A/N: A HUGE thanks to Bundibird for editing! You are amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Chapter Three: Pulling It Off

Aberforth was walking on air as he mounted the stairs to his flat above the Hog's Head. The moment he entered his messy flat, he pulled off Albus' pansy robes as quickly as he could. He looked at his brother's reflection in the mirror in the loo and pulled out his wand. He didn't want to look like his older brother any longer than he had to. Abe canceled the charms he had on his body and smiled devilishly at himself in the mirror.

"There's that handsome fool I have been waiting for!" The mirror said saucily. "Mmmm…mmhm!"

"Missed me Gilda?" He asked with a smile.

"Of course! But…oh…you really should think about keeping those spectacles. They give you a booky look."

"Uh huh," Abe said. After he had dressed himself in some more 'manly' robes, he went into the sitting room and sprawled across a large squashy armchair. "The blood magic will be a problem…." He said out loud. "Hmmm…" Abe smacked himself on the forehead, "Dudley!" Fate had dealt him a nice twist here. It still was not going to be an easy task. The muggle side of this operation had gone over rather well, he thought. The papers he had drawn up, and had had the Dursleys sign, needed only to have his signature next to the lines where his name was written, A. Dumbledore. Convenient that. The wizard side was going to be infinitely more complicated, he mused. He pulled out a pen (quills are too messy) and parchment, and then he wrote down what still needed to be done.

One... Get a house that is relatively remote. Preferably a non-magical place – maybe a small house in Cornwall

Two... Procure non-magical baby items. – The boys probably still slept in cribs or bass…er… bastonets?… er…cradle thingies. Right?

Three... Take a leave of absence from The Hogshead. – Effective as of 3 weeks ago.

Four... Avoid Albus as long as possible, or until he hunts me down – I already do that.

Five... Get groceries – of all kinds

Six... Ask Levi to take over the bar until further notice

Seven... Pack up the flat

Eight... Make sure the house that I buy is in Dudley's name

If the type of blood wards that Albus used were the same one that Aberforth thought he used, then there wouldn't be a problem. If they were the Genetic Blood Protection Wards, then the problem was solved easily. Lily died to save her son, so Harry would have the ancient Genetic Blood Protection passed through her blood to his. So who ever had Lily's blood and was housing her son (Petunia), that person would be enact the protection on o do was put the home in Dudley's name. Dudley had his mother's blood, and Petunia had Lily's. The blood protection wouldn't break.

Abe leaned back in the recliner. Today had been long; he would start preparing tomorrow. For now, he could sit back and enjoy the comfort of his chair while throwing back a couple shots of firewhiskey. Being Albus Dumbledore is tiring.

Two days later…

'They can't be serious…why, in the name of Merlin's fuzzy pink socks would they name a shop that?'

Aberforth was standing outside of a muggle shop in muggle London with a scowl planted on his face. The shop was named, "Bubble's and Burp's". Do they expect me to go into that shop and come out with my dignity still intact? The shop was covered in fluffy pink and blue plastic bows. There were dozens of multi coloured streamers, balloons, and teddy bears. The balloons all had little banners with little sayings such as, "It's a GIRL!" or, "It's a BOY!" Little clothes were on every surface, cribs and prams were lined against the walls, and there was a never-ending supply of nappies and tiny little socks.

Disgusting as this was to him, it seemed to be the norm for baby shops. Except for the paint job inside. Divided in half, one side of the store was painted hot pink with bright yellow and green polka dots. The other side was painted a fluorescent blue with neon orange and white dots. Worse still, it played not only on the walls, but the hideous color scheme seemed to have melted its way onto the floor as well; effectively marking off the divisions between the girl's and boy's items. Outside the store was a giant pink baby. It had his thumb in his mouth and the biggest nappy that Abe had ever seen.

Aberforth took a deep breath and pushed through the door. Upon entering the shop, he heard an annoying song. It just kept repeating, "It's a small world after all! It's a small world after all! It's a small, small, world!"

'Someone turn it off!' Abe thought. The song was incessant and horrible. They might sing that song in Hell.

Abe picked up a toy lamb that, while prissy, seemed all right. He tucked this under his arm and continued to peruse the horrible, awful, tortuous store. This was for the toddlers, after all. He had to be strong. If this was what was supposed to make them happy, he decided he'd just have to buckle down and do it. He reached up for a blanket hanging above his head, and inadvertently squeezed the lamb. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a distorted and somewhat evil-sounding voice issued from the stuffed toy.

"Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep…"

Aberforth flung the possessed toy to the floor, and scooted away from it warily. "Great," he thought. "An animated muggle toy! Just when you need a little privacy, you're bound to have the misuse of muggle artifacts officers breathing down your neck."

"Is there a problem, Sir?" Asked an entirely too perky young saleswoman. She was dressed from head to toe as though she did all her shopping in very the store they was currently standing in. She had on a pair of Mary Jane shoes with soft yellow lacy socks. She was wearing a lavender pair of coveralls that came to just above her knees, and a Winnie-the-Pooh patterned yellow shirt beneath. In her hair was a pale yellow headband that pulled back shoulder-length brown hair. A smattering of freckles adorned her nose and cheeks, adding to the overall effect of a rather tall 4 year old.

Aberforth shook his head bewilderedly and pointed to the lamb, which was still praying fervently in its mangled voice.

"Oh dear. I see. You know they just need new batteries. They do tend to wear them out so fast."

Abe didn't know what she meant, but he could understand that anything that took a 'battering' on a regular basis was bound to wear out sooner or later. This one just had the good sense to pray for help. It was now praying, "And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord, my soul to take." The poor little thing had lost all hope! He would rescue it, even if scared the bloody hell out of him. He'd give the thing to Edgar; the old goat could use a companion, however demented it was.

"Er…I'll take it. Could you kindly show me to the bastonettes?"

"Pardon? Do you mean 'bassinets'?" Asked the very amused saleslady.

"I suppose I do. Could you point me in their direction? Er…Mindy?" He said, reading her large round name button; which was pink, like half of the entire shop. Mindy giggled girlishly and pointed towards a collection of white, wooden cribs on spindly legs.

"Those are our cribs. We have a nice collection of cradles over here," She indicated with a hand wave to her right, "And of course, our bassinets for the littlest ones over there."

"How…er…old do the littlest ones need to be to use a bassinet?" He asked.

"Oh, I'd say two or three months old at the oldest," She bubbled.

"Oh. Okay then."

All of a sudden a new song came on over the intercom. "Toy land! Toy land! Little girl and boy land! Once you dwell within it, you are sure to stay!" Abe felt as though he were smothering. He frantically began looking for the exits from the shop of horrors. No, he couldn't leave without rescuing the poor little lamb. And he had a duty to provide for the boys…but surely there was an easier way than this. His panicked expression must have tipped off the sales lady that he was in over his head, because she took pity on him.

"You know sir, we have a lovely mail order catalogue this season. Perhaps if you'd be more comfortable shopping that way…" She trailed off.

Abe let out a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to spend much longer in this disaster of a shop. He nodded quickly, almost frantically. He wanted out and he wanted out now. He made his way to the check out and Mindy handed him a handful of brochures and catalogue magazines after he paid for the tortured sheep. He half grimaced and half smiled at her and hurried out of the shop as fast as he could, as though he might contract leprosy if he stayed a moment longer. He shuddered as he passed the giant baby in it's enormous nappy. 'I wonder how many of Harry's and Dudley's nappies it would take to fill that one?' Abe pondered and shuddered again as he remembered; he needed nappies. Lots and lots of nappies.

Two days later…

Thus far, Aberforth had been able to extend his leave of absence from the Hog's Head, get groceries, and buy all the baby things. The catalogue had helped immensely in the baby department. The groceries were tough though; he didn't know exactly what babies ate, so he got a little bit of everything. The catalogue was definitely less painful than going into the creepy Bubbles and Burps. Abe shuddered at the thought of it.

From the magazine he ordered one light blue cradle and one dark blue cradle. Sheets and pillowcases also came with the cradles. He had bought six bags of nappies in both Dudley's size and Harry's, a bunch of teddy bears and animals for Harry, and a few for Dudley (his parents would probably provide more than enough toys for him). He got a comfortable looking armchair in light blue to put in the boys' room for himself and a few other necessities such as bottles and nose bogey things. He almost bought a wooden rocking chair, but it didn't look nearly as comfortable as the armchair. He also bought Harry some clothes, pajamas, socks, and little shoes (he didn't think the Dursleys would provide those for him). After he placed his order, which he had to use a public phone to do, he started working on packing up his flat.

His home above the Hog's Head wasn't exactly hard to pack. He didn't own much except a few armchairs, a few books, a mini bar, a now full Permanent Cooling Charmed Box (a Wizarding equivalent to a refrigerator), some legal papers, odds and ends, and some more furniture. It didn't take him long to shrink everything down and put it in a box. He took out a few robes from his closet and shrank the rest and put them in the box. He kept out everything he would need in the next few days and then he would pack them before he left for the Dursleys'.

Aberforth pulled out his list of things to do before the boys came.

One... Get a house that is relatively remote. Preferably a non-magical place – maybe a small house in Cornwall

Two... Procure non-magical baby items. – The boys probably still slept in cribs or bass…er… bastonets?… er…cradle thingies. Right? CHECK

Three... Take a leave of absence from The Hogshead. – Effective as of 3 weeks ago. CHECK

Four... Avoid Albus as long as possible, or until he hunts me down – I already do that. CHECK

Five... Get groceries – of all kinds CHECK

Six... Ask Levi to take over the bar until further notice CHECK

Seven... Pack up the flat CHECK

Eight... Make sure the house that I buy is in Dudley's name

All he had to do now was to buy a home in Dudley's name. This was a crucial point in his plot. Having a house put in such a young child's name was rare, but not unheard of; especially among the more elite and wealthy pureblood families. He had been able to locate someone within the real estate world willing to cooperate with him in that venture. He'd need a final trip to Krivance's Realty in muggle London for that.

The place catered to both squib and magical needs, and sub sequentially had ties to both muggle and magical properties. The bungalow near Cornwall was actually muggle made and operated, meaning it was wired for electricity and plumbing, as well as having the additional option of either satellite or cable service. He wasn't sure what that was, but he knew he wanted it all the same. He was almost positive that this was the house he wanted. So he decided on one last walk through before he signed the last of the papers. Getting their belongings into the home with the most minimal use of magic possible was going to be tricky, too. He didn't want any more magical complications than he had. He was relatively positive that once the wards were constructed and active, that he could make any good magic performed within half a kilometer of the house, undetectable. Dark magic, however, was something he wanted to be completely detectable. Like he'd said, tricky.

The following Monday, Aberforth Dumbledore arrived in Little Whinging, Surrey. He was confident that all of his most secret plans were still just that, secret. It had taken him the better part of the past three days to secure the deed to the bungalow in Dudley's name. And with that, numbers 1 and 8 had been checked off his list.

Once again wrapped in the frilly, elaborate disguise of his brother's preferred wardrobe, he made his way to the front door of number 4 Privet Drive. He observed all the same procedures that his brother would in this circumstance. He was charmed so that his clothing would appear normal to the eyes of the Dursley's prying neighbors. But, the Dursleys themselves, would see exactly what he intended, and what they expected to see. Peering over the edge of his half moon shaped spectacles, he looked both ways up the street before leaning in to knock on the perfectly white door. The door was wrenched inwards before his knuckles connected with the wood, and he stood, paused for a moment, with his hand still lingering in the air.

"In," hissed Petunia. All of the graciousness she would normally strive to present to a guest long since sapped from her, being in the face of this most trying and difficult catastrophe. Her every facial move spoke of her tenseness, and Abe did not need to be any sort of Legilimens to deduct that the woman felt that her patience, her hospitality, her right to normalcy had been stretched beyond her endurance. If he had not been so unfond of the woman, he might have found himself feeling somewhat sorry for the lady. As it was, he felt no such thing. In fact, the closest thing to compassion that he could muster for her was humor at the situation. At least it was a step up from the negative feelings he had for her innate selfishness. But neither would help the situation. So Abe had simply schooled his face into a pleasant smile, lowered his fist, and stepped into the home as though he had been welcomed in the warmest of ways.

As soon as the door latched behind him, Petunia turned away, marching stiffly down the hall. He supposed he was meant to follow, so he strode after her. Piled in the kitchen were five very large boxes of what he could only assume to be Dudley's things. They were marked: clothing, toys, bottles and formula, nighttime clothes, and more toys. On top of that, there were two different kinds of prams, a pair of car seats, and a large blue bag used for nappies, perched atop a box of nappies and wipes. Thrown casually to the side, as if an after thought, were what appeared to be Harry's belongings. They were shoved haphazardly inside the basket that Aberforth knew he had arrived in. Ah, well, he really couldn't say that this was unexpected.

What he did find unusual, though, was the fact that the portly young blonde baby was not attached at the hip to his mother. Apparently, during the week that they had had to say good-bye to their only son, the Dursleys had not mastered their fear of magic enough to bring themselves to handle their son as they used to. Abe had not spent the last week as a transformed blackbird spying on the Dursleys. But he wouldn't be surprised if Dudley was now only picked up to be fed, changed, or bathed. Just like his cousin. He wondered how well that had gone over with the spoiled boy. He had to keep himself from grinning openly at the thought of his tantrums. He hoped there had been no more accidental magic because of it. Though he suspected that Petunia would be even more flustered if there had been.

"Good afternoon, I presume the boys are ready?" Abe asked gently.

"Yes. They are." Vernon said gruffly from his seat at the table.

"How are you taking the boys to the school? Car?" Petunia asked.

"We'll be traveling by bus today," he stated, not completely untruthfully.

"And their things? What about them? I highly doubt you'll be able to handle two squirming toddlers and all these things at the same time."

Abe gave her a smile and a wink. "Magic."

The Dursleys paled uncomfortably.

Aberforth took out his wand and vanished the boxes, one of the prams, nappies, and Harry's basket. Petunia let out a squeak and looked anxiously towards the windows. She cleared her throat and muttered stiffly, "Right."

Well this certainly was awkward… How exactly was he to get under way? Did this situation call for being delicate and mannerly? Or should he simply be all business, and get out as soon as possible? This was one of the few times in his life that Aberforth actually wished to be his brother. Albus always seemed to know what to do in situations of tenseness. Perhaps it was his innate ability at Legilimency that gave him an edge, or maybe he just was better with people all around. Either way, he knew he shouldn't just stand there with his thumb up his…erm… twiddling his thumbs. What would Albus do? Hmm… he didn't have any lemon drops on him to offer. So….

"Well then, I see you've taken care of everything on this end, Mrs. Dursley. I must say, I really do appreciate your efforts. An-"

"The boys are in the sitting room, and are ready to go," Vernon gruffly interrupted.

'Well certainly makes things a bit easier.'

"Alright. Mrs. Dursley? Would you kindly place your son in the pram? I'll get Harry." Abe wasn't entirely sure he could carry Dudley.

He walked into the living room with the Dursleys where Dudley and Harry were playing with building blocks in a new playpen. The new playpen, Aberforth guessed, was only bought for Dudley. Almost certainly, if Dudley weren't in the playpen with Harry, the 'Savior of the Wizarding World' would still be in the broken cage. Petunia carefully picked Dudley up out of the blue playpen by the armpits and placed him in the pram all too quickly. She pecked him on the head once and strolled the pram over next to Aberforth.

"Shall I let you say goodbye?" Abe asked Petunia and Vernon.

Vernon scoffed and said, "We've had a week to do that, thank you. Could you just…" He made a shooing motion towards the door.

"Oh…Of course." Aberforth stooped down and gently picked up Harry. He smiled at the little boy, who at the moment, was verifying that Abe's beard was, in fact, real. He rested the young boy on his hip and started towards the door while pushing the pram holding Dudley. Petunia's tears that she had been holding back for a while now, came down like swift rainstorm. All of a sudden, she ran as fast as her feet could carry her to her son. She pulled him out of the pram and held him to her chest tightly. She only let go of him when she heard Dudley squeak from lack of air. She shakily placed him back down. Vernon walked over to his wife and pulled her into his beefy arms where she started sobbing loudly onto his shoulder. Vernon looked down at his son and said in a tone that he thought was manly, "Goodbye Dudders." Then sniffed in a very un-manly way.

Aberforth took this as his cue to leave. He adjusted Harry on his hip and pushed the pram through the door. The Dursleys were holding each other tightly and Petunia muffled her sobs into Vernon's pudgy shoulder as they left. Abe calmly closed the door after them and made his way down the walkway. He took the boys a few houses down the road to Wisteria Walk and pulled out his wand. A few moments later there was a loud BANG! and the Knight Bus appeared in front of the three wizards.

Arabella Figg cursed out loud as the Knight Bus turned a sharp corner. She almost toppled over…again. She was getting too old for this. Suddenly the bus driver slammed on his breaks. In a well rehearsed tone the driver spoke over the magical intercom, "Wisteria Walk!"

"Move along ma'am, move along. We got's to keep goin'. Thankee Ms," the old and decrepit man said as he helped the Mrs. Fig from her seat towards the exit. He winked at her as she made her way down the steps with her shopping bags. She blushed lightly and smiled at him. "Come again Ms., come again."

"Of course. I'll see you next week Jacob. By the way, what put you in such a mood? I must say, it's quite a nice change."

"Got me new dentures! See? Watch! Dey go…. up! An'…. down!" He said enthusiastically while demonstrating his new trick.

"Oh! I learned that ages ago! Can you do this?" Mrs. Figg was about to demonstrate her little trick when she was interrupted by a cough. She turned around and grinned at the tall man behind her. "Albus! What brings you-Ah! I see you got my message. Those Dursleys simply were not fit to take care of their own child, much less Harr-" She was interrupted, yet again, by his cough.

"Ah yes. Wait a moment…isn't that their…?" She stared confusedly at Dudley. She understood why Harry should be taken back from the Dursleys, but why would Albus have Dumpy? She had been watching the Dursleys for the past few weeks and didn't like what she saw at all. They were clearly unfit to take care of any child. That must be the reason.

Aberforth was in a fix. 'Who is this batty old woman? Obviously she knows who my brother is.. She said she had been watching the Dursleys…Albus always was paranoid. She must be from his Order of the Peacock.' He thought.

"Yes, I will be taking both Dudley and Harry." Abe said with finality. He knew if he put the 'do not ask' edge in his voice, she wouldn't question him any further. That was one of the rare perks about being Albus. You have a lot of authority.

She paused before answering, "Alright then Albus, you know what's best then."

"Ahem…Sir? We really must get goin'. Places to be and whatnot." Jacob said impatiently. He smiled and winked at Mrs. Figg who was still standing there.

"Good bye, Albus!" Mrs. Figg said cheerily as he boarded the bus with Harry. "Jacob, I'll see you next week then."

Jacob turned his attention to Albus and said in his business-like voice, "Welcome back to the Knight Bus, 'Eadmaster, sir. Will you be needin' any help with your," He paused, "luggage?"

"Yes please. Would you get…er…Walter? I have my hands full at the moment." Aberforth gestured to the pram holding Dudley for Jacob to carry onboard.

Abe absolutely hated the Knight Bus. He hadn't used the bus in years. He much preferred flying, floo, or apparating. His first few rides made him sick each time, much to his older brother's amusement. He wouldn't even be using the Knight Bus, but apparating with children can suffocate them in the mere seconds it takes to travel.

Jacob climbed down from where he was standing on the Knight Bus and walked unsteadily to the pram holding 'Walter'. He sighed and started to try and lift it onto the bus. Mrs. Figg, who was still standing there smiling at him and waiting for him to say goodbye, laughed and said, "Are you a wizard, or are you not Jacob? Levitate it."

He blushed and out his wand and preformed the levitation spell on it and guided the buggy over the steps and onto the first floor of the bus. Jacob grinned at Mrs. Figg and said, "See you next week, ma'am"

Mrs. Figg waved at him and turned to Ern, the driver, "So Ern…I never get to talk to you…how have you been?"

While Mrs. Figg was talking with the driver, Jacob set the carriage down where the 'Headmaster' was sitting with the black haired child on his lap. Then he pulled out his portable cash register and collected the fee.

"Where'll it be suh?" Jacob asked.

"Launcells, North Cornwall, Elizabeth's Lane, please." Aberforth said pleasantly as he was playing peek-a-boo with the Harry, who was sitting facing Abe on his lap while gleefully covering and uncovering his eyes with his little hands. Dudley just ignored Harry and Aberforth, and instead chose to keep making spit bubbles.

Jacob made his way to the front of the bus and sat in a floating chair next to the driver. He sat the register on a nearby table, and they both bid Mrs. Figg farewell, then said, "Alrigh' mate, take er' away!"

BANG! All of a sudden the mismatched chairs flew to the other side of the bus as the Knight Bus apparated somewhere in the country and took an extremely sharp turn. The buggy rolled forward slowly at first and then gained a bit of momentum and rolled speedily to the back of the Knight Bus. Its cargo didn't even seem to notice; he just kept on making his spit bubbles. Aberforth and Harry on the other hand, took notice. Their chair, along with the others, went sliding across to the left side of the bus. Abe held onto Harry firmly and put himself between the child and the chairs as they glided towards a stiff, wooden chair. Fortunately, they didn't crash. An invisible force seemed to keep them a couple feet away from each other. Harry just giggled in excitement.

Like Dudley, some of other passengers occupying a few of the chairs, didn't seem to notice or care at all. A young witch continued reading Witch Weekly, a middle-aged warlock rummaged through his suitcase looking for something, and an extremely pale gentleman read through the Obituaries in the Daily Prophet as they glided back and forth. Although, one customer was turning greener and greener by the minute as his chair slammed from the right side of the bus to the left, not crashing into anything in it's path. Only once he gained control of himself, the Knight bus came to a screeching halt thrusting all passengers forward at once. This was too much for the poor man; he threw up all over the loveseat in front of him. Each and every one of the other passengers turned and looked at the sick in disgust. "Ew…" was heard from all of them in chorus.

"Yorkshire!"

A portly woman climbed the stairs from the second floor and hastily made her way through the exit, eager to get away.

Aberforth took advantage of the bus being in park, and quickly performed a sticking charm on his and Harry's chair. He stood up, sat Harry in the chair, and performed the sticking charm again on Harry and the chair, to prevent him from falling. He made his way to the back of the bus, dodging the chairs as he went. As soon as he approached Dudley in the carriage, he grabbed the handle and pushed it back to where Harry was magically stuck to the chair. Abe cast the charm again on the buggy and canceled the spell on Harry, then sat down hastily before- BANG! They were off.

Seven 'BANGS' and 45 minutes later, they arrived at the Bungalow. Abe wheeled Dudley and Harry down the little lane to the modest bungalow. Not too far from it was a beautiful, sandy beach, and surrounding the house were scattered trees with light green grass below them. In front of the Bungalow, was a small vegetable and flower garden. It was one storey, with a tall stone fireplace in the back. The paint on the exterior was tan and surrounding the house was a one-meter tall, faded, weather-worn, drift-wood fence. The front porch was small and held a rickety old rocking chair and two wooden benches, with a fan on the ceiling circulating the air.

Aberforth strolled up their stone walk and set the pram on the porch. He lifted Harry from the pram and sat him down on the porch, then heaved Dudley from the carriage as well. He unlocked the front door, and levitated the giggling boys inside. He turned them right, past the stairs leading down the basement, and into the small living room. Then set them down in the large, green playpen filled with toys that he had bought from the magazine. Abe smiled at the boys and sat down on his squashy chintz armchair after canceling his glamour charms.

Abe relaxed and looked around himself at the small sitting room. Moving his things into the house wasn't as tricky as he'd thought. Before he set up the wards, he moved his things in the bungalow and resized them. It was a good thing that the previous owners had good taste in home decorating and left most of their furniture in the house, as he had neither much furniture, or good home decorating skills. Most of the walls were painted tan, cream, sage green, or white. The tile in the kitchen was cream, the carpets were sage green, tan, or white, and the furniture was mostly dark mahogany. The couches and armchairs were tan or sage green, though Abe's personal armchair was bright scarlet red. It didn't exactly fit in too well, but Aberforth loved it all the same.

A door from the sitting room lead to Abe's bedroom, which was done in most of the same colours as the rest of the bungalow. There was a small kitchen, a medium sized dining room, two bedrooms and a joint bathroom on this floor. Out back, there was a small fenced in area that Abe added on for his pet goat, Edgar and the possessed toy lamb. In the basement, which was like another storey, but underground, there was a small bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, and a large open space that took up the rest of the room downstairs, that might have been the previous owner's library, considering the many bookcases. Abe thought that might be a good playroom for Dudley and Harry, or a recreation room for himself. The bookcases though…Abe didn't really read that much, and if he did, it was usually "Making a Magical Margarita". He wasn't sure his "How to Make a Smashing Spiked Sorbet" would be suitable for children…yet.

Over all, the house wasn't that big with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was nice, cozy, and secluded, which was exactly what Abe was looking for. The boys would have to share a room, or when they were older, one could sleep downstairs. He would still be able to use magic in the house, but not large amounts.

Aberforth was just thinking about putting the boys down for a nap when Dudley started squalling. Abe got up out of his armchair and went to investigate the matter. Dudley was crying and Abe, for the life of him, couldn't see what was wrong with him. He stooped down to pick up the boy and held him out at arm's length. Abe tried bouncing him up and down to calm him, but to no avail. All of a sudden Dudley stopped crying. Abe sighed in relief, and then was broken from his relaxation by a nasty, putrid smell. It was like rotten eggs!

"Ugh! What is that? No…that was you? You snarky little…." Abe started towards the boys' bedroom with Dudley still at arm's length making disgusted faces the whole way there trying to hold his breath to keep from breathing in the horrible smell. When he entered the room, he laid the toddler on the changing table and went searched through Dudley's things, which Abe banished from the Dursleys' to the Bungalow, looking for nappies. "Ah ha! Here the buggers are!"

"Now…How? Oh! You pull this tab…and this tab…and voila-" All of a sudden, Aberforth got a face full of –

"Son of a…"

Albus Dumbledore was in a panic. Harry Potter and the Dudley Dursley had not been at the Dursleys for over three hours now. He checked his Human Presence Detector once again, just to make sure. No, definitely gone.

Albus had been having a relatively normal day. All was going fine with his students and staff. There were no Dark Lords to think about constantly and the students were all safe. The Ministry hadn't been bugging him for a few days, he had a fresh supply of Lemon Drops, and his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had the potential to stay for longer than a year; the others in the past never could stay longer than a year; something always came up.

He was torn from this nice, peaceful day, when he checked his Human Presence Detector in the late afternoon. It was nearly 5:30 and there had been no sign of the Potter boy or the Dursley boy for hours. The Detector showed that Petunia Dursley and Vernon Dursley were still in the house…but no boys. There were hundreds of thoughts going through Albus' mind as to what could have happened.

They could have been kidnapped! No Death Eater can come within kilometer of the house! (Maybe: "They couldn't have been kidnapped! No Death Eater can come within a kilometer of the house!" Or "They could have been kidnapped! But no Death Eater can come within a kilometer of the house!")

Maybe it wasn't a Death Eater…

Maybe the Blood Wards broke? No…I would have known

Did Petunia break her promise?

But why wouldn't Dudley be there?

Petunia…possibly…Dudley…orphanage… magic…Harry…? What?

None of this made sense! His detectors showed that the Blood Wards were still in effect; though weak. He'd have to go to the Dursleys' and get this sorted out. Albus walked quickly over to his fireplace, grabbed a pinch of floo, and threw it in the flames to floo-call Minerva McGonagall. He briefly told her that he would be out for a while and left it at that. No need to worry her.

He withdrew his head form the green flames and waited for them to turn red again. He got a larger pinch of floo and stepped into the fireplace. Albus threw the powder into the flames below him and called out, "Arabella Figg's Home, Wisteria Walk!"

"Albus! What are you doing here? Weren't you just… Never mind. It's lovely to see you again," Mrs. Figg said as he cleaned the ash off of his magenta robes. She peered questioningly at him through the kitchen door while sipping her tea near the sink.

"Excuse me, my dear. My hearing must not be as good as it once was. Did you say that I was just here?" Albus' blood ran cold. No! Someone could have kidnapped the children right under his own nose! But whom? And why?

"Oh, of course not here. And perhaps you didn't see me, after all. I thought you might not have, as you had your hands quite full with Dumpy Dursley and Harry Potter! You said that…Well, I reckon that you didn't say much, did you?" Mrs. Figg said.

"Arabella, are you sure you saw me?" Albus asked.

"Oh…erm, well I suppose not. Not if you don't want me to have seen you just then," She answered slowly. She was rather confused by this conversation.

"My dear, I am very sorry for being unclear. I have not been in this neighborhood for nearly two weeks now. I was actually scheduled to come by on the morrow to arrange some things for young Master Dursley. So, I'm afraid, I really didn't see you earlier, after all. What's more, you didn't see me either. But rather, someone who had gone to some trouble to look like me. This is a troubling event indeed. Is there anything you can tell me about your brush with this person?

Mrs. Figg began to nearly hyperventilate in her panic, and for the next few moments, Albus could only understand a handful of her panicked words. Like; Me in charge… was supposed to… trusted me… bungled it all up… boy-who-lived … missing… my fault until Albus was able to calm her with a spell, and fed her a handful of laced lemon drops. Then he was able to get a better picture of the event. She quickly told of encountering the man while getting off of the Knight Bus, flirting with old Jacob, greeting the man, and the details of him carrying Harry, and pushing Dudley in the pram onto the bus.

"Did you hear where they went, by any chance?

"I believe I overheard your imposter say," She paused to remember, "Ah yes, he said, 'Launcells, North Cornwall' But I can't remember the last part…was is Queen's Street? No…Oh yes! Elizabeth's Lane! That was it! 'Launcells, North Cornwall, Elizabeth's Lane'!"

'Elizabeth's Lane? I suppose a visit is in order.' Albus thought.

"Thank you very much Arabella. I would be most grateful to you if you did not mention this visit, nor indeed the one with the mysterious stranger with anyone. We really can't let this get around just yet," He said gratefully as he made his way through the front door, almost tripping over a few cats on the way, "Good day."

'That man…he is more mysterious than a sphinx' Mrs. Figg thought as Dumbledore left, still not quite fully unflustered as of yet.

Albus made his way to the edge of the road and summoned the Knight Bus. At first, he intended to go see the Dursleys and inquire as to why their son and nephew were no longer at home, but then he heard Arabella's tale. She said that the man had gone on the Knight Bus to wherever he took the boys, which meant that if he skipped going to the Dursleys', then he would have more time to get to the kidnapper, or whatever his imposter was.

BANG! A few moments later, the conductor, Jacob, appeared in the entrance to the bus. He looked at him, clearly puzzled, and said, "Again, Welcome back 'Eadmaster. Er, where to?"

"Launcells, North Cornwall, Elizabeth's Lane." He replied handing he fee to the man, "Thank you Jacob. Would you please hurry there? This is of the utmost importance."

"Oh, of course 'Eadmaster, of course." Jacob said.

"Thank you." Albus stepped onto the Knight Bus, and took a seat in the only chair that hadn't slid to the left side of the bus.

"Take 'er away Ern." Jacob said quickly.

BANG! The bus took off. There were a few witches and wizards, and other creatures occupying the vacant chairs. There were also a couple children that looked as though they had just been on the ride of their life. Albus waited impatiently to get to Launcells.

A few minutes later, the bus was speeding down towards Elizabeth's Lane and came to an abrupt halt once it approached its destination. Albus exited the bus hurriedly.

Once off the bus, he strode down the small road towards the bungalow near the end. He looked at the bungalow more closely and breathed, "Aberforth…" He would know his brother's magical signature anywhere, though it seemed unusually faint at present. As he drew nearer to the small house, an invisible wall stopped him from stepping onto the property.

"Dang."