Harry was running from something, but he didn’t know what. All he knew was that he needed to get way from whatever it was and fast. All of a sudden his foot caught on something and he went sprawling to the ground. ‘Stupid rock’ Harry thought as he stood and brushed himself off. Something in front of him moved. He glanced up and just stared. His parents. Joy surged through his body.

“Mom! Dad!” But they just stood there. “Mom, Dad?” Harry asked again feeling suddenly very uneasy. All of a sudden they started to slowly disappear. Voices started appearing around him chanting the same things.

You killed them. It’s all your fault. Voldemort’s back because of you. You’re killing the innocent. Maybe you should be a Death Eater.

“No, no, no. I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.” Harry answered, “I didn’t mean to.”

Harry shot up in his bed as his dream world faded. Guilt washed over him. It was all his fault. Why did I have to just stand there while Cedric was killed? I should’ve saved him.

There was a tapping on the small window next to Harry’s bed.

“Hedwig!” Harry opened the window quietly as not to wake the Dursleys. Hedwig flew in and dropped a letter on Harry’s lap. It was a letter from Hogwarts. Harry quickly tore it open and read.

Mr. H. Potter,

It has come to our attention that you are no longer safe at your current residence. Therefore, at 12 pm on Tuesday the 20th of July, a Hogwarts staff member will come and take you to Hogwarts where your living situation for the rest of the summer will be further explained. Have a nice day.

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry jumped for joy causing himself to topple off his bed and hit the floor. His head and arm were aching, but he didn’t care. No more Dursleys! And he was going back to Hogwarts! He was finally going home! He just hoped Dumbledore would have enough sense to not send someone like Snape to get him. But he doubted Dumbledore was that far off his rocker.

Harry got up off the floor and started to pack his stuff. The Dursleys had let him keep his trunk surprisingly enough. They had been completely ignoring him all summer except to give him his list of chores. Harry of course didn’t mind this at all, but he had been getting pretty lonely without anyone to talk to.

Harry bent over to get his stuff from under the floorboard. Just as he stood up a black blur shot through his window. He tried to dodge it, but he wasn’t fast enough. The object struck him in the shoulder. Harry cried out in surprise. The object was a long black arrow glowing eerily. The arrow was lodged deep into his shoulder, but oddly enough it didn’t hurt at all.

Harry stood in shock for a few seconds. Then he tried to pull the arrow out of his shoulder but it wouldn’t budge.

‘Great,’ thought Harry, ‘Now I’m going to have people staring at my forehead and my shoulder.’

All of a sudden, a piece of parchment flew out of the end of the arrow and into Harry’s hand. He stared at it for a moment then slowly opened it. One sentence was written in the middle of the paper:

Have a nice summer.

‘Ok,’ Harry thought, ‘this is just too strange’. His shoulder started to tingle. Then pain shot forcefully through his whole body. Harry screamed in pain and collapsed on the floor. Hedwig started to fly around hooting in distress.

‘Why aren’t the Dursleys coming? Can’t they hear me?’

Harry’s scar was pounding in unbearable pain. Harry kept screaming for what seemed like hours. He couldn’t stand it any longer and passed out from the pain.

Hedwig landed next to Harry and ripped off a piece of his shirt. She went to fly out the window only to find it had been closed. She tried to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Giving up, the owl went and perched on her owner waiting for someone to come.

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

(A few hours before)

“I’m going to bed,” Harry told his aunt and uncle. They didn’t respond. Harry shrugged and walked slowly up the stairs to his room.

About half an hour after Harry had went to sleep, the Dursleys were still sitting in their living room. Vernon was in his armchair reading the news and Dudley was busy stuffing his face with cookies (he hadn’t gone off his diet, but his mother thought he was such a poor ‘duddy wuddy’ that he could have just a few treats). Petunia was busy rearranging the many pictures of Dudley by the fireplace. They were too engrossed in their activities to notice a shadow slip in the room.

The figure came up behind Vernon and wrapped its long fingers around his neck and squeezed. Vernon didn’t even have a chance to struggle; he was dead in a second.

The figure moved on to its other two victims. It came up behind Petunia and crushed her skull between its bare hands. Dudley had heard a strange crunching noise and peaked around from his place in front of the TV. He saw his mother’s mutilated skull and father’s bulging eyes and foaming mouth. He was frozen in shock.

The shadow crept up to Dudley’s chair and stabbed a long kitchen knife into the large boy’s back killing him in and instant. The shadow slipped silently out of the house almost as if it was invisible.

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

(Next day)

Severus Snape was standing at the edge of Privet Drive grumbling to himself.

“I can’t believe I’m here. What was Dumbledore thinking?! He is most definitely off his rocker, making me come get insufferable Potter.” Snape continued mumbling to himself as he walked up to the door and rang the bell. He waited for a few minutes and rang again.

‘If this is Potter’s idea of a joke, he is going to be cleaning the entire dungeon with a toothbrush every night for a the rest of the year!’

Snape gave up and opened the door with magic. He stepped inside. “Potter! Where are you? You’re wasting my time!”

Snape walked into the living room and froze. The Dursleys were exactly where they were left the night before.

‘Potter, what have you gotten yourself into this time?’ Snape thought.

Snape searched the rest of the downstairs a little more frantically then one might expect for him hating Harry so much.

Finding Harry nowhere, he climbed the stairs. Snape entered a small bedroom and tripped over a heap of clothes on the floor.

‘I’m going to kill Potter for this if he isn’t already dead’.

A small moan came from the heap of clothes Snape had just fallen over. Realizing he had found Harry, Snape quickly rose from the floor and stalked over ready to give a lecture to the boy about the proper places for sleeping.

“Potter, what are you doing? Get up this instant!”

Harry didn’t move.

Snape then noticed something sticking out of Harry’s right shoulder.

“Oh no” Snape muttered.

He shrunk Harry’s trunk and put it in his robe pocket. He then bent over and picked Harry up.

“Do you eat anything Potter?” Snape mumbled as he did this.

All he got in reply was a pain-filled moan.

Snape hurried out of the house and down Privet Drive into some bushes. Once he was out of view he apparated.