The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 48: Unofficial Professional

The pounding on the door slowly woke Harry up.  He blinked slowly, yawning widely.  "I'm up," he said sleepily.  "I'll get to making breakfast."  He reached out for his glasses, groping in the wrong spot for a few moments before his brain woke up further.

"Oh right, I'm not at Number 4," he murmured.  He still could not believe it.  He was staying in the Leaky Cauldron until school started, and was away from the Dursleys.  It was a dream come true if received in a very strange way.

The summer had started how it typically did.  Harsh language and cruelty thrown at him from the Dursleys.  He was able to stand up against some things.  He was able to keep his school things with him, able to keep Dudley from trying to take his things or break them when he could not.  He still suffered their verbal tirades but he knew nothing would stop that.  He still had to do an inordinate number of chores.  They had fed him the bare minimum and normally he would have suffered greatly with lack of food.

The wonderful box the girls had given him had saved his life, or at least made it more bearable.  He was very careful with it, eating sparingly from it to preserve his supply.  The few moments he could leave the house on errands he was able to buy things with his own money.  An antique store had happily bought one of his Galleons he had.  He figured it was something he should not do, but he was desperate.  He was able to store the food he bought into the box and was thus able to sustain himself over time.

The first aid kit from Alicia helped too.  The injuries he picked up from doing his chores healed much better and faster with the help from the kit.

The summer seemed tolerable for once.  At least until Aunt Marge, Vernon's sister, arrived.  It barely took two hours before her words drove Harry to rage.

And in his rage, he inflated her like a balloon with no idea how he did it or how to turn her back.

He fled Number 4 with all his possessions, wondering where he would go and how he would get to London.  Seeing a large black dog caused him to accidentally summon the Knight Bus.  The Bus had taken him to the Cauldron and he found the Minister of Magic waiting for him.

Harry expected to be punished but instead he was granted tentative freedom.  He was to stay in Wizarding London, specifically at the Cauldron and Diagon Alley, until school started.  He immediately agreed, delighted by this unexpected good fortune.  When he asked why he was being allowed to make it through the incident unscathed so to speak, Fudge had blustered about letting him be safe since no real harm was done.

That had only been a few days ago and Harry still woke up feeling slightly confused.  As if all of this was some wonderful dream and he would wake up in the terribly claustrophobic environment that was Number 4 Privet Drive.

The door continued to shake under the onslaught and he rose from the bed, stumbling.  "Sorry!" he called out.  "I'm coming!"

-0-

Samantha looked at her daughter with amusement bordering on embarrassment.  "Katie, maybe he isn't in.  If you keep pounding on the door, you're going to bother other guests."

Katie continued to hammer on the door.  "Mister Tom said that he hadn't seen Harry leave yet.  It's also later in the morning so he should be up by now.  This is helping me work off my nervous energy otherwise I am going to lose it."

"I'm sure he's fine.  Tom said he looked okay."

Katie shook her head and maintained her assault.  "You didn't see him in the summer of last year.  He looked horrible.  If Mister Tom had barely seen him before, he wouldn't have a true frame of reference."  She swung her hand back and as it flew forward the door opened.  She squeaked with alarm as she fell in, suddenly robbed of the door that she braced herself against.