Hallowed
Chapter One: Revelation

A/N: This story has been a work in progress for a while. It was written due to inspiration from a few of Refreshingly Original's stories on this site. It is completed and I will be uploading chapters every few days so as not to overwhelm with a lot of reading. :) Cheers!

Summary: Book 7: Harry wasn't as alone as he appeared to be. Throughout his life, someone has been watching, and they still are. This simple action will change events as he moves forward.

Rushing air, darkened skies, and the blaring sound of a flying motorbike had filled his dreams. Flashes of light and screams of horror blinded his senses as well; bodies falling from brooms and thestrals alike before he himself took the plunge on the motorbike. The roar of Rubeus Hagrid as Sirius Black's bike fell through the clouds was undiscernible. The young man that he was on the verge of becoming was forgotten as he felt like a scared kid. He could hear Hagrid's desperate cries that he was coming to get him, but it didn't matter. As the bike descended quicker than it should have, the sidecar he had been cramped in slammed into the earth; waking the one who had experienced it a few short days ago.

Harry Potter sat bolt upright as he saw the fleeting moments of their narrow escape from Privet Drive. Recounting the events of the evening, he considered himself lucky that most had survived. There had been only one casualty, and that had been Alastor Moody; betrayed by Mundungus Fletcher, the ex-auror had crashed his broom, and no one had heard from him. The others had managed to get to their destinations before taking portkeys back to the Burrow. George had a large slash in his ear but Mrs. Weasley had managed to keep it mostly whole. Even Harry's flight with Hagrid had gone well enough; true, they had crashed, but he had managed to ask Moody to shrink the trunk, broom, and Hedwig's cage before leaving. This had happened with all of the "Potters" that were in the air that night.

As Harry thought of the snowy owl, Harry felt Hedwig land on his leg with a soft hoot; her amber eyes resting on him filled with concern. Harry reached out a hand and gently stroked the owl. He could hear voices from the floors below as he did so; clearly, the burrow was alive with pre-wedding preparations again. Since everything had been sorted with Harry's arrival, Molly, Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley had been in the process of straightening up for Bill and Fleur's wedding that would take place in a day. Spotting his glasses on the side table, Harry pulled them on and addressed his owl.

"Glad we both made it out of that, Hedwig." The owl simply hooted and blinked. Harry could easily tell that she was grateful as well, though. "I don't think I could stand losing anyone else right now, especially you." He only paused to take a slow drink of water before continuing. "Been through a lot, haven't we?" At that point however, Harry heard the door to the room he and Ron were sharing burst open. Hermione entered with a genuine smile. Harry only had time to say good morning. "Morning, Hermione-"

"Happy birthday, Harry!" She handed him a well-wrapped present and went to Ron's bed. "Ms. Weasley will be up in a few minutes, I think." Hermione reached over and shook the sleeping teen's shoulder before straightening up. "Wake up, Ronald."

"Oy!" Sitting up, Ron looked around bewildered before spotting Hermione and Harry. "What time is it?"

"Nearly seven." Harry, who had already unwrapped Hermione's present grinned at her. "Thanks, Hermione."

"You know the others have presents for you downstairs, mate." Ron, having realized what day it was, had swung his legs over the side of his bed and gotten up. "Got mine down there too."

"I… I'm seventeen!" The realization hit him and Harry drew his wand; summoning a package of owl treats from his trunk, he tapped the seal and they opened. He withdrew one of the mouse-shaped treats and held it out for Hedwig to nibble on. She gave him a contented look and went on nipping at it until it was gone. "This is brilliant! Finally don't have the trace on me anymore."

"Innit?" Ron grinned as he threw on his jeans and a maroon shirt before preparing to head downstairs. "Come on, Harry. Let's beat Mum to the punch this morning and get down there before she comes up here."

"Sure." Harry, who had already started changing clothes, pulled on his jeans and a faded navy tee shirt before lacing up his trainers. After standing and stretching, he joined Ron at the door with Hermione right behind him. They trooped down the stairs and were careful not to wake Bill or Ginny as they passed their rooms. As it turned out, Ginny needn't have been considered because she was already downstairs working on sorting out breakfast plates.

"Morning, you." She said this cheerfully as Harry emerged from the stairs after Ron. "Happy seventeenth!" Though they had broken up at the end of last year, or had seemed to, Ginny kissed Harry on the cheek and nearly caused Ron to send a piece of bacon he had nicked to go flying out of his mouth. Harry wasn't too surprised by it. He wrapped an arm around her in a gentle hug of appreciation.

"Thanks, Ginny." Beaming, Harry moved through the kitchen and saw Ron's parents and siblings waiting for him in the sitting room. They all chorused "Happy Birthday" in a very cheerful way, and he prepared to spend the morning with the Weasley family.

Indeed he did spend the morning and early afternoon with them. Receiving different parcels from the Weasleys and the newly arrived Delacours, Harry marveled at the watch and chain that Molly Weasley had passed on to him. It had belonged to Fabian, her brother who had died during the first war with Voldemort. He had received an assortment of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes from Fred and George, a book on dating from Ron, and a new sneakoscope from Hermione. Hagrid, who arrived later, presented him a small pouch that was meant to be worn around the neck. Its confines were impervious to anyone but the owner. Even Remus and Tonks had come for dinner.

Unfortunately, the sudden arrival of Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, made the latter two leave quickly. He had been there to speak with Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the contents of Albus Dumbledore's will. The deceased headmaster had left Ron the deluminator, Hermione the Tales of Beadle the Bard, and Harry the first golden snitch he had caught in his first quidditch match. Scrimgeour had questioned all of these items; he had even gone so far as to watch as Harry took the snitch with his bare hand. Clearly he had hoped that it would reveal its secrets, but it didn't. There was one more matter, however. Dumbledore had left Harry two other items in the will. One was a large crystal phial full of a pearly white substance. At first, he thought it might have been one of Dumbledore's memories that he had forgotten to show him, but Harry changed his mind when he saw it was more of a liquid and wasn't actively swirling around. Scrimgeour announced with a bit of annoyance that it was a bottle of phoenix tears. He handed Harry a small scroll that had apparently accompanied the bottle. In Dumbledore's narrow handwriting was a small message: "Use them well. You will know when the time is right." The last thing Dumbledore had left him was a bit more controversial; the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

After a clear disagreement with the minister in regard to the sword, its purpose, and its ownership, Harry and Scrimgeour had stood nose to nose; their wands against each other. Only when they had been seen by Arthur and Molly Weasley did the minister regain his composure and control. He strode out of the room and made for the gate that led to the point where he could disapparate. When he had, Harry and the others rejoined the festivities in the back yard of the Burrow. He spent the evening of his birthday eating the delicious cake that Molly had made and speaking with friends and members of the Weasley family, who he had come to call his own.

The next morning dawned early and bright with the hope of a beautiful wedding. Harry, rising with Ron at Hermione's insistence, got up and dressed after having a spot of breakfast in the kitchen with Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Once he had finished the rest of the pre-wedding setup that wasn't going to be done by the others, he changed into a set of deep emerald green dress robes. It didn't come as a shock that he would have to be in a disguise at the actual wedding, though; Molly, Arthur, and he had discussed this the night before. He was to have to down a flask of polyjuice potion and assume the identity of a red-headed young man from the nearby village of Ottery St. Catchpole and pass himself off as one of the many Weasley cousins. Before he did this however, Order members began to arrive for the wedding. Remus, Tonks, Hagrid, and even Percy Weasley. He didn't speak much at all to his mother or father, but he did manage to talk to Bill and Fleur. The one that shocked Harry most was the sudden appearance of his head of house. He had just managed to come back from seating Hagrid when he spotted her talking to Molly.

Minerva McGonagall stood in her typical sweeping emerald robes and square spectacles. Her pointed witch's hat was missing on this warm summer's day, and Harry could see that her hair, normally a glinting black, was now flecked with more silvery grey. Even with her tall and alert posture, he noted that she looked rather exhausted. Still, the manner in which she spoke was rather, dare he think it, cheerful. It was fortunate that he was looking in that direction, because Mr. Weasley motioned for him to come closer; when he did, Harry was passed a flask full of what looked to be maroon potion. Entering the kitchen, he stood near the table and downed it in one go. Thankfully, he was the only one in there at the moment, but he didn't notice the eyes on him as he gritted his teeth.

The potion, as he remembered, tasted like a thick mud as it went down. Its coarse texture didn't help, but he had stomached it before. Harry remembered getting a few of Gregory Goyle's short hairs to try and trick Malfoy into telling him and Ron who the heir of Slytherin was. He did note that this boy's potion didn't taste any better than Goyle's had. Harry could feel his insides writhe like a great snake as the potion did its task, but that wasn't the only sensation. Blood like boiling water, heat was pouring through him, and as he looked down, he could see his skin literally bubbling as it took the shape of the other boy's. He felt ill as the potion continued to change him; his head felt light, eyes were watering, and he found himself gripping the edge of the table; the skin on his knuckles turning white. Only when his insides stopped moving and his skin seemed to smooth out did he notice a cool and solid hand on his shoulder. Harry took a moment to close his eyes and lower his head before turning to see who that hand belonged to. When he finally did, he was looking into the knowing green eyes of his former teacher.

"Not an easy thing to undergo is it, Potter?"

"No." Blinking for a moment, Harry realized that he didn't need glasses anymore. As he took them off, he felt the tightness in his arms where the boy he was impersonating seemed to be a bit thicker than he was. Frowning slightly at it, he stowed the glasses in a thin case before putting them into his pocket. "How did you know?"

"I watched." The slight beginnings of a smile played at the corners of the normally stern professor's lips, and Harry couldn't help but mirror it. It had to be a sight; watching him change from his usual thin frame to another boy over a minute or two. Eyes searching the room, he noticed that there was no mirrored surface to examine his reflection.

"How do I look?" He posed this question without even thinking, and had to grin at McGonagall's response.

"Like a Weasley." This time, she did smile in earnest, and Harry caught himself thinking it wouldn't be bad to see that more often. He didn't have long to think on why that had come to mind before she spoke again. "I will suggest however…" She withdrew her wand and flicked it casually at Harry's dress robes. "Ah, good." At his questioning look, she elaborated. "I believe you lost an inch or so in height but gained it in width." And with that, Harry noted that his arms were nowhere near as tight as they had been. He could move them easily as he did when he had his own height/weight proportions.

"Thank you, Professor. How long will it last?"

"While it did not look as if it were hanging off of you like elephant skin, it did look a bit odd." That comment got Harry's attention. It seemed oddly specific that she mentioned robes hanging off him like elephant skins. He had, in fact, said this to his aunt Petunia about some grey clothes he was supposed to wear to Stonewall High. That had been after Dudley had paraded around in his new Smeltings uniform. McGonagall seemed to notice Harry's sudden recognition of the phrase, because she made a simple comment to follow it. "I see you remember that as well as I, Potter. I will just say this: Arabella Figg was not the only one watching while you dealt with your relatives. As for how long it will last, long enough to fool anyone here."

"I knew it." He didn't linger on how long it would last, seeing as there was a more pressing matter. Finding a kettle of tea still sitting around, Harry poured a cup to chase the polyjuice potion before continuing. "You were sitting there in your animagus form at the start of class once in third year. I kept thinking I'd seen that cat somewhere…"

"Easy enough to keep an eye on you when Arabella had enough of them to make my presence convincing enough."

"Did Dumbledore send you?" It was a matter of genuine interest. Albus Dumbledore had kept watch on Harry by means of Arabella Figg, a squib that posed as an "ordinary" neighbor. He had even had Mundungus Fletcher to remain close during the summer between Harry's fourth and fifth year. It would have been logical to have a more reliable source of surveillance there.

"Actually, no." Noting that people were starting to really crowd in for the wedding, Harry and his professor headed out toward the mass of golden chairs. Finding a pair beside Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, they sat down. The three were engaged in a conversation with Hagrid about new baby unicorns that had been born in the forest over the summer and hardly noticed. "He objected."

"Didn't stop you." Harry said lightly. "I remember seeing that same tabby off and on during the year; mostly the summer. Now it makes sense. I thought I was going mad; thinking this cat was just watching me."

"I had my reasons for being there. Albus knew it and eventually respected them."

"I can't say how hopeful I was to see a silver tabby on the fence outside." It was easy admitting this because it was a simple truth. "Made the day go by easier; made Uncle Vernon angry at something else for a change." Hearing Mrs. Weasley and Arthur approaching from the back, Harry posed one question. "I don't quite understand though; why were you there if the threat had passed?"

"Unlike most, I never believed it had." McGonagall raised a hand and moved a stray grey hair back so that it comingled with the rest near her typical bun before continuing. "I never trusted your aunt or uncle. I watched them for an entire day before Hagrid brought you there under Albus' orders. I expressed my concerns when they arrived."

"And he still left me there?"

"The truth of the matter was that the wards that were put into place when Lily gave her life to spare you were better protection than anyone else could have offered." Professor McGonagall admitted with a definite hint of resignation. "Had there been any other way…"

"What would you have done?" She gave Harry a meaningful look as he posed this question, and he understood. Harry didn't have time to even think on a comment however; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had come down the isle and were almost immediately followed by Fleur and Monsieur Delacour. Bill and Charlie were standing in their positions already; Ginny and Gabrielle were as well. When the bride and her father reached the others, the short wizard that had been present and spoken at Dumbledore's funeral made a quick speech. He then asked the important question: if William Arthur Weasley would take Fleur Isabelle to be his wife. When Bill said "I do" and Fleur did the same when asked, the two were pronounced bonded for life. They then shared a kiss and were greeted by a healthy round of applause.

Row by row, people went to congratulate the newlyweds. Molly, Ginny, Hermione, Madam Delacour, and several others were in varying amounts of tears during the affair, and Harry was pleased to get to Bill and Fleur quickly. He congratulated them and moved on to find a table somewhere away from the crowd. A little ways off, he could see Xenophilius Lovegood in his canary yellow robes. He eyed the symbol around the man's neck with slight curiosity. It looked to be a triangle encasing a circle with a bar through it. He had never seen that symbol before. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had spotted it.

"You find this strange as well?" A heavily accented voice spoke somewhere to Harry's right, and as he turned, he saw an unmistakeable man sitting beside him. Viktor Krum was there in deep crimson and gold robes. He looked a bit older than Harry last remembered, but his expression seemed to have softened slightly.

"I've never seen it before… Then again, Luna's father is a little off, from what I understand." Harry said this casually while Viktor frowned at the old man.

"I know who you are, Harry Potter." This was shocking, but Harry understood when Krum explained; Hermione had told him just who Harry was. "That mark is terrible."

"What does it mean?" Harry lowered his voice as he asked, seeing as Viktor had done it.

"It is Grindelwald's mark." Frowning deeper as Xenophilius looked their way, Viktor went on. "I saw it carved into a wall at Durmstrang while I was there."

"Grindelwald, the dark wizard Dumbledore defeated during the Great War?"

"The same."

"Harry," Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had moved to join the two at their table, and Harry could tell Ron was not pleased to see the Bulgarian quidditch player. "I see Viktor found you."

"Yeah." When they did sit down, Harry caught them up on what Viktor was saying. "He says that symbol Luna's dad is wearing belonged to Gellert Grindelwald."

"Why would Xenophilius be wearin' that?" Ron raised his eyebrows as both Krum ad Harry shrugged. The former offered a guess, however.

"Those who supported him wore his mark."

"Luna's dad is barmy, but I don't think he'd support the dark arts. He was on our side, telling everyone that would listen that You Know Who was back." Ron's denial of Viktor's statement was quick but sound. Harry had to agree that it was very unlikely that Lovegood would support such a man.

While that was on his mind, Harry thought of his discussion with his head of house. The discussion about her presence during his childhood came back up as he saw her talking to Elphias Doge in a low voice a few tables away. He had to admit that it was hard to think of her being thee many times during hot summer days or snowy winter ones. In fact, she had, and he wasn't about to discuss it with Ron or Hermione; at least not yet. Harry saw, to his displeasure, "Auntie Muriel" going to join Doge's table, and he could easily eavesdrop on their conversation from there.

She was saying how Doge's write up in the Daily Prophet had been a white-washed and glorified lie about Dumbledore; how he and his brother had at least one row that broke Albus' nose. There was also talk about Kendra Dumbledore, Albus' mother, who had "locked" her daughter away for being a squib. Then there was Percival; her husband, who had been locked away in Azkaban for killing at least three muggles. While Elphias didn't contest the part about Percival, he did argue about Kendra, Ariana, Albus, and Aberforth.

"Oh honestly Muriel, do you really believe anything Rita Skeeter puts out?" McGonagall had a look of revulsion as she questioned the older woman. "Most if not all that she has written, aside from Potter's interview with the Quibbler two years ago, has been nothing but hogwash."

"So you believe the silky sweet bile that Elphias has said?" Muriel, who could have probably done with an ear trumpet, half shouted back. "It's as if the whole world's gone deaf and blind to now much he's covered up over the years."

"Even if he did keep his family history to himself, that doesn't mean what Rita Skeeter wrote is the truth."

"Well, you know who her source was, I suspect." Muriel went on. "Had to be Bathilda Bagshot, didn't it?" The way she voiced this, it didn't sound like a question; more like a sarcastic remark. "Went to Godric's Hollow, she did and got the information from a reliable source close to the Dumbledores."

"Oh please." McGonagall waved her hand in a dismissive fashion as she took a sip of firewhiskey. "Bathilda Bagshot is how old now? I daresay she wouldn't have all of her wits about her."

"Bathilda Bagshot?" Harry heard this voice closer to him now. It was Hermione. "She was the author of "A History of Magic", Harry."

"I knew her name sounded familiar." Harry said this while still listening, which wasn't hard to do given the volume of the conversation. "Wonder what your aunt's on about, Ron."

"Don't mind her, Harry." Ron, who had been listening as well, took a bite of a half sandwich as he spoke again. "You heard her goin' on earlier."

"I know…" Harry remembered her going on about the tiara and how it improved Fleur's beauty when in reality, Fleur didn't need a goblin-made tiara to make her anymore beautiful. Being part Veela, she had the crowd with or without it. There were other pieces of conversation Harry had overheard with Muriel that made him rather dislike the woman. As he continued to listen, he saw Elphias Doge make side glances toward him. "Reckon he knows who I am?"

"Dunno." Ron, having finished the sandwich, looked over to the man as well. "Noticed McGonagall did."

"She saw me drink the polyjuice earlier. That's how she knows."

"Obvious, isn't it?" Hermione cut in quietly. "Harry, you are hardly ever seen without us or Ginny. My guess is that he saw us and assumed."

"Good guess." Ron said as he fiddled with something in the pocket of his dress robes. Harry was almost certain it was Dumbledore's deluminator.

"I'll see if he knows." Harry got up from his seat and nodded to Krum as he left. When he approached Doge's table, the man's eyes widened in welcome surprise.

"Ah, I know you well-" Shaking Harry's hand, Elphias was cut off by Muriel again.

"How could you? That's Barry… One of my lot." At this, Harry couldn't help but share a knowing look with Professor McGonagall, who actually had to work to suppress a half smile.

"Er… Hello again, Auntie Muriel." Harry played along and gave Elphias a secretive look that clearly said "I have to act like I'm related to her" and the elder wizard nodded.

"Know that one do you, Minerva?" Muriel took a long sip of wine, which was more than she needed; having drank a few goblets by now. "Not gotten into trouble like those twins over there has he?"

"No trouble out of this one."

"Sorry, are you Elphias Doge?" Harry had to ask before Muriel went off on a tangent again. "You're the one who wrote that column about Professor Dumbledore in the Prophet, right?"

"I am." Doge smiled, having noticed how easy it had been to eavesdrop on the conversation they had been having. "I should hope you don't believe all that you hear from that reporter, Rita Skeeter."

"I didn't know he had a brother or sister, Sir."

"Oh yes." Doge carried on with what he knew while Muriel scoffed. "His brother Aberforth and sister Ariana meant the world to him. It nearly killed him when she died-"

"You mean Aberforth nearly killed him." Corrected Muriel with a slight hiccup. "Ready to fly off the handle he was."

"Merlin…" Harry could just hear McGonagall mutter that under her breath in a bit of exasperation and had to suppress a snort.

"You wouldn't know he had other family, would you Barry?"

"Barney-" Harry corrected her, but he was cut off.

"Don't think I know my own kin's name? 'Course I know, Barry. Anyway…" Muriel straightened up a bit and looked Harry over with bleary eyes. "Wouldn't know anything about the man. They all died off before you were even a thought between your parents, didn't they?" Again, there was that sarcasm in place of a question. Harry suppressed the urge to frown at the woman. There was a retort on the end of his tongue that was about to be released when Elphias excused himself to speak with another warlock that had sat at a table nearby. This left Muriel to mutter something about her tiara and more wine. She then proceeded to totter off somewhere. Harry let out a sigh of relief at her sudden departure.

"I can see why Mr. and Mrs. Weasley only put up with her when they need to…"

"In some cases, there are the old and the wise combined." Looking after Muriel as she went to talk to Molly and Arthur, McGonagall shook her head. "In her case, I believe the former is all that applies." Turning back to Harry, she posed a question. 'Learned a bit, did you?"

"Wasn't exactly intending to eavesdrop." Harry admitted with a sheepish grin. "With her talking, it is a little hard not to, but I did hear a good bit of it."

I cannot say that what Elphias wrote is true, but you know Rita Skeeter's version of the truth is-"

"Far from it, yeah." Harry remembered the articles the woman had done on him, Hermione, and Viktor Krum during the Tri-Wizard tournament during his fourth year. "Honestly, the only reason she did that one article for the Quibbler was because Hermione blackmailed her."

"What?" Professor McGonagall assumed her usual teacher's speech pattern when continuing. "And how did she manage that?"

"We all started wondering where she was getting her information." Harry began to explain with his voice low in case of any passersby. "She either had sources or was interviewing the wrong people during the tournament. Both were plausible, but then she had information on Krum and Hermione and on when I collapsed during Divination. That was after she had been banned from the grounds. Turns out, after a bit of searching, Hermione found Rita and caught her. She's an unregistered animagus; a beetle. She's got markings around her antennae that match her glasses."

"And I assume Miss Granger threatened to expose her if she didn't go through with the article."

"Exactly."

There was a commotion around them, and both former teacher and student looked up sharply. It was all for naught however, because people were getting up to join Bill and Fleur on the dance floor. For a moment after, there was silence between the two; only interrupted by occasional head turns at loud conversations from tables nearby. Harry didn't know what to say. He was sitting here with someone he wouldn't see as a teacher anymore; he, Ron, and Hermione had already decided that they were going to look for the horcruxes that remained at the end of last term. It was only now that he sat here did he realize just how far she had gone for him.

He had just found out she had been there covertly throughout his childhood. When he had been out weeding the garden or trimming the hedge, he had that silver tabby to talk to. She'd even been there during the colder winters; watching a young boy shoveling off piles of snow that would eventually get taller than he was. When he had gone to Hogwarts, she had seen his flying talent and made sure he had an excellent broom when she got him on the quidditch team. During fourth year, she had actually fought against his remaining in the tournament with his safety in mind. He had only found this out by accident from one of the portraits in Dumbledore's office talking about it at the end of the year. Fifth year, she had warned him clearly about Dolores Umbridge and had stood up to her when it came to his career advisement. She had been there when he had seen Arthur Weasley attacked in the ministry. Even last year, McGonagall had kept a close eye on him. Now, he didn't want to admit that he wasn't coming back for this term. Harry knew however, that he had to do it. He, Ron, and Hermione had thought of sending owls as they left the school earlier on in the summer, but they hadn't; none could really think on what to say.

"Professor," Harry began. His words were slow to form in his mind, but he knew he had to speak them. "I thought you ought to know…."

"You will not be returning for the fall term." There was a note of resigned sadness in her tone now. Harry had seen this coming, but he still couldn't prepare fully for it. "I assumed as much; given the circumstances last year."

"How much do you know?" Harry had fully intended not to tell anyone about Dumbledore's plans to destroy the horcruxes for good reason. He knew that the more people who knew the truth, the more likely Voldemort would find out what they were up to. It was best to keep him in the dark until all of them were destroyed.

"Amazing those portraits in the headmaster's study…" McGonagall began lightly. "I would not trust them with the most insignificant secret. I overheard one talking about the night you and Albus left. They did not say where, however. I assumed you would not return due to our conversation in that office before the end of term."

"I can only say that there is something I need to find that will help me stop him." Not stopping there, Harry wondered aloud: "Did Professor Dumbledore mention anything about what he was guarding in the department of Mysteries?" Receiving a curt nod in return, he finished with a cryptic answer. "Voldemort thinks he is immortal; what I'm looking for will hopefully prove him wrong."

The slight confusion in Professor McGonagall's face turned into alarm as she spotted a silvery patronus in the form of a lynx streak around and perch itself on a table nearby. In a clear voice that belonged to Kingsley Shacklebolt it spoke:

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Everything was rushing around them: people were shocked and screaming, some were moving to the apparition point and vanishing, and others were staring around in confusion. Harry simply looked at the patronus as it faded away, but he was shaken from his thoughts by Professor McGonagall, who had stood quickly.

"The potion is wearing off." Plunging her hand into a pocket in her robes, Harry expected her to withdraw her wand. When she removed it, he saw a moderate length of parchment rolled up and sealed. When she held it out to him, he took it with a confused look. "You will remember the diary you destroyed five years ago?" At his nod, she spoke quickly. "This scroll of parchment works along those lines." She retrieved another from that same pocket and went on. "This is a means of communication between yourself and the Order. You hold that scroll and I its twin. Anything written on that scroll will appear here." She motioned to the one she held. "Likewise, anything written here will appear there." She indicated his. "Only those who are intended to see it will be able to read it."

"How…"

"No time." McGonagall spoke more quietly now as people rushed past them. "They will know you're here soon enough. Get somewhere safe."

"What about the others?" He saw Ron and Hermione moving through the crowd to find him. "The Weasleys-"

"They'll manage. Go, now." Her dark green eyes were scanning the crowd as she spoke; looking for the first sign of unwanted company. "And Potter?"

"Yes?" The use of his surname didn't matter much to him anymore. He was used to it by now. He did notice something different in the way she said it, however.

"Keep yourself hidden. Do not let them find you. The world you know is changing, and they will stop at nothing to keep you from your goal."

"I will." Looking to catch Hermione as she moved past, Harry turned back quickly. "Professor, thank you." When McGonagall raised a questioning eyebrow, Harry clarified. "For everything." In response, she placed a hand on his shoulder briefly before turning to leave. In that instant, he felt a warmth like he had never experienced pass through him. Harry turned and caught Hermione as she and Ron were moving behind him, but when he looked back McGonagall was gone; all he saw was a silver tabby streak through the crowd.

A/N 2: Well, there's the first chapter. Let me know what you think (Writing style, characters, etc) It's been a while since I've written any HP stuff, so I think I might be a bit rusty at it :)

Cheers!