Chapter Four: Investigation
Amelia detected strange looking wards around the perimeter. Something she hadn't seen before, and that was saying something. Probably set up by Dumbledore himself. She was accompanied by the Head of the Department of Magical Children Wesley Hunt, Wesley was polyjuiced and in a business suit, and she was disillusioned. Her research showed that Vernon Dursely was a business man, selling drills.
It was nearly dinnertime, and Amelia checked her watch. She had detected that a person under an invisibility cloak patrolled the area, and they would be switching out just about…now. She heard a soft crack of apparition, and Amelia and Wesley made their way across the street.
A stick thin woman answered the door, looking at them carefully. "Can I help you?"
"I am a business associate of Vernon Dursely's. I think we arranged with his secretary for a meeting tomorrow, but I'm leaving out of town for Paris tonight, and I thought I could stop by here and take care of business before hand." Wesley said curtly with a charming smile.
"Oh! Of course, come right in." The both came in, the door closing behind them as they heard another crack of apparition, just as the next guard arrived.
As Wesley and the woman sat down on the couches and settled in, Amelia looked around the house carefully. All she saw were pictures of a rather large boy, whom looked like Potter's cousin, according to his memory. She made her way up the stairs, edging her way carefully around the large boy as she passed him in the hall. She glanced inside his room and noted that it was crammed full of toys and muggle video games.
She frowned, going farther down the hall, checking each of the rooms. She could hear the Dursely's downstairs now, laughing at something witty. She rolled her eyes. She went to the end of the hallway, eyes hardening at the sight of a door with ten locks on it and a cat flap. It was very disturbing, she hoped…she opened the door silently and went inside the room.
It was a rather barren bedroom, with torn books and broken toys, and a lumpy looking bed. She looked in the closet, sighing as she saw plenty of worn out looking clothes, similar to what Potter wore during the memory. She looked around for any other clues that this was the boy's room…she paused as she saw several drawings by a rickety desk. An owl, and a castle that was unmistakably Hogwarts. She sighed, glancing down at a broken quill that was sticking out of a desk drawer. She opened it carefully, making sure there were no sounds.
She saw old school parchments, obviously Potter's. Looking for something like a journal or a diary… or maybe a picture of friends… and came up with nothing. She frowned, glancing to the window. She looked at it, seeing bars on the window. She gripped each bar tightly, cocking her head as one pried loose, just enough space for an owl to get through. She sighed, placing it back.
She went back downstairs, looking to the sitting room, seeing Wesley still there. They'd have to leave soon before the polyjuice wore off… she glanced at her watch. She frowned as she saw a cupboard door pried open slightly, with a lock on it. Why would there be a lock on the cupboard door?
She tapped on the wall, just slightly, and Wesley laughed particularly loud at a joke, distracting the Durselys while she opened the cupboard door.
She looked inside and something froze inside her. A small cot scrunched up in the corner and broken toys, all scattered to the sides. She ducked back out quickly, tapping on the wall again, and Wesley stood.
"It was very nice doing business with you Mr. Dursely. Have your people call my people."
"Right, I'll get to that Mr. Campbell, it's a pleasure doing business with you." Mr. Dursely said oily. Both Amelia and Wesley apparated away in the alley, making sure their sound was covered up by a neighbor's car backing out of their driveway.
--
"And you know how awful that man is, if father hadn't passed away when he did-" Mrs. Parkinson was cut off by a clerk ducking into the office. "Wes! One of your kids did some major accidental magic, the obliviation squad is going down there now, but we need you there-"
"Of course, I'll be right down." Wesley stood, swinging his jacket on. "I'll be back Dahlia, less than twenty minutes, I'm sure."
"Take your time dear." Mrs. Parkinson said, taking a sip of her tea. As soon as her cousin walked out the door, she rolled her eyes. Really, what was Wesley thinking, working in a place like this? She glanced around the office, sighing at the state of it. And her poor cousin was such a slob, he should have gotten married ages ago, or at least get a secretary so she could clean this up for him.
She glanced at his desk, leaning forward to glance at the files. She glanced at the door, then stood slowly, drinking the last of her tea. She set her teacup aside, not touching any of the files at first, glancing at a few of the names to see if she recognized any.
"Hmm…lets see, Crawford, Flynn, Harris…Potter?" She took the file out from the stack carefully, looking at the clock. She arched a brow as she flipped through the pages. She'd read through most of it, stopping short as she looked back at the clock and slipped the file back exactly as she found it. She sat back down and gave a small smile to her cousin as he walked back in.
"Sorry Dahlia, this kid was awful, made all the sprinklers explode at his school, muggles were everywhere…."
"Ah, a muggle born, then." Dahlia said primly. Wesley sighed. "Yes, actually, not that it really matters, I remember Pansy have a bit of trouble down by the pond a few years ago…"
Dahlia pursed her lips. "But she's fine now Wes." She crossed her legs primly. "So, I heard you were seeing that Carter girl…."
--
Harry trailed after Ron and Hermoine at the platform, smiling as he saw Padfoot wagging his tail next to Remus, who had him on a leash. Harry hugged Remus goodbye with a grin. "I didn't know Paddy liked the leash." Remus went slightly pink as Harry pulled away, patting Padfoot on the head as he walked away.
He glanced over to see Amelia Bones and her niece talking to each other, with Hannah Abbot and her family. Harry smiled as Susan looked his way. She smiled back, and Harry got onto the train.
Hermoine and Ron went off to the prefect's carriage, and Harry found Neville sitting across from Ginny and a blonde girl. Harry sat next to Neville. "Hey Nev, how was your summer?"
"Same old, same old, how was yours?"
"Just fine." Harry smiled, glancing at the blonde. Ginny grinned at him. "This is Luna Lovegood, she lives not too far from the burrow."
The blonde met his eyes with a tiny smile, turning back to the upside down magazine in her hands. As Neville started to brag about his new plant, the compartment door opened, revealing an unsure looking Susan and Hannah. "Hi…um, can we sit here?"
"Sure, go ahead." Harry said easily. Neville moved aside so the girls could sit down. "You're Hannah and Susan, right?"
Both girls nodded, glancing to Ginny and Luna. "I'm Ginny Weasley, this is Luna Lovegood." They both gave a curious look to Luna, who merely glanced at them.
"And I'm Neville, just a nobody really." Neville murmured as he saw the girls look towards Harry.
Harry frowned. "Hey, you're not a nobody." Neville kept his eyes down as he messed with his plant.
"So, you guys are in Hufflepuff?" Ginny asked, looking for something to talk about.
"Yeah, you know, home of the loyal and…erm…" Hannah started, and Susan rolled her eyes.
"My auntie told me about the dementor attack you had over the summer Harry, did you really conjure a corporeal patronus?"
Harry nodded, missing Luna's and Neville's surprised looks.
Susan sighed. "I wish I could do it. Auntie's been trying to teach me since our third year, I still haven't managed, how did you learn?"
Harry shifted. "Well, my boggart's a dementor. I practiced with that."
They all gasped. "That's awful." Hannah murmured. "Wasn't it harder to do it that way?"
Harry shrugged. "Yeah. I didn't really do it though until the end of my third year…" He trailed off, thinking about when he'd saved Sirius.
"You think you could teach me? Everyone's saying that the…the dementors used to be with Voldemort, I'm scared that they'll join him."
"So you believe Harry and Dumbledore?" Ginny broke in.
"Of course we do." Susan said shortly, crossing her arms. She looked back to Harry.
"I wouldn't mind learning it myself, those dementors are really scary." Neville said quietly, glancing towards him.
Harry bit his lip. "That's a good idea. Maybe we can talk to the Defense Professor and have them teach it to us this year."
Susan made a face. "Not very likely, I heard from my Auntie that our Defense Professor is Madam Umbridge."
Harry paled. "No way, I thought she worked for the minister."
Luna looked up sharply from her magazine. "Didn't she lobby against magical creatures like Professor Lupin?"
Harry groaned, slapping his forehead. "This year is going to be awful, why did Dumbledore get her? We need someone who can teach us properly…"
"Um….the Ministry, or rather Fudge, chose her." Hannah said quietly.
Harry frowned, looking out the window.
At that moment, Neville accidentally squeezed his plant, making green slimy stuff go every where. Luna lowered her magazine, showing a clear face. Ginny grimaced, wiping the stuff out of her eyes. "Sorry." Neville squeaked.
The compartment door opened, revealing Cho Chang and her usual group of girls. "Um…hi Harry. Sorry to…" They all giggled. Harry sighed as the door closed once more. Ginny cast a cleaning charm, and Neville looked apologetic.
"I'm really sorry Harry, I know how much you liked her…" Harry made a face. "Um…I don't like her, where did you hear that Nev?"
Neville shrugged. "Um, I overheard Ron and Hermoine last year…"
"Nah, she's nice and all, but she's not my type." Harry said, slightly uncomfortable at all the looks the girls were giving him. He looked back out the window. Yes, that was a safe place to look.
Hermoine and Ron joined them shortly later, and the compartment got slightly more crowded. Hermoine and Susan were talking about something, while Ginny and Ron were going on about Quidditch, and Harry and Luna were quiet, both in their own little worlds.
Harry looked back to the compartment door as it opened, hopefully for the last time. Malfoy was there, with Pansy Parkinson hanging on his arm, Crabbe and Goyle by their sides. Pansy gave Harry a scrutinizing look, and all Harry heard from Malfoy was 'blah, blah blah'. He was more unsettled by the look the girl gave him.
Next thing he knew, Ron was standing up with his wand out, and Harry yanked him back down to sit. "Leave it Ron." He murmured. The Slytherins walked off, and Harry sighed, plucking lint off of his jeans. He missed the looks from the girls, and the glare from Ron.
"Why didn't you let me hex Malfoy? Or least give lines to Goyle-"
"Ron, you're a prefect, act like one-" Hermoine started in, and Harry sighed, looking out the window yet again.
Soon they were approaching the carriages, and Harry stopped short, making Luna, Neville, and Hannah bump into him. "What are those?"
Susan turned slightly with a sad look, and Luna spoke up. "Those are thestrals. You only see them if you've only seen death."
Hermoine spoke up. "I wish I could see them."
Harry gave her a look, and so did Susan. "Do you really?" Harry said coldly, walking past her to get on the carriage. Hermoine winced, following Ron onto the carriage.