.
Omake: For those that wanted Harry to survive.
"Who's . . . who's there?" Harry demanded.
"Winky is here Harry Potter sir."
"You saved me?"
"Yes Harry Potter sir," the little elf agreed. "Winky . . . Winky wishes a boon Harry Potter sir . . . for saving you."
"What is it?"
"Winky wishes to become Harry Potter sir's elf," Winky replied firmly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Harry Potter sir," Winky agreed. "Winky wishes to get no pay and no vacation."
"Alright," Harry agreed. "But you must keep wearing clothes."
"Clothes?" The elf recoiled in horror.
"Your appearance reflects on me," Harry replied. "If not clothes, then you must wear something that looks good."
"Winky can wear a silk pillow case?" The elf suggested.
"Fine," Harry agreed. "And I'm also going to set up an account for all of my elves to buy things for themselves?"
"Pay?" Winky looked ready to vomit.
"Maintenance," Harry said quickly. "Food, pillow cases, that sort of thing."
"Winky can do that Harry Potter sir," the elf agreed slowly. "And food?"
"Any food," Harry confirmed.
Omake: Revenge
Harry was sitting in his room lamenting the fact that he was related to the human trash known to the outside world as the Dursley family when he decided that he couldn't take it anymore, he had to get out if only for a little while. Harry got up and walked down the stairs towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" His aunt growled.
"Out," Harry replied.
"Be back before dark or spend the night on a park bench," she said with a sniff.
"Fine," he agreed.
A few scenes go here, not sure what.
"Harry," Hermione sobbed.
"Hermione?" Harry approached his friend. "What's wrong."
"They're dead," Hermione waled. "All dead."
"Your parents?" Harry pulled his friend into a hug.
"No." Hermione buried her face into his chest. "Ron . . . Ginny, the Weasleys all dead."
Harry's insides felt like they were made of ice. "Tell me what happened."
IIIIIIIIII
"You can't kill me," Lucius laughed. "Cast any one of the unforgivable spells and you spend the rest of your life in Azkaban."
"You're right," Harry agreed. "We couldn't possibly risk that could we Hermione?"
"No Harry," the girl said flatly. "We couldn't risk leaving any trace of what we're about to do."
"That's right," Harry said with a smile. "That's why we're going to do things the muggle way." Lucius watched as the girl placed a large metal box on the table. "Now I realise that as a pureblood, you won't know what some of these things are. That's why I've asked Hermione to explain."
"This is a pair of needle nosed pliers," the girl said in the same dead tone. "It's usually used to work with wire, that's not what we're going to do with it but that is the normal usage. This is a blow torch, the common use is to join metal pipe fittings. To do this a flame comes out and it is used to melt . . ."
"I think he gets the idea," Harry interrupted. "Skip to the next one."
"Alright Harry," Hermione said with the first bit of emotion that Lucius had heard from the girl. "This is a hammer, it is used to bound nails and extract nails that have already been pounded. And finally, this is a cordless drill. It's normal use does not matter because it will not work here due to the wards around your house. We are going to use these tools to hurt you severely until you tell us every thing we wish to know. Do you understand?"
"You won't get away with this," Lucius screamed. "Do you hear me?"
"I asked if you understood," Hermione said mechanically.
"I think he does," Harry said with a smile. "Hand me that hammer, I feel like playing this little piggy."
"You don't usually use a hammer to play this little piggy Harry," Hermione said as she handed the tool to her friend.
"You do to play the version I'm thinking of," Harry replied.
"Ok Harry."
Omake: A Rather Depressing scene . . .
Idea popped into my head that I don't think I'll write. Harry arrives at Hogwarts and he is a very quiet child, he doesn't have friends, he doesn't take part in any activity that isn't mandatory, he just kinda drifts through. One of the Professors contacts an old friend to investigate.
"Pomona," Moody said slowly. "I think you need to sit down."
"What is it mad eye?"
"Just have a seat," the scarred man commanded. "I'm afraid your hunch about young Potter was true. Two years ago, Potter . . . Harry befriended a shy girl in his neighborhood. The two of them were almost inseparable, each the other's only friend."
"So what happened?" Sprout asked with growing dread.
"The girl came from a large family," Moody continued. "She was the only daughter and also the youngest child . . . because of this suffered quite a bit of abuse. One night . . . one night they got a bit too rough and she was badly injured. Rather then take her to the hospital, her father buried her in the basement."
"No . . ." Pomona whispered.
"Harry . . . Harry came to their front door looking for her for three days before he stopped believing it when they told him that his friend was sick, or had moved to a relatives house. It's not clear what excuses they used." Moody said mechanically. "On the fourth night he made his way into the house and was somehow able to find . . . to find what remained of his only friend in the world."
"Alastor don't tell me . . ."
"Harry was the only thing to leave that house alive," the old auror said quietly. "Fire engines arrived an hour later to find the house in flames. Inspector said that large amounts of accelerant had been poured around the beds and he also noted that several of the exits had been blocked. The body of the young girl had been removed from the house prior to the inferno and carefully wrapped in a worn blanket."
"That poor boy," Sprout gasped.
"There's just a bit more Pomona," Alastor said gently. "When the emergency services arrived, they found Harry sitting on the lawn cradling the girl's body. He told the first fireman not to bother entering the house as he'd stopped hearing screams several minutes before and suspected that everyone inside was dead. Due to his age and the circumstances surrounding the crime, Harry was given a psychological evaluation. They noted that the circumstances surrounding the crime were unlikely to occur again and ruled that Harry was no threat to society."
So what's the fall out? I suspect that the Dursley family is going to be much more cautious around young Harry Potter, that's assuming that the way he was treated didn't come up in an investigation. God knows how else things would change. Looking over this again, this could be part of a fairly interesting Hufflepuff Harry fic. A child so loyal that he wiped out an entire family for murdering his only friend. Could be fairly readable. If anyone wants all or part of this, they are welcome to it.