Chapter One: The Boy who lived!
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal. they were the last people that 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. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde, and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck which came very useful to look over the neighbors fence. The Dursley's had a small son called Dudley, and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. The Dursley's 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 Potter's. 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, Because her sister and her good for nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursley's shuttered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potter's arrived in the street. The Dursley's knew that the Potter's had a small son too, but they had never seen him. this boy was another good reason to keeping the Potter's away, they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.
When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on a dull grey Tuesday, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest 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 highchair. None of them noticed a large tawney owl float across the window. At half past eight, Mr Dursley picks up his briefcase, pecks Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye, But missed. because Dudley was having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the wall.
"Little Tyke." Tortiled Mr Dursley, as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. He was on the corner of the street, that he'd noticed the first sign of something peculiar, a cat reading a map. For a second Mr Dursley didn't realize what he'd seen, that 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 is waiting in traffic, he notices people dressed in brightly colored cloaks. Walking past a bakery later that day, he overhears people talking in an excited manner about his sister-in-law's family, the Potters, and the Potters' one-year-old son, Harry. Disturbed but still not sure anything is wrong, Mr. Dursley decides not to say anything to his wife. On the way home, he bumps into a strangely dressed man who gleefully exclaims that someone named "You-Know-Who" has finally gone and that even a "Muggle" like Mr. Dursley should rejoice. Meanwhile, the news is full of unusual reports of shooting stars and owls flying during the day.
As he pulled into the driveway at 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 the garden wall, he was sure it was the same one, it had the same markings around its eyes.
"Shoo!" Mr Dursley said Loudly. The cat didn't move, it just gave him a stern look, was this normal cat behavior Mr Dursley wondered, 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 a nice normal day, she told him over dinner all about the neighbors daughter, and how Dudley had learned a new word. "shant." Mr Dursley tried to act normally, when Dudley was put to bed, he went into the living room to catch the last reports on the news.
"And finally, bird watchers everywhere have reported the nations owls have been behaving very unusual today. although owls usually hunt at night and are rarely seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. experts are unable to explain why the owls have changed their sleeping patterns."
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 Potter's. Mrs Dursley came into the livingroom carrying two cups of tea, it was no good, he'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously.
"uh, petunia dear, you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" He asked.
Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry, after all they normally pretended that she didn't have a sister. "No." she said sharply. "why?"
"err, Funny stuff on the news." Mr Dursley mumbled. "owls, shooting stars, and there were funny looking people in town today."
"so!?" Snapped Mrs Dursley.
"well, I just thought maybe it was something to do with, you know, her lot." Mr Dursley said.
Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered if he dared tell her that he'd heard the name Potter. He decided he didn't then. instead he stayed as calmly as he could.
"Now their son, he'd be around Dudley's age, wouldn't he?" he asked.
"I suppose so." Mrs Dursley said.
"What's his name again?" Vernon asked. "Howard, isn't it?"
"Harry." Petunia said. "Nasty common name if you ask me."
"Ah yes." Said vernon, his heart sinking horribly. "yes, I quite agree."
He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. while Petunia was in the bathroom, vernon crept to the bedroom window and stared down into the front garden. The cat was still there, it was staring at privet drive as though it was waiting for something. was he imagining things? could all this have anything to do with the potter's? if it did, if it got out that they were related to a pair of, well he didn't think he could bare it. The Dursley's got into bed.
Petunia fell asleep quickly. But Vernon lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. his last comforting thought before he fell asleep, was that even if the Potter's were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potter's 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 affect them. How very wrong he was.
Mr Dursley might've been drifting into an uneasy sleep. But the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness, it was still sitting still as a statue, it's eye's fixed unblinking on the far corner of Privet Drive, it didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in 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 just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and it's eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had ever been seen in 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 which 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 if it had been broken once or twice. this man's name was Albus Dumbledore.
Albus didn't seem to realise that he'd just arrived to the street where everything from his name to his boots were unwelcome. he was busy rummaging in his cloak looking for something. But he didn't seem to realise he's being watched. but as he looked up suddenly at the cat, which is 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've known." He'd found what he was looking for in his inside pocket, it seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. he flipped it open, held it up in the air and flicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop, he clicked it again, and the next lamp flickered into darkness. twelve times he clicked the deluminator until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpoints in the distance. which were the eyes of a cat watching him. if anyone looked out their window now, even beedy eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Deluminator back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards 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 McGonagal." He turned to smile at the cat, but it was gone. instead he was smiling at a rather severe looking woman, who's wearing square eye glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat 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.
"How did you know it was me?" She asked.
"My dear professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly." Albus said.
"you'd be stiff too, if you were sitting on a brick wall all day." Said Minerva.
"All day, when you could've been celebrating?" He asked. "I must've passed a dozen parties on my way here."
Minerva snitched angry. "oh yes! everyone is celebrating all right." She said impatiently. "you'd think they be more careful, but no! even the muggles noticed something is going on. it was on the news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark livingroom window.
"I heard it, talks about shooting stars. but I'm not completely stupid, they're bound to notice something." Minerva said. "shooting stars in kent. I bet that was Dedalious Diggle, he never had much sense."
"you can't blame them." Albus said gently. "we've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."
"I know that!" Minerva said, irritated. "but that's no reason to lose our heads, people are being downright careless, out on the street in broad daylight, not even dressed in muggle clothes, flaunting rudely." she threw a sharp sideways glance at Dumbledore here. as if so hoping he was going to tell her something. but he didn't. So she went on. "if I knew it would be a very fond day to hear that you know who has disappeared at last a muggle found out about it 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 sherbet lemon?"
"a what?" she asked.
"a sherbet lemon, there a kind of muggle sweet I'm rather fond of." Dumbledore said.
"No thank you." said Minerva coldly. as though she wasn't much for Sherbet lemons. "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've been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name. Voldemort." said Dumbledore.
Minerva flinched, but Dumbledore who was sucking two sherbet lemons, didn't seem to notice. "it all gets so confusing to say you know who, i have never seen any reason to be frightened to say Voldemort's name."
"I know you haven't." said Minerva, standing half exasperated half admiring. "but you're different, everyone knows you're the only one you know, oh alright, Voldemort was frightened of."
"you flatter me." said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."
"only because you're too well noble to use them." Minerva said.
"it's lucky it's dark." Dumbledore said. "I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new ear muffs."
Professor McGonagall took a sharp look at Dumbledore and said. "you know nothing of the rumors flying around, you know what everyone is saying? about why he's disappeared or what finally stopped him?" it seemed that Minerva had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss. The real reason she'd be waiting on a cold hard wall all day. For neither as a cat or a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. it was plain that what everyone was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.
Dumbledore however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and didn't answer. "What their saying.." she pressed on. "is that most nights Voldemort turned up in Godrics Hollow, he went to find the Potter's. The rumor is that James and Lily are, are, de, de, they're dead."
Dumbledore bowed his head. Minerva gasped. "Lily and James, i can't believe it. I didn't want to believe, oh oh." Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know, I know." He said heavily.
Minerva's voice trembled as she went on. "that's not all, they're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son Harry, But he couldn't. he couldn't kill that little boy. no one knows why or how, but they're saying when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke, and that's why he's gone."
Dumbledore nodded grumly. "it's, it's true?" Vaulted Minerva. "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 no name of heaven did Harry survive?"
"we can only guess." said Dumbledore. "we may never know."
Minerva pulled out a laced handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a gold pocket watch 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've made sense to Dumbledore though. he then put it back in his pocket and said. "Hagrid's late, I suppose it was he who told you that i'd be here by the way."
"Yes." said Minerva. "and I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're even here of all places."
"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle, they're the only family he has left now." Dumbledore said.
"you don't mean, you can't mean the people that live here." cried Minerva 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 less like us, and they got their son, I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street screaming! Harry Potter come 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?" repeated Minerva. sitting back down on the wall. "really Dumbledore, you think you could explain this in a letter? these people will never understand him, he'll be famous, a legend. I wouldn't be surprised if the day was known as Harry Potter day in the future. there could be books written about Harry, every child in our world will know his name."
"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very fiercely over the top of his halfmoon glasses. "it would be enough to turn any boy's head, famous before he could walk and talk. famous for something he won't even remember. can't you see how much better off he'll be growing up away from all that until he'll be ready to take it?"
Minerva changed her mind and 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 that he might be hiding Harry underneath it.
"Hagrid's bringing him." said Albus.
"you think it's wise to entrust Hagrid with something important such as this?" Minerva asked.
"I would trust Hagrid with my life." said Dumbledore.
"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place." said Minerva Grudgingly. "But you can't pretend he's not careless, he doesn't, 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 headlights. it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky, and a huge motorbike fell out of the air, and landed on the road in front of them. if the motorbike was huge it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost as twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply to big to be aloud. and so wild, long tangled bushy black hair and his beard hid most of his face. He had hands the size of dusting lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. and in his vast muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.
"Hagrid." said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "at last, and where'd you get that motorbike?"
"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore sir." said the Giant, prying carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him sir."
"No problems, were there?" Dumbledore asked.
"No sir, the house was almost destroyed but, I managed to get him out right before the muggles started swarming around. He fell asleep as we were flying over Bristol." Hagrid said.
Dumbledore and professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets, inside just visible, was a baby boy fast asleep. under a tuck streak of jet black hair over his forehead, they could see a curiosly shaped cut like a bolt of lightning.
"is that where?" whispered Minerva.
"yes." said Dumbledore. "he'll have that scar forever."
"couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" Minerva asked.
"even if i could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of London underground." Dumbledore said, taking Harry into his arms. "well, give him here hagrid, we'd better get this over with." turning towards the Dursley's house.
"could i, could i say goodbye to him, sir?" Hagrid asked.
"Now now Hagrid, this isn't goodbye forever after all." Dumbledore said, stepping 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,packed it inside Harry's blanket and came back to the other two. 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 shines in Dumbledore's eyes seem to have gone out.
"well, that's that." said Dumbledore quietly. "we've no business staying here, we may as well go enjoy the celebrations."
"yeah." said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. "I best get this bike away. Goodnight Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore sir." whipping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorbike and kicked the engine to life. with a roar, it rose into the air and off into the night.
"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 deluminator. He flicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps. just then Privet Drive glew suddenly orange, and he could make out the Tabby cat blinking around the corner at the other end of the street. he could just see the bundle of blankets on the steps of number four.
"Good luck, Harry." He murmured. He turned on his heal and with the swish of his cloak, he was gone.