Chapter Two
With Hedwig's help and constant companionship, Harry managed to make it as far as the island where Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was located. He was also lucky none of Voldemort's spies noticed him although it wasn't likely since they probably didn't know he was in the form of a dove.
\Are you all right, Harry?/ Hedwig asked.
\My wing hurts,/ Harry replied.
\We'll stop then before your wing gets worse,/ Hedwig hooted before flying toward a nearby tree that lay at the edge of the island and Harry, his eyes filled with pain, followed him before landing beside her.
He glanced at his feathery gray wing before tucking it in at his side, following Hedwig's example although he seemed to have already gained a bird's natural instincts when he accidentally transformed. He still hadn't the slightest clue as to how he transformed, his godfather, Sirius, told him that his father had been an animagus so it would make since that Harry was one as well but that didn't help to figure out how to transform back.
He felt lightheaded and glanced at Hedwig who hooted in concern. \You look tired. Rest for a bit and than we shall continue onward. It should not take us long to reach the school but if you are as injured as you look then we will have to take it slow,/ she said.
Harry nodded slowly, which proved to be a mistake and he grew more lightheaded than ever before. He closed his eyes and would have fallen off of the branch had Hedwig not stretched out her uninjured wing to catch him. Pulling the smaller bird to her side, Hedwig hooted softly as Harry slowly drifted off into a light sleep.
He woke up to his familiar gently nudging his wings with hers and he lifted his head before fixing emerald eyes on his familiar. Hedwig hooted softly, \We need to get going, I sense something dangerous is near,/ before she spread her wings although Harry could see the pain in her eyes from when Vernon had tossed her.
He slowly rose as well but his wing still ached and he nearly fell from the sky when he spread his wings and started to rise. Hedwig caught him, however, and slowly guided him through the trees of the forest. \We'll keep low,/ said Hedwig. \That way, no one can spot us in the sky and we will be able to land if we get too tired./
\That's sounds good,/ Harry cooed back as he and Hedwig struggled to fly through the forests on the island as they tried their hardest to make their way to Hogwarts.
Albus Dumbledore could tell something was wrong almost as soon as he approached Petunia and Vernon Dursley's house on Privet Drive. He didn't know how he knew that something was wrong but he did and he could tell Nymphaedora and Minerva were also quite nervous, sensing that something was wrong.
Albus kept his gaze fixed not only on the house the blood wards use to protect but also for any Death Eaters that may be in the vicinity. Severus had told him that Death Eaters were going to be near here, waiting for a chance to take the boy if he was, indeed, here.
Albus narrowed his eyes as he raised a hand and knocked on the door.
"Could someone get that?" A loud male voice shouted and a moment later the door opened to reveal the horse faced skinny Petunia Dursley.
Petunia scowled angrily. "It's you," she hissed before she glanced over her shoulder. "Vernon, those freaks are here!"
"It's about bloody time," Vernon growled stalking forward. "Look at what that little brat did to my house!"
Albus got a good look at the house and noticed a few picture frames had fallen but it otherwise looked fine. "I don't see any problem," he said smoothly. "We actually came concerning your nephew. Is he here?"
"No, that no good little brat disappeared," Vernon growled. "That pesky owl of his had something to do with it and he did some more freaky stuff and then the next thing I knew there was an owl and a dove in the bloody brat's room."
"A dove?" Minerva echoed.
Albus could tell that they were all thinking the same thing. Could Harry be an animagus?
"And where did you last see the owl and the dove?" Nymphaedora asked getting to the point of why they had come to Privet Drive, to find Harry Potter.
"They flew out of the window," Vernon growled pointing to the open window in the living room. "And haven't been seen since. Good riddance, I say. That boy has been nothing more than a bloody nuisance ever since he was given to us but he's been particularly bad this year."
"He keeps going on and on about a Cedric," a fat little boy that Albus assumed was Dudley Dursley, put in.
Cedric Diggory, the boy that had been killed by Voldemort after the Triwizard Tournament, it makes since that Harry is having nightmares about it, Albus thought. "And you didn't think to ask him what it was about?" he asked.
"Why should I? He's just a freak," Dudley said in spite of the glare he was receiving from his parents.
Minerva's eyes flashed. "Do you always call him a freak?" she demanded.
"He is one so why should we lie?" Dudley said again oblivious to the glares his parents were giving him. "He always gets into trouble with his freakish abilities."
Albus sighed, he really didn't want to hear anymore of this, especially if those Death Eaters were starting to close in. All they were powerful, Bellatrix and Lucius weren't stupid enough to try and attack when Albus was there so it was likely they would attack soon after they left.
He glanced at Nymphaedora and Minerva. "We'll need to get them out of here," he whispered quietly. "Voldemort knows that we cannot take the boy away from here and if we cannot make it seem as though we're reinforcing the wards then the Dursleys will be in danger."
Minerva nodded before looking at the Dursleys. "Why don't you three go on a vacation?" she suggested. "Get out of the house until your son has to return to school. It'll be our treat to pay you back for what happened with the dove and owl." Albus could tell that it pained her very much to say those words but if it would get the Dursleys away from the house before the Death Eaters attacked then it was something she had to do.
"Where are we going?" Dudley asked.
"You pick the destination," Albus said smoothly. "We'll pay for it and again we are sorry about what happened." It also pained him to say those words since it was obvious that accidental magic had been at work here but if he didn't say something like that then the Dursleys would be in danger if they refused to leave.
"All right," Vernon growled before he lumbered away to get ready and Albus stepped back as Petunia closed the door and also got their stuff packed and ready to go.
"The Death Eaters aren't attacking," Nymphaedora said. "That's why I think we should stay here until the Dursleys leave."
Albus nodded. "I agree," he said. "We'll ask the Dursleys to let us at least stay in the house. We may as well see if we can get Harry's stuff before we attempt to find him."
"I'll contact Severus and tell him to keep an eye out for Harry in his dove form or Harry's familiar," Minerva said and Albus nodded as the Head of Gryffindor House made her way to Arabella's Figgs place to use her fireplace to contact Severus.
Hedwig could tell that her boy was growing tired and she finally insisted that her boy had to rest. Harry shook his small head stubbornly. \I'm fine,/ he cooed although his eyes said a completely different story.
\No you are not,/ Hedwig hooted back. \You need to rest, your wing is badly injured and needs to be looked at. Land and we'll rest for a bit before we go on./
\But we haven't traveled that far yet,/ Harry protested. \At this rate, we won't make it back to Hogwarts until winter./
\It would do you no good if you fall out of the sky before we reach Hogwarts,/ Hedwig hooted in reply.
\But…/
\No 'buts', you are not going to go flying around if you are at risk of falling from the sky. Your wing needs time to heal, we'll stop for the time being,/ Hedwig said firmly before she guided Harry toward a nearby tree branch and Harry sank grateful onto it, even if he was too stubborn to admit that he really did need rest. It wasn't entirely because he was stubborn that he refused to stop, it was because the time he spent with Dursleys easily convinced him to keep his pain to himself and not make a big deal out of it.
Hedwig understood everything that Harry had gone through and understood as to why he was so stubborn. She hated what those human things did to him and if she could she would probably avenge what happened to her boy. But right now, she had to focus on getting her boy to Hogwarts before his wing completely failed him. Right now, Hedwig could see that it was getting worse and it was a miracle that Harry was still able to stay in flight.
Hedwig's own wing ached but she hadn't been as injured as Harry was since she was still able to fly without having to stop constantly to rest. Harry, on the other hand, had hit the wall so hard that Hedwig had heard his bone wing crack. It was only because of Harry's magic that Harry was still able to fly but Hedwig knew it would only be a matter of time before his magic would not be able to keep his wing from breaking.
Next there was the fact that Harry had transformed himself into a dove on accident to save himself and Hedwig from the human Vernon's wrath. Hedwig hadn't the slightest clue as to how that happened and she wasn't entirely sure as to how to transform her boy back into, well, a boy.
\Do you have any idea as to how this happened?/ Hedwig hooted.
Harry shook his small head. \I just wanted to escape Vernon and it just happened. I think it was accidental magic,/ he cooed back.
Hedwig tipped her head to one side thinking. \When we get to Hogwart, we are going to have to find someone who can help you transform back or figure out what you did,/ she hooted in reply.
Harry nodded his head before he stood on his talons. \I'm ready to continue,/ he said.
Hedwig hesitated as she examined her boy before she stretched out her face to examine Harry closer. \For a little while, we will take this journey in slow stages,/ she said before she spread her wings and shot off into the sky with Harry weakly flying behind her.
Hedwig dropped to where she was flying at Harry's side before she placed her uninjured wing over him to guide him. It was clear her boy was in pain but he was pushing himself to try and get to Hogwarts before his wing broke on him. Hedwig feared he would use too much magic to keep himself in the air and exhaust himself.
Hedwig kept an eye on Harry as the two of them flew onward through the trees but she also kept an eye on the ground just in case someone would try to attack them from the ground. They were flying dangerously close to the ground although they kept as high as the branches of the tree so that they may land when Harry grew too exhausted or too filled with pain to continue.
Hedwig found herself hoping that she and her boy would be able to make it to Hogwarts before anything too horrible happened to them.
Severus was pulled out of his musings as a head poked out of the green flames and he scowled when he recognized Minerva. "What brings you here?" he asked.
"We found out something that Albus thought you should know about," Minerva replied. "May I step through?"
"By all means."
Minerva disappeared only to reappear in Severus's lounge area of his room at Hogwarts. "We've discovered that Harry used accidental magic and somehow transformed himself into a dove. He and his familiar left the Dursleys and for some reason, that caused the wards to fall. No one knows at to where they can be right now; however that means You-Know-Who doesn't know either," she said.
"Until Lucius and Bellatrix report back saying that the Potter brat isn't at the Dursleys then it's likely he'll ask me," Severus said.
"Albus and Nymphaedora are sending the Dursleys on a vacation to get them out of the house in case the Death Eaters attack if they still believe the boy is there but Albus told me to tell you to keep an eye out for a dove or Harry's familiar as they are likely to head here. Also, Albus is sending Harry's stuff to Gryffindor Tower since he most likely was unable to carry it when he left."
Severus nodded once although he scowled inwardly. So that's the trouble the Potter brat got into, transforming himself into a dove and most likely not knowing how to transform back, he thought. "I'll keep an eye out for him," he said.
"Doves and owls can make it past the wards around Hogwarts so you'll have to watch carefully," Minerva said.
"No need to restate the obvious, Minerva," Severus growled.
Minerva shrugged. "I'd best be getting back," she said. "Just keep an eye out for them."
Severus nodded curtly in reply and Minerva turned around before disappearing through the floo after calling for Arabella Figg's house. Sighing and wondering why it was that he couldn't get a break when it came to the Potter brat he was secretly supposed to protect, Severus got to his feet before making his way out of the dungeons.
Harry was growing more exhausted the further they flew from their last rest stop but he refused to admit it to Hedwig, in spite of the fact that his familiar kept glancing at him with concern in her eyes. His wing ached each time he so much as moved it and Harry knew that it would have broken long ago had it not been for his magic.
That was also causing him to grow more exhausted as the two birds struggled to make their way to, at the very least, the Forbidden Forest, before trying to get to Hogwarts. In truth, Harry hadn't the slightest clue as to where he was to begin with and figured he had to be near Hogwarts since the island wasn't all that big.
All he could see were trees lining the area around him since he and Hedwig were only flying just beneath the tops of the trees so that they would be able to find a resting place quickly. Harry pushed himself onward although his wing continued to burn with pain but he was used to pain, living with the Dursleys he sort of had to be used to pain.
Harry was growing more tired and Hedwig could tell that something was wrong. He followed Hedwig but he started to lag behind, his wing starting to hurt more and more until it gave out on him and he spiraled to the ground.
\Harry!/ Hedwig hooted loudly in alarm before flying rapidly to Harry's side to try and catch him before he hit the ground.
Harry suddenly felt talons curve around his wings and he was gently guided to the ground where he collapsed exhausted and filled with pain. \Hedwig?/ He called weakly.
\You're much too injured to be flying,/ Hedwig said firmly. \We're still a great distance from Hogwarts but I might be able to make it there and get help before my wing gives out./
\But…you're hurt too, you shouldn't do that,/ Harry protested.
\You are injured and I will get you help,/ Hedwig hooted firmly. She gently nudged Harry into a small hole. \Stay here./
Harry hesitated but nodded before tucking his wing in as Hedwig spread her wings. \I will be back,/ she promised before she took off into the sky and flew rapidly away.
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: well that was chapter two and I hope that you like it, reviews are much appreciated. Oh and sorry for any mistakes that you find in the last two chapters. I'll proofread the next chapter before I post it so there, hopefully, won't be any mistakes in chapter three as there are in chapter two.
Darth: I liked it, who's Hedwig going to find?
Blaze: you will figure out in the next chapter
Darth: okay
Blaze: please review and I will post chapter 3 as soon as I possibly can but I doubt it will be anytime soon although it might be Friday.
