Chapter 5: An Unexpected Visitor - Summer 1992

Even with the new anti-elf ward, the trio knew that Dobby could still steal their post to and from Harry in a misguided attempt to keep Harry from Hogwarts. Therefore, they would only send the innocent, expected missives by owl.

However, Ron and Hermione knew that Harry still needed meaningful news for sanity's sake, if not practicality's. They brainstormed alternate methods of passing messages. Hermione's anti-elf ward covered the muggle post box, so she could sneak in additions. But Harry wasn't allowed to get the household's mail after the Hogwarts Letter Fiasco.

This was why Harry picked through the trash for discarded mail on every odd day of the month. A week after his meeting with Hermione, he got his first packet.

One of the grocery store adverts his aunt had no interested in concealed a few papers from Hermione. Harry sighed at the sauce-soaked pages and saved them to read that night. At least I can still make out the text.

The newspaper clippings were all about Peter Pettigrew. The oldest said that Pettigrew had been apprehended while trespassing as an unregistered animagus in an unnamed wizarding home. Because of his animal form as well as the nature of his crimes, he would be kept in the auror's holding cell while his case was pending.

The next article explained that he had been sentenced to one year in Azkaban for failing to register as an animagus and one year for trespassing. It then explained that Sirius' imprisonment for murder would be re-evaluated by the court given that his alleged victim was still alive. The story finished with a strong statement from Acturus Black, Sirius' grandfather, proclaiming his heir's innocence of Pettigrew's murder and the muggle deaths attributed to him.

Harry didn't realize that Sirius' grandfather was still alive now, though Harry was pretty sure that he had passed by the time the Order moved into Grimmauld Place. I wonder if Sirius ever knew that his grandfather was on his side? I suppose he did, given he kept him as heir. Harry hoped that Acturus' intervention and Pettigrew's conviction would be enough to free Sirius this time around.

Harry returned his attention to the final piece of paper, a scrap really. "Good" with a diamond shape in place of a signature. All was well with Hermione, then.

They decided than even an "H" or "R" signature were too distinctive for secret notes. Ron was taking their operational security so seriously that they had several sets of symbols already lined up. Harry thought it might be overkill, but was so happy that his friends came with him back to the past that he went along with most of their ideas.

Harry burned the papers using the stove while he cooked his relatives' breakfasts the next morning. Thinking about his friends made him happy, but he quickly tamped down on his joy lest his aunt or uncle decide that's something they need to "fix".

The twenty-year-old man in a twelve-year-old body did the same endless chores as he did the first time he lived through 1992. Mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, cooking, vacuuming. A bright spot was when he realized that if he acted sincerely polite to the neighbors, they gave him appraising looks and wished him a good evening.

Harry was intrigued. Was he harder for them to whisper about when he met their high standards of behavior? Did they see his behavior as respect for them, which made it easier to respect him in turn? Harry thought bitterly that they should let it work the other way around: treat him well so he would reciprocate.

He wondered if Petunia had noticed that her campaign to make all of the neighbors hate him had failed. He felt a burst of glee at defying her in this way, but then he panicked. What could that change? Harry decided that this type of petty revenge on the Dursleys probably wasn't worth it.

But the damage was already done. The sturdy man from Number 11 scolded Dudley when he chased Harry with his little friends, which hadn't happened before. Harry thanked the man, but resolved to keep his head down for the rest of the summer.

Harry was delighted when the Dursley's dinner with the Masons on his birthday went off without a hitch. Dobby didn't make an appearance, and Harry didn't get an underage magic warning or ruin Vernon's business deal.

The unexpected downside was that Vernon was in a very good mood for weeks. Vernon taunted Harry about his success, smarts, and material wealth. Harry took to wearing his notice-me-not-scarf around the house, but it only worked when Vernon wasn't specifically looking for Harry.

At first Harry simply congratulated Vernon and asked if he would buy that house in Majorca now. Vernon sputtered that if he did, Harry would never get to see it. Harry knew that the baiting would escalate until he reacted or successfully deflected. He chose to deflect with offers made in a polite-yet-bored tone:

Harry asked Vernon if he'd like Harry to cook any special foods.

Harry asked Vernon if he could go paint the fence or some other chore that improved his perceived neighborhood status.

Harry asked Vernon if he wanted Harry to bake treats so he could share his recent success with coworkers and neighbors (read: rub their faces in it).

These worked for a while. After seven days of this, Harry was nearing the end of his rope. Since he finished cooking supper early, he fled the house before Vernon got home from work.

He walked out his frustration for several hours, until it started to get dark. He turned down Wisteria Walk which was empty and dark.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry started to run away, but the elf tripped him. Harry fell behind some dustbins. Fantastic.As the elf climbed atop his legs to keep him from moving, Harry decided to play dumb. "Are you here to kill me?"

Dobby gave a shriek, "Oh no, great sir. Dobby is here to warn you. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Not to be rude or anything, but why should I listen to you?" Harry wanted to be kind to his friend, but he didn't want Dobby to run roughshod over his plans either.

"Dobby cannot say."

Harry switched tacks. "I appreciate the warning. But it's not safe for you to be here. Can you come talk to me some other time, when I'm not around muggles? How about Hogwarts?"

"Dobby doesn't want Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts at all!"

A sudden thought struck Harry. "Why don't you tell Albus Dumbledore? I don't think he'd let me not come to school. And that would protect all of the students, not just me."

Dobby considered this for a while, tugging on his ears. After a long moment, Dobby agreed. "Harry Potter is noble. Dobby will be going now."

"It was nice to meet you, Dobby."

His big green eyes watered as he popped away.

Harry was relieved to be spared the elf's hysterics. However, his rash decision created a new set of problems. Merlin.

A few days later, Vernon had cooled off. Harry regretted that his momentary lapse in personal security had led to a delayed confrontation with Dobby.

Harry sent a coded message to Hermione and Ron through stone placement in the front garden of Privet Drive - STAY OUT OF CONTACT. Harry was grateful for the detailed communications planning now.

The last thing Harry wanted was for Dumbledore to snoop around Privet Drive and realize that Harry and friends were up to something.

Also, if Dumbledore took a random house elf's ability to find him as a threat, Harry might not be allowed to leave the house for the rest of the month. Better go outside while I still can.

Harry opened the front door of number 4 Privet Drive, about to walk out to water the plants. To his surprise, he came face to face with Professor Severus Snape.

The boy shrieked,"Eeahhhh!" and froze.

Snape scowled and indicated that he intended to enter the house. Harry stepped to the side, head swiveling to watch Snape stalk in. He was wearing a black collard shirt and trousers that made him look like a muggle vicar.

Holy smokes holy smokes holy smokes why is he here? At first, Harry was merely panicing because his least favored professor had come to see him during the summer. When he remembered that this is his mother in disguise, he started honest-to-goodness sweating.

Petunia's response was identical to Harry's upon seeing her sister's childhood friend for the first time in many years. Vernon was out of the house. Harry wondered if Lily-as-Snape planned for that.

"It brings me no joy to be here," Snape said in a familiar drawl. "Let us speak and be done quickly."

Petunia perched on a chair, as if to leave the possibility of fleeing quickly open to her. Harry sat on the carpet in front of the gas fireplace since he was wearing "outside clothes".

Snape spoke with no preamble, "Headmaster Dumbledore received communication from a house-elf about a threat to the students of Hogwarts, yourself in particular." Snape looked at Harry as though this was his fault. "He asked me to communicate to you that this has been addressed, and your prescence at school on September the first is expected."

"Sir, when you say 'addressed'…?"

"The headmaster has not enlightened me further." Harry thought Snape sounded bitter at that.

Snape changed topics slightly. "That the elf was able to talk to you was an unfortunate lapse in security."

Harry held his breath. Here's where he's confined to the house. Again.

"I am here to give you this band. It prevents elf-magics from affecting you. You may wear it on your wrist, or carry it in a pocket."

Harry exhaled,"No elf-assisted kidnappings. Great. Does it do anything else?"

"It also prevents unexpected portkey travel. This safety measure is preferable to casting charms on your person or housing as it will be longer-lasting and harder to defeat. Do not inform anyone that it is on your person."

"And this is definitely safe?" Harry's eyes flicked between Snape and the bracelet.

"I purchased this today in Diagon Alley, then checked it for... unofficial enchantments myself before bringing it directly here."

Snape held out the armband, but Harry hesitated. What if this wasn't Snape at all? Constant vigilance! "What was the name of the three-headed dog?"

Snape's lip curled slightly, "Fluffy."

Harry tried another, "What did I get wrong on my potions final?"

Snape sighed and rattled off a few examples. This is the Snape I knew before, Harry was sure. He put the brace on his own arm.

Snape gave Harry an evaluating look, then stood up to leave. "The headmaster requests that you owl him if any other beings or suspicious wizards attempt to contact you."

Snape's eyes moved to Petunia. "He also informed me that he gave the Weasleys approval to offer Harry a stay in their home starting three days hence, until school resumes. They will help Harry purchase his school supplies and see him off at King's Cross."

Petunia sniffed, "Fine with us."

"Ah, thank you, sir." Harry pushed the bubbling feeling of delight down at the mention of the Weasleys since Petunia was there.

Snape departed abruptly. Harry was deeply curious what was going on in Lily-pretending-to-be-Snape's head. Patience, his internal Hermione-voice reminded him.

Petunia asked Harry, "Is he a professor at your school, then?"

"Yes." Harry thought that was a little odd to ask after the entire conversation they just had.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust then ordered Harry to start cooking supper.

Later, Harry pondered the most pressing question following the highly unexpected visit: did anything that had happened affect their diary plan?

Unless Dumbledore was a talented or dedicated interrogator, he doubted Dobby would have given him enough information to know that Lucius would bring the diary to Diagon Alley on that particular day. Therefore, it was unlikely that they'd have unusually observant eyes on them as they attempted to intercept it before Ginny had a chance to write in it.

If they nabbed and destroyed Tom Riddle's diary unnoticed, Harry acknowledged that Dumbledore could have questions when the plot fails to materialize. Yet, he wasn't likely to expect the trio's high level of involvement.

Harry strongly suspected that Ron would want to forge ahead with their diary plan as-is, not trusting Dumbledore to protect his sister better than he had in their previous timeline. Dumbledore failed to protect her last time, and Dobby's hints were admittedly not that helpful.

Harry resolved to carry on with their existing plans. He would let them know about his spur-of-the-moment decision to tell Dobby to talk to Dumbledore (as well as Snape's unexpected visit) later.

Harry got an owl that night from Ron with his official invitation to the Weasleys.

Harry,

You'll never guess what happened with Scabbers! Probably shouldn't put it in a letter, so I'll have to tell you about it when I see you.

Speaking of, that should be very soon. My parents gave me the enclosed note for you to pass to your aunt with the particulars. We'll be there even if they don't give permission, so don't bother to write back.

Booklists should be coming soon, mum reckons. We'll obviously help you get your textbooks and anything else you need. Just let us know where all you need to go.

I should probably warn you, Ginny seems determined to marry you. Hope that doesn't put a damper on your time with us.

-Ron

This letter contained no hidden messages or surprises, except for the last line. Harry had forgotten about young Ginny's hero-worship. After the war, she wanted to get back together, but he didn't.

He was fine with the fact that he hadn't gone on a single date between the war and when they made a deal with Death and Time. A romantic partner wasn't a priority for him, even more so now that they had time-traveled.

The second parchment told Petunia that they'd be there to pick him up in two days at 5 PM by (hopefully not flying) car. Harry could hardly wait.