Harry managed to pick up his new wand plus a dragonhide wand holster and make it back to the main alleyway unscathed. His parents were getting more anxious the longer he spent outside the Potter Manor wards, but Harry was reluctant to return to the emptiness of the manor yet.
"Hey Reggie, look! Our baby boy has his own posters." James said staring at a poster with a sketch that did not look like Harry but had his name attached to it.
"Those are missing posters, James. They think he is missing." Lily sighed.
"Well maybe if they actually got his face right they would actually find him." James snarked making both Lily and Regulus sigh.
"My darling, the sweet sun of my life, them not knowing what he looks like is a good thing. We don't want them to find our little deer." Regulus said slowly making James scowl.
Harry just smiled to himself. Listening to his parents bicker was always comforting, although the thought that people were looking for him was a little discomforting. He knew theoretically that at the very least Headmaster Dumbledore was looking for him so he could be a pawn in his war. But what did he get by putting up a false face?
Harry shook off the thought and focused on the feeling of his new wand in the holster strapped to his forearm. It was light and comfortable, and he could feel the magic humming through it. Harry had no problems with just using wandless magic, he was quite proficient since his ancestor's wands didn't always work the greatest for him, but the feeling of having his own wand that connected to his magic perfectly just made Harry look forward to seeing if his spells would do even better.
As Harry walked through the busy alleyway, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. Maybe he was feeling slightly paranoid after seeing the posters about him, but he couldn't help but feel like there were eyes following his every move. Maybe his parents were right and now would be a good time to return home before he pressed his luck.
Harry quickened his pace, slipping his wand into his hand for a sense of comfort, his senses on high alert. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, and his heart race in his chest. He knew he was being watched, but he couldn't pinpoint by whom. He scanned the crowds, looking for any sign of danger, but they all looked like ordinary wizarding folk going about their day.
He felt his heart beating faster, his occlumency starting to slip as panic set in. Papa taught him occlumency when he was really young because it helped him control how many spirits he could see. It also kept him from shining like a beacon to any and all dead within a 10-kilometer radius. Diagon Alley doubled in population as spirits began to fill Harry's vision, obscuring any chance Harry had at telling who was watching him.
Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and focus on his occlumency. He closed his eyes, blocking out the spirits that crowded his vision, and focused on his breathing. In and out, slow and steady. He repeated the mantra in his head, trying to push out all the thoughts and fears that threatened to overwhelm him.
When he opened his eyes again, the spirits had faded into the background, and he could see the crowds more clearly. He scanned the area again, looking for any signs of danger, and that's when he saw him. A man in a dark cloak, his face hidden behind a hood, was watching him from the corner of the street. Harry couldn't make out any features, but he could feel the intent of their gaze on him. It wasn't a friendly look, and Harry knew that he had to get out of there before things escalated.
Harry's heart was pounding in his chest, and he felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. He turned on his heel and started walking briskly in the opposite direction, hoping that whoever was watching him wouldn't follow. Harry's hand tightened around his wand, ready for a fight if necessary. But as he walked, the feeling of being watched only grew stronger. He could feel eyes boring into his back, the hairs on his arms standing on end.
He picked up his pace, his heart pounding in his chest. Finally, he heard footsteps behind him, and he knew that he was in trouble. He didn't dare turn around, didn't want to give his pursuer the satisfaction of knowing that they had successfully intimidated him. But Harry made several major mistakes.
The first is that when he raised his occlumency shields, he raised them all the way even blocking out his parents who could have warned him. The second mistake was focusing on whoever was following him because it caused Harry to not pay attention to who was in front of him or where he was going. Which then led to the events that followed.
Harry kept trying to look out of the corner of his eye to see how close his stalker was getting to him but in doing so he ran straight into someone's chest, causing Harry to bounce back off the figure in front of him and fall on his ass. Before he could even look up and apologize to the stranger, a voice that he had only heard over the Wizarding Wireless before but could recognize immediately from how often his parents had warned him about the man, spoke up.
"Ah there you are, My Boy."
Severus was sitting in his living room in front of the fire, slowly sipping a glass of Ogden's Best, when his floo activated.
"They found him Severus." Remus' worried voice said through the green flames. Severus looked at the fear and worry on Remus' face.
"How?" Severus asked quietly, already making plans on how to spirit Harry away from the Order.
"Ran into him supposedly in Diagon Alley." Remus' tone was filled with doubt.
Severus raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Supposedly?" he echoed. "What do you mean by that, Lupin?" he asked, his voice betraying his curiosity.
Remus shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting back and forth. "There are rumours," he began, his voice hushed. "Rumours that it was a trap. No one has said anything outright but you know how often the other's forget that my hearing is exceptionally better than the average human's. Doge and Diggle were muttering something about blood magic being used to find him."
Severus leaned back in his armchair, his mind racing. This was not good news. Severus felt a cold chill run down his spine. He knew that the Order had been searching for Harry, but he hadn't actually expected them to find him after 4 years of no results. That the Order had resorted to blood magic at all said a lot about Albus' desperation to get his hands on his war pawn.
He knew that Albus wouldn't hesitate to use Harry as a pawn in his plans, but the idea that the boy was deliberately being put in harm's way made him feel sick to his stomach. He couldn't let that happen. Lily would raise herself from the dead if he let anything happen to the boy.
"Where is he now?" Severus asked, his mind already working out a plan.
"He's at Hogwarts," Remus replied. "The Order is keeping a close eye on him, but we're all worried. We don't know who to trust anymore."
"Any word on the mutt's trial?" Severus inquired.
"Madame Bones already contacted me that Dumbledore was now okay pushing the trial through to the Wizengamot. She was of course suspicious since he has been the one stalling the trial from going forward for the last several years. He hasn't shared his plans with the rest of the Order on what he plans to do with Sirius, but I doubt he will let Sirius keep his free will if he wants control over Harry." Remus reported in a grim tone. Things were not looking good for their small faction.
Severus nodded thoughtfully. "I see. It seems that Albus is pulling out all the stops to keep control of the situation." He took another sip of his drink, mulling over their options. "We need to act, but we need to be careful. We don't want to put Harry in even more danger."
Remus nodded in agreement. "I know. But what can we do? We're outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered. We can't fight the entire Order by ourselves."
Severus leaned forward, a dangerous glint in his eye. "No, but we can play the game better than they can. We need to think outside the box, Remus. We need to come up with a plan that they won't see coming."
Remus looked at him skeptically. "And what do you suggest we do? We can't just whisk Harry away without a plan."
Severus smirked. "Who said anything about whisking him away? We need to make a deal with Albus. A deal that he can't refuse."
Remus frowned. "And what kind of deal would that be?"
Severus leaned back in his chair, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
Remus was really glad Severus was not his enemy.
Harry had tried to escape, he honestly had.
But as good as Harry was for a fourteen-year-old, he was still only fourteen. He hadn't stood a chance trying to fight off not only Dumbledore but also some of his lackeys one of which was the one who had been stalking him.
No one in Diagon Alley had even come to Harry's defense when Harry had started to yell 'kidnapper' and 'pedophile'. What kind of people ignored a kid shouting for help? Wizards and Witches apparently.
Harry had been stunned not long after he had started yelling so who knows what the response was from the people wandering Diagon Alley, but Harry didn't have any high hopes of someone reporting his kidnapping to the authorities. When the stunner had finally been lifted from Harry, he was in a blindingly red and gold room. There was one basic twin bed, a nightstand, a desk, and two doors. One door was locked and the other led to a small basic bathroom. There were no windows so Harry couldn't even tell what time of day it was.
His parents were not amused. None of them had said the words 'I told you so' but they hadn't needed to. Harry sat on the bed, feeling defeated. He knew that he had made a mistake, but he didn't expect it to turn out like this. He had always feared being found and used in Dumbledore's plans, but he never expected it to happen so soon. He couldn't let Dumbledore win though. He couldn't let the old man take control of his life and use him for his own twisted plans. He had to get out of here.
He couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in his stomach. It was like a lead weight that was pulling him down, making it hard to breathe.
Harry knew that he needed to come up with a plan. He couldn't just sit here and wait for Dumbledore to make his move. He needed to take control of the situation before it was too late.
Suddenly, Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. He looked up as the door opened, and Dumbledore walked in. The old man looked at him with a mix of pity and triumph, and Harry felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore said in his usual grandfatherly tone. "It is so good to see you again."
Harry scowled at him, "I can't say the same. What do you want from me, old man?"
Dumbledore's expression faltered for a moment before he regained his composure. "We just want to keep you safe my boy. It was very irresponsible of you to run away from your family. There are people out there that would hurt you if they had found you."
Harry gritted his teeth. "I think the only danger I am in right now is from you! You kidnapped me!"
Dumbledore sighed. "I am sorry you see it like that my boy. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am an old friend of your parents as well as the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You have been on the attendance list of Hogwarts since your birth. We have found you just in time to start your fourth year. You'll be safe here at Hogwarts and then next summer I am sure your family will be happy to have you back in their home."
Harry felt his insides freeze at the threat of being sent back to the Dursleys. He could hear both Mom and Papa snarling threats at Dumbledore, even if the old man couldn't hear or see either of them.
Harry said something quietly, voice cracking a little, but it got both Dumbledore's and his parents' attention.
"What was that, my boy?" Dumbledore asked.
With more confidence and a fierce look on his face, Harry spoke up. "I said, if you try to send me back to those abusive monsters I will kill myself first."