A Different Sort Of Magic
Chapter One
It was two days into the summer holidays and a fifteen-year-old Harry Potter lay on his bed, miserable. The truth was he had never felt so bad in his entire life. He felt drained of energy even though he left his room only to use the bathroom, to do chores, or to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which as usual were in smaller amounts than the rest of the Dursleys�.
He avoided his uncle as much as possible; Vernon would only bark orders at him anyway. His cousin Dudley looked fatter than ever, even though he was supposed to be on a strict diet. He�d spent the last two days out beating up ten-year-olds with his gang of unruly friends and hanging around causing all sorts of trouble.
Rubbing his tired eyes, Harry rolled over onto his side to face the wall, hoping to at least get some sleep. During the early hours in the morning, at three forty-two, he had woken up drenched in sweat from the same nightmare as before that usually ended with Cedric�s lifeless body staring back at him and Voldemort�s chilling laugh in the background, haunting him.
Sighing with frustration, as no sleep seemed to be coming any time soon, Harry thumped the bed with his fist, which didn�t help. He sat up, scowling when Aunt Petunia�s loud, demanding voice trailed upstairs, telling him to complete today�s chores or Vernon would not be happy.
I�ll just Stun him if he tries anything, Harry mused. He pictured himself Stunning Uncle Vernon, with Dudley and Petunia cowering in the corner of the kitchen. Smiling to himself, he reached out to the bedside cabinet and put on his glasses and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Standing up, Harry yawned and stretched tiredly.
He stomped moodily over to the door and yanked it open and thumped noisily down to the kitchen.
�Do you have to make such a racket, Harry? Here�s the list,� said his aunt coldly, handing him a piece of paper.
Huffing, Harry grabbed it. Looking down, he saw:
Mow the lawn
Clean out garden shed
Mow the back garden
That would take all day Harry fumed. He stormed through the patio doors and down to the shed, where he had to stop and inhale a good dose of fresh air before his anger subsided slightly.
Realising he had forgotten the key to the shed, he swore to himself and was about to make his way back to the kitchen and get it when he remembered his magic. He went back to the shed door and pulled his wand out of the back of his jeans, where he kept it safely hidden from view under his shirt, held in by his belt.
With a furtive look round to make sure no one was watching, he pointed his wand directly at the lock and said, �Alohomora!�
Hearing the door unlock, Harry looked around again to make sure no one had seen him and then slipped inside to get the lawn mower.
His chores did indeed take him all day. He was still at the front garden slugging it out in the dreadful stuffy heat when his uncle pulled up in the driveway. Vernon glared at Harry as he got out of the car.
Ignoring him, Harry continued to push the heavy machine back and forth.
�Boy, get inside now!� Uncle Vernon�s sudden sharp voice made Harry jump.
Sighing, Harry turned the mower off and slowly made his way inside, wiping perspiration off his forehead.
He headed into the kitchen where his aunt, uncle, and Dudley sat at the table waiting for him. All of them avoided making eye contact with Harry.
�Sit down,� ordered his uncle.
Obeying with much reluctance, Harry sat down and stared at the table, deliberately not looking at the others.
�We have to go away for two days as my sister has a terrible chest infection and we are going to make sure she has everything she needs. You, of course, will stay here and keep an eye on the house and complete the chores I�ve set up for you.�
Too shocked to speak, Harry looked at his spiteful uncle and saw that he wasn�t kidding.
�B-but�� he stammered.
�No buts, Harry. My sister needs us. It�s only two days�not a lot can happen in two days if you leave the house only to do your chores. There will be no funny business while we�re gone or you�ll have me to answer to. Have you got that clear?�
Harry nodded silently, still in shock at the prospect of being left in the house by himself with the threat of Voldemort still looming. He watched as his uncle, aunt, and Dudley left the room without another word to him.
Harry was still sitting at the table forty-five minutes later when he heard loud footsteps descend the stairs and the door slammed. Then heavy footsteps came back toward the door and it opened.
�Remember�no funny business!� Vernon�s loud voice cut right through Harry, and then the door slammed shut again.
The bang brought Harry back to his senses. He jumped up and ran to the living room. Looking out of the window, he saw his uncle�s car drive off. Fear soared through his veins as he stood there wondering what he should do. Should he alert Dumbledore or the Ministry? Was the first thought that entered his head? What about Ron and Hermione�surely they would know what to do?
Jumbled thoughts rushed through Harry�s mind as he stood staring out the window. He finally decided to write to Ron at the Burrow. Harry snapped out of his troubled thoughts and ran from the living room all the way up to his cousin�s second bedroom. He slammed the door shut loudly, partly just because he could, and stopped to catch his breath for a few moments. He was about to make his way over to his desk when he noticed something lying on his bed.
That wasn�t there before, he thought. And his relatives never came into his room. He looked around to see if anything had been moved, and listened intently for any noise that shouldn�t be there.
Hearing nothing apart from his rapid breathing, Harry checked the wardrobe and under his bed just in case someone from the Order had sneaked in like they usually did. �Anyone here?� he called out. There was complete silence.
Harry stared at the object on his bed. It appeared to be a thick, dusty old book. He cautiously sat down on the side of the mattress and was about to touch it when the thought suddenly occurred to him that it could be a Portkey leading him right into Voldemort�s hands.
He grabbed his pillow and threw it on top of the book and waited a few seconds. Then he gingerly lifted the pillow to find the book was still there. With one finger he touched it and was somewhat surprised to find he was still in his bedroom.
Harry reached out both hands and attempted to lift the book, but it was so extremely heavy that he could barely move it. With some difficulty he slid it onto his lap instead, startled by its weight. He glanced about for something he could use for a rag and saw a sock scrunched up on the floor. He picked it up and scrubbed at the thick layer of dust covering the book.
Once it was relatively clean Harry saw that it looked very old. Under the dust he could see that it was dark green, with a beautiful trio of red circles in the centre that formed a triangle. Curious, he opened it slowly; the heavy cover creaked and rustled.
The first page was brown with age and appeared to have been much handled, but was still intact. It bore the words �Book of Shadows� and had the same triangle made out of circles in the middle, but much smaller. The words made him gasp; he had heard of such books in which witches and wizards kept note of useful spells, charms, and herbs, and sometimes used as diaries.
Excited and even more curious now, Harry eagerly turned to the next page. Some sort of incantation was neatly written on it in black ink. Never thinking of possible consequences, he began to read it out loud.
�Invoking The Powers Spell
�Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night. The oldest of gods are invoked here; the great work of magic is sought. In this hour, I call upon the ancient powers. Bring your power to me. I want the power; give me the power.�
Hmm. Harry made a thoughtful noise without noticing. He turned page after page, admiring the pictures of scary-looking creatures and examining with interest spells he had never heard of, such as Empath Freeing Spell. He had no idea what that meant. He flicked through more pages saw a picture of a monster with red skin and black lines all over it, and black eyes. The words below the picture said:
Beware of this demonic soldier of fortune. Both powerful and dangerous, he has destroyed countless witches, innocents, and demons. As sinister as he is intelligent, he is not to be trusted. Balthazor�s known abilities include throwing energy balls and shimmering from place to place, but it is doubtful that his powers are limited to those capabilities. Because there is no known way to defeat him, Balthazor should be avoided at all costs.
Harry shivered slightly as he reread �throwing energy balls� and �shimmering from place to place�. This monster much sounds even worse than Voldemort, Harry thought to himself.
He was about to turn to the next page when suddenly the pages started to move by themselves, flipping backwards rapidly until the book slammed closed and he found himself staring, wide-eyed, at the front cover. He tried to open it but the cover wouldn�t budge.
Harry sighed with frustration. He looked out of the window and saw that it was dark outside; and for the first time he noticed what eerie, dark corners his room had.
He heaved the book off his knees and got up and turned on the ceiling light. When he turned back to the bed he was startled to see the red circles on the cover of the book glowing. Entranced by the sight, Harry sat back down and dragged the book back onto his knee.
He tried again to open it but couldn�t. The triangle, still a glowing red, suddenly turned bright gold; the book itself seemed to be glowing all over and felt lighter on his knees than it had been just seconds ago. Harry stood up quickly and the book with its glowing gold light fell to the floor. As he stood there looking down at it there was a sudden flash of gold, making him close his eyes and blink a few times.
Then Harry Potter�s body fell in a limp heap on the floor, with the gold light nowhere to be seen.
A Different Sort of Magic by bite
Chapter Notes: Jo Rowling owns the famous Harry Potter books. I am only borrowing her characters for my own entertainment.
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think. I also don't mind criticism; it will help me correct any mistakes.