And heeeeere's Chapter Two! Thank you all for the reviews and faves so far, by the way; I appreciate it a lot!
There's been question in the reviews on whether or not I'll make Potter's Gang Animagi, but - I'm not even gonna try to be coy here - the answer is no. Given that you can't pick what animal to turn into, the practical use of becoming an Animagus is extremely limited. It's also so difficult and time-consuming to do (not to mention, unregistered Animagi are thrown into Azkaban if discovered) that you'd need a reason beyond just "it'd be cool to turn into an animal at will." Unlike for example the Marauders, Harry and friends simply don't have any such reason. After all, there are lots of other cool magics they can do which are both easier and more useful - and don't carry the risk of Azkaban.
WEASLEY GIRL: SECRETS OF THE PAST
Based on the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling
CHAPTER TWO
Long And Serious Talks
Ginny was silent the entire time on the journey back to Devon. Occasionally, Ronnie had to look over at her to see if she'd fallen asleep again, but she hadn't. She was leant back in her seat, but her eyes were open and she was following Harry and Ronnie's conversation intently. It seemed like Harry understood that she couldn't quite handle talking to him right now, silly at that was. At least he didn't try to engage her in conversation.
He had enough to talk about anyway. The mystery of the warning from the Ministry had an even more mysterious explanation; it wasn't Harry who'd performed magic in front of Muggles, but the house-elf he'd mentioned, Dobby.
Really, most of his Summer hadn't been too bad, he could tell Ronnie — poor Hedwig had been kept in her cage the entire time ("If I'd been a little smarter, I'd have asked you to take care of her during Summer," Harry said. "She already adores you, and she'd have been much happier being able to fly about."), but Harry himself had largely been left alone. As long as he did his chores, the Dursleys were happier when they didn't have to see him. And besides, they hadn't known he wasn't allowed to use magic outside school. For all they knew, he could turn them all into insects if they angered him too much.
But then, three days ago, on Harry's birthday no less, this Dobby had shown up out of the blue and talked about great dangers and how Harry absolutely mustn't return to Hogwarts this year because of some awful plot to make terrible things happen at the school. It had been impossible to get any details out of him, or who was doing the plotting, but he had at least admitted that he had stolen all of Harry's mail out of some warped hope that Harry wouldn't want to return to Hogwarts if he thought everyone there had forgotten him.
When that hadn't helped and Harry still hadn't agreed to stay away from Hogwarts, Dobby had used magic to throw a pudding at one of the Dursleys' dinner guests, and made it look like it was Harry who did it. And then the letter from the Improper Use of Magic office had arrived, and the Dursleys had understood that they weren't in danger of being transformed into something even more disgusting than they already were.
"And that's when they locked me in," Harry finished. "Uncle Vernon paid a man to fit the bars over my window, and said I was never going back to 'that freak school' and that if I used magic to escape I'd be expelled anyway. Not that I could have done much magic anyway, with my wand locked away."
"Nice birthday," said Ronnie, trying to hide how shocked she was. Why did these Dursleys hate Harry so much? Why did they hate magic so much? Magic was so great... okay, it could do awful things as well (don't think about the Imperius!), but to live without it, to shun it so completely...
"Definitely less exciting than my eleventh birthday," Harry agreed. "That was when Hagrid showed up, told me I was a wizard and took me to Diagon Alley. That year I got an entire world as a birthday present... this year I got iron bars and a batty house-elf. Are they usually like that?"
"Are who usually like what?"
"House-elves. Are they usually so..." (Harry seemed to search for a good word) "...scared?"
"Hell if I know," Ronnie admitted. "Poor wizard families like us don't have house-elves. I've never even seen one." But she pondered. "Far as I know, house-elves love taking care of humans. Seems like this Dobby thought he was looking out for you somehow."
"I hope he doesn't make a habit of it," said Harry dryly. "I don't think I'll survive that kind of caretaking for too long."
"So you didn't get a single one of my letters? Not Hermione's or Neville's either?"
"Not one. Dobby had them all, but when I wouldn't agree to not go back to Hogwarts, he never gave them to me." Harry looked thoughtfully out the window. "What sort of plot d'you think he was talking about? I asked him if Voldemort was behind it, but he said no. Actually, he looked very strange when he said that, as if he was trying to give me a hint of some sort... but I couldn't work out what that might be."
"Hmmm. Any ideas, Ginny?" said Ronnie. "C'mon, you're the brains in this car."
But Ginny just shook her head.
As they thought about it and tried to figure out, a faint pinkish glow started spreading around the Eastern horizon, signaling the arrival of the sunrise, and with it a new morning. The colours were so beautiful that for a long moment Ronnie just sat and stared at them. Usually she woke up long after the sun had risen, so this was a rare and breathtaking sight, made all the better for the fantastic view they had from up here.
"We should get up this early more often," she said, watching Hedwig swoop by the car window.
"I'll remind you of that the next time I try to haul your arse out of bed in the morning," said Ginny, speaking for the first time since she'd given Harry his Cloak and wand. "We're almost home."
And true enough; there below them was the familiar village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Smaller and more rural than Little Whinging, maybe, but having seen them both from above Ronnie thought that Ottery St. Catchpole looked a lot friendlier and more approachable — Little Whinging, with its large square houses and similar-looking streets (be they ever so much cheaper to build) had just seemed, well, boring and disagreeable.
Of course, maybe it just seemed that way to her because her own town was a place she knew well. She'd often wandered the streets, alone or with Ginny, and watched all the Muggles who did so many strange things they weren't allowed to ask them about. Occasionally, they'd even meet one of the other wizarding families who lived in or around town (the Fawcetts or the Diggorys, mostly; hardly ever the Lovegoods, even though they lived the closest to the Burrow and had a girl around Ginny's age). Ronnie doubted that Little Whinging had any wizards or witches living there, apart from Harry.
And now it didn't even have him, she thought triumphantly as she brought the car down lower and the dark patchwork of fields and clumps of trees came closer and closer. Her best friend having to suffer such horrible living conditions? Not on her watch!
Yes, all in all, she felt she could be satisfied with herself now. Her plan, the plan she'd thought up and put into works, had gone brilliantly. Despite a few minor unforeseen snags, like the Dursleys waking up and Harry not getting his school things, they'd managed everything. Her and Ginny. They'd freed Harry (and Hedwig), and managed perfectly well to drive the car all the way to Surrey and back in a few hours.
"Going in for landing," she said, just as the Burrow grew larger and larger in front of them. No smoke from any of the chimneys, great! That meant Mum wasn't awake yet, that gave them more time to think of a way to explain Harry's sudden appearance —
"Oh, bugger," she suddenly gasped, just as the car landed softly in the front yard, scattering chickens everywhere.
"What!?" Harry and Ginny looked at her with startled expression.
Ronnie pulled the car to a stop and pointed towards the front door. There was Mum, with a frown on her face. Right next to her was none other than Professor Dumbledore - and right next to him, looking like she didn't want to be there at all, was Harry's Aunt Petunia.
"It is quite simple," said Professor Dumbledore, looking at them over his half-moon spectacles. "I had set up a simple alarm that would warn me when the protections around Privet Drive were in danger of breaking. The alarm has been silent for eleven years, but tonight it was set off."
"But we didn't break any protections," said Ronnie, not bothering to hide her confusion.
"Not intentionally, no," said Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, as I'm so often reminded, intent and outcome are rarely coincident. But it would be wrong to lay the entire blame on you. In my case, for example, I arrived too late — just after you had left, in fact. I met with a rather... hm... confused Dursley family who were screaming rather loudly about flying cars, harem girls and the general moral debauchery of wizards."
Ginny giggled, but was silenced by a look from Mum.
"Well, what were we supposed to think?" Aunt Petunia muttered. "Middle of the night — two half-naked girls in his bedroom —"
"What are you insinuating about my daughters?" Mum snapped.
"We're not half-naked! Tee-shirts and shorts is not half-naked!" said Ronnie at the same time.
"And then, just after you'd vanished, this old crackpot shows up and begins asking questions!" Aunt Petunia went on, as if neither of them had spoken. "And hauls me off to this — this — place."
"Ah yes," said Dumbledore. "There was little I could do to catch up with the car, but I surmised that you young ladies would indeed bring Harry here, so I decided to Apparate ahead with Petunia and wait for you so we could exchange stories and information."
They were gathered in the Weasley family kitchen for what had to be the earliest Weasley family conference ever held — not to mention the first one that also included Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Dad, Bill and Charlie were absent, of course (Bill and Charlie being abroad and Dad still at work), but Percy was looking disapproving enough for three, an Fred and George were staring at their younger sisters half in awe and half with envy. Petunia Dursley was looking sullen and uncomfortable, which came as no surprise.
Originally, Dumbledore had suggested that he might talk to Harry and Aunt Petunia privately, but Ronnie, and of course Ginny, had refused to leave Harry's side, and so the end of it was that they all remained together.
"I always knew you two were too wild for your own good," said Mum, looking at Ronnie and Ginny, "but this? Not even Fred and George would have done something this!"
"Wanna bet?" said Fred under his breath, but was ignored.
"Beds empty, car gone, not as much as a note! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! You could have died, you could have been seen —"
"We don't care!" Ginny exploded. "You don't know what that house was like!" She glared at Petunia as well.
"We were only doing what was best for the family," Petunia insisted. "That boy is completely out of control. He's even worse than his mother ever was."
"You locked him up!" said Ginny. "You starved him!"
"I had to protect my own son. Did any of you ever think about Dudders in this? Or about me and my husband? How do you think we felt, knowing that any time we could wake up as toads or have our beds transformed into hedgehogs? Just look at how he treated the poor Masons! We had to lock him up!" She looked at Dumbledore and Mum with terrified yet angry defiance. "But I don't suppose people like you ever consider the plight of normal people — and he didn't starve, he had three meals a day! We were humane!"
"You were bloody loonies," Ronnie muttered.
It looked like a real fight was about to start, but when Dumbledore cleared his throat everyone, even Aunt Petunia, instantly calmed down.
"Petunia," he said. "Do you remember when I left Harry with you, all those years ago? Do you remember my letter? I told you to how to contact me if there were problems. You never did. What, I wonder, happened that made you feel justified in locking your nephew up, but not in contacting me?"
Aunt Petunia closed her mouth tightly.
"Could it perhaps be," said Dumbledore softly, "that you knew I would not approve of how you treated your nephew? How you seem to have treated him these last eleven years?" When he received no answer, the Headmaster went on: "I kept my distance, as you requested me to — after all, you were family and I was not. I had no authority over you, and while I did hear from certain acquaintances who have kept an eye on you from time to time that there was no love lost between you and your nephew —"
"You've been spying on us?" Aunt Petunia's eyes widened.
"Clearly I have not been spying on you closely enough," said Dumbledore, a little more firmly. "My acquaintances told me that while you were not treating Harry with the love and kindness he deserved, you didn't actually seem to be mistreating the boy. So to my eternal shame, I decided that the protection you offered him was more important, and I let the matter rest. But there were certain details you managed to keep hidden, wasn't it? Imagine my surprise when the enchanted quill addressed Harry's first Hogwarts letter to 'the cupboard under the stairs.'"
Aunt Petunia didn't answer.
"Of course, when the next few letters were all addressed to 'the smallest bedroom,' I thought that first one must have been a mistake," Dumbledore continued. "For some reason, the spell must have written the wrong address, and that was why Harry did not get his letter. I knew your family was comfortably well off and that your house was more than large enough for two boys; that you would make one of them sleep in a cupboard was laughable. And, in a way, it is laughable. I suspect there are a lot of Death Eaters who would get a good laugh if they ever found out."
"I —" Aunt Petunia began, and then closed her mouth.
"Your treatment of your nephew," said Dumbledore, in a tone colder than Ronnie had ever heard from him, "has been nothing short of appalling. Harry is not Lily, Petunia. Whatever quarrel you had with your sister, it is wrong to let an innocent child pay for it."
"Innocent!" Aunt Petunia found her voice again, though it had turned rather shrill. "Innocent?! If you only knew all the trouble he's caused over the years —"
"Which you, I might remind you, never contacted me about," Dumbledore interrupted. "I would have been happy to help, and I told you as much in my letter. You never responded."
"Because I knew what sort of 'help' you would have given him," Aunt Petunia snapped. "Vernon and I swore, when we took the boy in, that we would keep him away from all that abnormality!"
"Normality is such a relative term," said Dumbledore. "But Harry is perfectly normal for a young wizard — no, no, hear me out on this," he added when Aunt Petunia looked like she was about to say something. "Harry is a wizard, Petunia. There is nothing you can say or do to change that. Just as there was nothing you could say or do to change the fact that your sister was a witch — just as there was nothing I could say or do to change the fact that you are not."
Fred and George both let out a sharp "Hah!"
"Now it makes sense!" said George. "Sour grapes!"
"She wanted to be a witch," said Fred. "And when she wasn't, when she was only a Muggle —!"
"That's enough, you two!" said Mum sternly. "Mrs. Dursley can't help being a Muggle, any more than we can help not being Muggles!"
"She can help how she treated Harry," said Ronnie, whose loathing for Aunt Petunia had reached hitherto-unheard-of levels.
"You have no right to judge us," Aunt Petunia hissed. "I didn't come here to be insulted like this!"
"Correct," said Dumbledore. "You came here because you have something to tell Harry. I would do so now, if I were you."
For some reason, Aunt Petunia turned white. Then she slowly turned to look at Harry, who had been sitting there and looking uncomfortable about the entire situation. "Boy," she said, then cleared her throat and began again. "Harry. You can't — you can't come back to Privet Drive."
"Oh!" Harry's eyes widened. Most children would probably have been upset if they'd been told they could never come home again, but Harry looked as if Christmas had come early.
"It's because — it's because your Uncle Vernon threw you out."
"He didn't throw me out, I escaped," said Harry.
"But he said you were no longer welcome in our house. And I didn't contradict him, I didn't say you could come back." Aunt Petunia grimaced, but at Dumbledore's look she continued. "Apparently, when your mother died to save you, she left a protection of some kind — it was all in the letter I got with you, but I didn't read it that closely." (Even Ronnie could tell that this was a lie; the woman had clearly read the letter much more closely than she had wanted to admit.) "Something about blood and the strongest shields... anyway, he said that since we were Lily's only remaining blood relatives, as long as you were under my care, that Voldemort person and his followers wouldn't be able to touch you while you were under my roof."
Ronnie remembered that Mad-Eye Moody had mentioned the protections around Harry's Muggle home, but he hadn't mentioned what kind. That was one mystery solved!
"And he said they were likely to try and kill you, and you would be in great danger unless I took you in," said Aunt Petunia. "So what else could I do? Not that I ever got any thanks," she added, a little more sharply. "Eleven years, I had you, and you would probably have died if I hadn't taken you in, but were you the least bit grateful? Always in trouble, always talking back, always —"
Dumbledore cleared his throat again.
"The protection would have lasted until you were seventeen," Aunt Petunia hurried to say, looking at him nervously. "But when Vernon said you'd never be welcome in our house again, and you left, and I - and I didn't do anything to stop either of you, it seems the protection stopped working, because — because —"
"Because the magic," said Dumbledore, stressing the word and making Aunt Petunia wince, "interpreted this as you no longer being under your Aunt's care, Harry. And such protections, once revoked, can't be repaired or replaced. Privet Drive is no longer the safehaven it has been for you the last eleven years."
Ronnie felt herself almost shrink in her seat. That was what Dumbledore had meant with his comment about the protections breaking. This was all her fault. She'd put Harry in danger. If she hadn't gone to rescue him, if she at least hadn't kicked his Uncle in the groin —
But then she remembered the bars over the window, and the way the Dursleys had treated Harry, and the feeling of guilt diminished a little. Safehaven, hah!
"You knew that throwing the child out would put him in danger from You-Know-Who, and you didn't stop it?!" Mum was looking at Aunt Petunia in disbelief.
"I'm not his parent!" Aunt Petunia snapped. "I didn't want him! Have you seen his eyes? Those are my sister's eyes! Every time he looks at me, she looks at me! Judging me! Mocking me! For eleven years! Of course I had to lock him away — I couldn't get rid of him, but I could stop him looking at me!" She had started to rant now, turning towards Dumbledore. "And you! Exposing family secrets like that, forcing me to come here to a freak house and tell a family of strangers and freaks —"
"True, that was tactless of me," said Dumbledore. "I should have handled the situation with more discretion, and for that, at least, you have my apologies. But I thought it was important that Harry hear it from you what had happened. That much, you owed him."
"And what about what he owed me?" Petunia protested. "I only wanted to be left alone with my husband and son! But you freaks wouldn't let me, would you? You keep dragging me in, and I can see it in your eyes - in his eyes! In Lily's eyes! So superior. so condescending! Petunia the ugly Muggle! 'Muggle,' what a word! You think I haven't been treating the boy well enough?! Well, he didn't deserve any better! Using his freak powers to make life hard for all of us! It was self-defence, that's what it was!"
This was when Percy, who had been silent the entire time, raised himself. "Thank you very much for your visit, Mrs. Dursley," he said calmly. "I think now is the time for you to leave."
Mum's face had gone just as red as Ginny's, but she didn't speak.
"Actually, I believe young Mister Weasley is right," said Dumbledore, raising himself. "It doesn't look like the current conversation is going anywhere productive. I will take Petunia back to her family. I will also make certain to gather all of Harry's belongings. With the protection gone, and the home situation being how it is, there is no reason for him to return to Privet Drive. Molly, could I trouble you to look after him for a few days, until we can figure out what to do?"
"Of course, Dumbledore," said Mum, her face still red.
"I trust you won't object to this, Harry?" said Dumbledore.
Harry now looked as if not only Christmas but his next ten birthdays had come early.
Dumbledore nodded at him. "I will see you all later, then." he said cheerfully. "Do give Arthur my regards. Come, Petunia."
Petunia opened her mouth again, clearly about to launch into another tirade, but stopped at the look Dumbledore gave her.
"Petunia," he said, and now he was clearly getting impatient. "Whatever you were going to say, I beg you to instead to consider the excellent and highly appropriate alternative of staying silent."
"Er," said Ronnie, raising herself as well. Now that everything else seemed to be sorted out, there was only one thing she had to ask about. "Professor Dumbledore? Dad won't get in trouble — I mean, you won't tell anyone about the flying car, will you?"
Dumbledore looked at her. "What flying car would that be?" he said innocently.
"Thank you, sir," said Ronnie, feeling the relief wash over her.
When Dumbledore and Aunt Petunia had left, Mum took a deep breath and looked at all her children, one after another, and then at Harry, and then at Percy again. "Percy, that was marvellous of you." she said. "If that woman had remained here in my kitchen for much longer, I would have lost my temper. 'Freak powers,' I ask you."
"Typical Percy, always the spoilsport," said Fred. "I would have liked seeing Mum blow up at someone else for a change."
"As for you two —" Mum turned to look at Ronnie and Ginny. "I ought to punish you for that stunt. Driving the car all the way to Surrey, and all on your own! I don't think you understand how incredibly lucky you were that it didn't end in tragedy! What were you thinking? Ronnie, you're only twelve —"
"I'll be thirteen in February," Ronnie muttered. "Besides, I was worried about Harry. Turned out I had good reason to be, didn't it?"
Mum looked at her sternly. "Don't try to make it sound like you're the only one who cares, Veronica Weasley," she said. "Only yesterday, your father and I decided that if you hadn't heard anything from Harry by Friday, we'd take the car and go check on him ourselves."
"You did?!" said Ronnie, surprised.
Mum nodded."However, after meeting that Mrs. Dursley in person... I don't think I have the heart to punish you for what you did."
"Too bad you didn't meet her husband, then," said Ronnie. "You would have rewarded us."
"Don't you cheek me, young lady!" But Mum wasn't really angry — you always knew when she was angry for real — and she was all smiles again when she turned to Harry. "Welcome to our home, Harry dear," she said. "Of course you're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need. Bill's old room is empty, so when Dumbledore brings your things, we can move them up there, how does that sound?"
"Brilliant," said Harry, who looked both overwhelmed and grateful. "Thank you!"
"No need to thank me, dear. Come on, time for a spot of breakfast, I think."
And soon, the delicious scent of fried eggs and sausages filled the room, as Mum bustled about and prepared the food, throwing sausages into the frying pan, turning and retrieving them, flipping eggs and cutting bread for toast, working so fast that it looked like she had six arms.
Harry, who apparently wasn't used to seeing someone work like that in a kitchen, offered to help, but she declined and told him to just sit down. "I can manage perfectly, Harry dear."
"Mum's the queen of the kitchen," said Fred with a laugh. "She doesn't want any commoners to disrupt her rule! Your Majesty," he continued with a bow, "would you grant your humble son a boon?"
"Quit it, you," said Mum, though Ronnie thought she could see a smile threatening to spread on her face. "What do you want, Fred?"
"Just wondering if we had any marmalade."
Breakfast was about half-over — Harry had only just accepted his second helping of eggs and sausage — when Dad came home.
"Dumbledore contacted me and explained what was going on," he said, sinking down on an available chair. "I decided to postpone the last raid. Might as well give Mundungus Fletcher a few hours' sleep before I go after him." He yawned and stretched. "I think eight raids are my limit anyway. Not as young as I used to be — these nightly assignments are starting to take their toll. Besides... it seems I should rather have been up in Surrey, shouldn't I?"
"Er, Dad," said Ronnie. "About the car..."
Dad ruffled her hair and gave her a tired smile. "Yes, yes, it was very wrong of you, girls, very wrong indeed, but right now we have more important matters to discuss, so could we just pretend I've been very cross with you, and you've promised me never to do anything so dangerous again?"
Long and serious talks followed. Both Mum and Dad were more than happy to let Harry stay, but there were other things that needed to be discussed — and to Ronnie's frustration, this time none of the discussions involved her.
Professor Dumbledore returned after a few hours, without any Dursleys but with Harry's belongings, including his school things (Ginny did seem to think that this had made her fetching of Harry's wand and Invisibility Cloak somewhat pointless, but Ronnie pointed out that it had been a brave act that bode well for her future as a Gryffindor). He spent at least an hour talking to both Mum, Dad and Harry, and at the end it was decided that Harry would stay with the Weasleys at least for the remainder of the Summer, and they'd see what could be arranged for him for next year.
It was unfortunate that the protections around the Dursleys' home had been broken, but there was nothing to be done about it. (And Harry confided to Ronnie later on that he was so happy about not having to return to the Dursleys that he couldn't find it in himself to really worry about the protection anyway.)
And so, without any more fuss, Harry moved in. He spent the first few days, it seemed to Ronnie, almost constantly smiling. Life at the Burrow had to be quite a contrast from his prisoner's life at Privet Drive.
Hedwig was happy too; finally allowed to one more fly about as she wanted, she was more than willing to take on some of Errol's deliveries so the old owl could have a bit of a rest (because Percy still refused to let anyone borrow Hermes). She flew with letters for Hemione and Neville and brought back long replies from both of them.
Ronnie was glad to find that her entire family had taken to Harry just as easily as she herself had. Despite the unusual circumstances, and despite Ginny still getting shy and clumsy around him, they treated him with the warmth and kindness they extended to any other family guest — though Mum did perhaps fuss a little extra over him, encouraging him to have second and even third helpings at all mealtimes.
After the first day, though, Dad was uncharacteristically solemn. He was pleased to have Harry around, but strangely enough he didn't bombard him with questions about Muggle life. To Ronnie's surprise, he didn't even ask Harry about what a rubber duck was supposed to be for. Despite clearly being tired, he continued to spend more time at work than before; he left home before anyone else had got up in the morning and didn't get back home before most of the family had gone to bed at night.
The explanation came after a couple of days, when the Daily Prophet arrived at the breakfast table, sporting the following headlines:
BOY WHO LIVED BEATEN AND STARVED BY MUGGLE RELATIVES
Harry Potter, known as the Boy Who Lived, has been living under unacceptable conditions, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. When Potter was (at the recommendation of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and alleged friend of the Potter family) sent to live with Muggle relatives at the age of one, many prominent wizards and witches questioned the wisdom of such a move. Many expressed doubts as to whether any Muggle would be capable of properly raising the hero of the wizarding world. Recent evidence, however, seems to incline that even these doubters were too optimistic: Potter has just recently been removed from the alleged care of the Muggles after it was revealed that he for ten years has been beaten, starved, locked up and forced to work like a slave.
Independent witnesses tell how the Muggles have treated Potter like a cross between a house-elf and a target for them to take their raw, primitive anger out on. Naturally, this treatment has left its mark on Potter, as his contemporaries have noticed after the boy's first year at Hogwarts.
"He's hostile, quick to anger and always in trouble," says Potter's fellow student Draco Malfoy. "He has no idea how to behave among civilized people, but he's started a gang of troublemakers at Hogwarts, with at least one Muggle-born in it. They behave like animals, I'm sorry to tell you. They're even harassing the teachers so badly that one of the most beloved teachers was forced to resign."
Mr. Malfoy's father Lucius, chairman of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, expresses his concern: "This proves without a shadow of a doubt that Muggles are unfit to care for magical children. Potter should have been raised in a proper wizard family. I did in fact offer to take him in myself, maybe that would have in some way have made up for all the horrible things I was forced to do while under You-Know-Who's Imperius curse. But Headmaster Dumbledore seemed to think that the child would be better off with the Muggles. Of course I don't doubt that Dumbledore had the noblest of intentions, but it's plain to see that his inexplicable fondness for Muggles has seriously impaired his judgment."
Whether Potter's questionable behaviour will improve now that he is away from the dangerous influences of Muggles, remains to be seen, but he might be well advised to ask himself whether it is a coincidence that his rule-breaking gang at Hogwarts includes one Veronica Weasley, daughter of Arthur Weasley, a renowned campaigner for Muggle rights and the principal force behind the new proposed Muggle Protection Act.
"I wouldn't at all be surprised if her Muggle-loving father has told her to keep on Potter's good side," says a concerned student at Hogwarts. "They're probably afraid of what might happen to that precious Muggle Protection Act if Potter begins speaking against Muggles."
Arthur Weasley has not been available for comment on whether he is indeed guilty of such heartless manipulations of children in order to promote his political views, but with these revelations the Ministry surely must put both him and his Muggle Protection Act under closer examination.
Everyone was silent as Dad read the article for them. Ronnie felt as though someone had punched her in the stomach.
"I suppose it was too much to hope for that they wouldn't print something like this," said Dad.
"Where did they get all that?" Harry finally said. "I wasn't beaten or starved! Well, not much anyway."
George, who was sitting closest to him, shook his head. "I just get fonder and fonder of those relatives of yours," he said.
Harry changed the subject, as he so often did whenever his life with the Muggles was discussed. "And we never harassed Snape, it was more the other way around! What's the point of writing all this?"
Dad sighed. "It's Rita Skeeter," he said. "I know her; the more people she can make look bad with her articles, the happier she is. Dumbledore had to inform the Ministry that you were no longer to live with your relatives, and no doubt Rita Skeeter has her informants at the Ministry." He placed the newspaper down on the table. "Bad news for the Muggle Protection Act, too. Look at how the article implies that all Muggles are monsters."
"The Malfoys helped there," said Ronnie. The feeling of having been punched was fading, but now she had to blink several times so she wouldn't start to cry with anger at the unfairness of it all. "What in the name of Merlin's pants possessed that Rita Skeeter woman to interview them? Look at this - how Malfoy's Dad is all high-and-mighty! 'Horrible things I was forced to do under You-Know-Who's —" She cut herself off. Don't think about the Imperius. "Forced to do, my arse!"
"Language, young lady!" Mum scolded automatically, thankfully not seeming to notice Ronnie's brief hesitation there.
"And this! Apparently Dad is forcing me to be friends with Harry!" She swallowed; an annoying lump was stuck in her throat. "Well, at least they didn't stoop so low as to suggest I was feeding him illegal love potions!"
"Don't give them any ideas," said Harry in a tired voice. "Bad enough that I'm living with you now. They don't seem to have picked that detail up, though..." He looked uncomfortable. "Look, I don't want to give you any trouble, any of you. If me living here leads to such rumours about the Weasleys, and problems with that Muggle Protection Act, maybe I should find somewhere else. I have money, I could —"
"Will you stop being so fucking noble?!" Ronnie snapped around the lump in her throat.
"Veronica Weasley, either you stop using that kind of language, or you leave the table," said Mum.
"Harry, you're twelve years old, you can't live on your own. What sort of people would we be if we threw you out just because of some silly rumours?" said Percy pompously.
"Percy's right," said Mum. "Besides, you're not a bother. We want you around! And there'll be rumours no matter what we do or say, so the best thing to do is just keep our heads high. We'll manage."
"As for the Muggle Protection Act," said Dad, "yes, a lot of people have told me they're withdrawing their support for it, but that's not your fault."
"And Bill's room has been so lonely since he went off to Africa," said George. "It'd be terribly upset if you just up and left it now."
"And we were going to teach you how to play Quidditch," said Fred. "With all we've heard about your great flying skills, we were hoping to get you on the Gryffindor team this year. Last year was awful — whoever told Cormac McLaggen he had talents as a Seeker was a big fat liar."
"Please stay," said Ginny, looking at Harry for a full second before adding "Squeak," turning red and knocking over her (thankfully empty) glass.
Harry looked at all the Weasleys, one after another, with an astonished look on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe that they would all tell him to stay like this. Small wonder too, Ronnie thought, regretting her harsh tone. The Dursleys had never wanted Harry, which of course was why he'd developed his infuriating tendency to think he was a bother to everyone.
There was really only one thing to do. Trying once again to swallow the lump in her throat, she turned in her seat and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "We don't care what the Prophet says," she said softly (and almost truthfully). "We care about you. Are you gonna believe that, or am I gonna have to smack you around a little first?"
Finally, Harry laughed, his body shaking a little against hers. "No, that's all right," he said. "I believe you."
Ronnie smiled and blinked away a tear that was threatening to fog up her vision. "About time."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Note: This isn't really a fix-fic; as you might see there are obstacles in this story that weren't in canon, or at least that didn't come into canon at this point. Now the famous blood wards are irrevocably broken, the Weasleys' name is being dragged through the mud, Muggle hate is likely to increase, and the Muggle Protection Act is a lot more likely to fail... we'll see how much of this will actually come into play, though. And on the plus side, Harry seems to have swapped one terrible family out for one kind and loving one.
My take on the Dursleys' abuse of Harry is thus: Yes, they were abusive, but they never starved him or beat him to within an inch of his life like some fics portray. This sort of abuse would have been too visible, and would compromise their outward image as the successful, normal family they wish to be.
I never quite got all those fics where Dumbledore has a one-track mind and stubbornly insists on sending Harry back to the Dursleys even when better alternatives exist or they are clearly and visibly abusing him, all because of the protections. Dumbledore's main concern at this point is to keep Harry alive, not to make sure that he's miserable (the theory that he kept Harry miserable because it would make him easier to manipulate doesn't hold up to closer thought at all). Since the protection is now gone, there is no reason for Harry to return to Privet Drive.
This doesn't necessarily mean we've seen the last of the Dursleys, though, even if they probably won't show up again too soon.