Moving On

Harry waited till the rest of the house was asleep before he made his way downstairs and out into the night under the cover of his invisibility cloak. The moon was full and bright, and Harry realized with a sickening jolt that somewhere in Britain Remus had begun his lycanthropic changes without the aid of the Wolfsbane potion that ensured some level of sanity. 'Perhaps Slughorn had prepared it for him', he mused as he reached the intersection between Wisteria Walk and Privet Drive and began its ascent. As Harry walked on, absorbed in his own ponderings, he noticed how brisk and refreshing the night air was, cool and crisp against the oppressive nature of his thoughts. The freshly mowed lawns glistened with the light gleam of dew, the first signs that summer was approaching. A car rolled past, illuminating the perfectly kept trees and houses and casting long shadows onto the ground. How much greater the evening was compared to the day, where the mugginess and heat sapped your strength during the lightest of duties! Every step seemed to invigorate him, fill him with purpose and increasing his stride.

He looked up, and for the first time that night noticed something out of place and unnatural in the form of a cat, perched nobly on top of a brick wall. It was a tabby, the light of the moon bright enough to give away its markings, and seemed to exude an intelligent nature. It seemed to stare at him in a calculating way, not un-like Snape did when Harry first displayed his Parseltongue abilities all those years ago. Harry wondered how it knew he was there when he was invisible under the cloak. And so he held its gaze, transfixed, the cogs in his brain slowly cranking as he pondered why it seemed familiar. Finally he gave a lopsided grin and looked away.

"You can come out now, Professor, I know its you….there's no cat I know with a stare that piercing and a stance that stiff!" Harry commanded, smiling slightly at his favourite teacher. Harry watched as his professor leapt gracefully off the wall, transforming in mid air to stand before him. Now in human form Harry could see the toll Dumbledore's death had taken on the once prim and proper professor. Her eyes were slightly duller, her cheeks more defined and she seemed skinnier than Harry had seen her. But it was her trademark bun, normally tightly wound (a reflection of her nature as a strict disciplinarian) that stood out to Harry, as now graying hairs seemed to escape and flap wispily in the soft breeze that flowed around them. He felt compelled to hug her and console her, and contemplated doing just that before stopping himself and trying to remain as professional as possible. It seemed she felt a similar urge for he suddenly found himself pulled into a hug, feeling her tense back muscles and the stress and anxiety of many sleepless nights that flowed from her shoulders. The hug was a long one, and seemed to convey emotions and messages not fit for words before they broke away.

"Mr Potter, how have you been', she inquired, her voice slightly strained as her eyes darted around.

"Not bad, considering….', he responded, his voice of a similar pitch and failing to meet her eyes

"Good, then come with me, we've much to do and staying here isn't wise", she said and began walking back towards Privet Drive, Harry one step behind.

"We will be flooing from a secure location to Albus's old office, where I've assembled some other people. It will not take long, however I will need you to go back and get your things, you will not be returning to the Dursley's ever again."

At this she turned and faced him peering into his brilliant green eyes as if she'd never seen him before.

"I never wanted you to go there in the first place Harry; in fact I pleaded with Albus to reconsider. But he felt it necessary for you to grow up 'normally'. The vehemence with which she spat the word 'normal' spoke incredible volumes of her distaste for the Dursley's, and Harry found himself strangely touched that this woman cared.

"I'm truly sorry for how it all eventuated. I only ask that you can put the past behind you and look to the future. Many people in your position would want revenge Harry, and it's a dangerous path with no winners."

Harry stopped and looked down into the eyes of his aging professor, saw how scared she was that Harry would seek redemption for the years of abuse, and inside vowed never to yield to that temptation. Professor McGonagall gave his arms a squeeze and they started walking again.

"So Mr Potter, I guess you would like to know what's been going on in the wizarding world" she said conversationally.

"I do have a couple of questions, if you don't mind"

"Fire away, I'll do my best"

"First off, are they really closing Hogwarts? Surely Scrimgeour must be aware that there's still no place safer than Hogwarts in all of Britain."

"Scrimgeour's quite aware of that Pottter, but he's also aware of the hundreds of letters that piled up on his desk from irate parents regarding their children's supposed safety. Plus someone, and I've got a good mind who, leaked to the press some of what's been happening at the school in the past 6 years and he really didn't have a choice. Maybe he's right Potter, it seems that the children of Hogwarts are in more danger at times than common folk." The last part held twinges of despair, and it shocked Harry to see that his stoic and uncompromising head of house could falter. Eager to avoid talking of such things, he changed tack.

"So what's been happening with the order, have you found a new leader?"

"Remus has taken over the day to day running of the organization, with a council composed of him, Alastor and myself coming together if something important comes up."

"Any new members, the last I heard you were trying to bolster its ranks", Harry continued, referring to a letter sent to him by Ron, one of the few that contained any real information.

"Notwithstanding the fact that you shouldn't know that in the first place" (at this she gave a Harry a piercing gaze making him squeamish) "yes we do happen to have some new people. Professor Flitwick has finally joined, and his skilled dueling ability is greatly needed. Also we've had Bill make discreet enquires at Gringott's in terms of an alliance and it looks promising-"

"Why would you need the goblins allegiance? I thought they went over to Voldemort's side the first time" Harry cut it.

"Potter, use your head, the goblins have access to some of the most dark and powerful magical objects in all of Britain in their vaults as well as knowledge of the monetary movements of Voldemort, they could be very useful to us." Harry stopped, wondering why that hadn't occurred to him earlier.

"And what about Bill, I heard from Ron that they had to wait till tonight to find out whether Fenrir had infected him?"

"Unfortunately Bill is indeed a werewolf Harry, and he is currently spending time with Remus in the Shrieking Shack" McGonagall answered quietly bowing her head. "He's taking it well though, and it's good that Remus has a friend during transformations now." Harry agreed with that wholeheartedly, if anyone deserved some company and an empathic shoulder it was Remus. He'd been affected dramatically in this war too, with his three companions lost to him forever because of the Dark Lord. Suddenly Harry felt extremely bad for never trying to contact him, ignoring him and his plight in this whole wretched war. He resolved to correspond with him as soon as his living arrangements were organized.

By now they had reached Privet Drive and Harry rushed inside to pack this things. He slipped through the door, passed quietly through the kitchen that seemed to sparkle with unnatural cleanliness and up the steps into the room. There he wasted no time in throwing things into his trunk. Then, with his broom carried under his arm, Hedwig on his shoulder and his trunk and her cage in the other, he left the room. At the kitchen door Harry stopped and turned around, savouring the happy feeling swelling in his chest. He looked into the kitchen, remembering how Dobby had levitated the cake from off the counter into the dining room. Glancing at the living room he recalled the time he blew up Aunt Marge and how Dumbledore had served the floating wine glasses. Upstairs he thought of his window and how the Weasley's had turned up in a floating car. A small tear escaped the corner of his eye as he realized how the most enjoyable memories of this place had been in the company of wizards. Then in a fleeting moment of recklessness he dropped his things, grabbed his wand and ran to the cupboard under the stairs.

If one room could dare define his wretched existence in this house this was the one. He recalled the beatings, the starvation, the incredible loneliness he felt in the room and yet another tear escaped his eye. 'How could anyone be this cruel to someone?' he thought as he pondered what to do with it. And then in a flash of inspiration it hit him. Muttering the spell, Quinsis Falciparum, he turned and left. Once more he picked up his things and, with Hedwig balanced evenly on his left shoulder, he left Privet Drive forever.

Outside McGonagall was waiting for him and when he caught up with her explained to him that they would be flooing from Arabella Figg's house across the road. Harry had done a bit of gardening that summer for Mrs Figg and they'd become close, not closer than she was with her beloved cats, but close nonetheless! Arriving they knocked on the door and Mrs Figg answered, ushering them in quickly.

"I've been expecting you two for ages, what on earth took you so long?' she breathed anxiously.

"Harry and I just had to collect a few things is all Arabella", came the taught response; "now if you don't mind I must insist that we head on to Dumbledore's office, we've kept the other occupants waiting long enough."

"I'll go first to announce your arrival, rather than you bursting in unexpected. One of them hates surprises Mr Potter, and I highly doubt that the boy-who-lived stumbling out of the floo will go unnoticed."

With that the professor grabbed a handful of floo powder, threw it daintily into the fire, and in a clear voice said "Albus Dumbledore's Office" before disappearing in a rush of flames.

"Hurry along Potter we'd hate for you to fall behind her. Be sure to visit me sometime, I enjoy the company" Arabella said, guiding Harry towards the cup of floo powder. He enjoyed a brief period of time wondering who he would meet in the office before the sickening feeling of floo overwhelmed him.

When he stumbled out, soot on his face and dizzy, it was to a room of the most unusual characters Harry had ever had the pleasure to meet.