It was nearing midnight according to his watch and he still hadn't left the cave. The day had been draining and he was reluctant to Apparate with the possibility of being splinched. Luckily the barrier that had protected the cave had reappeared so he was able to light a small fire without drawing attention to his location.
He sat down on a large stone that was on the cave and sat lost in his thoughts. His body was telling him to rest, but his mind wasn't letting him. Walking over to Dumbledore's things, he pulled out his wand and began work on shrinking them down. It took quite awhile, but he figured it would be best to have it all prepared for the morning. He sank back down onto the chilly cave floor and pulled out the maps that he had brought with him. The first place he planned on stopping was at Mr. Bowler's home. He had no idea what the situation was like in the rest of England, let alone another continent. One advantage that he figured he had was that he was probably less recognizable in the United States.
The screams that he had heard earlier had finally died down and it was only dead silence that radiated from Hogsmeade. It had taken every bit of reasoning left in his body not to rush down and start fighting the Death Eaters. They had most likely killed Hermione, the Weasleys had been taken and were as good as dead and he could do nothing about it. Not yet he told himself, but someday soon they would all pay. That was his last thought before he fell into a fitful sleep.
XxXxXxXx
He groaned as he opened his eyes, realizing he had fallen asleep with his glasses still on. Some how they had ended up jammed into his face and he could feel the indentations left behind. Stretching out his stiff body he looked and saw the last remaining embers of his fire from the previous night. He grabbed his stomach as it rumbled from the lack of food. That was a significant problem at the moment because there was none around anywhere. Now that he was somewhat rested, he also wanted to have some food in his body before he tried to jump across the Atlantic. It only read five thirty on his watch and he doubted that the Death Eaters were morning people. Deciding to try his luck at getting into the castle and into the kitchen he packed up his things and grabbed the invisibility cloak.
Harry went back up to the entrance to cave and whispered, "Death to tyrants," effectively dissolving the barrier. Stepping out into the morning he was hit by the cool summer air for a second before the smell of death and burnt wood invaded his senses. It was hard to remain standing as the urge to be sick overwhelmed him. Steadying himself, he made his way back down towards the village. It took him a few extra minutes because the sun hadn't risen all the way and he wanted to make sure there was no one lurking around.
The sight that greeted him caused him to drop to one knee. The destruction was almost indescribable. Everything was gone, burnt to the ground. The Three Broomsticks, Madame Puddifoot's, and Zonko's all lay in ruins. There were bodies lying on the ground, but not many which led him to pray that most had been taken away and not burned alive in their homes.
He got up and continued walking with the difficult task of maneuvering around the debris. Stepping over the fallen sign from the Hog's Head he got his first good glimpse of the castle that had been his home for the past five years. The place was easy to see where Dumbledore had obviously made his last stand. He continued to stare at the castle until the first Death Eater came into his vision. There were two standing at the gates of the school and he could see a group of at least six wondering the grounds. That put to rest the ideas of walking through the front gate or using the entrance from the Shrieking Shack. The only option left was the passage from Honeyduke's.
Turning around he had to remember the layout of the village to find the remains of the sweet shop because there was no sign to distinguish it. It took him several passes, but he finally found what he was looking for. The top of the building was completely gone and had fallen into the cellar. Quickly casting a silencing charm around his body, he jumped down the eight feet into the ground without a sound even after landing awkwardly. His worse fear that the passage had caved in was proven wrong as he found the trap door still intact. Slowly lifting it up, he went down into the passage and closed the door. Lighting his wand he started his trip through the passage, hoping the little rat bastard Wormtail hadn't felt the need to share the secret of the Marauders. Fortunately he met no resistance on his way and made it to statue of the witch. Staying under his cloak he pulled out the Marauder's Map and quickly activated it. His earlier prediction about the Death Eaters not being morning people came true because the halls were completely empty. He was taking a giant risk coming into the castle he thought to himself as he saw the dot displaying the name Tom Riddle in one of spare rooms.
He muttered the password and the passage on the hump of the Witch's statue opened. Making his way towards the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchens he thankfully met no one. Knowing there weren't any humans in the kitchens; he tickled the pear in the portrait of the bowl of fruit and pulled the exposed handle. He stepped into the room, turning around to make sure the portrait closed. His cloak must have slipped off when he stepped through the entrance because when he turned around there were around a good dozen house elves in front of them, all brandishing kitchen cutlery.
"Get out Death Eater, you is not welcome," screamed the closest elf. They inched him closer and closer to the door until his back was flat up against it. To his relief he saw his favorite hyper little friend rushing up to his rescue.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! It is the great Harry Potter not a Death Eater!"
"Hello Dobby. I don't think you know how relieved I am to see you right now," Harry said as he knelt down to greet the diminutive elf after the others had backed off. Dobby ran straight forward and latched his body onto Harry's knee.
"Dobby is so happy to see you sir. Terrible things is happening in the castle. The great Professor Dumbledore has been murdered," Dobby screeched with tears in his eyes. Doing the only thing that came to his mind, he reached down patting him on the back trying to calm the elf down.
"I know Dobby, I know. I snuck into the castle to see if I could get some food before I left. The Death Eaters completely wiped out Hogsmeade and everyone's gone. Do you know if there are any prisoners in the castle?" He figured he should ask because even though he had the map, there were some places that didn't show.
"We is seeing them bring prisoners in sir, but they did not stay for long. All of them were taken away from the castle," one of the elves in the back answered.
"Why haven't the Death Eaters come after you yet? They must know that you're down here and they have to eat sometime."
"We is not letting them in Harry Potter sir. They has come down here sir, but we has used our magic to push them out," Dobby answered.
"Why do you stay here though? All of the teachers are gone," Harry stated.
"We are bound to the school sir. Well that is everyone besides the strange elf Dobby. We must stay in the castle, it is our duty," another elf said.
"Dobby since you're a free elf, why don't you come with me. I'll pay you whatever you want, but I'm on my way to America and than to Canada so that I can train to fight Voldemort. I could really use the company and someone to help me out if I need it. All of my other friends have been taken," Harry finished quietly.
"Dobby is so happy that the great Harry Potter considers him a friend. He would be very happy to come with you Harry Potter sir," Dobby exclaimed.
"That's good Dobby. I'll call for you once I get to wherever I'm going so just stay safe until then. Now do you think you could get me some food before I leav-." He didn't even get a chance to finish because all of the elves had rushed off and started preparing food.
An hour later Harry was just finishing up the mountain of food that the elves had prepared for him. He had packed up as much of it as he could carry and was preparing to make his way back out to Hogsmeade or what was left of the once prominent village. The problem now was that the Death Eaters had woken up and were roaming around the castle. Watching the map, he had seen Voldemort make his way out of the school and Apparate away after he had left the grounds. That was one problem out of the way unfortunately there were around forty other people in castle who would like to cause him harm.
He stood up from the small table he was seated at and lifted his now heavy bag onto his shoulder. Informing Dobby that he was leaving he was sent off through the portrait with all of the house elves wishing him luck. The trip back towards the secret passage went well with just the occasional need to stop for a Death Eater to pass. Checking the map once more to make sure no one was around he muttered a quick Dissendium and slipped into the damp, dark passage. Finally making it back to the remains of Honeyduke's, he opened the trap door quickly and made his way through. Sitting down on the sturdiest piece of wood he could find he pulled out the map one last time so he could get a clear picture of the location he intended on going. With a clear image in his mind he gathered all of his energy, stepped forward and disappeared.
XxXxXxXx
The first thing that Harry did when he arrived in Washington D.C. was conjure an umbrella. He had somehow managed to Apparate himself into what felt like a small hurricane. He regretted not having on heavier clothing as the winds that were howling greatly lowered the temperature. It was amazing, he thought to himself, that he figured the weather would be much better where he was, but right now it was the same rainy hell that England usually tended to be. What he wouldn't give to be on a beach in the Caribbean. He looked around into the foreign territory and remember that is was much earlier in the morning in the States. Putting a quick hovering charm on his umbrella, he pushed back his sleeve and adjusted the hour hand on his watch back five hours. It was only three thirty in the morning and the only light given off around him was from the lamp posts. There were definitely houses around him, but he doubted he could find the one he was looking for in the current weather. While he was confident in his ability to Apparate, it was highly possible to end up somewhat off course when moving over long distances.
One thing that was going his way fortunately was the absence of any Death Eater and no signs of destruction anywhere. Though, he doubted whether even Death Eaters would do anything in this sort of weather. It seemed that everyone was avoiding the weather because there wasn't anyone out driving either. Making a quick decision he decided it would be best to come back sometime later in the day, hopefully when the storm had settled. Pulling another piece of parchment out of his bag he found the location to the home that he now owned in Maryland and Apparated away.
Dumbledore certainly hadn't been lying when he said that the house was in the country. The only thing Harry could see surrounding the house were thousands of trees and in the distance clearly visible farmland. He noticed that the weather was much better than his previous vacated location. It was dark, but the stars stood out and provided some light along with the shining full moon. Standing in front of him was a relatively large single story home. It looked old, but it was in pretty good shape for being abandoned for the past fifteen years at least. There were covered piles of what he could only guess was firewood next to a small wooden shed that looked like it had seen better days. He made his way up the to the house and walked up the steps which creaked with his added weight. On the front porch sat several old chairs and a table that looked like it would fall if anything was placed on it. Trying to open the door he wasn't surprised when he found it to be locked. He never got the chance to owl Gringotts to send him the keys to his properties, so he pulled out his wand and spelled the door open.
The first thing he saw when he opened the door was absolutely nothing because it was too dark. There obviously wasn't any electricity because he couldn't find any switches to turn on the lights. Lighting the end of his wand he searched until he found several candles and quickly lit them. Miraculously managing to maneuver his way in the dark he placed the candles around the entire main room until it was bright enough to get a clear view of the place. When he had found out that he had inherited homes from his parents he had been hoping that there would be something in them that would give him more insight into the lives of his mother and father. Unfortunately, looking around he noticed that there was really nothing to indicate that they had even been in the house. The room wasn't furnished luxuriously, but it still looked comfortable. There was a large fireplace across from the couch that he immediately lit. The extra light revealed the hallway that he guessed led to other rooms, but he didn't feel like exploring anymore at the moment. He needed to figure out what was happening and he needed to talk to Dumbledore's buddy. He sat down on the couch and propped his feet up on the small table in front of it. Letting his head fall back, the heat from the fire eventually lulled him to sleep.
