Chapter 2 - Birthday Present

Tuesday 30th July 1996 6pm - JFK Airport, NYC.

In a busy US airport two British professionals and their daughter with bushy brown hair were waiting for their delayed flight to London.

"This is just terrible, we're going to be late for Harry's birthday," said Hermione Granger, the bushy haired girl. "And I've been so worried about him; he hasn't answered any of my letters."

"Remember what Dumbledore told you, about his aunt, there's no need to worry," said Mrs Granger.

"You might as well tell a calf not to drink to milk, honey" said Mr Granger, "anyway Hermione, we'll be home in the afternoon tomorrow and we can go to the Burrow straight away. And I'm sure you trust Dumbledore, if he says that his aunt has 'turned good' then she has."

"I don't know, she never treated him any better than that lump of an uncle," said Hermione.

"Well you'll see him tomorrow, Dumbledore will definitely get him out of there for his birthday," said Mr Granger. "Now, why don't you go and use that trans-Atlantic floo thingy and call Ron, to let him know we're going to be later than we thought."

"OK"

----------

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

Molly Weasley turned around to see a face in her fireplace.

"Oh Hello Hermione dear, How are you?" asked Molly.

"I'm fine Mrs Weasley, and you?" replied Hermione

"I'm good, why don't you come through?" asked Molly.

"I can't, this is just a messenger floo. So is Ron there?"

"Just a second, I'll get him now"

Ron appeared a minute later. "Hi Hermione"

"Hi Ron, you look taller already, it's only been a month! How are you keeping?" asked Hermione.

"I'm fine Hermione and you?"

"I'm alright, have you heard from Harry at all?"

"No, but he has written Dumbledore. He says he's OK."

"I don't believe it. He's probably wallowing in depression or something like that. But at least we'll all see him tomorrow. Have you made all the plans?"

"Yeah, everyone's coming; Neville, SĂ©amus, Dean, Lavender, Parvati, Hagrid and all the Order. It will be good for him. And I'm sure he's OK, Hermione, or Dumbledore would have gotten him already."

"I suppose. What time does the party start at?"

"7.00"

"Oh good, I'll be there in time. Our plane is delayed. I thought we wouldn't be back on time. Listen I'd better go, tell every one I said hello and I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK bye!"

Wednesday 31st July 1996 11am - The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole.

Dumbledore hurried into the Burrow. About fifteen Order members had already gathered.

As Dumbledore sat at the head of the table he opened the emergency meeting of the Order. "I'd like to thank you all for making it here at such short notice. We have received important information from within Voldemort's ranks, Severus if you would?"

"Yes Headmaster," said the potions master. "I was at the Dark Lord's hideout last night. First of all I was speaking with a junior Death-eater who bragged about having found Harry Potter's residence. I was unable to find out when he found the location of Privet Drive, but I do know that the information has been reported to the Dark Lord."

There were gasps from all in attendance.

"There is no need to worry. The wards around Privet Drive are still intact. They have not been tripped; I would now immediately if they had," said Dumbledore, "please continue Severus."

"I don't believe that there has been any attempt or plans made to get to the boy," said Severus." I believe we need to discuss why it is that the Dark Lord has not as yet used the information to do anything"

"Indeed Severus, it is a mystery that he has not made any attack. But at the moment it is a moot point as we will bring Harry here today. It is his birthday after all and Ron has organised something of a celebration for him," said Dumbledore.

"I still think we should have brought him here sooner, Albus," said Molly Weasley, "I doubt that his uncle has been treating him any better than before."

"Well, Molly, we have been getting his letters every third day," said Dumbledore.

"Two words each time, Albus, it hardly suggests that he really is fine" said Molly.

"He is dealing with his grief after Sirius. He has always been private with his emotions and I thought he could do with the time away, to both renew the blood protection that the house provides him with, and to deal with his grief, as I say," said Dumbledore. "Also I have taken into consideration the promise his aunt made to me when I visited her two days before the end of term. She is a formidable woman, you know, and she promised to keep him safe, physically and emotionally. I have no reason to disbelieve her. She seems to have finally realised that he is in fact a wizard and no amount of moaning about it will ever change that. So on the one hand we know that Voldemort has made no move against him, and on the other we have Petunia's promise and the fact that Mrs Figg has not reported anything out of the ordinary. I spoke with her two days ago and she assured me that Harry is fine."

"Well all I know is that Hermione, Ron and myself will be delighted to have him here where he is loved as soon as possible" said Molly.

"Yes, Molly, it will be a relief to us all to get him here. I would have preferred, of course, to have had a personal guard for him at Privet Drive, but since the attack on Birmingham we just don't have the resources, he is strong, though and he is a fine young man," said Dumbledore. "So Severus is there any other news from the Death-eaters?"

"Well, the Dark Lord has been away for the past three days and no one knows where he has gone. He brought Bellatrix Lestrange with him, for what reason I cannot see," sniggered Severus.

"Severus, please!" exclaimed Minerva McGonagall.

With at sharp glance at her, Snape continued and with his lip curling he said, "Also the Dark Lord has gotten himself a new name. He has started referring to himself as Darth Dominatus."

The room broke into laughter.

"He does have a thing for daft names," said Remus Lupin.

They all silenced, however, when they realised that Dumbledore was not laughing. He looked lost in thought as if trying to recall some far off memory.

"This could be a worrying development. Minerva, you and I must go back to Hogwarts. There is something about the name Darth, but it escapes me at the moment and I must research it, with your help, of course, Minerva. We will all meet again here at five o'clock and hopefully I will have answers for you then. Severus, Arthur and Tonks, go and get Harry now. I see no reason to delay. You will have to apparate to the centre of Little Whinging. Privet Drive is at least ten minutes on foot from there. Right I will see you all later." And with that Dumbledore and McGonagall apparated out of the Burrow, quickly followed by Severus Snape, Arthur Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks.

12pm - Centre of Little Whinging.

Amidst the shoppers and business people going about their daily grind, three wizards apparated discreetly into a narrow service way beside a large shopping centre, and began to make their way in the direction of Privet Drive.

Almost ten minutes later the three arrived at No 4 Privet Drive. Everything seemed normal, for a sleepy suburban estate. There was a car in the drive. With a nod from Snape, Tonks made her way around to the back of the house. Snape walked up to the front door and knocked. After a few seconds with no answer, he knocked again. There was still no answer.

He tried the door handle and found that it was open. He silently pushed the door inwards and entered the house. Arthur Weasley followed and closed the door noiselessly. As they stood for a moment just inside the door and surveyed their vista they saw that there was nothing out of place, although it was rather disordered compared to the last time they had been there.

"Hello, Is anyone here?" Snape said loudly. No one answered. "Go through the kitchen and get Tonks, I'll wait here and we'll go upstairs."

When Arthur returned with Tonks, the three made their way up the stairs, wands out and at the ready. A feeling of foreboding was coming over the three of them. When they reached the top of the stairs, their sense of foreboding only increased. There were four doors. One was open, it was the bathroom. They approached the first the door. Snape opened it. Judging by the double bed, it must have been the master bedroom. They entered the second room. Again there was nobody in it.

They turned and went back out onto the landing and went to the third door. There were several locks on it, although none were closed. There was a cat flap at the bottom of the door. Tonks' stomach turned as she thought of what this may have been used for. Snape turned the knob and slowly opened the door.

They were completely unprepared for the sight that confronted them. There was dry blood and filth all over, splattered on the walls, soaked through the carpet and the bed. And there, in the middle of the room lay Vernon and Dudley Dursley. They rushed over and found to their horror that both were dead.

"Tonks get to Hogwarts straight away," shouted Snape, "get Dumbledore and everyone available here as soon as possible. For all we know Potter has been kidnapped and whoever did it has murdered his uncle and cousin. He is in grave danger wherever he is."

12.40pm - No 4 Privet Drive

Chaos ensued as Order members and Aurors swooped down on No 4 Privet Drive to investigate the disturbing news that Harry Potter had disappeared. Amidst the madness Dumbledore, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Cornelius Fudge rushed into the house. Snape and Arthur Weasley met them outside the front door.

"What are they doing here?" Snape asked Dumbledore when he saw Fudge and Shacklebolt

"We were having a meeting in my office, when Tonks arrived" answered Dumbledore.

"So what's going on here anyway, where's Potter?" asked Fudge.

"I can assure you, Minister, that Mr Potter is not here," said Snape, barely concealing the contempt in his voice as he regarded the Minister. "Myself, Mr Weasley and Ms Tonks arrived here a half an hour ago and found no sign of Mr Potter. His uncle's and cousin's dead bodies lie in a bedroom upstairs. They were warm when we arrived…."

"Potter has obviously gone mad and killed the two," said Fudge in a fury, not pleased with Snape's tone, "I always said the boy was a menace."

"Please came yourself, Cornelius!" said Dumbledore, "Severus, how were they killed?"

"They were not killed by magic, Headmaster, they both have a strange wound on their chests from some sort of weapon I do not know of," answered Snape. "Also all of Potter's belongings are gone."

"Kingsley, you will lead the investigation. Get to work immediately," said the Minister.

"Yes Minister," replied Shacklebolt as he began barking orders to the various aurors milling around the place.

"What about the aunt, where's she?" asked Fudge.

"I don't know, Minister," answered Snape.

"Right, Severus please show us to the bedroom," said Dumbledore.

"I must warn you, it is not a sight for the fainthearted," said Snape, as he led the grim faced party up the stairs.

Fudge visibly paled when they entered the small room that served as Harry's bedroom, while Dumbledore looked as if he had just aged ten years in a minute. Dumbledore backed out of the room and motioned for Snape to accompany him.

"I believe it's time we dropped in on Mrs Figg," Dumbledore whispered to Snape. "It is clear from the state of the room that Vernon Dursley had been terribly, physically abusing Harry, and therefore her reports were false."

"Albus, you mustn't blame yourself. You have been working yourself into the ground recently. It's not your fault, you had no reason to suspect Figg," said Snape, looking intently at Dumbledore. "She is obviously a traitor or under Imperio," Snape paused, deep in thought, "we must consider also, Albus, that the wards are intact. Are they not? Harry left this house of his own free will."

"Yes, they were still intact, Severus, and I have realised the implication of that fact. It is imperative, however, that the Ministry don't," said Dumbledore. "I have already taken the wards down before they realised they were even up in the first place."

"There's a further possible consideration, Albus, I know it's almost inconceivable, but as unlikely as it is, it's not impossible; has Harry Potter turned dark?" asked Severus.

"We can rule nothing in or out, Severus," said Dumbledore, "and I would be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind but I do think it's safe to say that Harry would never turn to the Darkness, and especially not to the man who killed his parents and was responsible for killing his godfather. Wait here, I will make our excuses to Fudge and we will go find Mrs Figg."

5pm - The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole.

"What do you mean, 'He's disappeared'? People don't just vanish into thin air. Why didn't you have anyone there to take care of him? And Ron told me there was blood all over his room. God only knows what state he's in. How could you let this happen, Professor? I never should have gone on holidays. I should have insisted on staying with him to take care of him. I just knew there was something wrong when you told me about his letters. That beast obviously forced him to write them, and you all fell for it. He probably thinks that we have all forgotten about him. And all the rest of you; did none of you think anything was amiss when he didn't reply directly to anyone's letters? What about Mrs Figg, What's her story? You said she was taking a look in on him every couple of days. And what are you doing to find him? You only missed him by ten minutes; surely you could've tracked him down," everyone in the sitting room of The Burrow, even Dumbledore, shrank from the ire of Hermione Granger, who in her current mood would put even Mrs Weasley in the ha'penny place.

"Hermione, please calm down" Mrs Granger said. They had just arrived at The Burrow where Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Lupin, Moody, and most of the Weasleys were gathered. Ron had cancelled the party and so none of the other Hogwarts students were there. When Hermione had heard that Harry was missing she had flown into a temper, directing her anger at all and sundry. Now her mother was doing her best to calm her down. "Professor Dumbledore, please continue."

"Yes, thank you, Mrs Granger," said Dumbledore, "I will fully brief you all on today's events. At approximately 12.00pm today Harry Potter left No. 4 Privet Drive. At about the same time Vernon and Dudley Dursley were murdered with an unidentified weapon. Now, we know that Harry was most likely to have been in bad health, as his room was covered in blood. It appears that Vernon Dursley had been abusing Harry in a most foul manner.

"The wards around the house and area, which I set myself, never tripped and this would seem to suggest that Harry left the house of his own accord, without coercion, at least not from wizards. The wards were set to stop any wizard from entering the house who would not be welcomed by Harry. I removed the wards earlier today as we do not wish for the Ministry to find out about them, as the fact they were not breached could be used in a case against Harry. The ancient magic established through the blood protection afforded Harry by his mother's sacrifice would stop any muggle, unrelated to him or his aunt, from doing him harm at the house. This means that we can rule out kidnap by muggles.

"We also know that Voldemort has not been interacting with his death-eaters for the past number of days. He has taken Bellatrix Lestrange away with him. He has also taken to calling himself Darth Dominatus. This suggests that he has begun dabbling in a most ancient and obscure branch of magic, as the practitioners of this magic always took the prefix 'Darth' to their names. After the meeting earlier today I had hoped to investigate this further, but I had no sooner arrived back at Hogwarts, than Fudge and Shacklebolt had arrived to meet me. Then of course Tonks arrived and told us of the situation at Privet Drive, and the four of us went there immediately. I had to remove the wards as we apparated in as Fudge would have known about them if we had to apparate to the centre of Little Whinging.

"After I left Privet Drive, Severus and I went to see Mrs Figg. She was not at her house, and she has not been seen since. Her role in this whole matter is what worries my most. We know that she was lying to us, and that would point us in the direction that somebody went to Privet Drive at 12pm today, someone who Mrs Figg was in league it would seem. This somebody brought with them a terrible weapon which was used to kill Vernon and Dudley. We must face the possibility that it was Harry who used this weapon."

"Surely not, Albus, he would never do such a thing" said McGonagall.

"Of course he wouldn't, he's not a murderer," snapped Hermione.

"It is extremely unlikely, but it is a possibility, nonetheless," said Dumbledore, earning a death glare from Hermione, which did not go unnoticed. "Harry's aunt is also missing, for how long we do not know. Although as the house was not in its usual perfectly clean state we could assume that she has not been at the house for at least a day or two. Did she go with Harry? We don't know. Was she also being abused by Dursley? We don't know. Now we have a whole lot of conjecture and very few facts, several questions and few answers. Where is Harry? Is he safe? Did he kill the Dursleys? Is Petunia with him? If not, where is she? Where is Mrs Figg? What is her role in this? And finally does Voldemort have anything to do with this?

"And with this we must face another possibility, one that no one here wishes to countenance: that Voldemort does indeed have something to do with Harry's disappearance." Dumbledore's face grew very grave. "For if Voldemort did have something to do with his disappearance it would mean that either him or his servants, if they went to Privet Drive, would first of all had meant Harry no harm and secondly and more importantly, it would mean that Harry welcomed them to Privet Drive."

The Boy Who Lived Disappears.

The Daily Prophet can confirm today the terrible news that swept over the wizarding world yesterday that Harry Potter, dubbed The Boy Who Lived, has disappeared from his residence in London.

Agents working on behalf of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, and recently reinstated Chief Warlock, went to the boy's residence to collect Mr Potter to attend his birthday celebrations at the home of Arthur Weasley, Ministry Employee. However they never expected the gruesome discovery awaiting them as the entered the house to find both Mr Potter's uncle and cousin dead and Mr Potter nowhere to be found. As of yet we cannot confirm whether Mr Potter has been kidnapped or if he left of his own free will.

The Minister of Magic, Mr Cornelius Fudge, spoke to reporters yesterday evening in a strained press conference. He made a brief statement: "We can confirm at this point that Harry Potter's whereabouts are unknown. A team of aurors are investigating at the moment and we are confident that they will find him safe very soon. I can also confirm that Vernon and Dudley Dursley were murdered, and that Harry Potter is not a suspect in their murders. There was no violation of the regulations on the restriction of underage magic at his residence. I have no further comment to make on this matter."

Minister Fudge refused to reply to questions asking if You-Know-Who was believed to be behind Mr Potter's disappearance. This latest crisis will surely be a hard blow to the embattled Minister who has lurched from crisis to crisis since the public re-emergence of You-Know-Who just over a month ago at the Ministry. Already the calls for his resignation have begun as citizens' concern for Mr Potter is growing rapidly.

Minister Must Go (Editorial Pg 8)

Harry Potter's Aunt Also Missing (Pg 7)

Did You-Know-Who Kidnap Harry Potter (Pg 8)

The Boy Who Lived: A Biography (Pg 9)

Dumbledore's Role (Pg 9)

A/N: Please review. Thank You!