harry potter the dark rising

Chapter 1

Harry looked around. His friends, his family; they were all being killed by the man he hated the most in the world. Walls were broken, paintings littered the floor and statues with missing body parts were strewn everywhere. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one Death Eater fall - probably killed - by a curse sent out by George Weasley. The Death Eater's friend ran from the enraged redhead, grieving for his lost twin who had been killed only moments earlier.

Harry tried to run after the escaping killer, but Hermione stopped him.

"It's too late," she insisted.

They both made their way quickly to the fields of Hogwarts. To help. The Death Eaters clearly outnumbered the Hogwarts fighters, yet they were winning. Of course, their probable victory was not without its casualties. The field was littered with the bodies of dead and injured students and adults.

The sky was scarlet: blood had been spilled on the grounds of the school. Harry scanned the grounds and caught sight of Voldemort duelling Professor Slughorn and Kingsley. As Harry ran over to help, the two men were blasted into the air. They landed in a heap several feet from their opponent.

Voldemort's eyes travelled to Harry and he seemed to lose control. In a rage, he sent a Killing Curse so close to him, that Harry felt it graze his ear. He moved quickly towards his enemy, reading murder in Voldemort's red eyes. Another curse was sent towards him, but Harry was fast and he rolled out of the way.

They began to duel.

"I'm going to return you to your stupid father and mudblood mother!" Voldemort screamed harshly.

Harry sliced through the air with his wand, effectively cutting Voldemort's leg. The surprise caused the man to fall. Voldemort looked around, analysing his situation: his Death Eaters were injured, some dead. Half of them were gone. The fighters of Hogwarts were winning.

He used his Dark Mark to signal the Death Eaters. They were retreating. Voldemort stood and followed his followers.

Harry made to go after him, but once again, Hermione pulled him back.

"It's over for now," she said solemnly.

Hermione dragged him up the hill towards Ron and together, they made their way back inside the castle. The Great Hall was filled with the injured being tended to by friends and the ones who had died defending Hogwarts.

Somewhere to the right was the body of Fred Weasley, his family around him. And next to his body, were the corpses of Remus Lupin and Tonks. They looked peaceful in death.

Harry felt a tear bead in his eye.

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The next morning, Harry woke early to help repair the broken castle. He hung portraits back on the walls - the inhabitants thanked him for doing so - and he fixed shattered doors and broken walls.

He saw that morning just how many people had died; the house tables were alarmingly empty. Not to mention, the parents and other adults who had joined the fight were seated here now. The silence was unbearable.

Professor McGonagall stood.

"Let us take a minute to remember those who fell yesterday," she said. "Raise your glasses to our friends and families."

"To the fallen," the room chorused.

The train ride back to Kings Cross Station was as uneventful as a train ride could be. Harry was going back to the Dursley's a final time, for a week, before he would be migrating to Grimmauld Place.

When he arrived at the station, he saw Mr and Mrs Weasley with Kingsley, waiting to talk to his aunt and uncle.

As Harry moved towards them, he heard Uncle Vernon say, "He is NOT sending messages to freaks like you!"

None of the group seemed offended by this.

"If we don't get a message from Harry at least two times this week, we're coming to collect him personally," Kingsley said.

The day after, Harry was called downstairs to help cook breakfast. He couldn't help but notice how normal this was compared to his battle two days ago.

He heard a noise outside and glanced out the window. There were four Death Eaters! Here! Approaching the house! Adrenaline shot through Harry's body like a bullet as he realised that Voldemort must have broken the protection somehow.

Harry threw the frying pan he had just been holding onto the counter to which Aunt Petunia shrieked in anger.

"Get upstairs!" he shouted to her. "You, Vernon and Dudley, get upstairs!"

Aunt Petunia looked at her husband in confusion. Faster than he ever had before, he grabbed a sticky note and scribbled a note on it. He thrust this into Aunt Petunia's hands.

"Give this to Hedwig," he urged. "Tell her to send it to the Order!"

Aunt Petunia read the note and her face went white. She hurried her son and husband up the stairs just as the four Death Eaters burst through the door. Harry grabbed his wand from his back pocket as the door was blasted off its hinges.

"Reducto!" Harry yelled.

The Death Eaters dodged and then it was four against one. By the time the Order arrived, the Death Eaters had dispersed and Harry was fighting for breath, a long cut on his cheek. The Dursleys were cowering at the top of the stairs.

After assuring him that the Dursleys would be fine, they took him to Grimmauld Place where Mrs. Weasley tended to his cuts and bruises. He slipped into unconsciousness.

Later in the night, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were sitting around his bed. It was Ginny who was speaking.

"I knew he should have come here first," she ranted, crying as Ginny so rarely did.

Hermione thought it was best to leave her, so she and Ron left. Ginny leaned closer to Harry's form.

"Wake up for me soon," she whispered. "I love you."

She kissed him goodnight, and went to bed.

When she and everyone else awoke the next morning, they found Harry awake and cooking breakfast. Harry opened his mouth to wish them all a good morning, but before he could say anything, the girls had thrown their arms around him. When he was released, the men shook his hand and patted him on the back.

They all sat down to eat. Whilst Harry was playing with his bits of bacon, he remembered how much he hated this house.

Once they had finished and Harry began clearing the table with Mrs. Weasley, Hedwig flew in through an open window and dropped a letter by Harry's feet. It was addressed to him and had the Gringotts insignia on it.

It read: "Dear Mr. Harry James Potter, I have been given the saddening task of asking you to please make yourself present at Gringotts so that we may read the will of Sirius Black to you. The meeting will be held at twelve noon today. Yours sincerely, Griphook."

Harry re-read the letter just to make sure and held back tears whislt he asked the Weasley's and Hermione to accompany him. They, of course, agreed.

Harry tried to ignore the imagies of an enraged Voldemort punishing his Death Eaters for letting Harry escape.

At the bank, a letter was being read to Harry.

"Dear Harry, if you're reading this it means that I have failed you. Just remember that I will always be in your heart now. There is a secret vault that your parents told me to give to you when you were of age. It holds the Potter family treasures. There is a chest in there. Open it. Love Sirius."