Renee, a half-blood, is entering her seventh and last year at Hogwarts. There has been much unrest as the dark lord rises to power. Renee must make choices, between love and life.
This is a fictional story based off of Harry Potter. I acknowledge th...
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August 23rd, 1977- Shrewsbury, England
It was a warm summer evening and I was spending it like I had been the last 2 months, lying on our roof. I had access because my bedroom was in the attic, and to escape the stuffiness I climbed out on the roof. We had lived in this house my whole life. In a week I would start my seventh year at Hogwarts. I watched the sun set, the sky turning magenta and peach. "Renee, time to come in," I heard mother say, her voice drifting up the stairs. "A few more minutes!" I called back. She didn't know I was waiting. I had been waiting for days for a certain black owl carrying a letter to come to me. Why did it take so long for him to write? There had been lots of unrest lately, so when my mother called again I decided to give up for the night and crawl back inside.
Around midnight I awoke to a crash against my window. I winced knowing exactly what that was. I waited a few moments before getting out of bed to investigate. An owl was sitting in the windowsill, ruffled from the flight and the crash landing. A letter was clutched in its beak. I pulled the window up as silently as I could and the cool night air touched my skin gently. I reached out my hand for the letter and the owl obligingly gave it. Then I reached over for one of the dried worms I kept for just such occasions to feed him as payment. The owl flapped his wings and took off into the night. I on the other have grabbed a flashlight and dove under the sheet to read my letter.
August 17th, 1977
Dear Renee,
I hope you are doing well. There has been a chill to the air recently, not due to the seasons changing. I can't write much about my doings, except that I believe I am fighting for something good.
I am excited to see you when school starts up.
Yours truly, S. Black
That was it? He had not answered any of my questions. Sometimes he could be so aggravating. I folded up the letter and tucked it in a special box where I kept all his other letters.
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Diagon Alley was always a treat to visit. This year I needed:
- The Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk - Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage - Confronting the Faceless - A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration by Emeric Switch - Advanced Rune Translation by Yuri Blishen - Flesh-Eating Trees of the World
Our family was stretched thin on funds this year, and I had taken a summer job working at a cafe in town. I was also old enough to get my own supplies and was able to break away from the group to go to Gringotts to exchange muggle money for wizarding money. After Gringotts and obtaining my supplies, I headed over to the Leaky Cauldron to get a pint of butter beer. As I was sitting at the bar a girl with long red hair came in. She made her way over to me and sat down. "Long time, no see," she said. "Right back at you," I replied. We both looked at each other with straight faces, but best friends know each other too well, and when our eyes met we laughed heartily and embraced. I was so happy to see my friend! The server slid over the butter beers and we relocated to one of the quiet tables running along the back wall. "So how've you been?" I asked. Lily stared into the distance for a while before replying. "Apprehensive." She paused as she considered what to say next. "There's been unrest Renee. Like something evil is lurking around the corner." There had been talk of a powerful wizard terrorizing towns in the south, but my parents did not read the newspaper or watch the news, so I had been in the dark about some of this. "What do you think is going on?" I asked. "Do you remember Haley Brill?" I nodded. "She and her family went missing about three weeks ago. But they just found them, dead." I was horrified. "The neighbors said they heard a crash that night and several hooded people. The family was found locked in a closet. But there's more." She looked around nervously before pulling out a bundle of paper from her bag. She opened it up and pointed towards the bottom of the page. It read:
"And in the pocket of Philip Brills jacket was a piece of paper. It says, 'Get away, before they come for you too. Becoming slaves to the darkness isn't a life. And the price for freedom is selfless.' There have been many reports..."
Lily quickly folded up the paper and tucked it back into her bag, again checking to make sure no one has seen. "Is there a choice?" I whispered, leaning in. "James and I think there is. You heard about You-Know-Who declaring himself the Dark Lord and now he's gathered forces around him, evil minions who carry out his wicked deeds. But we think there's hope. If enough people choose to stand up and fight, there's a chance to end this, so that the next generation isn't born into darkness." I thought about what Lily said. If the choice came to fight for freedom I would, or die trying.
