Chapter 2 What had happened
Thanks for continuing to read this joint tale. Please remember, this is Smargden's baby, and that he has completed it. I'm just dressing it up. I will share the numbers and the good reviews with him, as much as possible. Thanks again for reading and reviewing.
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Members of the Order of the Phoenix were watching Potter's home, and so far, nothing had happened. It was a tedious task, according to most. One such person was the Potions Master, Severus Snape, who had taken over for the petty thief, Dung, at midnight. After a long and boring night staring at what appeared to be an empty house, he was anxious to leave. In this normal muggle neighborhood, where nothing of interest happened. It was downright boring and very hard to stay awake. Good thing he was a master at potions and was rarely without any. He hated it here. He would rather be asleep in his bed, or brewing a delicate potion, but no, he had to babysit the spoiled brat that was Potter.
It was just breaking dawn when Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody took over for Snape. He considered them security guards, but Harry had dubbed them jailers. The ex-Auror wasn't so sure which applied, he never felt comfortable keeping an eye on the boy. He knew, being a seasoned fighter, that you didn't block people from seeking help after seeing a loved one die. However, Albus insisted that Harry was safer here, and needed to mourn in peace. He also gave some cock-n-bull story about blood wards. After Snape left, the one-eyed man did as he always did when he was in his assigned area, he looked inside the house with his magical sight.
He was getting alarmed when his spelled eye didn't see Potter, or anyone else for that matter. This needed to be investigated, so he snuck into the house. He saw some things that were making his paranoid senses go off. The more he saw the more agitated he became. Things weren't right, and he just knew that this was going to be bad. He moved to the living room and saw that in front of the fireplace there were residue of school books, the same books used at Hogwarts. He could tell because, though most of them were burnt to a crisp, there were still some that were only partially destroyed. To the side of the fireplace was crumpled up, metal net-cage, which he guessed must have belonged to Potter's owl. Only the bird in question wasn't in it. However, there were a few white feathers on the floor.
He moved to the stairs and went up to what he knew was the boys room. There were remnants of blood was on the floor. There were clear signs that someone tried to wipe up it all up, but they were clumsy about it and didn't manage to get everything. Making his way down the hall to the bathroom, he could see that there were towels that had traces of blood. It looked as though someone tried to wash them off. His fingers twitched with each clue, but what finally made him call Dumbledore the bloody knife, axe and saw that he found.
Shooting off a Patronus, he gathered up all the information he could and went to Headquarters. He knew Albus would call a meeting, and he needed to have all the data. There would be questions that would need to be answered. When he completed his task he Apparated away.
A few hours later the meeting was called, though most had no idea why they were there. It had taken some digging and research, but Dumbledore and Snape confirmed that the blood that Moody had collected was indeed Harry's. Everything indicated that someone had murdered the missing teen and burned his belongings. There were many who could have done it, but to burn his stuff, that indicated his relatives. In addition, they were not at home, making look like they ran from the scene of the crime.
At the table where the Order sat, the atmosphere was heavy. It had been like that since it was announced that Harry was gone. None of them wanted to admit that he might be dead. A search schedule was formed, and the members discussed how they were going to keep it quiet until they found their wayward hero. They talked for hours, but it was decided that no one could know that the boy hero was missing. So, with some Polyjuice potion, and hairs found at the house, Charlie Weasley became Harry Potter. He would stay at Privet Drive, for now, but they would make a big show of bringing him to Headquarters soon, and then he could drop the act.
