The sun streamed through the smallest bedroom at privet drive. Harry snored peacefully on his old ratty mattress, shifting every other minute. Nightmares were quite a normal occurrence, but this particular night Harry slept soundly. Bad dreams had become the new norm as of late, so when the opportunity to sleep undisturbed was there, he slept like a log.

Sadly, Harry's slumber was suddenly interrupted by a continuous cracking sound. It wasn't loud nor was it quiet. It was, however, quite consistent.

"clack, clack, clack"

Harry frowned in his sleep. It was starting to get quite annoying. The monkey in his dreams had started hitting his shins with a metal bat, and quite frankly Harry thought it peculiar that the monkey had a cup of tea balanced on his head as well.

"clack, clack, CLACK"

The last crack was deliberately loud, and Harry shot out of bed wand in hand. Had it not been for stepping on his clothes from the night before, and quite literally fall on his face, it would have been an impressive reaction.

Hedwig outside on the windowsill thought quite the opposite in fact. It almost seemed as she arched her eyebrow at him, not impressed at all. Knocking another time at the window, Harry hurried over and opened it for her.

Hedwig flew in and landed on his desk, giving him a look that could rival McGonagall. Harry guffawed quietly at his owl, trying not to wake his relatives. Sitting down at his desk, Harry begun to stroke her feathers and cooing to her.

"I am sorry Hedwig, but I was up late last night, and thought your knocks was a dream."

Hedwig looked unimpressed but lifted her leg towards him. That's when Harry realised, she had a letter for him.

"Oh! I forgot I wrote Susan Bones a letter. Did she write back already?"

Untying the letter from her, Hedwig took flight again and soared out the window, settling herself in a tree, and settling down for a nap. Smiling at her, Harry shook his head. Leave it to him to get the owl with the most personality.

Opening the letter, he walked over to his bed, and sat down with his back to the wall. Hopefully Susan could help him out.

Harry

I hope this letter finds you well,

I was quite surprised when you wrote to me. Not just because we have never talked before, but also because I had only just arrived home when your beautiful owl found me. Don't apologise for not talking to me before. We are after all in different houses, so our meeting has perhaps not been a natural occurrence

You are quite right in guessing that my aunt works for the DMLE. She is actually the head of the department. Legal matters you say? I can guess what you need to talk to her about, but I will not pry if it is private. I have talked to her, and she will contact you soon.

I hope you have a good summer!

Susan Bones

Heiress of House Bones

Relieved that she was not angry at him for not talking to her at school, Harry frowned at the parchment. The letter was of a very high-quality parchment, not something Harry had ever used. A crest adorned the top of the letter. A badger surrounded by a kind of flower Harry didn't recognize. Her penmanship was very beautifully crafted, something Harry did not have. Lastly was how Susan named herself in the letter. "Heiress?" he mumbled. Was she some kind of big deal? He had never heard of an heiress in the wizarding world before.

Sure, he knew about the nobility in the muggle world. He had learned about the royal family in primary school. About the history of the royal house of Windsor and Mountbatton. Everyone in Britain knew about that. Did the wizarding world have some king or queen too?

No, that couldn't be it. Harry would have known if there was something like that. Someone would have talked about it at Hogwarts already. He had been there for four years already.

Maybe not royalty, but Susan wrote heiress, and that would mean something at least. He would have to ask her aunt about it when she contacted him. Which reminded him that he probably should write a list of things to ask her about when that happened.

Jumping off the bed, he was walking towards his desk, when he heard a sound outside his room.

Groaning, Harry stopped and started to get dressed. His relatives were waking up and expected him to make breakfast.

Throwing on Dudley's old cast-offs he ran down the stairs and started preparing breakfast. His aunt walked in some minutes later.

"Well?!, is it ready yet? I want the best breakfast today boy! It is Dudley's first day back from school, and I want it to perfect. Don't burn the bacon again"

Sighing internally Harry responded automatically

"Yes, aunt petunia".

Giving him a nasty look, she walked out of the kitchen to leave him to it

"and don't give me any attitude boy"

Rolling his eyes so she couldn't see, he continued making breakfast. It didn't take too long and soon everything was on the table. Years of practice told him to leave the vicinity as fast as possible, so he grabbed a piece of toast and ran upstairs before his uncle and cousin could start the diatribe of his "apparent" uselessness.

Just closing his door, he heard the tell-tale sign of his cousin stampeding down the stairs. Inhaling the toast, Harry walked over to his desk and started his list of things to ask the Head of the DMLE.

Things to ask Susan's Aunt:

Find out more about wizarding culture

The goblins. Is the trust vault my only vault?

Politics? How does the government work? Wizengamot?

Heiress? Is wizarding nobility a thing?

Thinking this was a good starting point, Harry was just about to close his notebook when his uncle hammered on the door.

"BOY! Get out here"

Opening the door, his uncle a rather interesting shade of puce barked

"I have had enough of your laziness boy! I expect this list of chores to be finished by the time I get home from work today! if not you will get no food!"

Sighing again, he only muttered "Yes, Uncle Vernon"

"What was that boy? Being disrespectful, are we?" the puce colour of his Uncles face was starting to darken, and Harry wondered if he looked more like a plum or a sick raspberry.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon" Harry said louder.

"That's what I thought. It better be finished before dinner boy, or you won't get any!"

Slamming the door in his face, Uncle Vernon marched downstairs again, before slamming the front door, starting his car and driving off. Looking at his bedside clock, it read 8:15 AM.

"No time like the present, ey?" he whispered to himself, and trotted downstairs to start his chores.

0_0 -.-.-.- 0_0

Some hours later found Harry with his upper body inside Aunt Petunias prices rose bushes. It had won many an award, years prior. Not because Aunt Petunia took good care of them, but because Harry was forced to prune them with regular intervals.

In the middle of trimming one of the roses, Harry jumped when a crack sounded down the street. Knowing that sound all too well, he leapt to his feet and hid behind one of the bushes. The sound of apparition was something he was all too familiar with, since his stint in the graveyard in little-Hangleton only weeks before. Hi survival instincts screamed at him to run, but he knew that if someone attacked the neighbourhood, he was the only wizard present to defend it.

Not looking up from his hiding place, he heard heels against the pavement walking towards him. Frowning in confusion, not many a death eater would walk in heels, and he didn't know of any female death eater that was not in Azkaban.

The walking stopped and Harry froze. He peeked over the bush and saw a formidable woman in good quality work robes, grey hair and a raised eyebrow looking at him.

"I assume… that you are hiding from me Mr. Potter? Although a see-through bush seems a poor choice for a hiding place, I commend you for your quick reaction" The woman seemed amused.

Blushing, but standing up with a calculating look Harry asked "Who are you, and what to do you want here?"

I thought that was obvious, as it was you who wanted to see me Mr. Potter. My name is Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of magical law enforcement. My niece said you needed to speak with me. "