As life on Privet Drive moved ahead, Jacob had begun to understand that to be accepted around here, you had to enjoy the occasional gossip session, something that the housewives clearly loved to do. While Jacob was not a gossip by nature, he did like to gather information, or intelligence as he called it and the talks with his neighbours provided that perfect chance to do so.

As he expected the Dursley's were the kind of family that had two different faces, those you saw in public and those that were only shown inside of their house and this was the real Dursley family. Dudley was proving to be a terror, screaming up and down the street, demanding sweets and other things all day long, Petunia only happy to give him whatever he wanted, Jacob knew this was going to be something that would cause the boy trouble later in life.

Vernon was someone who was even worse, while he presented a respectable face, his conversations at home, proved the man to be completely devoid of basic human emotions. The news was always showing stories of people struggling or immigrants coming to Britain and based on his thoughts, you would think Vernon Dursley was a Nazi, as it seemed unless you fit his exact profile of what should be normal, you were worthless and deserved whatever life gave you. Halloween proved that without a doubt, last year the children had approached number 4, dressed in their outfits and were all turned away by the man, this year, they knew not to bother.

This year, Jacob was ready for Halloween, as he began his day, he noted a strange cat sitting outside, looking across the street at number 4, clearly Darren and Sharon at number 7 got a new cat. Once Jacob made it back home after a long day at work, the cat was nowhere to be seen, but Jacob moved on, as he had things to get ready, the kids were going to be coming around soon. Each child that knocked on his door, was dressed in some form of classic costume, spaceman, cowboy, there were even a number of football players amongst the crowd and even a princess or two. When one of the parents of number 7 came through with their lot, Jacob asked about the cat, "Hey Sharon, I saw your new cat this morning, it looked quite comfy on your lawn" Jacob stated, a chuckle to his voice.

"We don't have a cat Jacob, Darren is allergic to them" Sharon replied, a look of confusion on her face. "Oh, well, maybe it belongs to someone else, but there was a cat sitting on your front lawn this morning, you might want to check that it got no closer if Darren is allergic" Jacob responded, a look of concern on his face. Sharon merely nodded, before getting her lot ready for the next house.

As the last child left number 6 however, Jacob was conflicted, he knew that he enjoyed the holiday, kids were always so excited when they were given lollies and those smiles had Jacob thinking, he was ready for a family, of course, he knew he needed a partner first. As he put the last bowl into the sink, he looked out his window and saw that same cat from the morning, walking down the fence line. Clearly, someone had gotten a new cat, but while it was moving around now, it was still focused more on number 4 than anything else.

While Jacob thought it was odd, it only became stranger when the cat turned around and look right at him, as if it knew it was being watched. Jacob took a small step back, the feeling that he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, playing through his mind. Shaking his head, he noted that he had to be exhausted, his imagination having some fun with him, he put the cat from his mind, turned off the lights and went upstairs to bed.

Outside, the cat looked around and seeing that no-one was looking, jumped down from the fence, making a landing on two feet instead of the expected four and in it's place was an older woman, wearing a dress and a pointed hat. As she looked around, a long stick came from her sleeve and she began to wave it around, at her feet, the ground between the wall of number 4 and the fence began to bubble and eventually, a large hole appeared, well a deep hole at least. From her pocket she removed a large stone, about the size of a baseball, and then tapped it with her stick, the action caused it to glow blue, then green, then orange, before fading out again.

Another wave of the stick and the ball was then floating in the air, before it started to lower itself into the freshly made hole, once it was at the bottom, a final wave of the stick and hole filled itself in, looking as if nothing had happened. A quick look around and the lady jumped back up to the fence, her move defying her advanced years, but just as before, by the time she made it to the top, a cat was in its place. The cat now settled down, continuing to watch for any strange activity.

Hours later, at the end of Privet Drive, a strange man with a long white beard and in perhaps the most colourful dress ever seen, complete with pointed hat, had appeared out of nowhere, this had caused the cat to take notice. As the man began to walk forward, he took out a strange silver lighter from within his dress and clicked it, the nearest street lamp went out, the light whooshing towards the lighter and with each click of it, the next went in as well. As he approached the cat, he turned to it and looked down, smiling "I should have known you would be here, Minerva."

The cat looked up at him and appeared to be upset at the man, but as before the cat began to change into the lady, hat and all "Albus, is it true? Are they really…?" Minerva began to ask, but appeared to be unable to complete her sentence, tears starting to fill her eyes. "Sadly yes, James and Lily have fallen to Voldemort, but young Harry has survived." A warm smile appeared on his face, but Minerva missed that it did not appear in his eyes "Hagrid is bringing Harry here now, best to avoid the common methods of transportation in these uncertain times."

Minerva had looked at Albus with nothing but confusion on her face now, "Is it wise to trust Hagrid with something this important?" Albus looked at Minerva and stated quite firmly "I would trust Hagrid with my life," however Minerva was set in getting an answer from him. "I am aware of the faith and trust that you have for Hagrid, but he will not be able to protect him should something happen." Minerva had started to raise her voice here, her concern for Harry evident and while Albus looked off to the distance, he responded "Perhaps, but you know better than most, Muggle means can sometimes be the easiest way to hide things."

Just as he finished speaking, a large rumbling noise was growing louder and louder, before a light started to shine up in the sky and as the rumbling got louder, the light grew brighter and within moments, a man, easily twice the size of most men could be seen sitting atop a motorbike. "Hullo Prafesser Dumbledoor, Prafesser MaGonagul, little tike fell asleep just as we were passin over Bristol. Try nut to wake him." Hagrid said, as he began to reach into the sash he wore around his neck and then began the most delicate task he had ever attempted, removing a small infant from within. "Thank you, Hagrid, your assistance has been quite welcome tonight, but I ask you now to leave, the smaller the number of people who know the exact house, the better." Albus had stated as he took the small child from Hagrid's larger arms.

"No wurries Prafesser, I will leave you to it. Just make sure to he is loved, please, he deserves that." Hagrid said, heavy tears falling from his eyes, as he climbed back aboard the motorbike. As the bike took off, back into the night sky, Minerva turned back to Albus and questioned him "Are you sure about this Albus, I watched the family all day, they are the worst sort of Muggles possible. The small child and I use that term for his age, not the body size, demands everything and gets it, he will be a nightmare when he grows up and you want to leave Harry here, in this place." Her face was red as she clearly believed her point. Albus however simply looked at her and stated, "You placed the stone, yes?" She nodded and prepared to reply before he continued, "Then this is the safest place for young Harry. Here he will grow up, away from the fame that will likely grow within the Wizarding world and when the time is right, he will return to us, ready to learn."

Clearly, he expected her to agree and let Albus leave the boy, but Minerva was known for being stubborn "No Albus, I want no part in this, I will not let you place the boy here, it is not the right place for him." She stood in front of him, her face proving she was not quite confident in her abilities to stop him. "I am sorry you feel that way Minerva, but Harry must remain here, it is for the Greater Good." Before she had time to process that statement, Albus had withdrawn his own stick and gave it a wave, Minerva's face went slack, her expression vacant. "You agreed with me Minerva, you watched me leave young Harry here and then you set off to complete whatever it is you needed to do next." As Albus finished speaking, Minerva nodded to him, turned and walked away, only a few feet later, did she vanish into this air, leaving no trace of her behind.

Now alone, Albus turned and looked down at the sleeping child, no trace of the smile on his face remaining. "Now young Harry, you will remain here and when it is time, I will have you brought back to me, so you may complete your destiny, do try not to die before I need you to." Albus looked up at the houses, seeing that they were alike and turned to what he believed to be number 4, but was number 6 and he bent down to place the child on the ground, placing a letter on top. "Goodbye Harry Potter, for now," and with that, he withdrew the silver lighter from his dress and with a click, all the lights came back on and then he vanished, content that he achieved his goals for the night.

As dawn started to creep in, the only resident of Privet Drive to be moving was Jacob Tuttle of number 6, given his routine, he was up and dressed and ready to head out the door, just after 5am as always, however today, he stopped dead, as a small item was on his doorstep, with what appeared to be a letter sticking out of it. He bent down to pick up the item and letter, only to realise it was a child, the shock of the discovery had him almost drop it, but his recovery was excellent, and he saved himself from that disastrous mistake. Walking back inside, he placed the child down on the floor, near the heater and noticed that while the child was asleep, he had a great big scar on his head, in the form of a lightning bolt and it was red as if it was brand new, with the thought of who could do this to a child in his mind, he decided to open the letter and began to read.

Petunia,

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you, your sister Lily and her husband James were murdered in the early hours of October 31supst/sup. While the Wizarding World will morn their loss, young Harry survived the attempt on this life and in the process vanished the evil that killed his parents.

While Voldemort was defeated and vanquished, his followers are still around and will likely seek revenge for their masters' defeat and thus to my point. Young Harry while powerful, is still a child and as such, will succumb to their threats quite easily, however if you take him in, which you have done by opening this letter and let him live with you in your house, you will be able to protect him.

Most importantly however, you will be able to protect yourself, as there are people within their ranks that know you exist, so taking the child in, will provide you with protection and make you invisible to them. Should you do this, the bankers at Gringotts, will know and start to provide you will money, 250 British pounds a week, to help you raise Harry, this will be deposited into an account that will be set up in the name of the home owner, upon your reading this letter. How you raise Harry is up to you, but it would be best if he were not aware of his heritage, powers or the Wizarding World at all, in fact, it would be best if he thought, he was unloved, as that would provide much more powerful protections for your family.

I understand that this is a lot to take in, but I hope you will do the right thing and keep the child with you, however should you attempt to remove him, I will know and simply return the child. Your opening of this letter has sealed a pact with you and Harry and to help you, I will ensure that the Wizarding World remains away from you.

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

Jacob sat down as he started to read the letter and by the end, was grateful he had, as he felt like he was ready to pass out. Not only was this child now an orphan, his parents murdered by this Voldemort fellow, there were wizards in the world and this Albus Dumbledore had decided on his own, that Petunia and her husband, were the right people to raise a child. Though if the undertones were correct, it seemed that he did not want Harry to know love, only to be raised, in what could only be described as a pig for slaughter. Knowing that he would need time to sort this out, he did the first thing he could think of and call in sick, explaining to Juliet that a family emergency had come up. Jacob knew he could not leave this child to the planned fate of this Dumbledore fellow, so he started to plan.