Harry Potter and the Refuge
by DaBear
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter Three
~~The Socks~~
Harry's leap for freedom ended much sooner then he expected.
The sudden cessation of his downward movement caused him to stumble and then fall roughly to his hands and knees. Harry was left scrambling frantically for purchase on a surface, that while it felt solid beneath his hands, appeared to be invisible. Harry pats the non-visible surface gingerly, to verify that it was indeed there even if he could not see it. As far as his hands could reach Harry felt the surface, smooth to the touch yet with enough traction that Harry was able scramble to his feet without undo effort.
Glancing around in wonder Harry looks down past his glowing feet to the ground three meters below.
~Wait a minute…Glowing feet ~ Harry gaped down at his feet as they glowed a strange mix of red and green, Lifting up one and then the other Harry notices that one foot, his left in fact is glowing red and the other green. Harry blinked in confusion for a second before he made the connection and was suddenly very glad that he hadn't been paying attention yesterday while getting dressed.
After placing his feet back down and hopping once or twice to test the situation he looked up at his room when he heard a shattering noise coming from inside the house. The Death Eaters had decided that they were not going to be able to break down the door and one had the bright idea to move to the wall beside it. As Harry's spell had only fortified the door and its frame the first Reductor Curse that had been aimed at the wall blasts a jagged hole through it and Harry watched as the Death Eaters come pouring through into his room.
Harry had to ignore the strangeness of his current location as Death Eater spells soon erupted from the house towards Harry's rather exposed position. Harry ducks an unknown spell and throws a quick Stunning Charm in return before he suddenly flitted to the left to avoid the path of a spell that he hadn't even seen coming. Twisting around in amazement Harry watched the spell impact on a tree in the backyard causing it to ignite in reddish-blue flames. Harry made a solemn promise to himself to give Dobby a big, fat, juicy kiss on his round little noggin as well as a new pair of socks for every occasion as soon as he sees the house-elf… if he sees him, Harry had to qualify after he had to dodge another curse that was thrown at him leaving a bright blue trail across the night sky.
Harry decided that he needed to get out of the air soon as he was to exposed for his comfort. Besides he really needed to figure out how to get Dobby's socks to take him down to the ground. He remembered another curse from the extensive study session for the Third Task and after twirling his wand in a circle he flicked it at the Death Eaters, while shouting the Whirling Curse, "Leviosa Turbo," it was not a particularly damaging spell in and of itself but it was a great way to cause a distraction. The spell caught one of the Death Eaters and caused him to rise up into the air about a meter and started spinning like a top at an alarming rate of speed, after a few seconds his axis began to change as the wizards feet begin to rise up until he was spinning on his side. Two other Death Eaters are unable to get out of the way in the confines of Harry's small room and get knocked to the ground before a "Finite Incantatum" terminated the spell. The unlucky man was dropped from the air and, with the crunching noise of multiple broken ribs he landed on the edge of the hole that was all that was left of Harry's outside wall, before he fell from the second floor and into Aunt Petunia's roses with a moan of pain.
Meanwhile, during his distraction, Harry had managed to manipulate the socks into lowering him towards the ground, while the ability to fly had been something that he had always dreamed about, it had unfortunately left him out in the open rather badly.
Just before Harry was about to touch down he was forced to dodge up and sideways into the air as numerous spells that were thrown down from the second floor as he gained the Death Eaters attention once more. Harry decided to keep himself in the air, a few centimeters at the least, as it obviously allowed him to dodge more effectively; almost automatically at times it seemed, Harry muses as his body moved to the left mid-air a little under a meter as three stunners were thrown at Harry from the second story. Harry noticed some of the Death Eaters either jumping down from the room or casting levitation charms on themselves to try and match Harry in the air. Harry decided that twelve to one odds are not the best for an underage wizard and after pushing his glasses firmly up on his nose turned to run. Harry threw his body towards the back fence simply by focusing on his desire to be there, standing still in mid-air yet sliding across the yard with both great ease and speed, Harry popped up and over the fence with just a moments thoughts.
Harry had paused a second to get his bearings when the fence next to Harry exploded, sending shards of wood all over the grass and flowerbeds of his neighbors yard and Harry ducking for cover. Avoiding the bits of wooden shrapnel Harry flitted across the yard as fast as a snitch avoiding a Seeker. He was over the side fence and into the next houses yard before the Death Eaters were even to the hole in what was his back fence. Harry is again glad for Dobby's gift as he skimmed across the surface of the pool that he found in the next yard rather then floundering about in the water looking for the edge. He vaulted three more fences before dodging around a house to get out onto the street. Harry laughed to himself as the sound of a splash as one of the Death Eaters apparently fell into the pool reached him as he turned the corner.
After looking up and down the road Harry was about to take off, when he saw a strange sight. A woman was racing up Privit Drive toward his house with her dressing gown open, flapping in the wind and her kitten pajamas visible to the world. Mrs. Figg had apparently come to save the day, wand out and ready. His old babysitter, a witch? His mind boggled as he watched Old Lady Figg running up the street in a much more lively fashion then was her usual. No limp was apparent from her bad hip, and there was no arthritis-induced shuffling, this was a run worthy of the Olympics, especially since he could swear she was over seventy years old.
Harry was forcibly reminded that stopping in surprise, or for any reason really, was a bad thing to do while on the run from people who were trying to capture, kill and or maim you. As Harry's mind was focused on Old Mrs. Figg he failed to notice a Death Eater as he scrambled over the fence that Harry had just cleared a minute before and then point his wand towards Harry. His socks had to dodge the Cruciatus curse for him, as a voice that he absently recognized as belonging to Walden Macnair, the Death Eater working within the Ministry's Dangerous Creatures Division shouted "Crucio!" The bright red curse flashed by Harry's shoulder and continues on down the street as his body is jerked quickly to the right.
Unfortunately Harry's dodging of the curse had lined it up perfectly to impact on old Mrs. Figg just a few seconds later.
As the Unforgivable Curse hits Mrs. Figg, Harry's mind suddenly made a connection. Harry sees Dumbledore talking to Sirius and Snape in his minds eye. Taking place after the end of the Third task, while Harry was still in the Hospital Wing, and after Fudge had left he room Dumbledore had said, "Sirius I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd." His babysitters' last name and the name Albus Dumbledore had told Sirius to fetch as part of the 'old crowd,' Arabella Figg, they matched. Was it a coincidence? Mrs. Figg was obviously a witch and since every wizard and witch in England seemed to know who he was, she must have known and decided not to tell him. Maybe she was part of his supposed 'protection' that Dumbledore had set up.
Deciding quickly that Mrs. Figg was probably on his side, and not Death Eater reinforcements Harry quickly flew over to Mrs. Figg, and as she was starting to crumble to her knees under the pain of the curse Harry reached out and caught her under her arms as she begins to fall. Harry is briefly hit with the Cruciatus curse as well before moving to the right to get out of the curse's path, Harry then flings himself and Mrs. Figg up and over the neighbors' house, to escape Macnair's range.
Harry stopped briefly in the back yard, both to resituate Mrs. Figgs' weight, and to take a large shuddering breath before pushing back the residual pain that he was still experiencing from the Unforgivable. While it hadn't hurt as badly this time as it had the last, it was like saying that having his teeth drilled without anesthesia wasn't as painful as getting his fingernails pulled out one by one. No matter what it was still monumentally painful.
Moving those thoughts to the back of his mind Harry concentrated on flying through the backyards and down the alleyways of his neighborhood with a limp Mrs. Figg cradled in his arms Harry is at her house inside of a minute.
Harry came to a stop outside of Mrs. Figgs front door and allowed her to regain her feet before herding her in through the door she had left open on her mad dash to reach Harry's house. From the inside of her house Harry was assaulted by a flashing red light that he had not seen from just outside the open door, and there was a ringing noise going off not unlike what Harry would imagine a dozen or so phones ringing simultaneously would sound like. Seeing that Mrs. Figg seemed to be a little out of it still Harry closed and then warded the house using the Domusmunio charm. This was one of the varieties of the spell that he had so briefly seen in the Hogwarts Library and was used for a house rather then a door. It seemed that the Munio Charm was an all around barrier spell with a verity of ways to apply it. He would have to thank Hermione profusely the next time he saw her. The orange light quickly surrounded the outside walls and once again blinked out of sight as it finished covering the entirety of the house.
Looking out the window that was set into the front door Harry asked, "Mrs. Figg, have you a Portkey or anything like that handy? We really need to get away from those maniacs."
Mrs. Figg, who was still in obvious pain from her stint under the Cruciatus curse, shook her head to clear it before she nodded once in answer to Harry's question. Mrs. Figg headed into the kitchen and opened up a cabinet, which Harry could have sworn was not there just a second before. She grabbed a small blue vile from inside on it, and unstopping the vile she quickly swallowed its contents and then after closing the cabinet she turned around and, still without saying anything to Harry, headed back into the living room to the fireplace.
Placing her wand, which she had managed to keep a hold of throughout the curse and the subsequent flight, on top of the mantle Mrs. Figg picked up a vase, that if Harry was remembering correctly she had told him contained her late husbands' ashes, and after opening it she took out a small handful of powder. After lighting the fireplace with a wandless chant of Incendio, she tossed the powder into the flames and stood back before speaking clearly into the fire, "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," This was said in a voice much less wavering then what Harry had been used to and as he watched, her hair, that had been up in a messy bun, began to darken from her normal salt and pepper tone to a rich auburn, and she stands straighter with a sigh as her spine straightened out bringing her to a height now greater then Harry's own, which truthfully he admitted to himself wasn't all that hard to do.
In answer to Harry's gaping mouth Mrs. Figg showed him the vile that she still had in her hand and said, "This is the counteragent to the Aging Potion that I had to take while being your guardian."
Taking a guess Harry turned back to Mrs. Figg after taking a glance around the living room and sweeping his arm out asked, "Is this the Ministry's standard imitation Muggle dwelling then?"
Mrs. Figg looked at him with surprise and approval before nodding and said, "Little Old Lady's House version two, in fact. Very good, Mr. Potter."
"Well, it was almost exactly the same as the tent that Mr. Weasley had got from the Ministry for our use at the World Cup last year, although the tent did not smell of cabbage." Harry said with a wrinkled nose while looking at Mrs. Figg.
Mrs. Figg laughed and said, "The smell is an unfortunate byproduct of the warding that I had set up to mask my magic use from the Ministry and all a sundry. In actuality the warding is named the Lachano Ward, not because that is the incantation used to perform it, but because of the smell. The wizard that created the spell was of Greek decent and the Greek word for cabbage is lachano." Smiling at Harry's surprised reaction to her words she turned back around as Albus Dumbledore's' head appeared in the fire.
Seeing Harry standing behind the youthened form of Mrs. Figg, Professor Dumbledore looks mildly surprised and asks worriedly from behind the red and yellow flames, "Is something wrong Arabella that you had to break cover?"
"Yes Albus," Mrs. Figg says using the Headmasters first name to Harry's surprise, "Voldemort's followers broke into Harry's home tonight and we need to get to Hogwarts before they trace him here."
"And the Dursley's?"
The response, after a second of silence, comes from Harry rather then Mrs. Figg, "They're dead, Professor." The answer had come in an emotionless tone of voice, as Harry had come to a realization after the adrenaline rush of the attack and escape had begun to fade, that he was now truly alone in this world. Because of Voldemort and his Death Eaters Harry now had no living relatives. No family left at all. Harry Potter was now a true orphan, and it was hitting him hard.
~I have no family now. No one at all.~ Harry's inner voice echoed and re-echoed around inside of his head, bouncing and rebounding till out of the darkness another voice echoed out an answer.
~Shouldn't really matter, they weren't all that fond of you anyway.~
~But they were my family!~
~So? They hated you, you know that, you can't ignore that fact. They wouldn't miss you if it had gone in reverse.~
~But…~
~No buts, they hated you and the only reason that you even KNEW them was because by some quirk of fate, genetics or some really bad Karma, Petunia was related to our mum.~
~Our?~
~Yes, ours. We are one. I am you, you are me. I am just the… darker side of you, your psyche. All those dark emotions that you have had under lock and key over the last fourteen years are what made me. Your rage and hatred of the Dursley's and Voldemort, your fear of abandonment that your parents deaths left you with and your resentment of other people's expectations of you. All these things made me who I am, who you are. I am just the voice that you have given to the darker, and the much more primal, bits and pieces of your soul.~
~There are words for people like this.~
~Yes, I know. I've read the same Psychology books that you have remember? I know what Multiple Personality Disorder means.~
~That's it,~ Harry thinks, ~I've snapped.~
~Just a little bit, though. And don't worry so much, I won't bite. To hard anyway.~
Harry's little foray into madness caused him to miss the Headmasters startled look and Mrs. Figgs exclamation of surprise at his sudden declaration of the events at Privet Drive. He stared at the mantle above the fireplace, arguing with himself while the conversation between Mrs. Figgs and Dumbledore continues. Finally Harry's musing on sanity was interrupted as Mrs. Figg shook him out from his stupor.
The fire was now the vivid green tint of an active Floo opening.
Mrs. Figg handed Harry a handful of powder while saying, "Now Harry dear, this is a secure connection so you have to be specific, the destination is Headmasters Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Anything else and I know not where you'd go."
Grinning wryly Harry said, "Knowing my luck I'll end up in headhunters' village in South America." Throwing the powder into the flame Harry made sure to enunciate clearly as possible the destination.
With his arms and legs securely tucked into his body Harry is set off spinning through the Floo network, Harry made sure to keep his eyes open and his mouth shut, as he had no use for ashes as breakfast. Harry was watching the passing fireplaces intently; he wanted to be sure that no repeat of his foray into Knockturn Alley occurred. So when he finally saw the familiar form of the Headmaster he willed himself up and out of the Floo Network.
It was a truly ungracefully entrance as Harry erupted from the fireplace still spinning, stumbled across the room, nearly colliding with the Headmaster; before finally ending up collapsing into a chair face first that was in front of the Headmaster's Desk and across the room from the fire.
As Harry pulled his face from out of the cushion he turned around to look at the Headmaster and saw Mrs. Figg step neatly out of the fire with no muss and less fuss. She gently tapped herself once with her wand and said something under her breath that Harry failed to catch. The small amount of soot that she had managed to accumulate during travel was quickly removed from her clothing and, with a flick of her wand, sent back into the fireplace.
Settling himself grumpily back into the chair that he had so ignominiously chosen just a second before, Harry announced, with a disgruntled air, "It seems that Flooing and I do not get along." And then after a second of thought he continued, "Then again neither do Portkeys and I. But that's more of a personal thing, what with the Third task." Crossing his arms he continued, "I really am hoping that Apparition is more my cup of tea, because I truly am beginning to loathe Floo travel."
"Indeed Mr. Potter, but at least this time you managed to arrive at the desired location." The Headmaster says with a grin that is nearly hidden by his beard and a bright twinkle in his eye. Harry ignored the comment as Mrs. Figg just chuckled lightly before casting the cleansing charm on Harry. Then she settled into the chair to Harry's right while they waited as the Headmaster went around his desk to his chair.
Harry got his first good look at the Headmaster that evening as he was rounding the desk and realized that they surely must have woken him up from sleep. While Harry was still dressed in his clothes from yesterday, a gray long sleeved tee shirt with blue sleeves and a pair of jeans that, while they are the correct length, they had to be cinched in at the waist quite a bit; the Headmaster was wearing a purple and silver dressing gown long enough to reach his ankles with bright stars, moons and other miscellaneous wizarding symbols scrolling across the fabric, and this ensemble was topped off, or rather bottomed off, with a pair of bright green lop-eared fuzzy bunny slippers. Harry shook his head at the incongruity of those colors and wondered, and not for the first time either, whether or not the Headmaster was colorblind.
"Now Harry, can you tell me what happened tonight?"
The Headmaster let Harry go through the entire story once before going back and asking for details on certain items. After finishing the story Dumbledore asked for a brief display of the socks powers and so Harry stood up and with a mental command to his socks Harry rose up into the air a little over a meter, before gliding from one side of the room to the other. Harry came to a stop in front of Dumbledore's desk and rather then sitting back in the chair in front of the Headmasters desk he calmly sat down cross-legged in mid-air.
"I wish to congratulate you Harry on your use of the Munio spell, it happens to be a rather difficult spell to accomplish and even the most powerful witches and wizards still have trouble with the spell. You not only managed to properly use the portal barrier but if what you said is correct you used the domicile version as well. And only after looking at the spell once. I must say that is impressive as I was only able to master that after quite a few years of training."
Harry was briefly surprised to hear the Headmaster say that, as the spell hadn't seemed to be all that hard. Then Harry just waved it off as desperation being a great motivator, before asking a question that had been plaguing him throughout his rendition.
"Where am I to stay the summer Headmaster? School has only been out a day and yet," With a wave of his hand to indicate Hogwarts, "Here I am."
"Unfortunately, Hogwarts is not an option as I am going to be increasing the wards number and strength over the summer, and can not have anyone here while that occurs."
"Well I don't want what happened to the Dursley's to happen to my friends so the Grangers and the Weasleys are out of the picture."
"Indeed," says the Headmaster. With a look to Mrs. Figg he continues in an apologetic tone, "Arabella's abode, while she is an Unspeakable and capable enough, would also be inappropriate, unfortunately, as the Death Eaters have most likely already traced you to her house and will be watching for yours or her return. It is simply to unsafe to risk."
"Don't worry Albus, I knew I was leaving permanently when I called." Mrs. Figg said in a soothing tone.
"Mr. Lupin and your godfather are also unavailable as they are currently on errands at my behest." After a moment of silence as all three tried to come up with an alternate living place for Harry over the summer Albus looked up with a smile and said, "I believe I have an answer, but I must speak with someone before I can say for positive." Standing up the Headmaster walked over to a red velvet rope that was hanging from the ceiling and after giving it a pull he turned back to his two visitors and said. "I will arrange accommodations for tonight in one of the visitors rooms here at the castle, and tomorrow I will hopefully have an answer to your dilemma Mr. Potter." With a pop a house-elf appeared in the Headmasters office and Dumbledore turned to it and said, "Please take these two to the guest quarters down the hall and get them settled for the day."
The house-elf nods to the Headmaster and looking to Harry and Mrs. Figg he leads them out of the room and down the moving staircase.
Albus looks pleased, as Harry simply stood up in mid-air and floated after the elf and Mrs. Figg. With a smile and a twinkle in his eye he said to himself, "I believe I have said it before and it seems that it bears repeating. Nothing beats a good pair of woolen socks."
TBC…
Spells and Other Odd Words:
1) Leviosa Turbo : from levo; to raise up, levitate and turbo; hurricane, tornado, that which spins
2) Domusmunio : from dormus; house, home, residence and munio : to fortify, defend, protect
3) Lachano is the word for cabbage in Greek.
