The Forest of Mysteries

Chapter 1- The Letter and The Fire

Harry Potter woke up with a jolt as Dudley Dursley ran downstairs with the noise (and weight) of a charging rhinoceros. He took his glasses from the side table, and his room came into view. Harry saw that Hedwig was still asleep, even through Dudley's rampage. He crept quietly out of the room in an attempt to not wake the owl. Ordinary boys wouldn't have a snowy owl for a pet, but Harry wasn't ordinary. He was a young, famous wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was famous because he had lived through a fatal attack from the evil wizard, Voldemort.

"I wonder what kind of awful diet food we're having this morning?" Harry muttered to himself. His Aunt Petunia insisted the whole family go through with Dudley's diet to make him feel better. As Harry walked into the breakfast room, he saw they were having bananas.

"Here you are, Diddykins! I made sure you got the freshest one of the bunch," said Aunt Petunia. Then, she handed Harry a brown banana.

"Praise the Lord for Ron and Hermione!" Harry thought to himself. His best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had been sending him weekly food packages at night. He currently had two batches of Mrs. Weasley's ginger cookies, a pack of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, two bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Ron, and a small cake baked by Mrs. Granger. He hid all of this under a loose floorboard under his bed.

Harry ate his banana quietly then ran back upstairs. He opened a bag of Bertie Bott's and retrieved his Transfiguration book from his trunk. He used to have all of his school supplies, his wand, and his cauldron locked up in his old bedroom under the stair. Now, though, he could keep his stuff in his room since the Dursleys heard about Sirius. Sirius Black was Harry's godfather, who had been in Azkaban for years until he broke out to try and kill Voldemort's servant, Wormtail. Sirius's name would have been cleared if Wormtail hadn't escaped into the Forbidden Forest. That wasn't the last Harry saw of Wormtail, though. Two years ago, Wormtail had used Harry's blood to revive the Dark Lord. After Voldemort had returned, he eventually tricked Harry into believing that Sirius was in the Department of Mysteries being tortured. Harry then rushed off to help him along with all of his friends. However, it all turned out to be a ploy to get Harry. Sirius and many other members of the Order of the Phoenix showed up and dueled the Death Eaters. However, Sirius ended up being knocked through a strange veil in the middle of the Chamber of Death and was apparently dead. Harry blamed himself, even though everyone said it wasn't his fault. Harry shuddered to think about that, and returned to his homework. He was halfway through his essay on how to turn a ruler into a cobra when...

"Potter, get down here this instant!" Uncle Vernon fumed. Harry quickly returned the Bertie Bott's to their hiding place under the bed and his homework to his trunk. Then, he walked swiftly downstairs.

"What have I done now?" Harry thought dully.

"Here, Potter," Uncle Vernon said as he shoved a letter in Harry's hand. Harry ran upstairs to read it, as the Dursleys already had. He recognized Ron's untidy scrawl. It read:

Dear Harry,

My parents have been worried sick over you since what happened with you-know-who a few months ago. They want you to come up here and stay the rest of the summer. Dumbledore's already given his approval. See you tomorrow, Harry!

Ron

"I thought that they were in Romania visiting Charlie again...," Harry thought. However, he soon dismissed the idea. Harry was delighted to be leaving the Dursleys again this summer. Since they had already undoubtedly read his letter, he didn't even go down and ask Uncle Vernon if he could go. He gathered his things and got ready to leave for the Burrow.

That night it was hard for Harry to sleep, and when he finally got to sleep, he had horrible nightmares. First he dreamed about Cedric Diggory's murder in his fourth year, and then Sirius being sent through the veil by Bellatrix Lestrange's curse. He woke up at around 4:00 in a cold sweat. His scar was also throbbing irritably. Harry finally got back to sleep and slept for four more hours until he was woken up by Aunt Petunia's annoyed yells.

"Potter! Those... those people are here for you!" she yelled. Harry got up, dressed, and grabbed his trunk and Hedwig. He then raced downstairs to be greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They had apparently gotten to 4 Privet Drive using Floo Powder again, for the living room was covered in soot and brick.

"Harry, how wonderful to see you! Grab your things, and we'll be on our way," Mrs. Weasley said. Harry picked his trunk back up, and Mr. Weasley took Hedwig.

"Here you are, Harry," Mr. Weasley said as he handed him a handful of Floo Powder. Harry threw it on the electric fireplace and said, "The Burrow!" Harry found his head spinning as it always did when he traveled by Floo Powder. Harry fell face first out of the Weasleys' fireplace. He was expecting to see Ron and Hermione or one of the other Weasleys, but they weren't home.

In a few seconds, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped out of the fireplace. Mr. Weasley handed Harry Hedwig, then turned to Harry.

"Well, Harry, we meet again," he said in a soft voice that didn't fit him well. Then, Mr. Weasley melted away, and Lord Voldemort was left standing in his place. Mrs. Weasley then turned into Bellatrix Lestrange.

"You!" Harry yelled. He was looking frantically for a way out, but he couldn't possibly reach the door before Voldemort of Bellatrix.

"You've got nowhere to hide and no Dumbledore to save you this time!" Bellatrix hissed. She and Voldemort then drew their wands, just as Harry did the same.

"That's where you're wrong Bellatrix," said a very familiar voice. Harry turned around and saw that Dumbledore had just apparated behind him. Dumbledore then stepped in front of Harry and drew his wand. "You will both leave him alone, and you will both leave the Weasleys' house...NOW!"

Voldemort and Bellatrix cowered as Dumbledore thundered the last word of his sentence. Then, they both disapparated.

"Thank you so much, Headmaster!" Harry said. "But, where are the Weasleys?"

"They are in Romania visiting their son, I believe," replied Dumbledore, calmly as ever.

"So, how did you know to come here?"

"Remus, while on his watch, told me that you left with the Weasleys to come here. I knew that they were gone to Romania, so I immediately apparated here. I think Voldemort's losing his touch..." Dumbledore said the last part almost to himself. "Harry, I want you to come with me to my office. I need to talk to you where I know we cannot be heard." Dumbledore got a little bag out of his robe pocket and threw some Floo Powder back onto the fire. He said, "Headmaster's Office", then stepped in. Harry soon found himself hurtling back through countless fireplaces till he found himself on the floor of Dumbledore's office. He must have hit the floor rather hard, because what he saw had to be a hallucination. Standing in front of Dumbledore's desk was....