Disclaimer-The world and characters of Harry Potter are the property of JK Rowling. I'm just playing in her sandbox. Some loose inspiration has been taken from the 'Dahak' series, once again that world and it's characters are the property of David Weber.

A/N - This chapter is un-beta'd as yet, so may see some minor editing once that has been done. I decided to go ahead and post it rather than wait though.

Chapter 3

Friday 30th August 1985

She swept into her private office at the back of 10 Downing Street, her sheer presence sufficient to ensure that everyone in the room was instantly aware that she was in charge here.

The Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland took her seat and looked across her desk at the people who had called this meeting. With a glance at her aide, she indicated that refreshments were not on the menu for this meeting as yet.

'So, what is so important that I have had to rearrange my afternoons schedule to see you on such short notice?' she finally asked.

Amelia Bones glanced at the two men who had accompanied her to this meeting. Both of them looked uncomfortable with the situation, and neither of them was showing any inclination to open the conversation.

'Madame Prime Minister, my colleagues and I have called this meeting because of a problem which has arisen, which has the potential to cause major problems for both of our worlds.

'A child has gone missing.' She paused to gather her thoughts.

'The three most important people in the government of Wizarding Britain have called an emergency meeting over a missing child?' the Prime Minister interjected. 'Why do I get the feeling that this is not a normal child?'

'That is correct Prime Minister,' Amelia continued, 'The child is perhaps the most famous person within the Wizarding World. He certainly can claim that title within Wizarding Britain at least. His name is Harry Potter.'

The Prime Minister interrupted her. 'That name sounds familiar, something to do with that terrorist business a few years back I believe.'

'Harry Potter was the child who somehow survived the Killing Curse, and in the process destroyed the terrorist leader, ending the conflict.' Amelia replied.

'His parents had been killed however, and the Chief Warlock here arranged for him to be placed in the custody of his mother's sister. He also arranged a series of wards and other measures to protect him and his family from any attempted retribution by the Dark Lord's followers.

'Two days ago, Albus received a call to alert him that Harry appeared to be missing. He, along with some associates, went to investigate and shortly afterwards they contacted myself to begin an official investigation.'

Amelia stopped to gather her thoughts before continuing.

'Our investigation so far has discovered a catalogue of mistakes, almost entirely on our side of things, which resulted in the protections that were put in place for Harry being compromised and eventually negated.

'The first mistake was in placing Harry with his Aunt. It was known that the two sisters were not close, and Albus was advised prior to leaving Harry there that the couple did not appear to be particularly nice people. He chose to ignore that advice on the assumption that family ties would prevail.

'The second mistake was in assuming that the wards that were put in place to protect Harry were sufficient. In practice, the wards only protected him from threats of a magical nature. Threats of a non-magical nature were not covered.

'The third mistake was that the agent Albus put in place to keep an eye on Harry was too far away. She was not close enough to the family to keep a close, daily, eye on what was happening. In addition, Albus did not pay sufficient attention to the reports she sent him.

'Our investigation is still ongoing, with both of Harry's Aunt and Uncle still undergoing questioning, but we have confirmed that Harry was abused. Starting from the very day he was placed with them.'

The Prime Minister lifted her hand slightly.

'Wait right there. How can that happen? Surely you had people checking on him? For that matter, surely WE had people checking on him. Witness Protection, Child Protection, Social Services, surely someone should have been looking in on him!' The Prime Minister's voice had risen very slightly towards the end.

Albus Dumbledore lifted his head and spoke up.

'That would be the forth mistake I made Madame Prime Minister.

'We do have both Witness Protection and Child Protection services in the magical world, although they are not large departments. I bypassed them, cut them out of the loop altogether. I chose not to inform them of young Harry's whereabouts and refused to allow them access to him. I did not trust that they would be able to keep the secret of his location from those who would have been looking to harm him. I still believe that decision to have been the correct one at the time.

'Unfortunately, in hiding him from the magical world, I also hid him from the authorities of the non-magical world. Which meant that the various Departments from your world, who would normally have been looking out for him and would have spotted the signs of abuse, simply did not know he existed.'

'I see, I presume that your presence here means that he has not simply run away. And that, while you have been unable to locate him, you believe him to be still alive.' The Prime Minister commented.

'Yes Ma'am. On questioning Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, we discovered that he sold Harry.' Amelia replied.

'What!' A look of shock appeared on the Prime Minister's face, before rapidly being replaced with anger. 'A child, who just happens to be the most famous child of your world, is sold here in the UK, and it has taken you two days to bring it to my attention. Tell me, are you people naturally this incompetent or do you have to work at it?' She paused and visibly calmed herself. 'Never mind, continue please Madame Bones.'

'Our information so far, is that Vernon Dursley made a new acquaintance earlier this year at his local golf club. Over the next few months this man gradually led the conversation in the direction he wanted.

'Nine days ago, Harry Potter was sold to this man for £9,000 in cash. Since then, both Harry and the man have disappeared completely.

'The man appears to be a complete unknown to the magical authorities of Europe, and we have found no signs of either him or Harry within Magical Britain.'

'So you are saying it was a non-magical who took the boy.' The Prime Minister interrupted.

Albus Dumbledore responded. 'The man who paid Vernon Dursley and removed young Harry from the house was almost certainly non-magical. I have confirmed that the wards on the property did not fall completely until six days ago. Three days after Harry was taken. If the man who took Harry had been magical and had intended Harry harm, the wards would have prevented him from entering. If he was magical and did not intend Harry harm, they would have alerted me to his presence.

'What remains unknown however, is who currently has Harry and what they intend for him'

The Prime Minister considered what she had heard. 'OK, I understand you have a missing child. And that you believe that he has been taken by a non-magical person or with the assistance of a non-magical person.

'What I don't understand is why you are here in my office today? Surely this is a case for your Auror's, perhaps with the assistance of some of the local non-magical police?'

Her three guests glanced at each other again. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, clearly didn't want to be there and just wanted to leave. Amelia Bones didn't know what to say and just wanted to get back to doing a job she knew how to do.

Which left Albus Dumbledore to speak up once again. 'I am afraid it is not as simple as that Madame Prime Minister.

'If this were any other child, then we would indeed, not be here today.

'This, however, is Harry Potter we are talking about. The-Boy-Who-Lived! He has a status which is unprecedented for a living person within our world.

'By surviving the Killing Curse and causing Voldemort's downfall, he has become an icon to our world. Parents and children tell each other stories about Harry Potter. They attribute great abilities to him.

'Imagine if you will, someone with the fame of Princess Diana and both of her children combined. Now imagine they have been kidnapped, and the kidnapper was French. How do you think the public would react?'

'I see. Just how bad do you think it could be?' The Prime Minister asked.

'You are aware of Voldemort and of the deaths and damage he caused in your world.' Albus replied. 'Unfortunate as those deaths and that damage were, they were essentially collateral damage.

'Voldemort was not strong enough to fight you at the same time as he was fighting us, and he was aware of that fact. So he limited his followers in what they were allowed to do to your world. It wouldn't have lasted, he would have moved against you as soon as he felt strong enough, but it did shield you from the worst.

'If, or rather, when this gets out. We face the very real risk of all out war between our worlds.

'Both the Light and Neutral factions within our world are going to want to take your world apart to find Harry. The Dark faction will also want to find him for their own ends, but they will also quite happily take advantage of the situation to wreck havoc and indulge themselves.

'In the best case scenario, we will find Harry quickly and in good health and we can manage the situation while things settle down.

'In the worst case scenario, in which Harry dies before we can find him. The Statute of Secrecy will be broken and we end up in a magical versus non-magical war which will make all previous wars in either of our worlds look like pillow fights between friends.

'To be blunt, we need to find Harry as quickly as possible and we need to be able to our people that you and your government are giving us your full co-operation and providing every resource available to you.

'And then we need to pray that it is enough to stop the explosion that is almost certain to be heading our way.'