Okay, I am, obviously, one who appreciates the Harry Potter novels. If I didn't, I wouldn't be trying a fanfic for it. Now, I've read all books up until the current point, that is, up to book five, THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. Because JK Rowling is being an arrogant prat, sitting on the sequel, I've decided to try and write my own alternate timeline book. It will stem off from the end of book five, as though it were the sixth book that Rowling refuses to release, even though it's common knowledge that she's been finished for quite a while.

Sigh. Well, as mentioned, the books are written by Rowling, and I thus don't own them. They are great books, really, she just takes forever to write them. Correction: She has no trouble writing them, it's the releasing them that takes her too long. I've rambled too much.

Chapter One

Harry Potter, a quickly growing boy of sixteen, sat alone, quietly in his room, as he had been doing almost all summer. He didn't mind though. He preferred being stuck in his tiny room upstairs, away from his adopting family the Dursleys. This was for two reasons. The Dursleys didn't care at all about Harry's well-being, whether physical or emotional. This was because of one huge difference between Harry and most normal people. Harry was a wizard, or a student wizard, underage. He was not a muggle, or a non-magical person, like his family and just about 97 percent of the rest of the population of England. The Dursleys very much feared anything having do with magic, and kept everything about it strictly taboo. This meant Harry was ignored for the most part.

The second reason he preferred his solitary confinement was that he was very depressed. Harry's closest semblance to a real family member had died just a month ago at the hands of a very evil witch, working as a servant of the most evil person ever, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had made Harry's life miserable since he was only a baby, when he killed Harry's parents and attempted to kill him. He failed to get Harry, and his curse backfired, causing Voldemort to loose all of his abilities and power, and he disappeared. Some thought him to be dead. Others knew better.

Voldemort had returned over a year ago and killed a friend of Harry right on the spot in front of him. This saddened Harry very much as well. Never was he in such a state of emotional distress and turmoil as the summer following his fourth year at Hogwarts. This summer wasn't looking any better.

Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and best friend, his only kind family left, died just before his fifth year ended… And Harry couldn't find a way to now blame himself. It was his fault, though his headmaster Dumbledore tried to convince him otherwise, that I was his own fault, for not making everything surrounding his mystery revealed sooner… So now Harry was without loving family. The Dursleys were actually related. His aunt on his mother's side, Aunt Petunia, was not magical at all, though her sister Lily, Harry mom, was. She had always resented magic ever since Lily became a witch, and her husband, Vernon Dursley, wasn't any kinder.

So Harry voluntarily locked himself away in his room almost instantly when he got off the Hogwarts Express train in June. Now it was late July, and he was not planning on coming out unless he had to.

Of course, he still maintained contact with his two close friends Hermione and Ron via owl messaging. From what he gathered, Ron was back at his home, the Burrow, while most of his family was at 12 Grimauld Place in London. His friend Ron was his best, a member of a very large family, the Weasleys. Large, but poor, while still very happy. Ron had a sister Ginny, younger by one year than him, and five brothers: the twins Fred and George, Charlie, Bill, and Percy. All his brothers were older, meaning he often got hand-me-down items. Percy and Mr and Mrs Weasly were at 12 Grimauld Place, while Ron stayed at home with Ginny and Fred and George.

Hermione was from a muggle family, though she was a talented witch, a very rare occurrence. Her family didn't find any inconvenience in it like the Dursleys did though, and they encouraged her to use her talents as often as possible. She was at her home also.

As for 12 Grimauld Place… That was the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It belonged to the Black family, to Sirius, but there were no longer any heirs to the Black family. It was being used, and it had been for over a year, for this purpose.

Harry laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the previous summer of hell, comparing it to this one. Voldemort was back. This wasn't news to him of course. He'd known, and he was one of only a handful that believed it. H believed, of course, because he was there with front row seats for his return to full power. However, the entire wizarding world was in denial to the extreme. The Ministry of Magic wouldn't believe it, and they printed all kinds of slanderous filth about Harry and Albus Dumbledore for over a year before they were finally proven wrong. Cornelius Fudge was still in deep water in the community of wizards for not letting everyone know sooner what was going on.

In fact, within a week, the wizards and witches around the country called for Fudge's dismissal, to be replaced by Albus Dumbledore… Albus, a very kind, yet wise and powerful wizard, wouldn't accept the nomination, though he was pleased to be welcomed back as a respectable member of the Wizegamot and whatnot. So Fudge kept his position at Albus' recommendation, though Fudge instantly asked Dumbledore to become his closest advisor. He accepted graciously, though made it clear he would keep his full time position as Headmaster at Hogwarts.

So now, Voldemort was "officially" back, and everyone knew it. There was fear in the air amongst all magical folk, though muggles for the most part didn't even know what Voldemort was. Harry thought this was for the best, because the entire planet would be in panic. No, just the magical people of England need know.

Harry then thought of something. Do other countries know about Voldemort? If they did, did they concern themselves with their problem, or did they leave England alone to fend for themselves. Harry tried imagining every wizard on the planet fighting Voldemort. Even he wouldn't stand a chance against a united Earth. He laughed in spite of his bad mood.

There was a fluttering, flapping noise that entered Harry's room at the moment. He sat up and found Hedwig, standing in his window. His white owl hooted happily. She had yet again completed another mission. She had delivered a message to the Order at Grimmauld. He was told to send a note every three days in order to tell them he was okay. This was the only thing the Dursleys really pestered him about, because they'd been told by a rather threatening wizard named Alastore Moony that, if he hadn't heard from Harry that he's aright every three days, a group of wizards would be sent to sort out the problem. The Dursleys, haters of magic, didn't want that.

Harry took a piece of parchment from Hedwig's leg and read it. It was letter addressed to him in a very neat script. He recognized it as the handwriting of… Albus Dumbledore? He quickly scanned it over in shock. He didn't often receive mail from him.

Dear Harry,

First, give your family my apologies should this letter disturb them. I know they dislike post by owl, but I wanted this to get to you as fast as possible. I will be arriving at your house on Privet Drive in two days to discuss some things with you. Some of such things are important, while some are trivial, though I don't want to say too much. Please warn your family immediately. I know they don't like surprises, but remind them who I am, especially your Aunt, and there shouldn't be too much trouble. If it is too much of a problem, send Hedwig back, and the letter will find its way to my hands soon enough.

Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore

Harry read the letter again to make sure he wasn't getting a little crazy cooped up in his room. He couldn't possibly mean to come and waltz into his Aunt and Uncle's house and expect to be welcomed. However, Harry was well aware that Albus Dumbledore knew what his family was like, so he figured he must have his reasons. He still couldn't get over the confusion, but he walked out of his room with the letter in han, ready to break the news.

He walked into the kitchen, where Aunt Petunia stood preparing a nice dinner meal. Uncle Vernon was reading the evening newspaper. His cousin Dudley was out somewhere for the week. He hadn't really heard where, though he didn't care when he left a few days ago. The two adults barely acknowledged his existence, untile he cleared his throat.

"Out of your room are you?" asked Vernon shortly, still reading the paper. "Well, to what do we owe the honor?" Harry clenched his fists tightly. He didn't appreciate being mocked, and his temper, ever flaring, was rising quickly. He pushed his anger away quickly though and spoke.

"I got a letter," he said calmly. They froze what they were doing. They knew Harry always got post by owl, though they didn't like it. They had to deal with it though, and never spoke about it consequently. Harry never really brought up his mail with them.

"Why does it concern us?" asked Vernon carefully. "You're not having any friends over are you?"

Harry decided he better word this as carefully as possible. He didn't want to set anyone off before he could fully tell them everything. He addressed his Aunt. "You remember Albus Dumbledore?" he asked. "The one who brought me here when… well, when you adopted me?"

"Of course," said Petunia stiffly. "How could I forget that awful day."

"Awful though it my be," said Harry, again growing ill-tempered, "Albus Dumbledore would like to talk to me." There was an electrified stillness in the air. "He's… coming over in two days."

"He's doing what?" asked Vernon. He sounded amused, as though Harry had finally told a good joke that he thought was worthy of his laughter. "What this… Dumblydork-person doing?"

"His name is Albus Dumbledore," said Harry sternly. "I'd appreciate it if you get his name right by the time he arrives in forty-eight hours." The message sunk in right then.

"He's going to be in my house!" roared Vernon.

"He has something important to talk to me about," said Harry quickly. "I'm sure it won't be long. He just wanted me to warn you."

"Warn us?" asked Vernon. "You make it sound as though he is allowed here in the first place, as though he's telling us he will be here no matter what."

"He will be here," said Harry through clenched teeth. "Okay?"

"No it's NOT ruddy well okay!" yelled Vernon. "You write back and tell him no!"

"It's okay Vernon," said Aunt Petunia. This took them both by a bit of shock. She of course hated magic as much as Vernon, but it was only just a year ago that she was revealed to have a much more in tact view of the magical world than she let on. She knew Dumbledore because they'd spoked very seriously concerning Harry's homage at number 4 Privet Drive. She knew what Dumbledore says goes. She knew his power was great, and evidently didn't want to mess with it.

"Let him come," she said. "He's the most powerful… wizard in the world."

Vernon hiccupped at the word "wizard" being used. No such magical terms were allowed to be spoken in his house, but he let it slide. "Very well," said Vernon. "At least tell him to come looking decent for a man. I want everything to be as normal as possible."

Right. Normal. Harry returned silently to his room upstairs to send a letter to Hermione and Ron right away. Hopefully, Hedwig hadn't gone hunting yet. It was almost dusk, the perfect time to catch mice.

End Chapter One

I have a general idea as to how I want the story to progress, but I'm also winging it on some parts. Forgive me if things don't seem to flow very well at some points in the future. In the meantime, the next chapter will contain Harry meeting with Albus and everything he has to say to the boy at Privet Drive. It's bound to be... well, weird I guess. Please R & R if you like this at all.