Chapter 1: The Dursleys
Harry Potter was the only one awake that night at the house on Privet Drive. He was up once again, unable to sleep because his thoughts kept drifting back to that terrible day when he lost Sirius. He was just thinking about how he could have been more responsible, rasher, and have thought about using the mirror to try and contact Sirius. Was Hermione right? Did he only care about playing the hero? A crash somewhere in the house interrupted his thoughts.
Harry sat up quickly and grabbed his wand in his hand. He heard nothing unusual, unless you count Dudley's high squeaky snores as something suspicious. Maybe he was just being to jumpy these days after all that had happened to him. Harry wondered if maybe he should go look around to see what had made that sound, but then decided against it because the Dursleys would surely wring his neck if they caught him out of bed.
Eventually Harry put his wand away and laid back down. He figured that he should try to get some sleep since the Dursleys would most likely have chores for him in the morning.
As he turned over onto his side, he looked at Hedwig's empty caged and thought about how lonely he was. Harry couldn't wait till the day when he went back to school. Maybe he might even get a chance to visit the Borrow this summer. With thoughts of his friends and the upcoming year, Harry finally drifted into a restless sleep.
Harry awoke to the smell of food coming from the kitchen. "Great, the Dursleys probably made an awesome breakfast and I definitely won't get any of it."
In a bad mood Harry got dressed and clambered down the stairs. As he entered the kitchen he saw the three Dursleys sitting around the table. When Aunt Petunia saw him she stood up and walked over to him saying, "Good morning, Harry. We were just waiting until you awoke before we ate breakfast. Here come sit down and I will start serving it."
Puzzling about his Aunt's strange behavior, Harry slowly sat down at the table. Something did not seem right as Dudley handed him the paper and asked if he wanted to hang out today. When his Uncle Vernon asked if he had started his papers for Hogwarts, Harry realized there was something very strange going on. Quickly standing up he blurted out, "I have to go the bathroom." and walked out of the kitchen.
Standing out in the hallway Harry wondered what he should do. Could they really be the Dursleys or imposters? Maybe he was just overreacting. But what he heard next seriously changed his mind.
"Do you think he is suspicious?" asked the Aunt Petunia look alike from the kitchen.
"I can't really tell but if he found out that we aren't his real family the plan will never work." replied the man who looked like his uncle.
"Ok when he comes back just act as natural as possible." suggested the imposter Dudley.
Harry stood there shocked. How did this happen? They must be using a polyjuice potion. He decided that the best way would be to take them by surprise and stun them when he walked in. So he went into the bathroom and flushed the toilet so they wouldn't be suspicious and walked back towards the kitchen.
Right when he got to the door he yelled "Stupefy" and then looked in to discover that everyone was stunned. Harry wasn't sure what he should do but when all a sudden 5 more people evaporated into the kitchen his only solution was to run.
As he crashed out of the front door he realized he would be unable to outrun them so with a swish of his wand he summoned his Firebolt. As it came zooming towards him, he jumped on and flew up into the sky spells flying behind him. Harry took one last look at Number 4 Privet Drive then sped off through the sky.
It was about an hour later when Harry realized he had no coat and also had no idea where he was going. He would have flown to the Burrow but had no clue how to get there. So he decided he would head back to the Dursleys to see if anyone was still around.
When Privet Drive came into view, Harry began looking for a place to land before he was seen just in case someone was still at the house. He figured the best place to land would be a backyard about three or four houses up the street from the Dursleys. After he landed, he slowly crept through the backyards until he reached his destination. Coming around to the front yard, hidden by bushes, he saw no one. He then decided it was safe to walk up and take a peek in the front window.
Crouching down he ran across the driveway and stood up far enough to see into the window. Right then, as he was scanning the room, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Getting ready to pull out his wand he whipped around and…
"Mrs. Figg??" said Harry with his mouth wide open.
"Yes boy it is me. Mrs. Figg, the one with all the cats. Now quick, you must follow me back to my house. It isn't safe here."
"But…what happened? The Dursleys?"
"Not here, not now boy. When we reach my house I shall tell you all."
With that said the two went off towards her house. Harry wondering what this was all about and if that was truly Mrs. Figg and Mrs. Figg snapping her head everyone which way looking for suspicious people. Soon enough they reached her house and went inside.
"What is going on?" blurted Harry. "The Dursley's weren't really the Dursley's they were death eaters. They had to have been death eaters! They were taking the polyjuice potion."
"Yes, I know. The ministry informed me about the whole incident around a half an hour ago. I was supposed to retrieve you if you came back then keep you at my house until the Minister arrives."
"Oh, but how did this all happen. I thought Dumbledore had protections around the house. I thought they couldn't possibly get in."
"Well the truth is the protections are only strong while Dumbledore himself is strong."
"But, Mrs. Figg, I thought Dumbledore was strong. He is the most powerful wizard in the world. Remember even Voldemort is afraid of him."
"Yes, boy, he is strong in power, but he hasn't been strong in health since around the time the students left Hogwarts this year. No one knows what is causing his illness. He is in magical hospital right now since they are trying to figure out what is wrong with him. Dear me, maybe I shouldn't have been the one to tell you this."
Harry was completely devastated at this news. How would he and the students at Hogwarts and also people throughout the world remain safe if Dumbledore was ill? He just couldn't be ill.
Right at the moment Harry had opened his mouth to ask more questions, Fudge appeared in the room.
"Come on, Harry. I have come to take you to Grimmuald Place."