Authors Request: If you supply any feedback, could you give your opinions on the background, science-of-magic and lore that I'm supplying please?

All of the characters except for my own handful of originals, as well as locations, names, titles etc are and remain the property of JKR and I hope you like it. Review please; this might well be a LONG work in progress.

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Chapter 9: Reparitions

The motorcycle rumbled back into Privet Drive less than half an hour later.

Harry's breath caught in his throat as he saw Uncle Vernon's car on the drive of number four. The boot was open and the front door open.

A figure emerged from the front door as Hagrid drew the motorcycle onto the pavement. Aunt Petunia shrieked before clasping her hands over her mouth.

What would the neighbours think? Harry thought, smiling as his nerves dissipated.

'Ssssooo...' Niddhog whispered into Harry's ear before escaping down his shirt sleeve and onto the road.

'Where are you...' Harry started before Hagrid lifted him out of the side car and set him on the pavement.

'C'mon Harry, don't you worry.' The giant said, climbing off the bike.

There was a loud pop next to Harry. In the fraction of a second where his eyes were closed in a blink, a tall witch wearing tartan robes and square framed spectacles over hard green eyes had appeared.

'Professor McGonagall Ma'am.' Hagrid said, pulling off his goggles.

'Good evening Hagrid,' the witch said in a strong Scottish accent, 'I received your message. Professor Dumbledore is visiting his... friend in Bulgaria.' She stopped speaking abruptly when she noticed Harry dwarfed beside Hagrid.

'Oh my word.' She said, her hand going to her mouth. 'Harry Potter.'

Harry swallowed hard. 'I'm sorry, do I know you?'

Professor McGonagall smiled and covered her mouth with trembling fingers. 'No. We did meet once but it was when you were very, very small.'

'Don't he look like his Dad?' Hagrid said, beaming.

'He does indeed. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Harry.'

Harry smiled, 'Same Professor.'

McGonagall turned to Hagrid. 'What do you need Hagrid? There are still a lot of preparations needed before the start of the new school year.'

Hagrid cocked his head and beckoned for McGonagall who followed him a few steps away and spoke in hushed voices.

Harry chewed the inside of his cheek, unhappy at being ignored and looked at the house. Uncle Vernon was at the front door, his face an alarming shade of scarlet. He was quivering all over, his impressive jowly face jiggling up and down.

'What?' McGonagal exclaimed loudly and turned to face the house.

Uncle Vernon seemed to notice her for the first time then and his face changed from one of fury to horror in an instant.

'Right.' McGonagall said, her face suddenly transformed into a marble-white mask and her mouth into a thin white slash as she stalked across Aunt Petunia's immaculately manicured lawn.

Hagrid followed and Harry bolted down the path.

'Mr Vernon Dursley?' McGonagall asked.

Uncle Vernon stared, spluttering.

'This boy, your nephew, the son of your wife Petunia's sister was entrusted to your care nine years ago. Am I correct?'

Vernon released a sound somewhere between a cough and a growl which McGonagall took to be an affirmative and she continued.

'You and your wife agreed that due to the circumstances surrounding the death of his parents, Harry would be raised in a loving, caring home and that when the time was right, he would be educated in the full details of his life and origins. You agreed this in a binding contract with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore.'

Petunia appeared behind Vernon, her face ghost white and pinched. McGonagall looked at her and sneered. 'You have raised this boy, the saviour of both magical and mugglekind alike, deliberately lying to him about his parent's fate and his own kind. You have mistreated him and treated him like his very existence is a blight on your family when it is the greatest honour any family could ever hope to receive!'

Vernon's mouth opened and closed very rapidly for a few seconds like a fish trying to breathe out of water.

'This boy is a living miracle!' McGonagall shouted at the Dursleys, 'He is the very reason that you are able to live as you do instead of being slaves to dark powers that your small minds cannot begin to imagine. Without him both our worlds would have fallen apart years ago.'

'We, we always looked after the boy.' Petunia protested in a high and simpering voice.

'You liar!' Harry shouted. His fists were clenched at his sides.

'You think that forcing a child to live in a cupboard beneath the stairs is caring for him?' McGonagall said, taking a step forward. The Dursleys retreated into the house. 'You think that mental and emotional degradation is caring for him? You think that dressing him in second hand clothes meant for a much larger person is caring for him?' McGonagall seemed to be on a roll. She stepped into the house, pursuing the Dursleys who were falling back down the corridor toward the kitchen. 'You think that allowing his own cousin to beat and abuse him, to treat him like a slave and punching bag and turning a blind eye to his injuries is caring for him?' She shouted the last question as the Dursleys backed into the kitchen door and cowered.

Harry followed them inside. McGonagall was a tall woman and she was terrifying in her anger. Harry could only imagine what it felt to face that cold, stern visage and shuddered.

The Dursleys were babbling and Petunia was weeping, her eyes scrunched into a patchwork of fine lines.

McGonagall took another step forward until she was inches away from Vernon's face. 'From now on, you will treat Harry with the dignity and respect he deserves. You will feed and care for him in a manner deserving of an honoured guest. You will deliver him to King's Cross train station in London on the first of September at no later than ten-thirty in the morning from where he will be taken to school. He will return at the end of the school year and be treated properly until he returns to school. He will attend Hogwarts School for seven years and when his education is complete he will leave and you will never have to see or hear from him or any of our kind again. Am I understood?' She spoke the final question slowly, elongating each word.

The Dursleys nodded furiously, babbling incoherently in terror and relief that they hadn't been turned into frogs or most likely in Petunia's case: any kind of dirt.

'Good.' McGonagall said, turning on her heel. She walked directly out of the house and Harry followed her, his mouth agape with awe.

'That was...'

'You're quite welcome Potter.' McGonagall said, smiling a tight but warm smile. 'I look forward to seeing you on the first of September.'

Harry nodded vigorously. 'Thank you.'

'I already said that you were welcome.' The witch said, looking him over. 'Clothes from Madame Malkin's? I think you'd look better in Gryffindor scarlet if I do say so myself.'

'R-red?'

'Why yes, I am the Head of Gryffindor House. Both of your parents were in my house and you have already displayed the key attribute of a successful Gryffindor.'

'I have?'

The witch nodded, the point of her long black hat swaying in the evening breeze. 'Bravery. You must have been brave to survive all these years with those dreadful people.'

Harry felt his cheeks flush and quickly looked down at his feet.

'Look at me, Potter.'

McGonagall was still smiling. 'If you have any more trouble from your family before school starts, just send us an owl – I'm sure Hagrid has one on his person somewhere – and one of the Hogwarts staff will be with you as soon as possible.'

'I will, thank you Professor.' Harry beamed.

McGonagall walked past him and drew Hagrid to one side, said something that Harry couldn't hear.

'I understand, I'll see you at the school Professor.' Hagrid said, bowing to the witch who barely reached his stomach.

'Professor?' Harry shouted to McGonagall.'

'Yes Potter?'

'Scarlet, really?'

The witch nodded and drew out a wand of almost black wood that he somehow knew was very different to his own. She flicked the wand in his direction and he felt his shirt ripple, then she turned on the spot and disappeared with a sound like a snapping branch.

He looked down at his shirt. Where it had been the same green as his eyes, it was now the bright scarlet of the roses tended by Mrs Fig, the weird old lady that he was sometimes forced to spend time with. He admired the colour, liking the contrast against his pale skin and smiled.

'D'ya like it then?' Hagrid asked.

Harry nodded, 'It's nice.'

'Good, right then 'Arry, I'd best be off, got lots to do before the start of school.'

Harry's heart fell at the idea of being alone with the Dursleys.

'Don't worry now, I'll try to visit, but I'll try and write over the next couple'a weeks okay?'

'Okay,' Harry said, 'so I'll see you on the first?'

Hagrid nodded. 'I'll be waiting to meet you all off the train.'

Overwhelmed by the day's events, Harry ran forward and hugged Hagrid around the waist. Hagrid layed a massive hand on his back and patted gently.

Neither of them spoke again.

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The change in Harry's life with the Dursleys was unbelievable. By the time Hagrid had left, Uncle Vernon was already moving Harry's meagre belongings into Dudley's second bedroom. That night, Harry hardly slept as he replayed the day's incredible events over and over in his head. At two am there was a scratching on his window where he found a large barn owl resting on the windowsill with a folded piece of paper in his beak.

Harry retrieved the note and unfolded it. Large black letters read: "Harry, the owl just in caese."

Harry tucked the note under his pillow along with his wand and lay staring at the night sky through the window.

Nidhogg lay next to him in a neat coil. He'd arrived through the window less than a minute after Vernon had backed fearfully out of Harry's new room.

Dudley's new tail hadn't disappeared and he had remained locked in his room since seeing Harry and running away screaming.

Harry descended the stairs the next morning and was presented with a plate of bacon, two sausages, three eggs, fried bread, grilled tomatoes, baked beans and three slices of toast. Petunia placed the plate on the kitchen table and retreated into the living room.

When he had mopped up the remains of his eggs with the last slice of toast, he wiped his mouth and walked into the living room. Vernon and Petunia flinched away from him as soon as he entered.

'What do you want?' Vernon asked, terrified.

Harry took the roll of notes from his pocket and held them out to Petunia who whimpered. 'I took these yesterday when I thought I'd need them. I'm not sorry that I took them but I don't need to keep them so I'm giving them back.' He refused to apologise to them.

Petunia stuttered for a few seconds before waving him away. 'Y-you keep it, its fine, please.'

'You're sure?'

She nodded convulsively and he left the room, returning to his bedroom.

It was an intensely bright and hot day outside and he pulled on an old pair of Dudley's shorts, pocketed his wand then picked up his copy of A History of Magic and Nidhogg who coiled around his bicep with his head sticking out of his t-shirt.

Prepared, Harry went back down stairs, poured himself a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator and went out into the garden. He took a seat on one of Vernon's custom made sun loungers, opened his book and resumed reading while Nidhogg sunned himself of his shoulder.

He read all day, only pausing to get sun cream, use the bathroom and eat the meals that Petunia bought him. Nidhogg plainly disliked the Dursleys because he would hiss and move behind the lounger every time either of them emerged from the house.

Life continued like this for two and half weeks until, late on Sunday evening, Uncle Vernon emerged from the patio door and approached. Vernon hadn't communicated with Harry since his return except to choke on a piece of treacle tart when he had entered the room.

Vernon stopped ten feet from Harry and stood with his hands clasped in front of him, eyes downcast and cleared his throat.

'Excuse me, but I wanted to let you know that we're taking Dudley to see a doctor about his,' Vernon twirled his finger, his representation of Dudley's new tail, 'and we were wondering what you wanted to do for the day?'

Harry laughed out loud. He had never been asked what he wanted to do. It had always been a case of him being ordered to either his cupboard or even worse to go to stay with Mrs Fig. 'Where is the doctor?'

'L-London.' Vernon said, flushing slightly. He always hated Harry asking questions.

'Then I'll go with you, you can drop me off at Whitehall and I'll meet you after you're done with the doctor.' Harry would go back to Diagon Alley.

Vernon's lip wrinkled in the start of a sneer which he hid quickly. 'Right okay, fine. We're leaving early, be ready for eight or we'll leave without you.'

Harry nodded and looked back down at his book. Vernon retreated back to the house.

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