The right path

Four

Harry Potter woke up later than he was used to. Had the Dursleys slept in? But no...this was not his bed, he woke up in a foreign room. At first he was confused as to where he was and why he was there. Soon enough though, the events of the previous day came crashing back to him. That was it, he was in the past. Successfully he may add, and it was not an easy feat, considering that so many people had tried in the past and were never able to achieve the feat. Well... technically he didn't do it either, it was with a little bit of help from Death. Or most accurately, it was all Death's doing.

A soft hoot to his left had him turning. There, an all too familiar snow-white owl was standing on its perch, the window wide open for her to fly whenever she wanted to. His snowy Hedwig was here. Relief flooded his system. How was it possible that she was there, he didn't know, but he was extremely grateful for it. She was his first friend, and his familar. It would probably have killed him to wait fifty years to be able to get her.

A soft tug to his mind later and 'James' was there, in his mind. "She is your familiar, of course I wouldn't leave her behind. I remember the pain of losing her, I would not have you feeling that way now. It was part of the deal with Death."

That made sense. Harry was grateful for it, even if he hadn't thought about it before, he knew that a big depression was awaiting him if something happened to her. He wondered why James had lost her, a squeezing feeling in his chest starting to get itself noticed. Better not to dwell on that now, everything would be fine.

A soft "Thank you" was all he could manage. It was just there when it sunk in how screwed his life would have been if not for this chance. He was really grateful for everything James had done for him, even without him knowing he needed that help. He heard a soft chuckle and felt that soft tug on his mind again. James was gone for now, but Harry knew he would return if something was up. He was not alone.

He finally let his eyes wander around the room. It was pretty nice actually, although still small. He had a small bed with a dark blue duvet, a small nightstand , and a simple wooden wardrobe. The walls looked old, with some humidity problems, he saw. The pale blue paint was peeling off on the corner where the window was located. Then he heard it, what he thought was the ocean waves crashing in the sand. Right, he lived in a small beach house. That explained the humidity all right.

It was definitely better than Dudley's second bedroom, not a lot bigger, but definitely tidier. There were no broken toys laying around, it was not dusty and it looked well kept. A good change if you asked him. A nice and simple room, even if it was mostly bare.

Through the window he could see a glimpse of the outside world. Such a big expanse of land surrounded the small house, he could not see any other building in the horizon. The blue morning sky greeted him too, it was a nice day, cloudless so far.

Would he be able to go outside and fly a bit? It just looked like the perfect weather to do so. And nobody would see him, the house was isolated as far as he could see. He imagined how it would feel. The adrenaline rush after a fast dive, the feeling of the air running through his hair, the tight grip while he spiralled upwards to that beautiful sky. He longed for that sensations, they always made him feel free.

That fantasy was soon crushed with the arrival of two aurors to the house. And then Harry remembered. His supposed nanny had died during the night. The ministry must be here to investigate if it was a natural death, he guessed. After all he wasn't knowledgeable with magical laws or ministry workings. He needed to investigate a little bit further on that area.

Soon enough they were knocking on the door. He exited his room and answered. "Um...hello. Who are you?"

They looked confused for a while. They didn't expect a kid to come and greet them, they assumed the old witch was living alone. There were no records of her adopting any children. They double-checked the woman's files to confirm that indeed that was the correct house. How...odd.