document.write(''); Title: Harry Potter and the Chariots of Light
Rating: R
Author: Afizajet
Category: Action/Adventure, (Slight) Romance, Suspense & Mystery
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP, FB, QTTA
Summary: Harry Potter never received a letter inviting him to Hogwarts, but he got something else, something better… But when Voldemort returns, every thing suddenly changes. He is drawn back into the wizard world to face a more powerful and more cunning enemy. Among other things, Harry Potter learns that the only girl, Hermione Granger, that ever caught his eyes is also a witch, but she dating some one else. Etc.
Authors Note: The plot is not fully developed… yet. So a reviewers idea might sometime find there way into the story…
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter One
Return to the Wizarding World
Seventeen and a few months old, Harry Potter had always been careful not to reveal anything out of the ordinary to his school mates and definitely not his relatives. But there was always the occasional slip. These slips, little they seem to occur, were quickly expunged. Harry still felt guilty about erasing Little Tom Rodney's memory, in regard an incidence, two years ago, but what had to been done, had to be done. It wasn't fair to have a perfectly normal boy babbling about seeing two Harry Potters; even if the boy illegally drank.
You could say, it all began ten years ago. But that wouldn't be the absolute truth. Harry, then, a scrawny boy of eight, had first begun to have strange dreams. In this dreams he was been taught Magic (an ancient form he would later learn); from there everything had slowly changed. He was a wizard. Soon he had learnt the truth about his parents, their death and learnt about his diverse fate. Although the training came in the form of a dream, it was more real than the world he lived in. So Harry had begun to live his life like a dream.
Lately the dream had begun to change. Interrupted if. Two and a half months ago, he had woken up with the cruelest pain coming from his scar. Instantly he knew what this meant. That same dark wizard, the one whom he had been warned about, the one who was responsible for the death his parent and countless others, had returned. To counteract the occasional and random pain ensuing from his scar, he had devised a simple runic charm which he inscribed on a bandage, which never left his scar. This charm would dull the occasional twinge and pinch resulted from Voldemort emotions. The Dursleys had, at first, been furious but a little persuasion and everything was good to go.
Things were changing fast; it was obvious to anyone who knew the signs. Only a month ago someone had begun to spy on him. First they had been very discreet about it, now they were becoming careless. Harry did not want news of a stranger in weird clothes trailing him, spreading around. That wouldn't sit too well with his Aunt, who knew the latest gossip before it even started, and his Uncle who might finally chuck him out as he had threatened to on many occasions. So Harry decided the best action was to meet stranger. If this was a member of Voldemorts army, then he might finally get a chance to practice some of the powerful spells he had learnt, on a life person. In real life.
It was 8:35p.m. Thursday evening, Harry was returning from work. He knew the strange wizard was following him again. How wouldn't he know, the wizard was particularly slow even in wizard standards. And even if that wasn't the case, Harry had a number of other ways to know if he was been followed. The suburban streets were particularly dark and foggy, just perfect for what Harry was planning. Two building away, there was an alley…
Harry reached the alleyway, without showing any signs of ever wanting to- Harry broke into the Alley. The stalker was surprised, Harry could feel it.
When Mundungus Fletcher who had been assigned the task to watch over Harry Potter, blinked, and the boy had vanished, he feared the worst. The Dark Lord was back and he was gathering forces fast, had he… No. Of course not.
Then he noticed the Alley. He sighed in relief; the boy must have vanished into the Alley. Just to be safe he drew out is wand and followed after him. The Alley was deserted, except for the garbage cans and the little rats scurrying around. He lit his wand walking cautiously further into the Alley. Suddenly, everything was much darker; his wand-light did little to light the dark Alley. He tried to move but realized he was frozen. Mundungus did not know what to make of this. He hadn't heard any spell and yet he was under a full and powerful body binding spell.
"This may sound funny, but you don't happen to be a follower of that Voldemort, are you?"
The voice sounded familiar; it belonged to Harry potter, the boy he had been trailing for the past week. He sighed in relieve, for the second time tonight, at least this wasn't a Death Eaters doing.
"No Harry, I am not."
"Okay then," Harry replied.
Suddenly Mundungus was released from the binding spell. The darkness vanished, the Alley slowly returning to its original state. "I was kind of disappointed, you know. I've always wanted to see the effect of one of my own spells. But guess I can wait." he did sound disappointed. The voice was coming from above Mundungus Fletcher. He looked up, on the nearby roof top, at the edge sat Harry Potter looking down at him. To Mundungus astonishment, he jumped down the two story building without the aid of magic.
"Harry Potter," he said extending his hand, "but you already know that".
"Mundungus. Mundungus Fletcher. I was told not expect magic from you." He said not knowing what else to say to the youth.
"Of course," Harry replied dismissively. "So, what as been going on in your world, did Voldemort attack Hogwarts yet? I've been having this same dream that he will very soon. The details of what he plans to do I don't know, but I know for a fact how he his planning to get into the castle."
Mundungus wasn't prepared for all of this. His mission had always been simple: watch Harry Potter, no contacts. And of course listen to what ever low life knew about anything. You-know-who planning to attack Hogwarts was above him, he didn't even know the details about that. And here he was in front of a boy who he believed didn't know anything about magic, a boy who had also just outmatched him in magic; telling him he knew about you-know-who's plans. Nothing made any sense so he did the only thing he thought made sense, take Harry to Dumbledore instantly.
"Harry I'm not in charge of the 'Order', that's Dumbledore's business. If you say you have information on how you-know-who is planning to attack the castle, I reckon its best I take you to Dumbledore right away."
As soon as he finished his sentence, Mundungus felt like a presence in him, suddenly the presence was gone.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt then," Harry said grinning "As long as I get back home, before ten." little did Harry know he would never be returning to his Aunts house. The battle he had been waiting for, trained for, was soon to begin.
Mundungus Fletcher pulled out a watch from deep within his robes, "This is a portkey. It will take us to Hogwarts directly to the headmaster's office. You know what a portkey is right!"
"Read about its mechanism and history, but never traveled through one before." Harry said, is face placid, as it usually was.
Harry held onto the portkey just as he had read to do, Mundungus did the same and together they were flying forward in whirlpool of wild color of both the dark sky and its twinkling stars. Harry felt his feet hit the solid ground hard, Mundungus doing the same beside him.
"Whoa," he said, straightening up to survey his new environment. It was a room, dimly lit; the little light in the room reflected some strange looking objects. This was some kind of office, probably belonging to the Albus Dumbledore. There were delicate looking instruments on a spindle legged tables, puffing and whirring serenely, about. They were different portraits of wizards who looked to be napping. Harry looked out the window; it was pitch black out there. In a corner, on a stool perched a golden bird, Harry knew instantly what it was. He himself was one, after all. He walked towards it, ignoring Mundungus who was waiting patiently.
"Hello, my name is Harry Potter. What is yours?" his words came out in a beautiful and unnatural singing voice.
"Hello, I'm called Fawkes." the bird, Fawkes, replied. "I have never met a human who could speak my tongue"
"Well, I have never met a phoenix before. But I have read about them."
"What have you read…" the bird stopped looking over Harry, "oh look, the person you came for his here. Do come and visit soon."
"I will."
Harry turned around; there were four wizards behind him. Three out of them, he had never seen before, out of the three two were looking at him stunned and silent. He quickly guessed that the calm and elderly looking one in the middle, with the silver hair and beard was Albus Dumbledore. The other two were still looking at him strangely: An elderly witch perhaps in her late seventies and a middle age wizard with dark greasy looking hair.
Mundungus chose that time to speak, "Look professor Dumbledore, Harry here believes he knows you-know-who's secret entrance into the castle. I didn't ask him how he knew this because; well I didn't see any reason for him to even know anything about You-know-who and the castle…"
"Mundungus," Mundungus Fletcher stopped talking, "settle down. Harry is here in this room right now, he can explain himself." He turned back to Harry who,
"Well, I know Voldemort," everyone in the room except Dumbledore flinched, "has been quite obsessed with two things since he returned, about two months and three days ago. Primarily it's destroying me and then infiltrating this castle. There is a bathroom, were a female student was killed by a basilisk, fifty something years ago. If you could take me to this toilet, I can show you the entrance to the chamber of secrets which he plans on using to infiltrate the castle."
The twinkle on Dumbledore's face instantly wavered. He looked to the greasy haired man beside him who was looking at Harry with a series of emotions. Loathe, on top preference.
"Snape, gather the some members of the order, and meet me on the third floor female bathroom immediately." Snape left immediately dramatically swishing his robes.
He turned to the other, "Minevera, have all students return to their common room. Only prefects and head students are allowed in the hall, failure to abide by the rule would see to an immediate expulsion." She turned around quickly just as the other greasy haired fellow had done. Maybe it was a wizard thing.
"Well Harry sorry we couldn't have met under normal circumstances, but this school is very crucial on the moral of the wizarding world. Its fall would be quite devastating."
"I understand."
"Shall we," he said leading the way out of his office. It was too dark for Harry to fully appreciate the interior beauty of the castle. Very soon they arrived in front of an out of order female bathroom. Dumbledore pushed open the door, there stood a perhaps a very beautiful bathroom, if only it was cleaned and wasn't flooded.
It was just has Harry had seen it, through Lord Voldemorts sight; he crossed to the farthest side directly in front of the stall that was producing the flooding. Dumbledore followed close behind him was Mundungus Fletcher. It looked like an ordinary sink. He examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the rusty pipes below. And Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake. He stared intently at the tiny engraving, willing himself to believe it was alive.
"Open up," he said. Except that the words weren't what he heard; a strange hissing had escaped him, and at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.
Harry had several gasp and looked behind him. Minevera and Snape were back, including three new persons. All adding up to eight. They all had their mouths open with looks of shock on their faces.
Slowly, Harry slid his legs into the pipe - and let go. It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in different directions, but none as large as this, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew he must be falling deeper into the castle. Behind he could hear, Dumbledore and the others, thudding slightly at the curves.
Soon the pipe leveled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. He was soon followed by Albus Dumbledore and the rest whom all looked slightly ruffled.
"Incredible, I never knew this existed under the school," said Minevera, her voice echoing in the black tunnel. "Under the lake perhaps," she said looking at the slimy wall.
"Lumos!" Dumbledore muttered wiping out his wand, the others followed his action and the cave was soon pretty lit.
Even with the combined light from the wands, the tunnel was simply too dark that they could only see a little distance ahead.
"Any slithering sound and I want you all to close your eyes," said Dumbledore walking side by Harry. But the tunnel was quite grave, and the first sounds they heard was the crouching sounds produced from them stepping on some rodent skulls and skeletons. Soon the reached a dark bend in the tunnel, everyone was in a state of total awareness.
"There is something up ahead," Harry said looking farther into the dark. The outline something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel was soon in there way. Some breathed hard amongst the professor, but Dumbledore just walked right up to it. It wasn't moving. Harry followed, so did the rest.
With the rest of the lit wands, they saw the skin of a gigantic snake, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.
"Outstanding," Harry said grinning, the group all turned to him with overly anxious expressions. Dumbledore was also hid a grin.
Dumbledore and Harry set off, followed by the others, past giant snake skin. The tunnel turned and turned again. Finally they reached a final bend, Harry was feeling particular excited. He bent down and picked up a rock, forcing the others to stop and watch. His hand glowed in white for a second, and the sword formed into a sword. If the professors found this amazing they didn't say anything - Harry wasn't even paying attention to them. They continued for a few seconds until they were suddenly faced with a solid wall, on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
Harry approached the calmly, the eyes on this stone looked strangely alive.
"Open," he said, in a low, faint hiss.
The serpents parted as the walls cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry walked in, followed closely by Dumbledore. The other professor soon found their courage and they too walked in.
They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.
"Well here is the Chamber. Apparently, or according to Voldemort, his snakes are currently trying to dig themselves into this chamber while avoiding most of the wards protecting the surface castle. I won't venture further unless of course you wish to see some things you'd rather not see." Harry said, taking a sit on a serpent statue right closest to the door.
"Thank you very much Harry, now that we know what he's got planed we shall start to prepare our defenses." Albus Dumbledore said approaching the exit of the chamber. He hadn't gone in farther than Harry had warned. The other professors followed suite, all looking grim and shaken but still determined. Harry was the last to leave. As soon as he was out of the chamber, the doors slid back out of the wall shutting the secret in. They traced their way back to the black tunnel were they had landed after the fall.
"Well, this leaves us in quite a predicament, now doesn't it!" Dumbledore asked amusedly, he seemed very clam, when his colleagues looked grim.
"It certainly seems so." Harry said, and then idea occurred to him. He could transform into a phoenix, maybe he could give them all a lift. "Grab hold," he said. They didn't understand what he meant until he turned into a silvery-golden phoenix.
Dumbledore quickly grabbed on the phoenix's tail, he reached out and grabbed, Minevera who was closest. An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through her whole body, everyone grabbed onto each other and the next second, in a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe.
"Amazing!" Harry had someone say.
They were flying upward through the pipe, the chill air whipping through their hairs and beard. Very soon the ride was over - all seven of them hit the wet floor of the bathroom. The sink that hid the pipe was sliding back in place. Harry returned to his usual self looking very exhausted.
"I'm not a real phoenix after all," he said regaining his breadth; Dumbledore helped him up from his kneeling position.
…
Harry was shown to a room, where he would be staying. Dinner was served to him, by a House Elf. A particular shy and overly respectful creature that wouldn't stay for a chat.
That night Harry slept on perhaps the most comfortable bed ever.
To be continued…