The Eighth Dragon

The Eighth Dragon Saga

Prelude ~ Chapter 1: Visions

His mind wandered back, back to the previous summer, just before his birthday. It was in the wake of all the trouble with Voldemort; the fighting between Dumbledore and Fudge. Ron, Hermione and himself had been on the look out for strange goings on.

And he was still haunted by Cedric's death.

He had managed put it out of his mind during the day. It no longer bothered him then. But it was at twilight, when his brain was vulnerable, when he was assailed by nightmares.

Each night, he was forced to relive that same, terrible moment, over and over again. The horror in that was in Cedric's eyes. The cold laughter echoed from the lips of the Death Eaters. And the chilling, simple hatred that could be heard in Voldemort's voice as he uttered those two horrifying words that had ended the life of Hufflepuff's hero.

And those were not the only bad dreams he suffered. So many that he could hardly discern between them all. There were others, of dark corridors, and of shadowy figures, winged and cloaked and cowled. A boy with dark hair who had one angel's wing, another a devil's.

One dream stuck out in his mind though.

It was of the dark haired boy. He sat beneath a huge tree - something told him that it was a cherry blossom tree - and accompanied by an older woman who resembled him greatly - she must be a relative. But Harry could only stand by and watch them converse.

"Kamui... do you have something that you want to protect? Above everything else?" the woman asked the boy, stroking his longish hair.

"Yes... I want to protect Kotori... and Fuma too. They mean so much to me, and they were always my friends when I was small... I love them both so much and..."

The boy called Kamui turned bright red, and spun around to face the woman who was sitting behind him.

"And you Mother! I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you either, I love you too!"

The woman, who must then be his mother, smiled.

"Oh Kamui... you can't protect me. I have my own, separate destiny to follow, and you are very important to the fate of the world. You cannot protect me. You should do what you can to change what you can, and leave the rest to fate."

"But I don't want to lose you..."

"You'll never lose me..."

Then the woman began to fade away. The boy jumped away in shock, and then tried to reach out her.

"Mother, no! Come back!" he cried.

But she disappeared into nothingness. And the boy was left alone and bewildered.

That dream seemed to disturb Harry as much his dreams of Cedric, and came to him as often. Maybe it was because he sympathised with the boy; both of them had appeared to have lost their parents at a young age. He felt sorry for him, because it seemed like he was all alone in the world. But why would an apparition like this appear to him? He had never met this young man; he was certainly no Hogwarts student. Yet he did feel a kinship with him, a connection; like they had something in common...

However, these disturbing dreams did not interfere with his vigilance to current events.

He had been trying to watch the news most evenings, to search for strange goings on, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had kept harassing him about how abnormal he was being. So he'd either hide underneath the window, or stand with his ear to the door. Most of the time, it was the usual waffle about politics and stock markets crashing. But one night, he heard something; he knew it was catastrophic event. But he didn't realise how personally it would effect him in later life...

"We have breaking news in from the Far East. Today, in an eastern section of Tokyo City, the Nakano Sun Plaza and a surrounding area of approximately a kilometre radius mysteriously and disastrously collapsed. At this moment in time, the death and injured tolls have not been completely tallied, but we can release information on two of the deceased..."

Harry recoiled away from the door. That sounded so awful... How could of it have happened?

"Probably one of them earthquakes... They're terrible for getting things like that in foreign countries..." he could hear Uncle Vernon growl.

Aunt Petunia sniffed loudly in agreement.

"Sumeragi Subaru was the 13^th leader of his spiritualist clan, based in Kyoto. A renowned onmyouji, or spiritualist and exorcist. However, as a teenager, he suffered a great personal loss when his twin sister, Sumeragi Hokuto was brutally murdered under extremely unusual circumstances. At the moment, his family has refused to make any statements..."

'Poor guy,' thought Harry. 'I thought I had it tough. But twins always have such a close bond... I wonder what would happen to Fred and George if one of them died?'

"Ironically, the second body belonged to Sakurazuka-mori Seishirou, who was a fellow spiritualist, former friend to Sumeragi, and allegedly the killer of Sumeragi Hokuto though he was never convicted. These two men were the most powerful among Japan's exorcists. What they, both apparently wielding immense power, were doing is unknown.

"But the Tokyo police force is ruling out any suspicion of foul play or that Sumeragi was looking to avenge his twin. At this time, the cause of this implosion is still unknown. There is an inquiry currently going-on, and some Diet officials have declared this to be even worse to the subway terrorist attack a few years ago..."

"As per ruddy usual! Police force never know their up from their ruddy down!" Uncle Vernon snarled at the television set.

"You don't think they were... like Harry, do you?" his diminutive wife whispered.

Harry, for once in a lifetime, did not hear Uncle Vernon's opinion.

"Oi, what d'you think you're playing at Potter?" a voice growled.

Harry jumped back from the door to face the voice; it was Dudley, his whale-like cousin, flanked by a few other members of his gang. They had obviously got tired of terrorising kids down at the local park, and were hoping to get some free food.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly.

Piers snorted: "Yeah right. Go on Big D; show 'im whose boss. Beat 'im up!"

"What have I told you? Not at my house, dammit!" Dudley snarled under his breath, brandishing a meaty fist.

Then Uncle Vernon burst into the hallway: he had clued on to the fact that Harry had been eavesdropping outside the living room.

"What trouble have you been causing now Boy?"

To Uncle Vernon, Harry was never Harry, nor Potter, nor even Darling Nephew: he was 'Boy'. It was all he was to the Dursleys.

"Nothing Uncle Vernon."

"He was listening outside the door, Dad," Dudley said slyly.

Uncle Vernon's face turned bright red, it seemed like he was on the verge of an angina attack.

"AGAIN? YOU WERE LISTENING INTO THE RUDDY NEWS AGAIN, WEREN'T YOU BOY? WHAT INTEREST COULD THE NEWS POSSIBLY HOLD FOR A RAPSCALLION LIKE YOU?"

Harry was surprised; 'rapscallion' was probably the longest word Uncle Vernon knew.

"I just wanted to know what was going on in the world today..." he replied innocently.

"Well then, I've got a news flash for you, you pest. For one thing, you've just managed to upset us; AGAIN. And you've just earned yourself even more chores to do," Aunt Petunia announced, handing him a slip of paper.

~

Harry scoured the shelves: Aunt Petunia would not be pleased. She specifically requested Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup. All they had left was the store's own brand. She hated own brands - she found them tacky, and no-where near as expensive.

She had sent him out to the local supermarket on shopping trip. Ostensibly, to make things easier around the household. But really, it was just to get him out of the house and doing something 'useful', so she would be able to see less of him.

He was getting tired of his aunt and uncle's house. He had been stuck there since the summer's beginning. It was compounded by the fact that he had hardly got any news from Ron and Hermione. Their notes were always written in a rush, and without any great detail. Only that they 'had to keep their eyes open, and their ears to the ground' and they 'hoped to see him soon'. It was like they didn't care anymore. Like they didn't want to talk to him.

He laughed at himself as he heard himself think. Next, he'd be convinced that there was a conspiracy against him.

"Are you going to actually buy anything, or just sit and stare at the shelf all day long?" a gentle voice inquired jokingly.

Harry spun round; it was Lupin! He was more dishevelled and gray than ever, his clothes even more threadbare, but he was smiling and in one piece. And that was the main thing. He jumped forward to give his old professor a rough hug.

"Professor! How are you?" he demanded as they disengaged.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Things have been... uneventful. How are things in Little Whinging?" Lupin replied.

"Same old, same old," Harry told him flatly.

"That exciting, eh?" Lupin laughed. Then, his mood became more edgy. "Look, we haven't got much time. When you get home, you need to tell your aunt and uncle that Mrs Figg has asked you to do some jobs around the house for her. Pack up some basic things into a small bag, and take them with you. You'll rendez-vous with some people there. Others will go back to pick up the rest of your things..."

"Professor? What are you talking about?" Harry demanded incredulously.

"Don't ask any questions, Harry. Please, just do what I say," Lupin said in an urgent voice.

Harry nodded dumbly as Lupin bade him farewell and walked off.

~

I wanna run away
Never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth
Instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers
No more lies
I wanna shut the door
And open up my mind

Run Away - Linkin Park