Chapter 3: Enter the wizards!

Dear Readers,

I am so sorry for not posting for so long. Well, life is quite a demanding challenge and you somehow never find the time to write. But the lovely reviews convinced me to return to writing. To make it up to you, here is a longer chapter!

Enjoy!

One month later

"I did not think much of it at first, for the boy does not go out often. But today, the Dursleys went Christmas shopping and they didn't ask me to babysit him."

"Maybe he went with them?"

"He did not board the car, Albus, I saw them leave! The boy isn't there anymore, I tell you!"

This conversation took place in the Headmaster's Office in Hogwarts. An old man in long purple robes was intently listening to an elderly woman's face that stood right in the middle of his chimney. The old man seemed puzzled by the news he was receiving

"It doesn't make sense, Arabella, the wards have not been broken. As far as I can tell, Harry is safe and in Petunia's home." He stroked his long white beard and conceded: "Still, I suppose it cannot hurt to be sure. I promised Petunia that no wizards would interfere with the boy's upbringing but those are clearly special circumstances…"

Meanwhile, somewhere in Surrey

"Helen, do I have to?"

"Come on, sweetie, don't whine! You told me yourself times and times again that you liked learning stuffs."

Helen frowned at the little boy who was staring at her with pleading wide green eyes.

"Harry, do you remember what the lady from the child services said?" The boy stiffly nodded a yes. "Come on, tell me, what did she said?"

"That I could stay with you since Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were un… un…"

"Unfit."

"Unfit to take care of me."

Helen smiled indulgently. "I remember that part quite well, since it is why I now have a guest room transforming into a child room full of toys and a pile of boardgames invading my drawing room. The part of the lady's speech I referred to was the "Harry should not grow isolated, he should face the world once more and make friends" part. Remember that one?"

"Yes… But I can make friends at the park?"

"You certainly can but you can't learn mathematics there and I can only teach you so much." Helen saw the child was not convinced. She crouched to his level and gently pushed him into an embrace. He immediately leaned into her and put his little arms around her neck. Once again, Helen marveled at how quick the boy had changed in a month of being well-fed and treated gently. When he had first stayed with him, he would never have dared to contradict her so openly and he would have mistaken her attempt to cuddle him for an attempt to strike him.

"Come on, sweetheart", she chided while stroking his hair. "You are a big boy of seven, you need to go to school. You can't stay with me all the time, you must spend some time with your peers."

"I'm afraid", the boy admitted, burying his head in her neck and hair.

"Of the other kids?"

"Hmm…"

"They won't be like Dudley, sweetie. Maybe some will be a little mean, kids are sometimes. But they won't gang on you like your cousin did, I promise. If they do, I'll have a word with the teacher. It won't be like at your other school, the teacher will treat you fairly. No one will come at the beginning of the year and tell her you're an awful boy. Because you're not, hey? The teacher will like you, I'm sure, you're such a quiet, polite little boy. And I'm sure you'll make friends. You're a great boy, Harry Potter, you shouldn't be afraid of the outer world." She squeezed him against her then held his head up between her hands. "Better?"

"A bit", Harry conceded. "I guess you're right, it can't be that bad."

It was, indeed, not that bad. When Helen picked the boy up, he came running to her, a huge grin splitting his face. He introduced her to Max, a polite frizzy-haired boy, whom Harry declared to be "the best person ever". On the way, he went on about the miracles Max could achieve with a ball during recess. He told her in great details of the story they practiced reading on, of the fact that Annabella got grounded during recess because she had pulled another's girl hair and of the teacher, Mr. Bennett, who was the funniest, nicest man. Helen listened to this torrent of words with a fond smile, happy the boy had not found school that terrible but worried about the perspective of having to suffer through such soliloquies everyday for the next years of her life.

Helen suggested to spend the rest of the day at home. The afternoon and evening flew by, between painting little decorations for the upcoming Christmas, cuddling before the television and having dinner. It was a bitter-sweet pleasure to watch Harry enjoy the littlest thing with wonderment. Even after a month with Helen, the child had been so deprived of love and care that having chocolate pudding as dessert still seemed a treat almost too good to be true. As he had done every night since his arrival, the boy snuggled down in his bed early and listened with rapture to his bedtime story. Helen stayed with him, holding him close, until he had fallen asleep, having found that he was less likely to have night terrors if he felt protected while falling asleep.

She had just settled in her living-room with a book when the bell rang. Extremely surprised to have company that late in the evening, she went to the door feeling quite worried. A swift look in the door hole showed her an old man, dressed in a very beautiful but extremely strange deep purple dress. He also had the longest and whitest beard Helen had ever seen. He seemed quite harmless and Helen finally carefully opened the door.

"Good evening, can I help you anything, sir?"

"A good evening to you to, my dear young lady. Could you tell me if, by any chance, I am at Miss Helen Gordon's residence?"

"Uh, yes… You are, I am Helen Gordon."

"Very nice to meet you, my name is Albus Dumbledore". He extended a hand she carefully shook. "I have a matter of some importance to discuss with you. I think it will be quite some time, maybe we would be better out of this dark corridor." Seeing Helen hesitate, he added: "You do not need to fear me being a dangerous ruffian trying to enter your flat and rob you in the dead of night. I don't hide any weapon under my robes."

Helen was quite unsure about the wisdom of letting him enter but when he added in a soft voice that it was "about young Harry", she felt compelled to invite him in. Dumbledore comfortably settled in the couch, she served him some of the tea she had just made and took an armchair facing him. Now that she saw him in a better lit place, she noticed how his eyes seemed to sparkle with intelligence. He really did seem kind.

"Now, my dear Miss Gordon, you have living with you a seven year old boy named Harry Potter, am I right?"

"Yes, it is no secret, I have been having custody of him for about a month."

"He was an orphan and you took him in?"

"Not exactly, but I do not really see how that is any concern of yours."

"I feel like I owe you an explanation about my coming this late to your place, and without having ever met you I might add. Well, it is quite a long story. I have to begin with something that… might seem incredible to you. But I beg you will let me finish."

After Helen had assured him she would give him his chance to speak, Dumbledore began to explain her about wizardry. The young woman listened to him with wide eyes, incredulous. But after having seen him transform coffee table in a wardrobe, a bright red Ferrari, an enormous pig then back in a coffee table, she had to admit she had either gone mad or he was telling her the truth.

"Right, so you are a… wizard and there is a whole world of men and women like you, living magical lives without us … non-magical people finding out, is that right?"

"Absolutely, we have our Ministry, our shops, our schools. I am actually the Headmaster of Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry."

"Astounding… But even if all of this is true, which I still kind of doubt, what has Harry to do any of that?"

"Harry Potter has everything to do with it. You see, they are sometimes evil wizards, just as some Muggles, that is non-magical people, can sometimes be bad persons. A decade ago, one of those evil wizards became extremely powerful. His name was Tom Riddle but he then went by the name of Lord Voldemort. He rallied supporters around him, dangerous, violent people. They thought only wizards and witches from old magical families were worthy of life and respect. They tortured and killed all who stand in their way. Lily and James Potter were of among them."

"Harry's parents?"

"Yes…" Helen was suddenly convinced this was not an elaborate prank or con. Real sorrow seemed to emanate from Dumbledore as he spoke of the couple and he appeared much older. "They were very young, around your age. They were courageous, good people. They opposed Voldemort and he set on killing them. They hid, for they had a baby son to live for. But he found them on Halloween, six years ago. He killed James, then Lily. No one can say with certainty what happened after that. He probably decided to kill Harry too."

"A baby?" Helen cried in outrage.

"As I told you, Miss Gordon, he was an evil man. But the spell he used rebounded. Harry did not die, he only got a scar, on his forehead, you have surely noticed. And Voldemort disappeared."

"He died?"

"That is what most believe. I am not so sure about it. We are speaking of very complex magic here. I do not think he really died, I think he was merely terribly weakened and had to disappear."

"Why was Harry capable of reversing the spell?"

"He did not reverse it, it merely rebounded on him. You see, his mother died protecting him. Her love for her son was so powerful that it continued to protect him after her death. It is her mother's love and magic that saved him that night."

"What happened to Harry after that?" Helen asked, engrossed by Dumbledore's tale.

"He immediately became famous in our world. To everybody, it was as if the young Potter boy had saved the wizarding world. The boy-who-lived, that is how he is called now. But he was also an orphan, with no close family in the wizarding world. Lily had a Muggle sister, Petunia, so I decided to leave him in her care."

"What? You are responsible for this? Listen, sir, this harpy and her monster of a husband abused Harry for years. He was starving and hurt when he first came to me. How could you live him there for so long?"

Helen was beside herself with anger. The old man responded calmly: "I realize now, it was not a good idea. I apologize for it. I sincerely thought Petunia would love her sister's son."

"Besides, why are you the one deciding where he goes? Isn't there a child-service at your Ministry for magicians?"

"I was a close friend of his parents. And I am very well respected in the wizarding community. But I have done a mistake, I will not argue with you."

"And how come you only visited me tonight? If you knew he was me, why did you not even check that Harry was fine? Not that I will let you take any other decision regarding him, he is my ward now."

"I did not know he was with you, not until today."

"A fine man you are, not even knowing a boy you placed with abusive relatives has been forced to go on the streets and hope someone would take care of him!"

"Do not be angered, please, listen to me. I did not know he was with you because… Well, I told you Lily Potter's magic still protected his son…"

"Yes."

"Well, I cast charms that would alert me if the magic was broken. It is ancient magic, love and blood magic. As long as Harry stayed in his aunt's home, with someone of Lily's blood, the magic protected him."

"So he is no longer protected here?"

"Well, he should not be. But that is the rub, precisely. The magical protection has not been broken. He is as safe here as he was with his aunt."

"How can that be? I am not his blood relative." The conversation was abruptly cut short by screams. "It is Harry, he has nightmares", Helen explained and rushed to the boy's room. He was screaming and crying, tangled in his bedsheets. She ran to him and, gathering him into her arms, she softly repeated: "It's okay, baby. I've got you, you are with me. With Helen, you remember, baby? You are safe, dearest, you are safe."

Unbeknownst to her, Dumbledore had followed her and looked on the scene from the threshold. There was no longer any doubt in his mind as to why the Lily's protection had not been broken. As he watched Harry holding to Helen as if she was his lifeline, and she whispering loving words of reassurance and affection, he was sure of it. Somehow, the magic had recognized a mother's love in Helen…