The Purge

I apologize that the introduction was so short, but I am trying to get to the good stuff as fast as I can.

I've Got No Strings

Harry had been upstairs in his room when the dementors attacked. He saw his window frosting over – normally impossible as it was both summer and the middle of a heatwave – and knew at once that he'd have to make an immediate escape. He wasn't going to bother saving the Dursleys, they deserved what they got and he wouldn't risk his own skin to save their sorry arses.

It would even be amusing to see how the ministry would explain a couple of soulless muggles to the general public; if they allowed it to make it to the press (which Harry intended to make sure happened).

Making sure his trunk was locked (he intended to retrieve it later, though most of his belongings were easily replaceable), he threw the invisibility cloak over himself and his Firebolt and made his escape out the window, leaving the Dursleys to their fate. He was prepared to act if the dementors followed him, but figured they would be too focused on sucking out souls to chase him (bird in the hand, as the saying goes). He was correct as the dementors swarmed on the Dursleys, having already finished with Dudley and his gang.

He was mostly flying blind for a while, before dropping down in a park. It was one of the large old parks that some aristocrat in the past had built for personal pleasure and sport, if the large groups of deer and what looked like antelope were any clue. Most parks of that sort had been opened to the public and Harry was unconcerned with being discovered as he sat down behind a nearby tree to rest for a moment.

Now he had to think. He wasn't sure when, if ever, it would be safe to go back to the house to get his things. He was just hoped Hedwig was safe, wherever she was. She hadn't returned after his last letter to his…friends. That was another sore point as no one, not Ron or Hermione or Sirius, had answered any of his messages except for a few earlier in the summer, and even then the replies had been brief and uninformative. Harry understood the need for caution, but things were a bit out of hand.

He had to focus, though, on finding a place to hide out.


"All right, report," said Head Auror Scrimgeour.

"The two muggles in the house were given the Kiss," said Auror Johnson.

"We found a group of muggles boys in the same state, sir," added Auror Perkins.

"Any indication as to why dementors were here or why they attacked this neighborhood?" said Scrimgeour.

"I think I know, sir," said Johnson. "Found out the muggles in there were the Dursley family. They're relatives of Harry Potter."

"What?"

"While searching the house, I found a Hogwarts trunk with the name 'Harry Potter' printed on it in one of the upstairs bedrooms. This must be where Harry Potter lives."

"And where is Mr. Potter?"

"I dunno, sir."

"He wasn't one of the boys who'd been Kissed, thankfully," said Perkins. "You don't think this was an attempted hit on him, do you?"

"Considering he's been saying You-Know-Who's back, I wouldn't be surprised," said Johnson.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if he's right, but my daughter Angelina told me the kid's not the type to make things up."

"Enough!" Scrimgeour shouted. "We have a group of soulless muggles and a missing underage wizard to deal with. The boy probably got away when he saw the dementors."

"Or whoever sent them to kill him saw him and took him," added Johnson thoughtfully.

"We have no proof that this was anything other than an unfortunate accident."

"Unfortunately."

Scrimgeour scowled but didn't disagree. While he, like so many others, did not want to consider the Dark Lord's return as a possibility, he knew that if anyone could cheat death it would be Voldemort. If the attack wasn't the work of that monster, then it was probably an inside job by someone at the ministry who wanted the boy shut up for good. He also had a sneaking suspicion of just who might be behind it.


It was incredibly liberating not being around the Dursleys.

True, he was living in the Shrieking Shack, but it was still better than Privet Drive. And wasn't that telling? At least he could safely do magic and fix the place up a bit. It seemed that the shack was just within the borders of the Hogwarts wards. Within a few hours, he had the place relatively livable.

He was just settling down to think of when he was going to check on Privet Drive and get his trunk when an owl swooped in with a letter. Scanning it first, he detected a tracking charm which he immediately dispelled before reading it.

Mr. Potter,

We at the Auror Office regret to inform you that at three forty-seven this afternoon, your aunt, uncle, and cousin were found to be victims of a dementor attack. We did not find you here when we searched the premises and merely wish to ascertain that you are alive and well. Please forgive the tracking charm, but we simply wished to ensure that we find you if you are in danger.

Please respond if you are able.

From,

Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Auror Office

Harry gave a bemused huff before fishing a pen out of his pocket and writing his response on the back of the letter and sending it off with the owl. It seemed some things just sorted themselves out on their own. With that, Harry settled himself on the newly-repaired couch and returned to his planning.


Rufus Scrimgeour was surprised at the quick response. At least it confirmed that Potter was all right. The boy's letter, though, had been incredibly confusing.

To Head Auror Scrimgeour,

Do forgive me for not choosing to linger when malevolent, soul-sucking monsters appeared outside my place of residence. Your concern is appreciated, though unnecessary as I managed to escape unscathed and am currently in hiding as I fear whoever sent those creatures to kill me (as that was surely their intended purpose, considering my relatives are not exactly known in wizarding circles) will attempt to do so again.

You will also note that I have had the tracking charm removed from this letter. I felt it was in my best interest to have it done as you can never be too careful.

I would be much obliged if you would send me my trunk. It has all my belongings in it and I am not sure about leaving my current residence to retrieve it. I would not be able to stay at Privet Drive anyway, considering my relatives are no longer in a fit state to take charge of me. Oh, I suggest you inform my uncle's sister Marge of the incident (only, do take care to create a muggle-safe cover story as she does not know about magic). The house and its contents (save for my trunk) all likely belong to her now as my relatives would certainly have left whatever they had to her.

Thank you.

Yours regards,

Harry J. Potter

Rufus scratched his head in confusion. The boy didn't seem to care in the least that his family had been Kissed by dementors. He'd also been a bit impudent in his opening remarks, but the auror figured the boy was understandably a bit testy after almost being killed. The casual dismissal of his family's demise had still been a shock, as though the boy didn't seem to care at all that they were gone. Something didn't feel right about it.

Still, he might as well send Potter his belongings. It had also surprised him how little Potter actually had. There had been nothing personal in the room, just the trunk, a desk, and a bed. It was unsettling how impersonal Potter's living conditions had been, as though the boy had just been counting down the days until he could leave. He quickly called for Johnson and sent him off to grab the boy's trunk and have it shrunk and owled to him (Potter had written that he'd had the tracking charm removed, so obviously he was with an adult who could unshrink the trunk for him).

Satisfied that he'd done his duty, Scrimgeour returned to the rest of the messy details of the incident. He had to inform the sister, of course (thanks to Potter's information) and also notify the parents of the few other boys who'd been with Potter's cousin and been Kissed. There were days he wished he could just drop everything onto another department, but Amelia Bones would have his head if he tried.


"Hmm, have I gone mad?" Harry said softly, closing the book he was reading with an audible snap.

He'd reached that train of thought rather suddenly. It had finally dawned on him that he was well and fully prepared to go out and torture and kill people, the very things he had been taught to abhor because the Death Eaters did them. Well, at least his plans were vital to the protection of innocent lives as opposed to causing the threats to innocent lives in the first place. Still, the fact that he, Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Golden Boy, was going to do something so out of the perception of his character nearly caused Harry to laugh.

Perhaps it was just his new lifestyle that had gotten to him.

He had been hiding away for about a week, only sneaking down to Hogsmeade under a disillusionment charm (which he'd discovered in his fifth year charms book he'd bought earlier that summer along with his other reference materials) in order to buy some food. Such an isolated lifestyle was not conducive to a healthy mental state.

Of course, that seclusion was not exactly Harry's fault. He had no idea where his friends were and no one had written to him except for the head auror concerning the deaths of the Dursleys. Regardless, Harry knew he probably wouldn't be able to confide in his friends about his plans for the coming year, anyway. He doubted Hermione would approve of him committing cold-blooded murder, and Ron would likely be sickened by it and accuse Harry of going Dark. Actually, that last one sounded more like what Dumbledore would do.

Now that Harry thought about it, he wondered whether Dumbledore had realized he was missing yet.


"I want my godson here now, Albus!" Sirius shouted for perhaps the hundredth time.

Dumbledore winced at the obvious level of vitriol in the man's voice. Sirius had been incensed that Harry had been attacked while supposedly under the Order's protection. He would not be calmed by any of Dumbledore's "empty platitudes," as he'd called them.

"Please, Sirius," Dumbledore said tiredly. "I am doing everything possible to locate Harry, but he seems to be in an extremely well-hidden location that I have been unable to find. For all I know, he could be in another country."

"He could probably even be hiding at Hogwarts or near to it," suggested Remus.

"Do take this seriously, my boy," said Dumbledore with a patient smile. "If Harry was anywhere near Hogwarts, I would be the first to know about it."

"I will say it again, Albus," said Sirius hotly. "I want my godson here right fucking now!"

"Sirius!" exclaimed Molly Weasley. "Mind your language! There are children in this house."

"They probably heard worse than that as second-years," he said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Regardless," Dumbledore spoke up again. "As I have told you, Sirius, I am doing everything possible to find Harry. It is not easy and I ask you to have patience with me."

Sirius grumbled and folded his arms in a sulky fashion.

"Don't worry, Sirius my boy. I am sure Harry is perfectly safe. He will likely turn up soon. Besides, what sort of trouble could the boy possibly get into?"


Author's Note: And done, for now. Oh, Albus, if only you knew. The audience knows, of course, as most of them have likely already seen the early drafts in Little Bouts of Randomness. Oh, and, dear readers, please feel free to write in with suggestions for suitable punishments for those nasty Death Eaters. Don't hold back; after all, these are murderers, torturers, rapists, and puppy-kickers.

The thing about the game parks at the beginning of this chapter is true. I visited England back in June and saw two such parks just around the outskirts of London. There were swarms of deer just wandering around and some animals that looked like antelope or some similar species.