Soul Phoenix
by Healer Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC. Rating M for multiple character deaths throughout this story.
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse.
Albus Dumbledore had thought through everything well. However, it was just two small details that he had missed in his planning. It was the night of the full moon, which Baby Harry had to spend on his relatives' doorstep, and the blood wards that he had cast around the Dursleys' home were not charmed to keep away animals of any kind.
Fifteen-month-old Harry Potter was fast asleep in the icy early November night, when all of a sudden, a shadow hurried up the street.
HP
It was not by chance that Fenrir Greyback made his way to Little Whinging that night. Upon hearing the news of the Potters' death and the Dark Lord's demise, he had waited at the Apparition border of Hogwarts and from his hiding spot had cast tracking charms at all Hogwarts professors who had readied themselves to apparate away during the day. 'Tomorrow is the full moon – maybe I can get to the Potter brat and avenge the Dark Lord' was his idea. Oh well, to tell the truth, it had not as much been his own idea as that of Lucius Malfoy, who had even been generous enough to provide a dose of the extremely rare but helpful Wolfsbane potion for him. The potion would help him keep his mind and ensure that he was mentally capable of fulfilling his task in spite of being in his werewolf form.
To Fenrir's chagrin, he had not spotted the baby, however, knowing that he had to act before the moon was going to rise fairly early this late in the year, he had followed McGonagall's track and had observed her watch a muggle house in her cat form during most of the afternoon. 'Maybe something's going to happen here,' he had thought and spent the afternoon and early evening roaming a near playground and forest. Now, however, it was time for revenge, provided that he had not been mistaken about the headmaster's plans.
Running up the street, he slowed down to eye the house that McGonagall had been watching earlier, only to smirk, happily. There he was. A baby was lying right on the doorstep, only wrapped into a thin blanket that was nothing compared to his sharp teeth.
He did not even give the boy a close look but merely fulfilled his task, knowing that Malfoy and the Dark Lord – if he was ever going to come back like Malfoy had promised – would reward him greatly for making the boy who lived a werewolf who had yet to transform.
HP
Harry only felt a sharp pain in his left arm on time to see a huge animal run away from him. He instinctively began to scream for his mummy. However, no one heard him, and after the pain lessened some, he drifted back to sleep, exhausted from crying.
HP
The Dursleys grudgingly took Baby Harry in and allowed him to stay in the cupboard under the stairs, not bothering to examine the wound on the baby's arm.
After exactly a month, Baby Harry felt pain spread over his whole body, before all of a sudden, his tiny hands became bigger and finally were replaced by a paw. He remained an animal until his body changed back when the first rays of the early morning sun penetrated his cupboard. Even back in his human form, Harry still felt uncomfortable and in pain, and he whimpered for a long time, before he drifted back into a much needed healing sleep.
Once a month, during the full moon, little Harry transformed into a little wolf, however, since no one looked into the cupboard at night, no one noticed about his transformation. They did not even realise how tired he was during the day after the full moon, and his whimpering due to the pain from the transformation was simply ignored.
At first, Harry thought that his transformation into an animal, maybe some kind of dog or wolf, was a recurring dream. Only when he was about four years old, he realised that he indeed did transform. 'Oh no, I better don't tell anyone about it,' he thought, having already learned that he was a freak and would be harshly punished for doing freaky things.
The Dursleys used to send him to bed before dinner, so that even in the winter months, he was always back in his cupboard before moonrise.
However, while Petunia had made Harry clean the house from his third birthday onwards, when he turned five, his aunt decided that he had to do the cooking as well. During the summer months, it was not a problem, however, in the evening of the full moon in November, Harry really had to hurry to finish dinner before it would become dark. By now, he had gotten used to the signs and his worsening condition and knew when it was time for him to become a wolf again.
Unfortunately, the next full moon was on the evening before Christmas Eve, and Harry was still in the kitchen preparing meals for his relatives for Christmas, when he felt the moon rise. Letting out a horrified shriek, he still tried to just drop everything and hurry back into his cupboard, but the transformation was stronger than the five-year-old's will, and an instant later, a young wolf was roaming the kitchen.
'Meat'was his instinctive thought, as he buried his teeth into Dudley's leg, only to turn away from the boy and defend himself against Vernon Dursley, who tried to restrain him, however, could not do anything against the five-year-old werewolf.
Crashing through the back door, the werewolf stormed out into the garden and from there ran straight through Privet Drive into the nearby park. Following his instinct that told him to get away as far as possible, even if his werewolf mind was unable to comprehend the reason, he ran straight on for a couple of hours, before he collapsed from exhaustion under a small group of trees in a park in London.
HP
Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, patiently waiting for the deputy headmistress to return from taking the students to Hogsmeade, where they would catch the Hogwarts Express to travel home for the Christmas holidays, when his fireplace flared.
"Andromeda," he greeted the witch in surprise and with a flick of his hand allowed her to step through.
"Dumbledore, I just saw something disturbing on the television," she came straight to the point, refusing the offered lemon drop with a wave of her hand. "They've found a boy and don't know where he belongs, and if you ask me, he awfully looks like Harry Potter. He's battered and bruised, but his scar is clearly visible, and he has Lily's green eyes."
She handed him a parchment containing the address of a muggle hospital. "Will you please check this out? I would do it myself, but I still need to work today."
Albus nodded in understanding. "I will," he promised. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, even if I don't really believe that it could be Harry."
"Thank you, headmaster," Andromeda replied and hurriedly stepped back into the fireplace.
HP
Harry was lying in a hospital bed trying to recall what had happened. 'Oh my, I attacked Dudley and Uncle Vernon,' he finally remembered, 'and then I destroyed the back door and fled. Then someone picked me up and brought me here,' he vaguely remembered the occurrences of the early morning.
All of a sudden, there was a bright flash, and before Harry knew what happened, the oldest man that he had ever seen was standing next to his bed with a beautiful, large bird perched on his shoulder.
"Hello," Harry said, timidly, looking at the bird in awe. It had red and golden feathers and was just very pretty. The old man was wearing a strange, purple one-piece and had a long beard. 'He almost looks like Father Christmas is supposed to look according to Dudley,' Harry thought, however, knew that Father Christmas was never going to come to a freak like him.
"Hello Harry," the old man said in a soft voice, causing Harry to wonder why he knew his name. "I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, and this is my phoenix Fawkes," he introduced himself and his familiar.
"Fawkes is beautiful," Harry whispered in amazement, carefully holding out a hand, when the phoenix suddenly jumped onto his stomach.
"It's all right to pet him," the old man reassured him, and the phoenix slightly lowered his head, almost as to show him that he wanted him to pet his crown feathers.
Harry carefully did the bird the favour, looking up in surprise when the phoenix uttered a few trills.
#Thanks little nestling. I appreciate it.#
"You're welcome," Harry replied, smiling.
"Could you understand what he said?" the old man queried, sounding surprised.
"Yes sir," Harry replied in a soft voice.
"Very well now, I believe that it's time for us to leave here," the old man said. "I'm going to take you with me to Hogwarts for the time being. We'll talk about everything in my office."
"All right," Harry agreed, unsurely, as he had no clue what Hogwarts exactly meant, however, obediently grabbed Fawkes' back feathers like the old man instructed him before he did the same.
He suddenly felt squeezed, and the world around him spun around before it turned black. When his vision returned, he found himself in the most beautiful room that he had ever seen.
HP
Only when the old man spoke up again, Harry noticed that there was a woman sitting in an arm chair reading an old looking book.
"Minerva, this is Harry. For some reason, he was found far from his relatives' home, wounded," the old man said. "Harry, this is my colleague, Professor McGonagall."
"Hello Professor McGonagall," Harry said, shyly.
"Hello Harry," the professor replied in a soft voice. "I'm very happy to meet you. I was a good friend of your parents, and I knew you well, when you were a baby."
"My parents?" Harry asked in excitement.
"Yes, they were both my students and later good friends," McGonagall informed him, only to add, "I sometimes baby-sat you when you were very small, although I doubt that you'll remember that."
"No," Harry replied, sadly, shaking his head. "I don't remember my parents either."
"Harry, have your relatives told you about Hogwarts?" the professor enquired.
Harry shook his head in denial. "No."
McGonagall sighed. "All right Harry. We're here in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Dumbledore, who brought you here, is the headmaster."
"Witchcraft and wizardry?" Harry repeated in disbelief. "What…" He trailed off, seeing McGonagall smile upon his discontinued question.
"This is a school, where children learn to control their magic and cast different kind of spells," the professor replied. "Did your relatives not even tell you that you're a wizard?" she then asked, incredulously.
"No," Harry replied in surprise. "They only told me that I'm a freak. Are you sure though? I mean, I'm just Harry, an ungrateful freak and a burden to all the good people," he added in a small voice what Uncle Vernon had drummed into his head over the last four years.
"Harry," the headmaster spoke up after leaving the conversation to his deputy for a while. "You're a wizard, however, what I'd like to know most is what happened. Why did you run away from your family?"
Harry let out a long sigh. "Excuse me sir, is it part of being a wizard to change into a large animal every now and then?" he asked, hesitantly.
"Are you an Animagus?" McGonagall enquired, her eyes widening, while the headmaster merely cast him a thoughtful look.
"Well, anyway, usually, I was already back in my cupboard when it happened, but yesterday, I had to cook for the Dursleys' Christmas, and I changed into the animal. My uncle was very angry, and I just fled. But I don't want to return there if possible," he added to his explanation in a small voice.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, pensively, "can you show us the animal?"
Harry cast him a surprised look, before he shook his head. "No sir, it only happened last night. I don't know when it'll happen again, but maybe in a few weeks' time."
"Do I understand it correctly that the change into the animal just occurs from time to time and it's not by your free will?" Dumbledore asked, his voice laced with concern.
"You mean that he's a werewolf?" McGonagall blurted out, seemingly horrified.
"Yes sir," Harry admitted, averting his eyes to the floor. 'Apparently, I really am a freak,' he thought, sadly.
"Harry, don't worry. I'll call two of my colleagues and ask them to check if there's anything that they can help you with," Dumbledore said in a soothing voice, before he leaned into the fireplace and called Poppy Pomfrey and Severus Snape.
Harry observed in shock how an older witch, followed by a tall wizard, stepped out of the fireplace.
"These are Healer Pomfrey and Professor Snape, who is our Potions Master and also has the first degree in Healing," Dumbledore introduced the two adults. "Poppy, Severus, will you please check on Harry and confirm if he is suffering from lycanthropy?"
Harry noticed that both adults cast the headmaster horrified looks, before they pulled wands out of their robe pockets and began to cast spells at him.
"Harry is indeed a werewolf," Poppy informed the headmaster, giving him a sympathetic look.
The Potions Master, who had been wearing a grumpy expression in the first place, merely nodded.
"Harry, in order to become a werewolf, you must have been bitten by one. Do you remember where and when that was?" Dumbledore enquired, looking at him in clear expectation. "Have you ever been outside the house during the night?"
"No sir," Harry replied in a small voice. "I think I was always a wolf."
"No," Snape disagreed, sharply. "When your parents were still alive, you weren't."
Silence spread over the room for a couple of minutes, before the Potions Master spoke again. "Oh no, Albus I can tell you what happened. Did you by chance take care of the matter that the night you placed him on his relatives' doorstep was the night of the full moon? He probably was bitten during that night."
"Was that the full moon?" Dumbledore asked, seemingly horrified.
"Yes," the professor whose expression had softened some replied in a grave voice.
"Very well," Dumbledore decided, sighing, "we can't make him go back to his relatives'. We must keep him here at Hogwarts."
"Albus," McGonagall spoke up in a soft voice. "Could we perhaps ask Remus Lupin to take care of him and home school him here in the castle? If anyone will be able to help a child werewolf, it'll be him."
"I believe that's a good idea," Snape was the first to react, causing his colleagues to stare at him in surprise.
"What?" the Potions Master asked, only to add, "I promised Lily to keep her son safe, as far as I can. True, I wasn't fond of the Marauders, but Lupin is harmless in comparison to each of his friends, and if he promises that he and Harry are going to take the Wolfsbane every month, it should be safe for everyone in the castle."
"Will you be willing to brew the Wolfsbane for them, my boy?" the headmaster asked, pleadingly. "Maybe if you teach Harry, he'll be able to assist."
A sneer appeared on the professor's face, however, he replied, "If Harry is only half as adept at Potions as Lily was, he'll be able to assist, provided that he's willing."
"Of course sir," Harry replied, eagerly. "Please teach me, sir. Is brewing a bit similar to cooking?"
Dumbledore crossed the room in a fast pace considering his age, which had to be enormous, and shouted into the fireplace, "Remus Lupin."
"Remus, could you please step through to Hogwarts for a moment?" Harry heard him ask before stepping away from the fireplace.
Just a moment later, a very friendly looking man with brown hair and a smile on his lips entered the room. He looked a little tired, and his robes did not seem as well kept as those of the other adults.
"Harry?" he blurted out upon noticing him, causing Harry to smile, hesitantly.
"Hello, nice to meet you," he said in a small voice. "I'm Harry."
"Remus," Dumbledore spoke up, sounding grave. "We've just found out that Harry is suffering from lycanthropy."
"He what?" Remus almost shouted, seemingly horrified at the news. "I promise I didn't…"
"Shut up, Lupin," Snape interrupted the rambling that was sure to come. "We know that you wouldn't do such a thing. We merely called you here to ask you something."
Harry stared at the Potions Master in surprise at the tone he used.
"All right, Severus," Remus replied, slightly calmer, looking at the headmaster in clear expectation, as he lowered himself into the offered seat next to Harry.
"Remus, would you be willing to raise Harry here at Hogwarts and home school him?" Dumbledore enquired. "We believe that you'll be the best to help him."
"I'd be very happy to raise Harry and teach him here at Hogwarts," Remus agreed right away. "If you believe that it's safe."
"It has to be safe," Snape spoke again in a firm voice. "It's your responsibility that you both take the Wolfsbane at the right times and don't hurt anyone. I will provide the potion for the two of you, possibly with Harry's assistance."
"Thank you so much, Severus," Remus replied, seemingly grateful. "I promise that we'll take the potion and take all possible safety precautions."
"Thank you Severus and Remus," Dumbledore said, nodding contentedly. "I suggest that we head to the Great Hall for dinner, and afterwards, I'll show you to your new quarters. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll go to the Dursleys and transfer the guardianship from them to Remus."
"I never have to go back to them?" Harry asked, his voice laced with hope.
"No Harry, you'll remain here at Hogwarts now," Dumbledore reassured him. "I'm sorry for placing you with your relatives. I thought they'd love you like their own son."
Snape let out a snort, which he quickly hid behind a cough. 'He seems a bit grumpy, but from what he says he's nice,' Harry thought, looking forward to be able to assist the dark haired wizard.
HP
When Harry entered the Great Hall together with Remus, he stopped dead in his tracks, overwhelmed by the beauty of the largest room that he had ever seen. Looking up to view the ceiling, he noticed that the Hall did not have a roof. He could clearly see the snow from outside fall into the Great Hall, although it never reached the floor, and it was warm and comfortable inside.
"Is there no ceiling?" he whispered to Remus, pointing up to the roof in surprise.
"There is," Remus replied, smiling. "But one of the founders of Hogwarts charmed the ceiling to reflect the sky, with an amazing effect if you ask me."
"Yes, it's cool," Harry had to agree, before his thoughts became diverted by the enormous Christmas tree that decorated one corner of the Great Hall. 'Oh right, it's Christmas Eve tonight,' he recalled, feeling very happy to spend the evening at such a wonderful place instead of being locked into his cupboard.
HP
After dinner, Dumbledore led Harry and Remus to a door within the corridor where all the teachers' quarters were. "These will be your rooms," he said, pensively. "The rooms at your right side are currently vacant, but Severus is living to your left side." With that, the headmaster opened the door and entered what seemed to be a living room.
Harry stared around the room in awe. The living room was built around a large fireplace and surrounded by bookshelves, which were only interrupted by tall windows and two small corridors.
"Please make yourselves comfortable," Dumbledore told them. "I shall ask a house-elf to fetch your belongings for you." He remained pensive for a moment, before he called out, "Gina!"
Harry stared at the small creature that popped up in front of them in disbelief. 'What's that?' he wondered.
"This is Gina, the Potters' head house-elf," Dumbledore introduced the elf. "Gina, would you be willing to work for Harry and his new guardian, Remus, here?"
Gina bowed deeply. "Of course, Gina will be honoured to work for Master Harry and Master Remus. I'm very glad to hear that Master Remus is Master Harry's guardian now."
"Thank you, Gina," Remus replied, warmly, and Harry had the impression as if Remus and Gina already knew each other.
'They both seem very nice,'he thought, happily, yawning.
"All right now, you should both go to bed, considering that it's the day after the full moon and you must be knackered," Dumbledore stated and left for the night, while Gina popped away to fetch Harry's and Remus' luggage.
HP
"Come Harry, let's get you into bed," Remus said in a soft voice and led him into one of the bedrooms. "Tomorrow, we'll ask Gina to change your room just like you want it, all right?"
Harry stared at his new guardian, wide-eyed. "This room is totally amazing," he blurted out.
"We'll see about it tomorrow. For tonight, just let's go to bed. Do you want me to transfigure your clothes into pyjamas?" Remus offered, not commenting on the matter that Gina had merely brought a worn out baby blanket from the Dursleys'.
"Yes please," Harry replied, eagerly, recalling how the headmaster had changed his hospital pyjamas into nice blue trousers with a red jumper earlier.
Remus waved his wand, and an instant later, Harry found himself dressed in most comfortable dark blue pyjamas that were decorated with a small, white ball which was moving around in a seemingly free will. From time to time, it vanished, only to pop up again at a different spot. 'This is funny,' he thought, giggling.
"Good night Harry," Remus said, gently, as he carefully tucked him in.
"Good night Remus," Harry replied, smiling as he drifted off to sleep, not having felt so cared for in a long time.
HP
Before everyone at Hogwarts was going to gather in the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast, Albus Dumbledore stepped into the fireplace to visit the Dursleys, wanting to have the change of the guardianship finished. 'It'll probably be Harry's best Christmas present,' he thought, berating himself for having placed the boy with his relatives.
Muttering a short apology to Arabella Figg, who was not even present when he stepped out of her fireplace, he quickly made his way to number four Privet Drive, where he found Petunia and Dudley sitting in the half-destroyed kitchen, crying.
"What happened?" he asked with a combination of genuine concern and foreboding.
"That freak happened," Petunia sobbed. "The day before yesterday, he changed into a wolf and killed Vernon."
"After biting me," Dudley added, showing him a small wound in his leg.
"Harry seems to be a werewolf," Albus said, pensively, trying to not let his own horror show to the muggles. "Did you not notice that a werewolf bit him before?"
Seeing Dudley and his mother shake their heads, he decided, "I'll take all of you to Hogwarts for the time being," he decided. "If Harry bit him, Dudley will probably be a werewolf now as well, and it would be too dangerous for you to remain here. Please quickly pack your most valuable belongings," he added as an afterthought.
While Petunia and Dudley busied themselves packing, Albus quickly repaired the kitchen, before he unobtrusively modified their memories. They'd both believe that Vernon had died in an accident and that no one knew how Dudley had become a werewolf, just like in Harry's case. 'That's much better,' he thought, contentedly, and sent a Patronus to his deputy, before he sat at the kitchen table and conjured a cup of tea for himself.
HP
Professor McGonagall knocked at Remus' and Harry's door and informed them that their presence was required in the headmaster's office before breakfast, as Dumbledore was going to bring Harry's aunt and cousin to Hogwarts.
"Remus, I can stay with you, can't I?" Harry asked, worriedly.
"I think so, Harry," Remus replied, calmly, giving the deputy headmistress a concerned look.
"Albus didn't say anything about it," McGonagall answered the unasked question. "I can't see a reason why not though."
HP
By the time the headmaster returned to his office with Petunia and Dudley in tow, Minerva and Remus had efficiently prevented Harry from hyperventilating, and Dumbledore had gained some insight into Harry's life with his so-called family.
"Oh what a beautiful place," Petunia voiced, when they three of them arrived with Dumbledore's Portkey.
Dudley merely nodded, glancing around with apparent apprehension.
"Is this a nice place, yes?" Dumbledore enquired in obvious amusement. "Dudley, do you think so, too?"
Dudley nodded. "Yes. Where are we?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "You're in my office at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Only wizards and witches are able to see this as you said beautiful place though. Muggles will only see a pile of old bricks," he informed them, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Muggles?" Harry mouthed, giving Remus a questioning look.
"Muggles are non magical people, Harry," his guardian replied, gently.
"I am non magical, and so is Dudley," Petunia said in a firm voice.
Dumbledore smiled. "I'm sorry to say this, Mrs. Dursley, but that's impossible." He motioned Petunia and Dudley to take seats and offered them a lemon drop, which Dudley gladly accepted, before he explained about the Evans family.
"Most people thought that Lily was muggleborn. Alas, this is not true. The Evans family, which is, unfortunately as I might say, prevailed by a long line of Squibs, goes back as far as Ceridwen Hufflepuff and her husband Gawain, the sister of one of the founders of Hogwarts." Ignoring Petunia's gasp, he continued, "Therefore, all three of you are descendants of the Hufflepuff line. While Harry is definitely a wizard and after his mother listed as the heir of Hufflepuff, we'll have to ask our healer to assess if you're Squibs, non magical descendants from a magical line, or if either of you is magical."
"That would be too cool if Dudley was a wizard, too," Harry blurted out in excitement.
"Let me call our healer along with our Potions Master and have them assess the matter," Dumbledore suggested. "We also need them to confirm if Dudley is suffering from lycanthropy."
HP
"Petunia," Severus Snape acknowledged the supposed-to-be muggle's presence.
"Severus," Petunia replied in clear surprise.
"Poppy, Severus, it appears that Dudley is also a werewolf," Dumbledore turned to his colleagues. "I need you to check for lycanthropy, and I'd also like you to assess if by chance Mrs. Dursley or Dudley are magical."
Harry observed with interest how the healer and the professor took their wands and began to cast diagnostic spells at his aunt and cousin.
"Mrs. Dursley's magic is currently at about two percent," Pomfrey said, seemingly pensive. This probably means that she is a Squib, however, her magic might still go up as far as needed to be considered a witch. We'll have to keep this in mind and do the occasional check. Her son's magic is still very weak, however, he is definitely a wizard. Maybe it's just manifesting a little late," she added, smiling.
"I agree," Snape spoke up, giving the healer a sharp nod. "Mr. Dursley is also suffering from lycanthropy," he added, causing the healer to confirm her colleague's diagnosis.
"The question is what to do with him," Dumbledore said, seemingly thoughtful. "We can't very well have Mrs. Dursley and Dudley live in the muggle world with this predicament."
"Petunia could remain at Hogwarts with the boys," Snape suggested. "Maybe she could replace Madam Pince as the librarian. Irma wanted to retire anyway, and I don't think that much magic is needed for her tasks."
"That would be an option," Dumbledore said, seemingly deep in thoughts. "Dudley could attend classes with Remus Lupin together with Harry." Seeing Petunia give him a questioning look, he explained, "Remus Lupin was one of Harry's parents' best friends, and he's a werewolf as well. He'd be well able to help the boys with everything from the transformation up to the after effects. Last night, we've already decided to change the guardianship over Harry to Remus, as he could become his guardian in the muggle and the magical world."
"I'd appreciate that," Petunia said, seemingly grateful, "and I'd also like to accept the offered position. It means a lot to me that I'm allowed to remain together with my son."
"What about your nephew?" McGonagall asked in a sharp voice.
"Oh well, yes," Petunia replied, not seeming overly enthusiastic.
Seeing that Harry gave him a frightened look, Remus spoke up. "Harry, you're going to stay with me, aren't you?"
"Yes please," Harry agreed, smiling happily. 'No one has ever told me so much about my parents like Remus did before McGonagall disturbed us, and he really seems to like me. I'm so happy that I can stay with him,' he thought, feeling over the moon with joy at the new arrangements.
HP
"Now I suggest that I show Petunia and Dudley their rooms, which is right next to Remus' and Harry's, and then I suggest that we all assemble for breakfast in the Great Hall. If I'm not mistaken, today is Christmas day, and I believe that Father Christmas has brought presents for us," the headmaster said, pleasantly, before he complimented his guests out of his office.
"Father Christmas never brings me presents," Harry whispered to Remus, when they followed McGonagall straight into the Great Hall.
"And why might that be, Harry?" Remus enquired in apparent surprise, gently placing his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Because I'm a freak and not a good boy," Harry replied, matter-of-factly.
"You're a wizard and not a freak," Remus said in a soft yet firm voice. "And I'm sure that you're a very good boy."
A sudden thought struck Harry's mind. "Is it my fault that Dudley's a freak now too, ah, a wizard I mean?" he asked in a small voice, causing Remus to shake his head.
"No Harry. First of all, it's a very good thing, and secondly, it's not your fault at all," Remus reassured him and led him over to the head table, where the other teachers were already having breakfast.
HP
To his utter surprise, Harry received many presents, proper clothes, books and toys, even more than Dudley.
"How come that the freak gets presents?" Harry heard Dudley ask his mother. "You always said that he wasn't a good boy."
Harry averted his eyes to the floor, wondering how Petunia might reply in front of all these witches and wizards that were now gathered around them. 'I just hope that they won't find out that I'm not good and send me away,' he thought, when his aunt finally replied.