Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the other characters are the property of J.K.Rowling.
Chapter four: found?
Minerva McGonagall was disbelievingly staring at the first year's name list for the next term. She had to magically transfer each name on an envelope destined to each magical child about to attend Hogwarts, then the address of their current location would write itself…
But there was one name she hadn't been prepared to see on that list. Harry Potter…
So Albus was right, after all. Lily and James' boy wasn't dead. After all these years, everyone but the old Headmaster, and maybe Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, had finally accepted the fact that their saviour had been killed by his abusive uncle. Albus always refused to believe it, claiming that the prophecy made it clear that he couldn't be killed by anyone but You-Know-Who, but to Minerva it sounded like wishful thinking…
But here it was, the proof that the boy was still around, somewhere. But where? Hastily, she transferred his name on one envelope, but instead of revealing his location, it merely said:
Harry Potter
Unknown location
Years ago, they had tried all the tracking charms they could think of, and nothing had worked, which had comforted the hypothesis of his death. Now it seemed that the tracking charms were blocked, even the most powerful ones of the magical envelopes, but that the boy was still alive. Nevertheless, she had to go announce what she had found out about Potter to Albus! He had to know he had been right all along…
Han was travelling once again. It was summer vacation, and therefore he had to find other means to get food. Namely, stealing. He couldn't do it in the town he thought of as 'home' because he would be soon discovered… When he had no choice but to steal to eat, he had to move a lot.
The last years, he had managed pretty well. He was doing homework for three other kids besides Kathleen, in exchange for food and money. Not much, of course, so that the parents didn't notice, but enough to buy clothes once in a while…
Kathleen was still teaching him everything she learned, and she let him borrow her school books, so he was actually becoming quite good with school stuff. He knew how to read, write and count, among other things.
But for summer holidays, there wasn't any homework to do, so he had to find another way to get food. He rather liked it, though. He liked to travel. He still didn't like to steal much, but he didn't mind it anymore. It was just the way things were. Why should those people have that much money and he none? It wasn't fair. Just like it wasn't fair that all these other children had a family while he didn't.
He shook his head to clear it. He knew it was bad to think about that. He didn't want a family after all. He was perfectly fine on his own. He had friends, a place to live (his little cave beside the sea was very nice, when it wasn't too cold), and freedom. What else could he want?
He vaguely remembered his "family". His uncle, beating him half to death before collapsing. His aunt, abandoning him to his uncle's wrath. His cousin, chasing after him with his friends, or making fun of him…
He was much better all alone.
Albus Dumbledore sat on his office, thinking. And just like it always had for the past five years, his reflections centred on Harry Potter. Where was he? How was he surviving? Did he find a family to adopt him, or was he still alone? He liked to picture him surrounded by loving people, adoptive parents kind and caring, brothers and sisters, a nice little home where he could finally have the childhood he deserved…
But he couldn't even manage to fool himself. He knew, deep inside, that Harry wasn't as careless as any kid his age. The tracking charm proved it. For Albus, the only likely explanation of what could block it was Harry himself. He didn't want to be found, by anyone. Accidental magic, at an early age, that had erased, or at least inhibited, his magical signature, therefore preventing any tracking charms to locate him.
Looking at the envelope Minerva had given him, he smiled. Maybe there was a way…
Adding another piece of parchment into it, he added a "readme" charm, which would ensure that Harry read his letter entirely, then folded it and gave it to his Phoenix, then he murmured "May you find Harry Potter, Fawkes, and may he forgive me for my past mistakes…"
Harry stared blankly at the letter the odd bird had given him. That was possibly the strangest thing he had ever experienced. A magnificent animal, bringing him a letter, was already bizarre.
And the fact that it was a bird bringing it wasn't the weirdest, for he couldn't remember having ever received any letter in his entire life. For all he knew, normal people received mail by bird too.
No, the strangest thing, what bothered him most, was the name it was addressed to. It was a name he had never seen written, or at least not since he knew how to read and write. But now that he knew how to read it, it brought back many unpleasant memories…
"Harry! Hurry up and make our breakfast!"
"Potter! Come here! I'll teach you not to answer me!"
"Harry James Potter! Get up you lazy good-for-nothing freak!"
So, really, he wasn't that anxious to read a letter addressed by his former name, when the only ones who knew it were his uncaring relatives from which he thought he was free. And what kind of an address was "unknown location" anyway? How had the bird found him?
Somehow, though, he didn't believe that the beautiful bird could belong to his relatives. It seemed much too strange for these folks who despised abnormality above everything.
Who could it be from, then? Well, he wouldn't know unless he opened it, would he? So he carefully did. Inside were three pieces of old-looking paper.
"Dear Mr Potter, the first paper said,
I hope this letter finds you in a good health. As you turned eleven last month, I am pleased to tell you that you are expected at Hogwarts on the first of September to begin your magical studies.
This may come as a shock, but then again, maybe not. You are a wizard, Harry. Your parents were ones too, though I doubt your aunt and uncle ever told you that. Didn't you ever made strange things happen around you? That's perfectly normal for a magical child to do accidental magic before learning to control it.
You will also have to purchase school things before the beginning of the school (I joined you a list of everything you need). I do not know whether you live with a magical family, in which case they will know where to go, but if you don't, then ask your guardians to accompany you to London. There, you will have to find a bar called the Leaking Cauldron (which is nearly impossible to see for Muggles but you will be able to notice it). Once there you can ask Tom to open the way to Diagon Alley.
I give you back your Gringott's key which I was saving for you all these years. Gringott's is the Wizard's bank, and you have your own vault that should be more than enough to buy everything you need until the end of your school years.
If you need any help, I would be more than happy to meet with you and explain everything thoroughly. You just have to write an answer and give it to Fawkes (the Phoenix who brought you this letter). If you don't, then I'll see you on September 1st at Hogwarts…
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts
PS: I almost forgot! To go to Hogwarts, you have to take the Hogwarts' Express. It will leave the King's Cross station of London at eleven on the September 1st.
Han shook his head in disbelief. This man was completely off his rockers! He, a wizard? Well, of course, weird things had happened to him for as far as he could remember, like that time when he had been so cold in his "home" by the sea and a warm blanket appeared out of nowhere, or when he had found that beautiful snake and could actually understand everything it said and even talk back…
Dozens of examples jumped into his mind, things that he couldn't explain, things that none of his friends had ever done… And then another memory, one he had tried so much to forget but couldn't. A blond boy complaining about not having a computer and then squeaking in delight when one magically appeared from nowhere… Was this boy a wizard too? The thought seemed ridiculous to Han. But then again…
According to Mr Dumbledore, his parents had been wizards too. So maybe that was genetic? If that was, it was somehow normal that his cousin was magical too, wasn't it? Would he receive a letter too? And how would his parents react? If he remembered correctly, they never really liked his abnormality…
Han shuddered. No. He wouldn't allow himself to think about his relatives. He was free of them, now. He wouldn't ever have to return to them, ever.
But what if he did answer to that Headmaster, wouldn't he try to put him with them again? He wasn't a fool, he knew that boys weren't supposed to live by themselves in the streets…
On the other hand, he really, really wanted to know if he was really a wizard, and if he was, he wanted to see Hogwards. The place where his parents had apparently been… maybe that was where they had met! He knew next to nothing about them, he had even forgotten their names long ago… just as he had almost forgotten his.
He would go, he decided suddenly. He had nowhere to go anyway, so a little trip to London sounded okay… and that way he would know if that man was serious or if he had lost his mind.
"Do you think Fawkes will be able to find him, Albus?"
"I hope so. It's almost certain, in fact. He wouldn't have accepted the letter if he wasn't sure he could join him. I'm glad he accepted, though it surprises me, as he refused many times in the past."
"You asked him to find Harry when he was first missing?"
"Yes."
"And he refused?"
"Yes."
"I'm going to kill that damned bird."
"Now, now, Sirius. I'm sure you don't want to do harm to the only link we actually have with Harry, do you?"
"I guess not. But I still don't approve. And why did you have to explain how to go into Diagon Alley? Do you really think he's got muggle guardians who will accompany him there?"
"No. I'm actually pretty much convinced that he's alone, as much as I don't like it."
"Why do you think that? Maybe he's been adopted!" The idea made Sirius ambivalent. In one hand, he would be glad that someone took care of his Harry. In the other hand, he wanted Harry to live with him as soon as he was found. After all, that was why he had escaped from Azkaban…
"…the tracking charms."
"Sorry, Albus, could you repeat that please?"
"Of course. I was just saying that the only possible reason the tracking charms aren't working on him is that he's blocking them unintentionally by his unwillingness to be found. I don't think he would want so much to remain hidden if he had been adopted, or if someone was taking care of him."
"But Albus, if you think he's alone, why didn't you just send him a Portkey to bring him here? Why let him make his own way to Hogwarts? He's only eleven year old, for Merlin's sake!"
"I'm trying to gain his trust, not to alienate him for the next century. I don't think he would have reacted well to being transported here while he may very well ignore that he's a wizard. He doesn't know us, Sirius! He doesn't trust us and has no reason to… It was my fault in the first place if he was placed with his relatives. We have to be careful. We do not know him. Besides, he's probably on his own since he's six. He knows how to take care of himself."
"I still don't like it. But I suppose I can't change your mind… very well. But if he's not here on September 1st, I'll quit my job to look for him."
"He will be there, Sirius. Trust me… But don't worry, we have other ways to keep track of him. I have owled the Goblins, they will tell me the moment he asks to go into his vault. This way we'll be able to see him soon, and bring him back for the rest of the holidays."
The first thought that entered Harry's mind was that London was way too big. How would he manage to find the Leaky Cauldron, a place non-magical people couldn't even see according to Dumbledore (so he couldn't even ask which way it was to an adult).
Well, he had time. He could stay in London for a while. It was as good a place as any to live in the summer. There were many people and shops to steal to. No matter what Mr Dumbledore pretended, he wasn't about to go into a bank and announce out loud that he was Harry Potter. Not when he had spent so many years hiding that very fact. He had always managed to survive alone, without any help, and this time would be no different, he vowed. If Hogwarts really did exist, then he would need a lot of money, indeed. He had no idea how much the supplies cost, so he decided to steal as much as he could.
Looking around, he smiled. He had just found the perfect target…
A week later, he figured he had enough. He had walked through most of the city, stole from many people, mostly old women, and had found the Leaky Cauldron two days ago. Now that he had almost more money than he could carry, he figured he should try to go in…
So he did. Inside was unlike anything he had ever seen.
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