The Letters From No One
"How can letters be from no one?" Neville asked in confusion.
"Well, it should be his birthday soon, maybe it means his Hogwarts letter?" Tonks suggested, equally baffled.
"It probably means the letters weren't delivered by anyone. Muggle post is delivered by other muggles, rather than by owls," Hermione explained.
The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment.
"How long was that?" Sirius wanted to know.
"Three or four weeks." Harry shrugged. Everyone scowled.
By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started
"How did they explain that to the school?" Hermione frowned.
"They said I came down with the flu, and by the time I was 'well' again it was so close to summer there was no point in me going back," Harry told her.
Amelia scribbled another note on her parchment.
"Were you able to catch up on what you missed?" McGonagall asked.
"Only when they made me do Dudley's homework, so I saw what he was doing." Harry shrugged.
and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane…Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.
Most people were shaking their heads at the horrible boy. They also felt bad for Mrs Figg who would not be able to go to St Mungo's to get injuries healed quickly.
The Weasleys were horrified at how Dudley treated his presents. In only a few weeks he had broken two things and used another to run someone over. They valued gifts very highly as they didn't have much.
Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang…but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.
"What kind of logic is that?" Sirius exclaimed.
"It isn't logic," Remus pointed out flatly.
"Now I know why you were the leader of our little group, Char," Tonks teased her friend in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Well, you would have been the leader if you didn't spend half the time on the floor after tripping over air," he shot back with a smirk.
The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry Hunting.
"Dudley didn't invent that –" Fred stated.
"- You-Know-Who did it first," George finished.
"Boys!" Their mother hissed.
"Sorry," They both said, not looking very sorry at all. Harry grinned at them, and they winked back, pleased they had made the younger boy smile.
This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope.
Everybody frowned worriedly. The revelation that the wards only extended to the end of the road, made them all concerned about Harry wandering around especially at eleven, even though they knew nothing happened to him as he was alive now.
When September came he would be going off to secondary school and…Dudley thought this was very funny.
"Why?" Charlie wondered.
"Muggles have their own prejudices," Hermione told him. "Private schools are considered better than public ones by many people."
"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall,"…anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.
Everyone chuckled.
"I don't think you need to worry about him working out what you said," Bill muttered.
"Better safe than sorry," Harry replied. "He might have decided to simply hit me anyway due to his confusion."
"You need to bring out this wit more often, Harry," Fred grinned at him.
"Yeah. Who knew you could be so funny?" George agreed.
One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform…bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.
"That's disgusting. What a waste of chocolate," Remus sniffed.
"Remus is a bit of a chocoholic," Sirius told Harry in a mock whisper.
"Explains why he had chocolate handy on the train," Harry said with a smile.
"I knew Dementors would be surrounding the school, that's partly why I took the train," Remus defended himself.
"And even if there hadn't been any, you would have had chocolate on you," Sirius stated with a smirk, trying to ignore the way his chest tightened in fear at just the mention of the horrid creatures.
That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.
"I'm never complaining about the Hogwarts uniforms ever again," Tonks muttered as everyone else laughed at the hideous sounding uniform.
"Whoever designed that must have been colourblind," Charlie agreed.
They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.
They actually encourage students to attack their peers?" Hermione asked in astonishment.
"How is that good training for later life?" Andromeda wanted to know.
"We have wands that students curse each other with," Bill pointed out. "Those can do more damage."
"Yes, but we need our wands for our schoolwork too. It sounds like those sticks are solely for the purpose of attacking each other." Percy reminded him. Bill had to concede that was a good point.
The adults glanced anxiously over at Harry. If his uncle and his cousin had gone to a school that taught them that hitting people with sticks was acceptable, what did that mean for Harry? They kept him in a cupboard, was there more to the abuse?
As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon…she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up.
Most people laughed at yet another ridiculous nickname.
The twins exchanged horrified looks. They were never calling Ron 'ickle Ronniekins' ever again.
"They get better," Harry told the room with a smirk.
Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.
"It was very difficult," Harry assured the group.
"How did you manage to stop yourself?" Neville wondered, amazed by Harry's self-control.
"Practice."
There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning
"Was it your uncle?" Tonks asked with a grin.
"No more so than usual," Harry stated.
when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink…"Your new school uniform," she said.
"What?" Arthur frowned. "That doesn't sound like any kind of uniform."
"Still sounds better than what Dudley has to wear," Ron snickered, trying to cheer Harry up. It worked a little as Harry snorted in both amusement and agreement.
Harry looked in the bowl again.
"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."
Many people around the room snorted in amusement.
"That's something Lily would have said," Remus chuckled.
"We really need to hear more of your humour," Fred encouraged Harry.
"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."
"I highly doubt that," Andromeda scoffed unhappily.
"At least he's going to Hogwarts, so he won't need whatever she's making anyway," Kingsley stated.
"Can't even buy him a uniform," Narcissa sniffed haughtily. Hearing about these muggles just reinforced everything purebloods had thought about them.
Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue…"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.
"He's making Dudley –" Fred began.
"- do something?" George finished.
"Just wait for it," Harry told them.
"Make Harry get it."…"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."
"He even encouraged your cousin to hit you!?" Arthur looked horrified. Harry shrugged, wishing they could just get to him being at Hogwarts.
Everyone grew more and more concerned.
Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail…No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would?
"Most of the wizarding world," Kingsley stated.
"Ginny," said all the male Weasley children. Their sister turned bright red and glared at her brothers. She pulled out her wand threateningly, but her mother shot her a warning look.
"I did set up a redirect mail ward so his aunt and uncle would not be bombarded by owls. There is a room in Hogwarts where Harry's fan mail should be sitting," Dumbledore told them. Harry frowned. Why was the headmaster only mentioning this now?
"Can I see it?"
"It is yours. Perhaps this wonderful room will be able to deliver you some when we stop for a break," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded. He didn't want to read every bit of fan mail he'd ever been sent, but he'd like to at least see some of it.
He had no friends, no other relatives - he didn't belong to the library…Cupboard under the Stairs
"What? Did nobody notice?" Neville wondered.
"The letters are self-writing," McGonagall explained grimly. That might have to change. How many other abused children could be spotted and helped if they just looked at the letters?
"It is an interesting situation though, because normally someone would go to explain to muggleborns about Hogwarts. But Harry is not muggleborn and living with muggles who know about magic, even if they clearly have not explained it to him," Tonks frowned. "But can you imagine these people taking Harry to Diagon Alley to buy magical things?"
"No. I can't imagine that." Kingsley shook his head.
"But, if a teacher went to explain things to him, they would have seen how Harry's family treat him," Charlie stated. Surely no teacher would have allowed Harry to continue living there if they had seen how the Dursley's treated him? He really hoped not, and all the teachers in here seemed surprised by Harry's home life.
"Do you still have your letter?" Sirius asked, trying to focus on something else. "It's a special event, getting your Hogwarts letter, once I get a place, we could frame it and put it up somewhere."
"Er," Harry paused, unsure what to say. His godfather frowned. "No, I didn't get to keep that one. The book will explain."
4 Privet Drive… There was no stamp.
"What is a stamp?" Neville queried.
"It's something muggles put on their post," Remus told him, before Hermione could say anything. He knew from teaching her over the past year that her explanation would go on much longer than necessary.
Neville was still confused but decided he didn't need to know any more details right then.
Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.
Everyone, except Draco, Narcissa and Snape, let out a cheer in turn as their house symbol was read out.
"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.
"That's a joke?" Sirius grimaced.
"Not a good one," Hermione stated. "Letter bombs are incredibly dangerous."
Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter
"Why didn't you open it in the hallway!" Tonks groaned.
"I'd never had post before. And I was used to them ignoring me," Harry explained with a shrug. Everyone scowled.
He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down…"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"
"Oh, shut up!" Charlie groaned, thoroughly sick of the little brat.
"You stole my Hogwarts letter when it first came," Bill reminded him with a grin.
"I gave it back eventually," Charlie smirked.
Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the…And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.
"Well, I'm not eating porridge for a while," Tonks muttered.
"Is that even possible?" Percy wondered.
"It certainly can't be healthy," Andromeda said.
"They had better give that back," Sirius growled. A Hogwarts letter was very important. He still had his. Then he remembered Harry's words and his scowl deepened.
"I doubt that," Remus stated. He recalled what someone said about Hagrid explaining things to Harry. At first, he'd thought that meant at Hogwarts, but his suspicion was growing that wasn't the case.
"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped…"Vernon! Oh my goodness - Vernon!"
"They are dramatic, aren't they?" Bill rolled his eyes.
They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry…He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.
All of the children, except Harry, winced at that. They all knew their parents would kill them if they did something even remotely similar.
The parents in the room all huffed at such awful behaviour from the child.
"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.
"I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."
"Here comes Harry's temper," Ron muttered.
"Whose temper do you have?" Sirius asked. From his experience in the shack, it seemed like Harry had his mother's temper, but he wondered if that was a one off.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Well, Lily had a typical redhead temper. She got angry very easily, and it wasn't pretty, but she'd also cool off quite quickly. James was really easy going, and it took a lot to wind him up, but once he got angry enough it was explosive, and he took ages for forgive you," Remus explained.
"Both!" Ron and Hermione said together. Remus and Sirius both winced at that. Lily and James were bad enough on their own, let alone a mix of their tempers.
"It depends on the day -" Fred began.
"- but they both sound about right," George continued.
"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope…Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall,
Everyone scowled at how easily Vernon threw the two children around.
slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly…lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.
"Good lad," Mad-Eye praised.
"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address…"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.
"We have far better things to do," Sprout huffed.
"Given how they were treating Harry, we probably should have been," Kingsley stated grimly. Several people nodded in agreement.
"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want-"
"What would have happened if they did that?" Ted asked curiously.
"Well, we would send a representative to ask the family why they don't want the child to attend and to give them alternative options. If muggleborns don't wish to attend, then they will bind the child's magic and modify their memories so they can go on as regular muggles," McGonagall explained.
Many of the younger people in the room looked a little disturbed by that revelation. They couldn't imagine being told about magic and then choosing to forget.
"In which case, I really wish they had written to say they didn't want him to attend," Emmeline said unhappily.
Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen…Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."
"That's not going to work," Tonks said in a sing-song voice.
"Especially not when it's Harry Potter," Charlie agreed.
"There is no way Harry Potter wouldn't attend Hogwarts," McGonagall agreed. Harry grimaced at the idea of more special treatment.
"But-"…in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"
"What?" All the adults yelled in horror. Snape's eyebrows flew to his hair at this. He glared at Dumbledore. The old man was supposed to look after Lily's son. To keep him safe.
Dumbledore was horrified. How could he have allowed Harry to live with these people? They were family, how could they treat a young boy like this? Their nephew. They were lucky Harry had turned out such a polite, good young man.
"What?" Harry frowned, not understanding the upset.
"Harry, you don't fear your magic, do you?" Remus asked him seriously.
"No. Why would I fear it?"
"When people are taught to hate and fear their magic, like the Dursleys punishing you for your magic, then they try to repress their magic and a child's magic can be turned inwards. It's incredibly dangerous and can have all sorts of side effects, most of which are fatal," Bill explained as simply as he could for the younger teenagers. They all looked as horrified as the adults after that.
"Honestly, they sound like the muggle version of the Death Eaters," Tonks muttered. Those who heard her nodded in agreement.
That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.
"He fit?" Fred asked in astonishment.
"Only his head," Harry grinned. "And even then, only just."
"Still a miracle," George smirked. Their mother shot both twins warning looks.
"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon…It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."
Everyone looked horrified at the idea of a Hogwarts letter being burnt.
"It had his cupboard on it," Bill scoffed.
"I bet his own son would have believed him," Charlie snorted.
"Depressing, but probably true," Tonks agreed.
"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."
"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling.
Ron shuddered.
He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile…Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it...
"You don't say," Sirius hissed sarcastically.
"Yes, that's the issue. He's getting too big for it. Not that keeping a child in a cupboard is wrong," Remus snarled furiously.
we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom.
"WHAT!?"
"Harry has a cupboard, and that fat git gets two bedrooms?" Fred yelled.
"What does he need two bedrooms for?" Kingsley asked in confusion.
"What is wrong with these people?" Ted demanded angrily.
Sirius threw both arms around Harry, pulling him practically into his lap. He had failed his godson so badly by going after Peter. He should have argued with Hagrid more. Heck, he should have just gone with Hagrid and argued with Dumbledore himself. He would never forgive himself.
"I'm so sorry. So sorry," he murmured into Harry's hair. Harry looked shocked and had no idea what to say. Sirius had apologised a couple of times already and adults didn't usually apologise to him. Besides, he wasn't used to the idea of anyone really caring about him.
"Er, I don't blame you," he replied eventually. And it was true. He hadn't blamed Sirius anyway, but after his explanation in the first chapter, he blamed him even less. Sirius just hugged Harry even more tightly.
Remus was busy glaring at Dumbledore for assuring him Harry was safe when he hadn't bothered to check even once. Whatever Arabella Figg had been doing, it wasn't checking on Harry.
"Why?" said Harry
"Don't question a good thing," Tonks groaned.
"Dursley hasn't done anything nice for Potter before, I'd be questioning it too," Mad-Eye stated with an approving look in Harry's direction.
"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle.…The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms:
"FOUR!?" Everyone wondered how they could continue to be surprised by how vile Harry's relatives were, and yet it kept happening.
Draco and Snape were both astonished at just how bad Potter's life was at home. Draco even felt some level of sympathy for his rival. Between the last chapter and this one, his whole view of Potter had been changed.
one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge),
Harry grimaced. He hated it when she stayed. Ron smirked.
one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.
Everyone just shook their heads in dismay.
It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard…there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle,
"He traded a live animal for a toy?" Charlie looked outraged.
"It was probably safer for the parrot," Harry assured him.
"Why do they keep all of his broken things?" Andromeda questioned. "Just get rid of it."
which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.
"Of course." McGonagall shook her head in disapproval.
"Is that because he can't read?" Tonks asked.
"I don't know if he can or not to be honest," Harry said thoughtfully. The adults all looked disgusted at the idea of an eleven-year-old not being able to add two or possibly even read.
From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, I don't want him in there... I need that room... make him get out..."
"You don't need that room," Percy scoffed.
Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.
"Seriously?" Ron looked at him like he'd gone insane.
"I'd never had a letter in my life." Harry shrugged. "And I'd managed with my cupboard all my life." Everyone grimaced at how casually he said that.
Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, "
"He did what?" George looked shocked.
"And he's still alive?" Bill was equally astonished.
All of the adults shook their heads in disgust at the appalling behaviour, and abysmal parenting.
been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof,
"Oi!" Charlie protested angrily.
"That poor tortoise," Luna said sadly.
"And you complain about Harry's behaviour," McGonagall muttered to Snape. "Just imagine teaching his cousin."
Snape inwardly shuddered at the thought of teaching that boy anything. So did Flitwick and Sprout, who both overheard the comment.
and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday…"There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive - '"
"Idiot. If he wanted to read it, he shouldn't have shouted it out." Tonks rolled her eyes.
"We've already established he has no brains," Charlie reminded her.
With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall…Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.
"You didn't tell us you'd had practice," Ron laughed at Harry. Harry grinned.
"Had practice for what?" Sirius wanted to know.
"You'll see," Hermione told him. He was already beginning to hate that phrase.
After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.
"Damn," Tonks groaned.
"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry…And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.
"Oh dear," Remus winced. "If you're anything like your father, this isn't going to go well."
"He's exactly like his dad then," Ron confirmed. "Harry's plans never work."
"That's not true," protested Harry.
"It is," Hermione told him. "You think best on your feet, coming up with a plan spur of the moment. Planning ahead, never works."
The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning…postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.
"That's not a bad plan," Ted stated.
His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door…something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive!
"Please be his uncle!"
"Please be his uncle!" All the Weasley children, Sirius and Tonks were chanting. Molly shot her children a stern look, but they ignored it, pretending not to see.
Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.
All those who had been chanting let out triumphant cheers. Even some of the older people, like Remus, Ted, McGonagall, and Flitwick, had their own more restrained celebration.
Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do.
"Of course, his one moment of having a brain would be when Harry has a plan," Tonks groaned.
"Harry's plans never work," Ron stated simply.
He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea…right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.
"Argh!" Sirius complained.
"I want - " he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.
Everyone recoiled in horror. It was bad enough that Harry didn't get his letter, but to destroy it right in front of him was just horrible.
Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot…trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.
"Is that how muggles usually use fruitcake?" Luna asked. Due to her naturally dreamy tone, nobody could tell if she was joking or not.
"No," Hermione told her, just in case she wasn't joking.
"I'm quite glad our minds don't work like theirs," Andromeda stated with a sniff.
"How solid was that fruitcake?" Tonks wanted to know.
"Aunt Petunia isn't a great cook." Harry shrugged.
On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry…hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out.
"The man has gone mad," Sprout muttered.
He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked…their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window.
"That's almost forty letters. You must have realised something is wrong by now?" Sirius looked at McGonagall angrily.
"Albus suggested they might be on holiday abroad, and that I should keep trying for a few more days," McGonagall told him.
"Owls deliver mail abroad all the time," Andromeda stated with a frown. "They wouldn't have mislaid forty letters."
"And if they were abroad, why were the letters inside the eggs?" Amelia wondered. She wrote something down on her parchment. There was something very odd about this whole thing, and she couldn't help but wonder why it was handled so poorly.
"I just sent the letters, I did not check exactly how they arrived," McGonagall stated.
While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office…"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.
Ginny glowered at the twins as they opened their mouths.
On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table…as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today-"
"What? Marmalade on his newspaper?" Arthur looked confused.
"I wonder if he puts jam on his bills," Tonks joked.
"Why wouldn't there be any letters on a Sunday?" Ron questioned.
"Because muggles have a day off on Sunday, and it's muggles that deliver the post," Hermione told him.
"Weird," he said.
Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke…The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one –
"Just pick one up off the ground," Tonks suggested.
"He's a true seeker," Fred grinned proudly.
"Out! OUT!"…trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time.
"Why is he pulling his moustache out?" Ginny wondered.
"Because he's bloody mental," Ron told her.
"Ronald!" Molly scolded.
"Sorry," he muttered, not looking sorry at all.
"I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave…He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue.
A few people snorted at the image, thinking it was hilarious rather than dangerous.
Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors…round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.
All the adults looked concerned that he hit his own son. If he did that to Dudley, that he also clearly loved, what would he do to Harry who he clearly didn't love?
"I'll be the first to admit the boy could use a good dose of discipline, but simply smacking him in the head is not the way to do it," Molly stated anxiously.
"Indeed," Kingsley said. "Those people are not fit to be parents to any child."
They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going…and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.
"Boo –"
"- hoo." Fred and George rolled their eyes.
"Now you know even a tiny bit of how Harry feels," Hermione said with a scowl.
Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city…stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...
"Oh dear, Harry's thinking," Fred said in mock horror.
"We're all in trouble now," Ron agreed, grinning at his friend. Harry stuck his tongue out at both of them.
They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day
"What kind of hotel has damp, musty sheets and serves stale, cold breakfast?" Arthur asked. Even the Leaky Cauldron, which looked shabby on the outside, was clean and warm with good food.
"A really dodgy one that children should not be staying in," Remus stated. He had stayed in some terrible places over the years, but this was right down there with the worst of the hotels he'd seen.
They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table…Cokeworth
Snape startled at the mention of his old hometown. Why would Petunia try to outrun wizards in the town where she and Lily used to live as children? Even taking into account her lack of common sense, it was a strange move.
Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way…halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.
"I don't think any amount of logic is going to work on him," Bill stated, shaking his head.
"He's probably looking for somewhere he thinks we won't be able to find them," Charlie said.
"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.
"You've only just noticed?" Remus scoffed.
"I'm impressed he noticed anything beyond not getting his own way," Tonks snorted.
"All of this, just to stop Harry going to Hogwarts," Ted shook his head.
Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared…Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The twins yelled.
"You're a bit early guys," Harry laughed.
Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.
Many people snorted in disgust.
Sirius a made mental note to spoil Harry on his next birthday. He couldn't help but think back to when he'd thought Harry might want to continue living with his aunt and uncle. Sirius almost wished Harry didn't want to live with him, because that would be better than this.
Still, you weren't eleven every day…Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.
"That was your first thought?" Hermione asked Harry in bemusement.
"Dudley had been complaining all day. It was in my mind," Harry pointed out with a shrug.
"That doesn't sound safe," Molly fretted.
"Harry's just fine now," Arthur consoled her, though he wasn't much happier about it himself. "So, it all turns out well enough."
"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together.
"Why is he gleeful about a storm when you're staying in a place like that?" Kingsley wondered. This muggle really was a terrible human being.
"Because he thinks the letters won't be able to find Mr. Potter there in a storm I guess," Amelia suggested, equally mystified.
"I must say, this is really out of hand. You need to send a person rather than more letters, Professor," Tonks said as she looked over at Dumbledore.
"Indeed. This could almost be considered muggle baiting," Arthur spoke up unhappily. He thought the Dursleys deserved what they got for how they treated his son's best friend but dealing with the effects of muggle baiting every day at work, he felt like he couldn't really condone it.
"None of this would be happening if they had explained things to you in the first place," Sirius pointed out angrily. "Or if they'd just let you read your letter."
"It also wouldn't be happening if a professor had been sent rather than having letters chase them all over the place," Amelia stated, sending Dumbledore a stern look.
"Someone turns up that evening," Harry informed the group at large. They all nodded.
"And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"…where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.
Everybody grimaced, Harry most of all as he recalled just how cold it had been.
The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed…Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.
"Those aren't rations!" Ron looked horrified.
"That's not even a snack," Sirius agreed.
"How is that supposed to sustain four people, especially when those people include two the size of Vernon and Dudley?" Bill frowned.
"Did you actually get to eat any of that?" Fred asked Harry. Harry hesitated, but realised he'd never been able to lie to the twins.
"I got a banana," he admitted. Everyone scowled.
He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up…Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.
"Owls can deliver in any weather," Charlie stated.
As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them…Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.
Everyone growled angrily.
Sirius wished they had a proper blanket. As soon as he thought it, a large red blanket appeared in his hands. He immediately tucked it around Harry as guilt ate him up inside even more than it already had.
Harry was about to point out he wasn't cold in here but decided against it. As he still hadn't moved from his point half in Sirius' lap, he just shifted back so he was sitting on the couch next to him. Then he tentatively leant against his godfather and rested his head on his shoulder. Sirius instinctively tightened his arm around Harry's shoulder. He was kind of secretly enjoying his godfather fussing over him. It was definitely strange, but also gave him a warm feeling in his stomach.
The Ministry workers watched this interaction intently. There was no way Black was a good enough actor to behave like this and actually be You-Know-Who's right hand man. He clearly loved Harry Potter very much.
The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger.
"Are you hungry now?" Sirius whispered to Harry in concern.
"No. I had a decent breakfast before we got here," Harry replied in an undertone. Sirius nodded and resisted the urge to find some food.
Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight…He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.
"That's just depressing," Charlie muttered.
Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be…Was the rock crumbling into the sea?
"Oh, Merlin." Remus winced, hoping that was not the case.
One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty... ten... nine…Someone was outside, knocking to come in.
"The chapter is finished," Charlie announced.
"Do we want to stop for lunch?" Molly asked the room.
"No. I want to hear who is coming to rescue Harry," Sirius said immediately.
"Yes, let's read about Harry getting away from those people before we take a break," Remus agreed.
"Ok. I'll read next then," Tonks offered. Charlie gave her the book.