It was June 1991 when Professor McGonagall first noticed that something was wrong. She was going through the section of the Book of names for the class of 1991, when she realized that a name was missing.
It was a job that she, as the Deputy Headmistress had to undertake each year, where she would venture into the muggle world to tell muggleborns about Hogwarts and magic.
She all but ran to the Headmasters office, and told the older man of her discovery.
"Harry Potter is no longer in the book of names."
It was a short time later that the pair appeared in the muggle town of Little Whining, walking down the street just off of the old park they appeared in, they stopped in front of Number 4. The man stared at the seemingly normal house for several moments before walking up the path to the front door, his companion silently walking behind him.
He knocked on the door, and was startled when an older man answered the door. The man's response to his inquiry about the whereabouts of Dursleys was met with confusion by the newcomers.
The man beckoned them in, so as not to awaken the neighbors as he and his wife told explained what they knew of the events surrounding the house being sold.
"It began when the woman was in the hospital for a head injury she sustained over there in the kitchen." The wife began. "The husband was very angry about something or other. The neighbors think he had beaten his wife, and tried to pin the blame on a little boy who lived here, by acting like the concerned husband."
"When we first bought the house, the neighbors came over and told us about the family that lived here before. The man was horribly violent, always coming home from work drunk and yelling angrily at someone he simply called Freak. The man blamed this person for everything that ever happened."
"Nobody really knows for sure what happened week. The only things the neighbors agree on is how the woman was taken by an ambulance, and a week later the house was put up for sale. The day after that, a police car and another ambulance was in front of the house. The real estate agent was talking to the police about how she had found a beaten child locked in the broom cupboard under the stairs. The house had been empty for a couple of days before the child was found, but he appeared to have been in there for much longer."
That was all the old couple knew, and the two professors thanked them and left the house. Stopping to talk to some of the neighbors who would have remembered the Dursleys.
The first house the stopped at was number 2, who lived right next to the house. She was a well of information.
"Yes, I remember the Dursleys. Nasty family they were. Vernon was quite the cruel man. An abusive alcoholic. Constantly yelling at the poor nephew, and keeping him outside, doing chores that no toddler should ever be doing. Weeding the garden, cleaning the tool shed, he even had that poor boy shoveling the snow when he was only 3! And without even being let inside until the sidewalk and street were clear, even when it was still snowing! Surprising the child didn't die of hypothermia!"
"The wife and son wasn't much better either. She had been seen with the two young boys on occasion, yelling at one while giving the other child anything he ever wanted. That Dudley was the size of a beach ball, and would always throw massive tantrums if he didn't get what he wanted. Never seen such a spoiled child before. The nephew on the other hand was such a tiny frail looking thing. Couldn't weigh more than a sack of potatoes. Wearing such large baggy clothes too."
She continued on gossiping, telling them about what she saw the days leading up to little Harry's disappearance.
Once the Headmaster and his Deputy returned to school she began speaking angrily at the old man.
"I told you that they were the worst sort of muggles Albus. Now look what happened. The savior of the Wizarding world is missing. And there are still Death Eaters out there! You-Know-Who may be gone, but the threat is still there."
"I know Minerva." The old wizard sighed. "I now understand how my monitors never showed the change in Harry's living conditions. The wards work off the sacrifice of Lily Potter in defence of her son. It was based off of the blood connection between Harry and his aunt, as his mother's sister. As long as her blood remained in the house, the wards would remain. Normally the wards would remain until harry reached the 17, as the magical age of majority, or until he no longer calls the place home. However, due to the fact that Harry and Petunia both had shed blood in that house, the wards sucked the blood up, permanently strengthening them. The wards will never fall. The wards are now hiding Harry from us wherever he is living."
"Right now we need to find out what happened to Harry Potter so that we can bring him to Hogwarts. We need to alert some of the Order, at least those that work within the ministry."
A week later there was a meeting of a small handful of people at Hogwarts. It was early July so the school was mostly empty, all the students had left for the summer, and many of the teachers had gone on vacation.
The meeting, being held in Dumbledore's office, consisted Arthur Weasley who worked for the office of misuse of muggle artifacts and his housewife Molly, ex auror 'Mad eye' Moody, Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, and School Healer Madam Pomfrey. While Flitwick and Pomfrey were not members of the Order, Albus felt them important enough to include.
Shacklebolt had been able to use his connections to get the muggle case file for the Dursley case. He handed a copy of the file to Albus, but explained briefly to the others what the file contained. Molly gasped when he told them of the evidence that Harry had at least spent several days in the cupboard before being rescued.
Pomfrey also had files to give to Albus from the hospital where Petunai Dursley and her nephew stayed. Including comments from the nurses in Petunias file, and statements in Harry's.
Apparently some of the nurses had overheard Vernon and Petunia talking about moving far away from 'the boy before his freakishness hurt their precious Dudders'. And how Vernon was searching papers from all over to find a new home. Vernon also told her that he was really close to closing a deal that could get him a new position overseas.
Harry's file painted a picture of a horribly abused boy who should not have been able to survive his injuries, which included a broken arm, 2 broken ribs a punctured lung, welts and bruises, and blood loss on top of being severely malnourished with a shrunken stomach.
Flitwick had very little to report other than that the Potter wealth had been legally removed from Gringotts by his magical guardians.
That statement caused quite a stir because many in the room though that Dumbledore was Harry Potter's legal magical guardian.
Moody stated that records showed that the Potter's guardianship had been changed legally 7 years ago, but there was no mention of who the new guardians were, nor who sanctioned the paperwork.
Everything led to a dead end in the Search for Harry Potter.
