Change the Future

OOTP 3

"Rory what on earth are we doing in a house that looked as though it belonged to a dark wizard?"

"It's a lot to explain Harry. I'll let Ron and Hermione tell you most of it" They stop outside the door with Harry's name on a plaque "This is your room, Ron's staying in here with you. My room's just there" She tells him pointing towards her door before leaving him to go in his room. 

"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us the dementors! When we heard and that Ministry hearing it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations"

"Let him breathe, Hermione" Ron said, grinning, closing the door behind Harry. Hermione, still beaming, let go of Harry, but before she could say another word there was a soft whooshing sound and something white soared from the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on Harry's shoulder.

"Hedwig!" The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers.

"She's been in a right state" Ron said. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this" He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported
a half-healed but clearly deep cut. 

"Oh yeah" Harry said. "Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know"

"We wanted to give them to you, mate. Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us"

"swear not to tell me. Yeah, Hermione's already said." There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked Hedwig automatically, not looking at either of the others.

"He seemed to think it was best" Hermione said rather breathlessly. "Dumbledore, I mean." 

"Right" Harry said. He noticed that her hands too bore the marks of Hedwig's beak and found that he was not at all sorry.

"I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles" Ron began.

 "Get ready for Harry to lose it" Ron mutters.

"Yeah?" Harry said, raising his eyebrows. "Have either of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"

"Well, no but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time"

"Didn't work that well, though, did it?" Harry said, doing his utmost to keep his voice even. "Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?" 

"He was so angry" Hermione said in an almost awestruck voice. "Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary."

"Bet Rory was scarier" Sirius said smiling.

"I'm not even that scary"

"You are darling" Charlie says kissing her cheek.

"Well, I'm glad he left" Harry said coldly. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

"Aren't you aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?" Hermione said quietly.

"No" Harry lied defiantly. He walked away from them, looking around, with Hedwig nestled contentedly on his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his spirits. It was dank and dark. A blank stretch of canvas in an ornate picture frame was all that relieved the bareness of the peeling walls and as Harry passed it he thought he heard someone lurking out of sight snigger. "So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?" Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. "Did you er bother to ask him at all?" He glanced up just in time to see them exchanging a look that told him he was behaving just as they had feared he would. It did nothing to improve his temper.