-Chapter 9-
True Faces
"Oh come on! That was totally a graze!" Thomas Kirkland cried.
"I don't think so." Harry disagreed with the twenty year old solicitor.
"It was so!" he replied taking a sip of his drink. "Wait for the action replay…and you aren't even watching!"
"I have excellent peripheral vision Tom." Harry said not looking up from his book.
He huffed and Harry rolled his eyes.
When Harry was searching for a good law firm to represent he had exclusively looked for a one with Muggleborns in it. Partly because having a non-pureblood represent the wealthiest family in wizarding Britain was a statement in itself and partly because Harry didn't want a wizard who looked up to Dumbledore. He had finally found the Kirkland, Peterson and Waller with an excellent win rate. From the many candidates Harry chose the sole Muggleborn who had gotten the job because his widowed mother had married a wealthy pureblood. He only had five cases under his belt. It wasn't the fact that Tom was a bad solicitor that he had only five; in fact he had won them all. It was because of his blood status. And Harry had chosen him, to the incredible shock of the other partners of the firm.
After a while Harry had found out that the guy was pretty fun to hang out with, although he had an addiction to cricket which wasn't an issue for Harry at all. They mostly had their meetings in his apartment playing games and watching matches.
"You think they'll call?" Tom asked.
"I'm not sure." Harry said. "Dinner was excellent. Even though that Rose girl kept trying to kill me with her gaze through the meal. I don't think she believed me."
"Don't blame her." Tom replied running a hand through his short blonde hair. "You do have a very dishonest face."
"Shut up man." Harry said glancing at his phone.
Few minutes passed the commentary from the TV filling the background. When it finally started to vibrate Harry snatched and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Harry?" Elizabeth's voice came. "We're ready. We even wore the weird robes you got for us."
"Are you in someplace without any electronic equipment?" Harry asked while Tom turned off the telly.
"Except for the phones yes."
"After I hang up turn them off too." He said. "I'll see you in a minute."
"Kippy!" he called after hanging up. The elf apparated in the designated zone and both of them grabbed the offered hands. In seconds they were in the luxurious garden of the Wright estate. The Wright family stood as one wearing expensive wizarding robes, looking quite anxious. Harry smiled. "Hey! Ready?"
After performing some glamour charms to his face to hide his scar, they all apparated to Diagon Alley.
"Jesus H fuck!" Scott Wright cried when he saw the busy street. "You were telling the truth!"
Harry chuckled. "Of course I was."
He waited patiently while the family experienced their first look at the magical world. After a while Harry gently guided them through the streets crowds careful not to linger on one thing for long. They were here for business after all.
Rose Wright suddenly stopped staring at a sign that showed a girl with a wild mane turning smooth.
"Sleekeazy's Hair Potion- two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet." She read. "Is this real?"
"Yeah it works I think." Harry turned to Tom remembering something. "Wasn't that on the list?"
"It was," Tom said. "It's currently half owned by the Lady Potter."
"You mean me?" Elizabeth asked surprised.
Harry nodded. "This is why we first need to go to Gringrotts."
"Lord Potter." Griphook said looking up from his desk when Harry entered the office. "Here again so soon? And you've brought guests."
"Griphook," Harry said cancelling the glamour and gesturing dramatically at Elizabeth. "I give you Lady Elizabeth Lillian Potter."
The goblin nodded. "Good to see you without harm Lady Potter."
Harry pouted. "You guys are no fun."
"Absolutely," Griphook said. "We have important business to do."
Harry watched in shock as a transparent lion manifested from the inheritance box and bowed to Elizabeth before disappearing. His eyes snapped to Griphook. "How come a lion bow to her? How come it didn't try to maul her or something?"
"Hey!" Elizabeth cried indignant.
"Sorry," Harry said. "That bloody box tried to strangle me!"
"Lord Potter I think it's because she's more graceful than you," Tom said seriously.
"Oh screw you Tom." Harry replied crossing his arms while Elizabeth smiled smugly. "Let's just get on with this."
Half hour later they walked out of the bank considerably more shaken than when they went in. Elizabeth turning out to be one of the heirs of Gryffindor didn't surprise Harry; actually the whole rereading of the will went fine. It was when the Healers that Harry hired to check the damage to Elizabeth's family found out that that they indeed had their memory modified when the Wright family got angry and reasonably so.
After stopping by for ice cream, they apparated to Potter Manor. Harry took his time leading the tour, still not believing he had found his sister. Elizabeth was an incredibly easy person to talk to. He spent the whole tour telling her everything about their family, his school and his friends and she told him about her friends and family. He caught himself glancing at her often as if to make sure she really did exist. While Harry was almost a carbon copy of his father Elizabeth had his mother's with his father's eyes.
They approached the sitting room and they all relaxed for a while and Harry called an elf for some tea.
"There is still something we need to discuss." Harry started. "Are you going to start your magical education?"
"What about normal school?" Sarah asked. "Are you asking her to drop everything just so she could learn how to pull rabbits out of a hat? Why would she need to learn magic anyway?"
Harry chuckled. "You don't understand. She flew. Without a broom."
"You're kidding… right?" Tom asked.
"No I am not." Harry said. "The reason she needs to learn magic is that it is quite obvious that Elizabeth is an incredibly powerful witch. And that power if left unchecked could explode in the most unfortunate moment. And Dumbledore would try to bound you magic and Obliviate you all again."
They all sat a bit straighter their faces stern. "That's unacceptable."
"I know Mr. Wright." Harry said. "It's why I propose an accelerated program taught by hired tutors. You can still continue your normal school and do this so you can control your magic better. That reminds me, we need to get you a wand."
"A wand?" Elizabeth perked up.
"Yes." He replied. "Of course there's another option. You can always enroll in Hogwarts next year under a different name. What do you think?"
"What career options does she have if she graduates from this Hogwarts?" Sarah wanted to know.
"I don't think she'd have to work a day in her life." Harry said shrugging. "We're pretty much the wealthiest family in wizarding Britain. But that's not what you asked. There're tons of fields she could go to."
He summoned a leaflet that contained about magical careers from his room. He let them read it. "So?"
"Dragon handler?" Elizabeth asked looking up from the leaflet. "There're real dragons?"
"Yes," Tom nodded. "Though I don't recommend it. It's quite dangerous."
"When you said that the magical world has the ability to solve the world power crisis what did you mean?" Elizabeth asked.
"That's quite a big subject," Harry said. "We'll talk about it at some later time. But your magical education isn't the only thing we need to talk about. Tom if you will?"
"Quite," Tom said. "Are you going to make the return of Lady Potter public Harry?"
"It's not my decision." He replied. "But if you do decide that you want to go public there will be a massive outcry from wizarding Britain. The leader of the light binding the magic of a lady from a Most Ancient and Noble family and placing her with a muggle family. Not to mention the fame of being the sister of the Boy-Who-Lived." Here Harry rolled his eyes.
"This could topple Dumbledore you know." Tom added.
"I've already told you about my thoughts about Dumbledore, Tom." Harry said. "He's not a threat. Never has been. Just a temporary annoyance. The real threat is the ministry and the general public. They could make our lives hell if they try hard enough."
"You're talking like Elizabeth's return is some kind of political maneuver." Scott said a bit angrily.
"It is," Harry nodded smiling grimly. "Only this isn't your normal game of politics where you can try again if you fail. If we mess up it could end up with us dead or worse. I already told you how backwards and screwed up this world is."
"So what are we going to do?" Rose asked taking her sister's hand.
Harry turned to Elizabeth. "Do you want to learn magic?"
She looked up at him and Harry was taken aback by the ferocity in her eyes. "I want to be a Healer."
"Elizabeth-" her mom started.
"Mom, Dad, Rose I want to do this." she said. "I'll enter Hogwarts next year."
Harry couldn't help the wide smile on his face. "You're not going to regret this."
"So?"
"So what?"
"What's going on?" Hermione exclaimed closing her book making several people jump in the common room. "You haven't stopped smiling since you came back today."
Her breath caught in her throat as his intense green eyes turned to her. They were shining with mirth. "You understand that the exams are over?"
"This is just a bit of light reading." She replied. "So what got you so excited?"
"I found her, Hermione." He said smiling like a loon. "I found Elizabeth."
"Oh my God Harry!" she cried throwing her arms around him. "Tell me everything!"
He put some small privacy wards around them. "She's fine. Dumbledore placed her with a rich muggle family and modified their memories…"
As the story continued Hermione started getting worried. Her initial reverence for the headmaster had already been destroyed when Harry had told her about the monstrous acts Snape had committed and how Dumbledore had hired him despite all of it. And Harry had finally found his long lost sister and she had never seen him so happy. And she wanted it to last. But there was still a chance the headmaster finding out that the Potter twins have reunited. Dumbledore could still take Elizabeth away from Harry. She didn't know if Harry could survive from that. All his life he had suffered and even this small glimmer had the chance of disappearing if they weren't careful.
"…she says she wanted to be a Healer. She says that she'll enroll in Hogwarts next year under her muggle name." he kept rambling and Hermione smiled at him. "Hermione she can fly! Without a broom to the boot… and she's pretty awesome. I think you'll like her- do you want to meet her?"
Hermione nodded. "Of course. So she's more powerful than you? I bet she's smarter and prettier than you as well."
"Hey! Are you saying I'm not pretty?"
She laughed. "So when'll I meet her?"
"Well it's only a three days more until the end of term. How about in the summer?"
"Alright."
"That's settled." Harry said. "Anyway it's time exorcise a ghost!"
"Harry stop!" Hermione whispered.
"What?" Harry asked freezing on the spot. The rune stones on his hands hovering just inches above the Professor Binns classroom door. "Do I have the wrong stones?"
"No!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him away. "We can't place the stones here. What if one of the house ghosts get caught in it?"
"Oh." He said as both of them casually fell in step with passing group of students. "That would be bad."
"I know." She said. "That is why we need to find where Binns' room used to be and place the trap there."
"But he's a ghost," Harry said. "Why would he even hang out there anyway?"
"I think like most ghosts he's bound to where he died, in this case Hogwarts." she said. "What we need is a way to get to the staff quarters without anyone noticing."
"Why not use an elf?" Harry asked smiling at a group of girls that waved at him as they passed by.
Hermione frowned at his action. "You know why."
"Yeah. But I was just being cautious." He said. "I still don't know if the headmaster has any wards that detect elves that doesn't belong to the school. "
"Even so, that option is out." Hermione racked her brain for a solution. "Harry why can't we use someone else? Someone who knows the school better than us?"
"Like who?"
"Like those two." She said pointing at the Weasley twins who seemed to be examining a piece of parchment.
"What makes you think they know better than us?"
"Well they are in their third year and I don't think they'd mind lending us a hand in what is essentially a prank." Hermione said a bit disapprovingly. "They do seem very fond of those."
Harry eyed them. "Can we trust them?"
"One way to find out." She said and headed towards them. Seeing her approach they quickly hid the parchment.
"Hello. Fred and George Weasley?" she asked.
"Well-well-well look who it is Fred," George Weasley (she assumed) said. "The savior of Hogwarts and her partner."
"This new generation is really something George." Fred replied. "Two months of magic, and Snape is out of the school not to mention dead, and we get a decent potions teacher. Nicely done Mr. Potter."
"Actually, Hermione's the one who found the correct protocols and laws." Harry said. "I just talked to some people and wrote the letter to Madam Bones."
She went slightly red at the praise. "Anyway that's not why we're here. Do you know where Professor Binns died? If so can you transport a collection of objects to be set at certain places?"
They both turned to her. "Maybe. Do we need to know what these devices are?"
"You're going to find out anyway when you set them." Harry said.
"Alright," Fred said. "What's in it for us?"
"It's for the good of the students actually." Hermione said. "Much like what happened with Snape."
"So basically what you're saying is that we're going to lose our weekly nap time in the history class?"
"It's for the good of us all." she said. "Please? If you do this we won't tell anyone about the secret potions lab you have in the school."
"How'd you know about that?" they asked in unison.
"I didn't." Hermione said grinning. "You just told me."
"You were right brother." George said. "This new generation is really something."
"Yeah," Fred replied. "We'll see what we can do."
Hermione was enjoying her dessert after dinner when it happened. A ghoulish shriek tore through the hall, making more than a few students drop their cutlery in shock. All the candles blew out covering the tables in darkness. It took a while for her to realize that the rune stones had activated. Several people (including herself) yelped when almost all the ghosts in the school were suddenly flew in through the one wall and left from the other- which was the general direction of the staff quarters.
When people started to stand up Dumbledore addressed the hall. "Please remain in you seats and enjoy your dinner while the staff investigates."
Hermione shrugged and continued to do just that. It was later than night they heard that Professor Binns had been forcibly evicted from Hogwarts, never to return. Harry and Hermione shared a smile while everyone else discussed how such a thing could've happened.
I love my life… Hermione thought happily.
"So, I'll see you in September?" Harry said not meeting her eyes and missing the smile on her face. He was surprised at his own reluctance to part from someone he knew for a few months. He had gotten so used to spending time with her all the time he was dreading his journey back to the Dursleys. He could move up his relocation to the Potter Manor but he was sure the Dumbledore had someone monitoring the Dursleys and he didn't want to tip the headmaster off. Besides he had something planned for the rest of his family.
"I think we need to meet a little earlier to buy our next year school stuff." Hermione said with a finger to her chin.
"I forgot about that." Harry said. "I'll call you?"
Hermione nodded and then leaned forward kissing his cheek. She waved goodbye and headed towards where her parents were waiting at the platform.
He waved back in a daze tracing his fingers over where her soft lips had landed. That girl is going to be the death of me.
Shaking his head he walked towards the end of the platform. He cringed when he saw the three of them standing near a gate looking as if they'd rather be anywhere than here. He ran his hand through his head in an automatic reflex to tame his hair, Uncle Vernon's shout of 'Comb your hair boy!' unconsciously reminding him. It was moments like these he remembered that how much free he was at Hogwarts. He never had to hide who he was when he was learning magic.
Harry stopped in front of Uncle Vernon's large frame. Vernon narrowed his eyes at him. "Who are you?"
Harry suppressed a smile. "Why it's me! Uncle Vernon. Don't tell me you can't recognize your own nephew because of a few new cloths, pair of contacts and some much needed visits to a hospital?"
"P-Potter?" Vernon sputtered.
"Yes it's me…you fat fuck…" Harry added inaudibly. "And no I'm not going to tell you how I got these."
"Watch your mouth boy!"
"Or what?" He countered. "You're going to teach me a lesson in front of all these people?"
"Let's just go Vernon." Aunt Petunia said eyeing the passing crowds.
"That's what I thought." Harry said following his family.
"Where's your trunk?" Vernon asked noticing that his nephew was empty handed when they reached the car.
"That's of no concern of yours." Harry said and entered the vehicle ignoring the family.
The ride back to Privet drive was silent, though Dudley kept sending sneers his way. Harry grinned at him. The moment they arrived at the house Vernon pulled Harry aside grabbing him by the shirt.
"Listen here boy, you're in our home again." He said. "And I won't tolerate any kind of funny business in my house. Understand?"
Harry stared at the hand clutching his shirt then looked at his uncle. "Who said you could touch me?"
"What?" Vernon bristled.
"You heard me." He said. "Who said you could touch me?"
"I don't need anyone's permission to do anything in my own house you freak!"
"We'll see about that." He said and glared at his uncle. "Now if you don't want to lose that arm, I suggest you let go."
He let go and if not for Harry's new potions regime that had fixed his body, he would've hit the wall and fallen.
"Dinner's at eight, until then you'll be in your bedroom." Vernon said finally.
I guess they really couldn't wait to put me to work. Harry said to Andy while setting the table.
Are you really surprised?
Nah. "Dinner's ready!"
After they had all sat down Harry picked up his plate and leaned against the nearby windowsill. He checked his watch and seeing that five minutes has passed placed his plate on the floor.
"You know," he started and they all turned toward him. "Before I boarded the train to come back to kings cross I stopped by a potions shop in this lovely little village called Hogsmeade. He had all kinds of stuff. I was particularly interested in one of his bestsellers. A dreamless sleeping potion."
"Is there a point to this boy?" Vernon snapped.
Harry smirked. "Enjoying your dinner?"
It was quite funny to see the expressions change on Vernon's face. He continued. "It's actually quite a remarkable subject. Potions. If you know where to look you could find books describing how to change something harmless like-" he here paused and indicated to the trio who seemed to be having trouble breathing. "-a dreamless sleeping potion into a something else. Something… lethal."
"You b…bastard…" Vernon muttered before passing out.
"Don't worry." Harry muttered standing over them. "You're not going to die. Not from that anyway."
When Vernon woke up he found that he was strapped to the refrigerator he loved so much with a wire and was sitting on the floor. He tried to shake himself loose to no avail. Vernon glanced around hoping to see his wife and son and saw that they were bound to single chairs in the kitchen. The TV was muted and the freak stood in front of it smirking at him. Vernon saw red.
"You little shit!" he barked. "Let me go now! Or I'll-"
"Or you'll do nothing." Harry cut-in. "You'll stay where you are and answer some of my questions. Then I'm going away, forever."
Vernon narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean going away forever?"
"Exactly what you think," Harry replied. "So first question, how did I come to this house?"
"We found you," Petunia spoke up. "On our doorstep with a letter strapped to your cloths saying we'd have to take you in."
"Who was it from?" Harry asked even though he had a pretty good idea.
"Someone named Dumbledore."
"Do you still have the letter?"
"In the attic."
"I'll get it later." Harry said making a mental note. "You got an allowance every month for taking me in right?"
"How'd you know about that?"
"What did you think I wouldn't find out?" Harry asked. "I read my parents will. Did you know that the Potters are the richest magical family on Britain? We have more than billion pounds in liquid assets. If you'd have treated me like a normal person I actually would've shared it with you."
Vernon's eyes went glassy at 'billion pounds'. "Listen… frea- Harry, we took you in didn't we? We weren't even given a choice in the matter, but we took you in. Looked after you like you were our own-"
Harry started laughing. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" he asked finally. He stopped and glared at them.
"In less than a year in the magical world I've caught and sentenced a dangerous criminal, evicted a ghost that was destroying generations of students education, and laid the groundwork to topple the corrupt government officials that run the ministry." He said. "You have no idea who you're dealing with Dursley."
He turned to Petunia who was looking at him like she's seeing the real him for the first time. "Did you know that I had a twin sister called Elizabeth?"
"W-What?" she sputtered.
"Another freak?" Dudley asked.
"I'd watch your tongue if I were you Duddykins," Harry growled. "Unless you want to lose it."
"She's magical, of course." He said to Petunia as if he hadn't been interrupted. "The same man who placed me here placed her with a very nice family. I wish I had grown up with her instead of you arseholes. And I'm so glad that our positions weren't reversed. I shudder to think what you'd done to her as a little girl. "
"Knew she'd be a freak like you," Dudley spat, never being very smart.
Quick as a flash Harry's foot connected with the boy's jaw so hard that he fell with the chair. Petunia screamed while Dudley spat out blood and couple of teeth.
"You freak! What did you do to my son?!" Vernon cried struggling to break free.
"I did warn him." Harry said calmly.
"Shut it!" Vernon barked. "I've had just about enough of this! You freaks come to my house and force me to take a brat I never wanted and take care of it! And you. Who the bloody hell do you think you are to hit tie my family up and then hit my son!? HUH!? I hope your freak twin choke-"
This time Harry's shoe was smashed against the elder Dursley's face. He brought up his leg and kicked Vernon again, his calm expression never changing. Petunia's screamed amplified when blood started pouring down his stout face, leaking from his nose and mouth. Harry stopped his onslaught.
"Tsk…" he muttered observing his leg. "I got blood on my shoes."
He stared at the bloody face of his uncle in distaste. He placed his foot on Vernon's wide face and pressed until he heard a crunch and his uncle started wailing.
Thank god I placed those silencing ward stones around this room. He said to Andy.
Yeah. Andy replied. Can we finish this a bit early? I need us to stop by Gringrotts to-
He went silent and Harry narrowed his eyes. Andy?
No response.
Remembering what had happened the last time Andy went silent he started to panic. Closing his eyes for a minute he searched through his mindscape. But there was not a sign of him. Unfortunately his brief inattention was all Vernon Dursley needed.
Harry's breath was knocked out him as a huge foot landed in his stomach and he felt the connection he had to his magic getting thinner. A dark sensation reverberated in his mindscape and Harry instantly recognized it. Voldemort.
But how? He was pretty certain he had destroyed the part of Voldemort's souls that was embedded in his head. He checked deeper and froze when he found a crude trap created using mind magic. It took a while for him to understand that it was a self-destruction type logic system that was designed to destroy a mind from the inside, and it had Voldemort's magical signature all over it. And somehow instead of destroying his mind it had… killed Andy. He couldn't help but admire Voldemort's resourcefulness. The bastard had taken his first friend in his dying breath. But he'd have to grieve later because in the real world he was out of breath and his stomach felt like it was being burned from the inside.
Harry fell to the floor of the kitchen grasping for breath. And to his shock Vernon broke through his chains that held him and stood up, wiping away the blood from his face. Harry's quickly covered his face when a fat shoe came at it, but it wasn't enough. He felt a sharp pain in his nose and he knew it was broken. Rolling away from another kick he hastily took his wand out from his wrist hostler. He hadn't used his wand before because he was sure Dumbledore had all kinds of wards to monitor him. But screw that! Because he wasn't sure he could take another kick from his uncle, even with his rejuvenated body.
With a stunner on his lips he pointed it at his uncle the moment the next kick came.
"Stupe-" he didn't get to finish as Vernon's foot landed on his hand and he watched with an opened mouth as his wand flew away and disappeared under the sofa. He tried to roll towards it but Vernon clasped his meaty hands around his throat and lifted him off the ground.
"Not so brave now are you?" he said grinning nastily.
Harry struggled to get free but the grip was too strong.
"Now, you and I are going to have a long talk about these billion pounds you claim to have," he said. "Understood?"
Harry smiled at him grinding his teeth. "Sure. You'd have to survive today first."
Vernon laughed and punched him knocking the breath out of him once more. Harry heaved hard, his mind racing mile a minute. Having a crazy idea he took out his smart phone from his pocket.
"What're you going to do with that boy?" Vernon asked. "Call the police?"
"You know some of these smart phones are pretty sturdy and some of them-not so much," Harry said ignoring the burning in his throat. "Here let me show you…"
In one swift movement he placed the screen side of the phone against Vernon's face and punched the back part as hard as could. Vernon shrieked and Harry landed punch after punch breaking the screen and the glass. Vernon dropped him clawing at his bleeding eyes, which was making the broken glass pressed further into his eyeballs.
Harry winced at the thought but wasted no time in kneeing his uncle in the crotch. He doubled over in extreme pain as the screams and wails from his family continued. Harry kicked his face again for good measure and dove for his wand. He stuck his hand under the sofa and blindly searched for it. "Gotcha!"
Breathing heavily he pointed the wand at his uncle's head. Years of memories of beatings and starvation ran through his mind. He remembered the helplessness and the soul crushing depression he was constantly in. All three of his family was responsible. Petunia never hit him, but she found creative ways to torture him. He was always alone in school because of Dudley. Was it so damn hard for them to treat him like a normal person? Years of hatred bubbled up within him. And just as he was about to fire the same curse that he had used to subdue the potions professor, a voice that was suspiciously similar to Hermione's said: 'Just because they made your life hell doesn't mean you have to right to take their lives Harry.'
He wanted to argue that his family deserved it.
He wanted to argue that he deserves some payback for all those years of pain and suffering.
But he didn't because he knew it was true. And he didn't have the right. But that didn't mean he couldn't make the rest of their lives hell. Smirking he pointed his wand at Vernon's legs.
"Renoeum!" he said and the white magic with the black outline flashed to his uncle's foot, messily blasting the right leg off of his body. Harry ducked behind the sofa to avoid the blood spray that flew everywhere.
"DAD!"
"VERNON!"
His uncle had fallen to the floor from the blood loss. Harry aimed at his other leg closing one eye. "Reno-
"NO!" Dudley shouted and jumped at him with the chair that he was bound to.
His aim was thrown off when his cousin landed on him. "-eum!"
The white energy whipped away from the intended target and split into several paths one heading towards the huge plasma TV and one puncturing a hole through the gas cooker and the rest heading in various directions. Kicking his cousin away from him Harry stood up and groaned when he heard a hissing sound. He didn't need to look at the broken TV to figure out that there'd be sparks.
"Oh shit…" he muttered and turned around.
He ran out of the kitchen glad as hell that he had his shrunken trunk in his pocket and that Hedwig had yet to arrive. Harry blasted the front door away with a Reducto and ran out of the house, pass the parked car and onto the street. He felt the heat before he saw the flames ducked behind the car when the windows of Number 4, Privet Drive blew outward sending glass flying in every direction. He could hear people shouting in the distance as he walked backwards and away from the house he had lived for eleven years. He smacked his palm against his forehead when he remembered that he had forgotten to pick up Dumbledore's letter from the attic. Dammit, that was good blackmail material!
Then there was Andy…
Harry couldn't believe that he was actually gone. Andy had been with him ever since he could remember and he was irreplaceable.
He sighed turned away and started jogging to the end of the street hoping to catch a metro to London. He'd first stop by Gringrotts and then at Hermione's. He needed to tell her of this incident before she learned it from other means and come to the wrong conclusion. He realized that he should probably tell his solicitor as well. Not to mention Elizabeth. It was going to be a long night.
