Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter, Prisoner of Hogwarts
Twisted and Broken Relationships
2 reviewsDumbledore tries to get Harry back to Hogwarts, but Harry shows he's not going to concede so easily...
2Original
DISCLAIMER: See Ch. 1.
Chapter 2: Twisted and Broken Relationships
When Harry woke up, it was on a bed so comfortable it almost hurt him. Looking around, he saw he was in a room above the Leaky Cauldron. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows facing the east; it was morning.
As his memories came back to him, Harry remembered how Dumbledore managed to Stun him when he wasn't looking. Ooh, how he'd like to throw around that wretched old man...
There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" he asked warily.
"Tom," came an old voice from the other side.
"What can I do for you?"
"Actually," Tom said, walking in with a tray of food, "It's more of a matter of what I could do for /you/."
"You really shouldn't..." Harry began to say.
Tom waved it aside with saying, "Forget this time, Mr. Potter." Walking back out, he said, "If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask."
Harry picked at his food more than he ate it (even though it wasn't some lavish food which would be a shock to his system), and he kept thinking about everything that had happened.
At this point, he wondered about what may have happened to his possessions and his owl. Oh, they'd better not have done anything...
There was another knock on his door. Without preamble, Dumbledore walked in, a rather somber mood on his face.
"Let me guess," Harry said with an edge in his voice, "You're here to make sure I return to Hogwarts."
"Precisely. It would help for you to have a complete education, and facing your problem will help you ease the pain," Dumbledore said with his best benevolent air.
'No, you want me to break and forgive you to satisfy your guilty consciences so it will help you pretend it never happened,' Harry mentally growled.
Sensing Harry's bitterness, he said honestly, "Harry, I cannot apologize enough for my, /our/, mistakes a year ago. Please, try to work with us."
Harry was too tired right now to even retort to that one.
"Anyway, while you do need to return to Hogwarts next year, you don't necessarily need to return to the Dursleys. Voldemort and most of his followers are now gone, of course, and the Weasleys are more than anxious to try to make amends with you..."
Bile rose in Harry's throat and anger in his heart. Did they honestly think he'd ever want anything to do with them ever again, especially after what they did to him and how clearly he expressed his anger with them last night?
Wait.
Perhaps there was an easy way out of this after all...
"Well, Professor/," Harry said in a defeated tone, "If I'm going to spend the summer with my relatives -" and here Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle a little, telling Harry he was succeeding, "- I only have a few conditions. No one is to come to wherever I am or send me anything, for /whatever reason. I'm not in the mood for dealing with hordes of people at the moment."
"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said assuredly, convinced that things were working as he'd hoped. "I'm so glad you came to the right decision, Harry..."
Taking out small box out of his robes, Dumbledore enlarged it into Harry's trunk. "All your possessions are safe. While you're getting dressed, I'll inform the Weasleys of your decision; I daresay they'll be very happy with your decision."
Feigning a nervous smile, Harry instantly let it drop the moment Dumbledore left. 'I honestly can't believe he fell for that!' he thought incredulously. 'Then again, that's happened before, which, of course, this all comes back to...'
After shrinking and pocketing his trunk, he left a small thank you note for Tom and looked for an alternative means of escape.
How lucky for him that one of his windows faced the Muggle street which the Leaky Cauldron was connected to...
Quickly and quietly climbing out the window, he crawled along the side of the building, and hanging onto the awning, he swung down onto the street below.
Harry must have landed within the magical boundaries of the Leaky Cauldron, because none of the Muggles walking on the street seemed to notice a teenage boy jumping off a roof onto the ground.
After waving to summon a taxi, he got in and gave the driver a simple address.
"Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, please."
"Oh Harry!" Mrs. Weasley gushed, hurrying up to his room with her family right behind her. "I'm so glad you made the right decision, and now you won't have to spend the summer with those awful relatives of yours..."
But after crossing the threshold, she was greeted with an empty room. No Harry.
"Where is he?" Mr. Weasley asked, turning to Dumbledore. "He said /what/, again?"
"He said that he'd spend the summer with his relatives, and wasn't to be bothered with visitors or mail..." Dumbledore said. Then the realization of Harry's slick double entendre finally struck him. Hard.
"Did he say the Weasleys?" Hermione asked, also cottoning on to what Harry had truly meant. Also realizing Harry's clever choice of words, Mrs. Weasley began to feel very stupid about her own choice of words from just a moment or so before.
"But he wouldn't return to the Dursleys," Ron said, starting to look a little indignant. "He hates them, for Merlin's sake! He'd never go back to Privet Drive! We're his relatives which we should be with!"
"Er, then why is he outside and summoning a Muggle taxi cab?" Ginny asked, looking straight out the window.
As quick as a flash, Hermione was out the door and running down the stairs with such speed that the Weasleys could only gape in shock for a second before following her.
She called out, "Harry, please, WAIT!" But her cry was drowned out by the taxi's engine roaring to life and zooming away, kicking up dust in the process. Harry didn't even turn around to acknowledge her (that is, if he even heard her).
Hermione broke down crying in the middle of the lane, and it took Ron and Ginny to drag her back to the Leaky Cauldron before she caused a traffic accident.
In the taxi, Harry heard Hermione - no, Granger's - pitiful wail behind him, but paid it no heed. If she was his friend, then he may have been concerned... but she wasn't his friend, which she had already proven so long ago.
Harry didn't even give her the time of day, which also took its tool on her guilt-wracked conscience.
Oh, the damage which indifference and neglect could do...
(End of Chapter 2.)
A/N: Next chapter, obviously, is the Dursleys. But in the meantime, how did you like Harry's shrewdness and his escape? -Quillian
Chapter 2: Twisted and Broken Relationships
When Harry woke up, it was on a bed so comfortable it almost hurt him. Looking around, he saw he was in a room above the Leaky Cauldron. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows facing the east; it was morning.
As his memories came back to him, Harry remembered how Dumbledore managed to Stun him when he wasn't looking. Ooh, how he'd like to throw around that wretched old man...
There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" he asked warily.
"Tom," came an old voice from the other side.
"What can I do for you?"
"Actually," Tom said, walking in with a tray of food, "It's more of a matter of what I could do for /you/."
"You really shouldn't..." Harry began to say.
Tom waved it aside with saying, "Forget this time, Mr. Potter." Walking back out, he said, "If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask."
Harry picked at his food more than he ate it (even though it wasn't some lavish food which would be a shock to his system), and he kept thinking about everything that had happened.
At this point, he wondered about what may have happened to his possessions and his owl. Oh, they'd better not have done anything...
There was another knock on his door. Without preamble, Dumbledore walked in, a rather somber mood on his face.
"Let me guess," Harry said with an edge in his voice, "You're here to make sure I return to Hogwarts."
"Precisely. It would help for you to have a complete education, and facing your problem will help you ease the pain," Dumbledore said with his best benevolent air.
'No, you want me to break and forgive you to satisfy your guilty consciences so it will help you pretend it never happened,' Harry mentally growled.
Sensing Harry's bitterness, he said honestly, "Harry, I cannot apologize enough for my, /our/, mistakes a year ago. Please, try to work with us."
Harry was too tired right now to even retort to that one.
"Anyway, while you do need to return to Hogwarts next year, you don't necessarily need to return to the Dursleys. Voldemort and most of his followers are now gone, of course, and the Weasleys are more than anxious to try to make amends with you..."
Bile rose in Harry's throat and anger in his heart. Did they honestly think he'd ever want anything to do with them ever again, especially after what they did to him and how clearly he expressed his anger with them last night?
Wait.
Perhaps there was an easy way out of this after all...
"Well, Professor/," Harry said in a defeated tone, "If I'm going to spend the summer with my relatives -" and here Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle a little, telling Harry he was succeeding, "- I only have a few conditions. No one is to come to wherever I am or send me anything, for /whatever reason. I'm not in the mood for dealing with hordes of people at the moment."
"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said assuredly, convinced that things were working as he'd hoped. "I'm so glad you came to the right decision, Harry..."
Taking out small box out of his robes, Dumbledore enlarged it into Harry's trunk. "All your possessions are safe. While you're getting dressed, I'll inform the Weasleys of your decision; I daresay they'll be very happy with your decision."
Feigning a nervous smile, Harry instantly let it drop the moment Dumbledore left. 'I honestly can't believe he fell for that!' he thought incredulously. 'Then again, that's happened before, which, of course, this all comes back to...'
After shrinking and pocketing his trunk, he left a small thank you note for Tom and looked for an alternative means of escape.
How lucky for him that one of his windows faced the Muggle street which the Leaky Cauldron was connected to...
Quickly and quietly climbing out the window, he crawled along the side of the building, and hanging onto the awning, he swung down onto the street below.
Harry must have landed within the magical boundaries of the Leaky Cauldron, because none of the Muggles walking on the street seemed to notice a teenage boy jumping off a roof onto the ground.
After waving to summon a taxi, he got in and gave the driver a simple address.
"Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, please."
"Oh Harry!" Mrs. Weasley gushed, hurrying up to his room with her family right behind her. "I'm so glad you made the right decision, and now you won't have to spend the summer with those awful relatives of yours..."
But after crossing the threshold, she was greeted with an empty room. No Harry.
"Where is he?" Mr. Weasley asked, turning to Dumbledore. "He said /what/, again?"
"He said that he'd spend the summer with his relatives, and wasn't to be bothered with visitors or mail..." Dumbledore said. Then the realization of Harry's slick double entendre finally struck him. Hard.
"Did he say the Weasleys?" Hermione asked, also cottoning on to what Harry had truly meant. Also realizing Harry's clever choice of words, Mrs. Weasley began to feel very stupid about her own choice of words from just a moment or so before.
"But he wouldn't return to the Dursleys," Ron said, starting to look a little indignant. "He hates them, for Merlin's sake! He'd never go back to Privet Drive! We're his relatives which we should be with!"
"Er, then why is he outside and summoning a Muggle taxi cab?" Ginny asked, looking straight out the window.
As quick as a flash, Hermione was out the door and running down the stairs with such speed that the Weasleys could only gape in shock for a second before following her.
She called out, "Harry, please, WAIT!" But her cry was drowned out by the taxi's engine roaring to life and zooming away, kicking up dust in the process. Harry didn't even turn around to acknowledge her (that is, if he even heard her).
Hermione broke down crying in the middle of the lane, and it took Ron and Ginny to drag her back to the Leaky Cauldron before she caused a traffic accident.
In the taxi, Harry heard Hermione - no, Granger's - pitiful wail behind him, but paid it no heed. If she was his friend, then he may have been concerned... but she wasn't his friend, which she had already proven so long ago.
Harry didn't even give her the time of day, which also took its tool on her guilt-wracked conscience.
Oh, the damage which indifference and neglect could do...
(End of Chapter 2.)
A/N: Next chapter, obviously, is the Dursleys. But in the meantime, how did you like Harry's shrewdness and his escape? -Quillian
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