[Wed, 1996 Jun 19]

He walked around his department and looked things over, shaking his head more often than not. The destruction of various experiments and artifacts, not to mention the many prophecy globes, pained him.

Of course, the reason for it all was even more gut-wrenching and spurred him into action. They’d been betrayed, plain and simple. Augustus Rookwood, who’d escaped from Azkaban earlier this year was the one he was sure.

Fudge had not helped matters, with his insistence on reducing the Auror force over the years. Really, only one guard in the Atrium at night? That made it far too easy to break in.

In a moment of pique, he consider that he was at least slightly to blame as well. When Rookwood had been found to be a Death Eater, he should have change the security system in the Department of Mysteries, but he hadn’t. Since he didn’t like his culpability, Rookwood was a good target for his anger and the man would pay — at least if he had anything to do about it.

One thing that had changed since Rookwood had gone to prison fifteen years ago was the addition of recording devices that had been added to all the room in inconspicuous ways. They were there for safety and to be able to see what had gone wrong in an experiment, not for security. Their use today was a fortuitous side-effect. He collected those and put fresh ones in their place as he walked around on his survey.

Shaking his head yet again at it all, he entered his office. As others were picking up and trying to restore order, he started looking at the recordings.

Several hours later, he rolled his shoulders to try to relieve some of the stiffness he’d accumulated then leaned back in his chair. That not being comfortable enough either, he stood and paced around his cramped office slowly.

Rookwood had used all the old methods to get in, since they hadn’t been changed since his time. As for the battle that had occurred in his domain, there were a few significant things that stuck out to him.

First, the kids had done quite well against the Death Eaters, surprisingly well, or perhaps surprisingly lucky. That girl who’d almost been gutted by Dolohov had been the luckiest. Their luck went even further when he considered that they were limited to fourth and fifth year spells. He supposed some of the reason for the good showing was because the Death Eaters had held back, perhaps at the Dark Lord’s insistence — that was speculation though. Honestly, it should have been a blood bath with at least five corpses if not six.

Second, he was impressed with Harry Potter. The kid was a born leader. He’d also generally kept his head during it all; the two small exceptions were when Sirius Black had fallen thru the Veil of Death and the girl had almost been gutted. He could also tell Potter was magically powerful, definitely above average. All good traits and when put together a winning combination.

The boy was also an orphan, wasn’t he? It was said Dumbledore looked after him, but after some of the rumors he’d heard in the last few years, well, maybe that wasn’t so true. Then again, he also knew why the battle had happened here and he knew what was in the prophecy orb; it was in their book, as were all the others that were broken. That got him a little angry again though he didn’t blame the students.

Knowing what he wanted to do, he locked up all the recordings and then left his domain for the upper floors. He knew Fudge wasn’t going to do anything useful and Dumbledore wasn’t much better, so he might as well do a little research to verify some information and then take care of a few things himself. The Department of Mysteries normally didn’t involve itself in politics, but this wasn’t a normal time. Again, he knew what the desired prophecy said as he’d looked it up an hour ago.

At least he had a few days to research a several things and plan.

[Sat, Jun 29]

Harry Potter was in his room at the Dursleys trying to figure out what he should do now that he had been vindicated in his claim that Voldemort was back. He was having trouble deciding because of lack of information. He’d only been back a single day and found to his consternation that his subscription to the Daily Prophet had been canceled by someone else, or at least that was the only explanation he could think of for it failing to arrive this morning. Probably the Order of the Phoenix’s or more likely Dumbledore’s doing he thought with a sigh.

When the doorbell rang, he perked up and went to his window and looked out. It was about dusk, but he could still just see the front door if he stuck his head completely out. Doing so, he saw an older man in a stylish dark suit that Uncle Vernon would have loved to have owned. He thought it was a bit weird he was wearing a top hat, like a Muggle magician might.

Listening carefully, he heard the door open and his aunt. "Good evening. May I help you?"

"Yes, I’m here to speak with Harry Potter."

"There’s no one here by that name," his aunt answered with a sniff.

Harry almost shouted down that he was here, but the man said, "Please, Mrs Dursley. I have his address from our records and there is magic on and around this house, though I’d rate it Dreadful, hardly worth having actually. Still, it tells me I have the correct house. So may I please come in and talk to him or," the man’s voice dropped so Harry almost missed it, "do I need to force my way in. For I will have a conversation with him."

The man walked forward out of sight and into the house, probably because his aunt had backed up.

Harry almost panicked. The man was definitely a wizard, but was he a Death Eater? Also, what did he mean about magic around the house? Was that the protective charm Dumbledore mentioned in his office last week? Did the man’s entry mean the protections weren’t really working or that the man didn’t mean him harm?

Grabbing his wand, he looked around and tried to find some place to hide. While his closet might do, it wouldn’t let him see the door, so he pulled his trunk to the other side of the small room, stood it up on end, and crouched behind it. All he could do now was to hold his wand tightly and try to be ready for anything.

A long moment later, he heard footsteps on the stairs before a light knock on his door and a muffled, "Mr Potter, I’d like to speak with you."

Harry dithered for a moment before he asked back, "Who are you?"

"My name is Croaker. I’m from the Ministry. It might surprise you, but I mean you no harm. I just want to talk with you for a few minutes. It would be to your advantage to speak with me, perhaps even greatly."

That intrigued him and his curiosity finally let him say, "Very well, come in, but slowly and no wand out."

The door knob turned and the door did open slowly. There stood the man in the dapper suit and top hat. He looked to be about McGonagall’s age. "May I come in fully so that we may have a private conversation?" He didn’t seem to be alarmed by Harry’s position or the end of Harry’s wand generally pointing his way.

"All right," Harry acquiesced but didn’t move from his spot.

The man closed the door and then looked around the room. "I think everyone would be shocked to know that you lived here and had these meager accommodations." He looked at Harry and smiled slightly. "If you’d like, I’ll help you leave here."

"I would like that but why would you help me?" Harry was suspicious. After all, the man was from the Ministry and Harry knew Fudge didn’t like him.

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning. I will need to cast a few spells for privacy and I’d think you’d want to make yourself more comfortable. I know my knees wouldn’t find squatting over there to be all that pleasant."

At his questioning look, Harry nodded but stayed where he was. He watched the older man pull his wand out slowly and wave it around the room with a mutter before he silently conjured a comfortable looking chair. "Would you like a chair too?" At Harry’s nod, the man conjured a second, though it left little free room now, then he put his wand away as he sat.

"Go ahead, I won’t bite or hurt you. At worst, you won’t like what I say and I’ll leave. I do promise I won’t harm tonight or ever if I can avoid it."

Deciding he had little choice, Harry came out from behind his trunk and took a seat in the surprisingly comfortable chair, though he laid his wand in his lap. "All right, what did you want to talk about?"

The man took his top hat off, revealing thin wispy white hair, and set his hat in his lap. "My name is Algernon Croaker. You have come to my attention mostly because of your actions of late. I am the head of the Department of Mysteries."

Harry gripped his wand a little tighter, not sure of what spell he’d use if he had to do something.

"Please relax, Mr Potter, you’re not in any trouble. Yes, you were involved in a difficulty in my department last week, but I do not blame you. A large dollop of blame can be laid at the feet of a former colleague of mine named Augustus Rookwood, a little on Minister Fudge, probably more than a little on Albus Dumbledore too, and I’m sure the majority on the current menace known as ‘The Dark Lord’ by some. You were a victim of circumstances, or so it appears to me. Would you agree?"

"Yes, I was drawn there."

"May I ask how?"

Harry considered that and what he wanted to let out.

"If it helps you," the man said, "everything between us is totally confidential. You could tell me you killed one of the Death Eaters with a Killing Curse, though I know you didn’t, and I wouldn’t tell the Aurors or anyone else — I promise."

"Why?"

"To extend the hand of trust. Also," the man smiled for a brief moment, "I really don’t care about the law all that much or you could say it doesn’t care too much about me or my group. That might be important to you some day."

"Why?"

"Let’s return to the story before I answer that. How were you drawn to the Department of Mysteries?" The man’s gaze didn’t waver.

"I had a vision of my godfather being tortured there," Harry said sadly. "I couldn’t find a way to contact him so I had to go see if it was true or not and rescue him if it was true."

"Why didn’t you just take the Floo?"

"Didn’t have access to one. The only working one I was aware of was in the Headmaster’s office and it was locked," Harry answered.

"There are several public ones in Hogsmeade."

Harry opened his mouth to retort and then closed it. He’d been stupid. Then he remembered something. "None of us thought of that," not even Hermione he added to himself.

"It hard to remember everything sometimes. So how did you get there? Knight Bus?"

"No, we didn’t want to be seen, so we rode Thestrals," Harry said.

"Ingenious, I wouldn’t have thought of that, though I’m sure that took a long time. Obviously, you entered via the telephone booth. I know what happened down in my department. What happened when you chased after Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"I tried to stop her but didn’t. Didn’t really matter though because Voldemort was there. Dumbledore arrived too and there was a fight. He possessed me for a short bit but then left me and the Ministry. Dumbledore sent me away shortly after." Harry shrugged as if none of the other details mattered.

"I see," the man said. "I’d be grateful if you’d share that memory with me one day. Now, do you know why you were really lured there?"

Harry nodded. "Voldemort wanted the prophecy, but I broke it and no one heard it."

Croaker looked at him for a long moment. "But you know it now anyway, don’t you -- especially since it was given to Dumbledore? You look as if the weight of the world is on you."

Harry nodded again.

"I can understand as I’ve read the transcript of it, but you do realize it’s a very vague prophecy with multiple possible endings, right?"

Harry looked up as if he’d been slapped. "But it says by my hand."

"Sure it does, but that can go several ways. Look," Croaker leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and holding his hat in front of him. "I’m sure you and Dumbledore are thinking it’ll be some big duel with spells ending with one of you dead. Maybe it will or maybe it won’t.

"By his hand could mean you slip him some poison, maybe even while someone else holds him down." Croaker chuckled. "Ahh, I can tell by your surprised look you never even considered getting help where you just administer the last stroke, but it would fulfill it. It could also be fulfilled because you had to agree with something and just signed your name to a contract or something where someone takes care of him after that — that would be by your hand too.

"Are you following my meaning here, Harry?"

It took Harry a handful of breaths to work thru that. "Err, I’d never considered that."

"It’s good to have multiple people working on something like this." The man sat back again. "Harry, I want you to know that I highly respect Albus Dumbledore, he’s served the Wizarding World well for many decades. I will also say that like the rest of us Albus Dumbledore has a few large faults.

"The ones that affect you are his lack of empathy; he will make great plans without considering the cost to others. An example of that is your living here, which we’ll discuss in a moment. His other great fault that affects you is he thinks he’s always correct and he can do it all. That means he keeps secrets to himself and tries to go it alone, secrets that he really needs to share and work with others on. Your prophecy is such an example.

"Now, I can help you with that, but it will take a decision on your part." Croaker paused and looked at him.

"What?" asked Harry as his thoughts caught up with all that had been said.

"I will offer to train you and help you deal with a Dark Wizard that wants you dead. I will also help you out of here so you never have to live here again. There is a requirement on your part though." Croaker leaned forward again.

"What?" Harry asked warily.

"You will join my department as an employee, with pay. You will also agree to work for us until five years after the Dark Wizard known as Voldemort is put away for good, or until your death, whichever comes first. However," Croaker smiled genuinely, "I believe you’ll kill him and live, especially with our help."

"I, uh, really?" Harry was truly — knock me over with a feather — surprised. It had looked so hopeless to him since he’d learned about the prophecy.

"Yes, really," Croaker echoed and sat back with his smile not diminishing for a moment. "However, I will need an answer very soon, preferably tonight."

"So, I won’t live here and I’ll work for the Ministry?" He snorted. "Multiple people won’t like that, both things."

"Do you really care and how bad do you want to win?" Croaker asked calmly and not flippantly.

"No, mostly I don’t care what they think because it’s my life and I really would like to live. Where would I live?" Harry wondered.

"With your godmother’s family, whom I now believe you were never told about. You’ll be able to do magic there too, and it’s the home of a classmate of yours."

"With who?" Harry asked, still struggling to work all of this out in his head.

"Actually it’s ’with whom’," Croaker grinned, "but to answer your question, Alice Longbottom is your godmother, so that’s why it’s with her family and not with her."

"I’ll live with Neville?" Harry was incredulous and surprised he had a godmother.

"Yes, my great-nephew. He’s been a bit pampered by his grandmother, or my sister, but he’s growing into a fine young man. I was actually quite pleased with his performance in your adventure."

"Are you the one who threw him out of a window to see if he had magic?" asked Harry before he could stop himself, but he didn’t retract it either because he wanted to know more about the man.

Croaker sighed. "Guilty, but please understand that I also put a spell on him to protect him before I did that. Even if he hadn’t exhibited magical ability he wouldn’t have been hurt."

Harry wondered if this was still a good idea no matter how much he wanted to leave the Dursleys. There was another issue though. "Would they be safe if I was there? Voldemort likes to come after me."

"Yes, you and they will be safe," Croaker told him. "I figured out how they were attacked after they had to go to St Mungo’s and I’ve closed that hole plus a few others. I’ve also strengthened the wards there over the years. No place is perfectly safe, but I promise you that if anyone attacks, they will have a very difficult time getting in and at least a few of the attackers will not survive the experience."

That made Harry feel better. "How would it all work?"

"Well, you’d have a choice in how you want to do this, actually," Croaker explained. "At first I thought that you’d train with us full time this and next summer while returning to Hogwarts for your last two years and be part-time while in school, coming to work on the weekends. However and better, you also have the option to leave school and come work with us full-time starting this summer. You can do that since you’ve finished your OWLs."

Harry just blinked for a moment, unable to wrap his head completely around the idea. "You mean I don’t have to return to Hogwarts?"

"Not if you don’t want to. That does assume you’ve passed at least five OWLs, which I’d be surprised if you didn’t. I can’t tell you the final results because they haven’t been tallied yet."

"I probably didn’t pass Astronomy or History of Magic, but I’m fairly sure I passed the rest," Harry replied.

"You’ll probably get an Acceptable on Astronomy due to the special circumstances, or so the rumors say. Yet, even if you don’t I’m sure you’ll have the five required to leave because of your other courses."

"But, what about my classes, my NEWTs?" Harry protested. "Wouldn’t I need those to work there?"

"You can take your NEWT exams whenever you want, or any year you want. You don’t have to be a student at Hogwarts. As for your classes, what classes are you likely to have that will help you stay alive in your fight with a certain Dark Wizard, hmm?" Croaker gave him an amused look.

"Defense, Charms, Transfiguration for sure," Harry replied. "And..." He stopped, not able to come up with any others now that he had to think about using them.

"Yes, those are the only ones, but I think we can help you with those; I have other employees who can tutor you. Concerning Defense, I’m not so sure about that one being all that helpful. You’ve not had good teachers for three of your five years there, and one of those was a Death Eater I’ve learned. The odds don’t look good for you to have a good teacher for that course this year either."

Harry snorted. "Crouch Jr actually did a good job since he had to impersonate Moody. But what about Charms and Transfiguration?"

Croaker sighed. "Professors Flitwick and McGonagall are very good, but if those are the only two good teachers, isn’t the rest of your time there wasted? Also, I’d expect you to sneak away on weekends to work with us by training and doing research. It’s possible to do, but I’m sure Dumbledore won’t like it and he will figure out what you’re doing. It would be better for everyone, including you, to just come work for us full-time; although I’ll probably have to list you as a part-time employee and then give you over-time pay because of your age. A bonus is that you’ll learn a lot faster that way too."

"Madam Longbottom would let me live there?" He wondered aloud.

"Yes, I’ve asked her. I haven’t spoken with Neville, but you’d have to keep what you’re doing secret from him, or at least mostly. You can tell him we’re teaching you new spells, but not much more until we can find some innocent project for you to work on that can be talked about."

"Research sounds more like something for Hermione," Harry told him.

"We might make Ms Granger an offer after she finishes Hogwarts, but you can’t tell her that as it might not work out."

Harry nodded. "I understand. Can I think about this? I’ve never thought about not returning to Hogwarts?"

"You may, but do consider you don’t have to have an answer for Hogwarts now. You have all summer for that. The question is if you want real help in training and in fulfilling the prophecy." Croaker sighed and frowned for a second.

"Mr Potter, I dislike speaking ill of Albus Dumbledore when it’s only a guess, but you should also consider that he probably won’t train you any more than he already has, instead relying on your normal class’s instructors. Since he’s known about the prophecy since before you were born, he should have done quite a bit over the last sixteen years. Yet, I’m unaware of him doing anything beyond a few inquiries. Are you aware of anything?"

Harry looked down and thought hard. "No," he said finally. "He only told me about the prophecy after Sirius was killed."

Croaker’s eyebrows shot up. "I see. Well, I said it’s your decision and I stand by that. It’s Saturday evening; I’d like an answer by Monday evening if you would. You can send your owl," he nodded his head towards Hedwig, "to me, Algernon Croaker. Don’t give any details, a yes along with your name will be good enough. If I don’t hear from you I’ll assume a no."

The man stood. "If you decide no, I wish you well and I’ll come have another conversation with you if you live through the coming war. I was impressed with your showing last week and that’s why I’m here, but I won’t coerce you into this. If you do this it will be because you want it. It will be hard work, as anything worthwhile is, but I know you can do it if you want to."

He removed his chair. "Do you want to keep that chair?"

Harry blinked, surprised by the question as he was trying to figure out the offer. "Yes, I’d like to if you don’t mind."

"Remember, by Monday evening, or let’s say Tuesday morning since owls like to fly at night. Have a good evening, Mr Potter."

Harry watched him leave, closing the door behind himself. He heard a short shout from downstairs and then nothing. He stood and turned off his light before returning to the comfortable chair to think in the mostly dark room.

Leaving here? That was an easy decision. Working for the Ministry? That was hard because he didn’t respect most of them, then again Croaker implied the Department of Mysteries, the Unspeakables he knew, didn’t fully answer to the Minister; that made the offer much more acceptable. He wanted to be trained and had to agree Dumbledore hadn’t done it over the last five years. He supposed his adventures were a training of a sort, which made him wonder if Dumbledore had done that on purpose or if it just looked that way if he squinted just right.

Leaving Hogwarts and his friends? That was the really hard one. He had to agree that leaving the school every weekend would be difficult at best and probably next to impossible after the first few times.

There was no doubt some people would be very upset, starting with Dumbledore. Then there were was Hermione and Ron, she more than he or so Harry thought. That made him think of Ron’s mother, who’d probably be upset with him. He couldn’t think of anyone else who’d be upset — disappointed sure, but not upset.

Harry continued to think and fell asleep in the chair.

In the morning, Harry found he had a crick in his neck but was otherwise still comfortable. A wizard who could conjure chairs this well could teach him a lot he thought.

After changing clothes and going to the bathroom, he headed downstairs. He grabbed some cereal and sat down at the dining table, the rest of his family already there with a normal full breakfast. He would have preferred having what they did, but knew he should count himself lucky to get a bowl of cereal.

"Boy, you need to cut the grass today, front and back," his uncle told him off-handedly as he continued to look at the Sunday paper.

While most people would have considered that rude, and it was, it was actually one of the better interactions with his uncle. It was probably because of the conversation from the Order; Harry wondered how long this would last. "Yes, Uncle, I’ll start immediately after breakfast."

His uncle grunted an acknowledgement without looking at him. He noted that his aunt and cousin ignored him — studiously.

When he finished eating, he put his empty bowl in the kitchen sink before going to the garage. Filling the mower with petrol, he opened the big door and pushed it out, walking to the edge as he liked to start near the street.

He almost tripped when he kicked something invisible that also gave an "Umph!" and smelled like a stale cigar and other things he couldn’t guess and probably never wanted to know about. It wasn’t hard to guess what was going on after last summer. "Fletcher!" Harry hissed quietly, "get out of the yard or I swear I’ll run over you with this mower and if it cuts something off I won’t shed a tear."

He was still upset with the man for not being here last summer when the Dementors came. Honestly, he didn’t want people here watching his house and his every move when he was outside, but if they were going to be here, then they should protect him.

As he mowed, without hitting Fletcher who’d moved, he considered his life some more. Being rid of Dumbledore’s Order might be good too. It was blindingly obvious last night that if he took the offer and left Hogwarts, that he’d be cutting his ties with almost everyone he knew for the next year or two, the exception being Neville whom he’d see only in the summers and the Christmas holidays. That was, of course, unless some miracle happened and he killed Voldemort sometime in the next year. He snorted at how unlikely that was.

[Mon, Jul 1]

It was Monday morning and Harry knew he had to make a decision today. Actually, he considered that he probably already knew what he wanted to do, but didn’t want to admit it to himself.

As he dressed, a small owl flew into his room. Securing his pants so they wouldn’t fall down on him, he managed to capture the owl, gently so as not to hurt it, then set it in front of Hedwig’s cage so it could get a drink. He knew better than to set the other owl on Hedwig’s perch and his owl’s look confirmed that idea.

Looking at the short letter from Ron, he sighed as he reached the end. Holding up the letter in front of Hedwig. "Looks like it will be the same this summer. They’ve been told to leave me alone and he’ll see me at the end of August. Some friends," he said as he shook his head. His owl just looked at him.

Since Ron’s owl was done drinking, he picked it up and sat it on his window sill. "You can go back when you like." The little creature hooted and took off towards the trees.

Heading down for breakfast, he arrived to find his aunt putting away breakfast. He headed for the pantry. "Where’s the cereal?" He asked when he couldn’t find it.

"Dudley ate the last bit. You’ll have to wait until lunch since you came down late. Your uncle left you this list of chores to do today," she told him.

Harry looked at the list and how many things were on it. He found himself shaking his head yet again. His mind now made up, he set the list down and turned to leave.

Before he could exit from the kitchen, his aunt said, "You forgot your list."

"No, I just decided not to do it."

"No dinner for you then, no lunch either if you don’t even try," she scolded him.

"Doesn’t matter, I don’t plan to stay here anymore. I have other places to go," he told her.

"Then why haven’t you gone there in the past?" she asked accusingly.

"Because Dumbledore insisted I return here, but I just don’t care what he says anymore. I’ll be gone by tomorrow morning at the latest." Harry turned back again and left this time. He noticed his aunt looked very thoughtful.

Upstairs, Harry found a piece of parchment and scribbled, "Yes. Be careful, there will be someone under an Invisibility Cloak in the front garden. H.P."

His owl looked at him, blinking slowly. "Hedwig, I know you prefer the nights, but would you be willing to take this now? It will mean we get to leave here and not come back, ever."

It took a moment, but Hedwig held a leg out. Harry tied the note on. "You need to find Algernon Croaker. He works at the Ministry, but it would be better to go to his house if you can find it. I don’t know that the Ministry would let you in."

She gave him a soft sound, so he picked her up and set her on the window sill. "Thanks, Hedwig. You really are the best." She gave him another soft sound and then took off.

Deciding he should go ahead and pack, Harry put his trunk on his bed and opened it. It wasn’t until he turned around to grab some things to put in it that he realized Croaker’s chair was gone. That was unfortunate, he thought, but it had lasted something like twelve hours. Harry wasn’t sure how long he could make a chair last, but he could try this summer.

Soon, he was packed and ready to go and it wasn’t quite lunchtime yet. He was getting hungry though. Since he had a little Muggle money, he fetched it out of his trunk and decided to go find lunch on his own.

As he left the house and started walking down the sidewalk, he heard, "Psst, Harry, where are you going?"

He slowed but didn’t stop. "Remus?"

"Yeah."

"I’m going to find lunch since they won’t feed me. You want to come?" Harry kept walking slowly and heard soft footsteps behind him.

"You’re not supposed to go that far from home."

"Well, they’re not supposed to starve me, but that’s the way it is. Are you coming or not?" Harry challenged him knowing the man couldn’t cast spells to stop him as Muggles might see him.

"Wait a moment after you turn the corner. There’s a place I can take this cloak off and join you," Lupin requested.

Harry did as asked and he didn’t have to wait long.

A harried Remus Lupin joined a moment later. "I wished you wouldn’t do this," the man told him again.

Harry shrugged. "We rarely get what we want, or so it seems to me."

"Are you doing all right? You know, with..." Remus couldn’t seem to finish.

Harry waited a bit to answer, their steps sounding loud to him on the quiet street. "Mostly. I get angry and sad about it at times, but I’ve recognized I can’t do anything about it. It took a few days, but I’ve also figured out that I’m not at fault, despite what happened. It was Voldemort’s and Dumbledore’s fault."

"I understand the first, but why Dumbledore?" Lupin queried.

"Because he distanced himself from me instead of telling me what was going on. He could have told me about the prophecy when I ask why Voldemort was after me years ago and he didn’t. He also had Snape try to teach me Occlumency and that seemed to open me up to the visions even more, not make them stop. Then of course he abandoned the school so he wasn’t there when I needed him and now Sirius is dead."

"He was forced out," Lupin said.

"Defend him all you want," Harry returned, "it doesn’t change the facts. I’m tired of the topic and there are our choices." He pointed to the restaurants in the distance they were walking towards. "Do you have a favorite or one you want to avoid?"

"Any are fine. Do you have money or am I buying?"

Harry chuckled. "I have enough money, or at least enough for my lunch. How about a burger? I haven’t had one of those in a long time since the Dursleys don’t feed me when we go out either."

The conversation stayed light after that, for which Harry was grateful. He also bought some food to take with him — just in case. Lupin left him just before he reached the Dursleys. Harry headed for his room and decided to stay there. It was probably the best place to avoid his relatives.

– – –

Just before dinner time, Hedwig returned with a note. Harry took it and the owl immediately flew to her perch and put her head under a wing. "Thanks, Hedwig," he said softly.

Opening the note, he saw, "Thanks for the warning, 9pm."

Pleased, Harry opened the bag of food he’d brought with him and ate, staying in his room except for when he had to go to the bathroom. At least they hadn’t locked him in to prevent that.

After dinner, Harry heard his uncle stomping up the stairs. He readied his wand and prepared to do a Stunning spell.

His uncle banged on the door with is fist. "You worthless, good for nothing bastard, you can stay in there forever since you didn’t do any work." Three locks were turned in succession.

Harry thought it was good he’d relieved himself recently. Croaker would have to get him out.

– – –

Watching out the window, Harry saw a very faint flash at about the place where he’d kicked Fletcher when he’d mowed. A few seconds later, the impeccable suit and top hat were seen again and the man walked towards the front door.

Before he could knock, Harry leaned out the window and said, "I’d come meet you but I’ve been locked in my room and I don’t want to … uh, get myself out because I know Fudge would cause bad things would happen."

"Probably wise, I’ll be up shortly." The man knocked on the front door.

Harry pulled himself back and looked around the room one more time. He’d already cleaned out his hidey-hole under the bed and another check showed he had everything. There was just him, his trunk, and Hedwig in her cage.

There was shouting downstairs for sure, but it cut off abruptly. A moment later the locks on his door clicked and the door opened. "They actually do lock you in, the barbarians," Croaker said incensed.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the man shrunk Harry’s trunk to the size of a small box. "If you’ll get that and your owl, I need to take care of a few things before I go. I suggest you wait by the front door." Croaker left the room and Harry followed with Hedwig’s cage in hand, the bird waking as he walked.

Downstairs Harry was amazed to see all three Dursleys unconscious on the floor. "They objected to me coming to get you so I stunned them. I’ll be back in a few moments." A wave of his wand and the three Dursleys moved so they were stacked and Croaker levitated them up the stairs.

A moment later, there was a short screech that sounded like his aunt before it was quiet for a full minute.

When Croaker returned, Harry had to ask, "What did you do?"

"First, I had your aunt sign this form." He held a folded one up before putting it in his pocket. "It wasn’t too hard to persuade her that it would be in her best interest to sign it.

"I also thought that if they could lock you in there, then they deserved the same. It’s not like it’s hard to get out with a window there, though I did seal that so they can’t open it normally until sometime tomorrow and they’ll have to break the glass then jump down. Or maybe they’ll just break the door down, which will be a little harder since it opens inward." Croaker shrugged. "Not my or your problem. I also made them forget a few things like me stopping by.

"Shall we go? We can’t Apparate or Portkey from in here, so we’ll need to head towards that park nearby. I saw a walking tunnel that should be a private enough place to leave from."

Harry couldn’t help his smile at the thought of what Croaker had done. He wished he could be here to see them realize they were locked in the room — at least as long as he wasn’t caught.

He followed the man out. Croaker stopped by the end of the driveway and bent down. When he stood, he pulled a silvery clothe up, exposing a sleeping Mundungus Fletcher. "Looks like someone dropped an Invisibility Cloak. I think finders keepers applies. Off we go."

Harry couldn’t stop his chuckle now, though he kept it soft. A few minutes later, they were alone in the tunnel and Croaker pulled out something that looked like a popsicle stick, or maybe a tongue depressor. He touched it and Croaker touched his wand to it and they were gone from Little Whinging.

They landed in a gravel driveway. Harry stumbled but managed to keep from falling this time. Hedwig squawked loudly and he shushed her.

Croaker said, "This way. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. I’ve also never seen an owl who liked Portkeys, if that makes you feel better." He knocked lightly on the front door of a large manor house.

A moment later it was opened by a house elf who waved him in. As he walked in, the elf said, "I will take your owl to her perch." The little guy grabbed the cage from Harry and popped away before Harry could speak.

"Don’t worry," Croaker said as he closed the door, "she’ll be fine."

The elf returned and said, "Leave your trunk there and follow me." Harry put his small trunk down as asked.

It was a big house and richly decorated. They walked into a room with many chairs and paintings in it. It also held one of his dorm mates and his grandmother.

"Uncle Algie? Harry? What are you doing here?" Neville was the first to notice them.

The woman rose gracefully. "Algie," she said casually before she stood in front of Harry. "Mr Potter, it’s good to meet you like this instead of from a distance."

"Madam Longbottom, it’s good to formally meet you," Harry replied, hoping that was correct. "Also, thank you for allowing me to come here."

She waved his comment away like a bothersome fly. "It is of no consequence and you probably should have been here years ago anyway; so it was easy to tell Algie yes. Please, take a seat and join us." Her grandson still looked shocked. "Close your mouth, Neville and take a seat as well."

Croaker pulled out the folded form and handed it to her before he took his seat. "I know this is a surprise, Neville, but Mr Potter needs a new place to stay for now. Also, I’m going to be taking him with me to learn some new spells, which he can show you if he likes."

"You’re giving him training?" Neville asked, not looking like he understood.

"In a manner of speaking. He’s requested some help and I’ll be giving it to him," Croaker said. "I may do some of the training here, in which case you’re welcome to join if you want, at least as soon as your grandmum has bought you a new wand." He smirked at the woman, who gave him a piercing look of disapproval at his joking.

"Neville," Croaker said more seriously. "I would ask that you not pester your friend about things he doesn’t want to share. He has secrets as we all do."

"This is about what happened at the Ministry week before last, isn’t it?" Neville queried. At Croaker’s nod, Neville glanced at Harry and then nodded, "I understand."

"Very good," Croaker said as he stood. "Take tomorrow to get adjusted here and I’ll be back to get you at 7am on Wednesday morning. Oh, I almost forgot." He pulled out his wand and shot a spell at Harry.

"I didn’t feel anything. What was that for?" Harry asked, a little confused about the spell.

"It’s an owl repellant spell, or a mail-owl diversion spell if you prefer. Now, only the owls here, yours and ours, will be able to find you. That means you won’t be bothered with letters by people who would try to find you to take you back. Have a good evening." Croaker turned and left.

"I love my brother, but he is so exhausting at times," Lady Longbottom said. "I assume you’re aware of this?" She held up the form, though now unfolded.

"No, ma’am."

"Your aunt gave up her guardianship and it assigns your guardianship to me since Alice is unable to care for you," the woman explained. "My expectations for you are minimal, given your age. I do expect you to act responsibly and be polite as all young gentlemen should. Neville can give you advice if you’re unsure. Although," she smiled ever so slightly, "I suspect my brother will keep you most busy during the day so you won’t have much time to get into trouble. Do you have any questions?"

"No, ma’am." Harry didn’t think that was too bad as it sounded like he’d basically be on his own.

"This way, Mr Potter. You can have the room next to Neville’s." She led the way with both boys following her.

Up some very wide stairs, Lady Longbottom pointed down the hallway. "My bedroom is at the end on the right, though you shouldn’t enter. Neville’s is the first one on the left and you may have the next one on the left. Breakfast is at eight sharp. Our elf’s name is Stolli; you may call him if you need anything for your room or a snack. Have a good evening." She left them for her room.

Neville looked at him and gestured at the door. "Come on." He led Harry in. "It’s a bedroom and there’s a small bathroom over there. Not sure what else to say," he said with a shrug.

Harry looked around at the very nice bedroom, far better than even his aunt and uncle had. In fact, the whole house showed the Longbottoms were well off. "This is really nice, Neville."

His friend shrugged again. "Don’t go into Gran’s bedroom -- ever! I did it once and I’ll never do it again! Trust me."

"No problem," Harry said easily, imagining that his friend must have walked in on his grandmother changing clothes or something.

"In case it wasn’t obvious from what Uncle Algie said, you can unshrink your own trunk," Neville said pointing at the small trunk on a stand by the bed. "The Ministry can’t sense us using magic here so I do some here during the holidays and I’ve never had a warning. See you in the morning."

"Thanks, mate," Harry said as his friend left. He unshrunk his trunk and unpacked at least a few clothes before going to the bathroom and finding some impressive marble work. He got ready for bed and found an old alarm clock on the nightstand. He set it for half-seven and went to bed bouyed by the thought of no more Dursleys.

(A/N: There’s the setup. Harry has some decisions to make and surprises to find.)