I am sorry it's taken so long to update, but I am back now.

As usual, I don't own anything. Please let me know what you think.

Harry Potter - The Spider-Man Burglar.

There were few things that really surprised Harry Potter anymore. At least that had been what he had originally thought before he had been forced to endure another spell of babysitting from Mrs Figg before he had gently hypnotised her and sent her to sleep so he could spend some time to himself with the cats.

Harry had found that he got along better with Mrs Figg's cats without the old woman present, and he also had the time to look around the property once he had her arranged comfortably on the settee. He had gone upstairs and he had checked the rooms Mrs Figg had never allowed him to venture inside before now for some bizarre reason although he guessed it was because she was just trying to maintain some semblance of privacy even if her reactions whenever his childish mind had dared him to go near the rooms had been over the top.

Yes, well now with the woman asleep and would likely be asleep for some time downstairs, Harry was free to explore those rooms while making sure he didn't disturb anything Mrs Figg would quickly notice. The woman may have been as nutty as a fruitcake, but he didn't know her that well to know what she was really like behind closed doors.

Harry had walked to the door of one of the rooms and he had checked it to see if it was locked. It was but there was no key.

That wasn't a problem. He simply unlocked the door with his mind and slipped slowly inside.

Harry wasn't entirely sure what he was going to find inside the room, but even he was surprised when he saw the pictures of people, some of whom even had a resemblance to the slumbering woman downstairs, who were moving in the frames.

He tilted his head in surprise as he watched them move, wondering if he had just seen things. Yeah, that was it. The only explanation. He must be seeing things; being able to hypnotise people and making them do whatever he wanted within reason, clinging to walls like Spider-Man, being able to open and close doors was strange enough, but this…this was weird.

Harry closed his eyes, saying to himself in his mind I am seeing things, I am seeing things, the pictures are not moving. He repeated the mantra over and over again. He reopened his eyes and stared at the photograph. He scowled when he saw the picture was moving still. But he had to admit to himself now it was no illusion. The pictures were moving. Harry sighed and looked away from the pictures, dismissing them for the time being as a mystery which could be solved later. In the meantime he went through the rest of the room, opening and closing the drawers carefully while at the same time being extremely careful not to make too much of an unholy mess in case Figg realised what he had done.

It didn't take long for him to find something interesting.

It was a letter. Harry sat down and read through it, but as he read it he felt his anger grow. After a moment when he had calmed down, Harry re-read the letter again.

Dear Arabella,

Thank you for your letter regarding young Harry's wellbeing. I know it is hard for you to accept, the watching over of a magical child. But please remember, you are doing a great service by watching over Harry Potter, who will save us all from Lord Voldemort (my apologies for frightening you with reminding you of the name, my dear; but remember, fear of a name only increase the fear of the thing itself), and when Voldemort returns as I know he will, muggle-borns, squibs like yourself, and many others will be at risk.

Harry frowned, confusion warring with his growing anger that someone was having Mrs Figg watch him when she was perhaps the most useless watcher in the world. Squibs? Muggle-borns? What the fuck are they? Is this someone's idea of a joke? Magic?

He was tempted to just throw the letter away, convinced it was nothing more than the mad ravings of a pair of cranks…but he didn't. He remembered his strange powers, his ability to crawl and run along walls, his ability to hypnotise and control people, and how he could open doors. Is that….magic? he asked himself.

Yeah, he was tempted to dismiss the letter as the work of cranks playing a joke, but there was no way he could excuse everything he was seeing unless the Dursleys had paid off a number of people into playing a very long prank on him. Harry considered the idea, and he quickly dismissed it. No, the Dursleys wouldn't do this. Yeah, they would humiliate him, but the long game… it wasn't their style. The Dursleys didn't have the brains or the resources to play a long prank on anyone, and in any case, while it would humiliate him in the long run, they preferred less elaborate methods.

He continued reading the letter, the part which had pissed him off.

Regarding young Harry's living arrangements….I am pleased that the plan for the Dursleys to toughen him up by verbally and physically abusing and neglecting him is going according to plan. While Harry is not related to the Dursleys in any way, given how Lily was adopted by the Evans family, I had enough blood stored from Lily to make the blood protection scheme work, while at the same time Harry's own magic is tied into the wards.

Yes, I am more than aware of how unpleasant the Dursleys are; I have placed spells on them to augment their natural hatred of magic, and I have made Harry the outlet of their fear for the unknown.

It is for the Greater Good young Harry is forced to accept hardships of life in order to make the ultimate sacrifice for the Light. It will be great experience for him until he comes to Hogwarts. I know it is tragic, but these sacrifices have to be made.

Please continue to monitor the situation according to plan.

Yours Faithfully,

Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore.

There was a list of titles that Harry didn't understand but he ignored them in favour of trying hard to control his temper, and while he did that he willed himself to think rationally about what he had learnt. Someone had deliberately placed him with the Dursleys, someone who had wanted him to be abused. Harry reread the letter again, going back to the part that mentioned someone called Lord Voldemort.

Weird name, but whoever this Voldemort was, they were clearly someone whom Harry did not want to know, especially if he was someone who committed mass murder against these muggle-borns and squibs, whoever they were.

Harry shook his head. Like with the pictures, he decided to push that aside until he knew enough to understand it. It was likely to happen much later in the future. In the meantime, he decided to just reason everything out. This Dumbledore, he reasoned, had placed him with the Dursleys - it surprised him a great deal he wasn't even related to Petunia (he had never considered the woman an aunt before, regardless of whatever she had said to him, but the bitch had gotten her wish - they weren't related, but what surprised him was that someone was using his magic -magic - to protect them) - having him abused both mentally and physically.

But what else did he have in mind? There must be more. Dumbledore had written that until he (Harry) went to this Hogwarts place (what was Hogwarts?)

He also wanted him to make the ultimate sacrifice after being abused, but if the bastard thought he was going to lay down his life for a bunch of cowards who got their kicks sending kids to abusive homes, well this Dumbledore geezer was going to have his neck snapped in the most painful way possible.

After reading through the letter a few times but not finding any more meaning, Harry went through the other letters inside the drawer to see what else he could learn. He wanted to find out more about this Dumbledore and his motivations, but he wanted to learn more about this Voldemort. As for the letters…. There was a whole stack of them, and as he checked them he saw that they went back in time years.

"He's had me watched all this time," Harry whispered, scanning one letter after another. They didn't explain much about the magical world, except that he would be entering it when he was eleven years old. If he had been hoping for the letters to give some more hints about Voldemort, or what Dumbledore wanted to use him for, Harry was in for a disappointment. Dumbledore's letters were extremely vague about the long term goals, he just kept talking about sacrifices that needed to made for a greater good, but he didn't write anything more than that. But then Harry didn't need to really imagine what the wizard had in mind.

He wanted Harry to die for a cause. He didn't care if Harry was happy or downtrodden, it seemed more likely he wanted Harry to be downtrodden so then he'd likely look up at Dumbledore and do what he wanted. As he flicked through the letters before he finally finished reading the last one in the collection Mrs Figg had kept there for god knew what reason, Harry guessed the old wizard was a few cells short of a brain. Dumbledore kept talking crap about how he, Harry, was going to save them all from Voldemort, making unfounded predictions of his personality and his future, saying he would be good, generous, kind, and forgiving.

Harry snorted. "Yeah, right, you old bastard. I'll forgive you after I've finished murdering your friends."

There were quite a few references to something called "the Order," but there was nothing substantial about them since it was obviously some kind of group Dumbledore headed up and Figg was a part of, and what would be the point of Dumbledore mentioning anything about his group with another member?

What he didn't like reading about was the blood ward things that were supposed to be protecting him from harm while the Dursleys were meant to keep him weak, and in Dumbledore's own words - he wrote it half a dozen times in different letters - the weaker he was the more malleable he was.

Harry put the letters away, deciding he wasn't going to get anything more out of them, and he just sat and thought quietly for a moment while he went over everything he had just heard.

This Voldemort, he was clearly a dangerous and powerful wizard who had murdered Harry's own parents. Dumbledore had then left him with the Dursleys and placed him under a protection scheme while knowing full well Petunia was not even related to her so-called nephew although thanks to the blood coming from his mother he would still be alive while living in that house. Harry thought the whole thing almost too elaborate, not only did Dumbledore leave him there did to make sure he was looked after but was beaten until he was malleable for Dumbledore's purposes. As he thought about it, Harry guessed Dumbledore wanted him to look at the older wizard as a hero for getting him away from the Dursleys.

Yeah, right.

Dumbledore wanted him in Hogwarts, and during that time it was logical, especially when he considered the ultimate sacrifice thing, to believe Dumbledore would push him through one mess after another. As for this ultimate sacrifice…

Harry took in a deep breath. It was obvious what that meant. He wanted Harry to sacrifice himself to kill this Voldemort. Child soldiers….The whole concept not only sickened Harry, it angered him because it meant adults were too fucking cowardly to do their own dirty work.

Now he was left trying to work out what he was going to do about the problem. He didn't know anything about Dumbledore or Voldemort, except they were undoubtedly powerful, but he would make them regret coming after him. He should be entering the magical world in a few years, and Dumbledore would probably expect him to be a proper little hero, a goody-goody who worshipped him.

The Dursleys were a part of the scheme. Their job was to beat him and make him malleable to the point where he would willingly trust anyone who helped him, but Harry had no intention of following the scheme. He hated the thought of being part of a plan which would see him die.

Harry had no intention of dying or being part of some insane plan to see him killed off. He leaned back thoughtfully, thinking about his plans. He saw no reason not to leave the Dursleys like he had planned out previously, but now a part of him was wondering if it was a good idea after all.

While the Dursleys were scum and were abusive mentally and physically towards him, Harry knew where he stood with them, and he could handle them.

This Dumbledore, well he was different. How could he know more about the man from reading a few letters? He only knew the Dursleys because he had lived with them for a long time. Dumbledore was someone whom he didn't know, and Harry wondered what would happen when the pair of them met.

The more he thought about it, Harry guessed this wizard would be subtle and would likely gain his trust. In any case, Harry had read small tidbits about how Dumbledore insinuated that he'd become Harry's mentor.

"Not likely," Harry growled under his breath, knowing that sort of trust meant Dumbledore would come to have an intimate knowledge of his younger victim. "But what do I do? I could escape the Dursleys easily, but would that tip my hand? Hold it a second. Is Dumbledore the reason why I sometimes have that voice in my head, saying to me the Dursleys are my family, that I should stay with them? It looks like it, it also hints the lengths the old bastard is willing to go through to keep me in this part of the world. What are my options if I do try to escape the Dursleys? I could escape into London, become a burglar freely without having to hide. I could do whatever I want, and at the same time I could pick up other skills that will prove to be useful to me in the future. In any case, it would be better to learn new skills rather than mentally rot in this dump all the time. If I escape the Dursleys, would Dumbledore realise I know about the magical world already even if I can't get there? Would he know where I am? That's a nasty thought. Wait," he whispered when he considered something important, "I do know someone who knows how to get into the Wizarding World, and they're currently asleep downstairs."

Harry left the room after putting the letters away - he planned to come back soon at some point later, and go through the letters again - and he went downstairs. Mrs Figg was still asleep while her cats milled around her.

Harry waved them aside. He waved his hand around the woman, mentally willing the woman to wake up. As soon as she was asleep, Harry concentrated all of his powers of hypnotism on the woman. "Look into my eyes," Harry ordered, pushing more of his power, his magic, into the command.

Unable to resist, Mrs Figg looked into Harry's eyes and she quickly found herself lost under the spell.

"Are you a witch?" Harry asked.

"No, I am a squib; a child born into a magical family, but is not capable of magic."

Harry frowned, wondering how that happened for a moment. He was curious about the magical world, but after a second of further thought, he dismissed it uncaringly. "Why are you here?"

"I was given the task of watching over Harry Potter until he was ready to enter the Wizarding World. I am to report any instances of magical activity and to report any instances in case Harry Potter goes missing."

Goes missing…

A thought popped into Harry's mind. "And has Harry Potter gone missing?" he asked, wondering momentarily why he was speaking about himself in the third person before he dismissed it; the woman was under his spell, and she was just repeating her orders.

"Yes."

"And what happened?" Harry asked, tightly holding onto his growing fear.

"Each time Harry would be taken back to his relatives, the Dursleys. He would have his memory removed, and compulsion charms were placed on him to keep him at the Dursleys."

Hearing that was enough to confirm his worst fears concerning Dumbledore, and it made Harry wonder if there was any way he could escape the Dursleys after all.

"Why does Dumbledore want Harry Potter to remain at the Dursleys?" he asked, wanting a personal answer and not something written down in a letter.

"Harry Potter was prophesied to be the one who would rid the world of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. On the night his parents were killed by the Dark Lord, Harry Potter was marked by the evil wizard. He has a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead; many people have speculated about the scar, but Albus Dumbledore claims the scar is actually a Horcrux."

"A what?" Harry whispered, his mind reeling as he took in the dimensions of the web of intrigue around him.

"A piece of the soul, created by a dark ritual designed to create immortality. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named cannot die if all of the Horcruxes he has created are intact."

"I see," Harry began to see Dumbledore's plans for this ultimate sacrifice. He wanted Harry to willingly lay down his life and die, taking the Dark Lord with him. The thought gave him a new question. "What is Dumbledore's long term plan to deal with the Horcruxes, and what does he plan to do with Harry Potter?"

"Dumbledore plans on sending Rubeus Hagrid, his trusted henchman although the stupid half-giant doesn't see it like that, to pick Harry up and take him to get his school supplies. At the same time, Dumbledore wants Hagrid to collect a dangerous magical artefact to wet Harry's interest, and have Hagrid warn him about Slytherin."

"Slytherin, what is that?"

"Hogwarts is divided into four houses. Slytherin is considered to be the darkest house, as it is the home of many former Death Eaters."

Harry thought about the explanation for a moment, wondering to himself if there was more to the reason than what he had expected. He decided to think and worry about it later, he had an interrogation to get through. He took a glance at the clock nearby, and he realised this could take longer than he had expected. "What else does Dumbledore plan to do?"

"Dumbledore plans on Harry being watched by the Weasley family, they are one of his staunchest followers. At the same time, the boy will be dosed up on potions to make him more malleable to Dumbledore's point of view. At the same time, he would be kept to a certain level of magical knowledge so he doesn't learn too much, so he cannot slip his leash. Dumbledore and the Weasley family will keep Harry away from the goblins of Gringotts as they have the legal and financial power to help him. As the years pass, Harry will be pushed into one dangerous situation after another, while the rest of the student body turns on him regularly in order to make him take the forgiving view in the long term, and make him accept his fate."

Only the fact the woman was in a hypnotic trance prevented Harry from breaking her neck, especially when she added the leash bit. It made him sound like a pet, or a poor monkey being tormented by an organ grinder. He had to remind himself she was just another lackey of the old wizard.

"Why is Dumbledore doing this? Why can't he just remove the Horcrux?"

"He can't. He says it is impossible to remove a Horcrux," Mrs Figg replied in a matter of fact manner. "The only way to deal with them is to destroy the container."

Can't or won't? Harry thought to himself, considering his next questions. "Why was Harry Potter left with the Dursleys if he was not related to them, and what is the protection?"

"Dumbledore handed the mudblood Lily Potter a book on blood magic, knowing she would read it. Lily used the blood magic protections as they were strong enough to prevent He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named from killing Harry Potter. The blood magic was strong to prevent the killing curse from killing Harry Potter, and it left protection on the boy. Dumbledore had already collected some of the mudblood's blood-."

"Wait, what does mudblood mean?" Harry asked.

"It is slang against muggle-born wizards and witches; many witches and wizards believe muggleborns are inferior since they do not have magical ancestry," Mrs Figg replied.

"And muggleborns come from the non-magical world, I assume?"

"Correct."

I can guess how you feel about non-magical people, you old bitch. In any case, you can talk; you can't even do magic. In fact, if it weren't for your cats, I would murder you right now for what you have done to me! Harry thought to himself while aloud he said, "Carry on, you were saying Dumbledore had collected Lily's blood. What did he do with it to protect Harry Potter, and where do the Dursleys come into it?"

"Dumbledore placed a blood ward over the boy. He purposefully left the boy with his supposed muggle relatives with the hopes their treatment of him would make him malleable," Figg replied.

"Who else knows of this plan?"

"Dumbledore, and the senior members of the Order of the Phoenix."

"What is the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry asked.

"It is an organisation founded by Albus Dumbledore when he was fighting covertly against the Dark Lord Grindelwald. Dumbledore kept the organisation going when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named began his war."

"Who are the senior members?"

"Albus Dumbledore. Minerva McGonagall. Remus Lupin. Alastor Moody. Daedalus Diggle. Molly and Arthur Weasley. Sturgis Podmore."

Harry had gone off and he had grabbed a piece of paper and he wrote down the names, and a warning never to trust them ever. "Why do you refer to Voldemort as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" he asked, while he made sure the hypnotic spell was still strong.

Mrs Figg's face was still expressionless, and her voice could have come from a puppet for all the emotion it showed. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named cast a taboo curse over the magical world," she explained. "Every time someone spoke his name, he would personally attack or send his followers. The speaker's death was long, drawn-out, and terrifying."

Ah, that explains it, then, Harry thought to himself, mentally picturing a cloaked wizard murdering someone just for saying their name. He thought about what he had just learnt. He had so many more questions, but he knew he could find out the answers later, one of them was what the Order got out of his death, but he could ask that in a bit. Right now he had more questions on his mind.

"How do muggleborns enter the magical world?"

"Through the Leaky Cauldron pub in Central London," Mrs Figg said.

Harry held out the piece of paper. "Take this paper," he ordered. "Write down the exact place and address of the pub, and how to get in."

Mrs Figg wrote it down and Harry took the paper from her before he stuffed it in his pocket.

"Do the Order of the Phoenix agree with this plan?" he asked.

"Yes," Mrs Figg replied.

Harry wondered for a moment if that was completely true. Maybe some of the Order agreed with it amongst themselves, but what about when they were in private? Unfortunately, he knew Mrs Figg could not tell him. He had another question in mind, and he wanted this one asked. It was the golden question to his problems.

"How does Dumbledore know if Harry Potter is at Number 4 or not?"

"Dumbledore has spells on him to monitor it. Harry is weaved into the wards. As long as he sees the place as home, he would be protected. Dumbledore also has spells on him to monitor if he is there or not. At the same time, he has a spell on the house to monitor the interior of the house to ensure Harry Potter's safety, although only when the Dursleys beat him too severely."

Harry supposed that made sense although he was momentarily scared by what he had just learnt; if Dumbledore figured he was a burglar with knowledge of his magic, no matter how rudimentary if he wanted to keep him to a certain level… "So, all Harry Potter has to do is to just say if he doesn't see the house as home or not, and the spells would be broken, yes?"

"That is correct," Mrs Figg replied, unaware of the revolutionary idea he had in mind.

Harry thought about everything he had heard. He came to a decision. "Mrs Figg, look into my eyes," he said, focusing his power of hypnosis on the woman again.

Mrs Figg looked into his eyes.

"You will not remember anything. You will go to sleep. When the Dursleys knock on the door, you will wake up immediately and you will not report any problems to the Dursleys," he said. "Also, you will carry on with your assignment given to you by Dumbledore, do you understand? You will have no further memory of this meeting. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good," Harry leaned back in his seat. "Now go to sleep."

Mrs Figg went back to sleep. Harry looked down at her for a moment, and then he stood up and went back upstairs. He had to reread the letters, and quickly. Harry had to rethink his plans, and fast. His mind went over everything he had just heard, and he recalled Figg's talk about the goblins. He would have to find a way to speak to them.