(Dedicated to sweets)
Voldemort watched Harry closely for a few more minutes,
"The boy is loosing faith, this could be easier than I
thought."
The abnormally long fingers of the serpentine man curled
around the armrests of his chair.
"Dumbledore is a fool, thinking he could deceive me." Muttered the Dark Lord darkly.
Lucius Malfoy trembled at his feet.
"Nobody can deceive you my Lord." He drawled.
"The old fool underestimated me. He thought that I would forget what happened 17 years ago."
"The year that you destroyed his family Lord?" Asked Lucius tentatively.
"Yes of course, but one child escaped me, and of course the
old fool himself. That mistake shall
soon be rectified Lucius, make no mistake about that."
***
Ron and Hermione had entered the Great Hall late that
morning. They both noticed the strained
tension that was all too evident.
It was only when they sat down to eat that they found out
from Dean Thomas that Dumbledore had gone.
The combination of Harry's empty seat and the absence of
Dumbledore's presence at the centre of the staff table was very unsettling and
the house elves would find that there was much more left over food than usual
that morning.
Ron and Hermione made their way to the first lesson of the
day feeling utterly depressed. Neither
said a word until they got to Snape's dungeon classroom.
"Where can he be Ron?" Pleaded Hermione collapsing into her seat.
"Come on Hermione. We've got to keep going, no doubt Dumbledore's gone to try and find
him. He'll be back before you know
it." Said Ron quietly, but Hermione
knew that he believed what he was saying less than he believed the Chudley
Cannons would win their next quidditch match.
They fell silent as Snape swept into the room looking
menacing.
"Silence! You'll
pay attention in today's lesson or you'll repeat it in detention." He barked.
***
When Adrienne awoke that morning she tried to fathom whether or not she'd been dreaming. When she went downstairs she was shocked to find the great-uncle that she thought she must have imagined was actually real. He was standing very still, looking out of the window. She felt a rush of excitement as she thought of Hogwarts, a school for magic… Amazing.
Dumbledore only moved to grin when a sleepily muffled voice
mumbled,
"Who's the weirdo?"
Auriellis spun round to find Jay standing behind her
looking rather dishevelled from sleep rubbing hard at his eyes.
"Jay! This is my
great uncle." Said Auriellis excitedly.
Not awake enough to really register anything Jay muttered
"Mmm 'kay then."
And made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.
Auriellis didn't follow him.
Instead she went up to Dumbledore and stared at him. She noticed her own blue eyes shining out of
his face, but it wasn't hard to see that there was tension and worry tainting
her great uncle's face.
"What's wrong sir?" Asked Auri quietly.
Dumbledore stooped down to her eye level and smiled at her.
"I'll tell you later. First I think we need some breakfast, we've got a lot to do today."
Auri nodded and together they walked into the kitchen.
Jay was already munching his way through a bowl of Coco
Pops and seemed a bit more awake.
He watched Dumbledore with an air of curiosity.
"Who did you say you were again?" He asked with a mouthful of cereal.
"Jay!" Squealed his
mother from the doorway. "Don't you
dare talk with your mouth open!"
Jay spluttered into his bowl and began howling with
laughter. Auriellis and Dumbledore
looked at each other straining not to laugh.
"What?" Demanded
Anne looking confused, and then suddenly she grinned and slapped a hand to her
head.
"Listen you! You
know I meant don't talk with your mouth full. Stop… Stop laughing!" With that, all four of them starting laughing.
"What have I missed this time?" Asked Ben Morrison sticking his head through the other doorway.
"Nothing dear, you want some breakfast? And you Albus, would you like
something?" Asked Anne finally managing
to regain her composure.
"Sit down Anne my dear." Said Dumbledore winking at Auriellis.
As everyone sat down at the table Dumbledore stood up and
took out his wand.
Jay looked up from his bowl eyeing Dumbledore
incredulously.
Smiling Dumbledore conjured a variety of dishes filled with
Auriellis' favourite breakfasts.
There was bacon and scrambled eggs and sausages, then a
tureen of porridge and a pile of pancakes and a whole stack of buttered toast.
Jay dropped his spoon and his mouth fell open wide.
"Where the hell did all this come from? Things can't just be made from thin
air! It's impossible!" He yelled.
"Not if you're a wizard or witch." Said Dumbledore calmly, glancing again at
Auriellis.
***
Harry awoke again in the hateful cell and he felt anger
spring up inside himself uninvited.
His hatred for Voldemort seemed to be growing with every
moment.
Why is he doing this? I don't know how long I can stand this! Is he going to keep me in here forever?
Harry realised that he wasn't even expecting to be rescued…
It wasn't that surprising really.
Although he still believed that there were people out there
who were worried about him, searching for him. But he didn't believe they'd find him… They had never rescued him
before. He'd always had to get himself
out of these things…
It had been him that had gotten himself away from
that terrible graveyard,
It had been him that had saved himself and the
others from the dementors in his 3rd year,
It had been him that had gotten Ginny and himself
away from the Chamber of Secrets in one piece
And it was him that had fought off Quirrel when he'd
saved the Philosopher's Stone.
He ignored the fact that he'd had help and support at all of those times in some way or another. He suddenly found that he couldn't relinquish the idea that he had always been alone.
Harry suddenly felt the most isolated he'd ever felt in is
life. Even being locked in his cupboard
at the Dursleys hadn't been this bad. At least then he hadn't had fear knawing away at him…. And he hadn't been this cold.
The cold breeze had forced Harry against the wall in an
attempt to conserve heat. He shivered
constantly and his muscles began to ache from the frequent spasms. He clamped his mouth shut to avoid
chattering teeth but soon his jaw began to ache and he gave up. He wished he had his wand so that he could
conjure a fire or anything to warm himself up… But the bare room afforded
nothing to take the fierce chill from the air.
***
Jay was still babbling about magic when Dumbledore and
Auriellis left. Anne and Ben glared
good-naturedly at Albus whose eyes twinkled mischief.
"He'll be going on about it all day!" Moaned Ben under his breath
"I suppose he will." Replied Dumbledore calmly.
"Go on then! Off
with you! Leave us to calm him
down!" Chuckled Anne giving Auriellis'
shoulder a squeeze.
"See you later Mum!" Called Auri.
A second later she and her great-uncle disappeared from the
muggle house with a small 'pop'.
"Wow!" Exclaimed
Jay from the other side of the room, "That was so cool!"
Rolling their eyes at each other his parents just laughed.
~~
"So… Should I keep calling you Great-Uncle-Albus?" Asked Auriellis with a chuckle as they
walked into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Perhaps you should get used to calling me Professor
Dumbledore like you will at Hogwarts, but I suppose when it's just us you could
call me Uncle Albus." Replied
Dumbledore smiling fondly at her.
"Okay then."
Tom the bartender obviously wasn't used to having Albus
Dumbledore in his pub, he grinned widely at him and kept asking if he needed
anything.
"That's alright Tom." Said Dumbledore eventually. "I'm
just taking Miss Morrison here to buy some wizarding essentials."
"A new one for Hogwarts eh?"
"Yes. And we'd best
be getting on. A lot to do you know."
"Of course, of course. Do stop by once you're done sir." Said Tom nodding before rushing back behind the bar.
"Are you famous or something?" Asked Auriellis when they stepped through the portal.
"Aren't you more interested in where you're going than my
status?" Asked Dumbledore smiling and
gesturing out towards the street full of wizards and witches.
As she viewed for the first time the bustling street filled
with the delights and wonders of the magical world Auriellis seemed to accept
everything straight away. It was almost
as if she wasn't surprised by it at all.
On the way to Ollivanders she even asked for an owl.
"I'd love an owl! It could carry my messages! And
I'm sure they make good friends!" She
babbled enthusiastically.
"We'll see." Said
Dumbledore trying his best not to spoil her despite the strong urge to buy up
all of Diagon Alley.
***
"Well, well. I certainly
didn't expect this. Dragon Heartstring
and Oak is a very unusual combination, what did you say your surname was
again?"
Dumbledore smiled inwardly, he traced his own wand through
his pocket as Auriellis gave her adoptive name to the wand maker.
"Ah, a muggle-born eh? Well, this wand is a very powerful one, I trust you will use it well
Miss Morrison." Said Ollivander,
squinting his eyes at Dumbledore in an appraising manner.
"Thankyou Mr Ollivander." Said Auriellis pocketing her new wand and handing over several of the
large golden coins she'd been given.
*~*~*~*~*
A/N
Hope u peeps enjoyed this chap. This fic doesn't seem to be that popular so it's been pushed to
the back of my mental to-do list… Do yell at me if I'm wrong!
Jona
x x x