Chapter one
The Borrow
AN:
Hello folks, the chapters in this story will be much shorter than my usual standard.
Harry James Potter sat bolt upright in his bed, cold sweat running down his back and arms, Another nightmare. Once again, he had returned to where he had met Voldemort… His mind bringing him back to that terrifying moment when he was sure that it would be the end… Seconds later he would always find himself back laying on his bed at number four Privet drive.
Harry didn't remember ever falling asleep, he had long since started to hate it.
Eversense he had woken up in the Hospital wing, falling asleep always meant going back to the chamber under the forbidden third floor corridor, or facing the troll to save Hermione. Or the first Quidditch match that had left him debating if he wanted to continue the sport.
Gently, Harry got out of bed and placed his once again, broken wire frame glasses on his nose… He remembered the spell Hermione had used to fix them… Oculus Reparo.
He took a seat behind the desk, turned on the light… Next, to it, Hedwig sat in her cage, looking depressed from a lack of flight and food, she hadn't eaten properly for the past month, and Harry even less in that time.
The light gleamed off of the metal bars that prevented Harry from sending out Hedwig… Though now, maybe?
As quietly as possible, he forced the cage door open.
Hedwig went wide-eyed, her human having cut himself in the process.
Harry carried her gently over To the permanently open window, bars separating the occupants of the room from the outside world.
"Hedwig, If I can get you out, I want you to go to the Weasleys, I'll feel a lot better knowing that you are safe and looked after…" ' Harry turned his attention to the one thing that he had managed to save from being locked in the cupboard under the stairs. His Wand. Picking it up he gave it to Hedwig who clutched it in her talons. "Take it with you… and make sure it's safe."
Harry gave a sigh of relief when his snowy owl just fit between the iron bars, Hedwig gave a sad, and lowly burk, before spreading her wings and took to the sky.
Harry continued watching her until Hedwig was no longer visible. He was now completely alone.
Harry retuned to the desk, and sat dully. his mind had starting to wander a little.
The term as a whole left him wondering if he wanted to return to Hogwarts at all… But then
"BOY!"
The reason why he was so happy to go to Hogwarts in the first place… Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Cousin Dudley.
Harry never considered the Dursleys family.
His door was flung open, leaving the hinges breaking apart, allowing gravity to conduct its work.
On the other side of the doorway. stood a large beefy man with hardly any neck, a very large mustache, and livid red in the face.
"Do-Down stairs, N-Now!" Uncle Vernon Said, his voice suggesting that he was about to erupt once again
Harry followed silently, thanking God that he had managed to save Hedwig and his wand.
Vernon flung the cupboard door open. Instructing Harry to lift out his trunk.
Harry assumed he was about to be kicked out onto the street, though that didn't seem the case when Uncle Vernon told him to carry the trunk out into the parlor.
"Now, listen here boy, you will place your freak things into the fire! And you won't be returning to that freak school ever again." Dudley and Aunt Petunia nodded silently from the couch.
Harry stood frozen.
Inside the fireplace, there was some wood stacked, and small blaze burned like heartbeat.
"I will no longer tolerate any more of your freakishness inside my house!" Vernon declared… "The night happens to be rather nippy, so you will be feeding this nice fire." he continued, his voice turning uncomfortably calm. whilst Harry was desperately trying to think of a way to save everything inside his trunk from the flames
Harry abruptly found himself run out of time. After his uncle kicked his knees out from underneath him, leaving Harry to buckle down onto the floor, his trunk and hands now fully engulfed in the flames.
Harry cried out as raw shooting pain is sent out from his hands and wrists, all he could do was retrieve them. And watch helplessly as his trunk and all his school materials burned, turning the fire into a raging inferno.
The trunk soon collapsed, the mettle cracking and eventually exploring in the heat. Allowing the fire to spread inside, turning to smoke a ghostly black just for a brief moment.
Harry caught sight of the photo album Hagrid had given him, it become skewed to reveal a photo of his mother and father, that slowly burned away.
Harry didn't care anymore that the Dursleys where in the living room with him, laughing and drinking a nice bottle of brandy in celebration
There was no stopping the salty silent tears that ran down his cheeks, he didn't react even when the tears reached his cuts from the long days of labor over the past month. That gave him no time to work on school... not that seemed to apply anymore according to his uncle.
As the clock struck five o clock in the morning Harry was pulled by the scruff of his neck and thrown into the confines of the cupboard under the stairs. You will be staying in there for the rest of your freakish LIFE!" Vernon yelled through the small air vent, the alcohol starting to take effect. "you will only be coming out for housework."
Vernon then locked the door and the air vent shut, leaving Harry alone in the small dark space that he had spent so much time of his life.
There was no point going to sleep, not that Harry wanted to anyways. No, Aunt Petunia would be back down soon to make sure he would start his work, it would be the Garden first today, followed by breakfast at eight.
Elsewhere, Hedwig was flying at a heading of southwest as quickly as her wings would take her… Normally owls avoided using magic at all, at least beyond magically locating individuals. Truth be told as far as humans were aware, Owls couldn't perform magic beyond just that. However, damned if this wasn't an emergency, and warranted more extensive use of magic.
The sun was starting to rise as she reached the outskirts of a small village, Ottery St Catchpole.
It was here she found the strange looking home that she was flying to.
The home as a howl looked like a slue of small houses that had been stacked on top of each other then attached without being repainted. Humans have strange tastes in homes, she wonders why on earth they couldn't just build a nice simple nest rather than those large structures they call homes.
Hedwig was exhausted by the time she flew through an open window, inside she found a poster of a woman in dark Green robes and riding a strange log with twigs attached that let humans fly, she remembered her human youngling had a similar strange log.
Hedwig also noticed a small human female youngling sitting in her bed, looking like she had just woken up.
gazeing into the female youngling chocolate brown eyes for a moment, she decided she would have to trust her, Hedwig used the last of her energy to transmit her human younglings condition before finally falling asleep as it could not be avoided any longer.
The last the owl saw was the female youngling run out of the room.
"Mum, Dad!"
"what is it, Ginny?" her mother asked, a little worried at what had her daughter all railed up.
"A snowy owl just showed up in my room, no note or anything, all it had was a wand… It looked at me for a while then sort of fell asleep." Ginny explained…. "I- I think she belongs to Harry!"
Molly turned to her husband… She had a very uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach, after all, witches and wizards never parted with their wands, even in death… she remembered seeing Harry's relatives at Kings Cross. They did not look like a pleasant bunch, and raised all sorts of red flags in her mind, she contacted Professor Doumbledore, who had told her it was nothing to worry about… that everyone had a bad day. And said that it was vital that Harry remained at Privet drive living with his aunt.
"let's go see ," Ginny's father said, getting up from the kitchen table.
"Ya, it's Harry's owl, I bloody swear it is, there never not apart unless it is out delivering something." Replied the youngest of Ginny's brothers.
There father had become a ghostly white, and made his way down stairs again, "Molly I need you contact Professor McGonagall. It's Harry's owl, and I can only assume she brought Harry's wand."