DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, lawyers take note, I'm playing in the universe JK Rowling created so lovingly. I do not make any money from this, and I NEVER will. I wrote this to play creatively and for my own enjoyment.
THE NAME OF THE GAME: MANIPULATION
CHAPTER 1
Dumbledore had always prided himself in being a master manipulator. He had been serving in high-ranking positions for decades now, and truth be told, it made manipulation so much easier. He was Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
For the past 15 years, Dumbledore had one single project of manipulation... Harry Potter.
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Hermione Granger, always said to be the brightest witch of the age, had turned 17 shortly after starting 6th year at Hogwarts, officially making her an adult in the wizarding world. At the end of 6th year, she accompanied Harry from Kings Cross Station, seeing that his "family" didn't bother to pick him up.
On arrival in Privet Drive, Hermione (now an adult), unobtrusively cast some magical detection charms on the property and its inhabitants. Harry had come to Hermione at Hogwarts after returning for 6th year, and told her of his suspicions. Harry had it in his head that the Dursleys had never been as mean to him as they were during the holidays. He asked her whether she'd be willing to just check it out seeing that he will still be under aged by the time the year ends. Hermione of course agreed, and also agreed not to tell Ron. He may be a good friend, but he will probably shoot his mouth off without thinking. And that is the one thing they didn't want even Dumbledore to find out.
She calmly waited for the charms to settle on Privet Drive. When dinner time came around, she was astounded at what she saw. The charms she used was Ostendo sum Veneficusand another less known variant to detect more obscure magic, Deprehensio Ignotus Veneficus. The Dursleys and their house were covered in magic. Hermione had the strangest feeling that she knew the feel of the magic, but pushed that aside quickly as this needed to be dealt with... now.
Hermione nodded to Harry, and she ran through the house at lightning speed casting Deprehensio Audio Fabrica Charms to check for magical listening bugs. They had learnt their lesson with Rita Skeeter in 4th year, and were not planning on having a repeat performance. Having found several, Hermione cast specialised privacy spells around them rather than deactivating them. They didn't know who the caster was, and didn't want to alert him/her about having found the bugs.
Upon entering the kitchen, Hermione turned to the Dursleys. "Mister Dursley, could we possibly have a word with you about Harry?"
"Why, has that freak school of yours finally decided that they also had enough of the runt?" Vernon Dursley answered, purple faced and ready to explode.
"No Mister Dursley, we need to tell you a few things that will probably shock you and make you hate us more than you already do however, you need to know this. It is important." Hermione fired back easily, not allowing the walrus look-a-like to intimidate her.
"Very well then", Vernon answered, "I'll give you 10 minutes, but no longer."
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After an hour and a half, Petunia and Dudley were horrified and Vernon (for once), was silent, not even a tinge of purple on his face.
"So what you're saying", Dudley tried to make sense of it all, "Is that we have been controlled with magic since you were put on our doorstep?"
"Yes, Dudley that is what it seems like." Speaking to the two older Dursleys, Harry decided to beg for just 24 hours under their roof so he could fix this. "Now I understand that right now you don't want us anywhere near you, but if you would allow us house room for just one night, we would very much like to fix this mess."
"Of course Harry, no need to even ask", Dudley said, "this needs fixing and you're the only ones who can."
Harry relaxed, finding it a bit weird that his cousin was much less affected by the curses that his parents, but decided to take it as a good sign and not to look a gifted horse in the mouth.
Hermione reassured them all, that she is now 17, an adult in the wizarding world, and that she was allowed to use magic. She also promised not to hurt any of the Dursleys and to sort this out as soon as she possibly could.
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24 hours later, an extremely irate and fuming Hermione Granger was found reading through the list of curses she found and dismantled.
The Anger Curse (Petunia), The Mad Hatter's Curse, The Fury Curse (Vernon), The Will Bending Curse (Dudley), Anger Focus Curses (All three of them) and what irked Hermione the most, The Imperius Curse, cast on Vernon and Petunia. What gave Hermione hope though, was the Relevo Malum charm that was also cast. It dampened the urge to do serious harm, and it didn't pass Hermione by that it was cast by someone else.
After all the curses had been lifted, the changes in the Dursleys were very noticeable to put it lightly. They apologised profusely to Harry and Hermione for treating them the way they did and offered them safety and sanctuary whenever they needed it.
Hermione, brightest witch of the age took the chance, and offered to cast the Fidelius Charm on the house and Harry offered to be secret keeper. They jumped at the chance and Hermione apparated home straight out of the living room to get the books (predictable much?) she needed.
Within the hour, she was back with her Hogwarts trunk filled to the brim with clothes, books and everything else she may need for her stay at number 4 Privet Drive. Two hours later, knowledge of the house had disappeared from everyone's heads. It was official, only 5 people knew of the place, and that in itself, put Vernon, Petunia and Dudley's minds at ease.
They spent the night in the living room talking about everything and anything. The apologies kept coming from the Dursleys, and time and time again Harry waved them off. They didn't do it because they wanted to. They did it because someone manipulated them. Harry had never been happier in his life, and Hermione was proud to be who she was (brightest witch of the age and all that), and even more proud that Harry chose her to be his friend.
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Minerva McGonagall sat thinking about everything and anything, enjoying a cup of tea. Her favourite student, Harry, had been on her mind the last few days. She remembered all too well the day she went to check on him when Harry was still an infant. How she found all those horrible curses cast on the Dursleys and how she regretted never being able to remove them. The fear of being discovered trying to remove the curses, regretfully not knowing enough about the curses and the fact that the Dursleys were incredibly hostile towards her. 'What was their address again?' she thought to herself, for the life of her she just couldn't remember. The thought had barely passed through her mind, when she was practically accosted by a white fluffy thing that hooted and screeched and was either very excited or scared half to death. After managing to calm down the owl, she realised it was Hedwig and immediately took the piece of paper from the owl. The note barely in her hands, Hedwig shot through the window and flew off at top speed. 'That was bizarre' she thought as she opened the piece of paper. Scrawled in the very untidy handwriting of Harry Potter were the words:
"The Potter Safe House can be found at number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey".
Minerva shook her head and smiled. She smelled a rat or two, and that rat wasn't Pettigrew and co... No no no, that rat, or rather rats, were definitely Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.
She got up, grabbed her travelling cloak, and ran out of the castle. Reaching the anti-apparition wards' end, she popped away.
A/N: I fixed all of the spelling and grammar mistakes I could see, as English is not my first language, I truly am sorry if I subject your eyes to some less than stellar writing.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW... I WELCOME IT WITH OPEN ARMS!