A Change of Feeling

Grimmauld Place and Black Veins

With a feeling of mingled dread and anger, Harry ventured further into the house. It's totally quiet. The silence is not as deadly as with the Dementors, but more.. pleasant. Still, a dread of what is coming is filling Harry's being. His musings are interrupted by the screeching of an official-looking owl. It flew through the still-open door and dropped a letter into his arms.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have received intelligence that you performed a Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.

The severity of the breach of the Decree for Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.

As you already received an official warning for a previous offense under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlock's Statue of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on the twelfth of August.

Hoping you are well,

Yours sincerely,

Mafalda Hopkirk,

Improper Use of Magic Office

Harry read the letter twice. Inside his head, all was icy and numb. He was expelled from Hogwarts. His wand was going to be snapped. It was all over. He had to leave, right now! With a chaotic plan in mind, Harry jumped on his feet and ran up the stairs. After a couple of minutes of frantic packing, another owl flew into the house with a short message on it. Harry read it quickly, for he didn't want to wait on the oncoming Ministry officials. He stopped, Dumbledore was 'handling the situation', he had to stay inside.

'Okay, I wait another hour. But not long enough for my uncle to return. I received his message loud and clear. I'm not stupid, thank you very much!'

After this short hold-up, Harry still packed all his stuff. Constant Vigilance and all that shit. In his chamber, he broke his floorboard loose and took out his invisibility cloak and his photo album. He ran downstairs and dumped his stuff in his trunk. His firebolt lay on top of his trunk, ready for an emergency mission.

Harry felt frantic. He felt numb. Anger and fear were battling in his head. His shoulder was throbbing. An ice-cold pain was piercing through his shoulder and collarbone. Harry ran to the nearest mirror. He pulled his collar downward, showing the skin underneath. He saw a scratch running from his shoulder to his collarbone. It was red and angry-looking. But the scratch itself wasn't what Harry took in fear, black lines emerged from the redness. They were spreading like black branches across his left chest. Trembling with fear Harry touched his injury. It felt quite good to his touch. The scratch seemed to be healing, it did not bleed anymore. The black veins didn't hurt when Harry touched them. The cold pain seemed to subdue already, so Harry's pragmatic mind closed this freak event and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. He let himself fall on the couch, he didn't care to turn on any lights and let the darkness around him fill his mood.

Muffled noises and one loud bang, woke Harry from his dark musings. One look at the IKEA clock on the wall told him that five hours had passed. It was the middle of the night.

"Dreadful taste, those Muggles. It's all so clean." A gruff voice spoke in the hallway.

"Harry is probably upstairs, I check that first. Get his stuff." Another, more subdued voice said.

Harry took his wand and sneaked to the noise. In the hallway stood a woman, a tall dark-colored man, and Moody. He took his wand and pointed it at the neck of the dark man.