August Twenty-First 2014

My father was gone for work today, which makes it the perfect time the sneak in his office. The only things I have to worry about is that if Albus, Lily, or Mum see me. I can't let this happen. Another thing is, is that I don't know exactly what I'm looking for. And I have to leave his office in good condition, because it would be obvious if dad came in and it looked like someone trashed the place.

I finally saw my chance to sneak in when mum was downstairs reading her book, while Albus and Lily were sitting in front of the fireplace playing Exploding Snap. I creep out of my room and silently push the door and slip into the office.

I look around, observing every little detail of the office. There was a very tall bookshelf that stood against the left wall. It seemed to be filled with many albums and Auror handbooks. I walked over to the shelf and picked up one of the books. It seemed to be some kind of scrapbook, and it looked like it had been through a lot.

The first few pictures were of two people, a man and a woman. I noticed the caption said James and Lily Potter. Could this be my Grandpa James and Grandma Lily? My parents haven't told me much about them, all I know is that they're dead. I flip through the pages and I see pictures of my dad, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione. They look very young, like my age.

I smile, looking at the pictures from my father's first year. I lay the book down back on the shelf and continue to look around. On the side of the room, opposite from the bookshelf, stood a wooden cabinet. I wonder what he could be hiding in there....

I carefully walk across the office and open up the cabinet door. I would've expected it to be locked, be for some reason it wasn't. Inside the cabinet sat a shallow metal dish, with strange runes and symbols etched across the edge. All of a sudden, a strange silvery light emerged from the dish.

I stumbled back in surprise. What did I do?! I slowly make my way back to the cabinet to see the damage I had inflicted on the strange object. It looked unharmed, except for the fact that there was strange mist churning inside the dish. I try to lean closer to get a better look at it when-

I'm falling. I'm falling through some unknown space. What did I do? Oh God, Mum is going to kill me! My feet hit the ground with a hard force. I examine my surroundings. I seemed to be in some kind of hut. It had dirt floors and smelled strongly of seaweed.

I looked and saw five figures. One of which I recognized.

"Hagrid!" I called out. "Hagrid?! Where are we?"

He just ignored me, and resumed talking to the smallest boy person in the room.

"Call me Hagrid," Hagrid said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."

"Er - no," said the boy.

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry," he said quickly.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the three other people "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"All what?" asked the boy.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"

He had leapt to his feet. The three figures were cowering against the wall.

"Do you mean ter tell me," Hagrid growled at them, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou'- about ANYTHING?"

"I know some things," the boy said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."

Hagrid waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."

"What world?" Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.

"DURSLEY!" he boomed.

A chubby man with no neck, who had gone very pale, whispered something that was inaudible.

"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

"What? My - my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"

"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know...." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing the boy with a bewildered stare.

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.

"Stop!" said the man with no neck. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?" Hagrid rumbled.

"Kept what from me?" asked the boy eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled the man in panic.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer a wizard."

Harry? I looked closely at the boy. He looked nothing like my father. I looked closer and saw that he was wearing my dad's glasses and had a lighting scar on his forehead. It's strange to know that even when he was my age he had that scar....

My dad had not known he was a wizard until he was my age? And who were the three other people in the hut. Before I could think anything else, the scene went black and I was thrown into another place.

My father, this time more recognizable, and my Uncle Ron were standing in a deserted room which was paneled and had strange mismatched, dark wooden chairs. They both looked about twelve years old, which puzzled me. All of a sudden, Dad and Ron eyed an empty wardrobe in the room and climbed inside of it. Just in time too- a group of teachers entered the room just seconds later.

No one seemed to notice me as I stood in the middle of the room. I tried to get someone's attention, but they wouldn't notice me. Very strange.... All was silent in the room until Professor McGonagall(who looked rather younger) arrived.

"It has happened," she told the silent staffroom. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

A very short man let out a squeal. Another woman clapped her hands over her mouth.

A man with greasy black hair gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"

"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'"

The short man burst into tears.

"Who is it?" asked a woman with spiky grey hair, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley," said Professor McGonagall.

"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said...."

The end of Hogwarts?! My father prevented the end of Hogwarts?! I felt myself being pushed sideways as I was lurched into another scene.

I had read about what Hogwarts's Great Hall had looked like, but this was magnificent! Many different students sat at different tables, all focused on the front of the hall. There was a strange Goblet standing in front of the Headmaster's chair. An old man with a long white beard was reading something of a scrap of parchment next to the Goblet.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

A storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Viktor Krum... my Dad introduced me to him at the Quidditch World Cup last month! A boy rose from one of the tables and walked up towards the old man; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red. A piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said the man, "is Fleur Delacour!"

A younger version of my Aunt Fleur got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the middle two tables. What was happening? Who were these 'champions'?

When she too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it.

And the goblet turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the flames shot high into the air, and from its tip the old man pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

The boy who I assumed was Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before the man could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" He called happily, "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But he suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, he reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which he stared at the slip in his hands. And then the man cleared his throat and read out-

"Harry Potter."

This time I was thrown quickly into another scenery. I was in an old office, with the same old man from the last memory. My father was sitting in a chair facing the man. In the middle of the room stood a misty figure, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly. And when she spoke, it was in a raspy, harsh, hoarse tone.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."

My surroundings change once again. I'm standing in a forest, a clearing. A fire burned in the middle of the clearing, and its flickering light fell over a crowd of people in cloaks. Some of them were masked and hooded, others showed their faces. Two giants sat on the outskirts of the group, casting massive shadows over the scene.

"I was, it seems... mistaken."

I looked to see who had spoken. A pale man with a face with snakelike features. He had blood-shot scarlet eyes with a nose that was as flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils. He was repulsive looking, just the sight of him made me want to throw up.

"You weren't," A loud voice said.

I looked and saw my father, for some reason he looked about seventeen or eighteen. He looked scared. What was this? Many of the the people in the crowd just jeered.

"HARRY! NO!" someone screamed. I looked behind me and saw Hagrid tied to a tree, "NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT'RE YEH -?"

"QUIET!" Shouted one of the masked figures.

"Harry Potter,' The snakelike man said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "The boy who lived.... Has come to die."

I gasped. What is this? What was he going to do?!

"Get away from my Dad!" I yelled. No one paid me any attention though. They were either looking at the man in the middle of the clearing, or at my father. Dad closed his eyes waiting.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The green jet of light hit dad square in the chest.

"NOOOO!" I screamed.

Then I heard another voice.

"James?!" I turned to see my mother next to me. "What in the world are you doing?!"

"Mum?" I ask trembling. "You can see me? What's going on? Who- Who is that?"

"I'll explain later," She said hurriedly. "Just-"

She grabbed my arm and I could feel myself rising into the air. The forest disappeared before my eyes. We were in my dad's office again. My mother stood in front of me looking stern.

"James Sirius Potter," She said quietly. "You have got some major explaining to do."