Harry Potter and the Return to the Riddle House

Harry is back at Hogwarts for his sixth year, and is carrying a lot more baggage than his trunk. He's dealing with the loss of Sirius, the shock of hearing of the prophecy, and the ever-escalating war against the Death Eaters. But there's more-- there's a girl. A girl with a secret that blows Harry's mind, and creates almost as many questions as it answers.

We learn a little about Rachel, but not enough to satisfy the trio. There is an incident with form*cough* er... Minister Fudge. And where did that accursed house-elf get to?

With Fudge gone, the battle against the Death Eaters can't go very far without a new Minister, now, can it?

Finally-- back at the castle!

In these chapters--

“I understand-- I do,” Harry repeated, and said with an amused grin, “I mean, can you imagine what your father would do to me if...” Horror-struck, Harry trailed off. Rachel was looking at him intently.

Harry, who had been headed towards the door, turned around impatiently and stopped. Rachel was walking slowly to a large basin, full of a silvery, wispy substance, set mostly out of sight on a waist-high cabinet shelf.

Christmas is in the air, bringing holiday memories-- very depressing ones, for Harry. Ron and Hermione are hitting some (rather obvious) snags. Rachel is getting comfortable around Harry, but in such a crowded house as the Burrow, this may not be a good thing...

Chapter sixteen is just Christmas morning at the Weasleys'-- a rather light and happy chapter; not a big part of the plot, but nice. But there is sobering news awaiting the Gryffindors back at Hogwarts.

The Quidditch final-- Gryffindor versus Slytherin! Excitement! Panic! Unfair play! Cantaluope! Followed by a not-so-relaxing break and a very stupid romantic move on Harry's part.

The exams begin, and Harry and the others deal with the stresses of being a Hogwarts student. Then, quite suddenly, they are forced to deal with an entirely different and much, much more serious problem. Messing up with Voldemort is a lot more serious than forgetting the answer to question twenty-four on your Charms exam.

Rated R for language and an implied rape reference.

The time has come for the desicive moment in each book-- the battle with Voldeort.

Rachel is unconscious (at least, Harry hopes she's only unconscious) but Snape has managed to get them all back to Hogwarts. The hospital wing has worked wonders before...