Harry Potter and the Return of the Dark Ages

Chapter 1

OWLs from Owls

Harry Potter was sitting on a chair in his small room, thinking of the days he had spent at Privet Drive. These holidays had been much better for him than the past ones. The Dursleys were afraid that Harry's strange friends might turn up and that if they did so, their neighbours would know that they were connected, however distantly, to people like Harry.

Harry was a sixteen year old wizard, who had completed his 5 memorable years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was the most famous wizard, perhaps a little less than Lord Voldemort, in the entire wizarding world. It was because of Voldemort that Harry was famous, but his fame had come at a terrible cost. Before Harry was born, a prophecy regarding him and Voldemort had been made. Voldemort, not having heard the prophecy himself, had gone to the Godric's Hollow where Harry and his parents were hiding and killed Harry's parents. But Harry had survived Voldemort's curse with nothing more than a scar, and became famous in the entire magical community overnight. This resulted in his summer stays with his aunt Petunia and her formidable family of three as they were his only living relatives. But after thirteen years of exile, Voldemort had risen again in Harry's fourth year.

As Harry remembered his last encounter with Lord Voldemort, he was filled with pain and a feeling of loss instead of fear and terror. Harry had seen his Godfather, Sirius, go away from him through the veiled archway in the Death Chamber at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, and die. Harry still woke up in the night, crying for his Godfather, whenever he remembered the scene in his dreams.

He had been in pain all through the summer but had to still confess that these holidays were far batter than the last four. The Dursleys (especially his uncle) have changed their attitude, towards Harry. Harry was treated a bit nicely now that his uncle was terrorized by the warning that "Mad-Eye" Moody gave him a month ago at the Platform. Now his books were not locked and he was not treated like a smelly dog (bonus point-he was given nice food-even in front of Dudley).

Dudley was still boasting about his Boxing Championship but always deflated like a punctured balloon in front of Harry. He was still following his diet given by his matron at school two years ago. Now it seemed to have caused a considerable amount of weight loss in him. He was still wider than he was tall, but had lost a few inches by the strict diet he was forced to follow.

But the behaviour of his Aunt was very peculiar. She always seemed to be lost in her thought. Harry even saw her cry a few times. The most frustrating part was that whenever he asked her whether she was connected in any way with this "abnormal world", she seemed to come to her usual "snappy, normal and Pitter-patter" way.

Today was his birthday and the Dursleys had ignored it as usual. He had gotten a few letters over the summer, some from his best friends Ron and Hermione and also from Lupin, his parents' last living friend. He was still waiting for their birthday wishes. He was lost in his dreams, when he heard a tiny grey owl tapping the window. Quickly opening the window, he allowed the owl to enter the room and offered it to drink the water Hedwig's water cup. Hedwig had gone to Hermione with his letter to her. But the owl dropped the letter and a parcel on the table and quickly departed. Harry opened the letter first, so as to know from whom the parcel was. It was from Lupin. He had written-

Dear Harry,

A very Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!

We all are presently at 'you-know-where'. We are missing you a lot and planning to bring you here as soon as possible. Ron and his family also will be coming here soon.

Harry, there is a thing I intended to discuss with you for a long time. I would ask you to call me Moony only. I might not be as close to you as Sirius, but I wish to be.

Yours,

Lupin

P.S. - hoping that you are having a nice time at your aunt's house.

Harry read the letter slowly. He was very happy, now that he would be going back to Grimmauld Place, back to where he spent his last time with Sirius. He then remembered the parcel along with the letter and ripped open the cover on the gift. Out came a huge packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

He was searching for a thing in the room to distract himself when he saw a large owl (he wasn't sure whether it was owl or another large bird), who hurriedly dropped the letter and flew away, as if trying to get as far from the letter as he could.

Harry was stunned to see the red envelope vibrating on the table which he could never mistake to call a HOWLER.

He was so shocked that instead of opening the letter and watch it go off, he sat there stunned and lost by its arrival. He didn't hear the first few lines but quickly came to his senses and caught the last verses which were-

"WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

It sounded like two people singing a funeral song at the same time. There was a shriek downstairs. It seemed that Aunt Petunia had dropped the dish she was holding. Knowing what was going to happen next, Harry gloomily sat there waiting for someone to come.

He was absolutely correct to guess what was going to happen next. Not much later, Uncle Vernon came thundering up into his room in a towering rage.

"What the hell is that racket is going here? We agreed to give you a bit of freedom, but so long as you didn't disturb the peace of this house and let our neighbours know about your 'abnormality'." He spoke those words quietly, but clearly, and went downstairs.

***

He had had breakfast, and was back in his room, reading Quidditch Through the Ages. He was reading but at the same time thinking about Ron and Hermione. They always sent him presents early in the morning, and now it was 3 p.m. in the clock. As he was getting sleepy, he saw Pig and Hedwig soaring towards him. Feeling wide awake suddenly, he opened the first letter and gave the owls some water. He opened his first package from Ron. It had a large parcel and a letter-

Dear Harry,

Many many happy returns of the day. Fred and George sent you the Howler today in the morning hoping that you would find it funny and amusing. When they told me, mom heard and went ballistic. Hermione came here a day before and we are gong to "You - know- where" soon. Hoping to see you there soon,

Ron

P.S- I have attached the gift. Hope you like it.

Harry quickly opened the gift. It was Quidditch Tactics and Moves by Alexy Shorvy. He opened it and found the first chapter as introduction for Quidditch. Next he opened Hedwig's parcel from Hermione. It contained same wishes and information about her being at the Burrow. It also said-

We got our OWL's results a few days ago. I am sure that Ron hasn't mentioned you that...he's so stupid. His results were...good. Anyway,I have attached copies of our results and hope to find yours soon,

Yours truly, Hermione

He opened her gift which turned out to a 6 bottle box of Butterbeer and a book named Hogwarts' Best Quidditch Teams. He then noticed an attachment which was surely their OWL results. He opened the first-

OWLs RESULT FOR Mr. RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY-

SUBJECT THEORY GRADE PRACTICAL GRADE

CHARMS O A

TRANSFIGURATION O E

D.A.D.A. O O

HERBOLOGY O E

POTIONS E A

C.O.M.C. O O

ASTRONOMY O O

DIVINATION - D

HISTORY OF MAGIC E -

Harry opened the second one-

OWLs RESULT FOR Miss. HERMIONE GRANGER-

SUBJECT THEORY GRADE PRACTICAL GRADE

CHARMS O O

TRANSFIGURATION O O

D.A.D.A. O O

HERBOLOGY O O

POTIONS O O

C.O.M.C. O O

ASTRONOMY O E

ANCIENT RUNES O O

ARITHMANCY O O

HISTORY OF MAGIC O -

Harry thought that Hermione would get all 18 of her OWLs but was startled to see an 'E' in her Astronomy Practicals. The mere thought of her made a picture of Hermione fretting over her results.

"Only 17 OWLs!! OH my goodness!!! How could I ever be so careless? I am definitely losing my touch. I'll have to work hard this year for our NEWTs! Good gracious! I'm losing my grip."

Laughing on this particular thought Harry suddenly noticed a barn owl swooping in through the window. He recognized the owl to be from the Hogwarts carrying his OWL results.

Trembling furiously, he opened his letter.

Inside it was written-

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have done quite well in your OWLs recently held in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We hereby enclose a copy of your result, and a list of subjects which you are eligible to take for your NEWTs. Kindly tap the subjects which you want to take, with your wand, and send it back as soon as possible. You must take a minimum of 4 subjects-which you have already discussed with the Head of your House. Along with the four compulsory subjects, you can also take optional subjects for which maximum limit are three subjects. The book-lists will be sent to you after you send the subject list.

Yours faithfully,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft And Wizardry

1st parchment-

OWLs RESULT FOR Mr. HARRY JAMES POTTER-

SUBJECT THEORY GRADE PRACTICAL GRADE

CHARMS O O

TRANSFIGURATION O A

D.A.D.A. O O

HERBOLOGY E O

POTIONS E O

C.O.M.C. O O

ASTRONOMY O A

DIVINATION - P

HISTORY OF MAGIC D -

2nd parchment-

SUBJECTS WHICH YOU CAN OPT FOR YOUR NEWTSs.-

CHARMS

TRANSFIGURATION

D.A.D.A

HERBOLOGY

POTIONS

C.O.M.C.

ASTRONOMY

SEND THIS PARCHMENT WITH THE RETURN OWL.

Feeling very glad that he got good number of OWLs and all necessary subjects for his NEWTs, he stuffed the letter in his pocket and went into a peaceful afternoon sleep.

In the night, he wrote a common letter of thanks to Ron and Hermione. He at the moment remembered to attach a copy of his results and thought what reaction Hermione would give when she would she the 'D' and a 'P' in his results. Laughing to himself, He attached the letter onto Pig's leg and sent him off to Ron feeling truly happy for the first time in weeks.

***

Harry woke up very anxiously the next morning. He didn't knew why, but he was feeling very nervous. As he came from the bathroom to change his clothes, he heard tiny 'pops' outside the door of his room. He quickly took out his wand and pointed it and the door. Death Eaters here, in Privet Drive! He thought, although he was not surprised as the expected and unexpected seemed to have mingled together since his visit to the Department Of Mysteries at the Ministry.

He was about open the door magically himself, when a series of red sparks shot through the key hole and the door opened.

"Stupefy," roared Harry not wanting to give any of the Death Eaters a chance to hit him.

"Hey, Harry, calm down boy. You'll kill us otherwise," a person shouted, quickly ducking the spell.

Standing outside were not the Death Eaters but the Weasley twins, Mr. Weasley and Tonks.

"You should have told me that you were coming to take me. I would have been ready," said Harry grumpily, regretting his hasty reaction.

But still he could not believe it! He was going back to Grimmauld Place! Suddenly grinning from ear to ear, he greeted each of them.

"Harry, how wonderful to see you boy!" said Fred.

"Really marvellous," added George. "Not to mention your superb stunner, mate."

"Now Harry, your uncle and aunt don't know about us being here. I don't think that they will agree with this, but it will be alright. So quickly pack your things before we go downstairs and bid them good-bye," said Tonks seriously, which Harry thought was a bit odd, as she was mostly in a cheery mood.

"We'll pack it," said Fred and George together and waved their wands frantically, causing all the things in the room to float in the air and try to fit into the trunk at the same time.

"Oops! Sorry," apologized Fred as there was a mess in which every thing tried to enter the trunk first.

"You leave boys," said Tonks, and packed the trunk a bit nicer than the last year. "I learnt a bit of neat packing from Molly, you know," said Tonks to Harry.

"Now that we are packed, Lets go downstairs and say good-bye to the muggles here," said George, winking in Harry's direction.

So they went downstairs. As it was Sunday, Uncle Vernon was reading newspaper in a calm mood. He didn't like to be disturbed when he read the newspaper, and thus was not excited to see them. Aunt Petunia gasped as she saw them and dropped the pudding she was holding on the rug downstairs.

"How dare you come here?" he bellowed like an angry bull, spitting over the table.

Aunt Petunia closed all the doors and windows and drew the curtains so that nobody know about their unwelcome guests.

"Well, we came here to take Harry for the rest of the summer holidays," said Tonks, who had changed her hair like the Weasleys (as she was a Metamorphmagus and could change her appearance at will).

"And bloody hell, you won't stop us," threatened George, waving his wand at uncle Vernon's face. At this, he quickly shut his mouth which he had obviously opened to say something rude.

Just then, an identical evil grin spread across the Twins' face. Harry, searching for the reason, quickly saw Dudley, who came in the hall his arms full of chocolates. He gave a squeak like a rat, dropped the chocolates and ran into the kitchen, keeping his mouth tightly shut and holding his bottoms as if they might fall off. He was soon followed by Aunt Petunia.

"Now, Harry, say good-bye to your uncle..." said Fred, still with the evil grin across his face.

But Harry had other matters to press on.

"How are gong, by the way?" Harry asked.

"By a Portkey, with a special permission from the Minister himself," prompted George proudly, before Mr. Weasley, who had opened his mouth to reply.

Uncle Vernon was eyeing each of them suspiciously. But they paid no regard to him and sat at the coffee table waiting for the signal. Mr. Weasley seemed to be very interested in the muggle switches on the opposite wall. Uncle Vernon opened his mouth his mouth to roar again but went quiet at the sight of Fred's wand which was deliberately kept pointing towards him on the table. He quickly and quietly went into the kitchen to join his wife and his pig-like son.

Harry was sitting on a chair, when he fell into an uneasy sleep.

Harry was talking to Tom Riddle.

"Tom we need to go! There's a basilisk down here. We need to save Ginny," he said.

"It won't come until it's called," drawled Tom softly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked shrewdly.

"It was me Harry, who persuaded Ginny to open this chamber," Tom said.

"NO! IT CAN'T BE!" Harry shouted.

"HARRY? HARRY?" Someone slapped his face. He opened his eyes. Fred, George, Tonks and Mr. Weasley were looking at him, all white in their faces.

"I have to talk to Professor Dumbledore. NOW!" Harry shouted, forgetting that he was still at 4, Privet Drive.

"Er- yeah, all right. But first we have to go to the Burrow and then we can contact Dumbledore," said Mr. Weasley.

"Ah! Here comes the signal," said Fred

"So everybody, kindly touch the Portkey," said Tonks taking out an old Wellington boot from the inner pockets of her robe.

They all touched the boot.

"Three...Two...One."

And Harry sensed the familiar jerk around his navel.