Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter and the Next Overlord
Chapter 2 - Discovery
Hermione Granger had always been an early waker, as she had felt that any time spent doing anything other than studying was time wasted. Granted, much of her morning study time had been devoted to keeping certain friends of hers – namely, Harry Potter – alive, but her morning routine remained the same.
Therefore she was not surprised to find herself alone in the kitchen after she woke up early one morning in her parent's house. Stretching and stifling a yawn, she looked at the clock on the wall: 4:45 AM. A little early even for her, she merely shrugged the inconvenience off and padded her way over to the cupboard, where she retrieved a box of cereal, a bowl, and a spoon, as well as some milk from the icebox. Hermione had tried (several times) to surprise her parents and cook breakfast for the whole family, but that had resulted in several embarrassing and unnecessary visits from the fire brigade; she had eventually given it up as a lost cause and resorted to food that would not accidentally burn the whole house down.
As she sat down at the table, she surveyed the two papers on the table before her. Aside from deciding which book to read later, the most difficult decision of Hermione's day was usually just choosing which paper to read first: Magical or Muggle. Settling on the Muggle newspaper first, she poured herself her first bowl of cereal cornflakes and then picked up the paper and began reading. On the very front page of The Times of London, there was a very large picture with the title Six Possibly Dead in Terrorist Bombing. Hermione felt a sharp twist of fear in her gut as she saw the article; half of the block had been completely vaporized while the other half was basically untouched. Such precise destruction, she knew, could only be a result of a very specific terrorist: the most feared Dark wizard of their time, Lord Voldemort.
Hermione didn't know what was worse, the possible deaths of six people, or the fact that it barely affected her emotionally.
Shaking her head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts, Hermione kept reading the article. Basically it read that a bomb had exploded in a town near London, supposedly killing six local teenagers. The reason it was only supposed was because no remains had been found and six teenagers had never arrived at their homes the previous night. The paper theorized that the teens may have been so close to the explosion that their bodies had been completely vaporized by the blast, but it was also possible that they had been kidnapped. To Hermione, it sounded like a shaky theory at best, which further hinted at magical involvement; the Ministry was horrible at covering up Voldemort's attacks on the Muggle population.
However, something besides the shoddy cover-up nagged at Hermione after she read the article. Something told her it had to do with Harry, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Thinking she must have overlooked some minor detail that her subconscious picked up, she decided to reread the article; however, she didn't get more than two sentences in before she saw two words that turned her blood to ice:
Little Whinging.
Hermione wasn't the brightest witch at Hogwarts for nothing, but it also didn't take a genius to figure out that it was more than mere coincidence that an explosion that large would occur in a small suburban town that housed the most important wizard the entire magical world. Throwing the muggle newspaper aside, she unfurled The Daily Prophet hoping her worst fears were nothing more than fears rather than facts. The headline proved her otherwise.
THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED MISSING?
Late last night, a magical explosion rocked the small town of Little Whinging. Utterly vaporizing half a block, the detonation could be felt as far as the Ministry of Magic in London, who immediately sent out a team of Aurors to investigate the disturbance. What they found was a scene of utter destruction; the magical discharge had completely wiped out part of the block and, upon further investigation, killed six Muggle teenagers that happened to be passing by.
Of much more significance is the fact that this suburban town is home to The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and that he has seemingly disappeared off the face of this Earth. Mr. Potter's guardian, Mr. Vernon Dursley, gave us this response when asked of the whereabouts of The-Boy-Who-Lived. "I don't know where that freak nephew of mine has gone to, and I don't want your kind in my house at all. In fact, I'd just as soon never see his sorry face again."
Also, in a disturbing turn of events, the Aurors investigating the scene announced that the magic used In the destruction of Little Whinging was unlike any they had ever seen before. Rather than a spell, the explosion seemed to have been merely that: a tremendous outpouring of pure magical energy. This writer has a few theories on this revelation. Perhaps the famous Boy-Who-Lived had been involved in an emotionally intense moment and, unable to legally cast magic, the energy from these emotions built up inside his body until they literally exploded outwards. The response of his guardian seems to support this theory, however, since neither the body nor the magical remains of Mr. Potter were found at the scene, this theory is implausible, since such a large blast would surely have left him unconscious and unable to move, and also does not account for the strange magical signature found at the scene.
Continued on Page 4…
"Harry…" she sobbed. Hermione thought quickly: while it was doubtful that she could find anything that the Aurors wouldn't have already found, she knew that, for the sake of her best friend, she had to at least visit the site. Ron also needed to be informed since he was still probably in the coma he called sleep. Her mind decided, Hermione quickly took a pen and paper from a nearby drawer to inform her parents of the situation, then quietly stepped outside their flat and Apparated to The Burrow, home of her other best friend, Ron Weasley, and his family.
Meanwhile, deep in the Netherworld, Gnarl and his minions stood watch over the comatose form of Harry Potter. The minions pushed and shoved each other aside, trying to get a better look at the young wizard that lay on the bed in the Private Quarters. Gnarl, of course, showed a bit more restraint than his younger companions, but felt obliged to punt one of the rowdier minions out into the hall when he became slightly too rambunctious.
Gnarl made a mental note to make him clean out the Burrows for a month, then turned back to the boy. The Netherworld's choice of a new evil Overlord puzzled him quite a bit. From everything I've read, thought Gnarl, this boy is the complete antithesis of Evil in every way. Not to mention he is a bit younger than most recruits we find… However, the Netherworld gate had sent them to that small town, and he was the only magical creature around. The explosion of magical energy only helped the minions locate their possible new master much more quickly than normal; it nearly singed their ears off even though they were almost two blocks away. Furthermore, even though the boy himself positively reeked of light magic, the blast of energy that led to his discovery had been remarkably… angry. While "angry" was a far step from Evil (with a capital E), it showed that the boy definitely had the potential to become the next Overlord.
At the moment, though, he most closely resembled a bump on a log; the explosion of energy had exhausted him physically and mentally, and he had been asleep for more than 12 hours. Gnarl did not expect his condition to change overmuch for a while, and so he turned to leave the Private Chambers, ducking to avoid a vase thrown by the obnoxious Minion from earlier. "SNOTRAG! Throw one more thing and I'll throw you into the river of souls! Good luck convincing Mortis to fish you out."
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Wwll, there's your update people! Constructive criticism is always welcome, and I have two requests for you this evening: 1. Do you like the chapter lengths? or Would you prefer them slightly longer? Keep in mind this may affect the update time negatively. and 2. I have need of a Beta Reader, preferably someone with plenty of experience in both stories. Thanks again for reading!
Hermione Granger had always been an early waker, as she had felt that any time spent doing anything other than studying was time wasted. Granted, much of her morning study time had been devoted to keeping certain friends of hers – namely, Harry Potter – alive, but her morning routine remained the same.
Therefore she was not surprised to find herself alone in the kitchen after she woke up early one morning in her parent's house. Stretching and stifling a yawn, she looked at the clock on the wall: 4:45 AM. A little early even for her, she merely shrugged the inconvenience off and padded her way over to the cupboard, where she retrieved a box of cereal, a bowl, and a spoon, as well as some milk from the icebox. Hermione had tried (several times) to surprise her parents and cook breakfast for the whole family, but that had resulted in several embarrassing and unnecessary visits from the fire brigade; she had eventually given it up as a lost cause and resorted to food that would not accidentally burn the whole house down.
As she sat down at the table, she surveyed the two papers on the table before her. Aside from deciding which book to read later, the most difficult decision of Hermione's day was usually just choosing which paper to read first: Magical or Muggle. Settling on the Muggle newspaper first, she poured herself her first bowl of cereal cornflakes and then picked up the paper and began reading. On the very front page of The Times of London, there was a very large picture with the title Six Possibly Dead in Terrorist Bombing. Hermione felt a sharp twist of fear in her gut as she saw the article; half of the block had been completely vaporized while the other half was basically untouched. Such precise destruction, she knew, could only be a result of a very specific terrorist: the most feared Dark wizard of their time, Lord Voldemort.
Hermione didn't know what was worse, the possible deaths of six people, or the fact that it barely affected her emotionally.
Shaking her head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts, Hermione kept reading the article. Basically it read that a bomb had exploded in a town near London, supposedly killing six local teenagers. The reason it was only supposed was because no remains had been found and six teenagers had never arrived at their homes the previous night. The paper theorized that the teens may have been so close to the explosion that their bodies had been completely vaporized by the blast, but it was also possible that they had been kidnapped. To Hermione, it sounded like a shaky theory at best, which further hinted at magical involvement; the Ministry was horrible at covering up Voldemort's attacks on the Muggle population.
However, something besides the shoddy cover-up nagged at Hermione after she read the article. Something told her it had to do with Harry, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Thinking she must have overlooked some minor detail that her subconscious picked up, she decided to reread the article; however, she didn't get more than two sentences in before she saw two words that turned her blood to ice:
Little Whinging.
Hermione wasn't the brightest witch at Hogwarts for nothing, but it also didn't take a genius to figure out that it was more than mere coincidence that an explosion that large would occur in a small suburban town that housed the most important wizard the entire magical world. Throwing the muggle newspaper aside, she unfurled The Daily Prophet hoping her worst fears were nothing more than fears rather than facts. The headline proved her otherwise.
THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED MISSING?
Late last night, a magical explosion rocked the small town of Little Whinging. Utterly vaporizing half a block, the detonation could be felt as far as the Ministry of Magic in London, who immediately sent out a team of Aurors to investigate the disturbance. What they found was a scene of utter destruction; the magical discharge had completely wiped out part of the block and, upon further investigation, killed six Muggle teenagers that happened to be passing by.
Of much more significance is the fact that this suburban town is home to The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and that he has seemingly disappeared off the face of this Earth. Mr. Potter's guardian, Mr. Vernon Dursley, gave us this response when asked of the whereabouts of The-Boy-Who-Lived. "I don't know where that freak nephew of mine has gone to, and I don't want your kind in my house at all. In fact, I'd just as soon never see his sorry face again."
Also, in a disturbing turn of events, the Aurors investigating the scene announced that the magic used In the destruction of Little Whinging was unlike any they had ever seen before. Rather than a spell, the explosion seemed to have been merely that: a tremendous outpouring of pure magical energy. This writer has a few theories on this revelation. Perhaps the famous Boy-Who-Lived had been involved in an emotionally intense moment and, unable to legally cast magic, the energy from these emotions built up inside his body until they literally exploded outwards. The response of his guardian seems to support this theory, however, since neither the body nor the magical remains of Mr. Potter were found at the scene, this theory is implausible, since such a large blast would surely have left him unconscious and unable to move, and also does not account for the strange magical signature found at the scene.
Continued on Page 4…
"Harry…" she sobbed. Hermione thought quickly: while it was doubtful that she could find anything that the Aurors wouldn't have already found, she knew that, for the sake of her best friend, she had to at least visit the site. Ron also needed to be informed since he was still probably in the coma he called sleep. Her mind decided, Hermione quickly took a pen and paper from a nearby drawer to inform her parents of the situation, then quietly stepped outside their flat and Apparated to The Burrow, home of her other best friend, Ron Weasley, and his family.
Meanwhile, deep in the Netherworld, Gnarl and his minions stood watch over the comatose form of Harry Potter. The minions pushed and shoved each other aside, trying to get a better look at the young wizard that lay on the bed in the Private Quarters. Gnarl, of course, showed a bit more restraint than his younger companions, but felt obliged to punt one of the rowdier minions out into the hall when he became slightly too rambunctious.
Gnarl made a mental note to make him clean out the Burrows for a month, then turned back to the boy. The Netherworld's choice of a new evil Overlord puzzled him quite a bit. From everything I've read, thought Gnarl, this boy is the complete antithesis of Evil in every way. Not to mention he is a bit younger than most recruits we find… However, the Netherworld gate had sent them to that small town, and he was the only magical creature around. The explosion of magical energy only helped the minions locate their possible new master much more quickly than normal; it nearly singed their ears off even though they were almost two blocks away. Furthermore, even though the boy himself positively reeked of light magic, the blast of energy that led to his discovery had been remarkably… angry. While "angry" was a far step from Evil (with a capital E), it showed that the boy definitely had the potential to become the next Overlord.
At the moment, though, he most closely resembled a bump on a log; the explosion of energy had exhausted him physically and mentally, and he had been asleep for more than 12 hours. Gnarl did not expect his condition to change overmuch for a while, and so he turned to leave the Private Chambers, ducking to avoid a vase thrown by the obnoxious Minion from earlier. "SNOTRAG! Throw one more thing and I'll throw you into the river of souls! Good luck convincing Mortis to fish you out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wwll, there's your update people! Constructive criticism is always welcome, and I have two requests for you this evening: 1. Do you like the chapter lengths? or Would you prefer them slightly longer? Keep in mind this may affect the update time negatively. and 2. I have need of a Beta Reader, preferably someone with plenty of experience in both stories. Thanks again for reading!
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