Wizards Unexpected
Harry Potter's emerald eyes stared blankly at his clock, an old digital one of Dudley's that had been recently discarded. It was nearing one AM, and no one, none of the Order, none of the Weasleys, no one had come to help him get to King's Cross, no one had even mentioned it in their latest letter, despite Harry's persistent questioning. Harry barely noticed a tear trickling down his cheek. What if no one ever came? What if he had to miss his sixth year of school simply because he couldn't reach the train? What if he never got to see Ron or Hermione again? What if...
The clock beeped loudly to signal it had officially reached one AM. Only ten more hours before the train left the station, and Harry was out of ideas.
He couldn't send an owl, it wouldn't get there quick enough, and besides, they hadn't answered him in any of his previous letters.
He couldn't summon the Knight Bus, because that required magic and it was still, technically the holidays.
He couldn't ask his uncle to drive him down there, he'd already asked, and Vernon had replied with a succinct and nasty, "Never."
He couldn't fly, because once again, magic.
He couldn't call the Order on the telephone, because they didn't have one.
There was no flying car or team of Order members with broomsticks.
All he could do was wait patiently for a rescue to arrive, even if it never did.
The clock clicked to 1:01. Suddenly it's bright red letters flickered, and turned off. Harry stood up, opened the window, and looked down his block. No, his was the only one without its electricity... odd.
And then an owl ran into his head.
Harry made a small noise of a suppressed scream and grabbed the owl in midair before it could fall. He closed the window and was aiming to stuff the owl in Hedwig's cage when it squawked. He hadn't noticed the tiny thing was carrying a letter. It was from Ron!
Harry unwrapped it feverishly.
Harry,
We've got a major problem at headquarters, which is why we couldn't come earlier. I can't tell you more until later, but we'll be there. Be ready, we aren't coming through Floo powder or the window.
Ron
P.S. We've already got your supplies from Diagon Alley, don't worry about that.
Harry sighed and went back to his bed. So they were coming, after all. But Ron's letter left more mysteries then it solved; when were they coming, how were they coming, and what was going on that made it so they couldn't leave 12 Grimmauld Place?
And why did the electricity go out?
Harry heard a faint ding-dong in the distance. It was the doorbell! Uncle Vernon was going to be furious that someone, probably the Weasleys, were coming to pick him up at this ungodly hour.
But when half an hour passed (he estimated, his clock wasn't working), the doorbell still ringing consistently, and no explosions of Vernon and Petunia proportions had occurred, Harry started to wonder if maybe it was safe for him to answer the door...
Harry grabbed his wand, trunk, broom, and Hedwig's cage and gently tiptoed out of his room and into the hallway. Forgivingly, the door made no squeaks and the trunk slid across the shag carpet smoothly. Harry wasn't so lucky with his bird, however, who squawked loudly upon being awoken. Harry stopped dead in his tracks. There was no way that that would have passed unnoticed by the rest of the household.
Harry was incredulous when Uncle, Aunt or overly large Cousin didn't catch him out of bed. Something very, very strange was going on.
Harry couldn't figure out how he was going to get his trunk down the stairs without making an incredible amount of noise. But he figured he'd been lucky so far, so he might as well risk it. After all, what the worst that could happen? Never mind, Harry didn't even want to think about it.
The trunk made it down the first step with an echoing clunk that rattled the picture frames on the wall. Harry paused for a moment to check if his theory was correct. It was. The Dursleys hadn't heard a thing.
Elated, Harry clunked his trunk the rest of the way down the stairs and opened the door, expecting the Weasleys and a couple members of the Order to be ringing the doorbell.
Instead, what he saw in the doorway made him stop dead in his tracks and want to scream.
Harry Potter's emerald eyes stared blankly at his clock, an old digital one of Dudley's that had been recently discarded. It was nearing one AM, and no one, none of the Order, none of the Weasleys, no one had come to help him get to King's Cross, no one had even mentioned it in their latest letter, despite Harry's persistent questioning. Harry barely noticed a tear trickling down his cheek. What if no one ever came? What if he had to miss his sixth year of school simply because he couldn't reach the train? What if he never got to see Ron or Hermione again? What if...
The clock beeped loudly to signal it had officially reached one AM. Only ten more hours before the train left the station, and Harry was out of ideas.
He couldn't send an owl, it wouldn't get there quick enough, and besides, they hadn't answered him in any of his previous letters.
He couldn't summon the Knight Bus, because that required magic and it was still, technically the holidays.
He couldn't ask his uncle to drive him down there, he'd already asked, and Vernon had replied with a succinct and nasty, "Never."
He couldn't fly, because once again, magic.
He couldn't call the Order on the telephone, because they didn't have one.
There was no flying car or team of Order members with broomsticks.
All he could do was wait patiently for a rescue to arrive, even if it never did.
The clock clicked to 1:01. Suddenly it's bright red letters flickered, and turned off. Harry stood up, opened the window, and looked down his block. No, his was the only one without its electricity... odd.
And then an owl ran into his head.
Harry made a small noise of a suppressed scream and grabbed the owl in midair before it could fall. He closed the window and was aiming to stuff the owl in Hedwig's cage when it squawked. He hadn't noticed the tiny thing was carrying a letter. It was from Ron!
Harry unwrapped it feverishly.
Harry,
We've got a major problem at headquarters, which is why we couldn't come earlier. I can't tell you more until later, but we'll be there. Be ready, we aren't coming through Floo powder or the window.
Ron
P.S. We've already got your supplies from Diagon Alley, don't worry about that.
Harry sighed and went back to his bed. So they were coming, after all. But Ron's letter left more mysteries then it solved; when were they coming, how were they coming, and what was going on that made it so they couldn't leave 12 Grimmauld Place?
And why did the electricity go out?
Harry heard a faint ding-dong in the distance. It was the doorbell! Uncle Vernon was going to be furious that someone, probably the Weasleys, were coming to pick him up at this ungodly hour.
But when half an hour passed (he estimated, his clock wasn't working), the doorbell still ringing consistently, and no explosions of Vernon and Petunia proportions had occurred, Harry started to wonder if maybe it was safe for him to answer the door...
Harry grabbed his wand, trunk, broom, and Hedwig's cage and gently tiptoed out of his room and into the hallway. Forgivingly, the door made no squeaks and the trunk slid across the shag carpet smoothly. Harry wasn't so lucky with his bird, however, who squawked loudly upon being awoken. Harry stopped dead in his tracks. There was no way that that would have passed unnoticed by the rest of the household.
Harry was incredulous when Uncle, Aunt or overly large Cousin didn't catch him out of bed. Something very, very strange was going on.
Harry couldn't figure out how he was going to get his trunk down the stairs without making an incredible amount of noise. But he figured he'd been lucky so far, so he might as well risk it. After all, what the worst that could happen? Never mind, Harry didn't even want to think about it.
The trunk made it down the first step with an echoing clunk that rattled the picture frames on the wall. Harry paused for a moment to check if his theory was correct. It was. The Dursleys hadn't heard a thing.
Elated, Harry clunked his trunk the rest of the way down the stairs and opened the door, expecting the Weasleys and a couple members of the Order to be ringing the doorbell.
Instead, what he saw in the doorway made him stop dead in his tracks and want to scream.
