The Cupboard Series 4: The Fourth School

Chapter 1

Harry Potter, boy wizard and no longer student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, shuffled deeper into the shadow of the pillar that he was standing beside. It wasn't that he was hiding so much that he was trying not to be noticed. But when you're classed as a celebrity in the wizard world with a ridiculous hyphenated name, it's generally best to stay out of the spotlight.

Not that he ever could really seem to manage it.

Take the past year for example. It started out with him being called a hero, one of the greatest wizards alive and being praised in every wizarding home, business and newspaper, all because he'd managed to get lucky and survive being kidnapped and murdered. Of course, that actually entailed fighting and then killing a sixty foot long basilisk that had been roaming the halls of Hogwarts, petrifying students and staff (if Filch, the caretaker, and his cat, could be classed as such) alike.

And then, within the space of a week, everything changed. And it was here, less than fifty metres away where it all happened. Exactly one year ago today.

That was when he, along with his classmates, had returned from their year away at the castle in Scotland, arriving at King's Cross Station in London. He'd passed through the barrier that led from the magical platform into the muggle side of the station and, after greeting a few parents and friends, he'd pulled Hermione, his best friend in the entire world, aside for a private conversation. Not that it'd stayed that way.

No. Before they could finish and he could tell her ... what he'd wanted to, they'd been interrupted by Albus Dumbledore, their Headmaster. Apparently, he was there to take Harry back to his relatives for the summer holiday. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but when you've cast a magical vow stating that you'd rather lose your magic than every spend a single night with said relatives, as Harry had done nearly a year previously, it was a big problem.

As a consequence, Harry's magic had reacted. Violently. It'd erupted in such a way as to knock everyone around him to the floor and to send Dumbledore crashing into the nearest concrete pillar, knocking him unconscious in the process. Seeing what he'd caused and knowing that he'd not only performed underage magic but in the presence of muggles to boot, he'd understandably panicked and fled.

That had led to an eight month time where he was in hiding and the wizarding world, or more precisely, the Ministry of Magic, was hunting for him and calling for him to be arrested and to have his wand snapped and his magic bound. Understandably, Harry'd ignored their directives to turn himself in.

Instead, he'd gone to the one place that he knew that he'd be safe: Potter Haven.

Potter Haven, the valley that he owned in southern Scotland, had been set up as a retreat, a place where he could stay undetected and continue his magical education by himself. It had the best goblin wards that money could buy, augmented by the ones that Dobby, his house-elf, could add to them. The manor was vast, with ten bedrooms, a series of classrooms, a potion lab, a massive, two-storied library and even had a telescope in the retractable roof. Greenhouses and a massive domed area set aside on the grounds to contain magical animals ensured that he could cover every topic that he wanted to learn.

It'd taken six months before anyone had even found out where he was hiding and even that was a complete fluke. Colin Creevey, his friend from Hogwarts, had inadvertently stumbled upon his location when his parents had taken him and his brother on a tour of Scotland for Christmas. That had inevitably led to him telling his best friends, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, who in turn shared the secret with his other closest friends.

The group of twelve had surprised Harry by sneaking away from the castle on a Hogsmeade weekend to visit him and to spend the day with him. As startled and initially angry as he was, Harry simply couldn't deny how happy seeing them all again made him. That's why he agreed to a second clandestine meeting the following month.