Martyr

MARTYR
CHAPTER 1
A TRAITOR IN THE MIDST

“Run Potter! Go! Leave now you fool! GO!” the anguished cry sounded throughout the forest as a dark figure rose before Harry’s eyes. Stumbling back, he fell over a stone throwing out his hand to halt his fall. “Avada Kedavra!” the voice cried and a green flash illuminated the forest. A cold laughter floated to Harry’s ears and he looked up. A swarm of cloaked wizards stood over a defiant man clutching a wand. “Harry! Please! Run, GO NOW!” the man shouted. Harry pulled himself to his feet and started to run. The laughter followed in his ears and he heard a cold voice.“Crucio!” Screams echoed throughout the trees and Harry heard a last tortured cry from the man.“Aaaaaaarrrgh! LILY!” With the last desperate shout a new sound reached Harry’s ear; the soft song of a phoenix.

Harry woke with a start. Sweat slid down his face and his breath came in ragged gasps. A searing pain lanced through his forehead and he slapped his hand to the scar that disfigured his face. Pure agony set his mind on fire and a low moan escaped from his lips. Never, in his fifteen years could Harry remember his scar hurting so much. Gradually the pain subsided into a dull throbbing ache and he sat up in bed. Holding his head in his hands, Harry tried to remember the dream. Despite his efforts the face of his defender remained clouded though he didn’t doubt the cloaked wizards were Deatheaters and one was Voldemort himself. Sighing, Harry stood and walked to his desk. Pulling a fresh piece of parchment towards him, Harry dipped his quill in the ink pot and wrote:

Dear Sirius,

This time I will not hide it from you. I woke up this morning in agony with my scar. I dreamed of Voldemort and the efforts of one man to defend me from him. My defender was killed but I woke up before anything else happened. It has never hurt this much before. Should I tell Professor Dumbledore?

Harry

Harry knew it was a poor letter but at the moment he needed Sirius’s response more than anything else. Turning to the cage that stood on his desk Harry saw that Hedwig was looking at him with glowing eyes.“Can you take this to Sirius, Hedwig?” Harry asked in a whisper. She hooted indignantly and lifted her leg for the parchment. Harry tied it quickly and she spread her wings and soared out of the open window. Harry sighed again and looked at the clock next to his bed. The luminous numbers read 3:27am and Harry collapsed onto his bed. It was at this point Harry froze, cold fear seeping into his mind. Light from the street outside usually filtered in through his window, creating a glow in his room. Harry sprang back up and looked towards the window. Total darkness was all that it showed this morning. Harry’s breath quickened again as he looked out. No streetlights lit the road outside but Harry thought he heard a soft murmuring of voices from the pavement below. Gasping, Harry pulled away from the window and reached under his bed. Pulling up the floorboard he brought his wand out and slowly inched towards the closed door of his room. A sickening crash echoed through the house as the sound of splintering wood reached Harry’s ears. The door to his room flew inwards, flying off its hinges and hurtling towards Harry. Leaping aside Harry saw a figure robed in black sweep into the room, his features hidden by a smooth mask.Deatheaters! Harry thought as the figure looked towards the bed, missing Harry lying a few feet to his left. Harry took the advantage in desperation and jumped to his feet.“Impedimenta!” he cried and the Deatheater’s movements slowed to be almost imperceptible. Harry dashed outside and into the corridor. A scream rent the air and harsh voices yelled spells from Dudley’s room but it was a pair of Deatheaters standing over the crumpled forms of his Aunt and Uncle that caught Harry’s attention. Aunt Petunia lay still on the floor while Uncle Vernon was on his knees, a glazed expression on his face.“Crucio!” one of the Deatheaters shouted and Uncle Vernon’s bellows of pain soon joined his son’s as he writhed in agony on the floor.“Expelliarmus!” Harry shouted, a ruby ray leaping from his wand and hurling the wizard back towards the stairs. The wand flew high but Harry ignored it turning to the other Deatheater. Uncle Vernon’s cries subsided as the Deatheater turned to face Harry.“Stupefy!” a voice shouted. Too late Harry realised the voice came from behind him and he fell forwards, his last sight a swishing red cloak appearing before his eyes.

Harry’s eyes fluttered open and he saw a fuzzy white blur. Groaning, Harry reached out, his hand scrambling on an unfamiliar table and bumping something. A faint tinkling of smashing glass reached his ears and he sighed.“Bugger,” Harry spat with feeling. The drawing of curtains caught his attention and Harry tried to sit up.“No, don’t try to sit up Harry,” came a stern voice. It filtered through Harry’s brain and he briefly wondered why Madam Pomfrey was at his house. With a rush, Harry remembered and this time he did sit up. “What happened?” he gasped but firm hands pushed him down again. “Reparo” a voice whispered and Harry felt his glasses pressed into his palm. Putting them on, Harry looked into the worried eyes of Madam Pomfrey. She smiled briefly and looked around. “He’s awake Professor,” she said and left Harry’s side. She bustled out of sight and Harry turned his head, finding his eyes looking straight into the twinkling blue eyes of Professor Dumbledore.“So, Harry, how do you feel?” Dumbledore asked, sitting in one of the seats next to the bed.“Ugh, horrible, I feel like a sack of bricks hit my head,” Harry replied. As he spoke Harry noticed the light went out in Dumbledore’s eyes. “What happened Professor? Someone stunned me and then I woke up here. How?” Harry asked slowly. Professor Dumbledore sighed and looked away.“Deatheaters attacked Privet Drive three nights ago. Your Aunt is dead and your cousin and Uncle have had Memory charms placed on them. We got there just in time to stop them taking you.” he said, his voice sounding grim and disgusted.Harry’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “But… then, what’s going to happen to me?” Harry stuttered, looking at Dumbledore. The Headmaster looked up at Harry and sighed.“You will stay at Hogwarts until the year starts, all your belongings are here and arrangements have been made with the Weasley family to take you to Diagon Alley for your fifth year textbooks. Madam Pomfrey wants you to stay in the hospital wing for at least the next day to make sure you’re over the concussion you suffered when you fell. For next year’s holidays… I cannot say yet.” Dumbledore said gravely. A shout of surprise reached their ears and a second later a flying grey ball rocketed into the room, bumping into various objects before landing heavily on Harry’s stomach.“Oof! Thanks Pig!” Harry said, recognising the tiny owl that sat happily on his stomach a roll of parchment tied to his leg. Harry reached out and took the parchment, and read.

Dear Harry,

Are you alright? Dad told us all about the attack on your house. It’s disgusting the Ministry still denies You-Know-Who’s back! Who else attacked you?! Anyway, we’re coming on Friday to take you to Diagon Alley so be ready…oh and can me and Herm keep you company at Hogwarts after that? She’s meeting us in Diagon Alley but maybe you can ask Professor Dumbledore if we could stay too? I’ve asked mum and she says it’s alright if he agrees. Send us an answer soon as possible.

Ron

Harry looked up at Professor Dumbledore.“Who saved me if it wasn’t Aurors?” Harry asked, puzzled.“The Ministry still is at odds with my position. As such it was a group of friends who were loyal to me against Voldemort in the last war who saved you.” Dumbledore sighed. Harry was shocked. How did the Ministry still deny the truth after the attack? His mind didn’t linger on such thoughts though as he remembered the other part of the letter. “Can Ron and Hermione stay at Hogwarts after our trip to Diagon Alley?” he asked hopefully. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled and he smiled.“I rather expected that question, I shouldn’t think it’ll be a problem.” Dumbledore answered.Harry smiled and turned the parchment over, intending to write his answer.“Uh, have you got a quill and some ink I could borrow Professor?” he asked feeling stupid.Dumbledore just smiled and stood. He walked to a desk in the corner and returned with the quill and inkpot Harry needed.“Thanks,” Harry said quickly writing his reply.

Hi Ron!

I’m okay, apparently I’m concussed but I’ll still see you on Friday. Professor Dumbledore says it’s fine if you and Herm come to Hogwarts after the trip! I can’t wait, we’ll have all of Hogwarts to ourselves!

Harry

Harry tied the parchment to Pig’s leg and the tiny owl took flight again, hurtling across the room and out an open window. Despite his cheerful words, Harry had a sickening feeling in his stomach. Voldemort was back and out for his blood and the Ministry wasn’t doing a thing about it. How long was it before Voldemort struck again?

“Harry!” Harry looked around, his eyes widening as he saw a cascade of red hair thundering towards him. Ron and Ginny were in the lead and the twins were close behind them. To Harry’s surprise, Bill, Charlie and Percy all were close on their heels while Mr and Mrs Weasley followed at a more sedate pace. The mob of Weasleys swept around Harry and a barrage of questions were rattled off at the same time. Harry tried to answer but became so frustrated that he eventually yelled “I’m fine!” at the top of his lungs, bringing silence to the cacophony of questions.“Cor, Harry. No need to shout,” said Fred, wincing. “Nah, Fred, you need it all the time, only way you can hear anything not said by yourself,” George replied.“What?” Fred asked innocently.“Fred, George, behave yourselves,” Mrs Weasley reprimanded, “how are you, Harry, dear?”“Come on mum, didn’t you just hear him? I know he is a bit shy and didn’t want Australians hearing but surely you heard when he yodelled “I’m fine!” just then?” Fred asked. Ron pulled Harry away as the Weasley family argued with itself and they headed towards Gringotts. “Harry! Ron!” They turned as Hermione hurtled towards them, bushy hair flowing behind her. She tackled them as if she was a rugby player and pulled them both into a hug.“Damnit, Herm! It’s only been a few weeks!” Ron cried out in a strangled voice. Hermione laughed and let go of them, looking at Harry with concern. “I heard what you said so I won’t ask,” she said grimly. Harry’s cheeks flushed.“Was it really that loud?” he asked looking around.“Yes.” Ron and Hermione said together.Harry sighed and the rest of the Weasley family caught up with them. Together they headed towards Gringotts and Mr and Mrs Granger, standing outside the bank.

Several hours later Harry, Ron and Hermione laboured towards The Leaky Cauldron, the weight of their schoolbooks making their arms ache. Ahead they could see the flame red hair of several Weasleys, all making their way to The Leaky Cauldron to say goodbye and head in their own directions. For Harry, Ron and Hermione that meant to Hogwarts, where they would spend the next two weeks before the school year began once more. Ron was bursting with excitement, barely restraining from skipping alongside Harry, at the thought. Harry smiled at his friend’s obvious joy but the weight of the attack on Privet Drive still lay heavily on his mind. “Happy, aren’t we Weasley?” The drawling voice cut through the three friends thoughts like a knife as they turned towards the speaker.“I should be Malfoy. Although you’re probably upset that your dad and his friends didn’t get Harry, can’t tell you how sorry I am,” Ron replied, his face beginning to colour.Draco Malfoy stood with his arms folded, staring at them with narrowed eyes, his mouth set in a thin line. As usual he was dressed in expensive black robes, a silver lining winding its way around the edges. “Ouch, that cut me deep Weasley. But lets get one thing straight. If my dad had been there, Potter wouldn’t be here; he’d be with his parents and burning in hell!” The venom on Draco’s words was such that Harry took an involuntary step back. Ron wasn’t affected in the same way and his books hit the ground with a thud.“Ron, no!” Hermione yelled as Ron launched himself at Malfoy, his face burning with rage. “Petrificus Totalus!” Ron’s movement stopped in mid-air and he landed heavily on the ground where Draco was standing a few seconds before. He now stood to the side, a smug smile on his face as a tall black robed wizard swept towards them, wand raised. Harry felt his blood chill as he recognised Lucius Malfoy.“So, once again the Weasleys are overcome by their tempers and resort to physical violence like common Muggles. What use is a wizard if he acts like a Muggle?” Lucius sneered. Hermione quickly ran to Ron’s side and pulled her wand out.“Finite Incantatum,” she whispered and Ron groaned. Pulling himself up, Ron stared angrily at Draco.“I notice your son didn’t use magic Lucius. But, I imagine your reasoning is not because he’s acting like a Muggle but that he isn’t allowed to use magic until school starts? Wouldn’t want a warning from the ministry would we?” Arthur Weasley’s voice reached their ears as he and the rest of the Weasley family arrived on the scene, alerted by the argument. Faced with such odds, Lucius glared at Arthur before turning and sweeping away.“Come Draco!” he called as he strode into the crowds, his black robes being swallowed into the sea of shoppers.“Why do we always have to be here the same day as that git every year?” Ron spat in disgust.“It doesn’t matter Ron, come on now, Professor Dumbledore is expecting you three back at Hogwarts soon,” Molly said, biting back her reprimands at the behaviour of Ron and her husband.The group hurried off once Ron had retrieved his books and entered The Leaky Cauldron. “Quickly now, you need to be there in two minutes,” Molly said quickly, herding the group towards the fireplace. Arthur knelt down as they reached the it and a moment later a roaring fire lit the room. Pulling a jar out from his robes he threw the powder into the fire. The flames turned green and he turned to Harry.“You first Harry,” Arthur said, looking at Harry expectantly. Harry sighed inwardly and took his glasses off, placing them in his pocket and stepping into the fireplace.“Hogwarts Castle!” he shouted. With a lurch Harry felt himself begin to spin and shut his eyes tight as the rotation began to make him dizzy. The tug on his body became more violent as he span faster before abruptly ending with him ditching headfirst out of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Firm but gentle hands caught his shoulders but books spilled out of his bags and slid across the floor. Harry swore quietly but stopped himself as he looked up. Pulling his glasses on, he saw the smiling face of Professor Dumbledore. “Yahoo!” Ron’s shout of glee echoed around the room as he flew out of the fireplace and rolled expertly before standing up, his bags still held in his arms. Ron’s grin of joy soon disappeared as he realised the bags were lighter than they were before.“Bugger!” Ron groaned as he saw his books scattered across the floor with Harry’s. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as Harry burst out laughing, the look of disappointment on Ron’s face too much for him. Harry was still giggling when Hermione stepped out of the fireplace. Her face split into a grin as she looked at the scattered books on the floor.“Honestly, don’t you two bother to control your speed?” she asked.Harry looked confused.“You can control your speed? How?” he asked. “Control your speed? What you want to do that for? Take all the fun out of it!” Ron snorted indignantly. Hermione sighed and looked at Harry.“You have to think how fast you want to go and keep the speed fixed in your mind.” she explained patiently.“Miss Granger is correct. After all, how would arthritic old fogeys like me manage to use it if I had to execute a perfect dive roll every time I went somewhere?” Dumbledore smiled looking at Ron. “It wasn’t that good,” Ron said modestly, his face colouring.Harry and Ron scrambled around on the floor while Hermione and Dumbledore sat and talked calmly, grinning when Ron exclaimed indignantly that Harry had his book. Both were exactly the same but Harry was adamant that it was his. After a brief tug-of-war the book and Ron went flying backwards and after that the pair quickly sorted the books out and looked at Dumbledore expectantly.“Ah, yes,” he said, noticing their attention, “First of all, you still will not be permitted to use magic until term starts. Mr Weasley there is no reason to look disappointed, after all you do have the school to yourselves with the exception of a few teachers already here. Next, I have instructed the Fat Lady to use a password you three choose for the next two weeks. You will, of course need to inform Professor McGonagall of your decision. Meals will be served as you are used to but on a much smaller scale and Mr Filch has informed me he will be keeping an eye on you. Hmm, other than that, you have the place to yourselves.” Ron grinned evilly and rubbed his hands together.“Fred and George will have nothing on us by the time school starts!” he exclaimed gleefully. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron and nodded towards Dumbledore.“Oh…um, well we’ll stay out of trouble sir, don’t you worry about us,” Ron said meekly.“Harry, remind me to have my ears checked. I keep seeming to miss parts of conversations and it is getting most annoying,” Dumbledore said mildly, smiling at Harry. Dumbledore stood after his last comment and bid them good day before exiting through the portrait door.“Ron! What were you thinking? Saying things like that in front of the Headmaster!” Hermione snapped angrily. Ron coloured and looked embarrassed and mumbled an unintelligible reply.“Come on, lets get our books upstairs,” Harry said, breaking the tension. Scooping up their bags Harry and Ron headed up the stairs to the boys dormitories while Hermione went to her room. Ron and Hermione had had their trunks sent to Hogwarts by Floo before they went shopping and they all dumped their books before heading back downstairs to the common room.“So what now?” Harry asked as they sat down at a table.“We explore!” Ron said grinning wickedly.

After a week of ‘exploring’ the trio were pretty sure they knew most of the castle from top to bottom. Ron claimed excitedly every few days they had found all the secret passages the twins had. Hermione pointed out that they would hardly have told Ron how many passages they had found and the pair spent hours arguing good-naturedly about it.

It was as they bickered down a long stone corridor that Harry spotted a faint outline on the wall.“Hey, you guys shut up, look at this,” he murmured. Hermione looked round. “It looks like a door,” she said, puzzled.“No, Herm, it looks like a wall,” Ron snapped wanting to return to his argument.Harry and Hermione looked away from the wall and stared at Ron.“Ron, look at the markings… you’re the one obsessed with finding secret passages,” Hermione stated, turning to the wall, “this line here,” tracing the line with her finger.Ron looked impatiently at the line. His eyes goggled as he saw what Hermione was pointing at.“Wow! Fred and George haven’t said anything about a door like this!” he whispered in awe. Harry meanwhile had his wand out and was tapping the bricks, one after the other. Suddenly a brick glowed orange under his wand.“Woah!” he gasped as the brick’s colour faded before coming back again.“Move aside,” Hermione snapped and took Harry’s wand. She deftly tapped each of the bricks beside the orange one. Each one lit with a different colour and Harry heard Hermione mutter under her breath. After a while the bricks all lost their colour, changing back to plain grey. Hermione smiled and placed her hand on the original brick, a whole section of wall disappearing at her touch. A collective gasp escaped the three as they slowly walked forwards. The sound of a voice stopped them.Peering round the corner, Harry saw a closed door and crept up to it, Ron and Hermione beside him. Pressing their ears against the wood they listened.

“My lord, you called for me. What is your command?” a rasping voice rattled behind the door.

“What has happened to Harry Potter?” The cold voice sparked a memory in Harry’s mind and in confirmation his scar blazed with pain. Voldemort!“The old fool had him brought here until school starts again. He is out of our reach, my lord.” the rasping voice answered.

“What? I have a report he was in Diagon Alley a week ago!” hissed the voice Harry connected with Voldemort.

“My lord, Harry Potter is still learning. He needs books for school and that is why he was there,” came the answer.

“Curse them! You are to continue your mission, I want the temper and ambition of… why is your door moving?” hissed the voice.

Harry started. Standing up he turned quickly to the secret door and ran out the room, Ron and Hermione close on his heels. The door shut behind them as they pelted done the corridors, not caring where they went. After running for several minutes, they pulled up gasping for air. Ron looked fearfully at Harry as they caught their breath.“You know what this means don’t you?” he asked in between gasps. Harry nodded grimly and looked down before answering.“There’s a spy at Hogwarts.”