Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and any of the other characters.
Chapter Four
Harry knew he shouldn't. He did it anyway. 'Voldemort Sucks,' he wrote under his autograph on the Daily Prophet.
When Harry arrived at the Burrow, it was 9:00 p.m. As he was walking towards the very tall house, he was looking through the lit kitchen window. Harry could see Mrs. Weasley waving her wand about; no doubt ordering the dishes to clean themselves. She looked up from her work and saw Harry's figure. Straining her eyes, she noticed Harry's very messy hair and skinny frame – and what he was holding; an owl in a cage, a trunk, and a sword. Mrs. Weasley jumped up a little and dropped her wand in the sink filled with bubbles.
"What's wrong mom?" asked the voice of Ron Weasley; Harry could see him going to her aid.
"Mom?" Ginny added, who was sitting at the very long kitchen table.
"It's Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly and ran out of the Burrow, giving Harry a big bear-hug.
"Wha…?" started Ron before he too left the house, Ginny following.
"Harry!" he said when he was able to see Harry – after Mrs. Weasley had finally let go of him. "What're you doing here?"
"I left," Harry said simply, smiling.
"Harry!" Ginny started. "What're you doing with a sword!"
Harry just remembered that he was carrying a sword. "It was a Birthday gift," he said.
"From who?" asked Ron.
"I don't know."
"Do you mean to tell me that this here sword was given to you for your Birthday anonymously?" Mrs. Weasley piped up.
"Yep," Harry answered as he shivered from the cold night air.
"Oh, come in, dear, and have a big steaming cup of hot chocolate," Mrs. Weasley said, steering Harry into the house.
"I wonder who gave it to you," Ron was saying. "And it has your name on it and everything!"
"Yeah," Harry replied.
The Weasley's and Harry were in the kitchen sitting at the dinner table, drinking hot chocolate and looking at Harry's sword.
"It looks like the one from my first year," Ginny said with an odd look on her face. "The only difference is that it has you name on it instead of Godric Gryffindor's."
"Yeah," Harry said again, swallowing a big gulp of his drink.
"So why did you leave the Dursley's anyway?" asked George.
"I realized that I'm seventeen…. old enough to be on my own." Harry started. "And I couldn't stand the Dursley's any longer. They had it so I was doing all of the chores…. even brushing Dudley's teeth…."
"Those foul fools!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "Them making my poor Harry do awful chores!" she said, acting as though Harry were her own.
"At least I'm here now," Harry said, trying to look on the bright side of things.
"Well," Mrs. Weasley said. "It's time for bed you all. We'll be getting up early to go to Diagon Alley."
"Harry, mate," Ron began. "You can sleep in my room."
"Okay, thanks." And with that, Harry took hold of his things and followed Ron to the topmost room in the very tall house. 'My God, this house it too tall!' Harry thought.
Harry awoke the next day by a very excited little owl hooting about and flying around the room.
Ron grumbled and got out of his bed, running around his orange room trying to catch Pigwigen.
Harry laughed, put his glasses on, and got up to help his friend. They were running around the room unsuccessfully trying to grasp the owl when Fred popped his head into the room saying, "What's all the commotion about?"
Harry jumped at the unexpected voice and Ron fell on top of him.
"We're trying to get that bloody owl in our hands!" Ron exclaimed.
Fred just plainly laughed, shook his head, and left the room. Harry and Ron heard him yelling, "Oh, yeah, mum told me to tell you that breakfast is ready!"
Harry and Ron started out of the room when Harry realized that he didn't have a shirt on. He quickly went to his trunk, pulled a shirt out of it, and preceded Ron. Ron didn't have a shirt on but it was his house, therefore making it more appropriate for him not to be wearing one.
Harry and Ron entered the kitchen; Harry quickly pulled his shirt on when he noticed that Ginny was there.
For breakfast they had eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, strawberries, and orange juice. It tasted as though it were the best meal Harry had all his life, since the Dursley's never given Harry this munch food at one meal, not counting the times Aunt Petunia had cooked fish. Harry got the shivers just thinking about that nasty food.
Hedwig and the Weasley's grey owl, Errol, flew through the kitchen window holding the post and Daily Prophet. Harry received his post and Prophet first, due to the fact that Errol flew straight into the wall when he entered to cozy home.
"My God………." Harry said when he opened the Daily Prophet and looked at the cover page that read:
Harry Potter's Autograph: Featuring 'Voldemort Sucks'
Harry couldn't believe it. Most of the Weasley's had come to Harry's side to see what he was referring to. When they skimmed the page, they didn't know what to say.
"Harry!" Gorge started laughing. "You-Know-Who sucks! Good one!"
Harry read the first two paragraphs of the article.
Harry Potter, currently age seventeen, gave out a very rare autograph late last night. Little is known why he did so, for he only gave one other autograph of his name before and that was when he was twelve years old. Underneath his signature, Potter wrote 'Voldemort Suck'. Every witch and wizard has heard of this young man, who has been famous since the age of one year, and knows that his worst enemy is none other than the famous Lord Voldemort, the murderer of his parents.
Potter's autograph is now in the possession of the Ministry of Magic. It is where the statue of the Wizard, Centaur, and Elf used to be, available for the whole wizarding community to see. It is gathering large crowds that the Ministry has never seen before. That very same statue had been destroyed when Potter was fifteen years old and defeated Voldemort once again inside the Ministry of Magic itself.
Harry couldn't believe it.
"Well, Harry," Mrs. Weasley started. "At least you were being truthful."
"Who asked for your autograph anyway?" Ron asked.
"Some witch on the Knight Bus," Harry replied. He put the Daily Prophet down and opened the letter that Hedwig had also given him. It had no name or anything on it. Eagerly, Harry read, the Weasley's reading over his shoulder:
Dear Harry,
Hogwarts is not as safe as it used to be. Bring your sword and switchblade to Hogwarts with you. Wear them every day. You are the greatest, most powerful wizard in the entire school right now. Protect your fellow students and teachers, Harry Potter.
P.S. Wear them to Diagon Alley, too.
Harry didn't know what to think. Another anonymous letter. Who could have sent it? It couldn't have been Dumbledore, he was dead. And when he entered Diagon Alley, everyone would gawk at him more than they already do.
"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "You didn't mention to me that you also had a switchblade!"
"Oh, yeah," Harry began, thinking quickly of an excuse why he hadn't mentioned Hermione's gift. "I must have forgotten," Harry knew this wasn't a good excuse, but it was all he could come up with.
Mr. Weasley just came through the front door of the Burrow, holding his briefcase and looking very tired.
"Sorry, Molly, dear," he was saying, looking inside his jacket for something. "I had to work all night, what with the autograph thing and all." He looked up at his family and noticed Harry. "Not complaining, though," he added with a smile to Harry. "I will be forever grateful to young Harry Potter, the savoir of my life."
Harry smiled, not knowing how to reply.
"Well, Author, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "You can take a little nap while we are at Diagon Alley." She looked at her wristwatch. "We should be leaving now as a matter of fact."
"Yes. See you all later," Mr. Weasley said as the Weasley's and Harry went upstairs to get dressed properly. When they were all done, Mrs. Weasley told them that they would be traveling by flow powder. Harry knew exactly what to do. He could still remember the first time he had ever traveled by flow powder; he had ended up in Knockturn Alley.
"Diagon Alley!" he said when he was standing in the warm, green fire flames.