Marauder's Daughter (Eventual Tom Riddle X OC)

Chapter 15: Harry's Hogwarts Letter

"Dad, shhh, he's about to get the mail, I can't hear." I whisper to my dad as he's excitedly bouncing next to me. We are currently hiding in the bushes outside Harry's house, watching the moment he gets his first Hogwarts letter. I told Dad I had a 'vision' it would be a funny week at the Dursley's house, and he wasted no time in believing me and so, we are here eavesdropping on the 'special moment'.  I also make a mental note to hint to the twins to get to inventing the extendable ears soon, since they would be very helpful right now.

In reality, I really just wanted to watch the events first hand.

"Sorry Princess, I'm just excited. And don't act like you're not, you're going to fall over if you lean any more out of the bush." Dad teases me in a whisper.

We watch Dudley steal the letter from Harry, who is dressed in some of the clothes we gave him last summer. Harry's still scrawny, but not too much, and his hair is still perpetually messy, just like his dad's. I haven't gotten to see a glimpse of him since last summer when we magicked food and clothes into his room. Dad had to check in on the boy by himself while I was at school, normally we took all those trips together during the year. 

We watch as Vernon shreds his letter and sends Harry to his pathetic excuse of a room, and I had to hold Dad back from storming into the house and yelling at them in a rage.

"Dad, wait." I drag him backwards and away from the muggles we hate. "Listen, I saw this was going to be hilarious, just sit back and watch for a week. We can come back in the morning."

"I need to have another word with Albus." Dad growls out angrily. "This is now beyond ridiculous, the muggles aren't even giving him his chance to go to school." As soon as Dad Apparated us back home to the cottage, he left immediately to go to talk to Dumbledore about Harry.

Dad has been trying to get custody of Harry ever since the war. I know Dumbledore is pulling some less than legal strings at the Ministry in order to keep Harry at the Dursley's instead of with Dad, the person named by his own parents as his legal guardian. Dad has sent in annual complaints at the Ministry as well to get him. 

We watched each morning of the week as more and more letters made their way into the house. Dad eventually found the humor in it when we watched the milk man deliver two dozen eggs through the kitchen window. Petunia looked horrified when each egg had a letter in them. By Sunday, the letters were all shooting through the fireplace, and we were silently cheering for Harry when he grabbed one. 

When Vernon was screaming about going away into hiding, Dad lost his patience again. He went to McGonagall and 'sweet talked' his way to being the wizard to guide Harry for Hogwarts, which is traditionally handled by a school staff member for muggleborns. Dumbledore relented when confronted by the two of them together. And since Dad told Minnie all about the drama over the years at Harry's house, they worked out a whole new deal and got the Ministry involved again, and I was surprised with the amount of pull Minnie had there. It helps she probably taught most people who worked there. Dumbledore was officially outnumbered, especially since Harry was going to Hogwarts now, and a new arrangement was finally met.

Officially now, Harry still lived at the Dursley's. However, if he chooses to, he only has to spend two weeks a summer there, and the rest he can spend 'visiting' us at our cottage, or at a friends house. But Dumbledore insisted that Harry has to go home to the Dursley's first before going to our house. Also, Harry needed to spend the rest of this summer there, however we were allowed to take him to Diagon Alley to shop and to pick him up for the start of term. It's not a complete win, but it's better than what he was going to get.

So that's how we ended up following the Dursley's to the rickety shack on an island in the middle of a storm. Dad was actually going to wait until morning to get him, but I thought it would be hilarious to show up at midnight and wake everyone up for Harry's birthday, just like Hagrid did. Dad got on board right away, because you can't take the Marauder out of the man. So at the stroke of midnight, Dad banged loudly on the door, and used a spell to amplify the sound of the knock. He grinned at me wickedly as he did it, having more fun with every moment.