Harry thumped his head on the desk repeatedly, feeling quite stupid. He was a wizard, for crying out loud! Contacting someone shouldn't be this difficult. He couldn't owl anyone, he'd forgotten Hermione's muggle address, if he ever knew it, and there was a full page of Grangers in the phonebook. So, how could he contact the wizarding world from London…
Oh. Harry felt really stupid now. How had he forgotten about Diagon Alley? It was practically staring him in the face. All he had to do was go downstairs and catch the Knight Bus.
Oh. It didn't matter that he was in London; he could have called the Knight Bus from just about anywhere. It seemed like Hermione was right, most wizards, including him, don't have an ounce of common sense.
Well, no time like the present. Alex was out of the house so there wouldn't be any awkward questions about where he was going or why he was leaving.
Harry hopped up out of his chair and bounced down the stairs. He felt much better now that he had a plan of some sort. His hand was mere inches from the doorknob when it was abruptly yanked open by a contemplative Alex. Both boys jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of the other.
"Ah, hello Harry. Were you going somewhere?" Alex asked.
"No, not really. I was bored and decided to take another walk," Harry replied.
Alex glanced over his shoulder at the dark street and gathering storm clouds, then raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure? It looks like it's going to storm soon. What if you…tripped…again and needed help. No one else would be out in this weather," Alex said, flicking his eyes to the bruise still visible on Harry's face.
Harry blinked. Was Alex threatening him?
"I'm sure I can handle any rocks that may get in my way this time."
"Really. I have a better idea. Why don't we play a game? It should alleviate your boredom and we could get to know each other better." Harry was Alex's only safeguard against more missions. There was no way he'd let him out of his sight and allow him to sneak away.
"Ok. Why don't we play chess," Harry suggested. He was so horrible at chess that the game would end quickly and he could call the Knight Bus that night.
One hour later the boys were still playing. Harry had been shocked to discover that Alex was as bad at chess as he was. This was the longest game he'd ever been in, and there was still no sign of who had the advantage. Harry had never won at chess before and wouldn't lose this game without a fight. Unfortunately for him, Alex was in exactly the same situation and just as determined not to lose.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore had just called an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order.
"Good evening everyone. I'm sure you're all wondering why you've been summoned on such short notice. It pains me to say this, but it appears that Harry Potter has gone missing," Dumbledore said.
Instantly there was an uproar. People began shouting questions and looking around, as if Harry was hiding under the table or behind the curtains.
"Silence! If you will just give me a few minutes I can answer your questions. Now, I was alerted that Harry had left his aunt and uncle's home yesterday evening by owls from Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. They both received notes from him stating that he would be staying with someone other than the Durselys this summer. They were suspicious and immediately owled me with this information.
"In addition, Harry asked Hermione to look after Hedwig. From this we can assume that Harry did not leave of his own freewill. Harry would never part from Hedwig if he could help it." Dumbledore paused.
"Why were the notes sent, then?" Kingsley asked.
"I believe they were sent in an attempt to keep Harry's abduction a secret as long as possible."
"What about the guard? Privet Drive is under watch; did anyone notice Mr. Potter leaving?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Mundungus was on duty, but he left because of a, as I believe he put it, sudden business opportunity."
"Have you questioned the boy's family?" Someone asked.
"I have. Petunia claimed that she sent Harry off to live with her sister Tulip for the summer. However, I can find no evidence that this sister exists. I believe that she had a memory charm placed on her to make her believe that whoever took Harry was her sister. Unfortunately, I could find no evidence of the charm, meaning it was done by someone very powerful."
The room grew quiet. There were very few people alive that were powerful enough to hide the traces of their magic from Dumbledore. The only one with power and a reason to abduct Harry was Voldemort.
Dumbledore sighed.
"I did not mean to alarm you. We have no proof that Harry is a prisoner of Voldemort. Until we are sure of what has happened, I need all of you to keep your eyes and ears open for anything that looks or sounds suspicious. Do not attempt to magically find Harry. If he has been captured most likely there are already precautions against him being found in such a manner. Our attempts at tracing Harry would only anger his captors and inform them that we know he is missing. If they are unaware that we're searching for Harry, they're more likely to make mistakes that will allow us to determine his location."
Dumbledore paused and continued when no one spoke up.
"If there are no more questions then this meeting is over. Good night everyone, and be careful."
A/N: Sorry this took so long, I'll try to make future chapters come quicker. I hope this chapter was alright, and thank you for reading it.
