Harry looked up from the book he was reading at the knock on his bedroom door. He grabbed his wand before going to open the door. One thing was sure, whoever was on the other side of the door, it wasn't one of the Durselys; they didn't knock so much as beat on the door before bellowing for him to do something. Cracking the door open, he eyed the dark-haired, hawk-nosed man on the other side.
"Well, are you going to let me in or not? It's not like we have a lot of time if we're going to get you trained," Adam said with a grin. His grin quickly turned into a frown as the door opened further and he got his first good look at the boy. The kid was dangerously thin, with ill-fitting clothes and haunted green eyes.
"Well, a lot more work than I thought, although it should be easier to get you to gain weight then for Dudley to lose it." Adam said, more to himself than to Harry, who was still quietly studying the man in front of him.
"No offense, but who are you?" The young man asked, a bit nervously.
"Adam Pierson. You sent me a letter asking for training and, as you are one of my descendents; I would no more refuse you than I did your mother." Adam answered.
Harry's eyes lit with a spark of hope at the thought that he would finally be able to defend himself.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get you packed up." Adam said, making a shooing gesture to indicate that they should get moving.
"Packed up? I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not even supposed to go outside the house! I couldn't leave…" Harry trailed off as Mr. Pierson shook his head.
"The blood wards. Yes, I noticed them when I came in, although how they were erected is beyond me. However, we can solve that with a bit of diamond quartz from Merlin's Cavern and a few drops of your blood." Adam said as he held out his hand and Willed a small piece of the Quartz from what was essentially the entrance to Merlin's tomb.
Harry watched in disbelief as a bit of what looked like bluish quartz appeared in his new teacher's hand. The man hadn't even touched a wand or uttered a spell!
"How did you do that? Can you teach me to do that?" Harry asked breathlessly.
"We will have to test your magic and see if you are strong enough to do it. For now, however, I am going to need 10 drops of your blood. So, if you wouldn't mind pricking your finger for me..." With that, Adam Willed the quartz into an image of a petunia. When Harry added his blood, the little sculpture looked like a ruby.
"All right then, Harry, you get to packing. We are going to be training in Seacouver, Washington in the States. And just so you know, Dudley is a pre-Immortal, like you, and will be coming with us for training." Adam said absently as he concentrated on creating a gold chain and piercing the blood-red flower. When he was finished with the bauble, he told Harry to finish up and meet him downstairs, which finally got the shocked Harry moving around the room.
Adam left the room; he was going to have to have a serious talk with Petunia about exactly how he felt about child abuse and neglect.
"Oh Pet…" Adam sing-songed as he walked down the stairs. "We have something we need to discuss."
When Petunia appeared in the entranceway, he slung his arm over her shoulders and led her into the living room, where he proceeded to tell her exactly what he thought of her and her husband and that Harry -- and Dudley, should he choose it -- would never return to this house. As he walked back to the foyer, Adam stopped in the doorway and tossed the necklace he had made at her.
"Put it on and wear it always. It's the only protection Harry or I will offer you and your husband. As long as you wear it, the wards protecting your home will remain intact, no matter what anyone tells you. Even the wizard that placed the wards will not be able to bring them down now."
Petunia picked up the necklace that had landed on her lap with shaking hands and quietly did as she was told and put it on. She watched as her son and nephew hurried down to join Adam Pierson.
"Bye, Mom. Love you." Dudley said with a wave.
Adam placed a hand on the shoulder of each boy and gave a lavish grin and wink at Petunia before he apparated the boys and their belongings to the home he shared with Duncan in the States.
Petunia spent the rest of the day on the couch, nervously trying to come up with an explanation for her husband about where their son was and why he'd gone with their fr- er, nephew and another of his kind.