A/N I forgot to put this in the first chapter, mybad, so obviously since this is a fanfiction website, I own nothing. I started this because I have read dozens of these and yet only three or four people completed the series, as such I will endeavor to not repeat lines I may have read, also I am a horribly slow writer, I know mybad agin, so I hope you all like and if you aint got somethin nice to say dont say it ^^. Oh and sirius is going to be very quite and not mentioned unless he can do something with out bring attention to himself till the second or third chap, not to say he wont be just as angry and what not as everyone else though.
Chap 1
The boy who lived
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
"Your very welcome." proclaimed Gred and Forge, all the Weasley's groaned, they already knew this was going to be a while.
They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
"Ummm, Who are these people?" Ron said.
"They are Mr. Potters Aunt and Uncle."
"Oh, Harry I'm sorry, but I don't think I like your relatives."
Harry smiled a little sadly "Its okay I don't like them much either." Severus scoffed, probably because they didn't give him a treat he wanted, the little brat.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings,which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.
"Sounds like a charmer." Tonks snorted. Gred and Forge laughed, while others smirked or chuckled.
Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.
So Petunia doesn't change much,Severus well remembered the nosy little girl, that always wanted to know what He and Lily were doing.
The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.
"Right," Harry muttered under his breath "That I'll believe."
The Dursleys hand everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.
"Whats wrong with the Potters?" Remus yelled. Though no one was watching, Sirius was looking rather angry as well.
"There was nothing wrong with Lily and James." Minerva stated with such conviction it was kind of scary in Harry's opinion.
Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.
"She said What!."
"James was not good-for-nothing." There were some harsh glares sent the books way.
The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.
"Lily was Muggle-born she would have know how to act, and she would have taught James before going, the neighbor's wouldn't have know the difference." Molly said with another heated look to the book.
The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.
Silence, as everyone was to shocked at hearing that the boy who lived's relative's had thought so low of him. Severus was getting a very bad feeling the longer the book spoke of Potter's relative's concerns of him and his parents, they pampered him serverus, they treated him like a prince, but that thought wasn't as absolute as it used to be. Draco could already tell that he had screwed up at Madam Milkin's he just didn't know how.
When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on a dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,
"Eh, Why the most boring tie?" Gred asked.
"Yea, wouldn't you want something, I don't know umm not boring?" Forge answered with a faux thoughtful tone of voice.
and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.
Molly snorted,yes what a lovely child.
None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.
"An owl in broad daylight? You would think they would have seen, it is rather odd." Percy said.
At half past eight,Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.
"What a horrible child!" Minerva stated.
"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.
"That's it? No discipline? There happy there child will grow up a monster?" Arthur was appalled. "If any of my kids did something like that they'd get some punishment!" All of the Weasley kids grimaced.
He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.
"Was that you Minerva?" Remus asked.
"We'll have to wait and see hmmm?" Minerva's eyes were lively with laughter.
For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.
"I don't know Gred, a tabby cat reading a map, doesn't sound familiar at all." Forge said mock thoughtful. "Yea Forge, now if it was a tabby cat reading essay papers then we'd know for sure it was the Professor." Everyone started to laugh as Minerva glared at the twins.
What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.
"Yes, a trick of the light created the image of a cat reading a map, What an idiot!" Draco sneered.
Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.
Everyone laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation.
As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.
"That's what you think buffoon." Tonks said with a smirk.
Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.
Hermione couldn't help but say "Drills, is that all this man thinks about?" "Usually, He's a lot calmer when he just thinks about his job." Harry mumbled but was loud enough to be heard. Sirius remembered his own childhood home, where he and his brother did there best to stay out of there parents way when they were calm. Severus was also thinking of his childhood and really did not like where this was going.
But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else.
"Oh noooooooo, whatever could it beeeee!" Gred and Forge wailed, much to the annoyance of the parents older siblings and teachers,Tonks, Remus, Sirius and the kids all laughed. Harry peaked over at Sirius when he gave a short bark like laugh, he looks years younger and healthier when he does that, Harry thought.
As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.
"Whats wrong with cloaks?" Neville, who had been pretty quiet, and Draco asked, though in different tones.
Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.
"Stupid? Were does the Muggle idiot get off calling our clothes stupid?" Draco demanded at the same time Minerva said with the air of one keeping themselves calm, "Our clothing style is in no way new, it is several century's old in fact."
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!
Gred gasped, while Forge exclaimed "Oh how dare they!" in a scandalized tone. Depending on the person everyone laughed or smirked.
But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it.
"Yes, collecting that has to be it." Severus drawled.
The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.
"Man this guy is really dedicated to his job, I mean even when I'm working I think of other things." Arthur put in. "I don't know if its dedication or stupidity actually." Harry said with a smirk,as all the Weasley kids Tonks, Remus and Sirius laughed Draco and Severus sneered thinking that Perfect Potter was trying to get attention.
Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.
"Ummm, I thought the owls were trained not to fly were they can be seen at night?" Neville asked, "They are this hasn't happened in years." Minerva said a little confused, as the last time something like this occurred was ten years ago.
Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.
Hermione was definitely not liking this man, honestly how was shouting at people going to make them want to work more or harder?
He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.
"Wait that almost sounds like his trying to diet?" Harry was very confused, "Yea it sounds like, why?" "Cause he failed, miserably." To the respective people everyone laughed snorted or smirked.
He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy.
"Why because we don't fit in your click?" Tonks ranted, her hair changing to red.
This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.
"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"
" — yes, their son, Harry —"
"Oh my its that day" Molly whispered so quietly they almost couldn't hear her. The children were clueless but the adults were all remembering the grief of the war.
Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone,and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid.
"Whoa" Gred
"He" Forge
"Admitted" Gred
"It" Both twins exclamied.
Potter wasn't such an unusual name.
"There's only one family in the European wizarding world with the name Potter." Remus said, "There could be some in other nations but I don't know for sure, the Potter family in England was one of the oldest pure-blood family's." This he directed at Harry, who smiled at him thankfully.
He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry.
"You were a year and a half old and he didn't know your name?" Minerva exclaimed, Harry shrugged noncommittally as he wasn't sure his uncle knew hes name nowadays either.
He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.
Harry shuddered thinking of all the ways Dudley could have picked on him if he was named either of those.
There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that…
Severus's bad feeling came back extra strong hearing that , "Sister like what?" Both Molly and Minerva shouted.
but all the same, those people in cloaks…
He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. "Sorry," he grunted,
"He knows that word?" Harry whispered surprised, only Remus heard him.
as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"
"My God, did he just call a muggle a muggle to there face? What the hell happened to secercy people?" Percy questioned. Many people nodding in agreement.
And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled.
Gred and Forge both grinned evil little grins "Soooo, all you need to do to rattle him is that?" "No, Don't even think about it, the last thing we need is for you two to have charges brought against you." Molly ranted giving her death stare to the twins.
He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.
Utter silence, as the adults were startled that a parent didn't like imagination to that point, especially as that was a good indicator that your child was learning; but that was nothing to the appalled horror the pranksters were experiencing.
As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.
"Still no essays? Dang then we still aren't for sure if its the Professor." Gred and Forge said in tandem, Minerva began to glare at them again.
"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior?
"I don't know guys that sounds awfully familiar." Remus snickered until Minerva switched her steely gaze to him. As everyone laughed at Moonys pain and misfortune Sirius couldn't help but think that poor bastard.
Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.
"Coward, that will only cause problems in the future." Hermione said.
Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").
"Wow, just wow, and shes proud of that? Spying on the neighbors like she thinks shes got the right to and her kid is all ready acting like a spoiled deviant, that's amazing parenting that is." Tonks ranted while Molly and Minerva nodded in agreement.
Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:
"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"
"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."
Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…
"Holy crap the moron is putting it together, if he can do it how the hell is the magical world still hidden?" Draco asked genuinely confused. "Not many paid attention enough to figure it out and those that did were Obliviated, still it was a very busy time at the Ministry." Arthur told him, along with all the other kids who didn't know.
Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.
"Wait, What? Someone left Harry with family members who didn't know his name and pretended on the daily bases that there was no family connection?" Hermione was very puzzled.
"I am positive the book will explain." Albus spoke to the whole room, as everyone had been rather thrown off by what she said.
"No," she said sharply. "Why?"
"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"
"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.
"Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… her crowd."
"Her crowd? Jerk, good lord this reminds me of school, there crowd, what happened to we're all human?" Hermione asked with a very evil look in her eye remembering all the taunting she received cause she was bookish, while Harry thought of all the others kids picking on him because of Dudley.
"Very astute Miss. Granger." Albus stated approvingly.
Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.
"Coward." Several people muttered.
Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"
"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.
"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"
"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."
"It is not!" The adults said in differing tones ,except Severus, while the children muttered 'Git' and other words.
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."
He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept
"He can creep? I thought he was a large man?" Tonks asked, who even slight and in training couldn't creep to save her life. Harry shuddered "Yes, he can." Severus, Remus and Sirius caught his shudder and didn't like the implications.
to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things?
"Wait I though he disliked imagination?" Neville asked.
Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.
"A pair of what?" Remus growled.
The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind.
"He has one?" Draco asked as innocently as he could, Harry gave a short laugh while others snorted.
His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind…
"Again, whats with the their kind." Draco spat. Harry looked at him weirdly, "If you ask me he acts the same to the magical world that you do to the muggle world." Draco blushed and looked down while everyone else was confused, not knowing that Draco and Harry had met before.
He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect them… How very wrong he was.
"Why must we be tortured?" Severus snarked.
Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness.
"Eviiiil cat." Remus 'ghost whispered' loud enough for everyone to laugh, even Minerva smirked a little.
It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.
"How much you wanna bet it was for a 'break'?" Charlie wispered to Bill, who had to quickly change his laugh to a cough.
A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.
"Run away!" Gred and Forge yelled.
Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.
"Wow, that was a very strong description." Bill smirked feeling safe due to him not attending Hogwarts anymore.
"Is that so Mr. Weasley?" Albus said with a knowing smile, which caused Bill to shrink and feel like a first year again.
Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.
"I'm guessing somewhere between oblivious or didn't care?" Charlie laughed. "That would be correct." Albus answered.
He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."
"You know the evil cat that we don't know for sure is Professor McGonagall?" Gred and Forge asked in very confused and betrayed tones. Minerva went back to glaring at them while Dumbledore laughed.
He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.
"Cool can I have it?" Ron and Draco asked.
"That's an awesome spell sir." Remus and Bill said.
Everyone looked suitably impressed.
He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,
" I do believe I named it a Deluminater." Albus chuckled.
until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer
Albus quietly laughed to himself again. Put-Outer
back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.
"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."
"Ah ha, so it was you Professor." Gred and Forge gave very cheeky grins.
He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman
"I am not severe looking."Minerva claimed indignant, no one met her gaze.
who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.
"I did not!" Minerva huffed, Albus stared across the room.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked.
"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."
"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.
"All day? Wow that's some patience." Harry said.
"Yea, so don't try and out wait her, she can spend all night waiting for you to break." Remus told him ruefully, while Sirius snickered.
"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."
Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.
"No I didn't." Minerva grumbled.
"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news."
"Well someones in a mood." Gred and Forge felt the 'need' to point out.
"Boys, respect your elders." Molly demanded looking them both in the eye with her death glare again.
She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid."
"Hey, muggles aren't stupid!" Hermione said in a scandalized tone.
"I know Miss Granger, I was in a very foul mood that night and muggles aren't supposed to notice anything so that wasn't helping."
"They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."
"Hey I like Diggle." Bill spoke up from his near silence.
"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."
"Horrible years." Molly whispered close to tears, thinking of her brothers.
"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably.
"I was not irritable" Minerva snarked getting very tired of the book constantly referring to her bad temper that night, again no one looked at or near her.
"But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."
She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't,"
"You really thought he was going to give an answer? He never answers anything the old coot." Severus smirked, while everyone laughed including Albus.
so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"
"Please let him be gone, we don't need another war." Arthur muttered, Remus still heard him and said "What if that's why we were given the books because he came back and we can stop it this way?" They all thought of how it would be if he came back and shuddered.
"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"
"A what?"
"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."
"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.
"It wasn't!" Minerva exclaimed as the others snorted.
"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"
"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."
"Yea, whats the deal its just a name?" Harry asked, all the others began to look uncomfortable except Remus and Sirius.
"My point exactly Harry." Albus said with pride.
Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice.
They all broke down even Minerva and Serverus.
"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."
"Yes, it rather reminds me of 'Who's on First'." Hermione giggled.
"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."
"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."
"Only because you're too — well —noble to use them."
"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."
"Ummmm, were you guys flirting?" The twins asked a little green.
"Of course not, we are professionals." Minerva huffed, though Severus could swear he saw a blush, shudder.
Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"
"Your fishing for info ain't ya?" Percy asked, knowing the signs.
It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.
"Well, its been great knowing you, sir." All the pranksters said, mentally bidding him goodbye.
It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.
Snort
"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."
Harry bowed his head, but was still able to see the looks of pain on Severus, Remus and Sirius's? faces.
Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.
"Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"
Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.
Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."
"Whoa, hold up you mean there no proof I stopped him? It could have been something my parents did." Harry was very angry, all those people were staring at him like he was special or something and they didn't even know for sure.
Dumbledore nodded glumly.
"It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"
"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."
You know old man, so why keep it a secret. Sirius thought.
Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it.
"Did you know my parents a lot?" Harry had been dying to ask for awhile.
"We taught them there entire time at Hogwarts, I was there Head of House, there deaths were a great loss." Minerva said sounding like she had a cold.
It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket
"Is that a normal wizard watch?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes, that's been the style for wizard watches for several century's." Remus answered.
and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"
"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"
"For a brief moment of insanity." Minerva answered herself.
"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."
"You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.
Remus and Percy never thought they'd see the day when Minerva opposed the Headmaster. They both began to glance around looking for another sign of the Apocalypse.
"Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"
"Please listen." Harry begged quietly, Unfortunately not enough as Remus glanced sharply at him.
"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."
" A letter?" Molly repeated incredulously.
"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?"
"Exactly." Neville agreed.
"These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future — there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"
"Oh God no, Its bad enough when everyone gawks at me but a Harry Potter Day? That would be horrible." Harry exclaimed, While Draco nodded.
"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"
"That wouldn't have mattered! Arthur and me could have raised him away from the rest, or Remus could have raised him while we had him on off days." The adults understood that off days were the full moon.
Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course."
Gasp, "You gave in?" Remus questioned, startled.
"But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.
Laughter rang through the room.
"Hagrid's bringing him."
"You think it —wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"
"How could you Minerva? I would trust Hagrid with my life!" Charlie declared, while others nodded agreement.
"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.
"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"
"What? Oh please be a good person." Molly asked with a tremble.
A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.
"Whoa it wasn't a dream." Harry whispered.
"What?" Ron asked, apparently he wasn't quiet enough.
"Oh, Nothing." Harry blushed crimson.
If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins.
"That describes him to a T." Albus informed approvingly.
In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets. "Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"
"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me."
As everyone glanced at him confused as to why he would help Hagrid take Harry from him, Sirius was lost in the memories of that night.
"I've got him, sir."
"No problems, were there?"
"No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."
"Awwwww, so cute." All the women cooed while the guys looked at Harry with pity.
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.
Everyone almost subconsciously looked at the scar half hidden by his hair.
"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."
"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"
"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. "
"Ummm. There's need to know sir, and unfortunately that wasn't." Bill snorted.
"Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."
Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.
"Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.
Harry was touched that Hagrid cared that much about him, especially as no one really had as he could remember.
"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"
"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"
"Hagrid is a pretty great guy, hes the one who told me about my parents." Harry stated.
"What do you mean?" Molly asked with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, umm just stuff." Harry answered nervously.
"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.
"You left him on a doorstep?" both Molly and Hermione screeched. Albus winced knowing that wasn't the best idea.
For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.
Harry may not have liked the doorstep part but this showed all three of them cared about him.
"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."
"You just left him there?" Remus couldn't even imagine leaving Harry outside, at night, alone.
"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."
Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.
"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.
" I was emotional!" Minerva wished the book would stop that.
Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.
"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.
"I needed more than luck." Harry muttered, thankfully no one heard.
A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…
"Great cousin." Ron stated sarcasticly.
"That's not the point, why didn't his mom or dad stop him?" Hermione demanded.
He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"
"Well that was informative." Draco announced dryly.
"Indeed it was, who'll read next?" Albus inquired.
Harry held out his hand, "I will sir."