Goodbyes
"Harry?" McGonagall said, looking down at her 'grandson.' "Harry, you need to get up."
"I can't do it, Grandma, I just can't," Harry moaned. "I don't want to leave her."
"Harry, we've talked about this. No matter where you go, Emily will always be with you. This place - if you leave it, you're not leaving her, only her final resting place. Harry, she would want you to get along with you life."
"I know, I just… I miss her. I loved her. How can I ever go on with my life and forget her?"
"We both agreed that this would be the easiest way. It's not a permanent memory charm; you will remember on your eighteenth birthday. You will be able to go to Hogwarts and fulfil your destiny without being depressed by her loss."
"I know, Grandma, but I just miss her. This all sounds really cheesy, doesn't it?" Harry asked, giving her a weak smile.
"Yes, now let's get a move on. Your train leaves in only an hour."
Then she held out her hand for her grandson and together they Apparated to Kings Cross Station in London.
"Harry, come over here," McGonagall said, pulling Harry through the crowd to a janitor's closet and magically locking the door.
She pulled off the large hat and sunglasses she had used to hide her face from the magical world and gave him a strong hug. When they pulled apart Harry thought that he could see McGonagall tearing up.
"Are you ready?" She asked. Harry nodded, looking at his Grandma for a long moment, trying to remember this moment, even though he knew that he would have to forget it. "Remember, when you turn eighteen, you'll remember everything. I'll be waiting for you at Emily's grave."
Harry nodded, but she wasn't finished yet.
"Don't worry; I'll be with you wherever you go. Never forget that."
"You sound like you're about to die," Harry said laughing.
McGonagall laughed. "Harry, before we do this, I've always wanted to ask you: why do you like Star Wars so much?"
Harry gave her a funny look, "I thought that would be obvious," he said slowly. "In the movies, good always triumphs over evil. Something I've known for a long time I would always have to do. Isn't that what I'm going off to do: learn how to use the force to kill the evil wizard? Think about it, Luke, a guy from nowhere, goes on to save the universe. It's so much like my story, in a way. Oh, and I've always thought the laser things were really cool."
"Harry, you're one of a kind, you know that," McGonagall said, laughing. "Well, what does that little green guy say? Right, 'let the force be with you.'"
"Right," Harry said, "please never do that again, it's just so out of character."
McGonagall laughed, then pulled Harry into another bone crunching hug. When they broke away she pulled out her wand and performed the memory spell she had been working on for months. It was very simple; Harry would forget most of his life before that moment. He wouldn't remember who he lived with, only that he had had a good life. Little details, like the name Emily, would stay with him in the back of his mind, and he would remember them at odd moments. He would, of course, remember all the basic information, like who he was, and that he was a wizard and some of the spells he knew. Then on his eighteenth birthday all his memory would come back and they would be reunited.
Harry blinked in the light, a blank expression on his face.
"Where am I? Who are you?"
"You're at Kings Cross, it's September 1. You are about to go to Hogwarts, Harry," McGonagall said. Then she Apparated away.
"What the hell?" Harry said, looking around. He was in some kind of closet. What was he doing there? And who was that woman? She seemed so familiar. Still very puzzled he opened the door and pulling his trunk walked towards platform 9 ¾.
Almost with out realizing it he walked through the wall onto the platform and took a seat on the train. He was trying to remember what his life had been like. It was like he had suddenly appeared in that closet; everything before then was like a very blurry picture that he couldn't make out.
"Harry?" A boy said from the entrance to his compartment. He had bright red hair and freckles. For some reason Harry though he knew him.
"Yes," he said, puzzled, "do I know you?"
"Harry, it's me Ron," the boy said. Images begin coming into Harry's mind of a cosy house in the country and a red-haired family.
"Ron Weasley?" Harry asked.
"Yes, bloody hell. What happened to you? That day - you just left. And you're Harry Potter."
"I know," Harry, answered. "The weird thing is, I can't remember. Well, I remember you and your family, but I can't really remember what happened after I left. It's like someone put a memory charm on me."
Ron just looked at him like he was nuts.
"But you must remember where you were for eleven years!" He exclaimed.
"No, I can't," Harry, said, staring at him. "I can't remember where I was."
