coyotegoth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
coyotegoth) wrote2009-05-04 09:32 pm
coyotegoth) wrote2009-05-04 09:32 pm
Chapter 1- Aunt Petunia's Lament
As previously noted, I’m posting installments from a story I’m writing, set in the Harry Potter universe; essentially, it’ll wind up being my version of Book Seven, if all goes well. (Also as previously noted, it’s set immediately after the events depicted in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; accordingly, it’s full of H-B P spoilers.)(Please note also that this series is not Deathly Hallows compliant in the least.)
Chapter 1-Aunt Petunia’s Lament
A/N: A word on Little Whinging street names: I'm extrapolating on something Rowling did in OotP, where she has both a Magnolia Road and a Magnolia Crescent; the notion of the Little Whinging urban planners' only being able to think of four or five different street names amused me, so I've expanded on it here. Accordingly, there are a Privet Drive; a Privet Street; a Privet Avenue, and so on. (Even less imaginatively, the cross streets are simply numbered; number four is located between First and Second Streets.) In the first draft of this, I misnamed Privet Drive as Privet Street in two places; I've gone back through and fixed that error where it appeared.
***
Harry shook his head for a moment; he still felt dizzy. Then, he began casting around himself; there was no sign of his wand, first and foremost. Finally, in desperation, remembering something he’d done once before: “Lumos!” To his profound relief, the tip of his wand, which had been kicked under a nearby bush, lit up. He immediately recovered and extinguished it, then picked up his broken glasses, and tapped them with his wand: "Oculus Reparo!" His glasses twisted themselves back into shape; he put them on, and the world came back into focus. He felt nervous about using magic away from Hogwarts, but the last time he'd gotten in trouble, the charges had mentioned using magic in the presence of a Muggle; there was no one within sight. His cap was in the middle of another bush; he finally recovered his invisibility cloak, which had been thrown aside, with a large rip down the middle.
He experimentally draped it over himself, and discovered that he had to hold the rent closed with his hands, lest he be seen. He looked in his rucksack’s pockets, but couldn’t find anything to serve the purpose of a safety pin; he finally gave up, and put the cloak away. That was it; there was nothing else around. His pockets had been turned out, with coins scattered on the ground; he found perhaps a pound’s worth of change, as well as a few Sickles and Knuts; the one Galleon he’d had was gone. That was all.
Harry stopped to think, with wary glances up the hill in case the Death Eaters came after him. The Dursleys’ house was about forty miles from here; the change he had wouldn’t get him there on the bus. Apparate? He felt his head, still sore from the fight, and decided that that wasn’t a good idea. The Knight Bus, perhaps? He might have enough for a trip back to Gringotts... No; he had to warn the Dursleys. First, he took the Cricket in his hand, and concentrated- Hermione, I need your help. It grew warm in his hand for a moment, then faded. He put it back under his shirt, and looked for a pay phone.
*
“You’ve reached the Dursley residence- neither Vernon, Petunia, nor Dudley can...”
Harry slammed the phone down in frustration. He counted the wizarding money in his pocket, made a quick calculation, and then stuck out his wand hand.
*
There were only two passengers on the bus as he climbed on: a witch who watched as he got on, as her knitting needles clicked in her lap, and a middle-aged man in patched robes, asleep in a chair halfway back. Harry wanted to ask Ernie, the driver, about Stan- but something made him decide to get on, and get away from the knitting witch, who was now smiling at him brightly.
"Where you going?" asked Ernie.
"Umm... let me see... know where Upper Mangrove is?"
"Right down the road from Greater Chutley, right? And Little Whinging?"
"Yeah- that'll be fine. Got a girlfriend there," he added.
"Eleven sickles, please."
Harry handed Ernie the remains of his pocket change, fidgeting as the driver laboriously counted it out. As he started to step into the bus proper, the knitting witch spoke to him. “Not passed your Apparition test yet, then?” she asked cheerily.
“Umm... I’m working on it,” Harry replied, tugging his cap down lower over his forehead.
“Well, you’re still young,” she said, smiling at him. “I like to ride the Knight Bus, myself- always so many interesting people to meet and talk to!”
“Uhh... yeah,” said Harry, carefully making his way toward the back of the bus as he spoke. “I think I’m going to take a nap now; nice meeting you.”
“You too, dear,” she replied, still smiling. “If you want to talk later, you just come sit by me.”
“I will,” said Harry, plopping himself wearily into a chair across from the sleeping man. The journey was unusually smooth; he was just starting to relax when the man said in low, quiet tones, “The cap is a good idea- nice to see you've learned something on the road.”
Harry tensed, and stared at him; the man had not moved in any way; his head lolled as though he was still asleep. Carefully sliding one hand to pull his wand free from his belt loop, Harry took a few minutes positioning himself on his seat until he looked as though he, too, were asleep. “Who are you?” he finally asked quietly, training his wand, lying on his lap, at the other man.
“Name’s Abador Brin- I’m an Auror. You can relax; I’m in no shape to attack you, even if I wanted to.”
“Are you following me?”
The Auror snorted a soft laugh. “No- for once, this isn’t about you.”
“How come you’re not wearing Auror’s robes, then?”
“You tell me: should I just climb on the bus with a sign reading, ‘Defenseless Auror- come and get me’...?”
“What are you doing here, then?” whispered Harry. “If you’re an Auror, shouldn’t you be... I don’t know, Apparating into a nest of Death Eaters, or something?”
Another quiet laugh. “As it happens, I’m coming back from having done exactly that.”
Harry forced himself to control his curiosity; he craned his neck slightly and peeped out from under the brim of his cap to steal a look at the witch in the front. She looked back at them, and then returned to her knitting, and chatting with Ernie. Harry tried to observe her subtly, to see if he could determine whether or not she was as friendly as she seemed...
“She still watching us?” asked Abador.
“No,” said Harry, looking back at the Auror. “So- what happened?” he asked, feeling a mixture of tension and excitement.
“I got brushed by a Confundius Curse- I can barely walk right now, let alone Apparate. It'll wear off in a few hours, but if I tried Apparating right now, I’d probably wind up in the middle of the Thames.”
“But you were in the middle of”- Harry lowered his voice further- “of a Death Eater raid?”
Abador gave a small nod. “We got word that they were going to make an attempt to take Cornelius Fudge; we were there waiting for them. We actually got two of them alive, which is good; they’ve been dying whenever they’re captured of late. Scrimgeour thinks it has something to do with an Unbreakable Vow.”
“If they get caught, they die?”
“Yes; apparently, ever since the Death Eaters caught Karkaroff, Vol...” -he paused and looked up front- “the leader of the opposition has been initiating the practice. If you break service to him, or get captured- that’s it.”
“So, what about the two that lived?”
“We’re keeping them unconscious; we have a team at the Ministry who’re going through their memories with Pensieves. Long, slow business- but we may get some useful information.” Abador paused. “Speaking of information- what in Merlin’s name are you doing here?”
Harry sighed. “I... I couldn’t stay at Hogwarts; not after everything that's happened.”
“So you went to a cem... right: Godric’s Hollow.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “It... yeah. My parents. And that’s not all- there were Death Eaters waiting for me at their tomb.”
“Death Eaters? Were you spotted?”
“No; I was under an invisibility cloak. I heard them talking about me, and the Dursleys, and some place called Caradoc.”
“Caradoc,” Brin repeated; his face seemed to go blank for a moment, then he gave Harry an appraising look. “Do you know anything about Caradoc?”
Harry gave a tiny shake of his head. “No; sounds as if it could be Welsh or something. Why?”
“I... just wondering.” He frowned. “I’m going to have to Apparate to the Ministry as soon as this wears off; this is important.”
“Why?” asked Harry. “Do you know what Caradoc is?”
Abador hesitated. “It’s probably best not to go into it right now.” He indicated the knitting witch with a tiny jerk of his head. “You never know who might be listening. Good job letting me know, though.”
Harry nodded; there was a pause. Although he’d slept earlier, he was still exhausted. “I wish that witch would leave- I want to ask Ernie about Stan.”
Abador shrugged slightly. “The conductor, right? Got sent to Azkaban? Haven’t heard anything; at least with the dementors gone, he should be having an easier time of it.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “But... with the dementors gone, and nothing to keep the rest of the prisoners subdued, how long...”
“Yeah- that’s the big question, isn’t it?” Abador whispered. “Especially after that mass breakout... the prison is sealed against Apparition and Disapparition just as Hogwarts is, and there are still human guards, but there are plenty of folk there I don’t trust without the dementors keeping them quiet. Supposedly, Scrimgeour is talking about drugging their food; personally, I hope he uses cyanide.”
Harry nodded; an image of Lucius Malfoy in his Death Eater robes flickered through his mind. Suddenly, his head nodded again; he realized how tired he really was, despite his tension.
“...glad you didn’t sit next to her,” Abador was saying. “Probably just some harmless old bat, but these aren’t the times for trusting strangers.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Hey...”
Abador laughed softly. “Yeah- you’re still new at this, aren’t you? Well, if it’s any comfort, I helped put the Christmas hats on those house elves’ heads on the wall last year.”
Harry forced himself to lower his voice even further. “You mean, you’re in the Or...”
“Recruited by Dumbledore himself; sorry we haven't met before, but I've been busy with field work.”
Harry felt a flicker of sadness at the mention of Dumbledore; Abador seemed to sense this. “He was a great man- and he brought things as far as he could. It’s up to us now.”
“Yeah- but I still wish he was here.”
“Yeah; me too.” The Auror was quiet for a moment, and then said, “Did he give you all that business about raspberry jam?”
Harry smiled. “Yeah.”
“Great man. Mad as a hatter, but a great man. There hasn’t been a wizard like that for a thousand years.” The Knight Bus’s brakes screeched, and it pulled to the side of the road. “This is my stop. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” whispered Harry, as the Auror pulled himself out of his seat.
“Stay sharp,” muttered Abador. In the front seat, the witch watched intently as Abador struggled to his feet, then smiled at him as he stumbled to the door, singing "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy warty Hogwarts, teach us something please..." Harry watched him through cracked eyelids for a moment; then, the Knight Bus rolled back into service. Harry felt excited and tense, and watched the witch, but she merely returned to her knitting, after casting a glance back at him. He then rested his head against the window, and felt his eyes slowly grow heavy; when he finally opened them, the witch who had spoken to him was gone, as well.
*
Harry tried to nod in the right places, as Ernie- who’d heard no real news- kept on about Stan, and Harry craned his neck, seeing the neighborhood’s streets grow familiar. Magnolia Place... Magnolia Road... Privet Street...
“...really appreciate what you’ve been trying to do for Stan,” Ernie was saying, “not many people would...”
“Stop here!” Harry said suddenly. He was at the far end of Privet Drive, as he climbed out of the Knight Bus; he could hear the fading wail of an ambulance siren. The night was brightly moonlit; he could see crowds of neighbors heading back into their homes- and there, dressed only in her nightgown and slippers, walking back down the block from Second Street...
“Aunt Petunia...?”
Petunia turned to him, her eyes cold and hard. “I knew you’d come back. I knew we weren’t free of you.”
“What... what happened...?” Harry asked, as he cast cautious glances at their surroundings.
“They came for you,” she hissed. “The dementors. Mrs. Figg came running... said they’d been attacked... I couldn’t see them, but I saw Vernon collapse... and Dudley...”
“Dementors- here?”
“Why so shocked?” she said harshly. “It happened before, didn’t it? Don’t you draw enemies like flies, everywhere you go? They must have been here waiting for you... but they got hungry... and now my husband and son are gone- and it’s all your fault!” she cried, her voice rising steadily. “I knew it was a mistake to take you in- I knew this day would come, right from the very first instant! I kept telling myself that if I ignored it, pretended it didn’t exist... but just from the few things Lily used to say, I knew he’d come back... but your Professor Dumbledore insisted... forced us to keep you- and now my husband and son are gone! All I wanted for us was a normal life, but I could never have that- not with you drawing all manner of dark forces to us!”
Harry could see that she was near hysteria; he made placating motions with his hands, trying to get her to lower her voice lest she draw the attention of the neighbors- or worse, the Death Eaters. “All right... all right... give me just a moment... I’ll be away from here for good, I promise.”
“Much good that does us now!” she cried. “Why did it have to be us? All we wanted was a normal, peaceful life! This happened because of you!”
Harry winced, and headed back to number four. He saw no sign of Death Eaters, but he drew the cloak around himself carefully, and headed around the back; he knew how to pry the cellar door open silently. He let it close behind him, and then lit his wand; cupping his hand around its light, he crept upstairs. A board creaked; he turned quickly, but saw nothing. He pried up the loose floorboard in his room, and scooped out his letters from Sirius, and a few other treasures.
Creeping back down the stairs, he spared a glance for the cupboard where he had spent the first ten years of his life; he paused for a moment. Harry tried to get a full sense of what he was feeling at this moment, so tense and yet momentous; his time at number four, Privet Drive had been miserable for the most part; on the other hand, this was the closest to a home he had ever known... I’m giving up my last protection- my last safe refuge. I’m really on my own now. He paused again, as he was lowering the cellar door back into position. Aunt Petunia had been correct, though; every moment he spent here was endangering the Dursleys further- and much as he loathed them, he didn’t want them to come to harm, especially because of him. Harry lowered the cellar door closed, with a small sound that seemed nonetheless irrevocable and final.
*
As he came back down the street, he could see Petunia, now walking in circles... and behind her, he saw the man in the gray suit coming down the sidewalk, cursing as he stumbled over something. Holding the cloak closed around to himself, he crept closer to the figure of his aunt; he lowered his voice, to avoid being overheard. “Aunt Petunia? I’m going now- if you give them some chocolate...” Suddenly, she turned, staring blankly as she cried, “He’s here- he’s right here!”
Harry dove aside, as a red bolt lanced out of the darkness. Simultaneously, the man in the gray suit drew a wand, firing a bolt that barely missed Harry; he dimly registered the sound of a thud from behind him, as he dove behind a car. Cursing, he realized that he had allowed the rip in his cloak to fall open, enabling them to aim; he held it closed with one hand, while drawing his wand with the other.
Harry glanced over the hood of the car. He couldn’t spot the man in the gray suit, but he saw two wizards in black Death Eaters' robes; one took aim in his direction with a wand, as the other fired something into the air... the Dark Mark. Harry took aim with his wand at the man preparing to blast him: “Petrificus Totalus!”
The man froze, completely immobile; simultaneously, Harry heard an unfamiliar man’s voice cry, “Harry- no!” Harry looked around, as did the wizard who had just fired the Dark Mark; the Death Eater then pointed his wand at a nearby tree. “Avada Kedavra!” A green bolt cut through the night, as a man-sized something- Harry couldn’t see just what- dove away. Then the creature rolled to its feet, brought up its own wand, and stunned the Death Eater into immobility.
Harry froze for a moment, panting for breath as he stared at the horrible sight of the Dark Mark being openly displayed over Privet Drive, green and glistening. Then, he thought of his aunt- she now lay prone in the middle of the street, with a third Death Eater on the ground behind her. Wrapping his cloak tightly around himself, he dashed over to her. She moaned; probably the Imperius Curse...
“Wotcher, Harry,” said a raspy male voice from behind him. Harry whirled, training his wand; a man-sized figure stood, hands held high, from where it had hid behind a nearby car; he recognized the form of the man in the gray suit. Harry stared for a moment: “Tonks...?”
The man scrunched up his face as if thought for a moment, then resumed the appearance of Nymphadora Tonks. “Oh, this is awful,” she said. “We have to get out of here... this is exactly what we were trying to prevent...”
“But what about my aunt?” asked Harry.
“She’ll be all right,” replied Tonks, “it’s you who’s their target. We need to get away from here.”
Harry was about to ask another question, when Tonks reached out, and took him by the hand. Then, with the familiar sensation of pressure that accompanied Disapparition, they were gone.
*
“The Dark Mark over Privet Drive- bloody lucky that the Muggles can't see it,” growled Moody, his magical eye swiveling as he stumped back and forth across the floor. “...as if the Obliviators aren't busy enough... And you- leaving Hogwarts without an escort, on some fool quest... getting attacked by a gang of Muggles... and worst, you used magic outside of school, and in the presence of a Muggle! You’re not yet seventeen- have you forgotten that? They could send you to Azkaban!”
“At least I was doing something!” snapped Harry, who felt both embarrassed and defensive. “And, in case you didn’t notice- I got the name of one of Voldemort’s hideouts!”
“Yes, Harry,” interjected Remus, who was using the tip of his wand to carefully repair the rip in Harry’s invisibility cloak, “...but at great cost. Privet Drive was your last safe refuge...”
“Wasn’t too safe for Uncle Vernon and Dudley, was it?” replied Harry angrily. “They may have lost their souls because of me!”
Lupin wearily shook his head: “Arabella Figg was able to summon help before the dementors completed their attack. Vernon and Dudley- as well as your aunt- should recover completely. There may be a benefit of sorts to this,” he went on, as Harry took this in. “The Death Eaters now know you no longer reside at Privet Drive, so the Dursleys should be relatively safe now; we have them in hiding, and the Death Eaters know you feel no love for them. However- there still remains the question of what to do with you. Not only are Voldemort’s forces after you; you now have Scrimgeour’s agents to deal with, as well.”
“Yes, and he’ll prove much more difficult than that idiot Fudge,” interjected Moody.
“Well, I’m sorry- perhaps I should have just let them capture me!”
“No one’s saying that, Harry,” interjected Tonks, as she put a hand on his arm. “You took out a Death Eater, and evaded an ambush- that took real skill. We’re just worried; we’re trying to keep you safe, and...”
“Safe? Where’s safe these days- Hogwarts? With Death Eaters storming in?” The others all winced, exhaustion and concern on everyone’s face, as Harry pressed on: “No- I’m through hiding, and being pushed around like a chess piece; I’m as safe out in the open, where I can fight my way out, as I am anywhere else. And, so far as fighting- how’s the war going...?”
“Not well,” said Remus grimly, as he handed the mended cloak back to Harry. “The Death Eaters launched an assault on St. Mungo’s; we drove them off, but we lost Dedalus Diggle.”
Harry took this in silently, remembering the man he’d met in the Leaky Cauldron, who’d once bowed to him in the street. Moody growled impatiently, muttering something about “...all the more work for the rest of us... as if we weren’t busy enough... damned selfish idiot boy...” as he stumped out the door.
“Sorry, Harry,” said Tonks, after an embarrassed silence. “We’ve all been working really, really hard...”
“What are you going to do now, Harry?” asked Lupin quietly.
“I... I don’t know.” Harry seemed to sag. “I could run...”
“From both the Ministry and the Death Eaters?” Lupin replied. “We’ve been trying to protect you, but I don’t think the entire Order of the Phoenix could help you there.”
Harry’s reply was cut off by a sharp tapping at the window; when he opened it, two owls flew in. The first was from Hermione: Harry- I put a Locator Charm in the Cricket before I gave it to you, so that I could find you in an emergency. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t think you’d take it if you knew. I’m trying to contact the Order right now; whatever you do, stay under your cloak, and don’t do any magic. Harry scowled as he read this; then, reluctantly, he opened the other message.
Mister Potter- You will kindly do me the service of meeting with me at my office at the Ministry, at nine o’ clock tomorrow morning.
–Rufus Scrimgeour,
Minister of Magic.
Chapter 1-Aunt Petunia’s Lament
A/N: A word on Little Whinging street names: I'm extrapolating on something Rowling did in OotP, where she has both a Magnolia Road and a Magnolia Crescent; the notion of the Little Whinging urban planners' only being able to think of four or five different street names amused me, so I've expanded on it here. Accordingly, there are a Privet Drive; a Privet Street; a Privet Avenue, and so on. (Even less imaginatively, the cross streets are simply numbered; number four is located between First and Second Streets.) In the first draft of this, I misnamed Privet Drive as Privet Street in two places; I've gone back through and fixed that error where it appeared.
Harry shook his head for a moment; he still felt dizzy. Then, he began casting around himself; there was no sign of his wand, first and foremost. Finally, in desperation, remembering something he’d done once before: “Lumos!” To his profound relief, the tip of his wand, which had been kicked under a nearby bush, lit up. He immediately recovered and extinguished it, then picked up his broken glasses, and tapped them with his wand: "Oculus Reparo!" His glasses twisted themselves back into shape; he put them on, and the world came back into focus. He felt nervous about using magic away from Hogwarts, but the last time he'd gotten in trouble, the charges had mentioned using magic in the presence of a Muggle; there was no one within sight. His cap was in the middle of another bush; he finally recovered his invisibility cloak, which had been thrown aside, with a large rip down the middle.
He experimentally draped it over himself, and discovered that he had to hold the rent closed with his hands, lest he be seen. He looked in his rucksack’s pockets, but couldn’t find anything to serve the purpose of a safety pin; he finally gave up, and put the cloak away. That was it; there was nothing else around. His pockets had been turned out, with coins scattered on the ground; he found perhaps a pound’s worth of change, as well as a few Sickles and Knuts; the one Galleon he’d had was gone. That was all.
Harry stopped to think, with wary glances up the hill in case the Death Eaters came after him. The Dursleys’ house was about forty miles from here; the change he had wouldn’t get him there on the bus. Apparate? He felt his head, still sore from the fight, and decided that that wasn’t a good idea. The Knight Bus, perhaps? He might have enough for a trip back to Gringotts... No; he had to warn the Dursleys. First, he took the Cricket in his hand, and concentrated- Hermione, I need your help. It grew warm in his hand for a moment, then faded. He put it back under his shirt, and looked for a pay phone.
“You’ve reached the Dursley residence- neither Vernon, Petunia, nor Dudley can...”
Harry slammed the phone down in frustration. He counted the wizarding money in his pocket, made a quick calculation, and then stuck out his wand hand.
There were only two passengers on the bus as he climbed on: a witch who watched as he got on, as her knitting needles clicked in her lap, and a middle-aged man in patched robes, asleep in a chair halfway back. Harry wanted to ask Ernie, the driver, about Stan- but something made him decide to get on, and get away from the knitting witch, who was now smiling at him brightly.
"Where you going?" asked Ernie.
"Umm... let me see... know where Upper Mangrove is?"
"Right down the road from Greater Chutley, right? And Little Whinging?"
"Yeah- that'll be fine. Got a girlfriend there," he added.
"Eleven sickles, please."
Harry handed Ernie the remains of his pocket change, fidgeting as the driver laboriously counted it out. As he started to step into the bus proper, the knitting witch spoke to him. “Not passed your Apparition test yet, then?” she asked cheerily.
“Umm... I’m working on it,” Harry replied, tugging his cap down lower over his forehead.
“Well, you’re still young,” she said, smiling at him. “I like to ride the Knight Bus, myself- always so many interesting people to meet and talk to!”
“Uhh... yeah,” said Harry, carefully making his way toward the back of the bus as he spoke. “I think I’m going to take a nap now; nice meeting you.”
“You too, dear,” she replied, still smiling. “If you want to talk later, you just come sit by me.”
“I will,” said Harry, plopping himself wearily into a chair across from the sleeping man. The journey was unusually smooth; he was just starting to relax when the man said in low, quiet tones, “The cap is a good idea- nice to see you've learned something on the road.”
Harry tensed, and stared at him; the man had not moved in any way; his head lolled as though he was still asleep. Carefully sliding one hand to pull his wand free from his belt loop, Harry took a few minutes positioning himself on his seat until he looked as though he, too, were asleep. “Who are you?” he finally asked quietly, training his wand, lying on his lap, at the other man.
“Name’s Abador Brin- I’m an Auror. You can relax; I’m in no shape to attack you, even if I wanted to.”
“Are you following me?”
The Auror snorted a soft laugh. “No- for once, this isn’t about you.”
“How come you’re not wearing Auror’s robes, then?”
“You tell me: should I just climb on the bus with a sign reading, ‘Defenseless Auror- come and get me’...?”
“What are you doing here, then?” whispered Harry. “If you’re an Auror, shouldn’t you be... I don’t know, Apparating into a nest of Death Eaters, or something?”
Another quiet laugh. “As it happens, I’m coming back from having done exactly that.”
Harry forced himself to control his curiosity; he craned his neck slightly and peeped out from under the brim of his cap to steal a look at the witch in the front. She looked back at them, and then returned to her knitting, and chatting with Ernie. Harry tried to observe her subtly, to see if he could determine whether or not she was as friendly as she seemed...
“She still watching us?” asked Abador.
“No,” said Harry, looking back at the Auror. “So- what happened?” he asked, feeling a mixture of tension and excitement.
“I got brushed by a Confundius Curse- I can barely walk right now, let alone Apparate. It'll wear off in a few hours, but if I tried Apparating right now, I’d probably wind up in the middle of the Thames.”
“But you were in the middle of”- Harry lowered his voice further- “of a Death Eater raid?”
Abador gave a small nod. “We got word that they were going to make an attempt to take Cornelius Fudge; we were there waiting for them. We actually got two of them alive, which is good; they’ve been dying whenever they’re captured of late. Scrimgeour thinks it has something to do with an Unbreakable Vow.”
“If they get caught, they die?”
“Yes; apparently, ever since the Death Eaters caught Karkaroff, Vol...” -he paused and looked up front- “the leader of the opposition has been initiating the practice. If you break service to him, or get captured- that’s it.”
“So, what about the two that lived?”
“We’re keeping them unconscious; we have a team at the Ministry who’re going through their memories with Pensieves. Long, slow business- but we may get some useful information.” Abador paused. “Speaking of information- what in Merlin’s name are you doing here?”
Harry sighed. “I... I couldn’t stay at Hogwarts; not after everything that's happened.”
“So you went to a cem... right: Godric’s Hollow.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “It... yeah. My parents. And that’s not all- there were Death Eaters waiting for me at their tomb.”
“Death Eaters? Were you spotted?”
“No; I was under an invisibility cloak. I heard them talking about me, and the Dursleys, and some place called Caradoc.”
“Caradoc,” Brin repeated; his face seemed to go blank for a moment, then he gave Harry an appraising look. “Do you know anything about Caradoc?”
Harry gave a tiny shake of his head. “No; sounds as if it could be Welsh or something. Why?”
“I... just wondering.” He frowned. “I’m going to have to Apparate to the Ministry as soon as this wears off; this is important.”
“Why?” asked Harry. “Do you know what Caradoc is?”
Abador hesitated. “It’s probably best not to go into it right now.” He indicated the knitting witch with a tiny jerk of his head. “You never know who might be listening. Good job letting me know, though.”
Harry nodded; there was a pause. Although he’d slept earlier, he was still exhausted. “I wish that witch would leave- I want to ask Ernie about Stan.”
Abador shrugged slightly. “The conductor, right? Got sent to Azkaban? Haven’t heard anything; at least with the dementors gone, he should be having an easier time of it.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “But... with the dementors gone, and nothing to keep the rest of the prisoners subdued, how long...”
“Yeah- that’s the big question, isn’t it?” Abador whispered. “Especially after that mass breakout... the prison is sealed against Apparition and Disapparition just as Hogwarts is, and there are still human guards, but there are plenty of folk there I don’t trust without the dementors keeping them quiet. Supposedly, Scrimgeour is talking about drugging their food; personally, I hope he uses cyanide.”
Harry nodded; an image of Lucius Malfoy in his Death Eater robes flickered through his mind. Suddenly, his head nodded again; he realized how tired he really was, despite his tension.
“...glad you didn’t sit next to her,” Abador was saying. “Probably just some harmless old bat, but these aren’t the times for trusting strangers.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Hey...”
Abador laughed softly. “Yeah- you’re still new at this, aren’t you? Well, if it’s any comfort, I helped put the Christmas hats on those house elves’ heads on the wall last year.”
Harry forced himself to lower his voice even further. “You mean, you’re in the Or...”
“Recruited by Dumbledore himself; sorry we haven't met before, but I've been busy with field work.”
Harry felt a flicker of sadness at the mention of Dumbledore; Abador seemed to sense this. “He was a great man- and he brought things as far as he could. It’s up to us now.”
“Yeah- but I still wish he was here.”
“Yeah; me too.” The Auror was quiet for a moment, and then said, “Did he give you all that business about raspberry jam?”
Harry smiled. “Yeah.”
“Great man. Mad as a hatter, but a great man. There hasn’t been a wizard like that for a thousand years.” The Knight Bus’s brakes screeched, and it pulled to the side of the road. “This is my stop. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” whispered Harry, as the Auror pulled himself out of his seat.
“Stay sharp,” muttered Abador. In the front seat, the witch watched intently as Abador struggled to his feet, then smiled at him as he stumbled to the door, singing "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy warty Hogwarts, teach us something please..." Harry watched him through cracked eyelids for a moment; then, the Knight Bus rolled back into service. Harry felt excited and tense, and watched the witch, but she merely returned to her knitting, after casting a glance back at him. He then rested his head against the window, and felt his eyes slowly grow heavy; when he finally opened them, the witch who had spoken to him was gone, as well.
Harry tried to nod in the right places, as Ernie- who’d heard no real news- kept on about Stan, and Harry craned his neck, seeing the neighborhood’s streets grow familiar. Magnolia Place... Magnolia Road... Privet Street...
“...really appreciate what you’ve been trying to do for Stan,” Ernie was saying, “not many people would...”
“Stop here!” Harry said suddenly. He was at the far end of Privet Drive, as he climbed out of the Knight Bus; he could hear the fading wail of an ambulance siren. The night was brightly moonlit; he could see crowds of neighbors heading back into their homes- and there, dressed only in her nightgown and slippers, walking back down the block from Second Street...
“Aunt Petunia...?”
Petunia turned to him, her eyes cold and hard. “I knew you’d come back. I knew we weren’t free of you.”
“What... what happened...?” Harry asked, as he cast cautious glances at their surroundings.
“They came for you,” she hissed. “The dementors. Mrs. Figg came running... said they’d been attacked... I couldn’t see them, but I saw Vernon collapse... and Dudley...”
“Dementors- here?”
“Why so shocked?” she said harshly. “It happened before, didn’t it? Don’t you draw enemies like flies, everywhere you go? They must have been here waiting for you... but they got hungry... and now my husband and son are gone- and it’s all your fault!” she cried, her voice rising steadily. “I knew it was a mistake to take you in- I knew this day would come, right from the very first instant! I kept telling myself that if I ignored it, pretended it didn’t exist... but just from the few things Lily used to say, I knew he’d come back... but your Professor Dumbledore insisted... forced us to keep you- and now my husband and son are gone! All I wanted for us was a normal life, but I could never have that- not with you drawing all manner of dark forces to us!”
Harry could see that she was near hysteria; he made placating motions with his hands, trying to get her to lower her voice lest she draw the attention of the neighbors- or worse, the Death Eaters. “All right... all right... give me just a moment... I’ll be away from here for good, I promise.”
“Much good that does us now!” she cried. “Why did it have to be us? All we wanted was a normal, peaceful life! This happened because of you!”
Harry winced, and headed back to number four. He saw no sign of Death Eaters, but he drew the cloak around himself carefully, and headed around the back; he knew how to pry the cellar door open silently. He let it close behind him, and then lit his wand; cupping his hand around its light, he crept upstairs. A board creaked; he turned quickly, but saw nothing. He pried up the loose floorboard in his room, and scooped out his letters from Sirius, and a few other treasures.
Creeping back down the stairs, he spared a glance for the cupboard where he had spent the first ten years of his life; he paused for a moment. Harry tried to get a full sense of what he was feeling at this moment, so tense and yet momentous; his time at number four, Privet Drive had been miserable for the most part; on the other hand, this was the closest to a home he had ever known... I’m giving up my last protection- my last safe refuge. I’m really on my own now. He paused again, as he was lowering the cellar door back into position. Aunt Petunia had been correct, though; every moment he spent here was endangering the Dursleys further- and much as he loathed them, he didn’t want them to come to harm, especially because of him. Harry lowered the cellar door closed, with a small sound that seemed nonetheless irrevocable and final.
As he came back down the street, he could see Petunia, now walking in circles... and behind her, he saw the man in the gray suit coming down the sidewalk, cursing as he stumbled over something. Holding the cloak closed around to himself, he crept closer to the figure of his aunt; he lowered his voice, to avoid being overheard. “Aunt Petunia? I’m going now- if you give them some chocolate...” Suddenly, she turned, staring blankly as she cried, “He’s here- he’s right here!”
Harry dove aside, as a red bolt lanced out of the darkness. Simultaneously, the man in the gray suit drew a wand, firing a bolt that barely missed Harry; he dimly registered the sound of a thud from behind him, as he dove behind a car. Cursing, he realized that he had allowed the rip in his cloak to fall open, enabling them to aim; he held it closed with one hand, while drawing his wand with the other.
Harry glanced over the hood of the car. He couldn’t spot the man in the gray suit, but he saw two wizards in black Death Eaters' robes; one took aim in his direction with a wand, as the other fired something into the air... the Dark Mark. Harry took aim with his wand at the man preparing to blast him: “Petrificus Totalus!”
The man froze, completely immobile; simultaneously, Harry heard an unfamiliar man’s voice cry, “Harry- no!” Harry looked around, as did the wizard who had just fired the Dark Mark; the Death Eater then pointed his wand at a nearby tree. “Avada Kedavra!” A green bolt cut through the night, as a man-sized something- Harry couldn’t see just what- dove away. Then the creature rolled to its feet, brought up its own wand, and stunned the Death Eater into immobility.
Harry froze for a moment, panting for breath as he stared at the horrible sight of the Dark Mark being openly displayed over Privet Drive, green and glistening. Then, he thought of his aunt- she now lay prone in the middle of the street, with a third Death Eater on the ground behind her. Wrapping his cloak tightly around himself, he dashed over to her. She moaned; probably the Imperius Curse...
“Wotcher, Harry,” said a raspy male voice from behind him. Harry whirled, training his wand; a man-sized figure stood, hands held high, from where it had hid behind a nearby car; he recognized the form of the man in the gray suit. Harry stared for a moment: “Tonks...?”
The man scrunched up his face as if thought for a moment, then resumed the appearance of Nymphadora Tonks. “Oh, this is awful,” she said. “We have to get out of here... this is exactly what we were trying to prevent...”
“But what about my aunt?” asked Harry.
“She’ll be all right,” replied Tonks, “it’s you who’s their target. We need to get away from here.”
Harry was about to ask another question, when Tonks reached out, and took him by the hand. Then, with the familiar sensation of pressure that accompanied Disapparition, they were gone.
“The Dark Mark over Privet Drive- bloody lucky that the Muggles can't see it,” growled Moody, his magical eye swiveling as he stumped back and forth across the floor. “...as if the Obliviators aren't busy enough... And you- leaving Hogwarts without an escort, on some fool quest... getting attacked by a gang of Muggles... and worst, you used magic outside of school, and in the presence of a Muggle! You’re not yet seventeen- have you forgotten that? They could send you to Azkaban!”
“At least I was doing something!” snapped Harry, who felt both embarrassed and defensive. “And, in case you didn’t notice- I got the name of one of Voldemort’s hideouts!”
“Yes, Harry,” interjected Remus, who was using the tip of his wand to carefully repair the rip in Harry’s invisibility cloak, “...but at great cost. Privet Drive was your last safe refuge...”
“Wasn’t too safe for Uncle Vernon and Dudley, was it?” replied Harry angrily. “They may have lost their souls because of me!”
Lupin wearily shook his head: “Arabella Figg was able to summon help before the dementors completed their attack. Vernon and Dudley- as well as your aunt- should recover completely. There may be a benefit of sorts to this,” he went on, as Harry took this in. “The Death Eaters now know you no longer reside at Privet Drive, so the Dursleys should be relatively safe now; we have them in hiding, and the Death Eaters know you feel no love for them. However- there still remains the question of what to do with you. Not only are Voldemort’s forces after you; you now have Scrimgeour’s agents to deal with, as well.”
“Yes, and he’ll prove much more difficult than that idiot Fudge,” interjected Moody.
“Well, I’m sorry- perhaps I should have just let them capture me!”
“No one’s saying that, Harry,” interjected Tonks, as she put a hand on his arm. “You took out a Death Eater, and evaded an ambush- that took real skill. We’re just worried; we’re trying to keep you safe, and...”
“Safe? Where’s safe these days- Hogwarts? With Death Eaters storming in?” The others all winced, exhaustion and concern on everyone’s face, as Harry pressed on: “No- I’m through hiding, and being pushed around like a chess piece; I’m as safe out in the open, where I can fight my way out, as I am anywhere else. And, so far as fighting- how’s the war going...?”
“Not well,” said Remus grimly, as he handed the mended cloak back to Harry. “The Death Eaters launched an assault on St. Mungo’s; we drove them off, but we lost Dedalus Diggle.”
Harry took this in silently, remembering the man he’d met in the Leaky Cauldron, who’d once bowed to him in the street. Moody growled impatiently, muttering something about “...all the more work for the rest of us... as if we weren’t busy enough... damned selfish idiot boy...” as he stumped out the door.
“Sorry, Harry,” said Tonks, after an embarrassed silence. “We’ve all been working really, really hard...”
“What are you going to do now, Harry?” asked Lupin quietly.
“I... I don’t know.” Harry seemed to sag. “I could run...”
“From both the Ministry and the Death Eaters?” Lupin replied. “We’ve been trying to protect you, but I don’t think the entire Order of the Phoenix could help you there.”
Harry’s reply was cut off by a sharp tapping at the window; when he opened it, two owls flew in. The first was from Hermione: Harry- I put a Locator Charm in the Cricket before I gave it to you, so that I could find you in an emergency. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t think you’d take it if you knew. I’m trying to contact the Order right now; whatever you do, stay under your cloak, and don’t do any magic. Harry scowled as he read this; then, reluctantly, he opened the other message.
Mister Potter- You will kindly do me the service of meeting with me at my office at the Ministry, at nine o’ clock tomorrow morning.
–Rufus Scrimgeour,
Minister of Magic.