Protection: The Sword and the Shield

Meanwhile

......Headmasters Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Albus Dumbledore smiled to himself as he awaited Harry's owl. He had marked Harry's letter and set the wards to divert the response form directly to him. His spy in the neighborhood had told him that Harry seemed to still be ignorant of magic but that his relatives were no longer involving themselves with the boy past the basics.

As such he doubted they would try to keep his letter from him as the headmaster had originally planned for. Instead the boy would write back and Albus would send Hagrid to pick up the boy and then meet the two of them in Diagon Alley.

In the years since the incident, he had still not been able to figure out the shield that surrounded the boy and was unsure if it would exist outside of Petunia's home. The protection seemed limited to the boy but that did not make sense as wards were anchored to places not people. For a muggleborn, he had to admit that Lily Potter was brilliant. He knew she didn't have his power, she didn't even have James' power but her genius was unmatched.

He looked out his window once more. He knew the letter had been delivered and opened but was surprised the response had not come. He had verified with Minerva that the boy hadn't responded by some other means. If the response did not arrive by the weekend, he would send Hagrid to the house anyway.

......The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole

The most popular book in all of Wizarding England was an animated 350 page story about the hero Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Since the faithful night in 1981 practically every child had received a copy. The book spent no time rehashing the fact that the boy survived a killing curse defeating a dark lord as that was the origin story everyone knew and opinions on the dark lord was mixed. Instead the story focused on the charmed life of the young hero.

The writer was especially clever in the development of the children's book. In the story, as the boy hero faced his various adventures alone he would reach moments when the reader would press a rune to "help" the hero advance in the story. The second bit of clever story telling was that the "damsel" was never identified. After conquering the final dragon, the last page just has Harry looking out of the book at the reader happy that they were safe.

Many a young girl dreamed of being the damsel that Harry Potter had quested to save. Many a young man also dreamed about being within the hero's circle as well, joining him on quests to battle dragons and save princesses. The two sequels were not as popular as the original but that just meant they only sold out the first two publishing runs unlike the three runs the first book sold out.

Ron Weasley was the youngest son of the Weasley family and he was currently running away to join Harry Potter on one of his quests. His determination to find the Boy-Who-Lived was the only thing keeping his angry tears from overwhelming him. His family didn't love him and definitely didn't want him. Of that the young man was sure.

His dad had all the sons he could ever want and his mother had the daughter she always dreamed of. He was just the unwanted one. Percy had told him the whole thing. His parents had wanted 4 children, 3 boys and a girl. When the fourth child turned out to be twin boys, they had been overjoyed as magical twins brought with them a blessing for a family.

His parents had applied that blessing to their next pregnancy hoping the magic would recognize their desire for a girl but instead had gotten him. Percy explained that the reason he and Ginny were so close in age was because they had rushed to get pregnant again in disappointment.

Ron might have dismissed his brother's words as a cruel joke except that it made too much sense. No one was more precious in the house than little Ginny. He and all his brothers were constantly reminded to watch out for her. Bill acted like a third parent to her, always teaching her things and reading to her. But he was practically ignored.