Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Chapter Three

The Dursleys Departing

"The Dursleys Departing," McGonagall said.

"Ah, how I like the Dursleys best," Harry mumbled.

Mentions oh, you being what Harry is called by his uncle:

"Did they ever call you by your name?" Hermione questioned; her eyes narrowed.

Harry didn't answer right away, he tried to think of a time that they had, but he couldn't. "I can't remember."

Everyone looked appalled by that, but those who knew him well knew that he wouldn't want them to say anything about this and those that didn't know him at all didn't want to let him see that they felt sympathetic towards him.

Mentions Harry packed the shard of glass with the things he'll take:

"Why would you do that, it was just a broken shard of glass?" Ron said.

"I thought I saw Dumbledore's eye in it," Harry said.

"But you also thought that was impossible," Ron said.

"So, I don't really understand why I'm taking it either, but there was something odd about that," Harry shrugged.

Vernon says we are in danger, from …:

"Why would they be in danger?" Harry asked, not sure what he was feeling at the moment.

"I would think that it was likely that Voldemort would want to use them to try and lure you to him," Dumbledore said.

"Oh," Harry said blinking, again not sure what he was feeling.

"You wouldn't actually go to save those people, would you?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Harry said and most people looked at him sadly.

"I think he would," Fleur said. "If he was willing to help my sister when he didn't even know who she was, he would help his family … even when they are … horrible people."

"Yeah, but your sister was an innocent girl … Harry has a thing about saving girls from danger," Fred teased waggling his eyebrows.

"No, I agree with Fleur," Ginny said, looking like she hated to admit this, for more than one reason. "Harry would help these poor excuses for people."

"Well, I'm glad you all have decided that for me, or I'd never know what I would have done," Harry said looking annoyed and amused.

Harry says I've already got a house my godfather left me:

"You left me a house?" Harry said surprised at first and then frowned, he was only getting a house because Sirius was going to … no he wouldn't think about it.

"It seems like my will works out just fine," Sirius said, surprisingly smirking. "Mum is really going to love that."

"You're leaving me Grimmauld Place," Harry said this time making a face. "What did I ever do to you to deserve that?"

Several people chuckled at that.

"Sorry Harry, but if I didn't do this it would have gone to one of my dear cousins and unfortunately, I'm not talking about Andromeda … she was wiped off the family tree."

"Thank Merlin," Tonks said.

Vernon says that this Lord Thing:

McGonagall frowned as she looked at the next word to be read.

"Er … what's the problem?" Sirius said after a long paused.

"I probably said Voldemort," Harry said and most people shuddered.

"Well, none of that, that's just not going to cut it here," Sirius said in a stern voice, remarkably like McGonagall's. "Everyone is going to just have to read this book the way it's meant to be!"

"You mean we're going to have to say snake face's name!" Fred gasped.

"Surely you wouldn't make us do that!" George said in mock terror.

"It's about time everyone gets over this whole flinching thing," Sirius said, trying not to laugh at the twins' comments.

"I agree with him," Dumbledore said, looking amused himself. "By not saying his name you only are reinforcing your fear in him … giving him more power."

"Oh, very well," McGonagall said hotly and she was going to make sure everyone else read his name, that was for sure.

Mentions that Mr. Weasley had once demolished half of the living room:

"You did what?" Molly said looking incredulously at her husband.

"Er … I must have forgotten to tell you that," Arthur said rubbing the back of his head and laughing nervously.

"What did you do Arthur?" Molly narrowed her eyes.

"It wasn't Dad's fault really," Fred stepped in, a grin on his face.

"Yeah, we had to get out of the fireplace somehow!" George laughed.

"You see Molly, the Dursleys had an eltrikre fireplace," Arthur said, his face lighting up when he said this.

Everyone was laughing so hard at this point that they couldn't hear the rest of Arthur's mumbled excuse to his wife.

Harry says you're being offered serious protection, the best there is:

"That seems like a waste to me," Sirius said.

"That's because you have such a limited mind," Snape sneered. "If there is a chance Potter would go after those Muggles than they are more valuable than most."

"Hm … It seems that saint Potter wouldn't really be that hard to get a hold of," Draco said. "You could just threaten any of his little friends and he would come running to the danger."

Harry looked at Draco, frowning but a little worried.

"Especial the M … frizz head or Weasley King," Draco nodded towards Ron and Hermione.

"Mr. Malfoy that's enough!" McGonagall said sharply.

Draco shrugged, but he thought he made a valid point.

Vernon talks about wanting the Ministry of Magic to protect them:

"I wouldn't call them innocent!" Molly said sharply, unable to keep her temper this time.

Harry however snorted at this.

"What's so funny?" Ron raised his eyebrow.

"It's just that it's typical of him to put his hopes in the establishment, even when he's talking about the magical world."

"Er … that's not really funny," Ron said and Harry just shrugged.

Harry says caused by dementors, and if you can't remember them, ask your son:

Sirius shivered at this; he was never going to like hearing about dementors for as long as he lived.

Harry had shivered, too, at the mention of the attack that had just happened a few months ago. Again, he wondered what Dudley was forced to see when the dementors got close to him.

Dudley says there are more of them:

Harry rolled his eyes; did Dudley really believe that there would only be two of those creatures in the whole world?

Harry says maybe even Inferi:

"Inferi?" Harry questioned which caused several people to chuckle, though of course not too much because Inferi weren't something to laugh about. "What?" he said to the one's laughing at him.

"Sorry," Ron said still chuckling a little. "It's just you're asking what something is …."

"When it's something that you're trying to explain about in the book," Hermione finished with an amused expression.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, that was so funny."

"I thought so," Ron shrugged.

Harry glared at him, and really wanted to know what Inferi were but wasn't going to ask again and no one seemed willing to tell him now.

Mentions an echo of Hagrid smashing a door that seemed to reverberate through the years:

Harry chuckled, finding the memory of that night a lot more humorous than it was at the time.

"What was that about?" Bill asked.

"Oh, just when Hagrid came to tell me about being a wizard," Harry shrugged with a smile and Ron snorted, remembering Harry telling him about Dudley's pig tail.

Harry says they will torture and kill you like they did my parents:

Sirius, Remus and Snape all flinched particularly hard at this, all thinking about the bitter day they had lost the people that they cared about so deeply.

Harry had bowed his head and shivered; he could still hear what the dementors had once made him listen to when they were too close to him. He shuddered at his thought.

Mentions what did you say at the end of sixteen years' solid dislike:

The laughter in Sirius and Remus's faces died as they listened to that. Harry shouldn't have lived like that. He should have had a happy life, with his parents, or with Sirius.

Dedalus says there has been a change in the arrangements:

Several people raised eyebrows at that. All of them were thinking about the first chapter and hoped that the Order had indeed come up with something that would keep Harry safe.

Mentions Hestia didn't want to be in the room while Harry had a loving possible tearful farewell:

"Like that will ever happen," Harry rolled his eyes, again drawing sad looks. The one that he didn't expect and indeed didn't see because he wasn't really looking at anyone, was from Snape.

Snape never wanted to think of the boy, and tried to convince himself that he would be just as spoiled as his father was. He definitely didn't want to hear that Potter had anything in common with him, that they both loathed their home.

Mentions Petunia avoids looking at Harry altogether:

Molly pressed her lips tightly together; she was finding it harder and harder not to say anything about these deplorable people. It was particularly hard now; how could she just ignore him like that?

Mentions Dudley looked like a giant name Grawp:

"You know a giant!" Molly exclaimed, alarmed.

"No," Harry said shaking his head. "Not yet at least."

"Well, I guess that's something to look forward to," Ron said looking pale as he spoke.

"I wonder if this has something to do with Hagrid?" Hermione mused, looking just as pale as Ron was.

"Don't say that," McGonagall groaned, none of the Order members liked that Hagrid had taken so long getting back from his mission, nor the fact that he hadn't told them why he had taken so long. McGonagall tried to shake her head of this thought, but the problem was, that did seem like a probable explanation for what had happened.

Dudley says but where's he going to go:

"He sounds … concerned about you?" Hermione said questioningly, that didn't really sound right.

"That's what I was thinking, too," Harry said in a similar voice. "I wonder where that came from."

Dudley says I don't think you're a waste of space:

Harry was looking at the book oddly again, not sure he believed what McGonagall had just read.

Dudley says you saved my life:

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, if he was talking about the dementors then this change in his cousin was happening now. He wondered what would happen when he got back to the Dursleys, would Dudley actually treat him … nicely?

Mentions that Harry was relieved that Dudley exhausted his ability to express his feelings:

"Yeah, I can imagine," Harry said.

"Does this mean that you don't want us pulling anything else on him?" George questioned.

"George!" Molly reprimanded, but Harry chuckled.

Mentions Dudley walking towards Harry who repressed the urge to use magic:

"I don't think he's going to do anything to you," Hermione said.

"I know, but I'm just not used to him coming at me without him threatening me in some way," Harry shrugged.

Harry says did the dementors blow a different personality into you:

Several people chuckled at that though Sirius shivered. His personality had changed a lot because of the dementors.

End of chapter:

"That's the end of the chapter," McGonagall said, "who would like to read now?"

"I think I will," Dumbledore said and took the book from her.