Chapter 1
As Mr. Dursley drove away from his home, his son, Dudley, chanced one last glance at the home they had inhabited for as long as he could remember. The wizard had said they could never come back. That they were in danger from a different wizard who was intent upon killing Harry. But why? Why did he want to kill Harry? What had he done? Dudley just couldn't get his mind around it.
Despite the bullying and the torturing, Dudley had become accustomed to Harry. He was almost like a brother. Almost, but not quite. It just seemed strange that they had agreed never to see each other ever again after nearly sixteen years of living under the same roof.
His father grumbled as the man with the strange pocket watch complimented his driving. Dudley didn't think these wizards were too frightening. Besides the fact that they what his mother called 'freaks' these two didn't seem too bad. Unlike the other wizards they'd met, these hadn't done any magic so far, so Dudley thought this journey might not be too bad.
Yet he was still afraid. As little as he wanted to show it, he was afraid. If they had to leave their entire lives behind for this, then it must be serious. Ever since that Dementor had attacked him, Dudley had a new outlook on magic. The creature was horrible, but Harry had saved him. There was good magic after all. Dudley often had nightmares about that night. He remembered the darkness and the cold. But he also remembered bright silver light. It came from Harry's wand and it looked almost like a deer. Sometimes in the dream the deer would save him, but sometimes it would not.
If there were more perils like this ahead of them, Dudley was quite glad they had the witch and wizard with them, even if his parents didn't agree. He remembered when the huge man had broken into their shack by the sea and started all of this. Someone had been following them everywhere they went and they couldn't escape. Hopefully with the help of wizards, they could escape this time.
The wizard seemed quite relaxed now that they were on the move. They had driven a few blocks away now. There was the playground where Dudley and his friends had clobbered so many kids. He was going to miss his friends. He wished he could've said good bye to a few of them, but Harry had made it clear that they were to tell no one of their departure beforehand.
How was this fair to Dudley? Why should his family have to hide just because Harry was a targeted man? But the answer came back to him in Harry's voice 'We think Voldemort might try to target you, whether to torture you to get information on me or he thinks by holding you hostage, I might try to save you.'
Would Harry rescue them? If they were caught, would Harry come? Dudley thought he would. Ever since the Dementor, Dudley had been trying to make it up to Harry. He owed him his life, or soul. The problem was, Harry hadn't been around much. This made his parents happy, but it made it harder to be nice to him when he wasn't around.
Obviously Harry hadn't noticed Dudley's attempts, or he wouldn't have said the things he said back in the living room. Dudley didn't think him a waste of space. But Dudley thought he had done a good job of communicating his thanks before they'd left.
He did feel truly sorry for the way he had treated Harry for the first ten years of their lives. At seventeen, Dudley had finally matured. He wasn't a bully anymore, though he was still large and strong. Most of the time he could direct his strength to sports, like boxing. Dudley and his gang had stopped beating kids up, and now Dudley was relatively well liked, instead of feared. But he was leaving all of that now. Gone, and to apparently never to return.
The witch looked anxious. She kept glancing out of the window next to Dudley, who was in the middle of the backseat between her and his mother. The witch had said they might die. But Dudley did not want to think about that now. They cruised a few more miles in silence, the family taking their last looks at their home city. Dudley looked out of the back window behind him, was it his imagination or was there a huge, dark bird flying above them? He looked up at the clouds, but whatever he had seen was gone.
It had to be his imagination, right? The witch was just making him nervous, so he was seeing things. That had to be it. Still, Dudley kept looking out of the window behind him. After a few minutes the witch exclaimed, "That's the signal! They'll be leaving now."
"Good, good," the wizard said, still playing around with buttons and knobs. Dudley had a feeling if his father didn't see the wan d in the wizard's hand, he would be yelling at him right now. Dudley looked behind him again. He received a shock when he saw red and green lights high up in the air and miles behind them.
"What's that?" Dudley asked, pointing. The witch turned around. She shrieked.
"Dedalus, I think they've been ambushed!" The wizard turned around too. He gave a yelp and yelled for Mr. Dursley to step on the gas.
"What's happening?" Dudley asked, frightened again.
The witch answered him, "Harry was going to fly away to a safe house. They used six decoys, just in case, because they thought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would have spies out. But I don't think Mad Eye expected them to be ambushed like that. There must be at least twenty Death Eaters up there with them! Dedalus how could He have known they were moving him tonight?"
"I don't know! It doesn't make any sense!" Dedalus was no longer relaxed, but extremely flustered.
"Hang on," Dudley said slowly, "If they know that they were moving Harry, wouldn't they know we were leaving too?" The witch's expression changed from fearful to terrified.
"He's right, Dedalus!" she squealed. Dudley's stomach sank.
"What is that?" his mother shrieked, pointing out of her own window. At first Dudley thought it was a dementor, but then he saw that it was human. A man was in a long black cloak flying beside the car on what appeared to be a broom. Before Dudley could process what this meant, the witch had pointed her wand at the figure and shouted something that sound like 'Stupefy!' Red light shot from her wand. The glass window shattered onto his mother's lap as the light passed through it. The light hit the figure directly and Dudley could no longer see him.
Dudley had not realized how fast they had been going until the engine began spluttering. He looked at the speedometer as it fell from 120 to 0. The car had broken down. His dad swore loudly as his mother shrieked again. Fear gripped Dudley.
Light illuminated the car from the outside. About six beams of light surrounded them. Dudley could vaguely see a figure behind each wand. They were trapped.
The witch screamed "Duck!" just as each beam of light turned red. Dudley did as he was told, heart pounding as he crouched over. He could hear laughing from outside. Dudley looked to his left and saw his mother, sitting up but unconscious.
"Mum!" he yelled now sitting back up, trying to wake her up. The laughter grew louder. Dudley heard a loud pop and looked to the front seat to see his father and the wizard disappear. The witch yelled to grab her hand. He did so as well as grabbing a hold of his mother.
Everything became black. He thought of dementors, but then he felt a hard squeeze. He felt like he was being pushed through a rubber tube of some sorts. He couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't breathe. And then it was over. There was no laughter. They were no longer in the car at all. He gasped for breath. His father and the wizard were beside them, his father catching his breath and swearing loudly.
"They didn't catch a hold of you did they, Hestia?" the wizard asked.
"No but they Stunned his aunt," she replied, straightening herself up.
"Petunia!" Vernon roared. "Your lot killed her! She's dead!"
"Didn't you just hear me?" asked the witch, clearly annoyed, "She's only Stunned. Look, she's coming 'round now." It was true, Dudley's mother was stirring. Dudley realized he was shaking. Two minutes into this whole thing and they were already attacked. How would they get through this?
The worst part was, they were defenseless. The witch and wizard had wands, but what could Dudley do? He couldn't fist fight them, and that was all he knew how to do. Again Dudley was extremely thankful that they had the witch and wizard with them.
"What the devil happened back there?" spluttered his dad once he'd made sure his mum was okay.
"I still can't figure out how they knew we were moving you lot tonight!" the wizard said distractedly.
"Who knew? For God's sake explain yourself man!" his dad was furious. His in the dark, Dudley could still see his mustache quivering.
"Vernon, let's just go home!" his mother said weakly, lying on the grass. They were in what looked like a pasture. Dudley had never been anywhere like this before.
"You can't go home, dear," Hestia said gently. "That's where the Death Eaters are right now. They'll probably be keeping a few patrolling the area just in case you do try to go back."
"What are Death Eaters?" Dudley knew Harry had talked about them, but he couldn't remember exactly what he'd said about them.
"Death Eaters are You-Know-Who's supporters," Dedalus answered. Different colors were flying out of his wand as he began circling around them.
"What in blazes are you doing?" Vernon asked. The wizard waited a few moments before answering. When he was done with the magic, he turned to Vernon.
"I was casting protective spells over us and over the area in case they find us, which is highly doubtful." he turned to the witch, "Hestia, you don't think there was a traitor among them?"
"I don't know who it could be. It just doesn't make sense. Oh I do hope they all made it safely." she looked deeply concerned. "Do you think we should send the signal?"
"I don't know if it's safe to right now," Dedalus replied. Neither the witch nor the wizard was as cheerful as they had been only ten minutes ago. "I think it best we wait for their signal instead."
"What signal?" Vernon asked. He hated not being in control of the situation. And he was definitely not in control of this situation.
"Molly's signal," Hestia replied. When Vernon still didn't look satisfied she added, "It will tell us that your nephew got there safely."
So they waited. Dedalus drew up a fire around which they sat. It was cold here. Dudley asked if they were still in the country. Hestia said yes, but that they had traveled some hundred miles northern.
"But how?" Vernon asked. He looked very confused. "All you did was grab me, and then we were here! It makes no sense."
"We Disapparated," Dedalus said simply. When Vernon still looked confused he said, "It's our way of getting from one place to another. You Muggles use cars, and we Apparate. Our way is much faster and more efficient, but Muggles can't do it. You have to be with a wizard who has a wand to do it."
"Well, why can't the Death Lunchers or whatever Apporate here too?" Vernon asked, mispronouncing most of his question. Dedalus smiled before replying,
"Because they don't know where we Disapparated to."
"Dedalus the signal!" Hestia had jumped up and was pointed to a silver blur. A large bright weasel appeared. "Oh good, that means Arthur is okay too," Hestia said.
The weasel opened its mouth and spoke in a vaguely familiar voice, "Harry is safe. The Death Eaters ambushed us. We're all right. Mad Eye's dead. Send word." And then the weasel disappeared.
Hestia pointed her wand in front of her. A possum appeared at her feet, bright and silver like the weasel. She then spoke to the possum, "We're all right. We were followed too but we got away. We're going to the safe point now." And with that, the possum ran at lightning speed into the darkness.