Growing up Pureblooded

A Very Dangerous Game

The next day after lunch, Uncle Marius, Aunt Clytemnestra, and Harry all loaded themselves into their car and drove to London. Along the way, Uncle Marius explained to Harry about magic; how he was a wizard and came from a long and ancient line of noble wizards, and how an evil wizard had murdered Harry's parents when he was a baby. However, he failed to kill Harry in the process. Harry listened to his uncle's explanation with rapt attention. The Dursley's had told him that his parents had died in a car crash because his father was drunk, he only survived because he was thrown from the car and that was how he got his scar. As would any sensible person, and particularly any six-year-old boy, Harry found the tale of his parents' heroic death at the hands of a Dark Lord far more satisfying. The news that Harry himself was a hero, though, and now revered by many throughout the wizarding world, was disconcerting to say the least. .

"But if I am really so famous, how come no one noticed how I was being treated by the Durs-, er, the filthy Muggles?" Harry asked. Aunt Clytemnestra had explained to Harry that Muggles, people like the Dursley's who hated magic, were brutish swine who forced witches and wizards to live in hiding. That certainly supported Harry's own experiences. Uncle Marius frowned. "I have no doubt that Albus Dumbledore, a very powerful wizard, has been keeping careful watch over you. I don't know why he has allowed this nonsense to go on, but I am certain he has some political motivation."

Harry wasn't sure that he liked Albus Dumbledore that much, not if he was the sort of person who would leave him with the abusive muggles for so long. Then a horrible thought struck him. "If he's been checking on me, he's bound to know that you've taken me." Harry began to panic. "He'll send me back! I can't go back to that" Harry started to cry, Aunt Clytemnestra tried to calm him by patting his shoulder, Harry jumped and cried harder. She quietly in her head cursed those filthy muggles for hurting him like this. Very calmly she slowly reached over and grabbed his hand and said, "Don't worry Harry. If he already knew what we had done, he would have acted last night, or this morning. We are taking steps to cover out tracks, so that he'll never be able to find you. Your Uncle paid another visit to the brutes this morning, and poured a bit of forgetfulness draught into their tea. They won't be able to tell Dumbledore anything."

"Your aunt and I are squibs," Uncle Marius explained. "We come from magical families, but we can't use magic, otherwise we should simply perform a memory charm. Nonetheless, we do have connections with the magical world. There are potions we can use to change your appearance, we'll change your name too, so that no one will know who you are." "Once we've taken care of that, we shall raise you in the wizarding world, as should have happened to begin with," Aunt Clytemnestra said fondly. "We shall find you a magical tutor, and train you in all the details of a pureblooded wizarding life." She began to stare wistfully out the window, and daubed her eyes with her handkerchief. Harry nodded; He believed them, but still shifted closer to his Aunt anyway, He did not want to lose his new-found family; Not when they had treated him so well.

When they arrived at number seventeen, Windermere Court, Harry's aunt raised the collar of his coat and pulled down his hat before letting him leave the car. She held his hand as they walked up the many steps to the entrance. The door had twenty-seven different locks, all of which unlocked simultaneously when Uncle Marius placed his hand on the doorknob. Aunt Clytemnestra bustled Harry inside and shut the door. Harry had never seen such a house. It was as elegantly decorated as Uncle Marius' country home had been, though the wall hangings and furniture were rather faded. But the entire house seemed so alive. The many portraits that lined the walls moved and talked, and countless magical artifacts filled the rooms, occasionally making odd noises or puffing colored smoke into the air. But the strangest thing at all about the house was the caretaker. A little bald creature appeared in front of them out of thin air dressed only in a tea towel. She bowed low. "Mopsey is delighted to see her Master and Mistress Black," she said. "Will Master and Mistress be staying long?" "Yes we intend to," said Uncle Marius. "Kindly run along and fix up the master bedroom and the largest of the ordinary bedrooms." Mopsey bowed and vanished.