Chapter I – Visit to Privet Drive
The air was hot, humid, and miserable the day Harry Potter arrived at number four Privet Drive, less than twenty-four hours after the funeral of Albus Dumbledore. Neither a sparrow could be spotted in the sky, nor a child at play in the streets who was willing to endure the bright beams of light shooting off of the scorching sun. Ron and Hermione had reluctantly agreed to wait at the deteriorating park down the street while Harry went to bid his final good-byes to his most loathed and yet last remaining family, the Dursleys. Harry thought that, considering the fact that this was the last time he would ever speak to them, it was only the right thing to do to inform them of the recent occurrences at Hogwarts and what precautions they might take.
Sweat was gathering on the back of Harry's neck and brow by the time he reached the driveway due to the baking sunlight, and Harry's typically messy hair was more muddled than usual from his lack of sleep the night before. He felt strange walking up the steps towards the house where nothing had changed. Where nothing had yet managed to pierce the hearts of the ones inside, save for perhaps the knowledge of his coming.
As Harry stood on the doorstep staring at the tarnished doorknocker ahead, he realized that this would be his first step into reality; his first step into a life being lived normally; his first step forward, when all his wished to do was take a step back. Back before Dumbledore died, before Sirius died, and before his life had turned into a continuous burial of the ones he loved. Suddenly the rusting knocker became blurry and Harry realized he had tears in his eyes. He knew he had to move on with his life. Sorrow would only prevent him from completing the challenging task left to him by Dumbledore. He would not dwell on the past when so much of the future depended on him.
Finally, without thinking, Harry reached forward and banged on the door three times. He could hear some rustling about, irritated voices, and clamoring dishes mixed with the drone of television. Harry took a deep breath, dreading the moment the door opened and hoping this would go as smoothly and quickly as possible.
Eventually the door opened. Vernon stood there blocking the entrance with a look of utter repulsion covering his hefty face as Petunia cowered behind him, eyes shifting around at Harry's surroundings like an alert hummingbird expecting to be tackled at any moment. Then Harry nearly jumped at a booming sound coming from inside the house and knew instantly that Dudley must be coming down the stairs.
"Er – hi," Harry said attempting to mild the death-like stares that were being thrown at him. He was half annoyed and half amused at the senselessness of his Aunt and Uncle. "Just let me in. I'm not staying."
"If you're not staying, then why do you feel a need to enter at all?" Uncle Vernon asked smartly as if he had brilliantly trapped Harry in a secret that no other could have possibly discovered. Harry took a deep breath, trying to control his irritation.
"Look, I don't really have time for this. My friends are waiting for me, I have to go to the wedding of my best mate's brother in a few days, and believe me, I don't want to be here anymore then you want me to. However, this being the last time I ever plan on speaking to you, I just thought you would like to know some ways to not die in the next few months and why you might die in the first place." Expressions of confusion, rage, and panic slid over the faces of the Dursleys. Harry glanced at his wristwatch to find the time at a quarter past four. He had told Ron and Hermione he would need until half past four and he definitely didn't want to waste time waiting for the Dursleys to come back to their senses. So, while they held their dumbstruck faces Harry shoved past Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia into the house and into the living room where he would explain to them what had happened, thus hastening his departure from the foul house overcome with . Soon all three of the Dursleys followed him into the living room and all but Vernon took a seat on the couch as Harry gestured.
"So boy, have you got that gray-haired, disintegrating old wiz- I mean, old man hiding around here somewhere too? Gon'to have him give us a little chat again are you?" Vernon said, face beginning to turn over in several shades of maroon. Harry's heart stung at the sound of Dumbledore's name being mentioned in such context, and he couldn't help feeling the recently empty pit in his chest begin to boil up in anger. Foul-talk towards himself Harry could handle, but towards Dumbledore; Harry simply wouldn't have it.
"Don't you dare," Harry said quietly but angrily.
"What was that, boy?" Vernon challenged, still standing, but appearing to grow a good ten centimeters right before Harry's eyes.
"I said, don't you dare speak of him in that manner or you'll regret it. Now sit down." Vernon was alarmed at Harry's aggressiveness, but something told him to do what Harry said, so he slowly lowered his enormous body into an easy chair beside the couch that Petunia and Dudley were sitting on.
"All right, now listen. Dumbledore has been killed; killed by someone who he believed to be an ally during this war. Voldermort has secret spies everywhere and it is likely he will come after you lot in search of me, so," but before Harry could continue, all three of the Dursleys gasped and Vernon stood up, greatly resembling a cauldron boiling over with a bubbling, prune-colored potion. Petunia was stark white, and Dudley's face couldn't be seen because he had it buried in his mother's shoulder, crying shrilly like a sensitive, baby giant.
"Hang on!" Harry yelled. But it was Vernon's turn to speak.
"So you mean to tell me, boy, that this Voldy - " there was a pause in the room while Vernon contemplated the pronunciation of this name. " – guy is gon'to come after us cause you did something upset him?" Harry took a deep breath.
"No. The only reason he may come after you lot is because my parents gave birth to me and I had more power as a new-born baby then he did as full-grown, fully trained wizard. He's trying to kill me, and since he is unaware of the fact that I dislike all of you, he might try to kill or kidnap you as form of revenge." Harry was surprised that the addressing of the word 'wizard' didn't cause an even bigger uproar, for the Dursleys appeared speechless. He couldn't help smiling at the infuriated and unpleasant expressions on their faces. They deserved this news and Harry was glad he had one last opportunity to scare the Dursleys out of their wits before he left them for good. Harry then took this silence as a opportunity to continue with his speech, hastening his much anticipated departure from the miserable house. "So, I'm here to inform you that I've already placed a shielding charm over this house, and I am having an Auror check on you every month until the war is over." At the looks of incomprehension on the Dursleys faces, Harry added, "They're like wizard police." Then, the room was silent. Harry had nothing else to say to them so he muttered, "Well, bye," and before the Durlseys could say another word, he took his leave back out into the sweltering sunlight and made his way down the street towards the playground where his best friends awaited him. There were more important things to worry about now.