Monday, August 15, 1988
Harry was at home. Alone. Again. The Dursleys had gone over to one of the neighbor's houses for the end of summer bonfire and barbecue to "foster good relationships with their neighbors on Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk." Harry just thought Uncle Vernon went for the food, Aunt Petunia for the gossip, and Dudley to see his friends. And the food. Actually, it was probably all about the food.
Harry just wanted to see the bonfire. He had seen them on the telly, when he could sneak a covert glance while doing his chores, and they just seemed so magical. Wood and a match making flames that would dance and shift, sparks rising into the sky before winking out of existence. But Harry had been left at home. Like always. Thankfully, he had not been locked in his cupboard this time, so he was sitting in the parlor, looking out the window, trying to see the fire from across the street.
He had completed all his chores shortly after the Dursleys left. Then he spent a little time mending some of his clothes. He had realized that the clothes that lasted the longest were the ones he had mended. Whether it was fixing holes, replacing buttons, or reinforcing seams, anything he had sewed lasted longer than the garments he hadn't. Once it started getting dark he had placed himself in the front window, trying to catch a glimpse of the fire. Finally giving up, as there were just too many houses in the way, he retreated to the kitchen to get some food, and then to his cupboard to hide in case the Dursleys came home angry.
Harry didn't bother turning on the light in his cupboard, he didn't want to fall asleep with it on, lest the Dursleys think he did something freaky. But he was still thinking about the fire. He hadn't noticed that while he'd been sitting there, cupping his hands as if warming them in front of his imaginary fire, a spark had been growing between his palms. He suddenly noticed he was looking at his hands and could actually see them in the dark when he realized the light over his head had not spontaneously come on, but rather there were flames between his hands.
As he watched, enjoying the flickering, the flames grew and morphed. Harry watched them curiously, not really knowing what to expect, when the fire finished shifting into what he thought was a dragon! It certainly had all the distinguishing features of a dragon: serpent-like body, jaws with teeth, and wings! As he watched, the fire-dragon began circling him, winging through the air, doing loop-de-loops, and blowing small clouds of smoke, which made him giggle, and tickled his nose. Harry was so absorbed in the fire-dragon's fire-breathing antics, he didn't hear the sharp pop from outside, or the front door unlocking and being opened. Nor did he hear the footsteps coming closer to his cupboard.
The door to the cupboard under the stairs had an insistent flicker coming from the gap. To Severus' spy-trained eyes, he thought it was fire. But surely if Lucius was correct, there wouldn't be fire in the space where Harry Potter sleeps. He reached out and gently eased open the door. He and Lucius peered inside.
The fire-dragon was flying around the cupboard once more doing a double somersault before landing on Harry's shoulder. When he turned to look at the Fire? Dragon? Fire-dragon? That WAS NOT BURNING his clothes, he saw the faces in the doorway and let out a shriek. The fire-dragon winked out of existence as if it had never been, leaving behind the scent of burning wood and smoke.
"Was that...Fiendfyre?" Severus breathed, staring at the spot from which the fire-dragon had vanished.
"I...I think so," Lucius finally responded.
Harry shrank into himself and tried to disappear into the unfinished wood and cleaning supplies stored in the cupboard. Severus noticed his movement, and recognizing the actions as similar to his own youth, slowly reached out a hand towards the now-shaking boy.
"Hello, Harry, my name is Severus. I was a friend of your mother's, and this is Lucius, my friend," Severus stated in a soft voice, which none of his students had ever heard, and would likely have been even more frightened if they had.
"I don't have a mother," Harry said quietly. "Aunt Petunia said Mum and Dad died in a car crash because Mum was a whore and Dad was drinking, and why couldn't I have died, too."
Severus hissed at the confirmation that Petunia was indeed as vile as he remembered. Of course that startled the boy, who hunched back over. Lucius sent Severus a look that spoke volumes.
"Harry, it's okay. Severus knew your Mum and dad when they were in school and up until you were born. And your mum and dad didn't die in a car crash, something bad happened, and they were killed," said Lucius, trying to sound comforting.
"Like my dream?" Harry asked innocently.
"What dream is that, sweetheart?" Lucius responded.
"Well…" Harry thought for a moment if he wanted to share his dream with the strange men. "There's a man, with hair like mine and he makes colors come out of a stick. And then a lady with eyes like mine that sings to me. I always wanted them to be my parents, they seem so nice."
Severus and Lucius exchanged glances, thinking that he was indeed dreaming of his parents, but when they went to reassure him, he spoke again.
"Then the nice man is yelling, but not at me, and the soft lady is running up the stairs with me. She puts me in a crib, and I can hear her crying and asking someone to spare me. He says for her to step aside, but she tells him to kill her instead of me...and...and...and then there's green light and I'm all alone." Harry is sobbing by the end of his recounting.
"Oh, Harry…" Severus says, extending his arms again, this time for a hug. Harry looks at him confused, then seems to recognize the gesture as something Aunt Petunia does for Dudley when he's crying, and so he jumps off his mattress and barrels straight into the stoic man's arms.
While Severus focused on calming Harry, Lucius took a few moments to activate his aura sight and swept his gaze over the part of the house they were in. His sight had gradually been picking up larger and larger concentrations of Harry's magic over the course of the time he had been interacting with the Dursleys and he was hopeful this check would help him determine why. The kitchen was saturated in his magic, though there were paths where the muggles had clearly walked from the door to the refrigerator or snack cabinets since those had much lighter magic, but everything else was covered in Harry's magic. A look through the dining room showed much less magic, mainly a light coating over the table and sideboard. There was no concentration to tell him where Harry sat at the table. Indeed it looked like he had never been able to sit there.
The parlor showed two slight concentrations equally spaced from each other and the walls. Lucius found this odd as there were no pieces of furniture to correspond with those concentrations and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Harry would just stand in two random places in the room. A peek into the laundry area, which Lucius only identified due to the baskets of clothing, revealed another spike in Harry's magic. Clearly the kitchen and laundry were places Harry frequented.
But none of the locations on the first floor showed anything like the amount of magic Lucius could see pouring through the space in the small cupboard under the stairs where they found him. The only way this much magic was contained in one space was anathema to him, but he knew it to be true. That small cupboard was clearly Harry's bedroom, an observation confirmed by a small drawing of what had to be Harry, in crayon, with a childish scrawl declaring it Harry's Room.
Lucius returned to Severus and Harry after his inspection of the lower level, exchanged a meaningful glance with Severus, and gestured to indicate that Severus should try to get Harry seated and capable of coherent conversation. Severus gave Harry a slight squeeze of a hug and Harry nearly jolted right out of his lap. Severus chuckled, and ran a hand through Harry's hair to calm him.
"Harry?" Lucius asked, "do you think you could talk to us for a minute?"
Harry nodded, "You won't tell the Dursleys I talked, will you?"
"No," Severus said as he stood up, still holding Harry, and went into the parlor where he set Harry down on the sofa. Harry immediately scrambled off the furniture and sat on the floor in front of the chairs Lucius and Severus had chosen to sit in. Eyebrows raised on both men at Harry's action. Lucius cleared his throat and Severus leaned forward.
"Harry, why aren't you sitting on the couch?" Severus asked.
"I'm not allowed," Harry responded matter-of-factly.
Severus shook his head. Lucius picked up the questions.
"Harry, I have a very special skill that allows me to see auras, colors, left behind by people around me," Lucius simplified his skill for the youngster. "And that skill shows me that there are two places where you frequently are in this room." He pointed to the two locations, "Can you tell me why you are usually there?"
"That's where I stand to vacuum. Aunt Petunia wants the house vacuumed every day and if I stand in those two spots, I can reach the whole room," Harry said proudly.
"I see," Lucius said. "And in the kitchen and laundry area?"
"Oh, well, I do all the cooking and laundry, so I spend lots of time there," Harry said.
"Oh," Lucius said, somewhat at a loss. Here was a child admitting to doing all the work around the house at 8 years of age and acting as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Where do you sleep, Harry?" Severus stepped in when the pause grew long.
"In there," Harry said, pointing to the cupboard. "But please don't tell Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon I told you...I'm not supposed to tell." Harry whispered, looking a little scared the two men would get him into trouble.
"We won't," Severus said. It was clear to him that the conclusions Lucius had drawn almost a year ago at that blasted dinner party when he first recognized Harry were correct. He smirked a bit. And didn't that just make everything a little easier with what the goblins had planned for he and Lucius to do.
"I just have one more question before we tell you some things, and see what you want to do from now on. Does that sound okay?" Severus asked the small boy.
"Really, I get to choose?" the boy said excitedly.
"Indeed," Lucius interjected.
"Cool!" Harry said.
"When we came in, you were playing with a fire dragon, right? Where did it come from?" Severus asked.
"I don't know. I was sitting in my room, thinking about the bonfire my family went to across the street and wishing that I could see it, and even though I never turned the light on, I could see my hands. And then the fire grew and turned into a dragon and flew around!" Harry was excited again thinking about the fire dragon.
"And I have one more question." Lucius stated. "Have you ever experienced anything else different, sort of like the dragon. Something that you couldn't really explain?"
"Yeah...loads of times." Harry started. "You want to know about them?" he whispered, afraid they would tell him he was being strange or a freak.
"Yes, we would very much like to hear about them," Lucius responded.
"Well, the earliest one I can remember is when I was 3, the lightbulb broke in my cupboard. But whenever I flip the switch, it still turns on. Never when the Dursleys flip the switch, only me." the child said proudly when neither man berated him for his freakishness. "You wanna see?" He stood up from the floor.
"Certainly you should show us, but when you come back, we'd like it if you would sit on the sofa. Can you do that for us?" Lucius questioned. He made a mental note that this light switch story was an indication that his magic started manifesting around the time it should have.
"Well...If you aren't going to tell the Dursleys I talked, or told about the cupboard, you won't tell if I sit on the furniture, right?"
"Of course not." Severus said, standing as well. "Now run and show us the light."
Harry went over to the cupboard, opened the door and flipped the switch. A gentle light flooded the small space. Harry flipped the switch again to turn it off. He nodded to Severus as if to say, okay, it's your turn. So Severus flipped the switch and nothing happened. He inspected the bulb and saw that the filament was indeed broken inside the light bulb.
"That is quite impressive, young man," Lucius praised. Harry flushed in embarrassment, and ducked his head as they returned to the parlor. Harry almost sat on the floor but remembered the two men had asked him to sit on the couch.
"What were your names again?" Harry asked, before he launched into more of the strange things that had occurred around him.
"My apologies young Mr. Potter, we know who you are, but you do not know us very well. I am Lord Lucius Malfoy and this is my very dear friend, Lord Severus Prince," Lucius responded, somewhat haughtily. Then he winked and said, "but you may call us Lucius and Severus."
Harry giggled and nodded. "Lu-Lucius, and Sevimas, Seve-..." he trailed off, not being able to pronounce the rather odd sounding name.
"Severus, but your mother always called me Sev. You may do so as well if you wish," Severus allowed.
"Sev. It's nice to share something with my mum," Harry commented. "OK, so light in my cupboard. More strange things… Hmm...well, when I started working in the garden, sometimes I would bother the snakes that live under the rose bushes or over by the rocks and they would say things to me. And I could talk to them too! I always talk to the plants, and I feel like they understand, but it's probably just me talking." He shrugged like it wasn't important.
Lucius and Severus exchanged raised eyebrows at the indication that Harry was a Parselmouth, and possibly had some gift for earth magic if he could feel the flowers listening to him.
"Oh, and one summer I got really mad at Dudley, and when I stomped my foot, I swear the sidewalk rose up to trip him when he tried to chase me. He fell down and it was funny because normally he laughs at me when I fall down but I got to laugh at him that time. And one time I clapped my hands and everybody around me held their ears...I didn't think it was that loud, but I guess it was. And then at school when I was five, one of the teachers was yelling and it scared me, so I snapped my fingers, like I've seen Aunt Petunia do when she gets an idea, because I had the idea to get a blanket from the reading corner to cover my ears, but when I snapped, my teacher's hair turned blue! I didn't get to eat for a week after that." Harry said with a frown. "I don't know how his hair turned blue though."
Harry rubbed his head, "And I've been able to unlock the cupboard to sneak out for food at night since the summer I turned 5, and then that Christmas I was running away from Ripper, that's Aunt Marge's dog, even though she's not really my aunt, she's Dudley's aunt; anyways, I was running from Ripper and jumped, and wound up in a tree. Of course I had to sit up there until after midnight because Aunt Marge wouldn't call him off so I could get down. It was cold," Harry wrapped his arms around himself as if remembering the chill. "And then just the last two years, I can sometimes get a blanket or pillow to appear in my cupboard, and clothes that I work on seem to last longer and not get as dirty as the clothes I don't work on. I only wear clothes I've worked on when I'm outside now, it makes the laundry easier."
"But last October was the worst." Harry sighed as he started his tale. "Dudley and his friends were pestering me at school and I spun around looking for a place to hide behind the rubbish or recycling bins, and instead of being on the ground with the bins, I was on the roof. I had to do all the outside work until after dark, cook dinner, and I didn't eat 'cept for school for two weeks for that one. I still don't know how I wound up there," Harry said rather morosely. "I mean, sometimes I can get the chores to go faster, like concentrating really hard on the rag wiping the counters, and it will keep wiping the counters while I go sweep the floor, but I can't do that all the time, and it isn't very exciting."
Severus and Lucius were shocked. Harry Potter was sitting in this horrendous muggle parlor, explaining his magic, and punishments for it, something that was celebrated in the wixen world. He didn't even seem to be aware that he was not treated anything like how he should be treated. They had to get him to agree to the plan they had landed on with their goblin account managers, they wanted him out of this place at the first opportunity.
"Harry, those are marvelous things to be able to accomplish!" Lucius nearly gushed. The power this small child held was immense and he wanted to have a hand in helping him hone it.
"You should not have been punished for them at all," Severus included. Then he heaved a sigh and explained, "Harry, those things you can do are magic, and we can do them to. The colors Lucius can see are because of magic."
"But Uncle Vernon says there's no such thing as magic," Harry contradicted with a pout.
"Ah, but your uncle is a muggle, so for him, there is no magic. But your Aunt, now your aunt grew up with Lily, and Lily was a witch and could do magic, so I'd make a guess that she is a squib. But you, Harry, you're a wizard, and quite a good one from what you've mentioned." Severus couldn't believe Petunia hadn't told Harry about magic.
"Harry, we'd like to take you to the magical world, away from these people who make you cook their food, wash their clothes, clean their house, and do their yard work. We want you to come live with us and be a child and study hard and learn so you can be a great wizard one day. We have some friends, they are from a race called Goblins, which are very small with pointed ears and teeth, and they have helped us come up with a plan to get you away from here safely so you can learn about our world." Lucius laid out the situation in very simple terms.
"Where would I go?" Harry asked skeptically.
"Well, you'd live with me. You've seen my wife, Narcissa, and son, Draco, at the dinner parties here." Lucius paused and Harry nodded. "And Severus comes to visit quite often. In fact, I believe Draco is due to start his potions tutoring on weekends this year, so we'll see quite a lot of Severus for that." Lucius continued.
Severus nodded. "Indeed, Draco is starting potions, so I would be able to see you as well, Harry. And perhaps you could join his lessons. Would you like that?"
Harry nodded rather frantically. Then he looked a little shy, "Would you tell me about my mum?"
"Of course, child," Severus responded.
"I want to go with you," Harry said decisively, privately thinking that even if it was a trick, it was unlikely to be worse than his treatment here. "What do I need to do for the Goblins' plan?"
"First, you should pack up anything you want to bring with you," Lucius instructed. "But don't worry if you forget anything, Narcissa will want to take you shopping in the next day or two anyway for anything you need."
Harry nodded and ran back to the cupboard to grab his blue blanket with the embroidered lily and his initials, HJP, in the corner. As soon as he had it safely in hand, he dashed back to his seat in the parlor.
Severus raised an eyebrow, but Lucius spoke before he could comment. "Is that everything?" He paused and then continued, "That's fine then. We will need you to give us a few hairs from your head…" Almost before he had finished speaking, Harry was reaching up and yanking a few strands from the unruly mop of hair falling down in his face. "... Good."
Lucius pulled a very small box out of his pocket, drew his wand, and tapped the box making it grow very rapidly to the size of a large trunk. Harry's eyes grew nearly as big as saucers at that. Lucius opened the trunk and pulled out what appeared to be a doll, roughly the same size as Harry. Lucius took the hairs Harry so helpfully provided, and touched them to the head of the doll, waving his wand as he did so. When he removed his hand the hairs were attached to the head and vibrating very slightly. He gestured for Harry to step closer to him.
"Now, I need you to hold the doll's hands and concentrate VERY hard. Even harder than when you get the rag to keep wiping the counters or when you wish your cupboard would unlock. Can you do that?" Lucius asked.
Harry already had his hands wrapped around the hands of the doll, his eyes were closed, and a deep wrinkle was forming at his brow. Lucius nodded, even though Harry couldn't see him and began waving his wand in intricate patterns over Harry and the doll. The goblins had anchored ward stones inside the doll to function as its energy source and Lucius was acting as a conduit to transfer magic from Harry to the stones. The magical transfer would allow the doll to look and act like Harry, as well as continue to provide a focus for the wards the goblins said had been placed around the Dursley residence by Harry's magical guardian. Now that they knew who it was, even if the goblins hadn't been able to tell them directly, they were doubly angry. Because the family hadn't loved him, the wards that were anchored to Harry were deteriorating, pulling from Harry's magic to sustain themselves, which in turn was restricting the magic Harry had available to use himself. That was why sometimes he could do things magically and sometimes he could not.
Harry began to sway, and nearly fell right off his feet, but Severus was right there to catch him.
"Thanks, Sev," Harry slurred out before succumbing to sleep.
"I hope you've got enough, because he's out," Severus said to Lucius.
"I have," he replied. He finished waving his wand over the doll, and tapped the head once more. The appearance of the doll started to morph, matching Harry's messy black hair, vivid green eyes, and adopting the somewhat hunched posture that characterized the child, now sleeping on the sofa. The transfer of magic would also provide memories to the doll so Doll-Harry would act the way it should. The Dursleys should never notice that Harry had been replaced. And since they had been watching rather closely since the meeting with the goblins in January of this year, they knew his magical guardian wouldn't be visiting anytime soon. The two men placed Doll-Harry in the cupboard under the stairs, and returned to the parlor.
"Harry," Severus said gently. "I know you're tired, child, but you need to be awake for what we're about to do."
Harry grumbled and tried to turn over, only to feel hands stopping him.
"Come, dear one, open your eyes. You can sleep again as soon as we arrive, just a few more minutes," Lucius crooned to the sleepy boy.
" 'm wake," Harry mumbled, attempting to stand. He latched on to Severus' hand and his blanket as they walked out the front door.
"We're going to apparate, Harry," Severus explained. "I want you to close your eyes and hold your breath. I will spin on my foot, you will feel a very great pressure, similar to being sucked through a straw, you will hear a crack, and we will have arrived and you may sleep again."
Harry nodded, his eyes nearly closed again.
Severus nodded to Lucius, who turned on his foot and vanished with a crack. Harry perked up a bit at that, and turned to look at Sev. He nodded, and opened his arms. Harry stepped closer so Severus could pick him up. He really was quite small for an 8 year old. Severus shook his head to clear his thoughts, made sure the boy was ready, then focused on Malfoy Manor, spun on his foot and apparated.
Malfoy Manor
Harry was wiggling as soon as they landed at the manor, and Severus hastily set him down. As soon as he was put on his feet, he fell over and vomited. When he was finished, Lucius waved his wand and vanished the mess.
"What was that?" Harry questioned, still a bit green around the edges.
"That was apparition, and we wanted you awake so you wouldn't get sick in your sleep." Severus replied.
"It isn't very pleasant, I know," said Lucius, "but with time and practice it does get better. By the time you turn 17 you'll be able to do it yourself, and that's much easier than side-along apparition, which is what Severus just did with you."
"That was horrible," Harry said emphatically, blinking around at his surroundings.
They had arrived in the receiving room, Lucius having modified the wards to allow Harry through. Harry was looking around at everything like a small, curious cat, and the more he saw, the wider his eyes got. He had never seen such an amazing place.
Lucius and Severus exchanged chuckles as they guided him through the house and up to his new room. Though he was very excited by the house, by the time they arrived at his room, he was nearly asleep on his feet. Magical exhaustion and general tiredness had clearly caught up to him. A house elf changed his clothes for pajamas, and they tucked him in and wished him goodnight. He was asleep before they were even out of the room.