New Chapter! And comparatively quickly too. Downside is that it's a little shorter than the last couple. Also a teensy reminder here that I like reviews ^.^.

Disclaimer - JKR owns Harry potter, I do not. I make no money off this fic, but I do take a great deal of personal enjoyment.

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Ocean spray spattered the walls of the ramshackle hut and thunder crashed, fighting with the sound of waves slapping the rock it stood on. Inside, Harry huddled further into the couch he was meant to be sleeping on, seeking any warmth from the moth-eaten and mildewy blanket he had found on the floor. He was frightened and wanted nothing more than to go home. He and his parents had been on the run for almost two weeks. They had just left the house at first, staying in a London Hotel, but wizards kept popping up wherever they went. They had been polite in the beginning, asking to speak to him, offering him ridiculous wonders and a happier life. He had turned them all away, letting them know in no uncertain terms that he was perfectly happy where he was. Then they had become more insistent, and less polite.

Harry had told his parents, and they had driven out of the city. Vernon had turned his work over to an assistant director for a few weeks, citing a late summer holiday. The wizards had followed relentlessly, cornering him at petrol stations and cafes. Each time Harry had told them that he wasn't interested, and he and his parents moved on. Finally they had started trying to grab him. Harry was too ashamed to admit that he had used his magic to get away a few times, not seeing any other way out. On these occasions his dad had accepted his explanations as to how he managed to shake the wizards off on his own, but his mum looked at him a little too knowingly. Using his freakishness made Harry sick to his stomach, but he couldn't always escape without it. At least the wizards had seemed to leave him alone once they hit Cornwall.

The manager at the hotel they had stayed at the night before had looked at him a bit funny over his cornflakes this morning, but that could have been any number of things. And no one could get to him on this rock, not in this storm. Not even if they knew where he was. Not even if he thought he could hear boots crunching on the rock outside.

CRASH! The door fell in and Harry jumped, startled from his thoughts. He heard his dad fall to the floor from the bed in the other room. A huge shape blocked the doorway. Harry scrambled behind the couch, desperate to get to shelter. The shape moved forward, and as it became clearer Harry realised it was the largest and hairiest man he had ever seen. The wizards had run out of patience. The gigantic man squeezed his way through the opening and fit the door back into the frame behind him. His eyes glinted as they fell on Harry, whose stomach dropped. His insides ice, he tried to run to the small bedroom, stumbling on numb feet.

His dad rushed out of the hut's only other room, holding a shotgun he must have bought on this trip. Harry ducked behind him as Vernon pointed the gun at the intruder.

"Don't come any closer!" He yelled, hands shaking. "I'll shoot!"

The giant gave a short laugh like the rev of an engine and reached for the gun. Harry's dad tried valiantly to keep the gun aimed at the other man's chest, but the giant bent the barrel backwards. Vernon shook wildly, knowing that if he tried to shoot now, the gun might very well explode and harm them all. Instead he turned on the safety and held the gun like a club, stepping further in front of his wife and son. "You won't take him," he said, trying to sound firm and dangerous. In reality it came out quavering and squeaky. "I won't let you."

"And what would you do about it, Dursley, you great prune?" The giant scoffed, seemingly not fazed by guns or heavy wood and metal clubs. "The boy is coming to Hogwarts, whether you allow it or not."

"I am not going anywhere with you." Harry said, as coldly as he could from behind his father's legs. "I will not go to a school of freaks, I will not be taught magic tricks by the biggest freak of them all." Petunia sneered beside him, and added "Crackpot old fool couldn't even get his name right on the letter."

What little they could see of the giant's face flushed a deep red, and he flung Vernon aside with a hand like a shovel. "NEVER," he thundered, "INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE IN- FRONT- OF- ME!" He brought a pink umbrella swishing down and Petunia crumpled. Harry tried to run past him and out onto the island but he was somehow wrapped in rope before he could get far. He struggled and tried to look back at his parents, but couldn't see them from where he was. He calmed down and tried to use his magic on the ropes, but they just tightened around him, cutting off circulation to his fingers. Suddenly, his world went black.

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Harry opened his eyes and fumbled for his glasses, finding they had fallen onto his chest. Putting them on he realised he had been sleeping on a couch in a warm office. Odd, as he'd never been here before and couldn't remember how he got here from the hut in Cornwall. Strange delicate objects whirred in glass cases around him. As his mind cleared he remembered being kidnapped and began to panic. In his hast to find an exit, he fell from the couch and bruised a knee. There were no windows but he could see two doors. He tried the first and found it locked. He ran to the other and pulled on it. It opened easily and revealed an elderly man in robes and a beard that fell to his knees. Harry hesitated before pushing past the man, only to find himself in a parlour of sorts. His shoulders slumped. There was a window in this room, showing that they were high above the ground. Too high up to jump, even if he used his magic to protect him. From behind him he heard the old man chuckle and the sound filled him with dread. "How very Gryffindor of you Harry, I knew that would be the right choice for you."

Harry drew in a deep breath and turned to face the man, who he supposed must be another Wizard. He hadn't seen the large one who had kidnapped him yet; perhaps he could trick this one into letting him go. He just had to play along for now. "Gryffindor?" He asked. "What's that?"

"Gryffindor is a house Harry, one of the four that make up Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Headmaster Dumbledore." Harry chanced a look at the man's face while he was talking. He had a kindly face with very blue eyes that were twinkling behind half-moon spectacles. Harry might have been inclined to trust him if he weren't a freak and a kidnapper. "I have taken the liberty of placing you in Gryffindor myself, since you missed the Sorting yesterday. It seems I made the right choice,"

"I don't need a house." Harry said, a bit miffed to learn this was all about where he went to school. "I don't have magic, I won't be learning here." Dumbledore chuckled again, and withdrew a long thin stick from his robes. "We shall see." He said, and pointed the stick at Harry. Pain suddenly clawed at every part of Harry's body and he felt his magic rising to the surface. He tried to clamp it down, but the pain made it impossible to concentrate. He fell to the floor as his magic was let loose with force, breaking several of the delicate objects he had noted earlier. The pain dulled to a fierce ache and he heard the old man say, rather smugly. "There. No matter how deeply you bury your magic, you cannot make it go away. You will attend this school and you will learn how to use it."

"You can't make me do anything." Harry said, shakily. He knew it wasn't the greatest of ideas but the pain was making it difficult to concentrate and all he could think of was having to spend his year around freaks. He needed to get back to his parents, to make sure they were okay. He pushed himself off the floor, and noticed that the old man was smiling at him. The smile no longer reached those blue eyes.

"On the contrary, my dear boy, I can make you do anything I need you to." Dumbledore said, patronisingly. "We have purchased all you need for the year, at significant expense. There is a prophecy that links you to the eventual demise of the Dark Lord. Magically, you have no proper guardians, so you are under the guardianship of this school. It is your destiny and your obligation to learn all you can while you are here."

Harry saw red. How dare the man tell him what he had to do? "I have parents, and I refuse to fight your battles for you. Let me go!" He lunged and tried to grab the man's wand to unlock the door, but found himself thrown back before he even managed to brush the man's arm. On the floor for the third time since he had woken up, he observed that the smile had now completely vanished from Dumbledore's face. "You will learn," The man said, quietly and dangerously. "Even if I have to make it so myself. Imperio!"