Rain hammered down onto the half-spherical shape that had once been at the center of Death Eater activity. The orange dome had three years ago consumed Riddle House; which not only allowed no one to see in but also remained solid even under the most powerful spells and attacks.

Over what had seemed like a long three years to those who knew what was inside, flowers had been laid around a small stone cross that had been erected off to one side of the site. But it had been two months since anyone had bothered to go near Riddle House, the area having been condemned as hazardous as the dome had begun to give off powerful magical emissions that caused irregular heart beats in children… among other things. In those two months the flowers the had been left had decayed and become part of the Earth again, leaving only the once beautiful wrappings they had come in, now shriveled and dirty, as the only sign they had ever been there. In the two months the gardens of Riddle House had descended from being unkempt to being wild, with rose bushes being choked out by wild brambles and grasses. In the two months the world had moved on significantly since the events inside the house had taken place, the death and agony, the heroics and the sacrifices, the battle to end all battles. And after two months of no one paying attention to it, the house had finally finished what it was doing within the dome, and the spell was released…

Harry Potter and the Curse of Riddle House

By arukas

In a large room in the Ministry of Magic, roughly near the top of the underground building, a man sat at a large round table. The table was so large in fact that it covered a good third of the room, the rest of which was filled with desks that belonged to employees. Suddenly the table in the center of the room came to life, lights flashed all over it and a siren wailed. The man nearly fell out of his chair as he scrambled into a more upright position. The table showed an area of terrain, represented by small grains of sand that had formed together to make a hill. Or at least it had been a hill; however now the peak had been smashed out of existence and in its place was a massive crater. All around the landscape was scorched with shards of rock and destroyed trees. Sand also moved off the table into the air and formed together, falling back down as chunks of rock or in waves of ash.

"What in the name of Merlin…" The man muttered as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Table, please show me the events leading up to this." He ordered.

"As you wish." The table replied in a calm voice. The sand fell flat for a moment before reforming in a shape the man hadn't seen in a long while. A large dome sat atop a hill, the garden around it slowly forming with intricate detail as the table went about its work. Just as the details were finished thought, the dome began to quiver slightly. The quivering expanded into ripples that began at the peak of the dome and traveled down. As they reached the ground the gardens around the dome shook too with the force of impact. The without warning the dome simply ceased to exist and in its place lay the smoldering crater.

"Table, what happened to the Riddle Dome!" The man demanded.

"It had disappeared and I am unable to locate it." The table replied. The man looked in disbelief at the scene in front of him. After three years of doing nothing, the damn thing chooses now to just explode?

"There is someone approaching the area at some speed, presumably by broom." The table said, interrupting the man's thoughts. The sand dissolved again, reforming a moment later to depict a man flying low and fast over trees on a broom.

"Shit." The man cursed before running out the door to go inform someone of what he had seen.

Hours later Aurors and other ministry officials swarmed over the crater site, some testing different pieces of rock or soil while others merely surveyed the area to see what had happened.

"It is waayyy too early in the morning for this." Tonks moaned as she stifled a yawn. While she was concerned at the sudden turn of events, surely the crater would still be there in a few hours time?

"Hey Nymphadora, come take a look at this will ya'." A young man called from across the crater. Tonks moaned and rubbed her eyes before walking at a semi-fast pace to where the man was squatted down.

"What is it?" She asked, looking curiously down at what the man was pointing to. It was a piece of green crystal with a smoky appearance. "You called me over for a rock?" Tonks deadpanned.

"Hardly a rock." The man replied. He then motioned for Tonks to move back before he used his wand to clear away the muddy water they were standing in. Tonks' breath was taken away as she saw they were in fact standing on the rock, with still more of it remaining covered by the Earth. As the rain continued to poor Tonks ran over to where the head investigator was standing on the edge of the crater. As she explained what they had found to him, he nodded and apparated away to inform the minister.

As he disappeared, Tonks finally allowed herself to accept the reality of the situation, Riddle House was gone and with it all hope.

In central London, in a smallish but comfortable flat that was home to three cats and one woman, Hermione Granger was awoken by the shrill tone of her phone ringing. She glanced over at her watch that read 3:34 AM, making this possibly the worst time of day for someone to be calling her.

"Hello?" She murmured into the receiver.

"Morning sunshine, sleep well?" Tonks asked cheerily.

"Tonks? Do you know what bloody time it is? Wait a minute… you're using the phone! Since when do you use the phone?" Hermione stammered, her sleep-ridden mind still struggling to be awake let alone comprehend.

"Never mind that now, can you come outsider for a minute?" Tonks asked. Hermione shook her head in an attempt to remove her drowsiness and then massage her left temple.

"Yeah okay, just lemme' put on something warmer." She replied.

"Bring an umbrella too." Tonks added as Hermione hung up the phone. Hermione then half stepped half rolled out of bed and pulled a fluffy dressing gown from her wardrobe. She donned the heavy garment and grabbed her umbrella from the coat rack as she made her way out the door, down the stairs and onto the street below. Sure enough next to a phone booth stood Tonks with her own umbrella held above her head. The rain had eased slightly from the downpour of the earlier hours of the morning and now was merely a soft patter on the protective plastic of the umbrellas.

"So what's so important that you have to wake my up at half past three in the morning?" Hermione moaned, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"There's been an incident… at Riddle House." Tonks said slowly. Hermione suddenly looked serious.

"Give me three minutes to get some clothes on and I'll meet you back here." Hermione replied.

"Be quick, the portkey is due soon." Tonks called after Hermione.

Some way across town a similar scene was playing out, this time however it was Ron who was informing the rest of his family of what had happened.

"Do the Order members know?" Arthur asked, looking around for the floo powder. Ron nodded and handed his dad the jar from the table behind himself.

"We have people notifying them now." He replied. Molly leaned forward and pulled her son into a tight embrace.

"And you wonder why I worry about you being an Auror Ronald." She said softly. "All these horrible places in the world, and you go sticking your nose into all of them."

"We really should get moving, the other members will be waiting for us." Ron said, refusing to reply to his mother's statement.

"You're right, come along Molly, Fred, George, Ginny." Arthur said as he led his family in traveling by floo powder to Grimmauld Place.