DISCLAIMER: See
A/N: This is an important chapter, in a way…
CHAPTER 3: AN INVITATION AND A DISCUSSION
Videris vereri ut epistulas illas acceperium.
You seem to be afraid that I have
not received those letters. –
Harry went down to lunch after getting dressed. His relatives (Uncle
Vernon,
Aunt Petunia, and their son, Dudley) greeted him with merely a glance.
They had
been much more lenient to him this summer for two particular reasons:
Harry had
saved
Harry was just finishing his last bite of toast when there was a
high-pitched
screech from upstairs and a scream from Aunt Petunia, and a moment
later, with Pigwidgeon was zooming
downstairs and straight into Harry's
hand.
"NOT ANOTHER STUPID OWL!" Uncle Vernon roared.
"Geez, you crazy owl, did it occur to you
at ANY
point to cut off your sugar supply!?" Harry said exasperated. After
shoving part of his napkin into Pig's mouth to stifle the hooting, he
unrolled
the scroll in its claws and read it.
Dear Harry,
Being our initial investor, you are cordially invited to the Grand
Opening of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at 93,
Diagon
Alley, this Monday at noon! Lupin has
agreed to pick
you up at 11:45 A.M. Also, they might want to take pictures of you
along with
us, so you'd better get over your camera shyness, mate!
Sincerely,
Fred & George Weasley
Harry grinned. He took out a pen from his pocket, turned the parchment
over,
and wrote onto it, "Sounds great. See you then."
He gave the rolled up scroll to Pig, who clutched it in his tiny claws,
then
took the napkin out of the owl's beak, and threw the bird out the
window like a
tennis ball.
Harry turned to the Dursleys and said,
"Don't
get so upset, that owl's always like that."
He was just washing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher when
the
doorbell rang. Everyone looked at each other.
Harry broke the silence by saying, "Er,
maybe I
should get it, if you know what I mean."
His three relatives nodded silently in agreement, and after closing the
dishwasher, the boy went to get the door.
Lupin stood at the doorway with a smile on
his face.
"Hello, Harry," he said.
"Hi," the boy responded. "Everything's fine. Things are going
well here between your warning and last year's dementor
incident. Actually, can you come in one moment? There's something I'd
like to
discuss with you and my relatives."
Harry turned to Lupin and asked, "Er, can you find a way to make sure no one
outside can hear
us? My relatives are a little, um, paranoid about any of the
neighbors
finding about my. . . talents."
Lupin got the hint, nodded, and cast a
Silencing
Charm on the room.
Once they had all settled down, Harry started to express what was on
his mind.
"The reason Dumbledore kept sending me here, summer after summer, was
because I would be safe and protected. Even on that terrible night
where Voldemort got his body back, he said
that Dumbledore had
protected me in different ways. Ways, implying more than one.
Exactly
what sort of methods of protection are we talking about here?"
Lupin thought about this and said, "Of
course,
since Voldemort killed your mother, who
died trying
to protect you, you are safe with her sister, your aunt. This was
mentioned in
the letter Dumbledore left with you on this house's doorstep nearly
fifteen
years ago."
Mr. Dursley and Dudley turned to Mrs. Dursley, as if wanting to confirm that this was
true, and she
nodded her head with something that looked almost like shame.
Harry nodded. "Yes, Dumbledore told me that. Please, go on."
Lupin continued, "The wards on this house
also
protect you against Dark creatures that Voldemort
might employ, such as boggarts and dementors. Two of your least favorite creatures,
I
know."
While Harry mused at the fact this was probably the most intelligent
question
that
Harry went on, "A few of the other things on my mind are the fact that,
the last time I checked, we were still hooked up to the Floo
Network." He then pointed at the fireplace.
Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Ah yes," he
stated, "Mr. Weasley told me about the incident."
The corners of his mouth twitched for a moment, as though he was about
to
smile. Mr. Dursley's face started to
purple, and
Dudley and his mother looked at the fireplace nervously as though
expecting it
to explode again.
"Furthermore," Lupin added, "People
can't Apparate or Disapparate
onto the property, and Voldemort himself
can't just
walk onto the property without experiencing staggering amounts of pain,
even
for him. That also goes for anyone in league with him."
Something had stirred in Harry's memory. "I just remembered something.
You
want to know who sent those dementors? I think my relatives have a right to know as
well, since
Lupin said "We were all wondering about
that. So
who was it?"
Harry made a face and said, "It was that awful Umbridge
woman. Dolores Jane Umbridge. However,
that action
was only the tip of the iceberg of her atrocities." Harry continued to
explain how she made him use that lacerating quill in detentions for
lying when
he was really telling the truth, banned him from Quidditch
unjustly, confiscated his Firebolt, banned
him from
future Hogsmeade visits, had attacked
Professor
McGonagall and Hagrid in the middle of the
night
during his Astronomy exam, and had almost used the Cruciatus
Curse on him. He showed Lupin his hand
where the
words "I must not tell lies" were etched into his hand. Lupin looked furious. He then said, "Now, I've
never
been one for revenge, but I'd love to see her get what she deserves."
"Two of us," Harry added.
"Five of us," Aunt Petunia corrected him. Harry stared at her.
"I want to see this woman, whoever she is, to get what she deserves.
Especially after what she did, which could have
killed my
son. By the way, what's that curse you mentioned?"
"The Cruciatus Curse is one of three
illegal
curses known as Unforgivable Curses," Harry explained to his
inquisitive
aunt. "It causes the victim to experience unthinkable amounts of pain.
Some people have even lost their minds to prolonged exposure to that
curse."
Aunt Petunia shuddered.
Lupin asked, "Why didn't you tell any of
the
teachers about Umbridge using this thing
in
detentions?"
"Ron and Hermione suggested it, but I didn't want to let her know she'd
gotten to me, the teachers didn't want to cross her path, and I guess
with the
whole range of injuries I've endured over the years, maybe I've
developed a
high tolerance for pain."
Lupin almost grinned, "I'm glad you're made
out
of stronger stuff than she thinks, but we could have used this to get
rid of
her sooner. Do you know of any other students who were forced to use
this?"
"Lee Jordan. Also, do you think Professor Snape
might have any healing potions to get these words off the back of my
hand?"
"He might, but maybe we should wait until after her trial to do that,
since we need evidence of this. I'll have Dumbledore come by tomorrow,
so he
can organize your defense after he talks to Fudge about this."
"Sounds good, but I don't want the press to make me look like an
attention-seeking kid again."
"Don't worry Harry. Fudge is doing a surprisingly good job to restore
order,
and seeing that you were right this whole time, he's decided to try and
pull
the strings of public opinion the other way."
"Thanks for your time, Lupin. I also got
the
letter from Fred and George about their Grand Opening, so I'll see you
a few
days from now to go then. I have some letters to write now."
"You're welcome, Harry." Lupin then got
up,
undid the Silencing Charm he had previously cast on the room, and left.
He turned to the Dursleys and said, "Don't
worry, that awful woman will get what she deserves."
"Why are you helping us?" Petunia asked, almost afraid as she did so.
Harry gave them a long, hard look. "You may not have been the nicest or most caring relatives in the world, but that does not mean I want to get some horrible revenge on you. From time to time, I may have wanted you to know what it's like in my place, but I never wanted any of you dead. Even recently, I've been getting the feeling that if something happened to any of you, I'd regret not being able to protect you. Don't ask me why, I'm not even entirely sure of why I'm doing this myself. Maybe... It's because in the long run, you've ranked much lower than the evil people out there who have tried to ruin and end my life. I don't know, I can't even figure this out right now." Shaking his head, he walked off, unable to understand or explain it further.
For one moment that seemed to stretch for an eternity the three Dursleys stood there. For years, especially after Harry first learned of his magical powers, they had dreaded the day when Harry would be allowed to practice magic on them and get revenge on their cruel treatment of him. In one conversation and with a small speech, that had all been shattered.
They could all tell from his recent sad and gloomy expressions, that dull look in his otherwise brilliant eyes, that something bad had happened. Something that had displaced his anger from them to someone else. Obviously, it was that Voldemort person and whoever worked for him.
For that one moment, they felt relief, shock, and the smallest amount of gratitude they could possibly give him, all rolled into one.
And suddenly, the Dursleys never felt so miserable in their lives, not even during their most hectic and chaotic magic-caused moments with their relative.
After that, they left to do whatever they had in mind (most likely, Harry thought, Uncle Vernon making important phone calls to yell at people, Aunt Petunia eavesdropping on her neighbors' conversations, and Dudley wandering around the town with his gang), he went upstairs to get around to writing those letters.
(End of Chapter 3.)
A/N: Reconciliation with the Dursleys
is important
here. For one thing, they've been fighting with Harry for so long. For
another
thing, Harry's anger has now been focused more on the Dark wizards he
so often
fights, and so his hatred of the bad guys GREATLY overshadows that of
his
dislike for the Dursleys. And in the
sequel to this,
it'll make them (or more specifically, Petunia Dursley)
more cooperative into telling him some things about his parents... Most
importantly, I didn't have Harry fight with them in the original
version,
because I wasn't too good back then at writing nasty people, so I tried
to do
the next best thing. However, it still works here.