Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Chosen One
Chapter 5
Dumbledore walked up to 4 Privet Drive, he concluded that the Dursleys had moved based on the evidence he had gathered thus far. He was still a little agitated with himself for allowing the spells to wear off. He just hoped he could find Harry so he could recast the wards. A good place to start was to see if he could find out where the Dursleys moved to by asking the new residents of 4 Privet Drive. Dumbledore knocked on the door and to his surprise, Petunia Dursley answered the door. Something wasn't right.
"You! What are you doing here?" Petunia asked, somewhat panicked.
"Is that freak back? If so, tell him we don't want him here!" Dumbledore heard a man he assumed was Vernon yell.
Curious as to what is going on, Dumbledore asked, "May I come in? I have a few questions to ask."
"Yes. Please do. I don't want the neighbors to see or hear..." Petunia said nervous. Dumbledore walked in to the perfectly clean house.
"If you are another one of those freaks, go away!" Vernon yelled. "I've had enough your kind showing up on my door step unannounced!"
"Calm down Mr. Dursley. I just want to ask a few questions." Dumbledore asked wondering what had happened.
"Don't tell me what to do! You dumped that abomination on my door step and told my perfectly normal wife and I to take care of that freak!" Vernon shouted.
Dumbledore got a sinking feeling Harry didn't grow up with a loving family as he had hoped. Dumbledore decided to risk using Legilimency on Vernon and saw how Vernon and Petunia horribly mistreated Harry by Locking him up in cupboard and not letting him eat. They treated them like how some of the old pure-blood families treat house elves. They went so far as to blame some of their problems on Harry. How could they do that to a child? Doing those kinds of things to a child with the exception of a case 300 years ago was unheard of in Wizarding World out of fear of what kind of accidental magic the child will cause...
"If you didn't want Harry, you could have simply have contacted me." Dumbledore calmly said.
"How could we? You just left the freak on the door step like he was a bottle of milk with some letter." Petunia answered.
"Petunia, you know where Diagon Alley is. You and your husband could have simply gone there and asked the owner of The Leak Cauldron for help in reaching me. What you did was inexcusable." Dumbledore explained. His patience was where a little thin. These were people who should know better. "Now, I came here because the wards that only protected Harry, but your family as well, has collapsed and I am unable to locate Harry."
"Some young man claiming to be his cousin showed up and we gave the freak to him." Vernon said agitated.
Dumbledore was furious. Not only did they mistreat the boy, but they handed the boy over to some total stranger. He seen enough people under the Imperious Curse and other spells that make people do things they may not normally do to know that the Dursleys were acting under their own free will.
"Who was this person?" Dumbledore asked, trying to hold back his anger.
"Andrew Potter. He sort-of looked like my sister's husband." Petunia asked.
"Mrs. Dursley. I don't know how much your sister told you about magic but there are ways of altering one's appearance. I was close to your sister and her husband before they died and I know her husband had no other relatives. I could be mistaken but I am very sure that is the case. You most likely have just handed over your nephew to some impostor who has unknown intentions. If by chance, I do find where Harry is, I cannot in good conscious return him to your custody. You have proven to me that my deputy headmistress was right about you. I am terribly sorry I have ever trusted you. I will leave you now to face whatever punishment awaits you. Good luck." Dumbledore said as he marched out the door leaving the two Dursleys frighten.
He used his portkey to get back to his office and he sat down at his desk.
'How could things have gone so wrong?' he thought. The memories he saw in the Dursleys of how the mistreated their own nephew... 'They could still have taken proper care of him... me leaving Harry with them was absolutely no excuse for their abominable actions...'
However he was just as responsible, he should have checked up on him. Also what of Mrs. Figg? He asked her to keep an eye on Harry. She never mentioned anything to him or told him of any problems other then occasionally seeing a gang of kids chasing Harry down the street every now and then.
'If Harry ever finds out I'm partially responsible for his suffering he might just go after me...' Dumbledore continued to think to himself. He continued to think.
'Harry has been kidnapped, He may be alive and he may be dead. Either way, I have no clue where he is or who this Andrew Potter is... When the Ministry finds out Harry is missing, they will no doubt investigate and learn about how the Dursleys mistreated the pour boy... The pure-blood fanatics in power will no doubt use that to their advantage. They will use it to prove to the rest of the world that Muggles were savage and terrible monsters. Wizard-Muggle relations would be set back centuries...'
Dumbledore looked at the newspaper at his desk. The article that had prompted him to check up on Harry was visible. If it wasn't for that article, he may never have learned how the Dursleys treated Harry let alone that he was missing until the summer of 1991 when Harry was due to get his acceptance letter for Hogwarts. It was a mistake not to check on him earlier.
'That's one of the things I dislike about myself.' Dumbledore thought bitterly. 'I rarely make errors or mistakes, but when I do, they seem to be large, uncontrollable disasters... It could still get worse. If Harry is alive, he may learn to hate Muggles and follow the path of Tom Riddle... There's nothing in the prophecy that says he won't go dark.'
Dumbledore didn't care about the consequences to himself and his reputation. Whatever they are, he felt he would deserve it. He thought about what he could do to find Harry without having to alert the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix. If he was unable to locate Harry in the next few days, he'll alert them. Dumbledore decided he'll try the simplest way to locate Harry: send a letter to Andrew Potter. Assuming Andrew Potter existed and didn't place a spell on him to make him impossible to locate, the owl should find him. He wasn't confident it would work but it was worth a try, after all, many of the most complex problems in the world often have very simple solutions.
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Andrew was reading the book on the Potter Family secrets. Some of the stuff in it Andrew could hardly consider a secret like who was appointed to have what seat on the Wizengamont. He saw that the seats the Potter family owned were originally filled with members of the Potter family. But as the Potter family decreased in size, people outside the family were appointed. Andrew was little surprised that after his grandparents died, his father James had assigned his friends seats on the Wizengamont: the traitor Pettigrew had Maroa, Remus had Nandrob, Sirius had Genber, and his mother had Peverell. From what Andrew could tell, it was tradition for Lady Potter to have Peverell so there was no surprise there but appointing his close friends? Apparently the only qualification for being on the Wizengamont was you were alive. Andrew wondered if they attended any of the meetings.
There were more than just Wizengamont seat assignments in the book. There things about the wards on the house which were upgraded to include blood wards at the request of Andrew. There were things about the family rings as well. It explained the enchantments on the rings. Since one of the enchantments was protecting their wearer's minds from intrusion or tampering, he decided to give the appropriate one to Harry to help keep Voldemort out of his mind. The other enchantments were mostly to prevent the rings from tarnishing or getting dirty.
Andrew noticed there was a section on the wand. He decided to read it later and go check on Harry. Harry had found a library in the Potter Manor with an impressive collection of books. It was nowhere near as large as the Hogwarts' library or the one on Diagon Alley but it had a reasonable sized section with books just for kids. He allowed Harry to stay in the library and read the kid's books.
Just as Andrew got up, a letter came out of the fireplace. Andrew bent over and picked it up and saw it was addressed to him. Andrew opened it up and read.
Andrew wondered how Dumbledore knew that. Could Mrs. Figg have seen him and Harry and told Dumbledore? If that was the case, then why is it now that Dumbledore is writing to him? Why not yesterday or the day before? But that was beside the point. Dumbledore wanted to meet with him. He just hoped Dumbledore would buy his cover story.
Chapter Notes
Some (or rather a lot) of Dumbledore's thoughts are taken from my friend Quillian's story Harry Potter and the Tower of Pime with his permission. I strongly suggest you read that story. It's good. I can't wait for him to finish the next chapter. He posted an incomplete draft of it on his yahoo group QuillianCorner for those who want to read it. I don't know when he is going to finish it. I've been talking with him and I think it maybe a while before he finishes it so please be patient.
Also, I forgot to mention, I got the idea of that article Andrew wrote from my friend AlianneOfTortall (I believe she now goes by the name Deadwoodpecker) who in the stories she wrote (Backwards With Purpose and The Book of Albus), a time traveler wrote an article for The Daily Prophet.
Also, re-read the previous chapters. I've corrected mistakes and added improvements that were suggested by various people.
And one last thing, Dumbledore is not incompetent like Lockhart as one review suggested. Remember, intent has an influence on spells. Dumbledore didn't think he needed some of those spells when he casted them and so they weren't as strong as they normally would be. The Dumbledore in my story is sort-of like me. We get overconfident after a string of good luck and we end up eventually screwing up big time.
Dumbledore walked up to 4 Privet Drive, he concluded that the Dursleys had moved based on the evidence he had gathered thus far. He was still a little agitated with himself for allowing the spells to wear off. He just hoped he could find Harry so he could recast the wards. A good place to start was to see if he could find out where the Dursleys moved to by asking the new residents of 4 Privet Drive. Dumbledore knocked on the door and to his surprise, Petunia Dursley answered the door. Something wasn't right.
"You! What are you doing here?" Petunia asked, somewhat panicked.
"Is that freak back? If so, tell him we don't want him here!" Dumbledore heard a man he assumed was Vernon yell.
Curious as to what is going on, Dumbledore asked, "May I come in? I have a few questions to ask."
"Yes. Please do. I don't want the neighbors to see or hear..." Petunia said nervous. Dumbledore walked in to the perfectly clean house.
"If you are another one of those freaks, go away!" Vernon yelled. "I've had enough your kind showing up on my door step unannounced!"
"Calm down Mr. Dursley. I just want to ask a few questions." Dumbledore asked wondering what had happened.
"Don't tell me what to do! You dumped that abomination on my door step and told my perfectly normal wife and I to take care of that freak!" Vernon shouted.
Dumbledore got a sinking feeling Harry didn't grow up with a loving family as he had hoped. Dumbledore decided to risk using Legilimency on Vernon and saw how Vernon and Petunia horribly mistreated Harry by Locking him up in cupboard and not letting him eat. They treated them like how some of the old pure-blood families treat house elves. They went so far as to blame some of their problems on Harry. How could they do that to a child? Doing those kinds of things to a child with the exception of a case 300 years ago was unheard of in Wizarding World out of fear of what kind of accidental magic the child will cause...
"If you didn't want Harry, you could have simply have contacted me." Dumbledore calmly said.
"How could we? You just left the freak on the door step like he was a bottle of milk with some letter." Petunia answered.
"Petunia, you know where Diagon Alley is. You and your husband could have simply gone there and asked the owner of The Leak Cauldron for help in reaching me. What you did was inexcusable." Dumbledore explained. His patience was where a little thin. These were people who should know better. "Now, I came here because the wards that only protected Harry, but your family as well, has collapsed and I am unable to locate Harry."
"Some young man claiming to be his cousin showed up and we gave the freak to him." Vernon said agitated.
Dumbledore was furious. Not only did they mistreat the boy, but they handed the boy over to some total stranger. He seen enough people under the Imperious Curse and other spells that make people do things they may not normally do to know that the Dursleys were acting under their own free will.
"Who was this person?" Dumbledore asked, trying to hold back his anger.
"Andrew Potter. He sort-of looked like my sister's husband." Petunia asked.
"Mrs. Dursley. I don't know how much your sister told you about magic but there are ways of altering one's appearance. I was close to your sister and her husband before they died and I know her husband had no other relatives. I could be mistaken but I am very sure that is the case. You most likely have just handed over your nephew to some impostor who has unknown intentions. If by chance, I do find where Harry is, I cannot in good conscious return him to your custody. You have proven to me that my deputy headmistress was right about you. I am terribly sorry I have ever trusted you. I will leave you now to face whatever punishment awaits you. Good luck." Dumbledore said as he marched out the door leaving the two Dursleys frighten.
He used his portkey to get back to his office and he sat down at his desk.
'How could things have gone so wrong?' he thought. The memories he saw in the Dursleys of how the mistreated their own nephew... 'They could still have taken proper care of him... me leaving Harry with them was absolutely no excuse for their abominable actions...'
However he was just as responsible, he should have checked up on him. Also what of Mrs. Figg? He asked her to keep an eye on Harry. She never mentioned anything to him or told him of any problems other then occasionally seeing a gang of kids chasing Harry down the street every now and then.
'If Harry ever finds out I'm partially responsible for his suffering he might just go after me...' Dumbledore continued to think to himself. He continued to think.
'Harry has been kidnapped, He may be alive and he may be dead. Either way, I have no clue where he is or who this Andrew Potter is... When the Ministry finds out Harry is missing, they will no doubt investigate and learn about how the Dursleys mistreated the pour boy... The pure-blood fanatics in power will no doubt use that to their advantage. They will use it to prove to the rest of the world that Muggles were savage and terrible monsters. Wizard-Muggle relations would be set back centuries...'
Dumbledore looked at the newspaper at his desk. The article that had prompted him to check up on Harry was visible. If it wasn't for that article, he may never have learned how the Dursleys treated Harry let alone that he was missing until the summer of 1991 when Harry was due to get his acceptance letter for Hogwarts. It was a mistake not to check on him earlier.
'That's one of the things I dislike about myself.' Dumbledore thought bitterly. 'I rarely make errors or mistakes, but when I do, they seem to be large, uncontrollable disasters... It could still get worse. If Harry is alive, he may learn to hate Muggles and follow the path of Tom Riddle... There's nothing in the prophecy that says he won't go dark.'
Dumbledore didn't care about the consequences to himself and his reputation. Whatever they are, he felt he would deserve it. He thought about what he could do to find Harry without having to alert the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix. If he was unable to locate Harry in the next few days, he'll alert them. Dumbledore decided he'll try the simplest way to locate Harry: send a letter to Andrew Potter. Assuming Andrew Potter existed and didn't place a spell on him to make him impossible to locate, the owl should find him. He wasn't confident it would work but it was worth a try, after all, many of the most complex problems in the world often have very simple solutions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew was reading the book on the Potter Family secrets. Some of the stuff in it Andrew could hardly consider a secret like who was appointed to have what seat on the Wizengamont. He saw that the seats the Potter family owned were originally filled with members of the Potter family. But as the Potter family decreased in size, people outside the family were appointed. Andrew was little surprised that after his grandparents died, his father James had assigned his friends seats on the Wizengamont: the traitor Pettigrew had Maroa, Remus had Nandrob, Sirius had Genber, and his mother had Peverell. From what Andrew could tell, it was tradition for Lady Potter to have Peverell so there was no surprise there but appointing his close friends? Apparently the only qualification for being on the Wizengamont was you were alive. Andrew wondered if they attended any of the meetings.
There were more than just Wizengamont seat assignments in the book. There things about the wards on the house which were upgraded to include blood wards at the request of Andrew. There were things about the family rings as well. It explained the enchantments on the rings. Since one of the enchantments was protecting their wearer's minds from intrusion or tampering, he decided to give the appropriate one to Harry to help keep Voldemort out of his mind. The other enchantments were mostly to prevent the rings from tarnishing or getting dirty.
Andrew noticed there was a section on the wand. He decided to read it later and go check on Harry. Harry had found a library in the Potter Manor with an impressive collection of books. It was nowhere near as large as the Hogwarts' library or the one on Diagon Alley but it had a reasonable sized section with books just for kids. He allowed Harry to stay in the library and read the kid's books.
Just as Andrew got up, a letter came out of the fireplace. Andrew bent over and picked it up and saw it was addressed to him. Andrew opened it up and read.
Dear Mr. Potter
It has come to my attention that you have recently visited the Dursleys and now have their nephew Harry Potter. I would like to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss Harry. Please respond as soon as you can.
Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)
Andrew wondered how Dumbledore knew that. Could Mrs. Figg have seen him and Harry and told Dumbledore? If that was the case, then why is it now that Dumbledore is writing to him? Why not yesterday or the day before? But that was beside the point. Dumbledore wanted to meet with him. He just hoped Dumbledore would buy his cover story.
Chapter Notes
Some (or rather a lot) of Dumbledore's thoughts are taken from my friend Quillian's story Harry Potter and the Tower of Pime with his permission. I strongly suggest you read that story. It's good. I can't wait for him to finish the next chapter. He posted an incomplete draft of it on his yahoo group QuillianCorner for those who want to read it. I don't know when he is going to finish it. I've been talking with him and I think it maybe a while before he finishes it so please be patient.
Also, I forgot to mention, I got the idea of that article Andrew wrote from my friend AlianneOfTortall (I believe she now goes by the name Deadwoodpecker) who in the stories she wrote (Backwards With Purpose and The Book of Albus), a time traveler wrote an article for The Daily Prophet.
Also, re-read the previous chapters. I've corrected mistakes and added improvements that were suggested by various people.
And one last thing, Dumbledore is not incompetent like Lockhart as one review suggested. Remember, intent has an influence on spells. Dumbledore didn't think he needed some of those spells when he casted them and so they weren't as strong as they normally would be. The Dumbledore in my story is sort-of like me. We get overconfident after a string of good luck and we end up eventually screwing up big time.
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