Hello everyone, and welcome to The Dark Revival: a story of Harry's, Ron's, and everyone's quest to defeat Gallen Ingot, the wizard of unnatural power who commands the rogue Death Eaters six years after the conclusion of the original series. I've been planning this for some time and I'm glad to finally get started on it!

I know reading long authors' notes can be tedious, so if you're really impatient with this stuff like I am, you can get an acceptable amount of information by just reading what I've written in bold. Of course, I do suggest reading all of it. I know it's long but there is a lot to know about this project and it's all important. But you don't have to if you can't sit through it, and I wouldn't blame you.

A longer summary follows. Below that are a few things to know.

Six years after the fall of Voldemort, Harry must don his title of hero once more. As the Head Auror, he is tasked with cleaning up the mess and dealing with the new threat that has emerged. Voldemort's remaining Death Eaters have gathered behind a new leader, Gallen Ingot, to make their final stand. A man of immense power and just as little remorse as his former master, Ingot threatens to destroy everything for which Harry and his friends have worked so hard. The Death Eaters are making their final stand; the Aurors will simply have to stand stronger. Fighting threats both internal and external, Harry must save the world from multiple enemies and make good on his promise to clean up the Ministry and the world. Features pretty much every somewhat important character who's still around after the Battle of Hogwarts. The point of view is mostly Harry's but will shift from time to time.

Now, a couple notes on this project:

Firstly, you don't need to read my other works to read this. I'm the author of a series of seven Albus Potter books, the first of which is entitled Albus Potter and the Global Revelation; I'm currently finishing up the fourth. There have been references to the events of the Dark Revival in my books, and there will definitely be some crossover characters between my two projects (this series and Albus Potter), but you don't have to read either to read the other; all the information needed for this story is given in this story. However, reading both will give you a much more colorful experience, and you'll find a lot of very interesting connections. I will stay in canon as far as the extent of my knowledge (which is pretty damn far) and will also hold true to factoids about the Dark Revival which I have presented in my Albus Potter series. Despite the fact that the very first chapter of my Albus Potter series reveals exactly what will eventually happen at the end of this story, there's so much possibility for complex underlying plot in this concept that it was impossible to resist writing. In addition, the plot for the Albus Potter series was conceived by my good friend Andy, but I thought it was time for me to take on a major project that's more of my own. It's set inside the world that Andy created, but most fan fiction is generally in worlds that have already been created anyway. But I'm constantly discovering how there is still so much room for expansion. So, almost everything and every concept you'll see that wasn't already introduced in JK's Harry Potter books or my Albus Potter books is my invention. But please, IF YOU READ MY OTHER SERIES, AND YOU KNOW SOME INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN FUTURE CHAPTERS OF THIS STORY, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT WRITE SPOILERS IN YOUR REVIEW. NOT EVERYONE KNOWS AND NOT EVERYONE WILL WANT TO KNOW; PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.

Secondly, in this series, language will be coarse, sex will be had, and death will be a constant presence. Keep that in mind. This is going to be a very mature story, much more so than my other works. I'm not afraid to kill characters. There will be a lot of original characters, and trust me, not even your canonical characters are safe.

Thirdly, updates will not happen regularly, but WILL happen fairly often. I will not have a schedule for uploading; it all will depend on how much free time I have in the coming days, and when I feel the inspiration to write another chapter. I won't give a general time frame either because I really don't know; however, I will say that if I notice I haven't updated in two weeks or so, I will try and make it my priority not to keep you hanging for three. But this is subjective to my schedule. With certainty, I can say this project will be taking a backseat to my Albus Potter series, but I will also say that I will NOT leave this story without an update for more than three weeks, EVER, no matter my schedule, and preferably not even that long. In general, though, please don't ask me when I'm going to update; I would like to answer, but I will not be able to!

Fourthly, I will eventually be making a list of characters so that you can keep track, because there are a lot of original characters. This list will probably take a while to compile. When I finish, I will let you know in a future author's note on a future chapter of this story.

Fifthly, as is the case for my Albus Potter series, if you leave a question in your review which I can answer without sufficiently spoiling the story, I will list your question and answer it in a section on my profile page. You will find this Q&A section at the very bottom of my profile. I pay very close attention to reviews from my readers, and if you want to strike up a conversation with me, I am very responsive to PMs and would be happy to discuss theoretical concepts and plotlines.

Sixthly, the chapters will generally be between 2000 and 3000 words. Some may be longer, but they won't be shorter than that. There are a lot of chapters planned for this story. Don't ask me how many, though. I know, because they are all planned out and named already, but I'm not telling you.

And lastly, just know that I'm going to put forth all my efforts into this work... so if you like it... PLEASE share it with your friends, or recommend it to others on this site or other sites! Building a reputation is how other people find my story, and constructive criticism from as many people as possible is how I improve. I really want to write the best story possible for you guys; please help me in return by letting people know I'm here. I would REALLY appreciate it!

If I have any other announcements, I will write them in the chapter itself, before or after the actual chapter, as well as posting it on my profile. Please read these author's notes when I post them because they will generally be important; they won't be nearly as long as this one. And that's all you have to know for the series. Without further ado, here is the first chapter and the opening to the story. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you pass it on. Happy reading!

-Cody

chapter one

a very weasley wedding

sunday, june 6, 2004

"Bright sunlight," said Ron, stretching his arm across the sky to display its beauty. He paused mid-stretch and used the hand instead to block out the sunlight, which was apparently too bright. "Gorgeous temperature. Cool, gentle breeze. Could we have picked a more perfect day for the wedding?"

"No, I don't think we could have," said Harry, rolling his eyes but smiling. "It's almost as if you hired Gustavo Nostrello's entire South American family to do a continuous 'Sun Dance' for the whole wedding, to ensure perfect conditions."

"It's almost as if that is the case," said Ron, poking Harry on the nose, "but that's our little secret."

"Ours and Gustavo's," said Harry. "But I may or may not have heard Gustavo telling the entire Auror Office."

"Ah, what do I care," said Ron. "It's worked, hasn't it?"

"So far," said Harry. "It could also be that, you know, the forecast was sunny."

"Because of the sun dance."

"Sure," said Harry. "Let me check who's here…"

He pulled out the guest list, which was crossing names off of itself as he watched.

"Ah, where's Adelaide?" he said. "She's usually an hour early to everything."

"I heard she took a brick to her face in an exploding house," said Ron. "Maybe she's nursing a concussion."

"Jeannine Jackman just arrived," said Harry. "Hide me. Who else… We're still missing Dean and Seamus… Stenet and Monroe… the Walkers… oh, ugh, and Duncan and Chinch—did you really have to invite the entire office?"

"Well, I couldn't just invite everyone and leave out Duncan and Doctor Chinch," said Ron. "They'd notice. And I see them every day, so I don't want them to hate me."

"Kimilla Devine just arrived, too," said Harry. "Damn."

"Could you start finding people on my guest list that you won't spend the whole day complaining about?"

"You couldn't have picked a more perfect day," said Harry, a hand shading his eyes, "but you certainly could have picked a better attendance. Why is Devine even here? She hates the both of us."

"If you don't stop I'm going to make a house call to the Malfoys and get Draco to replace you as best man."

"If you want me to stop, don't threaten me with a situation I'd pay money to see," laughed Harry.

It is a perfect day, though, he thought as Ron walked into a back room to prepare. He looked up into the brilliant cerulean sky, dotted with the occasional cloud; Ron's siblings had taken brooms to the sky and shaped all of the clouds into hearts, probably baffling Muggles in the nearest towns… but then again, worrying about that part wasn't the Auror Office's job.

Ron hadn't spared any expense—well, any free expense, that was. And Mrs. Weasley's finest cooking was waiting for the guests.

"Harry," said Percy, walking over with his wife, Audrey.

"Percy!" said Harry joyfully, extending a hand. Percy struggled to shift baby Lucy in his hands so that he could reach out to shake Harry's, but eventually he succeeded. Audrey held Molly, now a toddler. "How are things?" he asked.

"Wonderful, really," said Percy. "Guess who's now the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic?"

"Molly?" guessed Harry teasingly; Audrey laughed.

"No, it's me, actually," said Percy.

"That's fantastic!" exclaimed Harry as Percy smoothed out his robes proudly. "What happened to Lydia Weiss?"

"Kingsley dismissed her," said Percy quietly. "He doesn't trust her anymore; says she's been sneaking around a little too much and liaising with disreputable individuals."

"Can't you just phrase it like, 'talking with bad people?'" said Audrey, shaking her head.

"I never liked Weiss much," said Harry. "Hello, Bill!"

Bill walked over with Victoire and greeted his family; Fleur was scolding Victoire for using magic on a honeybee she found in the garden.

"Magic already?" said Harry, impressed.

"Molly showed magic yesterday," said Percy proudly. "That puts her in the top twenty percent in the world already!"

"Only you would compare three-year-olds," said Audrey, rolling her eyes as she tousled Molly's hair. "That has no correlation to ability. Hell, I still haven't done any magic in my life and I think I'm pretty successful."

"Except for your husband," said George, walking over. "That's a bad blemish."

"Hello, George!" said Harry. "Where's Angelina?"

"Sitting down," said George. "She's got some sort of parasite in her stomach and she needs to rest more than usual."

"Have you named the parasite yet?" asked Bill.

"We're thinking 'Roxanne,'" said George. "Angelina's aunt, you know. Taught her everything she knows about Quidditch."

"And where's Charlie?" asked Harry. "I haven't seen him yet."

"Charlie's just got here, and he's fetching Fred's portrait," said Bill.

"I'm working on a self-propelling frame for Fred's portrait," said George. "Then Fred can just go where he wants and no one has to hover him around."

"You did account for a seat for Fred's portrait, right?" said Bill. "I feel bad for whoever's sitting behind that giant thing… they won't be able to see at all."

"I did account for a seat," said Harry. "And we'll make it see-through on one side."

"Can somebody make Auntie Muriel see-through on all sides?" asked Bill, glancing over to the horribly unpleasant hundred-and-fourteen-year-old woman.

"I still can't believe Ickle Ronnie's getting married," said George. "Well, I've got to go make sure Monroe and Sage are getting everything set up all right…"

"Yeah, and I'll go help Mum in the kitchen," said Bill.

"You don't 'ave too much of a 'eadache?" asked Fleur with concern.

"Nah, I'm fine dear," said Bill. "The full moon was three days ago, sweetheart. See you, Harry." He and Percy waved goodbye and struck up a chat as they left.

"See you!" said Harry.

"Wotcher, Harry!"

Harry turned with delight to the next familiar greeting. Some part of him still ached every time he heard it, though—he associated the word with Tonks.

"Traelie!" said Harry warmly, giving her a firm handshake. "So glad you could make it. I didn't see you come in…" He checked the guest list again.

"What, do you think I was an imposter?" said Traelie, thumping her chest. "Ow, my tits."

"No, there's only one Joan Traelie," said Harry, chuckling, "and she's the one hitting herself in the tits. Great to see you."

"Where's Yustef? Where's that dirty bastard? I gotta give him a kick in the dick for deserting me on that last raid… You hear about Adelaide?"

"Brick to the face?" said Harry. "She okay?"

"Yes, and that's Adelaide for you," said Traelie. "She can take a brick to the face and she's okay. So how's the blushing groom-to-be? Did he get the dress on all right?"

"He's nervous…"

"Nervous?" scoffed Traelie. "He marches into hell at least once a week! Does he think there's a dragon-fighting stage of the wedding?"

"Well, he's the last of the Weasley kids to tie the knot, other than Charlie," said Harry. "And Charlie's not happening anytime soon, so he's kind of the finishing act of the family."

"Charming Charles tied the knot long ago with his work," said Traelie. "His wedding did have a dragon-fighting stage. So, excited for your other best friend to finally be your sister-in-law-in-law?" She bumped Harry with her elbow.

"It feels just like it did on my wedding day, actually. It's really exciting—my two best friends from school. I'm so happy for them."

"Hopefully this won't end like William's and Fleur's wedding…"

"Don't jinx it, Joan."

"Well, if I did jinx it, the counter-jinx is that the entire Auror Office is in attendance for the wedding," said Traelie. "Speaking of which, I'm going to go say hi to my two favorite lesbians—see you up there!"

"They're not lesbians," called Harry as Traelie ran up to Zucker and Piper.

"Zed! Pipes! How're my two favorite lesbians?"

"We're not lesbians," said Zucker, rolling her eyes.

"Yustef!" called Traelie abruptly as she recognized her friend in the crowd. "Get your balls over here so I can smash them into pancakes!"

Yustef darted away at lightning speed; Traelie pursued and Harry turned away laughing.

"Jojo!" called Harry, seeing another of his closer friends from the office. "Jojo Monroe!"

Monroe noticed Harry and walked over; Monroe's friend Braden Sage followed him.

"Did you get everything set up?" he whispered.

"Good to go," mumbled Monroe back. "Three letters per package makes ten total. Set them all off at the same time."

"Wait, but it was twenty-nine letters. C-O-N, G-R-A—"

"Don't strain yourself," said Sage. "We added an exclamation point. Oh, and George said we had to mention that the project was sponsored by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, established 1996."

"I'm their first investor, I don't give a shit," joked Harry.

"The Willowthorns are here," said Monroe as Traelie appeared over his shoulder. "But apparently they couldn't pass up a quick fuck in the loo, so they just went in… knowing Ezra, they'll be out in thirty seconds."

"Wait," said Traelie as Harry burst out laughing. "Don't you mean, 'knowing Kyrie?'"

"Kyrie?" repeated Sage. "She isn't—"

"What? She?" demanded Traelie.

"Yes, Traelie, Kyrie is a woman," said Monroe. "This was established long ago when Smart accidentally walked in on her and Ezra in the shower."

"I thought Kyrie was the guy and Ezra was the girl!"

As the others laughed harder, Traelie put her hands on her hips. "What are you guys laughing at?" she huffed. "What kind of a guy name is Ezra? All this time—how long have we known them?—I thought they were each others' names!"

"That's your fault," observed Monroe, "for referring to Kyrie exclusively as 'the Willowthorn with the vagina.' You were never technically wrong, so no one corrected you."

"But seriously, who names their son Ezra?!"

"Ezra's parents?" guessed Sage.

"That's not that uncommon of a name for—" began Harry.

He didn't finish. An explosion rocked the ground below their feet, and people were screaming. Harry extracted his wand in half a second with the reflexes of an Auror, and turned around just in time to see a Death Eater flying straight at his face.

Delkan appeared in a flash out of nowhere and Stunned the Death Eater; Harry followed up with an Impediment Jinx and he halted in midair. Traelie carved out the ground with a quick Gouging Charm; they slammed him down and buried him under the ground to retrieve later. Harry turned to see Hermione's parents running towards him in terror as the sky suddenly filled with dark figures.

"No, no, you don't run to me for protection!" yelled Harry, trying to wave them off. "I'm the worst possible person you could be standing next to!"

"Is this a normal part of Wizarding weddings?" asked Mr. Granger, looking from side to side.

"It's a normal part of Weasley weddings, apparently!" yelled Harry.

"OH, SHIT, I TOTALLY DID JINX US!" bawled Traelie, casting a Full Body-Bind with impeccable aim to knock a Death Eater straight off of a broom in the air. The broom sailed towards the concealed boxes of fireworks, and smashed through eight out of the ten of them before grinding to a halt. The fireworks exploded into the sky, spelling out most of the intended message; they all continued to battle under the flashing words "CONGRATULATIONS RON AND HER."

"Ron and her?!" screamed Hermione, running into the fray in her full, billowing white wedding dress. "Ron and HER?! You couldn't even spare the change to put my name in?!"

Harry grimaced and shouted at her, "It's not the whole—"

"AUGH!"

Ron had entered the battle, too, but he flinched and jumped in the other direction when he saw Hermione. He turned around and faced the other way. "Hermione! What the hell are you doing, it's bad luck for me to see you in your dress before the ceremony!"

"OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD—HERE!"

Hermione twirled her wand arm around her dress, and the dress vanished to be replaced by a kinky black leather uniform clad in spikes and chains. "THERE, BETTER?"

Ron turned around and yelped again. "BLIMEY—NO, THAT'S TEN TIMES WORSE!"

"GET OVER YOURSELF, RONALD!" shouted Hermione as she charmed herself back into normal robes.

"SHUT UP AND DUEL!" yelled Harry. "Mrs. Granger, get yourself and your husband to the Walkers over there for protection! They're the ones in the teal robes; they're some of our best! Get out of the line of fire!"

"If you insist!" said Mrs. Granger, grabbing her husband's arm and dragging him in the direction Harry pointed.

Ezra and Kyrie Willowthorn popped out of the restroom looking frantic; Ezra's pants were around his ankles and Kyrie was shirtless. They glanced up at the swarming Death Eaters and spared no time. Ezra freed himself from the last grasp of his pants and charged into combat in his undergarments. Kyrie held one hand across her breasts to conceal them, and held her wand in her other hand as she dueled a Death Eater who had landed in front of her. She got the upper hand and cast a curse that sent him flying through the air; straight through the flashing lights above the battleground, and he broke apart the last two words, resulting in the message spelling out only "CONGRATULATIONS RON." A careening Death Eater on a broom burst through the fireworks and shattered the word "CONGRATULATIONS," and another flying spell shattered the top of the last O; the message now simply read "RUN."

"They crashed the wrong fucking wedding!" roared Traelie, slashing a Disarming Charm so powerful that it knocked the broom right out from under a flying Death Eater. He tumbled through the air and smashed into a cabin across the field; the front wall collapsed, exposing a group of South American dancers with suns painted on their chests.

Harry cast a spell into the path of a curse headed straight for Hermione, breaking it apart before it could make contact; Ginny appeared by his side, holding baby James. Rather than crying, James was actually laughing and enjoying the lightshow. Ginny pressed her back against Harry's so that they could cover all directions.

"Wouldn't be a Weasley wedding without a swarm of pissed-off Death Eaters, now, would it?!" yelled Ginny as she parried a Stunner and returned it for a direct hit.

Harry turned to try and pick off a Death Eater who was charging towards Neville, but another Auror burst straight through the ground underneath him and knocked him unconscious with an energy-fueled uppercut. Adelaide landed gracefully next to the twitching body, and she waved to Harry.

"You're late!" yelled Traelie as Yustef appeared by her side and set himself against her back like Ginny was against Harry's.

"Look at what happens when I leave you all alone for five minutes!" yelled Adelaide, racing off towards the center of the action.

Harry's eye was caught by Neville for a moment as he took down two Death Eaters alone. Neville had grown into quite the duelist.

"POTTER!" yelled someone else from across the field; it was Harry's strict mentor, Megara Roy. "FOCUS!"

"I AM FOCUSING!" shouted Harry.

"PINKY TO PAD! DON'T FORGET YOUR FORM JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE IN COMBAT!"

"HOW CAN YOU EVEN SEE MY FINGERS FROM OVER THERE?!"

Mrs. Weasley had emerged from the kitchen and had already taken down four more men, slashing and twirling her wand with ferocity Harry hadn't seen since she dueled Bellatrix. The Death Eaters' ranks had fallen by more than half. The rest of them seemed to realize their mistake in crashing a celebration full of trained duelists; they were outmatched by far in both numbers and skill. The conscious Death Eaters flew away; Kenan Fallon shot one last Stunner at their backs as they disappeared over the horizon.

"THAT'TH RIGHT!" bellowed Petey Pert in his ludicrously flamboyant accent. "WHO THE FUCK WEARTH BLACK TO A WEDDING!"

"Well, there's a reason to be nervous for your wedding," said Traelie, wiping her brow as the crowd erupted into cheers. She turned around and delivered a swift kick into Yustef's groin; he collapsed on the grass, convulsing in pain.

"How many did we get?" asked Fallon as Traelie unearthed five buried Death Eaters. "How many did we lose?"

"Did we even lose anyone?" asked Harry, looking at all of the faces before him.

"Hey, anyone here dead?" called Traelie. "Raise your hand if you got killed."

"I don't think we lost a single one," said Sage, giving a quick head count. "And we captured… thirty-eight."

"Wow," said Monroe. "Go team."

"Dean, you rocked," said Seamus, jogging over to his friend. "Why the hell haven't you joined the Auror Office?!"

"This'll be a job to clean up," said Hermione, sighing as she glanced around at the ruined party.

"In more ways than just the mess here," said Harry. "That was an organized attack; there'll probably be more."

"You have to say that," said Ron. "You're the Head Auror."

"Still," said Ginny, "despite everyone staying intact, this should be something we should worry about."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Ron, putting his arm around Hermione, "but… can we not worry about it today?"

Harry grinned. "Of course," he said. "We have unfinished business."

The crowd fell quiet, staring at the almost newlyweds, waiting for them to speak.

"Kiss that fucking bride," said Traelie, breaking the silence.

Ron dipped Hermione down low and kissed her as the crowd cheered again.

"Woo-hoo, yeah!" whooped Traelie. "Willowthorns, get some fucking clothes on and stay out of the loo; Weasley and the new Weasley are going to need it to make yet another new Weasley."

Harry looked up at the sky again. It was still a perfect day… but sunshine never lasted too long. The storms would always come.