It was September 1991, and Albus Dumbledore was slightly concerned that Harry Potter was not in the group of first years waiting to be sorted. Ronald Weasley was obvious in his attempts to find his 'best' friend among the other first year students.
'Young Ronald has no understanding of subtly–or hygiene for that matter,' Albus knew and sighed. 'But Harry will show up and the hat will place him in Gryffindor with Ron.'
Neville Longbottom was sorted into Hufflepuff quickly and several professors frowned as they compared the boy to his father who had been an outstanding Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy went to Slytherin without any hesitation on the part of the hat. When Minerva called the name, 'Harry Potter', the boy suddenly appeared already seated on the stool.
"Where did you come from Mr. Potter?" asked the Deputy Headmistress.
"The train like everyone else… it was a marvelous journey from London," he answered with a bright smile that disarmed the witch for a moment.
"Let's get you sorted," she said, beginning to place the hat on the boy's messy black hair.
"No! Oh, hell no!" screamed the hat, the cloth bending and twisting to prevent being placed on the boy's head. Minerva jerked the hat back, but the mouth giggled. "Just joking, Professor McGonagall. Let's sort the boy-who-lived."
As she dropped the hat upon the boy's head, McGonagall noticed the dirt on Potter's hands and arms. The Hogwarts uniform was new but of the cheapest quality cloth, and his shoes were so worn, she noticed twine wrapped around them to hold each shoe together. But like so many other problems she had become aware of during her years at Hogwarts, the deputy headmistress filed the information away and promptly forgot it.
The sorting took less than one minute, and the hat promptly announced, "Hufflepuff."
If anyone noticed the strain in hat's voice, they did not mention it as McGonagall moved on to the next firstie. Dumbledore frowned slightly but his mustache and beard hid the expression. He watched as the dirty boy was made welcome at the table by the other purebloods, half bloods and muggleborn students. The longest sorting of the night was the next-to-last student, Ronald Weasley; the boy argued with the hat about being sorted into Hufflepuff 'to be with his best friend' and spoke aloud, allowing the entire hall to hear the conversation.
"I said to put me with the duffers in Hufflepuff!" Ron growled loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear him.
"But you've never even met Mr. Potter. You couldn't find him on the train, and you've never been near him before he appeared on the stool to be sorted," the hat replied aloud as Ronald continued to argue. "You should go to Gryffindor where all your brothers live. They will make you study so you can pass your classes."
"Gryffindor ain't nothing but losers if Potter ain't there. The headmaster said I'm supposed to be best friends with the boy-who-lived and have great adventures here in the castle!"
"Adventures, you say?" inquired the hat. "Then you must go to Gryffindor."
"No, put me in Hufflepuff!" the red head continued to demand aloud for everyone to hear.
The sorting hat stated aloud, "Ronald Weasley, you are a snake in the grass just waiting to strike. However, I do not believe you would survive a month if I put you in Slytherin!"
"What? No, not with the slimy snakes! Put me in Hufflepuff."
"Your choices are either Slytherin or Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley," the hat continued the conversation aloud. "Choose one!"
Sullen, the Weasley boy chose, "Gryffindor."
When he took the hat from his head, he threw it on the floor and stomped toward the end of the Gryffindor table where no one applauded for him, not even his three brothers. A muggleborn girl, something Granger, asked him, "Did you mean to have that conversation aloud where everyone could hear it?"
"Wha'ca mean?" he asked before the girl repeated back the conversation the boy had had with the hat about Hufflepuff, Slytherin and finally Gryffindor.
"Blimey," Ron said. "Think anyone heard me?"
Pomona Sprout watched her Puffs welcome the dirty boy into their midst and her eyes narrowed as she remembered Dumbledore's confident prediction of 'Gryffindor' for the boy-who-lived. After the meal was served, and the headmaster made his announcements along with the warning about the third corridor offering a horrible death for any student wandering about, she watched her Hufflepuff prefects guide the firsties out of the Great Hall and toward their dormitory. Ignoring the headmaster's blatant attempts to capture her attention, Sprout took a moment to call an elf and give it a few commands before she turned to the headmaster.
"I shall speak to the sorting hat about Potter's placement in your house," Albus stated. "He will do much better in Gryffindor."
"Why?" she asked.
Blinking with surprise to be questioned, Dumbledore explained, "His parents were both in Gryffindor…"
"And your father was a Hufflepuff and your muggleborn mother was in Ravenclaw back in the middle of the last century. When you came to Hogwarts, you went to Gryffindor and your brother was sorted into Slytherin. Houses didn't 'run' in families until you became headmaster," Pomona replied sharply.
Embarrassed to have his parentage brought up before all the staff members still in the Great Hall, Dumbledore remained determined to move Harry Potter into Gryffindor house, but from the stool near the door, the sorting hat ended Dumbledore's plans by saying, "The sorting is complete. There will be no resorting or moving of first year students to meet the headmaster's schemes. Hogwarts has decided."
The sorting hat waited until he was alone with the phoenix in Dumbledore's office to tell her about Harry Potter and the headmaster's negligence. Both entities mourned for the boy's terrible childhood and the mind he had grown into. "The boy was treated as a house elf and his magic has taught him to 'hide' and be invisible to everyone. He'll keep every secret to himself and become friends with few people. He'll never fully trust anyone, especially any adult."
"Professor, the boy doesn't have any suitable clothing," the seventh-year prefect reported to Pomona. "His shoes are falling apart."
"The Smith boy attempted to make a scene, but Potter just stared at him and the other first year boys supported Potter against Smith," added the sixth-year prefect.
"I shall speak to Mr. Potter and make arrangements," Professor Sprout assured her students. "What were they doing when you left the room?"
"Potter was headed for the showers… Longbottom and the muggleborn boy provided him with soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush."
"His family must have fallen on hard times," Sprout said as an explanation for the poor state of his clothing.
"Potter never said anything about them," the fifth-year prefect reported.
"There are two rooms for the first-year boys, correct?" she asked. The three young men nodded to confirm their head of house's statement before she continued, "Move Smith and McMillian into the other room; they'll see it as a privilege and that'll leave Potter, Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley in the first room."
Over the course of the next three days, Pomona Sprout made use of her network of former Hufflepuffs to source new shoes, appropriate clothing, and suitable uniforms for the boy-who-lived. She was furious with the shoddy condition of the trunk he had purchased and then even more angry when she learned that Hagrid had been the faculty member to introduce Harry Potter to the wizarding world. The proprietor of the trunk store received a scathing letter from Professor Sprout and feared for his future business with good cause; Hufflepuffs were notoriously loyal to each other.
"Mr. Potter, I have two short books that I want you to read over the next few days. The first-year students and I will discuss them on Saturday," Professor Sprout said as she handed Harry a book on wizarding manners and customs, and a second one on using quills and parchment.
"Thank you, ma'am. Neville, Justin and I are already discussing different parts of the books in our dorm room."
Then, Professor Sprout presented the boy with a replacement for his already battered, cheap trunk. The first night, she tasked the house elves with finding the boy-who-lived a more suitable trunk from the lost and abandoned things at Hogwarts; the replacement trunk looked smaller, but it was magically expanded inside, permanently feather-light, and equipped with a shrinking and unshrinking feature with the tap of the owner's wand. The look on Harry Potter's face when he was gifted with the replacement trunk was a sight Pomona would never forget; he never commented, but Neville and Justin eventually learned that the trunk was only the second gift the boy had ever received–the first being his owl, Hedwig.
He thanked Professor Sprout for the clothing and shoes, and when prompted by his professor, wrote thank you notes to the Hufflepuff alumni outside Hogwarts who provided him with the necessary items to be dressed properly and blend in with the other students. Hufflepuff alumni shared their experiences, and they began asking questions about the history of the boy-who-lived.
"What do you think of your classes at the end of the first week?" Professor Sprout asked Harry that weekend after she completed the first orientation class for her new Puffs. The children would practice writing with quill and parchment on Sunday afternoon.
"I enjoyed charms, herbology, transfiguration and astronomy. DADA is difficult because Professor Quirrell has a terrible stutter."
Noticing that her student had not mentioned the potions class from the day before, she inquired about his first brewing. Mr. Potter hesitated to reply, the first time the head of house had seen the boy not have a ready answer.
"I expected to love potions. It's like cooking and I enjoy cooking. That is the only daily task I had with my relatives that I enjoyed… well… gardening too."
Distracted by the boy's statements, Pomona never did find out what Harry Potter thought of his potions class.
After Halloween 1991The first two months of the term passed quietly; Harry Potter appeared to be a student of middling capabilities and interest. On a daily basis, the boy vanished from the consciousness of the adults in Hogwarts. He remained on Pomona's mind because she took an active role in the lives of all her firsties, but he never crossed Minerva's mind outside of class. Filius Flitwick, the charms professor, went out of his way to find the boy outside of class to offer stories about his mother as a student, and even gave Harry the first picture he had ever seen of Lily Evans. Harry enjoyed the class with flying on broomsticks but made certain he stayed close to Justin and Neville who both appeared nervous about flying through the air.
Severus Snape searched for the boy in the hallways to assign detention and remove points from Hufflepuff, but he never found him, Longbottom or the muggleborn boy from Hufflepuff. Snape found the Bones heiress, the Smith and McMillian boys and others, but he hesitated to attack them verbally; their powerful guardians would not hesitate to bring any such interactions to the attention of the Board of Governors despite Headmaster Dumbledore's assurances.
With each opportunity to practice, Harry applied himself to his penmanship along with Justin and Neville, often writing lines on the back of homework assignments to improve his use of the quill. But in class, he never volunteered an answer to a professor's question unless he was called upon by name. The professors did notice the boy's answers were always correct, and only Professor Sprout noticed that the first year Puffs were joined by a solid sense of camaraderie; well except for Zachary Smith who alienated the other purebloods and half-bloods while ignoring the muggleborns completely.
"Harry, how can you disappear like you do?" Justin asked that evening in their dorm room.
Nervous and unsure how to answer, Harry hesitated to explain. But Justin sat down beside his classmate and continued, "I'm asking because I'd like to learn how to do it too. Professor Snape is a beast, and you hide from him all the time."
"You don't think I'm a freak?" asked Harry.
Justin grinned and replied, "I think its brilliant! Isn't that what you said the other day about flying?"
"Yeah, magic is brilliant!" agreed Harry.
"I'd like to be able to vanish too," Neville said. "I'd hide from my grandmother all the time."
Taking a deep breath, Harry explained, "When I was five years old, I thought my uncle was going to kill me, so I wished I was invisible. And suddenly, I was. He couldn't see me or even think about me again. I went to school, hid in the house, and ate when I wanted to."
"What do you mean? Did your family not feed you?" Justin asked.
"They're not my family. They are relatives but I've never had 'family'."
"I don't like my relatives either," Neville said. "My grandmother…"
At that point, the three boys stopped talking about uncomfortable things and took turns preparing for bed. They were taking the first steps toward friendship.
The morning after the Halloween celebrations, the Hufflepuff students overheard an argument at the Gryffindor table where Ronald Weasley defended himself against the two pureblood witches in their year while the two muggleborn boys in Gryffindor sat back and listened.
"It ain't my fault that Granger got beat by the troll! She shouldn't have been in the bathroom!" Ron shouted.
"She wouldn't have been there if you weren't such a moron! She tried to help you in Charms," the girl–Lavender Brown was her name–shouted back at Ron.
"She's just a mudblood; she ain't important," Weasley replied. "Only purebloods are important."
Zachery Smith echoed the sentiment, and the other Puffs pressed the older students for more information; with great reluctance, the older students explained that the Gryffindor girl, Hermione Granger, died the previous evening. The troll that Professor Quirrell yelled about, cornered the first-year witch in the girl's lavatory on the second floor and smashed in her head with a giant club. The story was that Deputy Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Snape arrived a minute too late to save the muggleborn girl. Harry Potter, who counted himself as muggleborn, watched with the other muggleborn students as the entire matter of the Granger's death was hidden away and made as if it never happened. As a pureblood, the youngest Weasley boy was absolved of all responsibility by Professor Dumbledore; Weasley never served a single hour of detention for his role in the death of the 'mudblood'.
During November, Harry spent extra hours with Neville in the greenhouses at Hogwarts. Several noxious plants were maturing but Neville appeared to have a magical touch that helped the two boys complete the harvest of the leaves or seedpods safely while under the watchful eye of Professor Sprout. Also in November, during a quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Harry Potter had his first true potions class with Madam Pomphrey in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. The first year Puffs and Claws asked for help with brewing after two months with Snape as their horrible professor of potions, and their heads of house arranged with the mediwitch to provide simple ingredient preparation and brewing classes in return for the students help with restocking potion vials and processing potion ingredients from the greenhouses before they were sent to Professor Snape's stores.
Poppy Pomphrey always conducted supplemental classes for students who were interested in a career in healing. This year there no students with any interest among the sixth- and seventh-year students–which didn't surprise her with the terrible grades for all students in potions on the Owls and Newts from the last few years. When Snape complained to the headmaster, Dumbledore made inquiries about the classes for the first-year students. After listening to the headmaster's concerns, Pomphrey explained, "It is a way for me to begin training them for careers as healers. They may change their minds of course but this will help with their career choices."
She paused and then asked, "Don't you want to have enough healers to help when you need one headmaster?"
Sighing deeply as though offended at the reminder of his mortality, Dumbledore consented to the classes but added, "Very well, but don't tread onto Professor Snape's syllabus."
Professor McGonagall ignored the extra tuition, but Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick made certain to quiz all the students about potion ingredients preparation, storage, and brewing instructions. Neville Longbottom excelled with preparation of ingredients and Harry Potter proved to be an excellent brewer, just like his mother.
As the Christmas holidays approached, Dumbledore was disturbed when the magical paintings informed him that Neville Longbottom invited Harry Potter to visit with him for the vacation, and once that ill-planned excursion was squashed, he intervened again to prevent the boy's vacation with muggleborn Justin 'Finchley'. Potter appeared to not be affected by headmaster's interventions, but Professor Sprout was incandescent with rage.
When pressed by Minerva McGonagall about her anger, Professor Sprout argued against the headmaster's intervention in a student's life outside of school and avoided the real reason–she had arranged for healers to visit the boy while on vacation and address bone, muscle and organ issues Poppy Pomphrey had discovered plaguing the boy-who-lived. In hurried letters of apology to Lady Longbottom and the Finch-Fletchleys, Pomona Sprout postponed the treatments until spring or summer.
Quirrell at Christmas 1991When he learned that Harry Potter, a budding herbology student, was staying in the castle over the holidays, Professor Quirrell instructed the boy to remain after the last DADA class of the term. The other students poured out of the classroom and they would leave on the Hogwarts Express in the morning. With the door shut and privacy charms placed about the room, the professor spoke clearly without a stutter for the first time and attempted to pin the boy in place with a glare. Harry Potter returned a steady gaze from his spot in front of the professor's desk.
"I hear from Professor Sprout that you are adequate with caring for the plants in the greenhouses. Everyone is leaving tomorrow morning and once they are gone, you will go to the greenhouse and provide me with a dozen Foxglove leaves before ten o'clock. Each leaf will be green and fresh. And you will tell no one about my requirements!"
"Yes, professor," Harry replied, not betraying any evidence of fear or offense at the professor's tone of voice.
But then Quirrell threatened the boy saying, "If you don't, I will curse you so badly you will be in your fourth-year before the mediwitch can ease your pain."
Still calm outwardly, Harry Potter nodded once and left without another word. After making his way back to the dorm, he went to supper with his two friends and the next morning after breakfast, he helped Neville and Justin carry their trunks to the train platform. He stood and waved farewell to his friends as they journeyed to their families for the holiday. Then, he quietly made his way to the greenhouses and studied the foxglove plants for fifteen minutes before he turned his attention to the various flats of leaves and seed pods drying for potion ingredients. Finally, he went to the supply cabinet, selected a bottle and a small brush. He donned a pair of gloves and harvested more than a dozen leaves.
Then, Harry took four dried seed pods of the Foxglove that were laid out on the drying racks weeks before and crushed the pods to powder using a mortar and pestle. To the powder he had made, he added a few drops of liquid from the bottle and continued his work with the mortar and pestle. When he had a paste, he took the brush and applied the paste to the back of the foxglove leaves where it dried almost instantly. Looking closely, he could tell no difference between the leaves on the plants and the leaves he had 'painted'. After the leaves were 'painted' and dry, Harry selected the dozen best ones and disposed of the others with a banishment spell Sprout had taught her greenhouse workers to use when removing old limbs and leaves that might carry diseases.
At five minutes before ten o'clock, Harry knocked on the door of the DADA professor's quarters. When Quirrell opened the door, he found Harry Potter with a harvest basket in his hands; within the basket were twelve fresh Foxglove leaves. Taking them without a word of thanks, the professor turned to his table where he had laid out the ingredients for a powerful strengthening potion–Quirinus Quirrell had to strengthen his core, his heart, and his stamina to continue serving the dark lord. With the missing ingredient needed to strengthen his heart, he set to brewing. Before supper, he would imbibe the potion and banish the weakness.
In the afternoon, Pomona noticed that the Foxglove plants were missing some leaves and sighed. This was a common occurrence at the beginning of the holidays and the end of the year when upper year students were forced to deal with family problems. None of her girls were pregnant that she knew. None of her students came from physically abusive environments except for Harry Potter, though she wondered about Neville's home life from time to time. She did not remember anyone tending to the Foxglove plants lately and she had made certain the firsties knew the flowers, seedpods, and leaves were poisonous if used improperly.
That first evening, Professor Quirrell never appeared at dinner. As it was the beginning of the holidays, no one gave his absence any attention. For the next two days, no one worried about Professor Quirrell, but during lunch on the third day, a crying house elf appeared in front of the head table blubbering about a smelly mess in Professor Quirrell's quarters.
"The professor be lying on floor and dead… He smells like rotting pig," the elf cried in front of the students and the professors. "There be a potions mess around him."
Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape headed toward the DADA professor's quarters without another word while Professor Flitwick spoke quietly to the dozen students at the table and Professor Sprout quickly made her way to the floo and summoned the Aurors from the DMLE. Four Aurors came through the flames and quickly made their way to the office where Dumbledore fussed about their presence.
"Headmaster, you interfered with a crime scene!" declared Auror Proudfoot. "When Director Bones arrives, she'll arrest you herself."
"There's nothing to see here," Dumbledore attempted to say. "Young Quirinus expired unexpectedly…"
"He was possessed! The back of his head is the face of the dark lord!" argued the Auror.
Ron at Christmas 1991The next morning, Daily Prophet arrived with the headline, DADA Curse Strikes Early at Hogwarts! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Possessed Professor Quirrell!
There were many whispered conversations among the students who remained at Hogwarts for the holiday about a new professor in the DADA classes. Unnoticed by everyone, Harry Potter spent his time in the library with the other studious students. Because he was unable to 'find' Harry Potter, Dumbledore decided to move the students into a single dormitory to make it easier to gain some control over the boy-who-lived. At dinner that evening, Dumbledore announced that the students who remained at Hogwarts would be moving into Gryffindor tower for the rest of the holiday 'for their protection'.
There were protests from the Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs but the headmaster ignored every complaint. One student who was pleased at the announcement was Ronald Weasley. After four months of the school year, Ron would get to spend time with his 'best friend', uninterrupted by other students or stupid professors in the Gryffindor dormitory room for first year boys.
"This is great! You should get re-sorted into Gryffindor!" Ron told Harry on Christmas morning while they opened the presents on the foot of their beds. Harry said nothing before opening the home-knitted jumper and smiling. There were also gifts from Neville, Justin, Susan, and Hannah. There was a letter from Sally–she wrote to tell Harry goodbye because her family was moving away from England.
"Hufflepuff is perfect for me," Harry assured Ron who frowned and continued to argue for the whole of the morning that Harry 'belonged in Gryffindor'. After luncheon, they returned to the dormitory–Harry needed a couple books before he headed toward the library, but Ron cut him off, saying, "It's Christmas Day! You can't study today! Let's go on an adventure around the castle! There's the third-floor corridor we were warned about! Let's go there!"
"Professor Sprout told us to not go there," Harry replied as he packed away his Weasley sweater and pulled out his book bag.
"Ah… we can't pay attention to that old witch," Ron insisted. "Dumbledore wants us to be brave Gryffindors and explore!"
There was a final gift that Harry investigated carefully while Ron was in the water closet. Apparently, Weasley took an extraordinarily long time in the loo and Harry made the most of those ten minutes to understand the capabilities of a marvelous cloak of invisibility. When he heard the door opening again, Harry held the cloak behind his back with one hand while his other hand grasped his book bag.
Upon his exit from the water closet, Ron again insisted they investigate the forbidden corridor as an adventure this afternoon. Harry frowned and shook his head, saying, "Ronald, I am going to the library. There's a book about artificial light affecting plants I need for an essay with…"
"Your extra potions classes…" Ron complained. "Yeah, I heard about you getting more potions classes. Why do you want more classes? You should play chess or play pranks on people."
Ron turned to find his wand and when he turned back around, Harry Potter had vanished without making a sound.
"Where did you go?" the red-headed wizard demanded. When there wasn't any reply, Ron grew angry and decided to rifle through Harry's trunk and look for galleons. However, as soon as he touched the lock plate, a shock threw Ron back several feet. Now angry, Ron drew his wand and attempted to blast the trunk, but the boy had not mastered any offensive spells; after three minutes, he managed to drain his magical core and wear himself out. Exhausted, he lay on the rug on the floor and fell asleep. He never noticed the door of the dormitory opening and closing, seemingly by itself.
When he woke, Ron still felt sluggish and stomped about the halls of the castle, searching for Harry Potter, until the time for supper arrived. Before the meal appeared on the tables, the students who spent the afternoon in the library entered and Harry was among them.
Jumping up from his bench, Ron rushed at the boy, fists swinging and shouting, "You're supposed to stay with me! We're supposed to have an adventure! I'll show you what happens when you don't listen to me, you stupid mudblood!"
Before Weasley reached Potter, the red head was petrified and crashed to the floor. His brother, a fifth-year prefect, levitated Ron's stiff body from the floor and directed it out the door of the great hall. The door closed and thereafter followed shouting much like one of their mother's howlers that arrived at least once a month. Eventually, Ron and Percy returned to the great hall and the brothers sat with the Weasley twins and Ron said nothing to Harry Potter. After missing ten minutes of supper, Ron was determined to make up for it. There were angry whispers at the head table that left Dumbledore with a deep frown on his face that everyone in the great hall noticed but no one made comments that might dampened atmosphere of Christmas dinner.
When Harry rose to leave the table, Professor Sprout called him to the head table and told her Puff to return to the Hufflepuff dormitory.
"The elves have already moved your belongings back where they belong."
A new professor for DADA was announced the first day of the new term – an Auror on convalescence leave with too many hours on his hands.
As he had been taught by Professor Sprout, one of the first things that Harry did after the first of the year was to write a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, thanking them for the gift of the sweater. He expressed his appreciation for Ron's interest in being his friend but also shared his reservations because of Ron's refusal to complete any homework assignments. 'The only thing that Ron wants is to copy my essays and other homework.'
At the suggestion of the sixth-year prefect in the puff dorms, Harry sent the letter to Mr. Weasley at the ministry instead of the family's home. Two days later, Ron attempted to attack Harry once again during breakfast in the great hall after he received a letter from his father. This time Professor McGonagall agreed with Professor Sprout's demands and the boy was sent home for a week.
When Ron returned to Hogwarts after his week of exile, he had piles of homework to complete, and Percy was the only person who made time to work with him. Professor McGonagall was too busy with her other duties to guide her wayward first year Gryffindor. Despite his best efforts, Ron could not find Harry Potter again in the Great Hall, the classrooms, or the library.
One night when he could slip away, with the two other Gryffindor first-year boys as company, Ron led them to the third-floor corridor and Dean Thomas cast the spell that unlocked the forbidden door. The three boys found an empty chamber that smelled like a dog yard. They fled and did not close the door so in the morning, rumors filled the school that whatever had been locked behind the door was loose in the school!
Dumbledore sighed with disappointment many times that spring. The Dark Lord failed to make another appearance at the school or an attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry Potter was meek and completely without an adventurous bone in his body. The fake stone remained hidden inside the Mirror of Erised, and the Department of Mysteries had finally noticed that the artifact was missing. There'd been a stink in Wizengamot when Unspeakables appeared in the chamber and informed the membership of the 'theft' by Dumbledore and the placement of the mirror at Hogwarts.
"None of the students viewed the mirror. I was attempting research!" Dumbledore argued.
Summer 1992Pomona Sprout was pleased with the results of her classes and the performance of her students as the 1991-1992 school year ended. Several of her seventh-year students were selected for journeymen positions with masters of charms and transfiguration. Two were candidates with the Aurors and most of the muggleborn were headed for 'university' in their world. Her correspondence with Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley proved fruitful and they volunteered to house Harry for the summer. After a long argument with Professor Dumbledore, Professor Sprout managed to force a concession that after three weeks with his 'relatives' to recharge some powerful wards, the boy-who-lived could be the boy-who-escaped. Not bothering to tell Dumbledore where Harry would spend the balance of his summer, she left his office and ignoring Dumbledore's admonitions, she visited with the Dursleys during the hours the Hogwarts Express journeyed south toward London.
"We never pay attention to the boy!" Petunia declared. "For the last six years, we never could find him, or cared about what he was doing."
"I thought he was gone," Vernon declared. "He vanished when he was five–I think."
Not believing them, Pomona cast spells that told her that her student lived underneath the staircase. Using her wand, she prepared one of the spare bedrooms above stairs and instructed the unhappy couple that this would be Harry's new bedroom. At the point of Sprout's glowing wand, the two muggles reached an agreement with the witch to feed the boy properly and not over work him. Then she told them, "I made arrangements for Harry to stay with friends the moment the wards are fully charged–no later than the third week of July. You only have to co-exist for twenty days."
Finally, she warned them, "If he has a single bruise or broken bone, I shall leave you in pieces all over the back yard!"
In mid-July, a limousine arrived in front of No.4 Privet Drive in Little Whining and was the talk of the street for the rest of the summer. Under the watchful eye of every available adult and child on the street, a chauffeur hopped out of the car and opened the door for a well-dressed banker from the City and his equally well-dressed son. They approached No.4 and were invited into the house. Within ten minutes the banker's son and the 'juvenile delinquent' nephew left the house and quickly climbed inside the limousine. Approximately five minutes later, the banker exited the house and as he strolled back to his expensive vehicle, the man spoke to the neighbors gathered along the sidewalk.
"Such terrible people… The Dursleys are simply terrible… My son's friend is their nephew. Young Potter was missing for ten years! My bank's been looking for the missing heir all that time, and when he appeared at Justin's school, I knew I had to act."
The neighbors expressed surprised and asked questions that the banker answered saying, "Well yes, the boy is wealthy, but he has been treated terribly by the Dursleys… I can't imagine living on the same street with these freaks."
Mr. Finch-Fletchley departed with his son and the boy-who-lived. There was one further meeting between the Dursleys, Mr. Finch-Fletchley and his lawyer, Howard Twist (muggleborn Hufflepuff Alumni, Hogwarts Class of 1970), where Vernon and Petunia freely signed away their rights as guardians of the 'freak' as they referred to their nephew. Before the middle of August, the Dursleys moved when his company offered him a position overseas. None of the neighbors knew where the family moved and none of them cared. When Dumbledore discovered the wards had fallen, there was nothing he could do; the Dursleys were gone in the millions of muggles in another country.
For the remainder of summer, Jason, Harry and Neville had classes on wizarding etiquette, traditions, and the government structure of Magical Britain. In their conversations in the evenings, Jason and Harry agreed that the Wizengamot appeared to be corrupt and useless for anyone who was not a pureblood noble with ready cash available to spend as bribes.
"That's how parliament used to be," Justin's dad explained. "Money is still very important, but our government is not corrupt."
"Neville is going to be a lord in the Wizengamot if his gran ever gets out of the way," Justin reminded Harry. "And you will be once you're seventeen."
Characteristically, Harry said nothing to confirm or deny Justin's statement. He simply suggested they go for a run outdoors. The freedom, safety and nourishment offered by Justin's family opened Harry's eyes to possibilities. Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley did not notice their visitor very often though Justin's mother made certain the boy had an appropriate wardrobe for summer and the coming school year. When she concentrated on the small boy, Helene Finch-Fletchley found a child who never remembered a loving hug, praise or smiles before last fall. She made it her purpose to make certain Harry knew he was welcome in their home. Before the end of August, Harry was not 'hiding' from the Finch-Fletchleys.
With prompting from Professor Sprout, Harry was treated by private healers for his scars, his broken bones from early childhood, and the lingering problems of malnutrition. After the second trip to Surry, where Mr. Finch-Fletchley and his attorney 'convinced' the Dursleys to surrender their rights as guardians over Harry Potter to the Finch-Finchley couple, things changed for Harry. The attorney was a Hufflepuff muggleborn wizard on retainer with Gringotts made everything official in the mundane and magical world when the forms were filled and ignored by the Ministry of Magic.
Once the Finch-Fletchley's were officially Harry's guardians, the healers were able to share more information, including their discovery of a piece of the Dark Lord's soul in the scar on the boy's forehead. It took a trip to Gringotts to get the possession dealt with by goblin healers and exorcists. (The small piece of the Dark Lord's soul was trapped inside a blob of amber and it railed against goblins for days on end while they laughed at the different shades of orange in the blob.) While Mr. Finch-Fletchley waited for his ward to be cleansed of the dark magic, he spoke to several goblins and the conversation included investment opportunities in the muggle world. Gringotts shared the bank's annual report with the muggle and arranged for more discussions with him–especially after they learned he was from a squib and his opinion of wizards seemed to decline after every interaction with the self-important braggarts.
Late in the summer, Hedwig began fussing and flying about the room from time to time. Harry consulted his textbook on postal owls and shared with Justin that his owl was acting as if there was an intruder in the room and she was warning her boy. Eventually, Harry set a trap by leaving a letter addressed to Neville lying on the desk. He turned his back and heard Hedwig swoop down to catch the thief.
When he turned back, he found that Hedwig had grabbed a house elf; the little creature sobbed, and Harry quickly determined that his owl's claws had not cut the elf.
"Harry Potter must kill Dobby! Yes, he must cut off Dobby's head," sobbed the elf.
"Why do you think I'd want to kill you?"
"Dobby can'ts find Harry Potter for many weeks. Then Dobby tries to steal Harry Potter's mail! But Dobby must stop Harry Potter from going back to Hoggiewarts!"
Harry shrugged and said, "Hogwarts isn't so great, but tell me why I shouldn't go back."
"There is to be terrible evil at Hogwattle this year! Terrible evil!"
"Is your danger worse than a troll killing a muggleborn girl and a professor possessed by a dead Dark Lord, last year?"
The elf was struck dumb for a moment and then asked, "Dark Lord and dead girl at Hoggiewarts last year?"
Harry nodded and said aloud, "Hogwarts is dangerous for muggleborns every day. What's going to be different this year?"
"My master sending evil book to Hogwattle… He… Dobby must not tell Harry Potter!" the elf said as he pounded his head against the chair leg.
"So, you can't tell me… Could you tell Justin?"
"No… Dobby must not tell another wizard or witch…"
"What about my owl? Can you tell Hedwig?"
The owl peered at the elf, her eyes growing huge as she clacked her beak loudly.
"Hedwig owl nots tell Harry Potter?"
"Hedwig is great about keeping secrets," Harry replied as he stepped over to the other side of the room. With a casual flick of his hand, the boy said, "Just tell Hedwig."
"Thank yous, Harry Potter!" Dobby said, before he turned to Hedwig and explained in minute detail and house elf jibber-jabber that his evil master, Lucius Malfoy, slipped a terrible black book into the cauldron of some red-haired girl going to Hogwarts in September. The elf cried as he explained, "The book unleashes Slytherin's monster and kills all mudbloods in the Hogwattle! My master be evil, evil, evil."
Hedwig played her role perfectly, and when the elf was finished with his tale, she hooted at her boy to return from the far side of the room where he had heard to every word the elf said about a cursed book from Lucius Malfoy.
"All done, Dobby?"
"Yes, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Hedwig Owl knows why you can't go back to Hoggiewarts castle now…"
"But she can't tell me what you told her," Harry reminded the elf. "Let me think about this and we can talk about it later."
He peered at the elf and then asked, "How can I call you to talk to me?"
"Dobby listens for Harry Potter…"
"But I thought you could only hear your master's calls?"
Dobby nodded his head.
"So how can you hear me if you belong to the Malfoys?"
"Dobby not know," the elf cried, but Hedwig hooted three times very quickly and the elf shrank down, wrapping his arms around his legs and crying.
"Dobby, what's wrong?"
"Dobby breaking magic with evil master Lucius Malfoy," the elf replied. "Dobby will grow weak and die."
Again, Hedwig hooted, and Dobby explained, "Harry Potter make Dobby his elf. Evil master never knows what happened."
And so the boy-who-lived-to-be-a-house-elf began bonding with Dobby and taking him away from the Malfoys using his own brand of house elf magic.
The next chapter will be Harry's second year at Hogwarts.
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