Splintered Flames

Chapter 3

Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom and I quickly followed, arriving at the window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging out of the drive and off up the road. Dedalus's top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the backseat. The car turned right at the end of Privet Drive, its windows burned scarlet for a moment in the now setting sun, and then it was gone.

Harry picked up Hedwig's cage, his Firebolt, and his rucksack, gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last sweeping look, and then made his ungainly way back downstairs to the hall, where he deposited cage, broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs while I sat back and watched, this was Harry's home whether he agreed or not, even though he may of had horrible memories here, it was still his home. I would give him some space until this action plan was started up.

"Don't you want to take a last look at the place?" Harry asked Hedwig, who was sulking with her head under her wing. "We'll never be here again. Don't you want to remember all the good times? I mean, look at this doormat. What memories ... Dudley sobbed on it after I saved him from the dementors ... Turns out he was grateful after all, can you believe it? ... And last summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door and Melissa broke in ... "

I remember that fun time. Apparently I had damaged the lock so they needed to buy a new one to replace it. It was one of my proudest moments.

"And under here, Hedwig" - Harry pulled open a door under the stairs - "is where I used to sleep! You never knew me then - Blimey, it's small, I'd forgotten ..."

"This is it?" I asked stepping forward and looking in. "This is where I lived?"

"Yeah, you use to hide yourself in that corner there. You were small enough to fit into the gap." He pointed to a tiny slot under the stairs where darkness filled, I supposed it was an excellent hiding place for a small person. Those had been the days before I had known anything about my true identity; before I had found out how my parents had died or why such strange things often happened around me. It was the days that I was finding the dog in the backyard that I could talk to (a gift I sadly lost shortly after joining Hogwarts, I supposed Dumbledore had something to do with that) and eventually took with me when I was moved to Oxford.

There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door frame which made me laugh a lot. Pausing only to employ a few swear words, he staggered back into the kitchen with my help, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden.

The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached. All around us other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses.

Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst only to be dragged back by me. "How do we know they're them?" I whispered to him giving him a blunt look.

There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around us confirming that they were actually them, completely disproving my point, Ron clapped us on the back, Oliver picked me up and stun me around, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Harry, Mel? Ready fer the off?"

"Definitely," said Harry, beaming around at them all. "But I wasn't expecting this many of you! I knew Melissa was coming."

"Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity. "Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."