[a/n]Some disapproval for #92 popped up: Was it just fan favorite syndrome? Or something else?

Harry Does Different DV

Mafalda Made Me Do It

Uncle Vernon was pacing back and forth across the kitchen in what looked like a combination of worry for his son and anger at 'the freak' only to stop suddenly in front of Harry's waiting frame in the doorway, his face slowly going purple in his rage. Before Harry could do anything to defend himself, Uncle Vernon had already grabbed him by the neck with one of his meaty hands and began manhandling him into the kitchen.

"Let me go," Harry gasped out as he struggled to break out of his Uncle's grip.

Uncle Vernon's fist only closed tighter around his neck in retaliation, "Now, what have you done to my son, boy?" Vernon demanded as he shook Harry by the neck.

Harry was now struggling to breathe, his Uncle's fist slowly strangling him. But his uncle was expecting an answer that Harry couldn't physically give due to the fact that he was being suffocated.

So Uncle Vernon squeezed his hand even tighter about Harry's throat and gave Harry another shake, "I asked you WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON, YOU FREAK?!"

Harry flung out his fists and began feebly beating at his Uncle's arm, anything to loosen his Uncle's grip on his throat. However, his Uncle only growled down at him and squeezed his hand even tighter. Harry was about one second from passing out, so in a last-ditch effort to save himself, Harry closed his eyes and frantically searched inside of himself for that glowing ball of light and warmth that had always helped him as a child while thinking 'help, help me please, please, I'm suffocating, if you don't help me, I'm going to die, please...'

But it wasn't just the glowing ball of light and warmth that was his magic that responded to his plea. From somewhere deep inside him another coil of magic erupted viciously and violently, twining itself around Harry's magic and guiding it to the surface.

Then there was a sharp pulse in the air as Uncle Vernon was flung across the kitchen and smashed into the wall. "Vernon!" Aunt Petunia screeched as she huddled Dudley tighter to her slight frame, "Vernon, are you alright?!"

Uncle Vernon groaned from his crumpled position on the floor and began trying to stand.

Meanwhile, Harry was on the other side of the kitchen, slumped down on the floor, dragging in desperate gasps of air. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you,' Harry thought over and over as relief and the soothing warmth of his magic surged through him, 'Thank you for saving me, thank you, thank you, thank you.' Looking up, Harry saw all three of his relatives gazing down at him in a mixture of fear and hatred and it filled him with a surge of resentment. He had just saved Dudley's life from Dementors and his thanks was almost getting killed by his uncle. "Nothing," said Harry with a glare in his uncle's direction as he shakily got to his feet.

"What was that?" Uncle Vernon asked as he too staggered to his feet.

"I said, nothing," Harry repeated, "I did nothing to Dudley other than save his life."

"And you expect me to believe that do you, boy? After what you just did to me?"

"To be honest? No. I knew perfectly well that none of you would believe me. You never have and I've given up hoping for a miracle with you lot" Harry snapped at his Uncle with a gesture over at Aunt Petunia at the table who was now cleaning up the sick from Dudley's leather jacket with a damp cloth.

With a sharp look at Harry, Aunt Petunia asked, "What did he do to you, Diddy? Was it- was it you-know-what, darling? Did he use- his thing? Did he do what he just did with Daddy?"

Slowly Dudley nodded his head, only to look up from his seat over at Harry, his eyes widening in fear with a hint of malice as they made eye contact.

'He wants me to get in trouble! Even though I saved his ungrateful ass from the Dementors!' Harry thought as he watched his cousin respond to Aunt Petunia's question.

And, as if by magic, the act of nodding his head caused Dudley to spew the contents of his enlarged stomach onto the tiled floor of the kitchen.

'Ha' thought Harry viciously, 'That's what you get for lying, you ungrateful pig.'

"What? You dare use your freakish powers on my son and me?" Uncle Vernon roared as he stormed across the kitchen towards Harry, "THAT'S IT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR FREAKISHNESS IN THIS HOUSE! YOU ARE LEAVING THIS HOUSE THIS INSTAN-"

But before his Uncle could finish his sentence a screech owl swooped into the room through the open kitchen window with a resounding "SCREECH," narrowly missing the top of Uncle Vernon's head as it soared across the kitchen to perch on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, holding the letter, clutched in its beak, out to Harry for him to take.

Everyone in the room was stunned into silence by the owl's sudden entrance, that is, until Uncle Vernon recovered enough from shock bellow "OWLS!" The well-worn vein in his temple and neck pulsing angrily as he slowly turned a stunningly puce shade in his anger.

Trying to prevent the poor, unfortunate owl from being strangled by his Uncle, Harry dashed over towards the waiting owl to retrieve the letter. Once the envelope had been taken from the bird's beak it flapped its wings, turned gracefully and winged its way back towards the open kitchen window, the tips of its wings just brushing the top of the fridge in its haste to escape the enclosed space of the Dursley Family Kitchen. With the owl flying off across the garden and then out of sight, Harry breathed a sigh of relief only to be stopped by his Uncle shouting, once again.

"OWLS! AGAIN! I WILL NOT HAVE ANY MORE OF YOUR FREAKISHNESS CONTAMINATING THIS HOME! AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE OWLS IN MY HOUSE!" Vernon bellowed as he waddled towards the kitchen window to slam it shut with a resonating "BANG." Meanwhile, Harry was ripping open the parchment envelope and swiftly pulling out the letter inside, his pulse racing frantically as he read the contents of the letter.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle. The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand. As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under section 13 of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 A.M. on August 12th.

Hoping you are well, Yours sincerely,

Mafalda Hopkirk

Improper Use of Magic Office Ministry of Magic

'This cannot be happening' Harry thought as he began to read the letter through a second time. As he was reading he was becoming steadily paler and paler until he reached the end of the letter for a second time. 'This is real. This is really happening' He thought as his brain and body began to become icy and numb. He vaguely could hear his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia talking both, to each other and to Dudley in the background. One fact seemed to penetrate Harry's self-induced shell of shock and numbness like a bullet, 'I've been expelled from Hogwarts.' He numbly thought, 'Hogwarts, my home... gone. It's all over... everything. I can never go back... I'll never see Hermione or Ron or even bloody Malfoy ever again...' Harry thought as vicious panic began to spread through his veins like fire, igniting any happy thoughts or memories as it burned through his soul. 'Maybe they will let me stay at Hogwarts and be Hagrid's assistant.' Harry thought as he remembered the time, back in his first year at Hogwarts when he thought that he would be expelled for saving Neville's Remembrall from Malfoy. His stomach once again twisted in discomfort at the idea of trailing behind Hagrid, carrying his bag. 'Oh, Merlin! What am I going to do?' he thought, 'How will I escape Voldemort if I can't use magic...'

That last thought caused an avalanche within his mind. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand. That was what the letter had said. There was only one thing that he could do, he would have to run. 'Perhaps I can be on the run with Sirius...' his mind plotted as the severity of the situation slowly sunk in. 'It doesn't matter where I go as long as I am not here when they come to destroy my wand.' Because there was one thing that he knew for certain: there was no way in hell he was letting anyone snap his wand. He would die without it and whether he was at Hogwarts or outside it, he needed his wand if he wanted any chance at surviving the upcoming fight against Voldemort.

With these thoughts rushing through his head, Harry sprinted out of the kitchen and into the hall to the sound of Uncle Vernon shouting, "Where do you think you're going?" Leaping up the stairs, two at a time Harry reached his room in record time listening as his Uncle became more enraged. "I haven't finished with you, boy! Get back here and explain how my son got like this!"

Bolting through the door to his room Harry began to gather what very few possessions that he owned and stuff them, unceremoniously, into the old backpack that Dudley had gotten for his thirteenth birthday and then had ripped a week later. The backpack had been left in Harry's room the summer before his third year, when Aunt Petunia graciously gave it to him to fix. However, a week later, the backpack had still not been asked for and Harry decided to keep it instead.

Harry first rummaged through the small closet in his room, pulling out the few clothes that still fit him and did not make him look anorexic in his cousin's whale-skin version of clothing. 'Should I bring wizarding robes?' Harry wondered as he was trying to pick the few clothes that he would bring with him. 'Nah, I need to blend in with the Muggles if the Ministry is going to be after me,' and with that thought Harry proceeded to stuff two pairs of jeans, two T-shirts and a jumper into the waiting backpack. 'I'm such an idiot.' Harry thought when it occurred to him. 'Duh, magic' and with that thought Harry got off the floor and began shrinking his textbooks and clothes.

"HOOT," Hedwig hooted from her cage on Harry's desk.

"Yes, I know girl. Just a second," Harry said as he finished packing his, now shrunken school books into the backpack. "Alohomora," said Harry, unlocking the padlock on Hedwig's cage. "We have to go girl. I've been expelled from Hogwarts. Do you think you could go and stay with Hermione for a little bit?" Harry asked Hedwig as she hopped out from her cage and onto his extended arm.

"hoot," replied Hedwig as she climbed up his arm and proceeded to nibble affectionately on his earlobe.

"Thanks, girl," said Harry, smiling at the understanding that Hedwig was showing. "I really wish I could bring you with me but I think it would look odd for an ordinary person to have a snowy owl in the Muggle world." Harry said as he opened the window. With one last affectionate nibble on the ear, Hedwig was shooting out the window and gliding away into the night. "Goodbye, girl,"

Harry –

Dumbledore's just arrived at the Ministry and he's trying to sort it all out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE. DO NOT DO ANY MORE MAGIC. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR WAND.

Arthur Weasley

The Dursleys tossed the letter into the fireplace, The Freak wasn't there to read it.

Abcij

Hermione Granger was packing. Just two hours before, she received a letter from her redheaded boyfriend …well NOT THAT kind… Ian and Michelle Granger took some convincing to allow their teenage daughter, witch or not, to accept the invitation. If with ill grace. The enforced quiet was shattered when a Snowy White owl delivered her letter after being admitted through the girl's window by a flood of profanity "Holy Merlin's hairy bloody nutsack!"

"Hermione!" both parents protested in not quite the same tone, never mind different rooms.

Ignoring the stereo admonishments, she called out "Mum! Dad! Harry's owl is here! Says he's been expelled. He's running away from his family and going- - -" Looking between her parents exclaimed "Well! I don't know! He doesn't say!|!"

"Explain. In as few words as possible. And without profanity." Ian commanded without emotion.

After a hint of insolence, she wilted "Yes sir. You know owls are the usual way Magicals correspond. Most are quite intelligent, nearly human I would say."

The parents didn't believe the protesting squawk from their daughter's room had anything to do with what had just been said. Michelle read the letter and said "In short, you've a less than fully honest justice system, based on what you said already about the godfather. My suggestion would be he leave the country. At least for a time. And by normal means. You write him back with that recommendation, though do not suggest a destination and tell him not to say. He should not use that owl again. In fact use normal mail for that too from wherever he ends up."

"Your mother clearly listened to my war stories, Mione." Ian added "And for one more layer of security, he should use a return address of someone he trusts at least a kilometer from wherever he actually ends up. Address it here, NOT your school, or to his godfather. We'll let you know; I will show you how I put simple messages in code. I would not expect a contact for months."

Abcij

Three days later, Hermione was being cross examined in the Grimmauld Place kitchen. Starting with Professor Dumbledore "Miss Granger, you have been most wrongly advised. Harry is in no danger whatsoever, but he must he must turn himself in and attend the formal hearing."

"I will let Harry know of your concern for his safety and of your request, Professor." The answer was exactly what her parents had told her to say "Of course, that is assuming he contacts me. My parents were very careful to recommend what he do to best protect himself from wrongful prosecution."

"Muggles know nothing!" Professor Snape sneered, to the support of a few of the Order members, though not all "You'll comply with the Headmaster's orders, girl. Without question. I shall undertake to ensure that, Albus."

Tension jumped in the Grimmauld kitchen, to which Hermione's response only heightened further "With all due respect, Professor, this is a non-academic matter; over which you have no authority. I feel no obligation to inform you what I may, or may not, know of Harry's location." She then gave the Potion Master a hard look, and pulled out a letter "Also, I must inform you the intent of Professor Snape's threat was anticipated by my parents."

"I think you should show proper respect, Hermione, to the professors." Molly scolded in her typical motherly tone.

The witch scowled in a way that made all her redhaired friends cringe "With all due respect, Mrs. Weasley, this is a Granger family affair."

The older witch flinched, but did not retort.

Then she turned back "I didn't think this would come up, honestly, but I guess my parents are still smarter. They have been very proud of my Hogwarts record, even if they do not understand all of it. They know the difference between an O and a T. Mum and Dad wish to point out my school has no authority over what I, or my friends, do off their grounds. Even during a school year. And even less how we interact. Therefore, they require all of my detailed school records, to the extent of all quizzes, every point deduction and detention. Mum and Dad will be comparing past patterns to the coming year."

"Your slander is not acceptable you insufferable-know-it-all." Added Snape with a snake-like hiss.

She shot back "To date, I have not mentioned your petty namecalling, Severus." Nor did Hermione mention they would be looking for anomalies in records as they existed.

"Miss Granger, you will address Professor Snape within the respect due his position." Dumbledore commanded in a tone that brooked no defiance.

She shrugged "He's not a professor in this house."

"He's a guest." Sirius interjected "And not an especially welcome one. He or you, or both, are free to depart. And will be invited to. Then again, some of us know less than complimentary names for Professor Snape. Don't we, Severus?" his expression became malicious.

Hermione just shined at him, then turned back to the Headmaster "I have another letter, for Professor McGonagall, requesting weekly grade and discipline reports for the coming term."

"Sirius, you can best help" Dumbledore cut off a remark from the Potion Master with a hand, not interrupting his speech "by insisting that Miss Granger tell us all she learns of Harry."

Snape interjected "She is irrelevant regardless. All we need to is track that ridiculous white owl of Potter's whenever it appears."

"Last year, Transfigurations included color changes in living things." Hermione enjoyed this victory "While we said don't write unless for a VERY good reason, how will you know if I get a brown, black or grey owl?"

Sirius made up his mind "Under the circumstances, I have one request should Harry contact you. Ask him whatever help he needs and I will provide. According to any condition he sets." And he fixed an insolent look on the Headmaster, who chose to walk out.