Disclaimer: - All cannon characters and settings belong to JK Rowling. This is her Sandbox, I'm just playing in it!

Chapter One.

31st Aug 1990 – Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry

It was the day before school started and Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was sitting in her office going through a pile of letters. She was a tall, thin woman who looked to be in her 60's and usually wore a severe expression on her face. This was a task she did every year on this date, but this year she did it with more excitement than usual.

The pile of letters in question were the letters sent out to all magical children shortly before their 11th Birthday advising them of their acceptance into Hogwarts. These letters came in two parts. The first were for the children raised in the magical world. They simply advised the parents of acceptance, along with a list of supplies with a note saying that the book list would be sent out sometime in July. The others were for those magical children who had been raised in the muggle world. This letter simply advised them of the child's acceptance into the school, without giving any details, and made arrangements for one of the professors to pay them a visit to explain the offer in more detail.

The reason that Minerva was more excited than usual, is because that this was the year that Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived, would be receiving his letter in anticipation of his attending Hogwarts the following September. She went through the list before the school year started in case there were some muggle born students who had birthdays early in the school year.

She had already discovered that there was one Muggle born who had a birthday in September so she needed to make early preparations for the visit.

She was going rapidly through the pile of letters and reached the bottom without finding the one for young Mr Potter. Frowning slightly, she started at the top and worked her way through the pile again. And again she came up empty. Frowning again, she decided there must be some error.

"Mipsy!" She called out in her distinctive Scottish brogue.

Seconds later there as a 'pop' and a house elf, wearing the uniform of Hogwarts with a tartan sash, appeared in front of her.

"Mistress Kitty calls on Mipsy?" The little elf asked.

"Yes Mipsy. I have been going through the letters that are due to begin being sent out for next year's students and there appears to be one missing. There should be a letter for Harry Potter in this pile but I cannot find it. Do you remember seeing one?" She asked.

"Yes Mistress Kitty." The elf replied. "There is a letter for the great Harry Potter but I is not finding any address so I's cannot put it in an envelope." It added, looking rather nervous.

"No address?" Minerva repeated. "Get me the book at once Mipsy and bring me the letter. I need to look into this immediately." She ordered.

The elf bowed and disappeared with another 'pop'. Seconds later it reappeared carrying a large leather bound tome and a piece of parchment that proved to be Harry Potter's Hogwarts letter. And as Mipsy had said, there was no address.

Minerva took them both.

"Thank you Mipsy. You may return to your other duties." She said, nodding to the elf.

Mipsy bowed again and popped away without further comment.

Minerva put the letter down and opened the large book and began leafing through the pages. Soon she found the page she was looking for and her face went white.

Deciding there could be no delay in letting the headmaster know of this, she got up. And picking up the book and the letter, she left her office and headed to the office of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

Soon she arrived at the statue of the Gargoyle on the third floor.

"Liquorice Allsorts!" She announced and the statue moved, as the stairs began to rise.

Climbing on, she rose with the stairs until they stopped moving. She them climbed the rest of the bay and ended up standing in front of a wooden door.

She was about to knock when she heard 'Come in' from the inside. Opening the door, she entered and walked up to the large ornate desk that dominated the room.

Albus Dumbledore was seated behind the desk, looking up at her with a twinkle in his eye. He was also tall but looked a good deal older than his Deputy and had a long white beard that almost hit the floor when he stood up. He had a fondness for brightly coloured robes and was wearing one with stars and moons in various colours today.

"Ah Minerva." He said in his grandfatherly tone. "What brings you here on this fine day? Lemon drop?" He asked, holding out a dish containing the sweets.

"No thank you Albus." She replied, shaking her head in response to the offer. "I need to talk to you as we have a problem." She added.

"Very well then, please take a seat." Dumbledore said, putting the dish back on his desk.

"Thank you." Minerva responded, sitting in one of the comfy chars facing the desk.

"So what is this problem and how can I help?" He asked, popping one of the Lemon Drops on his tongue.

"Well you know that every year on this day, I go through all the letters that are to be sent out ready for next year's intake?" She asked.

"I do indeed." He replied. "I remember you being especially keen for this year as a certain Mr Potter is due to attend." He paused as he sucked in his sweet. "That reminds me, who have you scheduled to go and see him?" He asked.

"My original plan was that I would do it. After all, I was there when you left him on that doorstep, it seems only proper that I be the one to welcome him back. However there is a problem!"

"Another one Minerva. Well they do say that these things come in threes." He smiled serenely back at her. "And there is no need for you to do it. I think I will send Hagrid, after all he should know the basics, he will just need showing to Diagon Alley so he can buy his supplies." He paused again as he picked up another sweet. "So what are these problems you have come to tell me of?"

"There is actually only one problem and it concerns Mr Potter's letter." Minerva paused to make sure she presented the problem clearly to the clearly eccentric Headmaster. She wondered, not for the first time, if it was time for him to step down as he was clearly going dotty in his old age. "We will be unable to send Mr Potter's letter out as we have no address to send it to!"

"What?" Albus nearly choked on the Lemon Drop he was sucking. "What do you mean there is no address? What does the Book say?" She asked.

"Mr Potter's name is clearly listed in the Book." Minerva replied, opening the huge volume to the correct page and turning it round to show the old man. "But there is no address listed! I have never come across this before. What does it mean?" She asked.

"Well he is obviously still alive, otherwise there would be a date of death listed." Albus said in a puzzled voice.

"And we would be in a whole heap of trouble!" Minerva muttered. "I told you we should not have left him there Albus. Heavens knows what those muggles did to him." She added.

"This clearly needs to be looked into." Dumbledore said. "I of course have made sure he was kept an eye on so we will go and speak to Mrs Figg, she should be able to tell us more." He smiled and getting up from his desk, went over to his fireplace. He took a handful of Floo powder from a jar on the mantelpiece and threw it into the flames. "Figgs House of Cats!" He intoned and stepped into the flames.

Minerva quickly followed him and she soon found herself in a very muggle looking sitting room that smelt very strongly of cabbage and Cats. Even though she was a cat Animagus herself, she found the smell rather overpowering.

Looking about, Minerva found Albus standing next to a small woman in a tatty dressing gown with her greying hair in rollers under a hair net.

"This is Mrs Figg." Albus said to Minerva, indicating the smaller woman. She is the Squib that I tasked with keeping an eye on Mr Potter.

"Mrs Figg." Minerva nodded at the other woman. "So where is Harry Potter?" She asked.

"That is what I have been trying to tell him." She woman stammered. "I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him in nearly 6 years."

Minerva gasped. '6 years!' She thought to herself. 'Merlin knows what could have happened to him in that time!' She decided that they needed the whole story.

"Why don't we all sit down?" She said, indicating the sofa that was liberally covered in cat hair. "Then you can tell us the whole story from the beginning." She said to Mrs Figg.

The other woman nodded and sat on the single chair. Minerva then gingerly sat on the sofa and Albus perched next to her.

"Whenever you are ready Mrs Figg?" Minerva asked, she was getting more and more nervous.

Mrs Figg nodded and after shuffling about a bit, bean her tale.

"Albus came to me about a week after the events of that Halloween and asked me to keep an eye on Harry and let him know what went on. I was not to interfere, just provide him with information." She paused as she wriggled again. "Anyway, I did not see young Harry for ages after then. I would sometimes see that Aunt of his, Petunia, pushing a rather fat baby in a pushchair. This was not him as he looked nothing like either of the Potters and she kept calling him Dudykins. The first time I saw him, he must have been about 2 years old. I was walking past the house when a dog began barking and the door flew open and this small boy with messy black hair and the greenest eyes I have ever seen ran out of the door chased by a snarling bulldog. He tried to hide behind a bush but the dog tried to get at him until he smelled me. Or rather my cats. He them came straight at me and hat to beat him off with my bag. There was a shout from inside and the dog immediately ran back indoors. I was about to go over to where Harry was still hiding when this huge walrus of a man, who I now know to be Vernon Dursley, came out the house and forcibly dragged Harry back in. He glared at me before slamming the door behind them." She paused.

Minerva gasped at this, but could not think of anything to say.

"I saw Harry on the odd occasion over the next couple of years, usually when he was weeding the front garden. I would try and talk to him, but he would always shy away." She paused again. "Things came to a head when he started school. He was so small, far too young I thought as he was only just 4 when it happened. Anyway, he had been at school about three weeks when one day I heard sirens and saw several police cars pull out outside number 4. Not long later, both Vernon and Petunia were led out in handcuffs and taken away. The fat boy, I think his name was Dudley, was also taken away. I never saw Harry after that. The police spoke to everyone on the street and I told them what I had seen." She stopped and took a drink of what looked like cold tea.

"Do you have any idea what happened to Harry?" Minerva asked, trying to piece together what might have happened and earing the worse.

Mrs Figg shook her head.

"The police didn't tell me anything. But from what I read in the papers some months later, there were clearly doing something not right!"

"What did you read?" Minerva asked, feeling faint.

"I saved the paper, you can read it yourself." Mrs Figg replied, getting up and retrieving an old newspaper from an overflowing cupboard.

Minerva took the muggle paper and looked at the banner headline.

Child Abuse Couple get Lengthy Prison Sentence.

At Croydon Crown Court today, Vernon and Petunia Dursley were both found guilty of child neglect, assault of a child and child endangerment. In addition, Mr Dursley was also found guilty of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Petunia Dursley (30), has been sentenced to 15 years in jail and Vernon Dersley (34), has been sentenced to 25 years. All these charges relate to their treatment of their Nephew, who cannot be named for legal reasons and is now in the care of Social Services. They have a child, Dudley Dursley, who is now in the care of his Aunt, his Fathers' Sister. But Social Services will be keeping an eye on them for the foreseeable future to ensure the boy is well treated.

The court was sickened when it was revealed that the Nephew had been forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs and would receive numerous beatings, as evidenced by the many scars on his back and arms. This foul treatment only came to light when the Nephew's school teacher noticed that the boy winced when touched and caught a glimpse of the scars. She immediately called Social Services, who in turn called the police. This teacher, a Sarah Peacock (24), has been lauded for her quick thinking and has received an award for her actions that undoubtedly saved the young man's life. When interviewed by this reporter, she only had this to say.

'I became a teacher to ensure the children under my care get the best start in life as I can give them. This includes their health and it is my duty to report it if I feel abuse is happening. As far as I am concerned, there was nothing else for me to do!'

This reporter agrees with her and hopes that all teachers will take this example to heart. And wherever the Nephew is now, we wish him a speedy recovery and hope he finds a loving family to give him the life he has thus far been denied.

Minerva finished reading with tears in her eyes. She looked up at Mrs Figg.

"Why are we only hearing about this now?" She demanded. "If you are supposed to be keeping an eye on him, why did you not tell Albus at the time?"

"I did!" Stammered Mrs Figg. "As requested, I reported everything that happened and sent it to Albus on at least a monthly basis. I sent the last report when I saw the article you just read as I have heard nothing since, apart from the house being sold."

"Albus?" Minerva looked at the Headmaster in surprise.

"I must have forgotten." He replied. "We will return to Hogwarts now and see what must be done."

He got up and went over to the fireplace and in a flash of flame was gone.

Minerva nodded at Mrs Figg and followed Albus back to his office.

Once they were both back, Minerva looked at Albus.

"Well what are we going to do?" She asked. "We need to find him but how? You have even less experience in the muggle world than I do. And I don't even know where to start."

"Let's not rush things Minerva." Albus said serenely. "We have plenty of time. After all, he is not 11 until the end of July."

"Yes but given who he is, we need to get people who know what to look for on this. We need to call the DMLE. In fact I should call Amelia directly. She will know what to do!"

"Let us not be so hasty." Albus replied, not wanting anyone else to know how badly they has screwed up. "We should try and sort this ourselves first before calling for help."

"Do you know what to do?" She asked, seeing that Albus was trying to save his own neck.

"All I need is time Minerva. I ask that you give me that before we rush into anything. Will you give me this?" He asked, not wanting to demand as his Deputy could be stubborn if she got the bit between her teeth.

Minerva thought for a minute.

"I will give you one month Albus. If you have not managed to locate Mt Potter by October 1st then I will call Amelia myself and inform her of the situation." She paused before continuing. "If you need anything else from me, please do not hesitate to ask.

Albus smiled as if he had won a great victory. After all, he could always obliviate her if he needed to later. It was not like he had not done so before.

"Of course. Now, with regarding next year's intake. Are there any visits that need doing before Halloween?" He asked, changing the subject.

Minerva sighed. Realizing that she was not going to get anything else discussed with regard to Harry Potter at present, she nodded.

"Just one. I have a muggle born whose birthday is 19th September. The initial letter will go out in a weeks' time and I will look to visit her on the Saturday before her birthday, the 15th. Then maybe arrange the trip to Diagon Alley on the 22nd."

"Excellent. Do you have the name?"

Minerva nodded, looking at the envelope at the top of the pile.

"Yes here it is. Miss Hermione Granger.