Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and everything in bold is J. K. Rowling's direct work. This will be my only disclaimer for the entire story.
Sorry it took so long to update, but I was stuck for a month without a computer. Then I came back and I was piled with homework and I had a math competition. Thanks to Cwam and tez-chan for reviewing. Enjoy!
Harry felt a burst of excitement. He was about to meet his parents in the flesh for the very first time.
"Wait, mate. Change your features. I want you to surprise your parents."
"Why?"
"Well, they might just not like a stranger, who looks like their best friend/enemy kidnapping them."
"Huh. Maybe you're right." Harry quickly changed his hair to brown and his eyes to blue.
Ginny did a double take. "You look completely different," she murmured. The youngest Weasley daughter was silent for a moment before snapping back to her normal self.
"Let's slice through the ice. We can levitate them to the 7th floor." They all did as Ginny told them. Carefully, they made their way back to the Room of Requirement.
"Finally!" exclaimed Ron. "I was starting to get tired."
Hermione snorted. "Yes, I'm sure, Ronald, that it takes a lot of energy to levitate a single person up the stairs."
Ron's ears turned red. "If you haven't noticed, we've come up seven flights of stairs."
"Stop flirting you two," admonished Ginny mischievously. Now Hermione was red too.
"Come on," she finally said after a long pause. "Let's just get everyone inside."
Nodding in agreement, Harry wrenched open the door.
"Wait," objected Ron. "Shouldn't we melt everyone before we take them inside?"
Harry shrugged. "They should just spring back to life when we take them inside."
"Okay then mate."
As soon as James was in through the doors he sprang back to life, just as Harry had said.
"Where am I?"was the first thing he asked. James began to lifted his wand threateningly but Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak from underneath his robes. His father raised his eyebrows but lowered the wand point.
"Can you wait until we get everyone else back?" James nodded.
As soon as Regulus, Severus, Lily, Sirius and Remus had been revived, Harry began talking.
"Hello, my name is Harry Potter and I am from 1997. They are my friends Hermione Granger and Ron and Ginny Weasley," he said, turning himself back to normal. Lily gasped.
'He looks exactly like James,' she thought. 'Except for the eyes.'
"Am I your dad?" asked James.
"Yep," replied Harry. He sighed in relief. So far they seemed to be accepting his words. But it wouldn't last for long.
"Then," he asked, sneaking a glance at Lily, "who's your mother?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," Harry said, smiling mischievously.
"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" Severus asked suspiciously.
"I have some bits of evidence. This should convince you." Facing James, Lily, Sirius and Remus, he murmured, "Expecto Patronum," and a silver stag erupted out of the end. They were shocked. The stag could have passed as James's twin.
"Harry," hissed Hermione. "What do you have that will convince the Slytherins?"
"Don't panic, I have it all planned out."
Harry leaned forward and said, "Severus, you go by the guise of the Half-Blood Prince." Severus only raised his eyebrows.
"I guess if my best friend and my brother both believe you, I should too," said Regulus. "After all, it only happens once a lifetime." Both scowled at the grinning Black.
"Wait a minute," started James, looking confusedly at Sirius, then at Regulus, and then back at Sirius again. "I thought you two hated each other. It sure looked like it."
"Well Prongsie," began Sirius, explaining it like he would to a toddler. "If it got known around school that my brother, who is in Slytherin, and me, that's our family's disgrace, are still on speaking terms, how well do you think the Death Eaters would take it?"
"Good point," cut in Remus. "But it doesn't explain why Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny are doing here." He nodded towards the time travelers, hoping they would explain.
"Well, the future ahead of us is very grim, and we were hoping we could change it. I found a spell to take us back, and a spell to stop time for three weeks. To change the future, I have a book on my seven years at Hogwarts. I thought that we would read them. But everyone needs to cooperate."
"I refuse," started James, "to spend time reading a book, with him" he spat, shooting a glance at Snape.
"And you believe I want to?" sneered Snape, looking contemptuously at the Marauders.
"If you refuse, we will leave you to your own fate, however horrible it may be."
"How bad can it get?" asked Lily. She looked nervous and scared.
"Here," Ron reached into the book bag and tossed the book to Remus. His bad aim, however, resulted in the book clipping Hermione on the head and her tumbling to the floor.
"Be careful Ronald!" shouted Hermione, after she picked herself up.
"Why Hermione? They're books, not antiques."
Hermione stuck her tongue out.
"I know it's the beginning of 7th year, but what's happened recently?" Harry asked curiously.
"I've just started dating Lily," grinned James idiotically. Remus smacked him over the head.
"OW! What was that for?"
"You're Harry's dad, but Lily might not be his mum."
"How can he not be with the green eyes?" He gestured to Harry's eyes, perfect matches of Lily's.
"You know we're still here right?" asked Ginny, amused.
"Oops. Sorry."
"We'll leave you guys to read the first chapter. You can summon us when you're done," decided Harry. The foursome left the room, leaving four Gryffindors and two Slytherins to read a book about the future.
James waved his wand and 6 more beanbag chairs appeared. The teenagers all thumped down into one.
"I'll read first," Regulus offered, reaching his hand out to take the book from Remus. He shrugged and handed it over.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," he read.
"Wait, what's a philosopher's stone?"
"Good job Paddy, you managed to last the title without interruption.
"Shut up Prongs," Sirius replied, leveling his wand at the said boy.
Severus frowned. He understood the nicknames Moony, for Lupin being a werewolf, but he didn't get the others.
"What's with the nicknames, o brother of mine?"
"Well, Reggie," Sirius grinned. He used the childhood name just to tick off his brother. But he stopped abruptly when James elbowed him in the stomach and Remus shot him a warning look.
Regulus took this as his cue to begin reading again.
"The Boy Who Lived"
"What's so special about that?" sneered Severus. "I am sure that many boys live."
"If we read, then maybe we will find out."
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."
"You're welcome," Sirius replied.
"If you would please stop being an imbecile-"
"Rich of you to say that you-"
"ENOUGH!" shrieked Lily. She glared and Sirius, James and Sev. "Harry came because things were very bad, as he put it. How bad do you think it got that the Ministry would allow 4 teenagers to time travel twenty-something years? We've barely read the first sentence. If you three won't stop bickering, well then," she grinned, fingering her wand. Severus looked sullen, and the others subdued.
"They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.
"Wait a minute," said Lily. "Why does the name sound so familiar?"
"If it's a book about my son, what're the boring Dursleys doing there?" James asked.
"Well," said Remus, "If we read, then maybe we'll find out.
"Hurry Reggie, keep on reading!" shouted Sirius.
Regulus rolled his eyes. "It was good while it lasted," he sighed, referring to the silence.
"Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her 'time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors."
"Sounds like my sister," snorted Lily. Little did she know how right she was.
The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.
"Probably a brat," said Sirius.
"Sirius!" exclaimed Lily. "Please, please stop interrupting after every sentence. We'll never finish the books this way. How many are there?" she asked.
"Probably 7 books," James replied. "One for every year of Hogwarts."
Severus mentally groaned. He would have to stay here with the arrogant gits while reading several books. A nightmare.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.
"I wouldn't want to be related to the Potters either," said Sirius, joking.
"Remember that we're the ones who offered you the home?" asked James.
"Never mind," replied Sirius hastily.
Remus rolled his eyes at the bickering of his friends.
Suddenly Severus cut in.
"If I'm stuck in here with the 3 of you until we finish the books, then we're finishing them as soon as possible. Regulus, keep on reading."
"Fine," he huffed.
"Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,"
"Probably too ashamed that she wasn't as good as her sister," smirked James.
Lily spoke up.
"Well, if Dursley is a Muggle, then I'm guessing that I'm…" she trailed off and allowed the others to complete her thought.
James grinned. His arm wrapped around Lily, before kissing her on the forehead. Snape watched with horror and disgust; the others watched with amusement.
"James. Seriously," said Remus. "Get a room."
"Whatever."
"because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be."
"They're saying it like it's a bad thing."
"The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that."
"And why would that be?" demanded Lily angrily. "I am sure that my son is a much better person than yours."
If looks could kill, the book would have been burning then, from the glares the Marauders were giving it.
"When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair."
"Who chooses their most boring tie for work?" questioned Sirius
"Apparently Dursley," snapped Remus. "Now let's please get on with the book.
"None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls."
"Brat."
"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley"
"Oh trust me," laughed Lily. "If that kid is anything like his father, little will be the last word used to describe him."
Severus quietly nodded his agreement.
"He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map."
"Minnie!" the Marauders cried.
Lily rolled her eyes. "You know, not every cat you see is Professor McGonagall."
"We know that Lily," replied Remus. "However, most cats we know do not read maps."
"There is that," she conceded.
"For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs."
"That's all you know," said Sirius in a singsong voice.
"SIRIUS!" Lily reprimanded. "Next time your mouth opens, you will lose it. Same goes for the rest of you," she added, glaring heavily
"Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks."
"What's so weird about people in cloaks?" Regulus asked, interrupting himself.
It was Lily who answered. "Muggles don't generally wear cloaks."
"Oh."
"How come he can talk, but I can't?" whined Sirius.
"Unlike you, he asked a question that isn't stupid."
Sirius pouted.
"Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together."
"I wonder what happened. There must have been a won battle against Voldemort," mused the werewolf.
Regulus and Severus shot quick glances at each other. If Voldemort was still in charge…
"Let's hope we're right."
"The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills."
"A one track mine he has there."
"A lot like Paddy and food."
"Oi!"
"Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead."
"Something really big happened. Something important."
"We know that Lupin," said Severus impatiently. "I thought we established this."
"But, they're being careless," murmured Lily worriedly. "If the Muggles notice something too suspicious..."
"Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.
He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery."
"Only one?"
"He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy."
Moony pointed at Prongs and Padfoot. "If these two are in the group, you should be."
"It's not like you're much better. You're just the one that doesn't get caught."
"And that makes you the most dangerous one."
"This bunch was whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.
"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"
" — yes, their son, Harry —""
Lily leaned into James, who wrapped his arms around her. "Why are they talking about us?" she asked nervously.
"Don't worry about it love," he said, but James was looking worried too.
"Mr. Dursley stopped dead."
"Yes he's dead!" cheered Sirius.
"It's just an expression, Paddy." Even Regulus's patience was wearing thin. At this rate, they would never get the chapter done.
"Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.
He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid."
"That's a surprise."
"Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold."
"I would never name my son Harvey. Or Harold.
"There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that…"
"Like what exactly?" asked James. His voice was icy and cold.
"Let it go James," she soothed.
"But…, okay, fine."
"Thank you."
"but all the same, those people in cloaks…
He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door."
"'Sorry,'"
"Wait, the man knows how to say sorry?"
"Apparently."
"he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!"
"WHAT!" Everyone shared looks of shock.
"He's GONE?" bellowed James.
"No wonder all the wizards have gone crazy."
"Bloody hell! Someone actually defeated Lord Voldemort!"
"Sirius! Language!" reprimanded Lily, but it held none of its usual force.
"I have a right to swear in this situation," he defended himself.
Meanwhile, Regulus and Severus were trading worried glances. If Voldemort was gone, there was no telling what would have happened to them. Death Eaters were not looked on favorably by most of the community.
"Little bro, keep on reading. I want to know how Voldy got destroyed."
"Stop calling me little bro!"
"Too late."
"Sirius, would it kill you to be serious once in a while?" asked Lily.
"I'm always serious." He grinned.
"Really, that joke is overused."
"And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.
Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination."
"It is a sad man who doesn't approve of imagination."
"Agreed."
"As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes."
"That's McGonagall for you."
"It must hurt to sit there all day."
"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly."
"It's not going to work. The idiot Dursley is lucky McGonagall didn't decide to bite him." At this James began laughing. Sirius glared at him, but he couldn't stop. After a minute, both Remus and Regulus caught on to what Sirius was saying and began laughing also.
"Would you mind telling us what is so funny?" asked Lily.
"Well, Paddy and I supposed to be in detention with McGonagall, and she happened to be in her cat form. So Sirius went up to her and said 'Shoo kitty'. McGonagall scratched him. Don't glare at me, you dug yourself into that hole."
"I didn't know a person's brain level could sink so low," said Snape scathingly.
"It was funny," added Regulus. "I was in the Hospital Wing because I'd gotten hit by a Bludger during Quidditch practice and here comes Sirius, covered in scratches. It was the funniest thing."
"Never mess with McGonagall," Lily said, shaking her head, half in amusement and half in exasperation.
"The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.
'Was this normal cat behavior?' Mr. Dursley wondered."
"Yes, it's normal for a cat to sit on a wall for a whole day, and read maps.'
"Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.
Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). "
"Does he even know a nice word?"
"I doubt it."
"Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:
"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.
"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"
"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."
Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…"
"See, even the idiot is figuring it out. The wizards are just being plain careless."
"Lils, he already knows we exist, it shouldn't be such a stretch for him to put it together."
"Oh yeah…"
"Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"
As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister."
Severus looked surprised. He had remembered that Petunia had disliked him and wizards, in general, but it hadn't been this bad.
Sirius and James both looked sad. Each had a sibling and couldn't imagine pretending that the other didn't exist.
"No," she said sharply. "Why?"
"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"
"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.
"Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… her crowd.""
"Is it that hard to just say wizards?"
"Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.
Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"
"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.
"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"
"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.""
"A whole lot better than Dudley!"
"I'll never know what Tuney was thinking when she named her son Dudley."
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."
"He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did...if it got out that they were related to a pair of- well, he didn't think he could bear it. The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potterswereinvolved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on- he yawned and turned over- it couldn't affectthem...
How very wrong he was."
"I'm not liking the sound of that," James frowned nervously.
"Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.
A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground."
"Doesn't Apparation usually make a noise?" Regulus looked confused.
"It could be a Portkey."
"Dumbledore probably didn't want to wake up the Muggles."
"Wait a minute, Moony, how do you know it's Dumbledore?"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"Who else would show up in a Muggle neighborhood with the worst Muggles I've ever seen?"
"The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.
Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.
He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore."
"See? It is Dumbledore!"
"Yes Moony, you're right, as usual."
"Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome."
"Dumbledore would never care."
"He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known.""
"Professor Dumbledore not knowing something? That has to be a first."
"Actually it's not Lily." Sirius said, laughing. "He doesn't know about our-" James shot a silencing spell at him and Sirius toppled over from his chair.
"I think I like this better. Regulus, keep on reading." Sirius glared reproachfully at all of them.
"He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop."
"Cool! I want one!"
"He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.""
"McGonagall!"
"He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled."
Remus snorted. "I've seen that look before."
Snape nodded. "It appears to be the one she wears every time after she has class with you three."
""How did you know it was me?" she asked.
"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."
"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.
"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here.""
"Then he walked to Privet Drive?" To Lily, it didn't make much sense. "Why would he do that?" Sirius began jumping up and down, waving his hand frantically.
"James, please get the spell off. Sirius is never going to calm down." Sighing, James removed the spell.
"Thank you Prongsy," he said, sticking his tongue out.
"Now if you would stop acting like toddlers, maybe we can finish?" asked Regulus.
"Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.
"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."
"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.""
"Eleven years?" asked Severus, to no one in particular. "Then this horror will be done in about four years."
"You should know," snapped James. He didn't want his Lily-flower getting mad, but it was impossible not to.
"We're lucky," mused Remus. "In four years, we can go back to our normal lives."
So wrong.
""I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."
She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"
"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?""
"A what?" asked Regulus. He wasn't familiar with Muggle candy.
"A yummy lemon candy," supplied Lily. She remembered when she was little, splitting a bag of the sour candies with Petunia.
"A what?"
"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."
"Looks like these two are more like McGonagall and Dumbledore than we thought." Lily turned red.
""No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"
"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort.""
No one flinched. "Are all of you comfortable with calling him Voldemort?" asked James after a moment.
Everyone nodded.
"Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."
"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of.""
"We're lucky he's here."
""You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have.""
"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" asked Sirius, well seriously.
""Only because you're too — well —noble to use them."
"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.""
The teenagers shuddered. There were some things that they didn't need to know.
"Way too much information."
"Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"
It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now."
"We're used to it."
"I imagine, as you are the only ones that have managed to get 14 cabinets worth of detention cards."
"It must be a horror, being your Head of House."
"It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.
"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead.""
"Reggie," said Sirius calmly. "Please tell me that you read that sentence wrong." Regulus sighed. It was all the answer Sirius needed. He stormed off and began swearing violently. Both James and Remus were deathly pale. Lily burst into tears. Severus was miserable.
After about 30 min., they felt ready to read again.
"This is what Harry meant, wasn't it?" asked James tightly. It was a rhetorical question.
"He also said that he was here to fix things. Don't worry James. We won't let this happen." Sirius said earnestly and Remus nodded. Regulus felt rather awkward as he didn't know any of his brother's friends very well.
Lily was still crying. James wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He nodded at Regulus to keep on reading.
"Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.
"Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…""
Sirius gave a sad smile. "So she does care."
"She would have to, for us to be in school so long."
""Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.
Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.""
Lily jumped up. "Not my son you bastard!"
"Touch him, and I kill you." James had a furious glint in his eye.
"But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone.""
"My-our son defeated Voldemort!" gasped James.
"You have one heck of a kid James."
"A toddler vanquished the Dark Lord!"
"Man, after killing all those people, he couldn't kill a little boy." Regulus looked awed.
"Dumbledore nodded glumly.
"It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?""
"We'll probably never know."
""We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."
Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?""
"Hagrid is easy to get information out of," mused Remus. "All you have to do is get him drunk."
"Remus!" shouted Lily, scandalized. "I thought you were the responsible one." James and Sirius looked at her like she was insane.
""Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"
"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now.""
"NO!" Lily cried. "Anyone but my sister. Let Remus or Sirius take him."
"I have to agree. Dumbledore has finally lost it."
"Prongs, maybe I'll come and take him. I'm probably held up right now, trying to kill the one that did it.
He was right.
""You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"
"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter.""
"A letter?" asked Severus skeptically. "He can really explain this all in a letter?"
"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?"
"Hey! You're more similar to McGonagall than we thought." Sirius shivered.
"These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future —there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!""
"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?""
"I suppose that's true," Sirius said. "Especially with his father as an attention seeking git."
"Hey!"
"It's the truth James," said Remus. "Although, Sirius, you're worse than he is."
"See?" Sirius stuck his tongue out.
"Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it."
"He'd better not be," said Lily fiercely.
"Hagrid's bringing him."
"You think it —wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"
"I would trust Hagrid with my life," stated James simply.
""I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore."
"Hey James, it looks like you're more like Dumbledore than we thought."
""I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"
A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them."
"COOL!" shouted Sirius. "I want one!"
"No one will ever be getting you a motorcycle Sirius. You're dangerous enough on the ground."
"If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins.
In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets."
"Aww," cooed Lily, mother instincts taking over.
""Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"
"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir.""
"Yes!" cried Sirius, pumping his arm back and forth.
"The skies will never be safe again," proclaimed Remus.
"No problems, were there?"
"No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning."
"Is that a… from the?" she couldn't complete her sentence.
"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."
"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"
"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with.""
"I've used that scar before," said James absently. Everyone gave him funny looks. "I got lost in the London Underground last summer and then I ran into Dumbledore."
"You guys have the weirdest stories," Lily said, shaking her head once again.
"If we're on the sub-"
"We don't need to hear anymore stories Sirius."
Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.
"Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.
Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.
"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!""
"Who cares?" scoffed Sirius.
"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"
"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door.
He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two."
"He'd better not be just leaving Harry there," James said threateningly.
"For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.
"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."
"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."
Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.""
"I want that bike," whined Sirius.
""I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.
Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.
"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone."
"I can't believe Dumbledore just left him there!" Lily burst out furiously. Her hands wove around themselves, and she looked like she wanted to strangle something. James hastily conjured up a blank mannequin before that "something" became his hand. She relieved her tension by blasting the mannequin.
Sirius continued to mutter about how Harry should have gone to live with him or Remus.
"A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…"
"Lily-flower," began Sirius in his puppy-dog voice. "Where does your sister live?"
"I'll tell you later," said Lily, eyeing Sirius warily. "All I ask is that none of you appear during my vacation."
He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!""
"The end," finished Regulus.
The wizards and witch sat in silence for a moment, soaking up what they had read.
"Whose going to summon Harry?" James asked finally.
"You do it James."
"Fine."
James waved his wand and muttered "Expecto Patronum." When the silver stag appeared, he jabbed at in and said "Nuntia." He then said that the first chapter was finished. With another wave of the wand, the stag disappeared into mist.
A few minutes later, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked in through the doors. Lily jumped up and hugged him. He looked surprised.
"Thanks Mum." The word tasted foreign on his tongue.
"Are we ready to begin?" asked the bushy haired girl. "I'll read," she offered.
Regulus nodded and handed her the book.
"The Vanishing Glass," she read. "You have the weirdest life, Harry."
"Don't I know it."