Disaster and Fraud
There was a mysterious silence surrounding King Cross Station that day in June. A lone boy was sitting on a stranded bench, appearing to be waiting for a train that has long come by. Little do the scarce muggles that walk around platforms 9 and 10 know that this boy has a past that would scare most and a future that would kill the others.
Harry Potter is waiting. Waiting for a wedding to take place so as he can get on with the mission he has set. Waiting for an encounter that could mean life or death. Waiting for certain family to get off their lazy buttocks to retrieve their nephew at a train station in London. So, he waits.
The Dursleys, who are biologically related to Harry, have progressed in failure to commit to taking care of their nephew in deeds like picking him up at a train station after the wizarding school he attends lets out for summer vacation. Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, hoots mournfully to be let out of her cage.
"I know, I know, Hedwig," Harry coos to his pet. "You'll be out in no time, I promise. Just as soon as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon arrive."
Quickly, echoing off the train station's walls, Harry could hear the patter of feet in brown leather shoes, the type Uncle Vernon once wore. Knowingly, Harry turned to see his uncle come to a stop in front of him, looking bedraggled and oddly alert, and quietly plead for him to gather his things.
"What took you so long?" Harry asked quietly, overtaken by the fear in his uncle's face.
"Something terrible has happened. I'll explain it on the way," Uncle Vernon replied, even more quietly that before.
Harry followed him quickly out of the station toward the parking lot. Surprisingly, though, his uncle kept walking past it. "Uncle, where's the car?" Harry asked puzzled.
"You wouldn't have believed the parking. It was murder to find a parking space. I had to park all the way down this way," he replied.
Harry looked around. Almost every space was empty. His suspicions that started after Dumbledore's death increased. What was going on? Obviously there is a lot more to the wizarding world than Dumbledore, any professors, or any adult has ever let on. He shivers; that thought scares him more than any adventure he has ever had.
A breeze blew his already messy hair, hair he inherited from his father. Harry looked around. He had a feeling someone was watching him. He saw a bakery, a flower store, a shoe store, even a cinema. Strangely the once over populated stores of downtown London are deserted on a Saturday morning.
"Why is no one here?" Harry wonders aloud.
"Everyone is too scared to leave there homes, let alone shop in a crowded shopping center. That's the first place they would look," his uncle softly replied.
"Who would look?" Harry asked although he had a feeling he already knew.
"Them," his uncle replied curiously.
Once out of sight, the lone florist looked out of her window. "I wonder how long it will be," she thinks.
"A few days at the most," replied another female who recently entered the room.
"That's certain, but when? Wait, who are you? How…" the florist trails off as a burst of green light emits from the end of the second woman's wand.
As Harry's arms felt like the were about to fall off, Uncle Vernon abruptly stopped. "We're here," he said.
"Great, I just want to collapse and sleep for the drive home," Harry said gratefully. "Where's the care?"
"I'll explain everything once we're inside," his uncle replied nervously looking around.
Harry looked about, but all he saw was a tiny green dumpster (if you could call it that) and a ragged, broken, deflated bicycle. "Inside where?" he asked quizzically.
"Inside there," his uncle pointed frantically toward the dumpster.
"You mean, the dumpster?" Harry asked shocked.
"Yes," and with that his uncle ushered him inside.
"Wow," was all that would escape Harry's mouth at that moment. It was such a drastic change from the look on the outside. This place was huge, really huge. Harry has seen something like this once before at the Quidditch World Cup, but the change from the outside wasn't nearly as dramatic.
"Your Ministry sent us to live in here for our safety. They say that if we stayed on Privet Drive we, along with all of our possessions, would be destroyed," Uncle Vernon stated in reply to Harry's interjection.
Harry has been worried about the rest of the world's safety that he has completely forgotten that his muggle family members need help to remain safe as well.
"Well, follow me," his uncle smiled, strangely as if he was happy to see him. "Your aunt and cousin are waiting for us."