Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix.
Chapter 2
In the two days that Harry had to wait for his freedom from Pivet Drive, he had been completely ignored by his aunt and uncle. This was due to the conversation that had took place the day Harry decided to inform his relations that he would no longer be staying with them for the rest of the summer. He had conveyed his intention to leave Privet Drive to his uncle who, upon receiving the news found it fit to point out to Harry that he had been coming and going from the house as he pleased for the past few years.
"What is the point of you coming back to this house if you're going to leave it every summer?" his uncle shouted, "We don't like you under our roof boy, eating our food and wearing the clothes we give to you, but do not and I repeat DO NOT think that your aunt and I will tolerate your disrespect for this household. You come and go as you please every year since you went to that-that school of yours. If you're going to keep leaving why don't you leave for good so that we can be rid of you forever? Coming in here with that-that unnaturalness, same as your parents, and see what happens to them? And now you come into our home and you bring all this trouble with you! Don't expect us to tolerate your behavior any longer boy," he was shouting at the top of his lungs until his face purpled.
In the past, Harry would have thought of some way to convince his uncle that his leaving the house would be best for all of them. This time however, Harry was not going to play the role of the innocent victim while his uncle raged at him in all his ignorance.
"LOOK, I do not like being here any more than you do! As for why I bother to come back every year, well, ask Aunt Petunia about it if you're so curious! Someone will be here to take me away from this place in the evening tomorrow so whether you like it or not I will be leaving! There is an evil Dark Wizard …." He shot back at his uncle and realized he had mentioned something that his relations were not fond of.
"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THAT ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF BOY!" shouted Uncle Vernon in a very murderous tone. He was going to continue before Harry shouted back,
"YOUR IGNORANCE IS UNBELIEVABLE! DO YOU THINK THAT VOLDEMORT IS NOT GOING TO BOTHER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WHETHER OR NOT I AM LIVING HERE? DO YOU THINK THAT THE TROUBLES IN THE WIZARDING WORLD ARE NO CONCERN OF YOURS? LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, THE LAST TIME VOLDEMORT WAS IN POWER HE WAS KILLING MUGGLE FAMILIES, YES HE WAS KILLING INNOCENT "NORMAL" PEOPLE LIKE YOU. THE ONLY REASON YOUR HOME IS SAFE IS BECAUSE DUMBLEDORE PUT A CHARM OVER THIS HOUSE THAT IS STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP HIM FROM COMING HERE. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU OR YOUR FAMILY BUT YOU BEAR IN MIND WHEN I SAY THAT THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE WAY IT SEEMS TO YOU, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD?!
Normally this kind of behavior would have been enough to earn Harry a month's worth of being locked in his room without any proper food to eat, but this time he made it perfectly clear that he was not going to put up with anything the Dursleys do to him, and, with the added reassurance that someone was going to be looking for him the following day Uncle Vernon was deterred from taking any action on his nephew. In any case, Harry had stormed into his bedroom and remained in there for the rest of the day, ignoring even his empty stomach during dinner (which the Dursleys could not be bothered if he wanted to eat or not). He had not bothered to mention that the charm Dumbledore placed on their house involved him and his relationship to Aunt Petunia. He no longer cared about his relations. What he wanted more than anything in the world right now was never to see his bumbling oaf of an uncle and his cousin, or his nagging aunt again for the rest of his life.
In the days before his time to freedom came however, Harry seemed to notice strange things around the house at Privet Drive. More than once, he had had a feeling that something or someone was watching him as he sometimes decided to take a stroll outside the house, or when he was doing chores for Aunt Petunia in the garden. More than once, as he turned around to see if he was really being watched, he had managed to catch a glimpse of a dark robed figure disappearing around trees or corners. A lot of times however, he felt like he was just imagining things as he never seemed to get a second look at these dark robed figures. On a few occasions, he could swear that these figures had started to observe him from a much closer distance. He had asked himself if they could be Death Eaters watching him at Privet Drive. However, it seemed strange that Death Eaters would appear in the broad daylight, and Death Eaters always wore masks. Although Harry had never managed to glimpse upon the looks of his observers, he could make out enough to tell that they were not wearing masks, and that they did not have hoods over their heads as he had noticed a head full of hair more than once. He hoped that the answers to his apparent paranoid delusions would be attained when he got to Grimmauld Place.
Harry looked at the clock on his bedside. It was already evening and his stuff had already been packed. Where was the person or people that were supposed to bring him over to Grimmauld Place? Had they forgotten? Or were they just trying to get his hopes up but they never had any intention of bringing him away from his safe place? He was pondering all these facts when suddenly, a loud *CRACK* made him jump and he realized that Remus Lupin and Arthur Weasley were standing in his bedroom. Remus Lupin still looked as shabby as he always was, and his grey hair was even more prominent than it was the last time Harry saw him, but he still had the same determined and resolved look in his eyes which characterized his true strength. Mr.Weasley looked the same as always, although it did look as though he was balding a little more and seemed to have lost a little bit more hair over the summer.
"Hello Harry, we hope you are well, and as you should already know we have come to take you to Headquarters," said Lupin with a soft smile on his face.
"Professor Lupin, Mr.Weasley, said a rather stunned Harry. "Why did you just apparate into my bedroom like that? And how are we going to get to headquarters?" asked Harry, who didn't quite want to sound the way he did but was far too surprised to say it any differently.
"CONFOUND IT BOY WHAT IN BLAZES DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING UP THERE?" roared his uncle as Harry heard him storming up the stairs.
"Remus I think I will handle Harry's uncle, why don't you answer his question and we'll get going as soon as we can," went Arthur Weasley as he opened the door to meet a purple faced Uncle Vernon.
"YOU……………," was all that Uncle Vernon could manage to say as Mr.Weasley had already muttered the words "obliviate" softly and Uncle Vernon seemed to be in a
really happy daze. Mr.Weasley led Uncle Vernon out the door and left Lupin
and Harry to talk.
"Ah Harry, Dumbledore decided that it would be best that your leaving this place be kept as quiet as possible. He also thought it best that you left without attracting any attention or being seen," answered Lupin who continued, upon seeing the puzzled look on Harry's face, "We have not heard of any Death Eater activities lately, and Dumbledore believes that Voldemort might have spies that are watching over this place and watching your very movement. They have not attempted anything towards you as they know that you are being watched over every day, but it seems that Dumbledore thinks that sooner or later they will find a way to lure you away from the safety of your home. It is best that we do not take any chances. Therefore we are to go to headquarters as discreetly as possible. Here take this, it is a portkey that will send you directly to Grimmauld Place." as he handed Harry a small cup.
"Here Harry, let me get your stuff for you," said Remus as he pointed his wand towards Harry's luggage and uttered the words, "Locomotor trunk".
"We'll have your stuff at Grimmauld Place after you arrive as soon as we brief another member on some things, don't worry about it," said Mr.Weasley as he came back into the room and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Your uncle's memory has been modified to avoid any……unpleasantries. I've left a note to your aunt and uncle just as Remus did last year with the usual……assurances," he continued with a smile.
Harry closed his eyes and took the cup, and instantly felt as though he was jerked from the navel and flung across his room through the air like a fish being reeled in by a fisherman through a big whirlpool. This continued for several moments before he felt his feet land on solid ground again.
"There you are Harry, it's so nice to see you again. Are you alright?" went a voice from behind him, he turned around to see the motherly figure of Mrs.Weasley approaching him and before he could reply she had him in a big motherly hug. "After all you've been through, how could they have sent you to that dreadful place your aunt and uncle call home," she said with a sigh, "Come on in and have some dinner, I'm sure you're hungry," she said to him as she ushered him into the kitchen.
Harry definitely felt like he could use something to eat, after all, he had not had anything to eat in almost a whole day and he felt like he could eat a whole Hippogriff right about now. He stepped into the familiar kitchen of Grimmauld Place to a familiar face,
"Harry!" shouted the tall lanky boy with freckles and red hair. "It's great to see you mate. Mum's been pining away all month, how is he going to cope in that horrible place with all he's been through, he should be around people that treat him like family, and so on. But she has a point, I don't think you were very happy at all with your relatives were you," he said as he grabbed Harry a seat.
"Well, I did have one or two arguments with Uncle Vernon, but other than that I just stayed out of their way pretty much. Don't think I could stand another day with Uncle Vernon reminding me of how ungrateful I am. Where's Hermione by the way?" he asked Ron as he sat down at the dinner table, his mouth starting to water seeing all the food in front of him.
"Oh she's just upstairs doing something with Ginny. I think Mum's going to get……." But before Ron could finish his sentence two girls came running into the kitchen.
"Harry! Oh Harry its great to see you again," cried Hermione as she almost knocked him over with a hug.
"*cough* It's great to see you too Hermione, but if you don't let go of me soon I think our reunion will be short-lived, I'm running out of air," he pretended to gasp but had become quite accustomed to the way that Hermione greeted him when they saw each other after a long break during the summer.
"Oh, sorry Harry," she said blushing a little as she let go of him.
"I was just teasing Hermione," said Harry with a smile and he looked over to the other red-headed figure and he wasn't quite prepared for what he was about to see.
Author's Note: I can't seem to get any ideas on how Harry should leave the Dursleys this time. After all, every year it seems he leaves in a different way, the only way he hasn't used yet it seems, is by apparating and by portkey. We all know Harry can't apparate so I decided to use a portkey although I sincerely doubt Miss Rowling will resort to something that simple. Anyway I hope my reasoning for the way Harry left the Dursleys is logical enough and if anyone is wondering about book 5, when Lupin said it was more then their life's worth to set up an unauthorized portkey, well I'll explain about the portkey in a chapter or two ahead. Thanks.