Harsh Truths
Chapter 3
Rob1221: Read Dumbledore's explanation in the last chapter- it's because it maintains the wards and offers Harry protection from Voldemort.
Guest: Btw for future replies if you review more, can you put a nickname so I can identify you? Fudge would never have agreed to the pensieve and would have claimed it's tampered.
Poulpy2003: What do you mean by psychological evolution? I'm not going to have the vaults as storing mass amounts of gold, lordships, books etc cos this isn't an Indy!Harry fic. Luna is an option for the pairing, though if I choose it it's gonna be quite hard to write her- should still be a fun challenge tho.
SunnyJS: Ofc course I don't want to shoehorn in love interest for the sake of having one, or have the whole political allegiance thing.
Harry stepped out of his uncle's car taking a long look at what would be his home for the next 2 weeks. Pivet Drive was the same as he remembered, the stale sense of boredom and unoriginality hung in the air like a bad stench, and could hardly be compared against the vibrant and busy atmosphere of Hogwarts. He had a lot to do this summer and he'd be hard pressed to do any of it in Privet Drive without the use of his wand but that was as usual- it looked like there were 2 long weeks of theory practice ahead of him, only to be broken up by the list of chores he was bound to receive.
"Boy!" yelled Vernon breaking Harry out of his thoughts. "What ya standing around looking at for? I'm not getting ya trunk for you- stop being lazy and go get it yourself!"
Harry sighed already remembering the fond memories of living with Uncle Vernon. As he hoisted his trunk out of his car, it slammed against the hood and the latch opened, spilling the contents across their driveway. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" yelled Vernon seeing how several magical items were in the open outside their perfectly normal house. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET CAUGHT? CLEAR THAT UP BEFORE ANYONE SEES IT!"
Harry ignored him with his attention only focused on one thing that had fallen out of his trunk- the Daily Prophet newspaper for that day. He'd had a quick flick through it on the train to London but it had fallen open on a page he'd yet to see. A rather unflattering photo of him stared back at him, his face molded into a gruesome snarl as he moved back and forth on the page, with a headline in all capitals reading LUNATIC BOY-WIZARD MAKES LUNATIC CLAIMS. Harry's blood boiled reading what the Ministry had begun writing about him already. He simply stared angrily at the article for a few moments not even bothering to read what he could predict with a little bit of effort.
"ARE YOU DEAF OR SOMETHING?! GET THAT HOGWASH OFF MY PERFECTLY NORMAL DRIVE!" yelled Vernon noticing Harry hadn't budged a muscle.
Harry simply sighed trying not to hex his uncle and slammed the newspaper into his now half-empty trunk before roughly shoving in all his school items, not caring if the parchment was crumpled or if the nibs of the quills were ruined. He grabbed his trunk off the concrete and hauled it into the house, following a very grumpy Vernon. This would be a very long summer.
"Oi Big D!" called Harry to Dudley who was waddling across the block back to his house. It had been a long and exhausting week and a half- each pf the Dursleys were still the same with Dudley having put on a bit of muscle with his bulges of fat that only mad him more fearsome, and he'd learnt to punch properly now. The only thing that had changed was Harry. He'd finally grown tired of all of the Dursleys and hadn't put up with any of their bullshit this summer, much to their surprise which was followed by anger. Though that anger had been placated once he'd threatened to hex them, claiming the rules had been changed to allow him to use magic in the summer.
"Oh, it's you," said Dudley nervously, trying to mask his worry with anger. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Or should I call you Diddykins?" teased Harry. He'd taken a new joy in life- angering Dudley. It'd grown far more fun considering Dudley could understand half the insults enough to be angered by them properly, but was unable to do anything for fear of Harry hexing him leaving him defenseless like a fish in a barrel.
"Shut it," snarled Dudley hands already curling up into a fist.
"Awww," cooed Harry. "If your mummy can call you her ickle wickle Diddykins, why can't I?"
"I said shut it!" shouted Dudley. "Or else I'm gonna punch your face in!"
"You didn't tell Mummy to shut her face when she called you that last night did you popkin?" Dudley said nothing trying to keep his anger from boiling over. "And what are you gonna punch me with? Those fat little t-rex arms? I'd be surprised if they could reach me!"
"I've had enough of you," grunted Dudley. "You've been asking for it all summer!" Dudley had truly had had enough, unable to restrain his anger any further. He threw a clumsy punch with enough force as he could manage at Harry, only wanting to bash his head in.
"Uh-uh," tutted Harry. He was ready for the punch and knew that once you dodged Dudley's first attempt, he would leave himself wide open. "You can't go around throwing punches willy-nilly now, can you ickle Diddlykins? What if you get hurt?" Harry stepped out of the way of the punch with Dudley's weight and momentum sending him flying across Harry. As this happened, Harry turned and kicked Dudley in the back of the knee making him fall to his knees on the ground. "I warned you Dudders," smiled Harry not feeling bad at all about what he was doing. "It seems-"
Harry stopped talking. It had gone cold all of a sudden, so cold that the hairs on every inch of Harry and Dudley's bodies stood up and they started shivering despite it being a summer's day so recently ago. Harry could hear the unmistakeable death rattle nearby that had haunted him in his third year. "What did you do?" stuttered Dudley fearfully. His face had gone deathly pale and he was sweating profusely.
"Run," said Harry simply. "Run!" He grabbed Dudley off the ground and ran, not bothering to explain. Maybe if they got to the house they'd be safe, maybe Dumbledore's wards would stop the dementors as well.
"What did you do?" repeated Dudley again, but he kept on running.
"No, no, no, they can't be here. They can't!" Harry could only manage to say this, still in shock, but his mind was racing trying to figure a way out of this mess they were in and he made pulled his wand out. It was more of a reassurance to him than anything else, knowing he would be expelled if he used any magic.
He looked behind him and saw 2 hooded figures in all black gliding towards them with malicious intent. Under the hood he could see their mouths wide open, set in a terrifying scream. He knew they weren't gonna make it. There was only one choice.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" yelled Harry swishing his wand. A great silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand and barrelled itself at the pair of dementors with only one thought in its transparent head: to protect Harry. The dementors recoiled when the stag approached them but attempted to resist quite futily, with the stag charging antlers first into the first one before driving itself into the second. Having had enough, both dementors fled the scene with a ear-piercing wail.
Harry sighed, the deathly cold having been lifted from his heart. Dudley didn't seem to have been affected that badly but his face was still pale and he was shivering slightly. It could have been worse, thought Harry. Much worse. "Come on Dudley," said Harry picking his cousin up off the floor. "Let's get you home."
"WHY IS THERE A BLOODY OWL IN MY HOUSE AGAIN?!" screamed Vernon Dursley at Harry, both of them staring at the owl that had swooped in and placed a letter in Harry's hand.
Harry ignored his uncle and fumbled the letter open, fearing the worst. His fears were confirmed and his stomach plummeted as he read the message from the Ministry of Magic.
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.
The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.
As you have already received an official warning for a previous offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on August 12th.
Harry closed the letter after this and stuffed it into his back pocket. He'd gotten all the information he needed and couldn't be bothered to read any further; he rushed past the Dursleys into the cupboard under the stairs (which he had been using to store his school items) and began to rummage through his things. He'd barely found anything he needed before a fat hand closed around his neck and pulled him out of the cupboard and back into the kitchen.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" shouted Vernon, spit flying off from his mouth onto Harry's face.
"Get off me," grunted Harry pulling Vernon's sausage fingers off his throat. He drew his wand and pointed it at him. "I've already been expelled so don't think I won't hex you if you try anything." In Harry's anger a spark flew from the tip of his wand and sped narrowly past Vernon's hair, singing the tips of it in the process.
"YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE NERVE! I'LL SHOW YOU HOW-"
But Vernon was interrupted from laying another finger on an unusually calm Harry by his wife. "Vernon, don't," pleaded Petunia fearfully.
"Listen to your wife," advised Harry. "And I didn't do anything- it was the dementors." At this Petunia inhaled sharply as she recognised the name and her face paled every so slightly. "You know them don't you?"
Petunia nodded. "I overheard your mother and that wretched boy talking about them once," she admitted, with Harry grunting in anger at the use of boy. "It wasn't him Vernon. I- I think he saved Dudley."
Vernon was stopped from protesting by another owl, delivering another letter to Harry.
Harry —
Dumbledore's just arrived at the Ministry, and he's trying to sort it all out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE. DO NOT DO ANY MORE MAGIC. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR WAND.
Arthur Weasley
Harry didn't know what to think but he felt the nerves calm a little. Dumbledore was there. Dumbledore would sort it out. He had to. If he didn't, he'd be expelled and he'd have to go- Harry stopped this runaway train of thoughts and brought himself back to the present. "Petunia's right again. Without me, they would have taken Dudley's soul."
"HIS WHAT?" shouted Vernon though more in surprise than in anger.
"His soul. It's fine now, it's still there. Believe me, he'd be as good as dead if they had taken it. But Dudley will be fine in a bit, but I've gotten expelled thanks to my good deeds," said Harry bitterly. The first time he'd helped out the Dursleys and this was what he had to show for it. No sooner had he said this that another owl flew through the window and deposited another letter in his lap.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on 12th August, at which time an official decision will be taken.
Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should therefore consider yourself suspended from school pending further inquiries.
The knot of despair in Harry's chest unravelled itself but a new one formed almost immediately as he realised everything would hang on this hearing.
Harry lay awake in his bed, looking up at his ceiling and throwing a tennis ball up in the air. The boredom had begun to set in, especially after the lack of replies he'd gotten over the day. There had been a couple of shakily written letters from Sirius, only telling him to stay in the house and not do anything rash, the latter of which seemed quite hypocritical to Harry, and he'd not received anything after the letters he'd sent to both of his best friends.
There was a crash in the kitchen below and Harry sat up in his bed listening intently. The Dursleys were still out so it must have been an intruder. But he could hear them talking downstairs, but what intruder would raise their voice in the house they were breaking into? It could be death eaters or the like, reasoned Harry with himself. If dementors had shown up in Little Whinging, death eaters could as well. He jumped off the bed and grabbed his wand from the bedside table, and pointed it at his bedroom door. If they entered, he was prepared.
His door swung open with a crack to reveal a few silhouettes standing in the darkness. Harry didn't fire a spell, not knowing if they were muggles or not, but kept his wand raised.
"Lower your wand boy," grunted out a voice from the hallway.
"Professor Moody?" asked Harry.
"Dunno much about Professor. Didn't round to teaching you did I?"
"Harry, it's alright. We've come to take you away," said a different voice.
"Professor Lupin?" asked Harry. "Is that you?"
"Why are we in the dark?" asked another voice Harry had never heard before. "Harry, switch on the lights."
Harry had waited long enough. They clearly weren't Muggle intruders, and if they were death eaters in disguise he would have been dead already. He fumbled the lights on and could now see the figures of Moody and Lupina along with a pink haired woman he had never seen before.
"Oh he looks exactly like I thought he'd would," said the woman. "Wotcher Harry!"
"You sure it's him Remus? It'd be wonderful if we took back a death eater in disguise."
"Harry, what form does your patronus take?" asked Lupin in response to Moody.
"A stag," said Harry nervously.
"Yep, that's him," confirmed Lupin.
"Wait," said Harry. "How do I know you're not death eaters?"
"You must be creaming your pants at this Mad-Eye," snorted Tonks. "Only 15 and he's got constant vigilance already drilled into him."
"Professor Lupin-"
"Call me Remus, Harry"
"Remus, who's my Godfather?"
"Sirius of course," smiled Lupin and Harry nodded happily, reassured. "Well if everything's out the way, we've come to take you to headquarters."
"Where's that? The Burrow?"
"Not quite. We've set up HQ somewhere else, somewhere I can only tell you in private. Not here," confirmed Lupin. "This is Alastor Moody, the real one," said Lupin. "And this is Nymphadora Tonks."
"Don't call me Nymphadora," grunted Tonks. "It's just Tonks."
"So what's going on? What Vol-"
"Not here!" grunted Moody. "Ears everywhere- we'll talk later."
"How are we getting there?"
"Side apparation," said Lupin. "We can do brooms as well but they'd far too long and we'd be open to attacks. The Floo Network's being watched and a Portkey would cost too much to get authorised in this climate."
"What's appapr-apparation?" asked Harry.
"Basically magic teleportation," said Tonks. "But worse. It won't be as bad as normal apparation cos you'll have someone doing it with you, but it'll still make you want to hurl by the end of it."
"Quit your complaining and get on with it!" shouted Moody. "We haven't got time to waste!"
"Harry, take my hand," said Lupin.
"What-now?" asked Harry. "I haven't got any of my stuff!"
"Tonks will get it for you, that is assuming it's all ready to go?"
"Yeah, it's all in my trunk downstairs," nodded Harry. "Well all apart from Hedwig. I don't know when she'll be back."
"She's at HQ," said Lupin. "We couldn't risk anyone tailing her. Now come on." Lupin took Harry's hand and spun around with him in tow, and the two disapparated from the house with a loud crack.
AN/ Next chapter might be the trial, I'm not sure. I don't quite know how fast paced I want this story to be. I don't want it to be over in 15 chapters, but I don't want a 500k word story so I might start speeding up the pacing once we get to Grimmauld Place a little. As for the pairing, I've seen suggestions of Daphne and Luna who could both work but I'm still open to all suggestions. Others I have thought about are Ginny (with proper development) and Katie Bell but I haven't made my mind up so let me know what you think.
Updates won't be as frequent as this from now on either because I had a lot of free time which is why I managed to write 3 chapters but I'll try to update once a week. Thanks to everyone's who has reviewed so far, hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to leave a review!
