Finding a Place to Call Home
Moon: Hello, I'm back! Thank you once again to everyone who was lovely enough to review! Thanks for offering your opinions! Anyway, this chapter deals a little more with Harry and Astoria's relationship, a little more from Sirius, and then a look at where the two of them will be going next! I do not own Harry Potter...enjoy!
Chapter 4: Breakfast and a Show
Tri-Wizard Tournament Cancelled! Harry Potter entered Illegally by Barty Crouch Jr!
Harry Potter vanishes from Britain!
Harry Potter ate a mouthful of his chocolate croissant while he watched Astoria scan the paper in her hands. They were sitting in a muggle restaurant, enjoying the French's delicacies under a slight dillusionment charm. The sun was high in the sky and Dobby had just come back with a letter from Sirius. It had gone on for about two pages about disappearing and worrying him and leaving him behind in Grimmauld Place, but that he was glad he was okay. He asked why Harry had run off anyway and Harry was trying to scribe his letter while he ate breakfast.
Harry had almost forgotten what it was like to write with a pen. It had also occurred to him that he was missing out on four years of muggle schooling, something that irked him to no end. Muggle studies couldn't be bothered to keep them up on that, huh? Well, he thought, at least I'll have something to do on the longer train rides.
Astoria took another bite out of her fruitcake, the sun glinting off her ruby earrings. She had poured over the menu for almost thirty minutes trying to choose what to eat, and the food had proven to be a success. They had almost missed the newspaper – if Beaubaxtons hadn't been in the tournament, they probably wouldn't have found out at all. But Harry had seen it out of the corner of his eye and grabbed it.
"They think we're still in Britain," He said. Was it strange that he found that more amusing then anything else? "Why would they think I stuck around?"
"Because they never bother to think from your perspective," Astoria said, flipping the page over before continuing with breakfast. "You said so yourself. Look, apparently your aunt and uncle have declined to comment."
Harry snorted. "Which is probably another way of saying that they said something that Dumbledore had to hush up in fear of getting in trouble. I can't imagine Vernon passing up an opportunity to rant about me." He finished his croissant. "Any comments from the staff?"
Astoria scowled down at the paper. "Apparently McGongall is at a loss to understand your disappearance. She says that the Gryffindors are usually a very tight-knit group, and that one of their own would do something so drastic is beyond her understanding. Professor Sprout is expressing her disappointment in her Hufflepuffs, but she has very much downplayed on all the stuff they actually did. Dumbledore says that they're making every effort to find 'one of their dearest students'."
"Wonder if he managed to say that with a straight face." Harry said sarcastically. "Then again, he seems to be really good at that."
He sat back in his seat and drank from his milk glass. "I kind of expected better from Professor McGonagall, though. She seemed so strict and understanding before this. A good, supportive teacher. I suppose her loyalty to Dumbledore really does come before anything else. Even the safety of a student. Or their lives, depending on what the next task would have been for me. As for Sprout – huh. So Hogwarts reputation is more important then telling the truth."
"They have no reason to tell the world why you left," Astoria said tartly. "Having to cancel something as big as the Tri-Wizard tournament because one of their two champions disappeared is already a huge blow to their public image, Harry. It's considered very prestigious and will stir up a lot of controversy. Rita Skeeter's probably having the time of her life printing up articles."
"Probably," Harry said darkly. He knew the name Rita Skeeter. She had been responsible for a large portion of the public trashing he had been getting from the Prophet. His so called friends fed her the lies and she printed them to the public.
"This is going to make waves," Astoria said uneasily, glancing around the shop. "Beaubaxtons will feel it too."
"That would be nice," Harry responded. "Those students treated me badly along with acting like I was beneath their notice."
Astoria bit her bottom lip, something Harry had come to associate with her being nervous. It was a rather cute gesture. "Maybe we should leave Paris early, just in case they think to look for us here. There will be a media storm here too."
"Mmm, not just yet." Harry said. "I doubt Dumbledore thinks I'm capable of getting that far. He says here that Hogwarts is supposed to mean more then anything to me, like it did for my parents. As if the parents I can't remember should be my only reason to immediately return to the school. If that's supposed to be emotional blackmail, he'll have to do better then that."
Astoria made a noise of agreement. "The man has no shame," She said angrily. "He hasn't even told you anything real about your parents, and he tries to use that to control you."
"There's a lot else that he's been using." Harry muttered darkly. "I think he's done more then that, but I don't know about it. I'm not sure what's real and what's a lie these days." He closed the paper, his fingers brushing against Astoria's. "Speaking of my family, how about you tell me about these alliances."
Astoria smiled and sat up straight. "Well, alliances are usually made from one pure blood lord to another. Promises of protection or financial help or closeness between the houses. The Potter and Longbottom alliance is a famous one, for instance. The two lords that were alive when the alliance was formed were closer then brothers, and lived side by side for years. They saved each other's lives more times then anyone could count. They fought together and acted together in society. Lord Longbottom stood beside Lord Potter at his wedding and Lord Potter did the same two years later. When they were going to die, they told their daughters to have their children at the same time, so this would always be so. It's been that way ever since, right down to James Potter and Frank Longbottom."
"But not with me and Neville," Harry said, starting to frown at this. Neville hadn't outwardly joined in on his cruel treatment, but he had been staying at Ron's side through almost the entire thing, as if seeking his protection from something. That didn't exactly warm his opinion towards the other boy.
"The Bones family was a political ally of the Potters, when your great-grandmother Catherine Potter decided to marry a muggleborn. The treatment of muggleborns was much worse then, and Jonathan Bones worked alongside Catherine's brother John to make some of the first changes, that allowed Catherine to remain in her family and retain her noble status despite her marriage. In return, John Potter paid to construct Bones Manor as a gesture of goodwill, and Jonathan swore that his children and his children's children would always be an ally of the Potters." Her eyes darkened. "Evidently, that didn't work out either."
"Charlus Potter saved the life of George Spinnet, and instead of forcing him to complete a Life Debt Charlus offered to make him an alliance instead. It bumped the Spinnet family house up to Noble status, when they had been floundering before. Your father paid for Alicia Spinnet's dad to become a lawyer just after he graduated from Hogwarts."
Harry's eyes narrowed slightly. "I've been playing Quidditch with Alicia for three years, and she never thinks to bring this up?"
Astoria frowned a bit. "Some people would rather not have the obligations that go along with alliances, obviously."
Harry grumbled for a minute. "Anyone else I should know about?"
"Then there's the Moon family," Astoria shook her head.
"Moon?" Harry cycled through the students of Hogwarts in his head. "Lilith Moon? Slytherin in my year? She was in school for the few weeks before my name came up, but she disappeared. I haven't seen her for over a month."
"Well, that doesn't surprise me that much."
"Why?"
"Harry, the Moon family is cursed." Astoria said.
"Cursed? Cursed how?"
"No one knows why. There's a lot of hearsay going on, but some people say that they were cursed by the Moon spirit. This isn't the first time Lilith has had to leave the school during the year. The Moon family has been isolated for centuries because of this curse. Charlus Potter was the first person who dared approach them in a long time. He did something for Lilith's grandfather that allowed Lilith to attend school at all. I've rarely heard Lilith talk at all, and she won't say why she has to leave school at random intervals. But bad things have happened around her. Everyone avoids her. I asked her why she didn't have any friends and she said, 'to protect them'." Astoria said grimly.
Harry thought about that. He was frustrated and disappointed with the other people Astoria had mentioned, especially Neville after what she'd just told him, but Lilith hadn't been at school when it all unfolded. It also sounded like she wasn't a very happy young girl. Maybe he should think about getting in contact with her when he eventually returned to Britain.
"Those are all the ones I know about." Astoria finished. "I think there are more, given how prolific a Light family the Potters had been, but I wouldn't know about them. They're all probably listed in your account at Gringotts, among other things your parents have left for you."
Harry gave a slight nod. "I see."
Astoria tucked stray strands of blonde hair behind her ear and examined Harry's expression carefully. "I know you don't think much of the way pure bloods operate, but I'd like to give you my opinion – breaking an alliance is considered a very serious slight. You're welcome to claim restitution, if you want."
Harry shook his head. "I'll think about it, Astoria. Thank you, but I'd rather not sink to Malfoy's level by letting this get to me that badly."
Astoria watched Harry in wonder. The other students had treated him so badly and yet he didn't jump at the chance to claim retribution.
He really did deserve better then what he had gotten over the years, and Astoria hoped that she'd be able to heal his broken friendships and give him support that he should have gotten years ago. It was a pity that the other students hadn't realized what they were loosing when they had driven Harry away; if they did understand it would be too late. She would take care of him now.
"You're nothing like what they've said," Astoria said. Darkly, she added, "Weasley says that you can't be bothered by anyone other then your so-called 'friends', when it sounds to me like he's projecting. You deserve better then that Harry."
Harry smiled at her, feeling a little warm inside. Quietly he said. "Thank you Astoria. Hey, how about I pay the bill now and go sightseeing?"
Astoria's green eyes lit up. "Sure. I'd love that."
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Paris was a beautiful place to walk around in. Harry and Astoria wandered around the city just watching everything they came across, walking alongside streams and up tree-lined paths, talking about nothing in particular and enjoying each other's company. Harry kept his promise and started telling Astoria about muggle culture, and after a while she was begging him to show her some movies or amusement parks. Astoria was a good listener and skipped along as Harry told her about the courses at school, what muggles were like and some of their history, all of which she was unfamiliar with. Harry was astounded by just how little the wizards thought of their nonmagical counterparts; you'd think that the muggles were still cavemen instead of pioneers in their own rights and in some ways more progressive then the British wizarding community.
Eventually their conversation went in other directions and Harry realized just how much he enjoyed Astoria's company and presence. He had meant to go it alone in the beginning after loosing his original friends but now he was glad that he had taken Astoria's suggestion of running away. She was infectiously cheerful and curious that he couldn't help but laugh along with her when she found something funny. When she teased him he could tell that she being playful, as opposed to sardonically questioning something he had done. She was like a warm beam of light breaking through the smothering, dark clouds that had surrounded him long ago.
Harry wondered that if given a little more time Astoria could become more then just a friend. Maybe the stirrings inside him were the same as the ones he had once started feeling for Hermione, and that with her help he'd be able to move on from this point in his life. She was different from anyone he had ever known, as uncertain and exhilarating as the rushing wind. He just hoped that she'd be willing to have him, if that was the case.
Astoria always had so much energy, and many times Harry ended up getting pulled along to a muggle attraction he had just finished describing to her a moment ago. By the time the sun was starting to set she still had energy. They headed back to their hotel and found Dobby waiting for them. It had been Astoria who suggested that Harry take Dobby on as his personal elf to keep him from being tracked or ordered to give up information by the headmaster.
Dobby had another letter from Sirius. His godfather was outraged by the story he had gotten from Harry about his disappearance. He had guessed that something had gone wrong but the scale was much higher then he had expected. Sirius knew that Harry was a good and selfless boy, and he was immensely disappointed with how far gone the school he had adored had become.
In the letter Sirius told Harry that he was pulling away from Dumbledore and was headed for Cuba, meaning to sever ties with the manipulative old man for good. After getting out of Azkaban Sirius had been pondering some of the things that Dumbledore had decided to do, he might have been able to rationalize being left in Azkaban but Harry's mistreatment had proven to be the proverbial straw. He didn't mention if he had Remus with him in the letter, but Harry figured that he did. There had to be a country with lighter laws on lycanthorpy, and Remus was the only teacher who'd really managed to teach him a way to defend himself.
Sirius added in the letter that the Aurors were still searching Britain, though they were beginning to get frustrated. He approved of Harry widening his rage around the world, saying that James and Lily had intended to do something similar with the mauraders some time when the war against Voldemort had ended. He also said that he would meet up with Harry and Astoria at their earliest convenience, seeing as both of them would be wandering around.
Dobby had bad news too. He had gone through Hogwarts to keep the other elves from explaining his absences. He had stayed for a little to hear if the Aurors and the old man were onto Harry's trial. He had heard some of the usual grumblings but some other distressing things had come up. Dobby fretted over how to tell Harry that people who had been his friends thought that he was just seeking attention by leaving the school instead of fleeing out of fear and pain, and the full story of everyone's warped image of him. Harry had been stunned that the other students had thought he had been setting himself above them, because he had truly never meant such a thing and had wanted as many friends as he could possibly have. The emotional stress of all these years caught up with him and he broke down, Astoria sitting next to him and hugging him until he tears went away. When he finally stopped crying, she firmly said that they weren't worth his tears.
Harry slept more easily that night then any before.
That night, Astoria knelt down in front of Dobby when she was sure Harry was asleep. "Dobby," She whispered, "can you do something for me?"
"Dobby would be happy to Mistress Tori, what can Dobby do?"
"I hate what those teachers did to Harry," She said angrily, "Harry is noble and kind, and he doesn't deserve what they did. He doesn't seem to believe in restitution but I do, as my father did. Can you tell the DMLE how the Dursleys have treated Harry? I want you to do something that will set a fire under Dumbledore's arse and that's where I would start."
Dobby nodded so hard he almost fell over. "Dobby will do that Mistress Tori, Dobby knows that Master Harry is a good wizard. Dobby will tell Minister about bad whale people."
Astoria's green eyes had become flinty. "While your at it I'd like you to curse those awful muggles as well. Curse then so that they can only be thin and get thinner no matter what they eat, become weak and get weaker the more they try to force their way. If the wizards try to help them, they'll be forced to confess everything they did to abuse Harry. If they still refuse to admit it, then confund Petunia Dursley into thinking that her husband and son are displaying magic. In her horror and disgust she will disown them – because all people like her do – and when she does this to them, in the muggle divorce system make sure that Vernon and Dudley get nothing, while she keeps everything. When they are done and gone, left on the streets or in a jail, lift the confundous charm from her eyes and leave her in her bitter loneliness. May she be alone a bitter for the rest of her life for what she did to her nephew out of selfish pride."
Astoria could be kind but she was still the daughter of a pureblood lord. Vengance was something she understood well.
"And if Albus Dumbledore tries to cover it up I want you to take this -" she gave him an envelope that contained her memory of Harry telling her about the Dursleys. "-to the DMLE. And have Amelia Bones know that if she refuses to make the contents public, that the House of Potter will make it known that neither she nor her dark master have honour."
"Yes Mistress Tori." Dobby disappeared with a pop. Astoria stood up and looked down at Harry.
"They'll be sorry they hurt you Harry," Astoria murmured before walking towards her bed.
A surge of protectiveness had flared up inside her; she may not like being a pureblood but she was more then willing to use it to help someone she had come to care about.
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The next day, it was like someone had taken a weight of Harry's shoulders. He and Astoria slipped back into Magical Paris and went to the library. They spent the day there pouring over books and answering letters from Sirius, who kept them up to speed on what the Aurors were doing. Harry snorted when he heard that they were still searching the Little Whining Area, these people really didn't know him at all. Even at his lowest point he would never turn to the Dursleys for comfort, he had absolutely no ties left in Britain.
Astoria taught him more about house elves, and other dark creatures from the trolls that lived in the north to Leviathan, who slept in the darkest pits of the see and caused hurricanes, tidal waves and tornado whenever awakened. As they walked through the national parks, she told him more about recent history, including Dumbledore's battle against Gellert Grindelwald and the events she had been told of leading up to Voldemort's first demise.
Harry had merely listened and marveled about how truly little he had known about the world he had thought was his new home. It turned out that Wizarding Britain was an isolationist country because they seemed to believe that they had the best of everything, and many muggleborns had been alienated by their lack of protection and other anti-muggleborn sentiment. Magical Paris had proven to be more welcoming then Britain had been to him in four years.
One day, Astoria even told him about wandless magic, which she knew to a limited extent of but wasn't very proficient at. Harry had heard of it, but hadn't thought that many could do it. Astoria rolled her eyes and explained that it was because the texts existed, but in Britain they were restricted to reading only by old pureblood families, and few could be patient enough to learn it because they had become used to things coming to them without much effort.
Harry rolled his eyes when told this. "I really shouldn't be expecting anything less at this point. They're keeping magic to themselves and then they can't be bothered to learn it. What a sorry bunch."
Astoria raised a hand, causing the books around him to hover in the air a few feet of the ground. "Want to try it?" She suggested.
Harry smiled, nodded at her and focused on a nearby book. He thought about it rising from the ground, and to his surprise it lifted right off the ground with little effort. Astoria smiled eagerly and clapped, making him feel warm once again.
"On your first try!" She said in amazement. "I knew there was something different about you, if you could cast a Patronus that drove back over a hundred Dementors, but wandless magic on your first try!"
Harry gave an exaggerated groan. "Oh, don't you start seeing me as something special too. I've had enough of being special to last me a lifetime." He gave her a false disparaging look, and they both cracked up laughing a minute later.
They decided to rent all the books on wandless magic that this library had to offer, and study it back at their hotel. Two weeks they studied it, slowly struggling to get better as it grew more difficult along the way. Harry decided that they should go to Switzerland soon, because the media was indeed getting more concentrated in Paris as the French students had returned to their home and were being questioned on the closing of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Astoria agreed, she would miss France but more then anything now she wanted to keep Harry happy and safe, and there was a chance that they could be seen.
Sirius was pleased that Harry was keeping up learning magic even though he had left Hogwarts. Currently he was working on a way to get his name cleared, and had appealed to the German government about his lack of trial. He realized that he was of no help to Harry as long as he was a wanted criminal and had buckled down to find a way to become a free man again. He realized that his temper was the main reason that Pettigrew had managed to get away from him, and he was ashamed of that because that was the reason he hadn't been there for Harry sooner. Now he was vowing to be more responsible and get himself off a different way.
Germany was the first one to pick up his appeal, and he was given asylum in Germany as the details were being worked on and the trial set up.
Harry wrote him a letter wishing him luck, while Astoria added on at the end that he should give them Pensieve memories, because that was considered viable evidence in Wizarding Germany. Plus, it was the strongest evidence on his side because they still didn't have Wormtail.
It was the first time she had sent something to Sirius and she was a little nervous about it. Harry assured her that Sirius would appreciate the input.
"I hope this works for him," Astoria fretted. "Azkaban is a truly wretched place."
"I think it will," Harry said with some confidence as he packed his trunk with a few gestures. Hedwig chirped happily from a corner. "After Grindelwald, Wizarding Germany put a lot of effort into reworking their judicial system so that no one like him would ever appear again. If there's a place where Sirius might be able to gain his freedom outside Britain, that's where it is."
"You think we should meet up with him if he's granted a trial and gets off?" Astoria suggested, as she shut her own trunk. "He'd be happy to see you."
"I'd like too," Harry responded, "But if Sirius manages to get off it will be one of the most highly publicized events of the last ten years, and it will be crawling with reporters and other media. It would be hard to get in without being found out. I'd rather we be able to finish our world tour."
"We could go in invisible," Astoria said thoughtfully. "Or later in the evening."
Harry smiled at her. "Let's keep that in mind. For now, let's get to Switzerland. I, for one, am really excited to see the alps."
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Harry and Astoria were holding hands as they stepped through the plates and back into the train station. They had just managed to duck past a large number of reporters and it had cost them some time to get to station.
"We better learn Apparate and get ourselves licences!" Astoria had laughed as they stumbled into the station. "That was close!"
"Apparate?" Harry repeated.
"It's a transportation spell, allows you to move quickly from one place to another." Astoria chuckled.
"That does sound useful." Harry laughed along with her. "Would have been nice to know that years ago! I really could have given Dudley the run around!"
They were a little bit late, so they jumped right onto their train five minutes before it was going to leave.
"I'll have to take you to dance sometime!" Astoria said brightly as they settled down in their compartment and the train began to move. "There are some wonderful ballrooms open to the public in Germany. You'd love it."
"I don't know Tori," Harry responded, his fingers twitching slightly on the desk. "I've never danced before, and I don't want to step on your toes."
"Oh, just try it Harry! For me?" Astoria said, turning her green eyes on him and making puppy dog eyes at him, causing him to laugh. "Really, once you've got some good music it's like you can't tell that time is passing."
"Alright," Harry said. "I'll try it out. But don't blame me if your feet are hurting like crazy afterwards because of my sloppy dance skills."
"That doesn't sound that bad at all," Astoria said with a smile, causing him to blush. She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "I think you sell yourself short sometimes Harry. You're a quick learner when it comes to magic."
"Magic is different from dancing. I'll probably make a fool out of myself." Harry said with a slight scowl. Astoria smiled slightly and nuzzled his shoulder slightly.
"Then we'll both look silly. People will think it's charming Harry. We are still teenagers, remember? It'll be fun. We can even look back and laugh at ourselves."
Harry smiled, his heart threatening to twist into knots. Yes, he was pretty sure he had strong feelings for Astoria by this point, though he dreaded confronting them. These kinds of things never went well for him once he had admitted to them. "Tori?"
"Yeah?" Astoria said.
"I know you said you didn't care for getting a romance by contract," Harry began delicately, "But did you ever think of marrying?"
Astoria's brow furrowed. "I thought about it, but I didn't think that a free marriage would be possible," She said. "I figured I would end up like Narcissa Malfoy, in a marriage of convenience. That's how things worked in pureblood society." Her hair trailed down Harry's back and shoulder, shifting slightly as the train raced down the rails away from Paris.
"Oh." Harry said, feeling slightly foolish."
"Don't get me wrong," Astoria said. "I'd like to have someone I could live my life with. But I hadn't met anyone at Hogwarts who would have been considered acceptable who was also kind and interested in the sorts of things I was. None of the purebloods really were."
Harry could see that. Granted, his best exposure to the pureblood heirs was Draco Malfoy, but if he was considered a standard for purebloods he doubted that many of the others were much better.
"Why do you ask?" Astoria asked curiously. "Did you have...anyone you thought you might like?"
"Well..." Harry hesitated, but he knew that Astoria had never jumped to conclusions when he told her something like the other people had, so he barrelled on. "When Hermione and I saved my godfather, I wondered if something more could come between us. She was the only girl I really knew besides Ginny, who could hardly talk to me because she blushed so much. I thought we might be able to make something work."
Astoria stirred slightly, and her grip on Harry's hand tightened. She remembered Granger, both insufferably smart and one of the first people to abandon Harry along with Ron Weasley when his name came out of the goblet. "Did she know about this?"
"I never told her directly," Harry admitted. "I was so used to having things go really wrong for me that I didn't tell her about it. Softened the blow of what happened to me this year, I guess. Probably would have been worse if I had told her. What she would have done with that..." he swallowed. There was something he didn't want to think about.
Astoria snorted. "It doesn't change that she abandoned you. I really would have expected better from someone as supposedly smart as Granger. Especially since she had you for a friend. I think any girl with a bit of sense would have been happy to have you." She hadn't really meant to say the last bit out loud, but she had been lost in thought and it had slipped out.
She sat up straight and blushed, looking sheepishly at her feet. Harry did the same, to her surprise, instead of looking at her like she had lost her sanity like she had half expected him to.
"For what it's worth, I think any guy would be lucky to have you too," Harry managed to say this without stammering, and was pleased with himself for it. "I mean, it's their loss that the other purebloods looked down on your personality. They're welcome to go and bore themselves to death by marrying other unpleasant people."
Astoria smiled. "I like you, Harry. I really do."
"Thanks Tori," Harry said, smiling back. Maybe he could ask her later, when they had reached Switzerland. Once he had finished collecting his Gryffindor courage.
When they went to sleep in that bunk, neither of them noticed the close quarters.
Back In Britain, a few days later
"Freaks! My husband and son, freaks! How could I not have seen this? It's my worthless sister's revenge for me not being at her and her freak husband's wedding, understand? I won't have it! I won't!"
The two young police officers charged with watching over Petunia Dursley exchanged long suffering looks. They wished they could have gagged their charge, or at least stood in the other room while she ranted on. "No promotion is worth this!" The younger of the two complained. The elder nodded in pained agreement.
Little Whining, usually a boringly ordinary town, was lined with police vehicles and fire trucks. Tape was set up and the neighbours could only watch the scene unfolding before them in dumbfounded shock and confusion. Certainly, it was understandable. The Dursleys were, on the outside, a perfect example of the middle-class family. Perfectly ordinary in every way. What had transpired over the last few days had proved to be anything but.
Strange things started happening around the house – and the results of these strange things became immediately obvious. Vernon and Dudley, once freakishly overweight, were slimming down fast, despite pouring on more and more food then usual. Vernon had gotten fired from work after demanding a promotion he'd figured he had earned the very next day. He had applied for almost every job around their area, and for some reason none of them would take him, citing 'inability to work peacefully' as their reasons for rejecting him.
Then on the third morning, Petunia walked into the dining room to see Dudley apparently transform a carrot into a stick of chocolate. The boy seemed very pleased with himself, since he had been put on a diet. But his mother evidently didn't share the sentiment. In fact, she had the exact opposite reaction.
She went off on an explosive tirade, screaming that her only child was a freak, a magical monster and tainted by her younger sister. Dudley had been in shock, but when he tried to hit her with his Smelting stick for shouting at him, she turned his chair over dumping him on the floor. Vernon had come downstairs when he heard this, causing Petunia to shut the door and throw a plate at her once overweight son, screaming that this was no child of hers and that the abomination had to go. Vernon then seemingly made the door between him and kitchen disappear, causing Petunia to scream louder and start throwing plates at him.
"I've been surrounded by freaks this entire time! My sister paid you to do this didn't she? She put you up to this to make a fool out of me! She was always out to get me after she got those freaky powers and this is what I get for being the one to see her for what she is!"
No one knew exactly what Petunia was going on about, only her close friends knew that she had had an younger sister who she had cut ties with a long time ago. But what the 'freak' thing meant – well, that was lost on everyone else.
Enraged, Vernon had attacked Petunia with the first thing he had gotten his hands on – the frying pan on the stove. He smashed it against her temple with violent force and knocked her out.
A woman living nearby – Arabella Figg – had heard all the ruckus and called 999. Had she walked by any later and Vernon probably would have killed his wife.
The police arrived in time to restrain Vernon, who was still in a rage, and an ambulance arrived minutes later to take care of Petunia and Dudley. The kitchen had been turned into a battlefield and was completely wrecked by the time they had gotten there. The young bully had been hurt by the glass and the plates while Petunia was concussed.
A few hours later, Petunia had come to, but the minute she regained consciousness she went straight back to ranting and raving though her explanation of what had happened in the house that night.
The police seriously considered dumping the woman in a psychiatric hospital, or perhaps into a cell next to Vernon, but it was eventually agreed upon that she had been fooled into a marriage and attacked by her husband.
The court saw the case through in record time – especially when it was revealed that Vernon and Dudley had sometimes violently abused Petunia's currently missing nephew Harry Potter, which included leaving him in the cupboard under the stairs for days to beating him up. Dudley was sent to Juvenile Hall for a spell, upon his release he would go to an orphanage for troubled children, because Petunia had refused to acknowledge him as her son. Everything went to Petunia Evans, as Vernon was thrown in jail.
The neighbors were at a loss to understand the change, but eventually they decided that they had clearly not known the Dursleys as well as they thought they had, especially when the news about Petunia's abused nephew came to light. It was all over the newspapers and some people were now thinking more carefully about how they had treated the boy before. Many were ashamed.
What none of them noticed was a small elf popping away after pointing his finger at Petunia and whispering one more spell.
At the Ministry
Dumbledore majestically swept into Fudge's office. "You asked for me, Minister?" He asked simply, he always spoke in simple terms when he was dealing with Cornelius Fudge. The man really didn't understand any others.
Amelia Bones was standing next to the man, tight-lipped. Cornelius glared up at Dumbledore and said, "Dumbledore, my voters are demanding answers! Why didn't you figure out that the Dursleys were abusive to Harry Potter?"
"What?" Dumbledore said, shocked. He had been so certain that he had put a lid on that. What had happened? "What on earth do you mean Cornelius?"
Amelia Bones gave Dumbledore a humorless look. "Dumbledore, I just received a memory from Astoria Greengrass via an anonymous source that has Harry richly detail how badly the Dursleys had treated him. So either you'd have me believe that your blind or willingly stupid, neither of which is going to bode very well for you in front of a court. You said that as Potter's magical guardian you would put every effort into his upkeeping and wellfare, and obviously neither of these things have happened."
She paused and then said, "Frankly some of the other things he's said about Hogwarts aren't looking good for you either."
"You got this memory from Astoria Greengrass?" Dumbledore said sharply. She was the girl Harry had run off with. Why would he pick her? He would have told Harry in no uncertain terms that Astoria was not a suitable choice for him! A pureblood girl from a neutral family, bah. Certainly not for an heir of Dumbledore. He had already decided on someone for him. "Have you found them, then?"
"No." Fudge said flatly. "The memory was delivered by a house elf who refused to disclose where the two of them are. Orders from his master, which as you know a house elf cannot defy."
"You didn't stop it?" Dumbledore asked incredulously.
"That's not the question right now!" Fudge snapped. He thought it was high time that someone brought Dumbledore down off the pedestal that everyone had put him up on. Then perhaps people would start turning to their actual Minister for solutions to their problems. "The question is Harry's placement at the Dursleys. Clearly you are not an adequate magical guardian for the boy because he's come to so much harm at that house."
"But please, Cornelius! You would condemn me on the words of a young pureblood girl?" Dumbledore said in his usual grandfather voice. "You know pureblood politics. She's likely forged this so she can have an opening to seduce poor Harry. I'm willing to wager she's the reason he ran away from the castle."
"Dumbledore, this is a memory. Someone as young as Astoria Greengrass does not have the power to forge memories!" Amelia snapped, the revelation of how cold Susan had been to someone she should have been friendly towards let alone a member of a house they were allies with had been weighing quite heavily on her shoulders and she had no time for Dumbledore's word and misdirection games right now. "Besides, have you seen what's on the muggle news? Those muggles almost murdered each other not fifteen hours ago."
"What?" Dumbledore nearly rocked back on his heels, this was new information. Why hadn't Figg contacted him, if something that bad had happened? He thought he had compelled The Dursleys to direct all their animosity towards Harry. If that had happened, it was a clear sign that something had slipped in his neatly made web, and he had to do something about it.
"Yes. They're clearly a very unbalanced bunch, and I'll wager that that is part of the reason Harry ran away from Hogwarts. The other part being the way your students and your teachers have treated him. I understand the Tournament has been cancelled?"
"You insisted," Dumbledore responded heavily. Her along with the Ministry individuals from the other schools. It had been a blow to Hogwart's public image that he was struggling to seal up. It would only truly close once he had the boy-who-lived back within its walls. He would put love potions in that boy's drink to keep him back in that school and with the girl of his choosing once he found the lad. Where hadn't he checked.
"Obviously we should have stepped in sooner," Amelia said bitterly. "I hope Harry Potter has come to no more harm then he already has."
"Minister?" Kingsley walked into the room with an international newspaper in hand, looking grave once again.
"What is it Kingsley?" Cornelius said impatiently. "Can you not see that we're in an important conversation right now concerning Harry Potter?"
"It's about that. And Sirius Black." Kingsley said.
"What? Have you seen Black?" Cornelius demanded. It would be a huge boon for his office if they were the ones who finally brought in Black.
Kingsley said nothing at this point. He placed the newspaper on the table.
Sirius Black Innocent? Injustices Revealed! Black Heir never received a trial!
Sirius Black to receive a trial before the German Ministry!
End Chapter
Yes, the official Harry/Astoria trigger will be pulled soon. Also, yes for Sirius getting a trial! I do like Sirius as a character, and I also think Remus got wasted in the last book. Anyhow, there will be a little from the students of Hogwarts and Astoria's father next chapter, as well as our first look at Wizarding Switzerland! I know we didn't spend long in Paris, but it was kind of a pitstop before their journey kicked off in my head anyway.
Read and Review please! :)