Recap: Harry receives a letter from Ron and Hermione inviting him to the Burrow. Harry replies positively.
Harry sat down on his bed in his so called bedroom. This would probably be one of the last days he could call this his bedroom. He would be leaving the Dursleys house tomorrow at noon. Though Harry wasnt quite fond of the Dursley's or Number 4 Privet Drive, the Dursley's had given him a home after his parents had died and he knew he had to be thankful for that.
Harry knew he owed them an explanation about what was happening; he couldn't just leave without telling them. They had given him a home no matter how grudgingly and had completed the ancient magic that had, and would continue to protect him until July 31st when he would trun seventeen and become a man.
A shiver ran down his spine aat the thought what lay ahead of him. The long winding journey to the final battle, where all would be decided. The future of the wizarding world and probably the Muggle world too, resided on this scrawny, raven haired, bespeckled boy.
Harry sighed and lay down across his bed covers and decided he would leave the explaining and goodbyes till tomorrow. Harry didn't really expect the Dursley's to understand his predicament or even care that he was leaving. They would probably be overjoyed at the prospect of Harry leaving them.
The Dursley's would finally be able to live their lives in utter normalcy asa they pleased. They could finally be able to pretend that Harry never existed and go back to pretending there was no such thing as the wizarding world. Some years would pass they may even be able to convince themselves that Harry was simply a figment of their imagination.
Harry shook his head. What did he care about what the Dursley's thought if him? They had never treated him fairly or as their own child; he was always shunted into Dudley's humungous shadow. Harry closed his mind to thoughts of his "talk" with the Dursley's and changed his train of thought to the task at hand...
Harry had to pack his belongings which had increased to an alarmingly high rate since he had started at Hogwarts in his first year. Even though he and his two best friends weren't planning on going back to Hogwarts, he couldn't just dump all his school things at the Dursley's doorstep. It was probably best to elude Ron's parents that they were going back to Hogwarts until Ron found it was the right time to tell them.
The trio was planning on locating and destroying the remaining Horcruxes. Their journey would begin at Godric's Hollow, the place where it all began for Harry. Even though he would have rather faced this journey alone, he knew they would never allow that. Harry was very thankful that his friends were by his side. He knew his they wouldn't let him give up at times that he felt hopeless and that they would help him through the tough times that undoubtedly lay ahead.
The sound of Dudley's footsteps approaching from overhead awoke Harry from his deep pool of thought. Thankfully, Dudley passed Harry's bed room and headed for the kitchen. Big Surprise, Harry thought and chuckled to himself. He slowly got up and followed Dudley.
Harry looked around at his aunt's kitchen; this would be one of the last timed he would ever eat breakfast in this meticulously clean room. This kitchen held many of Harry's most dreaded and favorite memories. Most dreaded being when Aunt Marge continually harassed him and his parents. This was also where Harry was blamed for using a Hover Charm, when it was actually Dobby the house-elf that had destroyed Aunt Petunia's dessert. A particularly fond memory of his was when he had accidentally let his temper take control and had made his aunt swell up like a balloon.
Harry smiled to himself, thinking about what had happend in this very kitchen for the past sixteen years of his life. He was snapped out of his reverie by the timer ringing on the toaster. He poured himself a glass of milk and sat down on the table across from Uncle Vernon who was busy scanning the cover of a newspaper. Harry attempted to start a conversation, which was something he would never normally do but considering the circumstances he thought it was best to get the "talk" over with.
"Er...Uncle Vernon, I..I'm planning on leaving tomorrow at noon to go to my er... friends house." Harry waited but instead of speaking, Uncle Vernon exchanged a mysterious look with his wife. Harry stared at them curiously and tried to form the words he knew he would have to say sooner or later but failed miserably, which is how the rest of breakfast went.
After Harry told Uncle Vernon of his departure at noon tomorrow, Uncle Vernon, for some reason unknown to Harry, had started eating hs breakfast at break-neck speed and was out the door for work before Harry could utter a single word. It was no use tring to talk to Aunt Petunia, for she had already started her morning ritual of vigorously cleaning the already spotless kitchen.
So much for seizing the opportunity Harry thought, and he would have to try again tomorrow. For now, he had the task of packing his wide range of belongings. Harry finished up his breakfast and headed for his room. Upon entering, he pondered for a moment on how he was possibly going to fit all his stuff into his trunk without using magic. He decided that he would try and fit as much as possible into his trunk now, and would gather up the bulkier items and leave them next to his trunk. When the Weasley's would arrive, they would perform the shrinking spell and help him pack all of his possessions.
Harry slowly worked his way through all the little nooks and crannies of his small but full bedroom. The final place he cleaned out was under his bed where he found old letters, an interesting array of sweet wrappers and quite a bit of miscellaneous things.
The sun was slowly setting across the well trimmed little houses of Privet Drive. Harry Potter had finally packed all of his things untidily into his trunk and moved all the bulkier things in a pile in the corner of his room. He slowly got up and looked around his bare bedroom, thinking about how just hours before it looked much more like the room he barged into or was usually forced into when he'd had a row with one of the Dursley's.
Harry exited his room for dinner. He had skipped lunch to finish packing his things, so now his stomach had been giving off a series of low growls at regular intervals for the past hour and a half.
Dinner was a quiet affair, nobody spoke of Harry's decsion to leave tommorow. Harry was not stupid enough to bring up the conversation at breakfast or the curious looks that the two older Dursley's continued to shoot each other, as if waiting for the other to act. Dudley however, was oblivious to the tension in the room, he was too engrossed in eating the large amounts of food in front of him to notice that the dinner table was unusually quiet.
Small bits of chit chat passed around the table, but it was nothing compared to the usual fortay of noise. As dinner commenced on a silent note, Harry headed back to his room. He laid down onto his bed after changing into his pajamas and waited for sleep to overtake his restless mind.
When it finally came, Harry's dreams were filled with shouting matches with the Dursley's and his parents oddly continued to weave in and out of Harry's dreams. His subconscious continued to drift as he came upon a particularly peculiar replay of the night he had dicovered he was a wizard.
As Aunt Petunia started to insult his mother, Harry thought ruefully that Aunt Petunia was jealous her and how much attention she had gotten from their parents. He couldn't help but wonder about if Aunt Petunia had also been given the gift of magic she wouldn't so bitter.
Soon, the sun poured in through Harry's small window, and he woke up with a feeling of dread, for he knew what was about to come next wasn't going to be so enjoyable. Harry slowly got dressed, still half asleep. He headed down to breakfast determined, his goal clear in his mind. As Harry entered the kitchen nobody noticed him arrive, or more likely they were all just ignoring him. Harry cleared his throat to announce his presence in the room. The Dursley's could pretend no more that he wasn't there, and each glanced up at him and then returned to their breakfast.
Harry noticed discouragingly; the tension of last night hadn't evaporated. He walked over to the counter and picked up a chocolate chip muffin. Harry wasn't really hungry but he needed something to do with his hands instead of letting them lie stupidly on the table.
He began. "Er...I h-have something to er...tell you."
The attention of all three Dursley's snapped onto him, as if they had been waiting the whole time for him to speak. He was taken aback by their sudden attentiveness and was at a loss for words.
Uncle Vernon broke the silence, "Well, get on with it boy, we don't have all day!"
"You know th-that wizard m-my parents were killed by", Harry began. "Well, you know that he's back and...well there's this...er...well prophe-"
Uncle Vernon cut him off once again by exclaiming, "Yes yes, we know he's back, but somebody failed to tell us how he came back from the dead", he said as he stared at Harry disbelievingly
"Well you see he was never really dead..."
From the looks that Harry saw the Dursley's give him after he said that made him decide not to get into the details, it would be probably be easier that way.
"Let's just say that he was very weak and was in hiding for the past fourteen years and now he regained his full strength." Harry explained as patiently as possible. "So now that he's back, I...I'm the only one that can destroy him, so this year I'm not planning on going back to my school. My friends and I are going to find Voldemort and kill him." Harry said his voice slowly gaining confidence.
"So let me get this straight, you're going after some Voldy-nutter who killed you'r parents?" Uncle Vernon said inquiringly. Harry replied positively by slightly shaking his head yes.
"But what about D-Dumbledore?" Aunt Petunia whispered in an oddly hushed voice. That was the first time she spoke all morning, her face seemed paler than usual and she seemed to be dreading the answer to her question.
"He's dead, and he was one of the most powerful wizards of all time. He was killed a few weeks ago." Harry mumbled, for it was still painful to speak about Dumbledore's death.
A few minutes passed and no one spoke until Aunt Petunia said, "Why...why are you doing this to yourself, you could live a pleasant life with your people. Why do you have to be brave like my sister and her husband?"
"Don't you understand? I don't have a choice, Voldemort wants to kill me and he usually gets what he wants, but I can't just wait around for him to find me. I am the only one that can kill him. He killed almost everyone that I have ever loved, my parents, godfather, and now Dumbledore too." he said as one solitary tear trailed down his face. For some reason, Harry felt they had to understand his situation.
The two older Dursley's gave each other nervous glances before Uncle Vernon said, "Th...There's been er...something that we have been keeping from you."
"It was your...your parents and that Dumby fellow that told us to give it to you when you were to leave our house." Aunt Petunia picked up where he left off. "We don't know what it is but you are supposed to open it when you leave here." Harry now understood the why his aunt and uncle had been giving each other these unreadable looks.
She handed Harry a small tattered wooden chest which he accepted obligingly. He was surprised that they had kept this away from him for so long and he was thankful that they had given it to him. Harry muttered a soft "Thank You" to the Dursley's who nodded in unison to respond.
Before anymore words could be exchanged, the moment was shattered by a sudden rush of wind and rainbow colors. The Weasley's had arrived, each of them lying on the kitchen floor. Harry noticed that Ron had grown, if possible even taller then before, the twins were the same as usual and Mr. Weasley was as balding as ever. Slowly each of the four people stood up with the help of Harry and greeted him warmly.
As Mr. Weasley stood up, he greeted the Dursley's who replied stiffly, but it was better than nothing, Harry thought.
"Do you want help with your trunk, Harry?" Ron asked.
"We'll come too," Fred offered.
So Harry, Ron, Fred, and George headed towards Harry's now vacant room. It was hardly big enough to fit all four of them in there, including Harry's stuff. Ron did the charm to shrink Harry's things and helped to quickly pack up Harry's remaining possessions. George bewitched Harry's trunk to fly through the hallway and back into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, the Dursley's and Mr. Weasley were standing in an awkward silence. "We best be going now," Mr. Weasley said. He took the old can he was holding and bewitched it into a portkey. Harry placed a finger on the object and held Hedwig's cage in the other hand.
Harry heard a last good bye from the Dursley's before being engulfed by a rainbow of color. He felt the familiar jerking sensation in his navel and seconds later the burrow came into veiw.
Harry's jaw dropped at the sight of two figures coming towards them. He let out a hardly audible gasp as the figures approached them...