True Purpose

TRUE PURPOSE

Chapter 1
Return to Hogwarts

It was the beginning of her sixth year at Hogwarts and Ginny Weasley was sitting on the Hogwarts Express with her brother Ron and his best friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. The incredible and beautiful Harry Potter she thought to herself. She recollected how she had behaved her first three years. Having a crush on the Boy-Who-Lived was not easy, but she had only made it worse by making a fool of herself. There was nothing she could do to take back the years, but she was determined to stop acting like a sputtering fool.

Ever since the death of Sirius there had been a certain distressed and depressed look on Harry. Not even his stay at the Burrow seemed to have a positive effect on him. He had arrived at the Burrow after saying goodbye to the Dursleys. He knew he would never have to set foot on Privet Drive again, but the immense loss of his Godfather made the world seem gloomy indeed. When Ron and Mr. Weasley had come to pick Harry up they had seen the change over the summer. Harry was no longer the friendly smiling Harry of old. He had been replaced by a young man with what seemed darker eyes and a face that showed no emotions whatsoever.

As always Mrs. Weasley had greeted Harry with a hug, but all that met her was a low "hi" and Harry had slowly walked upstairs to Ron's bedroom. He had stayed there until it was time for dinner. With the hopes of Hermione being able to spark some life into Harry the Weasleys had invited her over for the weekend. Little did they know Harry had his own plans. In fact, the Weasley family and Hermione rarely caught a glimpse of Harry for three days as he slept during the day while going for what seemed to be endless walks. Mr. Weasley had objected seeing as You-Know-Who was out there ready to strike, but as he had tried to talk to Harry about it he had received what looked like a dejected and lifeless look from Harry.

Harry had spent the rest of the summer vacation wandering alone in the dark. He knew there was nothing he could have done to stop Voldemort from killing Sirius. If he couldn't get to Harry directly, he would take away the rest of his life. He remembered how he had received the news. They were just walking into the Great Hall for the end of the year supper when a white owl with black wings had flown into the Great Hall landing in front of Dumbledore. The Hall was suddenly quiet as Dumbledore picked up the parchment and silently read it. Harry remembered the immediate pain he had seen in Dumbledore's face, but nothing prepared him for the piercing painful look as Dumbledore lifted his gaze from the parchment and looked straight at Harry. He immediately knew. As Dumbledore made to rise Harry had already leapt out of his seat and was running out from the Great Hall in tears. Nothing had been the same after that evening.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting quietly looking at each other and with worried looks they would occasionally glance over to Harry. He just sat there looking out the window as the Hogwarts Express made its way through the green rolling hills. He was no longer alive. His face said it all. For the first time the trip seemed to take an eternity.

As they were drawing near to their destination the door suddenly slid open and in stepped a young boy wearing a black robe, black leather boots, black gloves, and what looked like a black dragon leather outfit. His face was still not visible until he threw back his hood and revealed two piercing dark brown eyes, short black hair, and a facial expression similar to Harry's. He looked up at the quartet and with a low voice gesturing to the empty spot next to Ron he said, "is this seat taken?"

Ron was about to say no when Hermione slid over leaving room for the new boy to sit down. The arrival of the stranger had caught Harry's attention as all eyes were fixed on the back of the young boy. As he turned around after stowing away his trunk he realized he was the center of attention. With another low voice, what almost seemed like a whisper he said "Goodnight."

The four friends watched the young boy slide into his seat, cover up his face with his hood, and promptly fell asleep. All this had happened within ten seconds. Ron started in on saying "Why that..." when a hand was laid on his shoulder. He looked to his left and saw Harry looking at him. "Let him sleep Ron" said Harry. Ron just nodded but he still thought it was rude not to introduce oneself. The final part of their journey went smoothly as Ginny and Hermione had begun talking in a soft whisper about the new books and all the charms they had found during the summer.

As they arrived at the train station they heard Hagrid's familiar voice calling the first year students. Harry didn't really feel like talking to Hagrid, or anyone else for that matter. He quickly rose from his seat realizing that the boy had not even stirred once. While Ron, Hermione, and Ginny made their way out Harry made a motion to rouse the boy, but before he could do anything the boy had jumped up, grabbed a hold of Harry, and held him up against the sliding door. With a look of unbridled fury the boy was looking straight at Harry. Only one other person had made Harry feel this uncomfortable. Suddenly, as if snapping out of a dream, the boy realized what he was doing and quickly pulled away from Harry. A muffled "sorry" came from the boy as he pulled down his trunk and walked out the door leaving Harry dumbfounded.