FINDING HOME

Chapter 1. Where Are You, Harry?

The house at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, looked absolutely normal outside. People who passed it apparently didn't notice anything wrong about it. It seemed that no one paid attention either to strange figures in grey coats and pants scurrying about the territory and waving sticks in their hands, or to the fact that the windows of the house looked completely black. On the other hand, they were not supposed to. Grey-clothed people took care of that immediately upon their arrival placing concealment, mirroring and distracting charms on the place. Neighbours would not as much as turn their heads towards the house, and even if one of them did all he would see would be a mirror image of the house, an image that his memory would serve to him.

And it was not just a common precaution. For if one were curious enough to stop and look around he would realize that the house did not look normal at all. Its windows were not black. The house inside was. Fragments of walls and furniture that could be normally seen from the windows were black. And strange people were moving hurriedly but in an organized way. Each of them was doing his part of job: scanning the territory for traces of magic, recording location of objects, searching for evidence that could clue them on what in the name of Merlin happened here.

But not only Muggles would find this picture odd. If asked, the investigators in the scene who were used to every kind of strangeness would confirm this opinion. Everything was unusual about it. They were supposed to arrive in a small group, search the territory, clean it up and report to the officials who in their turn would make up a cover story for the incident. Instead new persons constantly appeared in the site and were obviously in no hurry to leave. Dead bodies discovered inside would normally make the investigators nervous and uneasy, but nobody paid much attention to them. It seemed that all present were drawn to one spot on the second floor. A small bedroom. There were two bodies inside; both belonged to wizards who were considered to be dead for a long time. Everyone's attention was concentrated on them, although no one seemed particularly enthusiastic about actually exploring the scene. Most of visitors crowded in the doorway or circled around the bodies not daring to touch them.

"Aren't you all supposed to be doing something useful?" – a gruff voice pierced through uneasy silence and made at least half of the spectators jump. Alastor Moody made his way through the crowd and approached the bodies. He flicked his wand and with a muttered incantation checked them for any nasty spells or charms that many dark wizards cast upon themselves for protection even in unconscious state against those approaching them. Ascertaining that no guarding spells were at work, the craziest and the best Auror of the Wizarding World proceeded with his research, unceremoniously turning the bodies over.

"What is your problem, people?" – he went on. "Never saw a dead dark wizard, did you?"

This time one of the watchers, a lanky young man, 25 years old at most, stepped forward and attempted to defend himself. "But- but- t-this is… h-he looks lik-ke…"

"Stop that disgusting stutter right now! Talk if you want to say something!"

The order seemed to help. "He looks like You-Know-Who. The portrait we've been shown during the classes in the Auror Academy. And You-Know-Who is dead".

"Who told you that?" - Moody interrupted.

"Everyone knows that he has been dead for years!"

"Well, you are too young to be listening to old gossips! And if he is so dead, then why are you still afraid of saying his name?"

The boy reddened and didn't find what to reply. Satisfied with his success at finally managing to shut the irritating creature up, Moody nodded and returned to his rather gruesome task at hand that currently comprised of stripping the dead body and searching it.

"I need some help here. Strip the other one and search for a Dark Mark. I recognized him. If my guess is right, Peter Pettigrew was a Death Eater, and that really ruins the legend of a brave man facing the evil traitor Sirius Black to avenge Potters' death. Seems to me Dumbledore was right as he usually is".

***

The man who was usually right really wished sometimes that he wasn't. Hearing the gentle tinkling of bells announcing someone's approach he closed the book and sighed. Two seconds later a man and a black dog burst into his office.

"Headmaster! What's going on? What happened to Harry?" – the man panted out.

In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Albus Dumbledore had to suppress a smile. Remus Lupin, an adult, his old friend, and also his colleague once, normally addressed him as "Albus", but in the times of trouble always reverted to "Headmaster" as if subconsciously trusting the older wizard to solve all the problems. Unfortunately there wasn't much the Headmaster of Hogwarts could do for him now.

Before he managed to formulate an answer, the dog transformed and Sirius Black blurted out the question that worried him the most: "Where's Harry?"

This one required a reply, and an honest one. "I am really sorry, Sirius, but I don't know that".

Trying to regain his normal calm attitude, Remus interfered: "Could you at least tell us, Albus, what happened? All we have are some scraps of gossips about You-Kn… Voldemort being dead, and Harry's house destroyed".

"Of course, I will tell you everything I know, gentlemen. Please take your seats. Tea, anyone?"

Both men sat down and shook their heads, too impatient to waste their time with oral answers.

"I will begin with the facts, and if you allow me, will add my assumptions along the way. Last night the Ministry's workers were alerted with an unusual amount of magic energy emanating from the house where young Harry lived with his relatives, Mr and Mrs Dursley and their son. Upon arriving, they discovered several dead bodies: it appeared that Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley and Dudley Dursley were killed with the Killing Curse. All bodies were found in the hall near the entrance, dressed in their nightgowns. Obviously the Dursleys were alarmed by the noise downstairs, hurried there and faced the intruders.

Two more bodies were found on the second floor, in a bedroom that was supposedly occupied by Harry. The door leading to the bedroom had a broken lock on it. Apparently Harry was locked in by his relatives, and the attackers broke in. The dead people were identified as Tom Riddle and Peter Pettigrew.

The cause of their death was an extremely powerful discharge of elvian energy. In fact, the whole house appeared to be affected by it. Walls, ceilings and floors look scorched. There is not a single paper in the house that did not burn to ashes. All furniture blackened, as if charred with flame. This could be considered a result of a common fire, except for the bodies' condition. Aside from a few black marks on their skin, they appear unharmed. As you both know, this is the normal case of elvian magic in action; its influence on living creatures is never visible.

We did not have any explanation as to how an elf appeared in a Muggles' house, until we examined the wands of intruders. The last spell that Voldemort used was the Killing Curse, repeated three times. Mr Pettigrew's last incantation was the Stunning Spell. And before that he used a very complex Transformation Spell".

"Transformation, you said? Not Transfiguration?" - Remus interrupted.

"Yes, exactly," - Dumbledore nodded approving his listener's observation.

"I don't understand what's the difference," - Sirius frowned.

"Transformation is much more complex magic. Transfiguration spells simply turn the physical shell. You can transfigure a frog into a cat but it will still think like a frog, whereas transformation will alter the creature on both physical and mental levels," – clarified Remus.

"Now we are moving entirely into the field of guesses," – went on Dumbledore. "I believe that Pettigrew applied this spell to Harry…"

"That son of a bitch!" – Sirius jumped from his seat.

"Please calm down, Sirius. Strange as it may sound, I don't think that this spell was intended to bring harm to Harry. I believe that Peter Pettigrew was finally trying to repay his debt protecting Harry in the only way he could think of. Realizing that Voldemort was too powerful even if opposed with his and Harry's combined powers, he turned Harry into the only creature that can easily disappear unnoticed unless controlled by its master – a house elf.

But before he could hide Harry, Voldemort who as I assume was distracted by Dursleys discovered them both. And Harry, obviously not realizing what happened to him and unable to control his energy, let out his newly found magic. Although this fact is not widely known, unbound house elves are surprisingly powerful and can be quite dangerous if threatened".

"So Harry did kill Voldemort after all? Or does the history repeat itself and the Dark Lord is just biding his time again?" – quietly asked Remus.

"Yes, he did. Voldemort is indeed gone forever. But Harry would never accomplish it if Voldemort wasn't stunned by Pettigrew the second he entered. Voldemort's ability to separate body and spirit was what saved him the first time. This time the Stunning Spell did not allow him to let go of his body. He was subjected to the full discharge of a house elf's energy".

"Does… does it also mean that Harry is dead? That this discharge killed him as well?" – Sirius began to shake.

"No, I am absolutely certain that none of this happened. As most magical creatures, a house elf is immune to his own power. I have no doubt that Harry is alive. The problem is that at the moment he is most probably confused and scared. He does not understand what happened to him and cannot think straight. As I said before, he is unbound, and this condition is not normal for house elves".

"But surely there is a way to reverse the spell?" – questioned Remus.

"There is. I already found one," - agreed Dumbledore. "But as you understand this will require Harry's presence. We can only hope that he will manage to reach Hogwarts or that one of the Ministry workers finds him soon".

"Are you implying that he is still in danger, even with Voldemort gone?" – wondered Sirius.

Dumbledore sighed. "His present condition is dangerous. An unbound house elf subconsciously seeks for a master. There is great likelihood that he will attempt to reach Hogwarts. In that case it is quite possible that he will meet a wizard along the way. And Harry will recognize him as his master. Then Harry's fate will depend completely on his master's will".

"We must prevent it! Who knows what this person would do to him? We have to find Harry first!" – Sirius bolted from his seat once again and headed to the entrance.

"Sirius, calm down! Even with Peter dead, you are still not acquitted from the charges! You cannot appear in public like that!" – Remus ran after him.