.⊹⁀➷ CHAPTER ONE !
↳ ❛a murderer on the loose❜

IT WAS FINALLY the very last week of the summer holidays. Annabeth had dreaded the day that Harry and her could finally leave the Dursley's and return to Hogwarts.

The two teenager were already so excited to go back to the School for witchcraft and wizardry. Although their last two years were pretty adventures and they were almost killed, twice.

In their very first year, Professor Quirrell, their teacher in Defense against the dark Arts, had turned out to hide Voldemort underneath his turban and tried to murder them.

In their second school year, a young Tom Riddle, who came out of an old Diary, tried to murder them both with the help of a gigantic Basilisk.

A shudder run through Annabeth's body as she thought about the giant Basilisk. She just couldn't get this beast's scary eyes out of her head.

At the moment, the two Potter children sat in their room, practicing spells for their upcoming school year as suddenly the door bell rung a few times.

A few moments after Petunia's voice could be heard from downstairs. "What are you waiting for, Harry!? Quick, open the door!"

Harry rolled with his eyes and quickly made his way downstairs to let their guest inside. Followed by Annabeth, who had quickly grabbed their school papers in the process.

It was raining outside and Uncle Vernon had an annoyed face expression plastered on his face while he and his sister Marge stood under his umbrella.

The two stepped into the house and Annabeth held the papers up. "Uncle Vernon. We need you to sign this", she told the man, in the sweetest tone she could manage.

"What is it?", the man asked the brunette curious and grumpy at the same time. "Nothing just school stuff", the young brunette mumbled in the hope that he would just sign the damn paper.

"Later perhaps, if you and your brother behave", the older man told her before he walked towards the living room. Annabeth roll with her eyes in annoyance behind his back.

"I will, if she does", Harry answered him with narrowed eyes, making Aunt May look at them annoyed. "Oh, you're still here, are you?", she questioned them, a disgusted look on her face.

"Yes", Harry answered the woman annoyed. "Don't say yes in that ungreatful way. Damn good of my brother to keep you two!", the woman warned the boy before she turned to Vernon, pretending as if the twins weren't there anymore.

"They'd have been straight to an orphanage if they'd been dumped on my doorstep."

There was a moment of silence and Annabeth hoped that Harry would just keep his mouth shut. Suddenly the woman stormed into the living room.

"Is that my Suffers?! Is that my little neffy-pooh!", she exclaimed as she approached Dudley, who was sitting on the couch.

"Take Marge's suitcase upstairs!", Vernon told the two kid's besides him as he pointed upstairs.

And so they did and after they finished bringing the suitcase up, they both prepared the dinning table and afterwards washed the dishes.

At some point, Annabeth watched how Marge leaned down to her dog and let him drink from her glas. The young girl had to hold back a gag.

"What are you looking at?", the women suddenly asked her with narrowed eyes. But Anna just looked down and continued to hand Harry the dishes.

Marge turned to face her brother. "Where do you send them, Vernon?", she questioned her brother and pretended like they weren't there again.

"St. Brutus. It's a fine institution for hopeless cases", their uncle quickly lied to her shamelessly. "Do they use a cane at your school?", the women then asked the two children curiuos.

Harry looked up from the dishes, a wide smirk plastered on his face. "Yeah, all the time", he answered and Annabeth just shook her head to herself, not understanding what he found amusing.

"Excellent. I won't have this namby-pamby wishy-washy nonsens about not beating people who deserve it", the women rammbeled on an on. Annabeth rolled with her eyes and turned to Harry, who met her gaze and shrugged.

"You mustn't blame yourself about how this one turns out. It's all to do with blood. Bad blood will out", Marge continued to talk about them as if they weren't even there.

She rose an eyebrow at the woman, "What is it the father did, Petunia?"

The scrawny brunette woman seemed hesitantly, "Nothing, He didn't work. He was unemployed."

Annabeth felt the anger rise in her, her eyes narrowing at Petunia, who lied to the woman without a second thought.

Annabeth new exactly that it was a lie, because Hagrid had once told her that her father had been one of the greatest Auror's he'd ever known.

"And a drunk too, no doubt?", Marge continued, making Annabeth grab onto the counter hard. Her knuckles turned white and she bit onto her lip, trying to control herself.

But as it turned out Harry didn't done such a great job in containing himselfe.

"That's a lie!", he suddeny screamed at them from besides his sister. Annabeth eyes widened as she watched her brother scream at the adults.

"What did you say?", Marge asked him stunned by his action.

"My dad wasn't a drunk!", Harry told her angry and suddenly the glass that Marge had held in her hand exploded.

Petunia let out a short shriek and Marge waved her off, "Don't worry. Don't fuss. Petunia. I have a very firm grip."

Uncle Vernon had a worried look on his face before he stared at the twins warningly, "I think it's time you two went to bed."

"Quiet Vernon. You, clean it up" the women immediately interrupted him as she pointed at Annabeth. The brunette grabbed a towel from the sink and made her way over to the table.

As she gathered all the glass pieces, she could hear the women say, "Actually, it's nothing to do with the father. It's all to do with the mother. You see it all the time with dogs. If something's wrong with the bitch, then something's wrong with the pup."

That was enough. Annabeth, who'd just walked back towards the kitchen counter, now turned back to face the woman.

"Shut up! Shut up!", she threw the towel aggressively into the sink, staring the woman down.

But Marge just smirked at her amused and held up her finger. "Right, Let me tell you-", she said as the lights suddenly begann to flicker.

Annabeth's gaze was still fixed on Marge and Harry eyed his sister worried.

Everything shook and suddenly Marge's finger started to grow thicker and thicker. Her whole body got thicker every moment until she looked like a balloon.

"Vernon, Vernon do something!", the women screamed for help as she flew off and knocked Dudley out. Marge contiued screaming while she flew to the celling and slowly made her way outside. There she flew higher and higher into the sky.

Uncle Vernon grabbed her desperately by the hands and tried to hold her down but at some point he couldn't hold his sister any more. So he had to let her go and watch how Marge flew away screaming.

"Did I just do that?", Annabelle turned to her brotyer in shocked. "Uh- I think so", Harry answered her unsure. He quickly grabbed her by the hand and pulled her towards the stairs, "We should pack our stuff Annabeth."

Annabeth could hear her heart hammering inside her chest. She would be expelled, using magic outside of school was strictly forbidden.

The two quickly packed their trunks and made their way downstairs. But when they came down, Vernon was already awaiting them angryly.

"You bring her back! You bring her back now!", he screamed at Annabeth furiously, who stood behind Harry.

"She deserved what she became", Annabeth sneered at him still angry at the women. The man screamed out in anger while he went to grabb her, but Harry drew his wand and pointed it at his uncle.

"Keep away from her!", he warned him angrily. Vernon seemed taken back but after a moment he looked down at Harry. "You can't do magic outside school."

"Yeah? Try me!", Harry said confident as he approached his uncle, making him step back. "They won't let you back now!", Vernon said to Annabeth gleefully.

"Anywhere is better that here!", Annabeth spatted in rage as she quickly opened the door and stepped outside.

The cold summer night air hit her face immediately, the darkness only disturbed by the dim light of a few street lamps.

The large streets were still wet from the rain in the morning and there were many puddles next to the side walks.

The twins made their way down the streets, carrying their trunks behind them, until they reached the old playground, where the kids would always play in the afternoon.

It looked a little scarry at night, but Annabeth felt safe with Harry by her side.

The two sat onto the ground not saying anything until Anna let out a deep sighed, "I blew her up."

There was silence until she turned her head to Harry, who already looked at her, grinning, "That was pretty wicked!"

The two broke out in quiet laughers until the light from the street lamp above them, and all of them down the street begann to flicker.

They both immediately stopped laughing and looked up to the lamp. Suddenly, a small wind came up, making Annabeth's hair fly into her face.

The swings behind them on the playground swung slowly forward and backwards, shrinking terribly in the process.

A shiver made it's way down Annabeth spine and goosebumps errupted on her arms. The girl had a weird feeling, like something really bad was about to happen.

She slowly grabbed onto Harry's arm while she watched the swings moving. But her attention was brought to a weird noise that suddenly came from across the street.

The girls heart pounted like crazy in her chest and her breath got cought in her throat. The brunette narrowed her eyes at the bushes on the other side of the street.

But they widened again as she realized that there were a pair of yellow glowing eyes watching them.

The girl slowly got onto her feet, slowly recognizing something that looked like a big black dog.

Harry, who'd stood up as well, flinched and fell over his trunk when the the dog suddenly barked at them.

A bus honk could be heared in the distance and the twins were blinded by a bright light, coming towards them.

The bus stopped right infront of them and now Annabeth could eye it closer. It was blue with many Windows and in the entrance stood a young man.

"Welcome to the knight bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizards. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor for this evening", he read out loud from a peace of paper, sounding unmotivated.

The man looked up from the paper, making eye contact with Annabeth before his eyes wandered off to Harry on the ground. "What you doing down there?", he asked him curious.

"I fell over", Harry responded with a voice that said, isn't it obvious. The man frowned at him, "What you fell over for?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Harry exclaimed as Anna helped him up to his feet. "Well, come on then, let's not wait for the grass to grow", Stan exclaimed enthusiastic as he motioned for them to get into the bus.

Annabeth grabbed her trunk from the street while Harry slowly peeked past the bus towards the bushes. But the dog was gone.

"What you looking at?", Stan questioned him as he followed his gaze. "Nothing", Harry muttered, seeming deep in thoughts.

"Well, come on then. In!", the man exclaimed. Annabeth and Harry wanted to lift their trunks in, but Stan stopped them. "No, no no. I'll get this. You get in", he assured them.

When the two Potter's entered the Knight bus there were a couple of beds standing next to each other. In one of them, not far away from them, laid a dirty and old wizard, snoring loudly.

Harry and Annabeth walked down to the end of the bus followed by Stan.

He knocked at the small window, "Take her away, Ern"

"Yeah, take her away, Ernie", a corpse head, that hung in front of the driver mocked loudly.

"It's going to be a bumpy ride!" the head joked in a weird voice before the bus started driving.

Harry and Annabeth immediately fell onto one of the beds behind them, their eyes wide in shock.

"What did you say your name was?", Stan questioned while he pointed with his finger at the twins.

"We didn't", Harry replied shortly and Annabeth thanked him with a look that he didn't say their names. People tent to get pretty weird when they heard their last name.

"Whereabouts are you headed?" Stan asked another question. "The leaky Cauldron. That's in London", Annabeth told him friendly and the man turned to the driver.

"You hear that? The Leaky Couldron, that's in London", he exclaimed while snickering.

Only now Annabeth realized that they drove between the muggle cars. She continued to look out of the window, watching the cars pass by as she question a bit confused, "But the Muggles. Can't they see us?"

"Muggles? They don't see nothing, do they?", Stan questioned them rhetorical, his eyebrows raised. "No, but if you jam them with a fork, they feel it!", the head behind him commented again.

"Ernie, little old lady at 12 o'clock", the head then suddenly screamed at the driver, who immediately put his foot onto the brakes, bringing the bus into a stop directly infront of the lady.

Annabeth quickly held onto the bed but Harry flew with his face against the window with a loud thump.

A short snicker escaped her before Harry shot her a glare.

As the Lady finally passed the street the bus started driving again and Harry sat down next to Anna.

His attention was caught the newspaper Stan held in his hand. There was a man with long dark hair and a extremely thin face.

You could nearly see every bone as he screamed like a mad man at the people, who took the picture.

"Who is that? That man?" Harry questioned interested. Stan turned his news paper around to look at the picture. "Who is that?", he questioned like he couldn't believe that someone didn't knew this man.

"That is Sirius Black, that is", he answered them as he showed them the picture again. "Don't tell me you never been hearing of Sirius Black."

He eyed the twins, who both shook their heads in union. Stan leaned forward, his gaze wandering back and forth between the two, "He's a murderer. Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it."

There was a small silence, Annabeth couldn't draw her eyes away from the moving picture. "How did he escape?" she asked him, the goosebumps returning.

"Well that's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that done it!", the man exclaimed fascinated. "He was a big supporter of-", he stopped and leaned his head to the side.

"You-Know-Who", he finishing quietly.
"I reckon you've heard of him", he said as he leaned back against the wall.

The twins exchanged a look before Harry responded, "Yeah, him we heard of."

As they finally arrived by the Leaky Couldron, Harry and Annabeth were already awaited by the scary butler of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.

He led them up to the Minister's office and brought their trunks into their several rooms.

When he opened the door for the twins to step in, Annabeth and Harry immediately saw their owls sitting by the window.

"Hedwig!"

"Ceceil!"

The two greeted their pets before the Minister caught their attention. "Very smart birds you got there, Mr and Ms Potter. They arrived here just five minutes before yourself", Fudge said as he stood by his office table.

"As Minister the Magic, it is my duty to inform you, Ms. Potter that earlier this evening your uncle's sister was located a little south of Sheffield, circling a chimney stack. The accidental Magic Reversal Department was dispatched immediately. She has been properly punctured and her memory modified."

Annabeth looked at Harry, who sat in the seat on her right. "She will have no recollection of the incident whatsoever", the Minister finished before he started walking over to them.

"So that's that- and no harm done", he exclaimed as he stretched out both arms to underline his words.

"Uhm- Minister?"

"Yeah"

Annabeth met his eyes as she asked him carefully, "I broke the law. Underage wizards can't use magic outside of school."

The Minister clapped his hands together, "Oh, come now Annabeth, the Ministery dosen't send people to Azkaban because they blew up their aunt's."

"On the other hand, running away like that, given the state of thing was very, very irresponsible", he added as he walked behind them and laid a hand on each of their chairs.

They both looked at him questionable. "We have a killer on the loose!", he told them.

"Sirius Black, you mean?", Harry asked him, immediately knowing who he meant.

"But what has he got to do with us?", the boy questioned the Minister curious. The man let out a unconvincing laugh, "Nothing of course. You're safe. And that's what matters."

"And tomorrow you'll be on your way to Hogwarts", he said as he walked back to his desk.

"Oh, these are your new school books, I took the liberty of having them brought here. Now Tom will show you two to your room", he explained to them smiling before Tom led the twons through the halls of the Leaky Couldron.

THE NEXT DAY as Harry and Anna made their way downstairs they could already hear Ron and Hermione arguing with each other.

Annabeth smiled as she realized how much she had missed the two. "I'm warning you Hermione. Keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers, or I'll turn it into a tea cozy", Ron warned the girl as he lifted up his rat.

"It's a cat, Ronald. What did you expect?! It's in his nature!", Hermione argued back at him.

"A cat is that what they told you? Looks more like a pig with hair", Ron insulted the cat, that sat on Hermione's arm.

"That's rich, coming frome the owner of that smelly old shoe brush", Hermione contered nodding at the rat in his hand.

The twins stopped in the middle of the stairs exchanging an amused look before they continued to watch their friends.

"Crookshanks, just ignore the mean little boy", Hermione told her cat as she gave Ron a death glare.

Suddenly Ron's eyes found Harry's and a smile appeared on his face.

"Harry!", the redhead exclaimed happyly, making Hermione turn around to them.

"Annabeth", the brunette greeted her with a big smile. Annabeth and Hermione had written over the summer, but they missed each other anyway.

Ron didn't write at all, he hated writing letters but it was okay for Annabeth, otherwise she would just hear him grouse over his brothers and Ginny.

Annabeth took a step forward and brought them both into a big hug. "I missed you two", she said as she leaned back again.

"We missed you too", Hermione said as she smiled widely.

A moment after the group sat around the table Harry asked, "So Egypt, how's it like?"

They all looked at the newspaper Ron had placed on the table. You could see the whole Weasley family standig infront of pyramids, waving at the camera.

"Brilliant, loads of old stuff like mummies, tombs, even Scabbers enioyed himself", Ron told them with a smile.

"Egypt used to worship cats", Hermione shot at him, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Yeah, along with the dung beetle", Ron replied as he looked at her cat disgusted. Harry and Annabeth both couldn't contain a chuckle.

"Not flashing that dipping again are you, Ron?", Fred suddenly asked his brother while they walked past him and Harry.

"I haven't shown anyone!", Ron exclaimed annoyed. "No, not a soul. Not unless you count Tom!", Fred joked loudly before he continued. "The day maid."

George joined in, "The night maid."

"The cook."

"The bloke who fixed the toilet."

"And that Wizard from Belgium", the twins went on and one listing of the numbers of people Ron had shown the newspaper.

Annabeth started laughing as Fred and George sat down next to her smiling. "Hey there, little one", Fred gretted her, winking.

The three had become close friends over the past three years. They were like big brothers to her, honestly the whole Weasley family had become her own. She didn't knew why they cared so much about her and her brother but she was really thankful for it.

"Harry, Annabeth wonder if I might have a word?", Arthur Weasley interrupted the conversation. "Uh-yeah, sure", Harry answered before they both followed after the man.

Annabeth stood up and followed Harry's and Mr. Weasley. "Looking forward to new term?", the man asked them as they walked.

"Yeah. It should be great", Harry answered him happyly while Annabeth just nodded and smiled.

They stopped behind a pillar. "Harry, some within the Ministry would strongly discourage me from divulging what I'm about to reveal to you two", he said as he leaned with an arm against the pillar, looking at the kids.

A couple of people passed them making Mr. Weasley leading them away from the pillar, he obviously was afraid that someone would eavesdrop on them.

"But I think you need to know the facts. You two are in danger", he stopped them both and looks at them. "Grave danger!", he whispered.

"Has this anything to do with Sirius Black, Sir?", Annabeth asked quietly as she carefully nodded at the poster besides them, which showed a screaming Sirius Black.

Mr. Weasley looked at them curiuos. "What do you know about Sirius Black?", he asked them expectant.

"Only that he escaped from Azkaban", Harry answered him, not knowing what the man wanted to hear.

"Do you know why?", Arthur questioned looking at them.

The twins both shook their heads in union. Mr. Weasley seemed rather uncomfortable, "Thirteen years ago, when you stopped-"

"Voldemort", Annabeth ended his sentence for him. The girl honesty didn't understood why everyone made such a big deal out of this name.

"Don't say his name!", Mr. Weasley warned her seriously. Annabeth looked at the man and muttered, "Sorry."

"When you stopped You-know-who-", Mr. Weasley began his scentence again as he led them further away from the others because some people walked past them.

"Black lost everything. But to this day, he still reamins a faithful servant. And in his mind- you two are the only things that stand in the way of You-Know-Who returning to power", the ginger haired man whispered before they started walking again.

"And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you two", he explained to the further. "And kill us", Harry chocked out.

There was a scilence between the three before Mr. Weasley spoke up again, "Harry, Annabeth, swear to me that whatever you two might hear- you won't go looking for Black!"

Annabeth had crossed her arms and payed with her sleeves as she stood next to Harry.

"Mr. Weasley- why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us?", Harry asked the man curiously.

Annabeth watched the man carefully as he led them back towards the table

She knew that there was more to this story, something the adults didn't told them, something important and she was determined to find out what that something was.