Chapter 4
It was Dumbledore and Kingsley.
Dumbledore made a move to come in, but in a surprisingly resolute voice, Dan said, "Headmaster Dumbledore, you're not welcome in my home at this time. I'm asking you politely to leave."
Undaunted, Dumbledore replied, "I have come to move Harry to a safer location. He is not sufficiently protected here."
Dan stood his ground saying, "He does not wish to leave. Sir, I'll ask you politely once again to leave."
Dumbledore did not make a move to leave. Harry had the cell phone out to call Director Bones.
Harry came around the corner with Hermione and Emma. He said, "Professor, I've been invited to spend the summer here, and I've accepted the invitation. Dr. Granger does not appreciate that fact that you ordered his home to be searched illegally. The home is under the protection of several Senior Aurors on loan from Director Bones. Dr. Granger has asked you politely to leave twice. I'll see you on the first of September."
Patronizing him, Dumbledore replied, "Harry, I cannot allow that."
Harry pushed the talk button on the cell phone.
Hermione said, "Professor, my father asked you twice to leave. Please honor his wishes sir."
"Miss Granger, you simply do not understand the situation."
"Sir, I understand that the wards protecting Harry's Aunt's house fell and the Order people who were watching the home at the time decided to leave. After they left, Death Eaters performed a Colloportus spell to seal the windows and doors while other Death Eaters ignited the outside of their home. I understand that the Dursleys were inside and were burned alive. I understand that the members of your Order tried to intimidate Mr. Dursley at the train station and he took it badly." There was no twinkle in his eye.
She continued, "Professor, I understand that Harry and I as well as my parents have been targeted by Voldemort's Death Eaters. I understand that if the wards that were at Harry's Aunt's home were due to a blood relationship, they cannot be replaced, and that said, one home would be as good as the next. Professor, with all due respect what part don't I understand?"
He smiled at her to put her at ease. "It doesn't matter, Miss Granger. What does matter is that we leave as soon as…."
Pop, Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. It was Director Bones and five Aurors. She was not a happy person. "Senior Auror Shacklebolt, you are under arrest. Professor, have the Grangers asked you to leave?"
Undaunted, Dumbledore said, "In total, four times so far."
"Professor, are you willing to comply with their wishes?"
"It appears that you have left me with few other choices."
"Professor, here is the signed paperwork. You and any other members of your Order are specifically prohibited in contacting either the Grangers or Mr. Potter until one September unless it is for the express business of a normal school contact, such as sending book lists and the like via owl. They have made their wishes known. You will not be participating in any future custody hearings as you have been shown to have a serious conflict of interest in the matter. Do you have any questions?"
"No."
She replied, "Good. I intend to clear up the disputes regarding the Sirius Black estate tomorrow. At the conclusion, I expect that Mr. Potter will be identified as the sole heir of the estate. It is my expectation that he will not give his permission for you to allow to continue using his home as your personal clubhouse. Therefore, I am formally requesting that you remove all wards and charms that you have placed on the home by the end of this week."
Deep down, she knew that he would never do as she had directed, but he had made a career out of extending his actual authority with influence, and she rarely had the opportunity to take a few jabs at him. She asked, "Are there any questions?"
"No."
"Professor, do you intend to comply with both of these orders?"
"No."
Losing her patience she asked, "Professor, do you really want to be arrested in front of your students?"
Dumbledore knew that this was not the time to make a stand on the issue. He would try again tomorrow. He replied, "I would prefer not to. For now, I will comply with your requests. Goodnight Director. Harry, please be careful. I don't need to say the reason." He vanished. This had not gone the way that he had expected. Obviously Harry was still mad about last week. He originally expected to have been in and out in a minute or two. He was surprised that Amelia had turned up so quickly after he had watched her leave.
Amelia was shocked that Dumbledore would go to such lengths to physically have custody of the boy. Dumbledore's actions were very divisive to the light side.
She asked Shacklebolt to proceed to her office, giving him the option of being manacled or not. He chose to go quietly, escorted by four of the other Aurors.
Amelia introduced the Grangers and Harry to Senior Auror Jamie Church. She was a no nonsense woman about 35 years old. She had been in the Auror academy when Voldemort was last in power, and like the other trainees, had been in awe of the story of Harry the boy who lived. She had been a few years younger than his parents, but had been in school when James and Lilly were head boy and girl.
True to her word, Church was inconspicuous. In fact they could not see her. Like Harry's minders from the summer before, Church remained hidden, either under a cloak, or disillusioned. Dan came out a few minutes later, called for her and gave her a key to the back door to let herself in as needed.
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When Arthur arrived back home, he knew that he was in trouble with his family. Molly was angry with him for not insisting that Harry spend the summer with them. Ginny was furious that he stopped back at Grimmauld place and reported to McGonagall that he had found Harry. Ron was angry with everyone for keeping secrets from him.
Arthur felt that the best thing to do was to support Dumbledore who had asked that any news regarding Harry be reported directly to him, or Minerva.
Unfortunately his loyalty to Dumbledore would come at a cost with the rest of his family. Harry and Ginny had specifically asked him not to say anything and within two minutes of leaving Harry, he had broken that trust.
Ginny knew far better than either of her parents or her brother that Harry was the sort of guy that trusted people slowly and simply shut them out of his life if they broke his trust.
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Like Ginny, Minerva McGonagall also felt betrayed and used. Any fool could see that Dumbledore had used herself and Miss Tonks to do his dirty work for him. Now Tonks was facing documented disciplinary action for threatening a muggle – a black mark that time wouldn't erase unless Harry Potter himself made an appeal to the effect, or became head of the Aurors.
She viewed her own actions with disgust. She had no business going to Miss Granger's lovely home and insisting that Harry be moved to that dreadful mansion. Personally, she had been delighted to hear that the Doctors had invited Harry into their home for the summer and wanted nothing more for the young man than to see him be happy for a few weeks.
She'd previously had no idea that Lilly and James had specifically requested that Harry go to Sirius. She thought of that night nearly fifteen years ago. Likely as not, if baby Harry had been placed in Black's care, he never would have gone after Pettigrew that evening and the little rat would have been caught another day. Harry would have had a normal childhood in the care of a good man. Black most likely would have settled down and married that girl who had looked up to him.
What had given Albus the right to make those decisions? She was truly angry with him for the first time that she could even remember.
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Rita Skeeter smelled a scoop. Not having seen the story in the Times about the fire at Little Whinging, she had not known that Harry's relatives had been killed until she overheard the two Aurors talking in the entryway at the Ministry. 'The orphan who lived. Orphaned again. Another notch in his tragedy belt.' She wasn't happy with any of those angles. Maybe she would try to the angle about his dodging death yet again.
Why hadn't he been in their home at the time? School was out and his relatives would have picked him up. Either he left as soon as he got home…, or he never arrived. So the hundred Galleon question was, Where's Potter?
She thought about it. He most likely remained in Dumbledore's care, especially after that business at the Department of Mysteries a week ago, or he ran off. He's too young to run off in a big way. He's probably at the Weasleys. She'd check in the morning.
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No one had knocked on their door for ten minutes now, so Dan and Emma hoped that the night's excitement was over. Obviously more had happened last week than they had been told. Dan was a pretty straightforward guy and the only thing he'd witnessed from Dumbledore and his followers were half-truths and manipulation.
Tomorrow was Friday, and they didn't have any patients scheduled. Maybe they'd have an outing of some sort and talk with the kids.
Dan and Emma were about to turn in when they noticed Harry sitting on the sofa in the library.
Dan smiled at him and asked, "What are you reading?"
Harry looked up and replied, "A book on protecting your home with magic. There's some pretty good stuff in here on hiding your home against your choice of either magical or non-magical people. There's a chapter on setting up an anti-apparation zone, and here's a chapter on…" Harry grew silent.
Emma noticed the change in the young man and asked, "What is it, Harry?"
Harry looked at her and said, "It's a section on fireproofing a home. It looks like an easy enough charm and the book says that it lasts an entire year."
Dan said, "The fire wasn't your fault, Harry. You didn't set it. Second guessing yourself is usually unproductive. Maybe you could show it to us tomorrow"
Emma patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's late. Come to bed now."
Harry had virtually no previous recollection of caring parents. It felt good.
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Over many years Albus Dumbledore had become quite accustomed to getting his own way. He hadn't gotten his way once today. Between the dressing down that he had received in Amelia's office, and the disciplinary action that Tonks, Arthur and Kingsley faced, his Order was in serious disarray.
He would never feel that Harry would be sufficiently protected at the Granger residence. Popular decision or not, he felt that Harry's ultimate destiny in the war outweighed his individual desire to have a good time visiting with the Granger girl.
He wondered what had really happened on the platform. He hadn't been in close enough contact with Harry to find that memory. Regardless of the initiating actions by Moody and the others, the fact remained that Harry's last remaining relatives were dead, and he needed to be moved immediately, either to the castle or Grimmauld place.
Perhaps he could be persuaded to move to a safer location if it were demonstrated that the Granger home in Crawley was not a safe place. He would have to think about that move very carefully.
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Harry got up early on Friday. He went outside to do the chores in the back garden. Auror Jamie Church watched him with interest as he clipped the hedge and pulled weeds in the yard. He really did look like her recollection of James Potter when he was that age. Somehow she couldn't reconcile the image of the famous Harry Potter who was the subject of a half dozen Teen Witch poster with the young man pulling weeds mornings at six AM.
She decided to test his reflexes and see how big of a protection risk he represented. She crept up to him and was going to say hello. When she was about fifteen feet from him she accidentally stepped on a tiny twig. In a flash, Harry had his wand out and had fired a stunner at her, squarely hitting her disillusioned shape. Five minutes later she was being revived. Harry was apologizing profusely.
She smiled at him and said, "Well done Harry. You had no way of knowing that I was a friendly. You did the right thing. I'm only glad that you didn't fire anything stronger. Merlin, you're fast."
"I'm sorry, Auror Church. I've had a hard time the last few weeks."
"Cor, I'd say so too if I'd run into half of the trouble that you've seen. So what's up with Professor Dumbledore?"
"He's had this lifelong idea that I need protecting. Maybe Voldemort is after me. He's after a lot of people. No offense Auror Church, but mostly I just want to be left alone."
"Please call me Jamie, Harry. I understand your desire to be left alone, but that probably isn't in your immediate future. Besides Voldemort and crew, a lot of other people want to be associated with you, have their products endorsed by you, or have their daughters or grand daughters date you. That's just the way it is. You may have been shielded from much of that earlier on, but it's real. You'll have to be the judge of your friends and acquaintances real intentions. I'm sorry."
Harry replied, "Don't be. People have been staring at my scar either awestruck, afraid, or insanely jealous since I've been eleven. That's one of the reasons that I like Hermione. She sees me, just Harry, and she likes me anyway. She's my best friend."
"She's a lucky girl," said Church.
"No, I'm the lucky one," replied Harry. "She always stood up for me when no one else did. She's put herself and her family at risk by being friends with me. She took me in when my uncle left me at the train station."
"Maybe you're good for each other," said Church.
Slightly embarrassed at her words, Harry replied, "I need to go make breakfast now. Can I get you anything?"
"Coffee if you have any."
"I'll make some, said Harry. "Cream, sugar, or black?"
"Black, please."
Harry went in, started the coffee and put the cinnamon rolls that he had started the previous evening in the oven. When the coffee was done, he brought a mug out to Jamie, thanked her for helping them, and went back inside. He reread the chapter on warding an area.
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Fortunately, the next person to get up was Hermione. She was wearing a pair of tan shorts and a high necked top. She seemed to have spent a bit of time with her hair. Harry poured her a coffee and they sat together in the library.
Harry quietly asked her, "What were your folks told about the Department of Mysteries?"
She thought about it for a moment. Based on the little that they'd asked, they either knew every little detail and had elected not to bring it up, or had been told next to nothing, and didn't know to ask. She replied, "Probably nothing. Why?"
Harry thought about Dumbledore and didn't put it past the old wizard to try to use that as leverage to regain more control on him. He replied, "If they knew the details, there would be less leverage for the professor to use. I've got enough secrets to share with you as it is."
She looked into his emerald green eyes, as he raised his gaze and looked into her bright brown eyes. She smiled at him for a moment, appreciating his attention. She asked him, "Are you OK with talking about Sirius?"
Harry weighed the words that her parents had used last night. They didn't seem like judgmental people. The best that could happen with full disclosure would be that her parents would be better prepared to deal with the dangers that were there. As Auror Church had mentioned, whether someone had been shielded from them from the dangers that existed and knew about them or not, they were real. In the worst case, they could react badly and make every attempt to withdraw their daughter from the wizarding world. Given that Hermione had already been licensed to practice magic, the move would be almost moot. In the middle ground, they could easily chuck him out of their home, recognizing the risk that he had brought into their lives.
Gryffindors charged ahead. Harry said, "Let me get breakfast started first. We should tell them everything."
At breakfast, Dan and Emma asked Harry if he had a passport. Harry smiled, and said "Other than Hogwarts, the farthest I've ever been is a few trips to London. The Dursleys never took me anywhere. They either left me in my cupboard, or at Mrs. Figg's house. Director Bones could get me one." Emma didn't understand the comment about the cupboard, but would ask Hermione about it later.
The cinnamon rolls were delicious. Emma brought a couple out to the Auror who was outside as well as another cup of coffee.
Dan asked if Harry wanted to go visit Sherwood Forest and see Nottingham castle. Harry thought that sounded fantastic, Hermione liked to ride in the car and it would be a good opportunity to have a discussion.
They finished their leisurely breakfast. Harry went with Dan when he went to the BP petrol station. Harry felt better about himself wearing his new clothing. They returned and were introduced to Auror Connie Hammer. She was a no nonsense woman who looked like she'd been classmates with Moody, except that the years on the job had been kinder to her. She had fiery red hair, her sharp blue eyes were her own and all of her body parts appeared to be original equipment.
After greeting the Grangers, Director Bones introduced her to Harry. She looked him over, gave a smile and said, "Stone the crows. It is you. I'm pleased to meet you." She shook his hand. "Good work last week with Macnair and Malfoy. Tis a shame that Bellatrix got away to hurt someone again. She's a mean one. I helped Moody take her down the first time. It was a bloody nightmare." Harry nodded in agreement.
Dan showed her around the yard and his home, and then they left for the day. They got on the M4 motorway and began the outing.
After they had been in the car for a few minutes, Emma made his job a lot easier, saying, "Hermione mentioned that you wanted to tell us a bit about yourself." Harry looked over at her as she ran her finger across her chest, smiled at him and nodded.
For nearly an hour, Harry told them of his life, beginning with the little that he knew of his parents, Halloween 1981, being taken to the Dursleys, and growing up there. He talked candidly of the abuses that he had taken at the hands of his uncle and cousin. He mentioned living in a cupboard off of the kitchen, being the Dursleys' house elf and finally being rescued by Hagrid when he was eleven.
He talked about their adventures at school, beginning with what Hermione still thought of as the most romantic moment of her life, being rescued from the clutches of a twelve foot Mountain Troll.
As he moved through the years, Emma and Dan sensed a darker tone in his words. There was less of the beauty and wonder of the magical world like meeting unicorns and more of the darkness of the politics. They sensed that the pure blood attitudes held all of the trappings of wealth and power with none of the compassion for the betterment of mankind. Silently they ached as he told of the constant insults that their daughter had endured at the hands of a few. They swelled with pride when he told them of Hermione's kindness to the elves and willingness to help other students
Harry told them of his Godfather trying to assist him in his fourth year, living in the hills outside Hogsmede. He told them of the tri-wizard tournament, and the different tasks, ending with the rebirth of Voldemort. He told them of the events of the last year – The DA, the attack on Mr. Weasley, and the events in June.
Finally Harry came back to the lighter aspects of the wizarding world including the Nifflers, Christmas with Sirius, playing Quidditch, spending time with Hermione, Ron, Neville and Ginny. He tried to balance out the wonderment with the danger.
It was a lot to absorb. Much of the story was new to Dan and Emma, some had been retold from a different perspective. What came out was they were spending the summer hosting a young man of rock-solid character, who obviously thought the world of their daughter. It also came out that there was very real danger within that world, and the boogey men in question wore black robes and white masks.
"They probably stole the idea from Halloween," quipped Dan, trying to lighten the mood.
"Huh?" asked Harry.
"Those American horror movies where the evil bloke runs around in the hockey mask killing all of the young girls."
Harry had seen parts of one of those movies. The difference was these killers were all too real and to a large extent, he was the ongoing target.
The time spent at Nottingham was interesting. Harry wondered if one of the evil characters of the Robin Hood legends might have been a dark wizard, or simply a mean spirited person. They had lunch in the Manor Lodge Pub. The waitress jokingly told them that the building was haunted. They all laughed about it with the waitress. They were having their lunch when Hermione spotted one of the Hogwarts ghosts; the fat friar coming through the wall. Hermione poked Harry, who nodded at him.
Hermione looked up and said, "Friar Tuck, I presume?"
The Friar looked delighted and floated over to her, saying, "It's good to see you again, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter. I spend my summers back at my native home, making noises and helping the locals." He waved at them. "I'll see you in September."
Dan had felt something cold but had been unable to see the old Friar. He asked, "What was that?"
His brilliant daughter smiled and replied, "That was Friar Tuck. He spends most of the year in the castle, and comes here for the summers."
Harry nodded at Emma, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Magic."
They walked around Nottingham for a bit longer until it was time to go. On the way back, Dan asked, "So how do these civil wars within the wizard world get resolved?"
Hermione replied, "They typically end with the death or assassination of the dark leader in question. The goblin rebellion of 1742 ended when…"
A few minutes later Harry added, "Hermione has a good point. Professor Dumbledore ended the reign of Grindelwald in 1945 by defeating him in a Bavarian castle."
"Right," said Hermione, "and the first reign of Voldemort ended in 1981 when he was defeated by…" she realized that she had created an awkward moment for her good friend.
"Me," finished Harry.
"But how?" asked Dan
"And why?" asked Emma.
"A month before I was born," said Harry, "Professor Dumbledore was interviewing for instructors when one made a magical prediction, called a prophecy. It went like this:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…
Born to those who have thrice defied him, Born as the seventh month dies...
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have powers that the Dark Lord knows not…
And either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives…
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."
Harry finished, saying, "Professor Trelawney made that prophecy."
"She's nothing but a fraud," scoffed Hermione. She was both awed by his words and unaccepting of their origin.
"Maybe," said Harry, "but my parents and Godfather among others were killed over that Prophecy. One of Voldemort's spies heard the first two lines and told it to him. Voldemort believed it. My parents had previously been involved in three skirmishes with him. After I was born, he went looking for me. They'd gone into hiding, and were staying at their summer cottage that was under one of the charms that I was reading about, the Fidelius charm. The man who knew the secret betrayed my parents and gave away their location."
Harry took a small piece of rope from out of his pocket. "Apparently they'd thought of everything except having an emergency portkey like Director bones gave us. They must have had no way of escape. A wooden house wasn't worth dying for." He was silent for a moment.
"Anyway, when he attacked me, the protection that my mother had charmed me with somehow rebounded the killing curse that he'd fired at me and it hit him. It ripped the spirit from his body, effectively ending the last war for eleven years." He pointed to his forehead. "His curse marked me with this scar."
"Apparently Dumbledore believes the prophecy. He's been interfering with my life ever since. He's been bending laws and rules ever since to keep me under his thumb."
Harry continued. "So learning of the magical world has been a double edged sword for me. It got me out of living in a cupboard and sleeping on an old crib mattress. I've met some wonderful people and made some fantastic friends, but I've had people gawking at me since the first day that I stepped into the Leakey Cauldron." Tears welled in Emma's eyes as Harry told his tale. In every sense, she could feel his pain.
Harry took a breath and finished by saying, "That said, I'd like you to reconsider your offer to have me stay with you this summer. I thought it would have been kept quieter, but it looks like I'm destined to be the centerpiece in some sort of strange custody battle. I don't want to place you in any more risk than you already are."
Emma squeezed Dan's arm. They knew what they had to do.
Dan said, "Thank you Harry. From you and because of you, we've learned more about the magical world in the last few days than the last five years. You gave us full disclosure, a concept that your professors seem to have forgotten about."
Emma joined in, saying, "You and my husband share some common traits. In your own ways, you're both incredibly brave people. You're both kind and gentle at heart. You're both pretty straightforward men. You both have a determination to use the gifts that you were given and make the world a better place because of it." Harry listen as she spoke.
"Dan was born to be good with his hands and has incredible eye-hand coordination. As a result, he makes a fantastic dentist. Auror Church told me that you have the fastest reflexes of any human she's seen and that you set her straight this morning when she tried to sneak up on you at six when you were trimming our hedge."
She finished, saying, "Harry, there are bad people out there that would like to hurt Hermione whether you are here or not. To answer your question, I feel much safer with you by our daughter than away from her. We're pleading with you to stay with us and help keep her safe. In return, we'll do everything that we can to provide you with a comfortable, normal, loving home. We will help you anyway that we know how. That said, Dan and I will leave the final decision to Hermione."
Hermione had been listening to Harry tell his life story. He'd filled in the details that she'd consciously or unconsciously omitted telling her parents over the years. From the time that she'd been in the second grade until Halloween of her first year at Hogwarts, she'd never had a true friend. She'd come to recognize that much of that had been her emerging powers as a witch and her passion for learning, but it was real. Before she knew Harry, she'd lived a very lonely life.
She didn't know what her feelings were towards Harry. They varied from moment to moment, but there were some constants – kindness, respect, generosity and loyalty. They were true friends. She didn't know if her other feeling were love, lust, or simply a fifteen year old girl's hormones raging through her body, but she knew that her world was a bigger, brighter, happier place with Harry nearby. She knew that she would curse anyone into goo who tried to take him away. "Please stay." She gave his wrist a squeeze.
"That decided," continued Emma turning around and facing the two, "I do expect you both to follow the house rules." We share in the chores. I'll do the laundry and the bathrooms. Harry will do the cooking and Hermione will vacuum and dust. Dan will cut the grass and take care of the autos. Harry, if you insist on puttering out in the garden, at least let me help." She smiled at him for a moment.
Putting on a more serious face, she said. "I don't expect to catch you to together studying all of the time. There are outings to the mall, movies, the zoo, and trips to go on. Harry needs to learn to swim properly, learn a bit about golf and tennis, theatre and such."
She finished saying, "Tomorrow we will make appointments for visits to the optometrist, and you both should have your teeth looked at. Now that you both have your licenses, we were hoping that you could show us a bit of magic. It can't all be about fighting, is it?"
They both shook their heads.
Emma asked, "Harry, did your aunt and uncle ever teach you how to ride a bicycle?"
Harry shook his head.
"Hermione, please add that to your list."
Unable to wait any longer, Dan, asked, "You really talked with Friar Tuck?"
Hermione replied, "Loads of times. He is the house ghost for Hufflepuff house. When Harry and I were in our second year we got invited to Sir Nicolas de Mimsy Porpington's 500th deathday party. They'd invited ghosts from…"
A few minutes later Emma smiled and said, "We're home."
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Albus Dumbledore had other ideas for Harry's summer.