Chapter 1: The Rescue

I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter

"There you are Archimedes, got some post for us?" Daisuke Ainsworth greeted, opening the window to allow her family's owl to fly in smoothly. With a hoot, it perched itself on an armchair near the window and stuck out its leg to the now twelve-year old witch allowing her to take the letters with ease. She stroked the owl's feathers gently before feeding it one of the many treats her family had stocked up for the often greedy owl.

Archimedes hooted and snacked on the treats quickly, knowing full well Jun's own owl, Sigma would want her own treats. "Oh, shove off you dull bird." Salem huffed; the cat curled up on the cushion of the armchair with one eye open glaring at the owl.

"Now you two be nice." Daisuke scolded them both, rolling her eyes when the owl clacked its beak at her cat who in turn hissed.

The young girl sorted through the mail as she walked over to her family who were enjoying breakfast. She let out a small sigh when she saw no letters from her friend Harry Potter. She had sent almost a dozen letters over the summer to him, each one asking how he was doing and if he would like her and her family to visit, but each letter was met with no reply. An odd occurrence as Harry had been eager to meet them all during the summer holidays.

"No letters from Harry again." She sighed as she reached the table. "He should've written back by now. Ron, Hermione and the others haven't gotten a letter back either."

"I'm sure everything is fine Daisuke, maybe he's just been really busy and hasn't found time to send any replies." Her father Alexander reassured her.

Daisuke frowned. "But his family is awful. You saw them all on the platform after first year."

"Yeah, his uncle looked like a beached whale, his aunt looked like a giraffe." Veemon chirped from his spot at the table, mouth half-full of food.

"What have we said about speaking with your mouth full?" Jun questioned the Digimon who gulped, inadvertently swallowing the food.

Natsumi frowned lightly, she did remember the family and how unpleasant they seemed to be around any magical folk.

"Do you think they are preventing him from writing back?" Alexander asked his daughter.

"Maybe. They despise magic, they even lied to him about how his parents died." Daisuke answered with a shrug.

"That poor boy. How could one's family do that to one another?" Natsumi asked softly.

Daisuke sat beside her Digimon and saw that she had received a letter from Ron. She opened it and began reading the letter. She sighed in relief when she read that Ron and his brothers Fred and George were going to check on Harry and find out what has been going on.

"What is it Daisuke?" Jun asked, looking up from the Potions book she was reading in one hand while eating her cereal with the other hand.

"Ron sent me a letter. He says that he, Fred and George will go check on Harry tonight, possibly even pick him up and bring him to their home." Daisuke answered.

"That's wonderful news dear. Let's just hope the boys don't break any laws." Natsumi said which caused Jun to snort.

"You've clearly had no experience dealing with the Weasley twins." She told her aunt.

Daisuke finished sorting through the mail and handed Jun her Hogwarts letter and another letter. "Here Jun, a letter from Percy and your Hogwarts letter."

"Thanks Dai." Jun said, taking both letters, she opened Percy's first and began reading it, her cheeks turning a light pink the more she read. Daisuke handed her father the rest of the mail and kept her Hogwarts letter.

"Thank you, starlight." Her father said, kissing the top of her head before looking through the mail.

Daisuke opened her Hogwarts letter and began reading through it. She read through the standard list of equipment that her letter from last year had. Next, she began to read through the books that she would need for the year, as she did, she narrowed her eyes, seeing a lot of the books being from one author.

Noticing his partner's confusion, Veemon blinked and looked at her after swallowing another bite of his food. "What's up Dai? You look confused."

"There's a lot of books on the list written by the same author. Someone named Gilderoy Lockhart." She answered.

Alexander groaned loudly, making his daughter and her cousin who had just opened her own Hogwarts letter look at him surprised while his wife chuckled. "That imbecile. Really, his books are on the list of supplies?" he asked, taking the list from Daisuke and began reading it himself.

"Who's Gilderoy Lockhart?" Daisuke asked.

"A former student of Hogwarts." Natsumi answered.

"Somehow, he was sorted into Ravenclaw." Alexander grumbled.

"Alexander." His wife sighed, giving her husband a look.

"What? The man was an idiot. Lily and I tutored him in almost every class." Alexander said.

"Was he in your year?" Jun asked.

"No, thank Merlin. He was four years younger." Alexander answered with a relieved smile.

"Why do you think so many of his books are on the list?" Daisuke then asked him.

"The only position open is Defence Against the Dark Arts. Most of his books deal with a certain creature in each book. So, whoever's teaching might be using them." Natsumi answered, taking the list, reading it herself.

"Most likely one of his many fans." Alexander said.

"Fans?" Daisuke, Veemon and Jun asked.

"Most of the people who read his books are women. Because for some reason they find him attractive." He answered.

"Really? What about you mom? Do you read his books?" Daisuke asked and her mother hummed, tapping her chin as if thinking of a response which made her husband pout at her.

"Oh no. I find his books to be completely idiotic." Natsumi replied and her husband threw his hands in the air with a sigh of relief.

"Thank you! A woman with taste and is able to tell when someone is completely full of himself." He said, leaning over to kiss his wife on the lips several times making his daughter and niece giggle at the sight.

Natsumi pulled back from her husband and placed a finger on his lips to stop his kisses. "We'll go tomorrow to get everything." She told the girls.

Daisuke finished her breakfast and jumped off her chair. "I'm going to write to Ron and tell him we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow. So maybe he and his family can meet us there. Hopefully with Harry." She hurried off to her bedroom with Veemon following.

That same night, far from the Ainsworth home. In Little Whinging, Surrey at Number Four Privet Drive, in what was formerly Dudley Dursley's second bedroom, sat Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. His summer had not been going well at all, he had received no post from his friends, despite their promises to write to him. His relatives continued to treat him like he hadn't existed as they always did, though at first, they feared he would use magic on them which kept them from doing anything outright cruel to him.

But that had all changed a few nights ago during a dinner his relatives were hosting for someone his Uncle Vernon had been hoping to receive a big drill order from for his company. A house-elf of all creatures showed up in his bedroom, ecstatic to meet the famous Harry Potter.

The elf was called Dobby, but he was also very…strange. For one, he tried to get Harry to not go back to Hogwarts, he had even resorted to stealing all his letters from his friends so he would think they had all forgotten about him.

When Harry had refused to do as the Elf said without getting more information why he shouldn't go, Dobby had fled the room and rushed down into the kitchen and used magic to send the cake his Aunt Petunia had made flying into the guests.

He had been locked in his room since then, his uncle had even put iron bars on his window as well as a barbed wire fence around the backyard to stop him from escaping, not that it mattered. He had nowhere else to go.

He glanced up at his owl Hedwig who had been locked up in her cage the entire summer, the poor creature was miserable and slightly underfed, the only food she received being from Harry when his aunt gave him his meal for the day, soggy vegetables in dirty broth.

"I'm sorry girl. I wish I could let you out, you'd be able to leave this horrid place." He muttered before wincing, rubbing his bruised jaw, a gift from his uncle when he tried to ask for more food for Hedwig, he then gently rubbed his black eye which Dudley had given him as well.

As he laid down on his uncomfortable bed to try and get some sleep, he pulled out the photo album Hagrid had given him last year and began looking through the photos again. He held the album to his chest and closed his eyes to drift off to sleep.

However, not long after he was woken up by a faint humming sound outside. "What?" he whispered, putting his glasses back on before getting out of bed. He peered through the window and saw in the distance, a flying…car? No, that couldn't be right. He must have been dreaming.

Hedwig hooted gently, fluttering her wings gently as the car flew closer and closer. Eventually, it was close enough for Harry to see what sort of car it was, a Ford Anglia, if the markings on the car were to be believed. Inside the car, he spotted three familiar red-haired boys and the car came to a stop, hovering in front of the window.

"Alright there Harry?" It was Ron and his brothers Fred and George Weasley.

"Ron…" Harry whispered, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Wh…what're you doing here? And what's with the flying car, you guys didn't bewitch it yourself, did you?"

"This old thing?" Ron asked, leaning out the window a bit. "Nope. This was our dad's work. He works in the Ministry. Anyway, why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times. And then Dad came home and said you had gotten an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles."

"It'll take too long to explain." Harry answered. "Can you tell everyone at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back. I can't magic myself out of here, the Ministry will think I've used magic again."

"Stop gibbering. We've come to take you home with us." Ron told his friend.

"But you can't use magic either." Harry reminded him.

"Who said anything about using magic?" Fred asked with a smirk. He then tossed the end of the rope through the bars to Harry. "Tie that around the bars." He instructed.

"I'm dead if the Dursleys wake up." Harry grumbled, doing as he was told.

"Stand back." Fred told him, revving the car's engine, it revved louder and louder as the car flew away from the window and with one mighty tug, the bars came flying off the window and Ron heaved them up into the backseat by the rope.

The car floated back towards the window. "Get your things, Harry." Fred told him.

"I can't. All my stuff is locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. And I can't get out of this room."

"No problem." George said. He and Fred climbed through the open window, both then paused when they noticed the bruise and black eye their brother's friend had.

"Did they do that to you?" Fred asked calmly, though his expression showed he was furious.

"Um no…I…I fell down the stairs is all." Harry mumbled, looking down at his sneakers. The twins shared a look, they would be telling someone about this later. For now, though, they had more important things to handle.

George took a hairpin out of his pocket and began picking the lock on the door. "A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time knowing this trick. But we feel they are skills worth learning, even if it is a bit slow." Fred told Harry.

The door clicked before it swung open. "Watch out for the bottom stair. It squeaks!" Harry whispered as the twins walked through the door.

"Got it. Grab everything you need in here and pass it out to Ron." Fred told him quietly. Once the twins had disappeared into the darkness outside his room, Harry dashed about grabbing his things and passing them through to Ron. He next handed Hedwig in her cage to Ron who opened it allowing the owl to jump out and sit on the seat, she stretched her wings with a gentle hoot.

"Shush." Ron and Harry both hissed quietly to the owl. Fred and George soon made it back up the stairs with Harry's trunk and the rest of his things and with great effort they managed to push the trunk into the back seat.

"That's everything." Harry sighed in relief, glancing back at his room to double check. Hedwig hopped over the trunk and sat on his arm with a shrill chirp of happiness making him smile as he began climbing into the car.

However, Hedwig's cry of happiness had woken up his relatives. "That ruddy owl!" Uncle Vernon's voice boomed through the house making the Weasleys and Harry pale.

"Come on, quick!" Ron hissed, helping his friend through the window and into the car just as Uncle Vernon stormed into the room. "Put your foot down Fred!" he shouted to his brother as Harry slammed the door shut and Fred hit the accelerator and the car roared into the sky, it flew higher and higher away from Privet Drive leaving the walrus that was Harry's uncle staring up at the flying car gobsmacked.

Harry sighed deeply, leaning back in the backseat in relief. "Free at last…" he muttered. He rolled down the window and Hedwig hooted before she flew out of the car and began to fly alongside it.

"By the way, Harry, Happy Birthday." Ron said, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Daisuke will be happy to hear you're okay. She's been worried sick. We all have been."

"Really?" Harry asked softly.

"Of course, we have. When you weren't replying to Ron's letters, we figured something must have been wrong. Turns out we were right." Fred said, his hands on the steering wheel as he drove the car through the air.

"I didn't mean to worry everyone. Someone was keeping my letters." Harry said.

"Who?" Ron asked.

"A house-elf named Dobby."

"House-elf?" Fred and George asked, and Harry explained to them how Dobby had showed up a few days ago, given him a cryptic warning and then the whole mess during dinner that night."

"Very fishy." Fred said.

"Definitely dodgy." George agreed. "So, he didn't even tell you who is supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"

"No. Whenever he got close to letting something slip, he would bang his head against the wall." Harry answered. "Do you think he was lying to me?"

"House elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you from coming back to Hogwarts. Any ideas who it could be?" Fred asked.

"Draco Malfoy." Harry and Ron said together.

"He hates me." Harry continued.

"Lucius Malfoy's son…now that is strange." George muttered, crossing his arms, and looking at the younger boys. "We overheard our dad talking about him a few times. Lucius Malfoy was one of the people who followed You-Know-Who back in the day. When he was defeated, he came out and said he didn't mean any of it, claiming he was bewitched to do the Dark Lord's bidding."

"A load of dung. Dad reckons he bought his freedom by bribing a few officials in the Ministry to get off clean." Fred added.

"I don't know if Malfoy's family has a house-elf or not." Harry said.

"Well, whoever owns one will be an old wizarding family. And they'll be rich as well." Fred said. "Mom is always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing. But all we've got is a cranky old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden."

Harry fell silent at that; he could just imagine Draco Malfoy ordering his house-elf to stop him from coming to Hogwarts. He was probably smirking right now at the thought that Harry would be trapped in the muggle world unable to attend Hogwarts again. Was Dobby being serious about the danger or had it all been a lie.

Ron then spoke up. "I'm glad we came to get you then. It's obvious those muggles weren't treating you well." he gestured to Harry's bruises.

"It's nothing." Harry mumbled, flinching away from Ron's hand when he placed it on his shoulder. "Um…does your dad know you've got the car?" he asked, changing the subject quickly.

The Weasleys shared a look. "Um not really. He had to work tonight, hopefully we'll get the car back home before he finds out we flew it."

"And what does your dad do at the Ministry?" Harry asked.

"He works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. It's the most boring department. It's meant to deal with those who bewitch muggle objects." Ron explained. "Like for example, last year an old witch died, and her tea set got sold to an antique shop. A muggle woman bought it and it went crazy, squirted hot tea all over the place and one bloke was in hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was working overtime for weeks."

"But your dad…this car…" Harry said softly.

"Oh yeah, he's fascinated with all things muggle. He takes things apart to see how they work and then puts them back together again. He's got a shed full of the stuff at home. It drives mom mad. If he raided the house, he'd have to put himself under arrest." George replied with a laugh.

A few minutes later, they saw the sun was beginning to rise. Fred noticed the main road down below and began driving the car lower and lower. "We're just outside the village. Ottery St. Catchpole. Nice enough place." The car hit the ground with a soft thud next to a garage in a small yard.

"Home sweet home." Ron told Harry as they got out of the car, Harry took his first look at the Weasley's house and was in awe. It was several stories high and was so crooked that Harry suspected it was being supported by magic.

A crooked sign stuck in the ground nearby read The Burrow and several brown fat chickens were strutting about in the garden. "It's brilliant." Harry whispered with a bright smile.

"Right. Now come on, we've got to sneak upstairs before mum finds out we took the car and snuck out during the night." Fred whispered. The three Weasley brothers turned around and turned a shade of green with wide eyes upon seeing their mother storming out of the house towards them.

"Oh dear." George muttered.

"We're dead." Ron whimpered. Harry tried to hide his bruises from the matriarch of the Weasley family as she came to a stop in front of the four.

"Where have you been!?" She shouted at them, making the three boys cower from her anger. Her expression brightened for a moment as she looked over at Harry. "Harry, lovely to see you dear." She said with a smile before turning back to her sons. "Beds empty, no note, car gone. You could have died; you could have been seen!" she shouted at the boys before turning once again to Harry. "Obviously I don't blame you Harry, dear."

"They were starving him mum, they put bars on his window. And look at his face." Ron blurted out earning a side glare from Harry.

Mrs Weasley took another look at Harry, spotted the bruises and gasped. "Oh, my goodness. Did your relatives do that to you?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Harry grumbled, shrugging his shoulders before his stomach audibly gurgled.

"You must be starving. Come, let's get you a spot of breakfast." Mrs Weasley said gently, taking the boy by the hand and leading him into the house all the while glaring over her shoulder at her three sons who just knew they hadn't heard the end of their mother's fury.

Soon, Harry was sitting at the small kitchen table as Mrs Weasley piled sausages, fried eggs, and toast onto his plate. Fred, George, and Ron were also seated at the table and were shortly joined by Percy who walked down the stairs still in his pyjamas.

"Ah, Harry. When did you get here?" Percy asked with a smile, happy to see the young boy before frowning the moment he saw the bruises.

"Just now." Harry mumbled, ducking his head to avoid anyone else staring at the bruises.

Percy glanced at his brothers before seeing his mother move off to put some other dishes in the sink. "I told you she'd know you had all snuck out. But did you listen to me? No." he huffed in a whisper before sitting at the table.

"Mummy, mummy have you seen my jumper?" Ginny Weasley asked as she ran down the stairs and looked at her mother.

"Yes, dear it was on the cat." Molly answered with a smile, Ginny then turned to the table and her eyes went wide upon seeing Harry sitting there.

"Hello." He said softly, smiling lightly only for the girl to run back up the stairs. "What did I do?" he asked the others.

"Ginny, she's been talking about you all summer. She's starting Hogwarts this year. Probably wants your autograph." Ron whispered to his friend.

"Morning Weasleys!" a voice from the door greeted as a man with red hair walked into the house, Harry looked up to see the man wearing dusty and travel-worn green robes, a small hat on his head which he removed as he stepped into the house showing that he was going bald, and he wore a pair of glasses on his face.

"Morning dad!" the boys all said.

"Morning Arthur!" Molly greeted happily as she kissed the man on the cheek.

"What a night, nine raids. Nine!" the man said as he put down the satchel he carried in his arm before sitting at the head of the table.

"Find anything interesting, dad?" Fred asked.

"Oh, the usual sort. Shrinking keys, biting teacups. Old Mundungus Fletcher tried to hex me in the back when I wasn't looking." His father answered before he noticed Harry sitting at the table. "And you would be?"

"Harry. Harry Potter, sir." Harry said softly.

"Good Lord. Are you really?" Mr Weasley whispered in surprise before he cleared his throat. "Ron's told us all about you. When did he get here?" he asked his family.

"This morning. Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours last night to Surrey and back." Molly answered, hands on her hips and frowning at her husband.

"Did you really?" He asked, turning to his boys. "How did it go?" he asked before his wife smacked him on the shoulder. "Oh um, I mean that was very wrong of you boys. Very wrong indeed."

As he tucked into his breakfast, they all heard the squawk of an owl. "That'll be Errol with the post." Mrs Weasley said. Everyone looked out the window to see an old, exhausted owl flying towards the house only at the last second to slam into the window rather than fly through the opening.

"Bloody bird's a menace." Ron whispered. Percy walked over to the window as the owl jumped through the opening and he took the mail from the owl.

"Our Hogwarts letters, and they sent us Harry's letter as well." he said, handing the letters to everyone.

"Dumbledore must know you're here Harry." Mr Weasley said with a small smile. Everyone began to read through their Hogwarts letters when another owl swooped in through the open window perfectly and perched on the kitchen sink.

"It's Archimedes." Ron said, recognising the Ainsworth family owl. His mother walked over to the owl and took the letters from its beak before feeding it some bacon she had left over.

"Oh, you've got a letter Ron, and so do you Percy." She told the boys, handing the two the letters.

"Oh, it's from Jun." Fred cooed causing Percy to punch him in the arm before he opened his letter and read it quietly.

Ron read his own letter and smiled. "It's from Dai, she says she hoped us rescuing you went well. And she also said her family were going to Diagon Alley today and wants to meet up with us." He told Harry who smiled.

"We'll need to go to Diagon Alley anyway." Fred said softly. "But it's going to be hard mum. Lockhart's books don't come cheap."

"We'll manage." Mrs Weasley said softly. "Now let's finish breakfast and then we'll head off to Diagon Alley."

Soon, the family were all ready with their cloaks around their necks and Harry had changed into some fresh clothes out of his trunk. "Alright Harry, you are first." Mr Weasley said as his wife took a small flowerpot off the fireplace and held it out to Harry.

"But he's never travelled by Floo Powder before mum." Ron said.

"Floo Powder?" Harry asked, looking at the sparkling black powder in the pot.

"Why don't you go first Ron, show him how it is done." Mrs Weasley told her son. Ron nodded and he took a small handful of powder before he stepped into the empty fireplace.

"Diagon Alley!" he then shouted, throwing the powder down and he was engulfed by green flames and vanished.

Harry stared in shock at the now empty fireplace before Mrs Weasley called out to him. "Alright Harry, your turn. Now don't forget to speak very, very clearly." She instructed him.

With a gulp, he nodded and took some of the Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace, as he threw the powder down, some dirt and dust fell down the chimney landing on his face and he began coughing. "Di…gonalley." He coughed out and in a whoosh of green flame he was gone.

The rest of the Weasleys stared at where Harry had just been in shock. "What did he say dear?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Digonalley." Her husband answered.

"Oh dear." She said softly, worried for the young boy.

The end of the chapter

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