Harry found himself staring openmouthed at the doctor. "Dr. Reader! I'm -- I'm sure I'd like it -- love it, in fact -- anything to be away from the Dursleys. But... you don't even know me, Doctor!"

Dr. Reader smiled as they shot past an MG. "I know enough about you to know that you are a very remarkable young man, Harry. We can't let you go back to the Dursleys, my little acts of battery aside -- they'll just find another, more pliant specialist, and you'll be heaved into an insane asylum, which is the last place you should be. For the time being, you should stay with us. If I can't become your permanent guardian and school-holiday host, I can at the very least arrange it so that the Dursleys will have no claim on you." Dr. Reader downshifted, as they were approaching the fashionably expensive suburb of St. John's Wood. "I have significantly more friends in high places than does Vernon Dursley."

Harry was speechless. In the space of a few hours, he had gone from being marked for the loony bin to being the guest, and probably the ward, of a man who Harry already firmly believed had to be one of the wisest and most cultured Muggles in existence. It was already almost impossible to think of him as even being a Muggle. Certainly no Muggle possessed such red-lit eyes, eyes that seemed to see through you and around you.

A slight doubt nagged at him: What about that blackmail dossier? What if Dr. Reader was into drugs, or other kinds of crime?

Harry studied the doctor's calmly cheerful face, looking for clues. No, he decided, Dr. Reader did not use illegal drugs, nor did he buy or sell them. And he didn't seem like the type to molest children; from what he saw of the occasional person, Muggle or wizard, arrested for molestation, they were either pathetic wretches who couldn't approach adult men or women, or they were power-hungry beings looking to fill an emptiness inside them by seeking to control and use the vulnerable. Dr. Reader seemed to fit neither criterion.

Harry decided to hazard a test, which he passed off as a lighthearted joke: "I'll go with you, Dr. Reader, just so long as you're not a criminal or an ax murderer.", he smilingly chaffed.

Dr. Reader nearly laughed out loud as he steered the Jaguar into the car park of a what looked to be a very elegant restaurant. "No, Harry, I am not an ax murderer. I prefer to use the Spyderco Harpy whenever possible. You must be wondering about the contents of Dursley's dirt file on me."

Harry turned a deep crimson. Dr. Reader could rival Dumbledore himself in terms of perception, he thought. "Well - erm - I was wondering how someone like you came to be associated with someone like him. But I understand," Harry hastily made to add, "If it's something you'd rather not talk about."

"As a matter of fact, it is," said Dr. Reader lightly as he pulled the car to a stop. "But I will assure you of this, Harry Potter," he said, turning off the ignition and turning to face Harry. "My word is my bond. And you need never fear that I might harm you, ever. I promise you that."

The glint of those redly gleaming eyes unnerved Harry, but something in the doctor's tone told him that he meant every word he said.

Dr. Reader smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. "Come along, Harry. You must be starving. I know I am."

And with that, they exited the car and entered the restaurant.

Harry had never before been in a Muggle restaurant this fancy, and felt terribly underdressed for the occasion. He tried to act naturally as he could next to the suavely-dressed Dr. Reader, but he still felt the stares of several upper-crust patrons as the maƮtre d' seated them.

Dr. Reader recommended the roasted quail with a side of fresh peas, which he also ordered for himself, along with a wine whose name Harry could never in a million years pronounce but which was utterly delicious. Harry didn't want to think about how much this meal was costing Dr. Reader. Probably more than what the Dursleys would spend on feeding him all year, he decided.

The table talk didn't concern the strategy for legally extricating him from the Dursleys -- Dr. Reader seemed to think that was a foregone conclusion -- but instead revolved around Harry's life while on vacation, and such things as making sure he had the materials necessary to finish his summer schoolwork assignments. It turned out that Dr. Reader was himself an avid amateur astronomer, and had a small observatory on his property; Harry would be able to turn in a first-class essay to Professor Sinistra this year. In addition, Dr. Reader, by virtue of his professional and academic standing, had Internet access to the world's great libraries, so Harry could look up information online; most of his studies would likely not be found in Muggle libraries, but certain subjects, such as astronomy and herbology and even potionmaking, had aspects with which Muggle scholars were well-versed.

After the meal, they visited a few of Dr. Reader's friends in the City of London. A few discreet words were exchanged, and it didn't take very long at all for the legal guardianship of Harry to be transferred over to Dr. Reader, with Mrs. Figg to be set up as an alternate in case Dr. Reader and Miss Stellanova were incapacitated. Harry's awe of Dr. Reader grew even further.

Having finished with legally snatching Harry from the Dursleys, Dr. Reader then took Harry over to Bond Street, where they spent a number of hours getting Harry all manner of very smart outfits. In one shop, Harry stood and looked at his reflection while the shop owner fussed over the fit of his tuxedo, and was astonished to see a tall, dignified, handsome young man looking back at him. If only Cho Chang could see me now, he thought.

Dr. Reader insisted that he wear some of his new clothes immediately, so Harry selected a dark turtleneck with summerweight tan slacks and jacket. His grotty old Dursley clothes were tucked into a bag, to be ceremonially burned once they got home to Dr. Reader's place.

Around five o'clock they set off towards the outskirts of St. John's Wood. "I think you'll like it at our place, Harry," Dr. Reader said as the Jaguar thrummed happily through the tree-lined streets. "I think we'll both learn a lot, you and I."