Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

As the sun rose slowly over Privet Drive, Harry Potter stared, unseeingly out of the window of Number 4; his emerald eyes glazed over and a frown consuming his face. Blinking as the first rays outlined his pale features; he sighed and collapsed onto the bed next to him, burying his head in his hands. The clock next to the bed told him it was 6:30 in the morning, too early for the other inhabitants of the house to be awake but he, Harry, couldn't sleep. It had been this way for the past week and a half, ever since he had arrived home from school; he had been plagued by nightmares, nightmares that were too horrible for him to ignore.

You see, Harry Potter wasn't a normal boy, never had been and never will be. He was a wizard, a pupil at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, arguably the finest wizarding school in the world, with arguably the finest headmaster; Albus Dumbledore.

He had lived as normally as he could when tormented and neglected by the only family he had until the age of 11, when he had found out that he was a wizard, and everyone in the wizarding world knew his name. From then on his life began to spiral out of control; in some ways it changed for the better and others for the worse.

His aunt and uncle told everyone in the Muggle world that he attended St Brutus' school for Incurably Criminal Boys and they treated him as if he was a freak; and to them, he was. In their eyes, someone who could do something that they couldn't was abnormal, which was why Harry hated the school holidays. During term-time, he could escape from the hatred into a world of friendship; somewhere he was truly happy.

However, at the moment, Harry wasn't sure he could ever be happy again. Last year, he had witnessed the re-birth of a Dark Wizard that the whole wizarding world feared; the very wizard that killed his parents. Lord Voldemort. He had been tricked, captured and tortured; seen a fellow student die and been in such pain, he had wished death upon himself, and now, evil had risen again. It was only a matter of time before Lord Voldemort struck, and there was nothing he could do about it.

It was this that overwhelmed his dreams; the guilt, the helplessness and the fear. Coupled with the worry for his friends, and for the wizarding world, Harry was deeply unhappy.

Voices from the next room snapped him out of his daze. Forcing the dark memories to the back of his mind, he glanced once more out of the window. Somewhere out there was Lord Voldemort, waiting for the right moment to strike. This was war.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the summer passed painfully slowly; Harry heard very little from his friends and he grew increasingly frustrated. He spent the days in his room, attempting to distract himself with his homework, or just staring listlessly out of the window. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and his face yielded little colour. His eyes however, gave nothing away. They were hardened; empty of emotion. He didn't intend to let anyone know how he felt.

On the night of the 30th July, Harry was sat at his desk, attempting to write his Potions essay. He had tried to sleep, but had been tormented by nightmares; images of Cedric Diggory flashed through his mind, and he shook his head blearily, trying to keep himself focused. He found himself getting drowsier, as he stared, groggily at the parchment in front of him.

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory, we'll tie for it."

"You - you sure?"

"Yeah...we've helped each other out, haven't we? Let's just take it together."

"You're on. Come here"

"On three right? One - two - three..."

No, Cedric, no, don't do it! Cedric!

A howl of wind and swirling colours, then:

"Kill the spare"

Nooooo!!

Harry woke up with a start, sweat dripping from his forehead, his breathing coming in short gasps. A feeling of incredible guilt overwhelmed him as he pushed his glasses back onto his nose and stood up shakily. He barely noticed as his watch beeped midnight, as he gazed out over the roofs of the nearby houses. Blinking, he saw something speeding towards him. Narrowing his eyes, he fingered his wand, which lay in his pocket, and kept a well-trained eye on the object as it came closer. Watching it soar across the street, Harry laughed and relaxed, pocketing his wand and opening the window to let it in.

"Pig! What the hell are you doing here?" He snatched the excitable bird out of the air, shaking his head and plucking the letter off Ron. "Go and say hello to Hedwig, go on."

He watched as Ron's owl sauntered over to his, and helped itself to some of her water. Hedwig glared at him mutinously before taking off into the night skies. Looking amused, Harry watched her go, before turning his attention to the letter Ron had sent him.

Harry,

How are you mate? Sorry we haven't written much, but we've not really been allowed to, new security measure or something. Anyway, Dumbledore's finally said you can come and stay with us. We'll probably pick you up sometime tomorrow (31st July). Probably best to ask Aunt and Uncle, but we'll come and get you whatever they say. Happy Birthday by the way. By the time Pig gets there it probably will be. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for your present until you get here, but it's worth it I promise you!

Hermione says hi, no hang on, she wants to say something...why can't she write her own letter.

Hiya Harry

How are you? I hope you're ok, we've been worried about you. I hope you've at least started on your homework; we've got OWLS this year you know, it's never too early to start revising. I can't wait to see you again. Happy Birthday, though we'll see you tomorrow anyway. Oh, Snuffles and Moony are here too, and they send their love. I'd better go now, Ron looks like he's going to kill me; I swear, he's been a nightmare over the last couple of week. See you soon Harry!

Love, Hermione

Bloody hell, I swear, you are so lucky you haven't been staying with her. She's made me revise for my OWLs every single day!! We've not even started school yet!! I suppose I'd better send this now if it's going to get to you before we pick you up. See you soon mate

Ron.

Harry laughed and re-read the letter a couple of times, grinning to himself. It felt so good to hear from his friends again; bickering as usual. And Sirius and Lupin were there! He was going to see them all today! His nightmare already forgotten, he grinned and checked his watch; 12:15am. He was 15. Shaking his head, he looked up to see Hedwig soaring over the trees and landing neatly on his windowsill. Holding out her leg, so Harry could take off the letter, she flew over to her cage, looking disdainfully at Pig, who was sleeping on top of it.

Smiling, Harry unrolled the letter and started to read.

Harry!

How are you? Harry rolled his eyes. So far, every letter had started with the same few words.

Ron says he's already told you we'll be seeing you tomorrow, but I thought I'd write anyway. Happy 15th Birthday! Like Ron and Hermione, Moony and me will give you you're present when we see you, but I couldn't not say Happy Birthday. I don't know how I'm going to get this to you actually, Ron's just sent Pig off. Bloody hell, Harry I swear, your owl's psychic! She just flew in the window! I'm not complaining though, save me begging Moony for his. I'd better get this off to you, so I'll see you tomorrow. Give your cousin a kick from me, and your Uncle, come to think of it.

Snuffles.

Grinning, Harry set the letter next to Ron and Hermione's, thinking about his friends, who he would be seeing in a few short hours.