Chapter Two: Camp Wallomohre
(After reading all I could find about Mrs. Figg, I've realized that the Dursleys live two blocks away. Since I'm way too lazy to even correct the little error, don't review to me saying that I'm too stupid or foolish to not realize some things. I'll have you know that the Harry Potter books have some errors too. Just forget what the first book says about the location of the home! :)
The door opened slowly and a woman out. She looked quite different than Harry had remembered. Instead of a mean old "hag", Harry saw a lovely older woman with short curly gray hair. She seemed to be about 64 or so years old. Harry had also noticed that she didn't even own any cats.
"Oh, hello Harry! I expected that you would come over for quite some time!" Mrs. Figg said.
"Uh, well, I was supposed to come anyway. It's just that my Aunt and Uncle made me," Harry replied. He was surprised to see that the house was different from the usual sight. It had the most unusual smell too. There was a scent of raspberry and cream. It seemed that she was waiting for a guest besides him.
"Like the new look? It's not actually for you, but that's beside the point. I need to talk to you anyway," Mrs. Figg said.
"Well, I wouldn't mind talking with you either. But you may not be the person I need to talk to, so…"
"OH! I may not have the answers you're looking floor. But I know someone who does. It's my sister. But she's out and about right now. Of course, you're looking for Arabella; she's a witch, a very powerful witch. Usually, she comes by every summer. She's allergic to cats. I had to get rid of them about a week ago. We just learned about that information. It makes no difference to me. I'm what's considered to be a Squib."
Harry wasn't completely disappointed. He entered the house.
"Where's your sister now?" Harry asked, hoping he wasn't too rude.
"She's out doing some special something or other," Mrs. Figg replied. "Like I said, I'm glad you stopped by. I have been told by someone to warn you about something. Let's go sit down in the kitchen, I have to feed Snuffles, my dog."
Harry was very interested in seeing this dog. He had a pretty good idea what was coming ahead. Sure enough, the same shabby looking gray dog was sleeping by the porch sliding door.
"Snuffles! We have a guest! Harry is here!" The dog looked up from his nap and noticed Harry immediately. He stood up and sat down by him. Mrs. Figg made some tea.
"Ok, this is the deal. You're not to talk of some man while at Hogwarts. I think his name is Hargid? No, it's Gridhag…that can't be it either. NO! I'm sure is Harvard! That's right, there's some giant that is on a special mission for Hogwarts. You're not to go to his cottage and see him until this Bumbbledore guy says so!"
Snuffles looked strangely at the old woman. Harry started to see him take shape of his human form. The lady was confused.
"Oh man! My sister is horrible! She couldn't trust me so she gave me this nice looking dog! Now he's a human!"
The man was now Sirius Black. "Mrs. Figg, maybe you should take a nap. We need to talk alone for a while on important magic issues," Sirius said.
Harry was happy and surprised at the same time. There was a lot going on at once.
"I think a nap would be good for me, whatever you are! I can't believe I didn't know!" Mrs. Figg kept arguing with herself over and over again on her way to the bedroom.
"Hello!" Harry said.
"Same to you, kid. Listen, we don't have much time to talk. I think there are too many ears around the neighborhood. But I've already said too much. That warning was very truthful. You can't talk to Hagrid at Hogwarts. He's been going under a lot and you being there with him are asking too much. He's one person who has seen the arising of Voldemort many times. He cares about you and he is a giant. I'm not supposed to say this, but…"
"What is it?" Harry wondered. He didn't like the situation.
"He's already been offered to join a group with other giants. They're forming some kind of alliance. I don't like it too much. Neither does he. But this was his chance to be with some of his own kind," Sirius said. "That's not why I'm here though. I'm actually here for Mrs. Figg's sister. However, I've learned there's been a misunderstanding." Sirius sighed and started the explaining.
"I'm an Auror; Mrs. Figg is too, along with Remus and Fletcher. We've been called to do some very important things. You and your friends will be very much involved. Dumbledore doesn't like the options we have. But these actions have to be taken since the Ministry is not approving this Dark Lord arrival thing.
Aurors have many special privileges. There are others too. Dumbledore's one of them. In fact, he's one who started the whole Auror thing."
Harry still didn't understand what this had to do with him. But he waited and listened patiently.
"Mrs. Figg has been asked to come to the Auror Palace, a secret place that you will never know about until you're ready. However, Dumbledore failed to realize that Mrs. Figg was the one protecting you every summer while you were at the Dursley's. If she leaves for this, you can't be protected. Who knows what kind of minions of the Dark Lord there are."
"But, I'm not staying at the Dursley's, they're sending me to camp Wallomohre," Harry said.
"WHAT?" Sirius leaped in the air. You're going to that old place? Boy, this is very interesting. Harry, I can't prevent you from going there. You have to. This camp is very magical. Mostly Muggles attend, but there are some very interesting things that go on there. I don't want to spoil the surprises. But you've basically just signed yourself up with a very dangerous contract. Promise me that you'll stay in the grounds for the duration of the camp! You must do this, Harry!"
"What in the world? Boy, I do not like this one bit. I just wish that Voldemort never existed!" Harry cried.
"You know how many people say those words everyday?" Sirius took Harry in his arms and gripped him for a long time.
* * *
Sirius Black left the house and Harry just sulked around the house. Sirius was very complicated now. All that Harry could think about were this camp and the fact that there were Aurors running around Europe, protecting Harry from the Dark Lord. This made him wonder if he was as powerful as some people say he was. Was he just an illusion that people falsely appreciated?
* * *
It came time for Harry and Dudley to go to camp. Harry quickly looked through his spell books to find some sort of charm to make his magic things to go with him. If the camp was magical, there may be a time and a place for Harry to use his invisibility cloak or be allowed to read his books out in public or even ride his broomstick.
He had finally found a shrinking charm that also made the contents invisible. He could carry them all in a luggage bag with the rest of his clothes.
Hermione wrote back to Harry explaining that she was having a wonderful time with Viktor and that there was nothing she could do to help him with the Auror neighbor thing. But Harry solved that problem easily enough.
While in the new car, which was littered with trash by Dudley, Aunt Petunia was sobbing that her little boy would be gone for three weeks and that she wouldn't be there. Harry wondered how the start of every year for Smeltings was. Uncle Vernon, however, was snickering during the whole trip the word cruise and money the whole way.
As the car sped past London, Harry began to notice the familiar scenery. It was almost as if they were headed toward Hogwarts! After a three hour drive, they reached camp Wallomohre. The borders were a river, a lake, and a large forest that looked to be almost "Forbidden!"
A cheerful man with a brown beard skipped to the Dursley's van. "Welcome to camp Walla-walla-Wallamohre! It looks like these two are going to have FUN, FUN, FUN!"
"I'll bet," muttered Vernon. Petunia slapped him on his lap.
"We're going to have a blast. There will be so many fun things to imagine and discover!" the man said. He was way too giddy.
"You know we are only fourteen years old now aren't we?" Dudley said.
"Dudley, be nice!" Petunia said.
"Of course, we must respect everyone, DUDLEY!" the man smiled extra large. "Why are you so rude to this wonderful woman? She's absolutely fabulous!"
It was Petunia's turn to scream. "LET'S LEAVE VERNON! I'M NOT GOING TO LET DUDLEY STAY! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! POTTER, YOU STAY HERE! IT MAY DO YOU SOME GOOD!"
"Oh, let's be sane while we're at Wallomohre! I, Bobby Jorkins, am happy to assure you that these two will have fun and be happy they came!" Bobby said. Harry got out of the car, got his bag and ran to someone that he was very surprised to see at the camp.
"Harry Potter! Why in the world did you come to this insane asylum?"
"I don't know! But why are you here, Oliver?" Harry cried. He reunited with Oliver Wood. It was most unexpected. But then Harry remembered that the camp was magic.
"Hey, there's someone else here I think that you'd be even more excited to meet. Remember that werewolf? Lupin?" Wood said.
Harry's eyes shot wide open. "Remus is here? At the camp?"
"Yeah, he's been here for a whole year now. I've talked with him a couple of times. He's not a part of the staff. He just stays here and says that he's protected from any danger. I don't know what he's talking about.
As for me, I'm a counselor. In fact, I'll be in charge of you and some other boys. Don't worry about Dudley, he's been signed up for a different camp that takes place at the same time. Let's just say that this camp serves both Muggle and Magic!"
Harry was excited. The camp might have been a good thing after all. He couldn't wait to meet Lupin. It could be a lot of fun!