Harry Potter and the Song of Donegal

A cool breeze whips across an endless meadow of emerald grass. Off toward the left is a cliff over looking the sapphire colored ocean. Down a winding road through the quiet forest there is a small town. "Welcome to the Towne Donegal," says the warped wooden sign in the beginning of the town. Once you leave the town and travel out deep into the dense woods, there lies a small town called Amelthia; this is a wizarding town, which explains it's secret location. Although small, the town is always bustling and with about 6 wizard families living here, news travels fast.

The town consists of a school, which is a medium size castle, and was once a lord's manor home. This school teaches Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, and many of the same classes you would find at Hogwarts School of Wizardry. Most likely because this school was founded many years ago by Albus Dumbledore himself, present headmaster of Hogwarts. There is also store selling food and necessities.

All in all it is a quaint town, the last place you would expect a Dark Wizard to make his next strike, but it was. And the reason was because of a certain family living there. Settled in a house closest to the end of this town, is the family Keeney. The Keeney family consists of the wife and mother; Jennifer, husband and father; Aidan and the daughter; Rhiannon. They came here long ago, when Jennifer had graduated from Hogwarts. She was medium size, thin, with wild black hair that did whatever it wanted and would not be told otherwise, and soft brown eyes. Aidan, not being magical at all (a Muggle), was rather worried of falling in love with a witch. But this didn't stop him. He married her and came to Amelthia to live. He had dark red hair and sparkling blue eyes. Soon, a daughter, Rhiannon Wiley, was born. All was well, and she was soon to start school. But the happy life that was being lived was about to be stopped abruptly.

Rhiannon was 10 years old and in her first year of school when it happened. She would have gone to Hogwarts, she had been invited, but she couldn't get there. Jennifer wrote Dumbledore and he said, whenever she could come, whatever year she was learning, she was welcome to join. And then, a rumor spread through the community- Voldemort was coming. Some said it was impossible, others said it was a Death Eater, but could not possibly be the Dark Lord himself. By the time Rhia was 11, she was being trained to be a soldier, not only in magic, but in swordmanship as well.

Although the students were not sure why, they knew something was wrong. The battle came when she was 13. Every foul creature known suddenly appeared, goblins, hinkypunks, grindylows, dementors, and more. Sent by Death Eaters, who were sent by Voldemort, to destroy a certain family: The Keeney's; even if it meant destroying the entire city. Slowly, the small amount of wizards and witches in the town were killed. Majority by the Killing Curse- Avada Kedavra.

The final house they found was the Keeney's. Aidan grabbed his sword- not knowing any magic- and beat back as many of the Dark creatures as he could. As though it were nothing, a Death walked up and cursed him. In a flash of green, Aidan was on the floor, dead before he hit the ground. The Death Eater stormed into the room where Jennifer and Rhiannon were. Rhiannon had been with the other children of her class in school when Death Eaters came through it. She and many of her fellow students fought back and almost won- considering there were more students then Death Eaters. But suddenly, students were being killed, left and right, and Rhiannon ran out, toward her home, knowing that her parents were in danger. Upon her arrival, Aidan had put her and her mother in another room, hoping for their safety.

They heard the fight, and Aidan falling. They knew. As soon as the door opened, they raised their wands together and yelled, "EXPELLIARMUS," several of the death Eaters fell, stunned. The other two, which were not well trained and carrying swords, came and seized them both. Raising her wand, Rhiannon prepared to stun the Death Eater that had her mother, but an unnoticed Death Eater had arrived. "Expelliarmus," he cried, and caught her wand as it flew through the air. But as soon as he had it, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

Rhiannon, having found a small dagger, had thrown it. It landed directly in his chest. He stumbled backwards and slammed into a wall. Grabbing her wand she whirled around and saw no one there, except her mother. She was lying on the floor; her normally long dark hair, splattered with blood was spread everywhere. Kneeling down she shook her mother, terrified. Jennifer looked at her daughter slowly. "Go...to...Dumbledore...," she chokes out. Not understanding, Rhia looks at her mother bewildered. But then she sees. The Death Eaters that had been cornering her mom had not cursed her, but done something much worse. They had slit her throat.

Shaking, the young girl watched her mother die. She suddenly darts across the room and grabs her cloak. She throws it over her. She groans and clutches the side of her stomach. Pulling her hand away, she sees it covered in blood. Somewhere along the way, she had been stabbed. Looking in the room where her father was lying, she shudders and runs out of what remained of the house, tears falling from her usually laughing eyes. She darts into a tiny shed/barn and throws the door open. Inside is a sturdy, pearly colored Arabian stallion. He was Rhia's and she had named him Merlin.

Merlin whickered and watched as she darted around the small room. She entered his stall and threw a western saddle on him. He stood quietly as the sobbing girl tightened the cinch and placed a leather bridle on his chiseled head with quivering hands. She had raised him, and he her. He trusted her, and felt something was wrong. Rhia jogged around the room and grabbed her fathers' sword, which was in its scabbard. She had trained with it, and used it well. She fastened the scabbard to her waist. She stuffed her wand into her jean pocket. Leading Merlin outside, she tightened the cinch again, and mounted up. She spun him to the remains of her home. She was shaking. Drawing the hood of her cloak over her head tightly she spotted Dementors looking for any living things.

She heeled Merlin toward the dense woods and ran him for what seemed like hours upon end. Soon, the light of dawn rose and she and her horse were far, far away from Amelthia, or its remains. Stopping in a willow grove, she rested and was on her way. A few hours later, she reached a small towne, similar to Donegal. She went into the variety store and bought some things: a pen, a pad of paper and an envelope (she had no idea what a "pen" was , but she figured it was some kind of odd quill). Stopping in a wooded area, she dismounted and wrote a letter to Albus Dumbledore. She told him the entire story of Amelthia, and of her parents. She had no idea what this had to do with anything, but she did what her mother had last requested. She found a barn owl and sent him off with the letter. She became worried about her wound, but noticed it was healing fine with the makeshift bandage she had made. She tried to keep it uninfected. The next morning she and Merlin made their way toward Dublin, but before this could happen...
~~~~

Harry woke with a start. What was that? He ran his hand along his forehead and wiped away cold sweat. It had been such a real, vivid dream, but now he couldn't remember it. He shuddered. It was early morning and flat, yellow sunlight had made its way into his room at the Dursley's. He got up. Walking to the large cage at the corner of the room, he stopped at the mirror and sighed. At 15, he was still skinny, his hair still was untidy and he had only grown a couple of inches. His bright green eyes studied his scar on his forehead, still noticeable, even under his jet-black hair. Looking at the calendar, he smiled. Only one week until Hogwarts was back in session.

With a look out of his window, he spotted his snowy female owl, Hedwig, flying towards him. He opened the window and she flew in. Taking the letters she dropped, he smiled. "Thanks girl." Hedwig hooted happily and nibbled his finger. She then flew into her cage and began to drink her water. He had three letters. One from Ron Weasley, one from Hermione Granger, and one from Professor McGonagall. He opened Ron's first. Ron was one of his best friends at Hogwarts. He wrote:

Dear Harry,

HEY! I just got my list of things for our next year, want to meet in London? Maybe we could pick you up. I hope Hermione can come too. Well, send me your reply as soon as you can.

Ron

Setting Ron's letter aside, he opened Hermione's letter.

Dear Harry,

Hi. Well, I got an owl from Ron, saying he was going to ask you if you wanted to go to Diagon Alley with me and him to get school supplies. My mom and dad says it's fine with them. Send me or Ron an owl and we'll get together! you soon !

(Hope you Aunt and Uncle aren't giving you a hard time.)

Love from

Hermione

He goes to his desk and grabs a piece of parchment and a quill, and writes:

Dear Ron,

I don't know if Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon will let me. But oh well, I'll go! Can you send an owl to Hermione and tell her I'm going? This is my last piece of parchment. I need to get some more. Well, send an owl telling me what time and where you want to meet. Say hi to everyone for me.

Harry

Giving the parchment to Hedwig, he sent her out the window and watched her fly off. He made his way downstairs. Dudley was already there, gobbling his pancakes down hurriedly. His piggy eyes looked at Harry quickly, and then he went back to eating. 'So much for last years diet,' Harry thought. Aunt Petunia gave him a plate with a small pancake and nothing else. Harry sat down and ate it. When he was done he got up and left the kitchen. Uncle Vernon was sitting in his chair reading the morning paper and drinking his tea. "Er...Uncle Vernon...can I ask you something?"

Uncle Vernon grunted

"Umm, do you remember the Weasley's?"

Grunt.

"Well, they were wondering if they could take me to get my...er...school supplies sometime before school."

Uncle Vernon's mustached purple face appeared over the paper. "They won't be using my fireplace will they?"

The last time the Weasley's had come to get him, they had used Floo Powder and came through the fireplace.

"I don't think so, they will use something different."

Uncle Vernon grunted.

"Well, what do you say?"

Uncle Vernon was silent a moment. "Oh, all right, just as long as they leave my family alone," he said, his face even more purple.

That went well, Harry thought. "Thanks Uncle Vernon."

Uncle Vernon grunted.

Harry went back upstairs and packed his trunk. When packing he grabbed a rather large trophy. His stomach fell. He swallowed hard. It was the Triwizard Cup. Last year, he had been the youngest winner of the Triwizard Tournament. You would expect him to be happy, and he would be, if one of his fellow Hogwarts students had not died in the process. Or if he hadn't had to fight Voldemort. Voldemort had killed Cedric Diggory.

He took the cup and put it in his trunk. Dumbledore said he wanted to put it in the Trophy Room this year. He packed his invisibility cloak he had inherited from his father, the wizard photo album of his family and his school robes. Once he was packed, he put the cage on top of the trunk.

A few days later, the Weasley's had picked up Harry and had taken them to Diagon Alley. Hermione met them there.

"Hi Harry! Hi Ron! How are you guys?" she said in her fast voice.

Harry and Ron smiled and laughed. She was back. They went to all the shops and got their supplies. Finally, they stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and Harry bought a round of sundaes. Soon, it was time to load up in the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾. Mrs. Weasley hugged and kissed all her children and then Hermione and Harry. They loaded their bags and quickly took their seats. With a noisy whistle, the scarlet train barreled off toward Hogwarts.

"Have you heard the rumor that we're getting a new 5th year student?" Hermione asked them once they had settled.

"No, when did you hear this?" Ron asked.

"When I went to get my books, I walked by the Leaky Cauldron and overheard someone say something about a new kid in our year," she replied.

"I didn't know you could join in this late," Harry said.

Hermione shrugged. For most of the time, they talked about their summers. Ron's family hadn't taken any trips, but Bill and Charlie came for another visit this year. And Fred and George's new, secret business was going wonderfully.

"They were practically crying on the way home they were so happy. They couldn't believe that you gave them all that money!" Ron said, chuckling to Harry, who smiled.

Hermione's parents had gone to Rome for their second honeymoon for a week and she had been forced to stay with a cousin who thought that the Grangers sending their daughter to become a witch was preposterous, and treated Hermione as if she were a bomb ready to explode. Harry found that familiar. The Dursleys thought the same of him after his first year.

"You wouldn't believe what they did," Hermione said, barely containing herself from laughing.

"They saw my trunk that I had my clothes in and thought that I had my wand and cauldron and whatnot in it and nearly fainted. Of course I left them at home, I was just using the trunk," she said giggling.

Harry smiled. His summer wasn't that bad. The Dursleys seemed happier then ever when he decided to spend more time on his homework in his room. The train began to slow down and they pulled on their school robes. Walking out into the cool, autumn air they heard a loud, booming and gratefully familiar voice: "Firs' years over 'ere! I need all the firs' years!"

"Hi Hagrid!" they called and waved over the crowd.

Hagrid beamed at them through his shaggy beard and waves back. The first years were then herded into boats for their traditional trip across the lake and too Hogwarts. To their left were close to a hundred horseless carriages waiting for them. And to their shock, there was another person waiting. It was a cloaked person, astride a pearly colored horse. They were at the edge of the woods, waiting . And sitting beside them was a very familiar shaggy, black dog. Sirius?! Harry thought bewildered.

"Ron! Hermione! Look!" Harry whispered quickly and nodded to the person on horseback. But there was no dog. Just the person on the horse.

"Who's that?" Ron asked.

"How'd they get in?" Hermione wondered.

Soon, a teacher hustled up and pushed them toward the last carriage. Harry looked back in time to see Dumbledore himself, walk up to the person and point to their carriage. The person nodded, turned the horse and cantered up behind their carriage. Dumbledore nodded and smiled. He then walked toward another carriage and got in. Then they were off to the castle, the person on horseback cantering easily behind them, not having a hard time catching up with the invisible horses pulling the carriage.

They walked into the Great Hall and sat down, waiting for the Sorting to finish and the feast to begin. The sorting had begun and "Whitehair, Ramona" had just became a Hufflepuff. Finally, Professor McGonagall picked up the Sorting Hat and the stool and walked off to the side of the stage. The Hall burst into applause as Dumbledore walked up on the stage.

"Well, another year at Hogwarts! I'm sure you're just as excited as I am. Now, this year, in addition to our new first years, we will have a new fifth year. ("See! I told you!" Hermione whispered.) Now, since we already know what year she is in, it is up to the Sorting Hat to choose where she'll be. Professor McGonagall, can you please bring Rhiannon and the Sorting Hat up?" he asked and looks to the far side of the stage.

Professor McGonagall, carrying the Sorting Hat walked over to Dumbledore, a medium sized girl following her. The girl, Rhiannon, stood beside Professor McGonagall, and her bright, blue-gray eyes glanced quick and nervously over the crowd. Her long red-brown hair fell close to the middle of her back. She looked like the person that they had seen riding the horse behind their carriage. Dumbledore walked over to her and placed the hat onto her head. It fell down her face and covered her eyes.

Well, well. What have we here? Yours will be hard to choose. Clever and quick you are, as well as ambitious, but something shines above them all. Bravery. What do you say? The tiny voice said into her ear. Whatever you choose is fine...I...I just want to do well here, she thought. There was a clicking sound in her head, like someone snapping his or her fingers. Very well, in that case, better be.......GRYFFINDOR! The voice had yelled the last word and the Gryffindor table erupted in applause. Shakily, she removed the hat and gave it to Dumbledore. He smiled at her.

"There! Now you have it! The Sorting is complete. Professor McGonagall, will you please take our new student to the Gryffindor table?" he asked. Professor McGonagall put a thin hand on the girl's shoulder and steered her toward the table. She took a seat next to Fred and George Weasley, and Professor McGonagall took her seat at the head of the table.

"Now......what do you say let's eat!" Dumbledore cried.

The Hall was once again full of applause, then it quieted again as the food appeared on their plates. Harry looked down the table to see the twins making jokes with the new girl, and saw her laughing quietly after. He chuckled.

"Who would have guessed it would be Fred and George who would make her laugh," Ron said innocently and Harry and Hermione laughed at him.

Ron grinned and began to dig into his mashed potatoes. When the feast was over, the four heads of house took their group of students to their common rooms. Professor McGonagall led them to the portrait of the Fat Lady in the Pink Dress.

"Password?" she asked mildly.

"The new password is 'Lemon Drop' everyone," Professor McGonagall announced.

"Oh no!" Neville Longbottom moaned. He never remembered the passwords.

The Pink Lady swung open and everyone filed into the Gryffindor common room.

"All right! Dormitories everyone! Hermione, will you help Rhiannon find her way to the ladies dorm?" Professor McGonagall said above the crowd. The boys turned right and took their things up the spiral staircase to their dorms. The girls went left to theirs. Hermione walked up to Rhiannon and smiled. Rhiannon smiled lightly and walked beside Hermione up the staircase. Harry reached his room and flopped onto his four-poster bed. It felt wonderful to be back. And he had a feeling this was going to be an interesting year.