Summer Departure

Chapter 1

Leaving Privet Drive

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Harry wasn't happy.

His fourth year was not a good year, starting with his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, which means he had to compete against the three champions on the Tri-Wizard Tournament, though he never considered entering.

The murder of Cedric Diggory, plus Voldemort's rebirth, his duel with him, as well as the discovery of Barty Crouch Junior disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, were bad news. And now, Dumbledore wanted him to return to the Dursleys, his magic hating relatives, as Ron had informed him at the end of last year.

For the past few weeks, he nicked papers out of bins, trying to find out what was going on.

He frequently saw Dudley hanging out with his friends, smoking in street corners, throwing stones at bypassing cars and children, only that Dudley told Vernon and Petunia that he was out for tea.

As his birthday arrived, he received cards and chocolates from Ron and Hermione, both of them stated that they would see him soon.

"We can't say much about You-Know-What, obviously… We've been told to not say anything important in case our letters go astray… We are quite busy but we can't give you details here… There's a fair amount going on, we will tell you everything when we see you..."

He knew that Ron and Hermione were both in the same place, but he wondered how soon he would see them again.

Sirius's letter was no better.

"I know this must be frustrating for you… Keep your nose clean and everything will be OK… Be careful and don't do anything rash..."

Recalling the summer before his third year, he had blown up Aunt Marge, and then he ran away from Privet Drive.

He didn't know why Dumbledore wants him to stay with the Dursleys even after all this had happened.

Why did he send me to the Dursleys in the first place? He thought.

If Ron and Hermione could not bother giving him any news at all, he knew it was time to leave, just like he did during the summer holiday before his third year at Hogwarts.

He thought that he would be living with Sirius at the end of his third year, only that Peter Pettigrew escaped, and he was the one who resurrected Voldemort.

He knew that Hermione had been keeping secrets from him during her third year, which was the time-turner, though he could at least understand why she didn't tell him that.

During his fourth year, Hermione was the one who stood by his side after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, and even helped him to prepare for the First Task.

As August started, Harry decided that this was the time for him to leave Privet Drive and never return.

He decided to speak to his relatives about this, knowing that they will only be too happy to let him go.

Pondering with his thoughts, he made his way into the living room.

Vernon and Petunia were sitting on the sofa, watching the TV.

"Uncle Vernon?" he said.

Vernon looked up.

"What are you doing here, boy?" he asked.

"I want to tell you something, I am leaving," Harry answered.

Vernon considered for a moment.

"That's fine with us," he said. "We don't want you here, and we don't need you here."

"When are you leaving?" Petunia asked.

"Very soon, I'll go and get my things, and I will leave," Harry said. "I will book a room at the Leaky Cauldron and spend the rest of my summer there."

Vernon and Petunia both felt elated.

"Go and prepare you things, then," Vernon said. "You don't have to inform us when you are going to leave, keep yourself out of our sights as much as you can."

Harry nodded and left the living room.

He spent about thirty minutes to pack his things, and he dragged his trunk and went to the door, walking out of the house.

He made his way to Magnolia Crescent, waiting for the Knight Bus.

Soon enough, the Knight Bus arrived, and Harry stuck his wand hand in the air, then the Knight Bus stopped.

The door of the Knight Bus opened, then Stan Shunpike arrived.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked.

"Leaky Cauldron, London," Harry answered.

"Eleven Sickles," Stan said.

Harry opened up his trunk, extracted his money bag, took out eleven sickles and handed it to Stan.

Harry hopped on the bus, while Stan helped him to lift his trunk and cage in.

It was the second time that he rode on the Knight Bus, and he didn't expect to see seats.

"There are no beds," he said.

"Beds are here at night time, not day time," Stan said.

As soon as the bus stopped at the Leaky Cauldron, he announced that Harry was in his destination.

"Thanks," Harry said, and then he walked out of the bus.

He walked into the Parlour that he was there a few years ago, and Tom was greeting him.

"This is the second time that you are here, Harry, are you intending to stay here?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

"I'll see if I can get a room for you first," Tom said, and then he walked off.

Harry waited for a moment, then Tom arrived back again.

"Room ten is free this time," he said to Harry.

He took Harry's trunk and owl up into room ten.

"Tell me if you need anything," Tom said, then he went away.

As Harry sat down on the bed, he stretched his arms.

After a brief period of rest, his first thought was to send letters to Ron and Hermione to tell them where he was, but after careful consideration, he squashed the idea; since he knew that owls may be intercepted, it would be better to not send them any letter at all. They had no idea that he had already left Privet Drive, so they wouldn't be worrying about him unless if someone finds out about this.

Maybe he should take the Knight Bus again to the Kings Cross on the first day of September, to attend Hogwarts.

Brushing these thoughts aside, he knew he could do whatever he wants to, as long as he does not put himself in danger, or endanger anyone else.

o-o

On the third of August, Albus Dumbledore received a message from Mrs Figg, saying that two Dementors were wandering around in Privet Drive.

He sent a Patronus to the Ministry of Magic, the Improper Use of Magic Office, saying that he will ask some Wizards to go and check on Privet Drive, that they would expect magic usage over there, to avoid making the Ministry think Harry using magic in Little Whinging.

A moment later, he received a Patronus.

All right, for the time being, we will disregard the usage of magic in Little Whinging.

Then he quickly called some of his people to go and have a look.

As soon as they arrived, they drove off the Dementors, then they found Dudley lying on the bed of the Dursley's home. Vernon and Petunia were both lying on the floor, and they didn't move either.

"They are worse than death," Remus Lupin said after he examined them.

"Don't know what made Harry leave this place," Dumbledore said.

"Maybe he didn't like living here," Remus said.

"Did you tell him why you want him to stay here?" asked Alastor Moody.

"No, I didn't," Dumbledore said. "I should have told him this when he was in his first year at Hogwarts."

"We've got to find him," a pink-haired witch called Tonks said.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed.

"Where do you think he will be?" asked Alastor.

"Alastor, Tonks, Remus, you three check the Leaky Cauldron," Dumbledore said. "The rest of you check the Burrow."

o-o

Meanwhile, Harry was in Leaky Cauldron, trying to do the homework that the teachers had set him.

Fifteen minutes later, Tom, the barman opened the door and entered.

"Harry, people are coming for you," he said.

"Who are they?" Harry asked.

"I am not sure, but they want to see you," Ton said.

"Right," Harry said. "I'll go and meet them."

He walked out of his room and saw Remus, Alastor, and Tonks.

"What are you three doing here?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same question, Harry, what are you doing here?" Remus asked.

"I bid the Dursleys goodbye a few days ago," Harry answered.

"You were not supposed to leave Privet Drive," Alastor said. "Dumbledore said that you are protected as long as you call Number Four, Privet Drive home."

"There were Dementors in Privet Drive, your Aunt, Uncle and cousin were all kissed," Remus went on. "We were too late to save them."

"Dementors in Muggle places?" asked Harry.

"Yes," Remus answered. "I don't know how they got there, hopefully, we will find out later."

Harry was relieved that he wasn't there, at least he didn't need to use magic, which also means he wouldn't be facing expulsion from Hogwarts.

At this moment, a thought occurred to him.

He knew that there was a disguised teacher in Hogwarts last year, so he decided to ask some more questions, just in case if they were imposters.

"Remus, I want to ask you some questions," he said. "Do you know my Dad?"

"Yes, his name is James Potter, and he is an unregistered Animagus," Remus answered, realising that Harry wants to check him.

"What spell did you teach me while you were teaching at Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"Loads of them, but in particular, to you, the Patronus Charm, in the History of Magic classroom," Remus said. "The Dementors came to the Quidditch pitch during the first Quidditch match in your third year causing you to fall off your broom, and you requested me to teach you that spell."

"Right, I'll just pay the money to Tom, then we can leave," Harry said.

After he paid the money, Remus helped him packing his trunk, then he asked Harry to take out his broom.

"Are we going to the Burrow?" Harry asked after he took out his broom.

"No, the Burrow is too risky," Remus answered. "We are setting Headquarters somewhere undetectable, it will take a while."

"And we will be going by broom," Tonks said.

Harry took out his broom from his trunk, then he closed it.

"What's your name, by the way?" Harry asked the pink-haired witch.

"Just call me Tonks," Tonks said.

"I'll summon your stuff to the destination," Remus said.

He took out his wand, waved at Harry's trunk, and the trunk was gone.

They walked out of the Leaky Cauldron.

"It seems that you want to check up on us to make sure we are real," Remus said.

"Of course, I don't want to risk my life by going with Death Eaters," Harry said, then he told Remus about Barty Crouch Junior disguised as Alastor Moody during his fourth year at Hogwarts.

"I will use the Disillusionment Charm on you before we go, Potter," Alastor said.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Disillusionment Charm disguises you, making you taking the exact colour of the environment around you," Alastor explained.

"I'll send out a message to tell the others that you are found," Remus said. "Then we will wait for the signals."

He took his wand, shot out a wolf, and it disappeared.

At this point, Alastor pointed his wand at Harry, rapped him hard on the head, and Harry felt a sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wand struck him.

Five minutes later, a lynx arrived.

"Okay, now we are going to wait for the signals," Remus said.

Ten minutes later, a shower of red sparks flared among the stars.

"First signal," Remus said. "Mount your brooms."

Harry mounted his brooms, then he waited.

A moment later, a shower of green sparks flared among the stars.

"Second signal, let's go," Remus said.

Everyone got to their feet and kicked off from the ground.

o-o

Ron and Hermione were in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; eagerly waiting for Harry to come. Molly Weasley just told them that Harry was found a few moments ago, which was a relief to them, that they no longer need to worry about him.

Sometime later, they heard a few people opening the door, realising that Harry should be here by now.

Then they heard someone coming up the stairs. A moment later, Harry arrived.

Hermione ran to him and hugged him.

"How are you doing, Harry?" she asked as she released him.

"I am all right," Harry answered.

"I heard from Dumbledore saying that you were missing," Ron said.

"Well, I wasn't missing, I just left Privet Drive on my own," Harry said.

"But Dumbledore..."

"...forget it," Harry interrupted. "He has no right to tell me where I should stay during the summer holidays."

Ron gasped.

"So you don't trust him anymore?" he asked.

"Not in full at least," Harry answered.

"Why didn't you send a letter to us after you arrived at the Leaky Cauldron?" Ron asked.

"Same reason why you didn't say anything important in your letters," Harry answered. "If I was to send letters to you two, I can't possibly reveal my location, can I? Who knows if anyone would read the letter before it gets to you? Do you think I would dare put myself in danger?"

Neither Ron nor Hermione said anything.

"So what's going on?" asked Harry.

"Dumbledore told us that the Dementors attacked your Aunt, Uncle and cousin," Ron replied. "If you were there, you probably would have used a Patronus Charm to drive them away."

"What, and get another letter from the Ministry saying that I would be expelled?" asked Harry. "I am glad that I got out before it even happened."

"But you would be kissed if you do not drive them away. Besides, your absence caused the loss of several lives," Ron said.

"I didn't do it on purpose, mind you," Harry said.

He thought about asking how would it be possible for Dementors to roam around the Muggle place; but as he realised that Voldemort is already back in power, he may have played a part in it.

"Have you been reading the Daily Prophet, Harry?" Hermione went on.

"Not cover to cover," Harry answered.

"You need to read from cover to cover if you want to get the full details of what was going on," Hermione said.

Then she handed the Daily Prophet to him.

As Harry began reading, he felt angry; since it was making snide remarks about him.

"At least I wasn't there when the Dementors attacked my relatives, which means I didn't do any underage magic in Little Whinging this summer," he said.

"I know," Ron said.

"The Daily Prophet did not report the Dementor attack, someone told the reporters to keep it quiet," Hermione said.

"Maybe that Dementor attack was intended for you, Harry, either you get kissed, or you would be forced to drive them away using magic and get in trouble with the Ministry," Ron went on. "Since you were not there, it won't make any difference whether the Ministry keeps it quiet or not anymore."

"Which means I unintentionally went one step ahead of that and evaded them," Harry said.

There was a short silence.

"What is this place, anyway?" Harry asked.

"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Hermione said. "The Order of the Phoenix is a secret society. Dumbledore's in charge; its the people who fought You-Know-Who last time."

"So what is Tom Riddle up to right now?" asked Harry, feeling that it would be better to not use Voldemort at this point.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Ron, confused.

"You-Know-Who was once called Tom Riddle, I am going by this name to not scare you both," Harry said. "Don't you remember that Dumbledore told you this at the end of our second year at Hogwarts? Don't you remember what became of Ginny after he possessed her?"

Ron nodded.

"He almost killed my sister," he said, and Harry nodded.

"We don't know what he's up to; since the Order does not allow us in the meetings," Hermione said.

"How many people are in the Order, by the way?" asked Harry.

"We are not sure," Ron answered. "Most of my family are in the Order. My parents, Bill, Charlie."

"What about Percy?" asked Harry.

"Do not talk about Percy when my parents are around, because Mum would cry, and Dad would break anything he's holding," Ron said.

"What happened to him?" asked Harry.

"Percy and Dad had a row," Ron answered.

At this moment, Fred and George arrived, followed by Ginny.

"You guys are chatting, right?" asked Fred.

"Yes," Harry answered. "We were just talking about Percy."

"The first week that the school term ended, we were about to come and join the Order, Percy came home and told us that he had been promoted," Ron went on.

"Really?" asked Harry.

He knew that Percy was ambitious, but he was under the impression that Percy did not make a great success of his first job at the Ministry of Magic; Percy had failed to notice that Mr Crouch was controlled by Voldemort.

"Yeah," Fred said. "Percy got into loads of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said that Percy should have realised that Mr Crouch was not in the right state and informed a superior. Percy wasn't going to complain as Crouch left him in charge."

"And how did he get promoted?" asked Harry.

"Percy was rather pleased with himself, telling Dad that Fudge had offered him a position in his own office, and he expected Dad to be happy, only Dad wasn't," said Fred.

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"Fudge was storming around the Ministry, checking to see if anyone was in contact with Dumbledore," Ron said.

"Dad said that Fudge stated clearly that anyone in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," George said.

"The trouble is that Fudge suspects Dad, he knows that he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought that Dad was a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession," Fred said.

"Dad reckons that Fudge only wanted Percy to be in his office so he can spy on his family and Dumbledore," said Ron. "Percy went completely berserk, and he was struggling against Dad's lousy reputation since he joined the Ministry and Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been lacking in money."

"It got worse, Percy said that Dad was an idiot running around Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's in big trouble and Dad was going down with him," Fred went on. "Percy was loyal to the Ministry, and if Mum and Dad were to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure he let everyone know that he doesn't belong to our family anymore. He packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."

"Which means that he doesn't believe that Voldemort is back," said Harry.

"Of course he doesn't," Hermione answered.

"Percy said that the only evidence is your word, he didn't think it was good enough," Ron went on.

Silence fell between them.

A moment later, Mrs Weasley appeared at the door.

"The meeting is over, you can come down and have dinner now," she said.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny arrived down to the Hall.