CHAPTER II -- An Improbable Ally
Always on Dudley's birthday, Harry was sent to stay with Mrs. Figg, an elderly woman who lived on Privet Drive, while Dudley, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and one of Dudley's friends spent the day at various attractions. Up until a few years ago, the stay at Mrs. Figg's was a painfully boring experience, during which Harry was forced to endure long hours of Mrs. Figg's cats. On Dudley's eleventh birthday, Mrs. Figg broke her leg tripping over one of those very same creatures, causing her to lose her liking for them and landing Harry a once in a lifetime trip to the zoo with the Dursleys. Since her fall, the stays at Mrs. Figg's house on Dudley's birthday had been much less stuffy and a good deal more enjoyable. Harry usually still dreaded them a bit of course, but this year was different. A day without a Dudley tantrum was like a day in heaven.
As the weather was unusually fine, Mrs. Figg and Harry sat on two grubby plastic chairs at a grubby plastic table in her back lawn to have lunch. As he and Mrs. Figg sat in silence eating their cold chicken sandwiches, Harry began to notice something unusual about the shrubs on Mrs. Figg's lawn. Even though there wasn't the slightest breeze, the shrubs would shiver every few moments and then become still again. Mrs. Figg noticed his stare and turned to look at the shrubs.
"Oh, those birds are building another nest in my bushes are they," she said a little too loudly with exaggerated unconcern. Harry was sure he saw a faint glimmer of a smile in the corners of her mouth before she took another bite. Harry followed suit but nearly spat it back out onto his plate the next moment. Were his eyes deceiving him, or did he just see a gnome dash between the shrubs?
"Er, Mrs. Fig," Harry said slowly still staring at the spot where the gnome disappeared. "What was that?"
"It's the birds, dear. How's your sandwich," she asked quickly. Her mouth definitely twitched this time. Harry was sure something strange was going on, but tried hard to ignore it. The last thing he wanted was for Mrs. Figg to tell the Dursleys he had been behaving abnormally.
As their meal wound to a close, Harry was beginning to believe he had just imagined the gnome. A Gnome on Privet Drive was not only impossible, it was laughable. It was almost like trying to imagine Dudley in Diagon Alley.
Just as he swallowed the last bite of his sandwich, a barn owl swooped down from the sky and dropped a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest on the peeling table top. An icy cold feeling settled in his stomach. When the Dursleys arrived home this evening, Mrs. Figg would tell them all about his strange behavior. One mention of the letter-carrying owl and he would be done for.
Mrs. Figg suddenly burst into cackling fits of laughter, and as Harry reached sheepishly for the letter she stopped abruptly, watching him closely and biting her trembling bottom lip, an expression of hilarity frozen on her face. She looked as though she could explode again at any moment.
"Erm...sorry about that...", he mumbled and turned the envelope over to see who had sent it. But to his great surprise, the letter wasn't addressed to him.
Mrs. Arabella Figg
12 Privet Drive
Little Winging, Surrey
Harry felt his jaw drop, and Mrs. Figg cracked up again, this time dropping her head onto the table and pounding the tabletop with her frail-looking fist. He sat in silence until and long after she had regained her composure.
"Well Harry, I suppose you would have found out soon enough as it is. You should have seen your face," she squeaked, threatening to pitch another fit. "Bit early for your start-of-term letter, isn't it!"
"Er, yeah. Something like that," Harry mumbled. Never in all of his annual visits to Mrs. Figg's house had he ever heard her speak this way. Usually, she came off as very grand and very stuffy. Now she was acting like a young girl wearing an old lady costume. And certainly she had never let on that she was a witch! Suddenly he remembered the instructions Professor Dumbledore had given to Sirius at the end of the tragic Triwizard Tournament last year.
Harry looked at the address on the envelope again.
"Hang on, you're Arabella Figg?"
"In the flesh, my dear," she quipped, mock-preening.
"Then you know Sirius Black, my godfather," he questioned excitedly. "At the end of the Triwizard Tournament last year, Professor Dumbledore told him to find you and some other people."
"That he did. Albus thought it wise, considering the circumstances, to hold a little reunion among some old friends," Mrs. Figg replied. "As a matter of fact, that letter may hold some information concerning that very meeting. Would you be so kind as to open it please, Harry."
If Harry felt uncomfortable opening someone else's mail, he didn't show it. Anxiously hoping for information about Sirius, he ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter. He read the first two lines two himself before realizing that perhaps it was rude to read someone else's mail. As he made to hand the letter across the table, Mrs. Figg raised her palm.
"Would you please read it aloud, Harry. I'm afraid I've left my reading glasses inside," she said.
"Oh. Sure," he replied.
Dearest Arabella,
Hopefully this finds you well. The 'Messenger' is now embedded at Hogwarts under his assumed form. Only a select few know of his true identity. Remus has also sent word that he, just as you and Mundungus, will be arriving on September 1. He will once again take up the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at my request.
Harry's heart leapt. The 'Messenger' was definitely Sirius who was an Animagus and would most likely be wandering around Hogwarts as Snuffles aka. Padfoot, a large black sheepdog. Harry's favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, would also be returning.
Rubeus and Olympe Maxime of Beauxbatons Academy have been sent with a peace treaty to the giants. Hagrid writes that he has a good reason to suspect that his mother is farther north than what we first understood, and by some good fortune we have been given a head-start on whatever dark powers are working against us. Severus has once again taken up his former duties, and I am darkly delighted to say he has been accepted with open arms. I have informed Cornelius of these doings, but he is once again unwilling to listen to reason.
My dear Arabella, you understand now what serious matters face our council. It is unfortunate that we can no longer count on the support of the Ministry, or that of the school governors. As of yet, I have had no word from them on my position as Headmaster. Let us hope they understand the importance of my presence at Hogwarts during this trying time.
Fawkes sends his regards, as do I.
Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore
"So, it looks like we'll be seeing each other again this year, Harry," said Mrs. Figg.
Harry and Mrs. Figg had a fairly enjoyable afternoon together. She turned out to be an exciting conversationalist and Harry laughed himself hoarse over her stories from her days at Hogwarts. She was much amused to hear about some of the exploits of Harry, Ron & Hermione as well. When the Dursleys arrived home, Harry was sorry to see the day end.