It was several weeks later when Professor Albus Dumbledore knocked on the door of Number Four, Privet Drive. By then, the Dursley's had decided that the trouble was all over and were beginning to relax again.

Mrs Dursley was smiling when she came to the door. She was expecting a visit from one of her neighbours, Mrs Stevens, who had borrowed her best casserole dish over a week ago. Mrs Dursley had been dropping hints every time she saw that she needed it returned and Mrs Stevens had said she might stop over around eight. When Mrs Dursley saw the tall, silver-haired gentleman standing on her doorstep the smile slid off her face, like butter on a hot knife.

Albus Dumbledore was dressed in a three piece suit with a white shirt and a wool overcoat. While each of these garments was conventional, the colour and patterns used made them extraordinary. The suit was a bright emerald green with golden embroidery and a gold chain hung from the buttonhole to an antique pocket watch. The coat was a darker shade of green and also accented with gold details.

Mrs Dursley's eyes danced over the man's clothes with mounting horror before lighting on his face. In addition to the professor's eccentric clothing he had long silver hair and a beard, both of which hung down to his waist. His eyes were a bright electric blue that glittered, brightly, behind a pair of half-moon glasses. He was smiling, politely, but there was an intensity to his stare that made Mrs Dursley shrink back into the doorway.

'Good evening,' Albus said. 'I assume that you are Mrs Petunia Dursley?'

Mrs Dursley hesitated for a moment. Her hand trembled against the edge of the door, as if she was considering slamming it shut but thought better of it.

'Yes,' she said quietly.

Albus inclined his head. 'My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. We have never met, in person, but I am sure you will remember my name. I wrote you a letter three years ago.'

Mrs Dursley went very pale. She didn't move or speak for several seconds, during which time Albus continued to smile pleasantly and glance about himself with interest.

'I think,' he said eventually, when it became apparent that Mrs Dursley was not going to recover the power of speech. 'That we should go inside. I have something quite important to discuss with you and it would be better to do so in private.'

'This isn't a good time,' she squeaked, desperately.

Professor Dumbledore sighed. 'It never is,' he said sadly, 'but we must make the best of it.'

Mrs Dursley didn't want to let him in but when he stepped towards her she jumped aside instinctually. He moved past her in an instant and she was forced to shut the door and follow him.

Mr Dursley was sitting on the sofa and watching the news. He didn't look up as Professor Dumbledore entered the room but called out his wife.

'The prime minster of India's been assassinated,' he told her. 'Bloody uncivilised country. Can't keep anything under control.'

Mrs Dursley crept in behind Professor Dumbledore and cleared her throat.

'Vernon?'

Mr Dursley glanced up at them. When he saw Albus Dumbledore standing there, in his bright green suit, his face went white.

'Good evening,' Albus said again. 'You must be Mr Dursley. My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. I'm sorry to drop by unexpected but I'm afraid I have something very important to discuss with you. It's regarding your nephew, Harry.'

This seemed to confirm Mr Dursley's worst fears. He went, if possible, even whiter. It looked like all the colour was draining from his body. It made him look all the more paler and insubstantial next to the bright, vibrant stranger.

'Do you mind if we have a little silence?' Albus asked. He waved his wand towards the TV and the screen went black. 'We have a lot to talk about and it would be best if we have no distractions.'

Mr Dursley gaped at him. Mrs Dursley lingered uncertainly by the doorway.

'We ought to all sit down and make ourselves comfortable,' Albus said, taking a seat in the armchair. He nodded at Mrs Dursley. 'Please, will you take a seat, Petunia?'

Mrs Dursley sank down onto the sofa, beside her husband.

'Now, I'm sure you must have some idea about why I'm here today,' Albus said. 'I understand that Harry went missing a few weeks ago.'

Mrs Dursley swallowed. 'He was only gone for a day,' she said weakly. 'Then the police brought him back. He was alright.'

'And how did this happen?' Albus asked.

Mrs Dursley looked at her hands. 'I don't know what happened.' She said quietly. 'I don't know how he got out. I assumed that he ... did it ... with his,' she waved one hand vaguely. 'You know.'

Albus nodded. 'I believe that Harry may have indeed used magic to run away,' he said. 'It's very rare for children this young to be able to use magic but sometimes, under extreme circumstances, they've been known to do so. It's usually when they're in serious danger. It's a survival mechanism, you understand.'

There was another brief, uncomfortable silence. Neither of the Dursleys seemed able to meet his eyes.

'Look,' Mr Dursley said eventually. 'It was a nasty business, I agree, but it's all settled now. I don't know we need to go over it all again.'

'I'm afraid the situation was far more serious than you may have realised,' Albus said softly. 'Social Services were actually planning to remove both children from your care and place them in a foster home. They had already selected a group home a couple of miles away from here and were making the arrangements when we intervened.'

Mrs Dursley gasped. She raised one hand to her mouth and started to shake uncontrollably. In contrast, Mr Dursley went very pale and stiff as if he'd just been transformed into a marble statue.

'You stopped them though,' Mr Dursley said hoarsely. 'You stopped them from taking our son away.'

The professor gave him a very cold look. 'We had to. We cannot allow Harry to be moved to another home. He would not be protected there, as he has been with you. What's more, that magical protection that has been granted to him, as long as he lives with his blood relatives, would be broken forever. So even if he returned to live with you in the future he would still be vulnerable.'

'So you stopped them,' Mr Dursley repeated, apparently still unable to comprehend this fact.

'Yes,' Albus replied. 'But now am I faced with a problem. While Harry is magically protected here, from ambush or attack, he is not necessarily safe. In fact, he has been found to be categorically unsafe by your protective services. This is an unsafe home.'

Mrs Dursley gulped like a fish and Mr Dursley patted her on the shoulder.

'I don't know what you've been told,' he said, 'but we've never laid a finger on that child. He's been as safe here as he would anywhere.'

Albus was quiet for a moment. His expression remained calm and thoughtful but his bright blue eyes seemed to grow colder.

'I believe that,' he said quietly. 'I do not believe that you have ever hit, slapped or beaten him or ever put his life at risk. However, you have not cared for him as I asked him to. You have not treated him like your own child. You have neglected and mistreated him.'

Mr Dursley made a noise in the back of his throat, as if he meant to argue, but at one look from Dumbledore silenced again.

'You have only given Harry only the barest essentials needed to survive and some of those only grudgingly. You have denied him food, whenever it suited you, and locked him up whenever he became troublesome. You have treated him more like a dog than a human being, except most people would treat a dog quite a bit better.'

A terrible chill seemed to emirate from the professor as he spoke and Mr and Mrs Dursley huddled closer together. They looked scared and shaken, like survivors from a shipwreck.

'So,' Albus continued, 'I must consider whether Harry can be allowed to continue to live here, under those conditions. If not, there are a couple of other options. I could place him with a powerful wizarding family or I could hide him with another muggle family, somewhere where he is unlikely to be found, but neither of these options would provide him with same level of magical protection. Unfortunately I am forced to admit that your home remains the safest place for Harry. So the question I must ask you now is this: can you do better?'

Mr Dursley gaped at the professor for a second and then turned to his wife. Mrs Dursley's face was all screwed up, as if she was in intense pain and she was chewing at her bottom lip again.

'Yes,' she said quietly. 'We can. We will.'

Albus nodded thoughtfully. 'I should like to believe that. Your sister sacrificed her life for that child. It seems remarkable that you, on the other hand, cannot even sacrifice a bedroom.'

'I will do better,' Mrs Dursley repeated hoarsely. 'I will.'

Albus rose from his seat. 'I want to talk to Harry before I make my decision. ' He said. 'Will you take me to him please?'

'He's in bed now,' Mr Dursley said gruffly. 'He'll be asleep.'

'Well then, I shall have to wake him,' Albus said sadly. 'I'm afraid this cannot wait until morning.'

After another quick glance at his wife Mr Dursley got up and escorted the professor out of the room. He took him up the stairs and nervously showed him to the bedroom.

'He's in here,' he said quietly.

Albus did not knock. He simply let himself in and then closed the door behind him. He did not allow Mr Dursley time to follow him. He wanted to speak to Harry quite alone.

He found the boy fast asleep and, rather than waking him suddenly, he decided to cast a spell to allow him to wake up naturally. Then he sat down at the foot of the bed and waited for it to take affect. Slowly, Harry's eyes opened and he peered up blearily at the stranger.

'Hello Harry,' Albus said softly.

'Hello,' Harry mumbled. He blinked uncertainly for a few seconds and then asked, 'Are you real?'

'Yes,' Albus replied, with a smile. 'My name is Albus Dumbledore.'

'I'm Harry,' Harry said.

'I know,' Albus replied.

'I'm four,' Harry said.

'I know,' Albus replied.

Harry blinked a few more times and yawned.

'What are you doing here?' He asked.

'I'm here to talk to you,' Albus told him. 'I want to ask you about the day you disappeared.'

'I didn't mean to do it,' Harry said quickly.

'I know,' Albus said.

'I just wanted to get away,' Harry said.

Albus nodded understandingly.

"Sometimes when you really want something to happen it just does. It used to happen to me too, when I was a child.'

Harry stared at him, wide-eyed. 'Really?'

'Yes,' Albus replied. 'Could you tell me where you were before you disappeared?'

'At home,' Harry said guardedly.

'Where at home?'

Harry hesitated. 'In the cupboard.'

'Were you trapped in there?' Albus asked. 'Is that why you wanted to get out so badly?'

Harry nodded slowly. 'It was locked,' he said.

'I think you must have been very scared and unhappy to make yourself disappear like that,' Albus said. 'It's very hard to do that, when you're so small, so I think you must have really wanted it.'

'Yes,' Harry agreed. 'I just really, really wanted to get away. Then I was.'

Albus leant in a little closer, still smiling encouragingly at the little boy.

'I've just had a talk with your aunt and uncle. I've told them that they ought to be a lot nicer to you and they've said that they're going to try. Do you think they'll be able to do that?'

Harry considered. 'I don't sleep in the cupboard anymore.' He said. 'I sleep here now.'

'Yes and that's much better,' Albus said, 'but do you think they'll be able to be nicer to you as well? Do you think they'll say nice things to you and buy you nice things?'

No,' Harry said bluntly. 'They don't like me.'

Albus nodded sadly. 'I'm afraid you're right about that. Do you know why that is?'

'I'm not their son,' Harry said simply. 'They don't want me here.'

'Whose son are you?' Dumbledore asked.

'No one's,' Harry told him. 'My parents are dead.'

Albus nodded again. 'If you could go and live with another family would you want to do that?'

Harry eyes lit up. 'Yes,' he exclaimed. 'Yes, please!' He scooted down the bed towards Albus, staring up at him with wonder. 'Are you really real?' He asked, reaching out to touch him.

'Yes,' Albus replied, with another smile. 'I'm real. You can feel me here, can't you?'

Harry pressed his palm flat against Albus's chest. 'Will you take me away to another family?' He asked eagerly. 'Please. I promise to be good.'

Albus could feel an awful ache in his heart, just where Harry was touching.

'Yes,' he said softly, 'if that is what you want.'

Harry's face crumpled. 'Promise you're real,' he begged, in a quavering voice.

'I promise,' Albus said. Seeing that the boy was about to cry he searched for a distraction.

'Why don't you start packing your things now?' He suggested. 'I can take you away tonight, if you like? You don't have to stay here if you don't want to.'

Harry jumped up excitedly. 'I don't need anything,' he said. 'Can we go now, please!'

'Why don't you at least pack a change of clothes?'

Albus flicked his wand and a backpack appeared on the bed. Harry picked it eagerly, without questioning where it had come from. He moved quickly, pulling out clothes from the nearby chest of drawers. They were all a little too large for him and the colours were faded, as if they'd been washed too many times.

'Is there anything else you'd like to take?' Albus asked. 'You don't need to rush.'

Harry considered and then came back over to the bed. He knelt down beside it and pulled out a small metal tin from underneath.

'Just this,' he said. 'This is mine.'

'May I see?' Albus asked curiously.

Harry handed it over and Albus carefully praised it off the lid. He was expecting to find a collection of trading cards, or stamps, or small plastic toys. Instead he found several buttons, of varying colours and sizes, a rusty old key and a couple of long, frayed pieces of string. He stared down at the collection of small, scavenged items in silence for several seconds, his heart pounding in his chest.

He understood what he was looking at. It was a collection of things so dirty, broken and utterly unwanted that Harry could keep them without worrying that anyone would try to take them from him. Albus glanced around the room, for a moment, taking in all the books and toys, and felt a fresh wave of anger wash over him.

'What about one of these toys?' He said quietly, gesturing around the room. 'Why don't you take one of these?' He spoke calmly, keeping the fury out of his voice.

'They're Dudley's,' Harry said simply.

'Well, I think you can take at least one thing,' Albus told him, 'as you're leaving.'

Harry looked uncertain. 'No, it's okay.' He said.

'Very well,' Albus said. 'You might want a jumper as well. You can pull it on now and then we'll get your coat and shoes and you'll be ready to travel.'

It did not take long. A few minutes later Albus Dumbledore was escorting Harry downstairs to say goodbye to his aunt and uncle forever.