Harry Potter and the Ghosts of Hogwarts

Chapter 3

Paranoia, Prefects, Presents, and Premonitions

Summer school only lasted for one month. It ended before Harry's fifteenth birthday. He was glad that he didn't have to do extra schoolwork any longer but he missed how filled his days formerly were. Now he had all the extra time that he needed to think over what had happened and to think about what was to come.

Aunt Petunia was having trouble finding chores for him to do because he had already done everything she had waiting for him. Over the summer Harry had grown taller and gained strength so all of the chores took less time than the previously had. She started to send him out into the neighborhood to do chores for others so that he would have something to do. She didn't like doing it but she believed that idle hands were the devil's workshop, and she believed that Harry had the devil just waiting to pop out of him. She had seen that he made it through all of the summer classes without blowing up anything, so she figured that he could stand to help out some of the neighbors and not attack them.

This filled only the middle portion of Harry's day. He would still have the mornings and evenings to remember the horror of the year before. So every day he got up and ran. He had started with an hour but it became longer and longer as Harry realized how it cleared his mind. As he ran he would not think about anything but the pounding of his feet and the air coming in and out of his mouth. He liked to run better than he liked to sleep. With sleep came dreams and dreams turned to nightmares. So instead of sleeping in like he had in the past, he got up at six and ran, clearing his head of any pictures that were given to him the night before.

In the evenings after dinner he worked on his papers. He soon realized that for once he wasn't going to have enough work to last him the whole summer. He had finished more than half of what he needed to and he had more than half of the summer left for him to complete it. He was working on his History of Magic essay when he realized that he was only using the information from the text from the year before. He decided to see what information he had in the other books and discovered there was a plethora of information that he had missed in years past. All the information he started to work into his paper and he had so many corrections that he knew that more scroll was needed to fit it on there.

This new way of getting information made Harry take longer in making the papers, making his homework span a longer period of time. He started doing it just because it took longer but soon it turned out that he enjoyed making his papers better. He soon understood why Hermione put so much work into all of her papers, it was a sort of natural high to know that the work was the very best it could be. Harry went back to his finished papers and started them over again, going through several drafts before he decided it was the best that he could do. He decided that if he got to see Hermione later in the summer he would ask her to proof read them for mistakes.

This is how Harry spent his time. He kept busy and preoccupied so he wouldn't have to cope.

* * *

One day Harry was trimming the hedges in Mr. Middleton's yard when he noticed something odd. Mrs. Figg was walking past in a hobbling sort of way. The odd thing was she lived five blocks away from Mr. Middleton and Harry had never known her to go past three blocks without a car. Harry also saw that she was watching him as she past, and then as soon as she had walked past the house, she turned and headed to her own again. How odd, Harry thought as he watched her walk unsteadily down the street toward her home. Questions popped into his mind like why was she down here? and why did she keep watching me? These thought did not lead to any viable solution. She couldn't have been really watching him. Why would an old woman with bad hips come five blocks from her home to stare at Harry and then turn back around and go home? Harry dismissed the idea and went on with the work.

That evening though, an odd occurrence made Harry suspect that something was up. He was going to the parlor to pick up some dishes that were left there by Dudley and his friends when he noticed that Mrs. Figg was once again passing by. He bent down to pick up the dirty dishes and then glanced at her again, expecting to see that she was just passing by, but she wasn't. She had stopped and was staring at Harry through the window. When she realized he had noticed her she quickly averted her eyes and hobbled away as quickly as possible. Either she was really starting to exercise her hip or for some reason she wanted to watch Harry. But why would she suddenly want to watch Harry? She had been living down the street from him since he had moved to Privet Drive and never before had she found him so very interesting. It probably had something to do with Harry saving Tiddles.

He went on to dinner trying to ignore the insistent suspicion that something was not quite normal about Mrs. Figg. He felt that there was something that he should remember to from the end of the last year, but he had done a great job of forgetting.

* * *

The night of his birthday he went to bed feeling hopeful. He wanted to feel like this day was special for a change, and he new that his friends would not disappoint. As he walked inside his room he could feel true joy that the day was over and instead of having to work on homework to distract himself he could look at the presents waiting for him.

He lay down on his bed and waited, Hedwig had disappeared several days before and Harry figured she was going on to help out one of his friends so that he would have a happy birthday. Harry was looking forward to the letters that his friends would write. At the beginning of the summer he hadn't been interested because he would have to talk about important things. Every letter they had written him was filled with serious topics like the fact that nothing was yet mentioned about Voldemort in the Daily Prophet and how Ron's parents refused to tell him what was going on with Dumbledore. Harry had found these letters not only unhelpful, but also depressing. He may not have wanted to be out of the loop on wizarding affairs, but he had had enough of the complicated wizard problems during school, he didn't really want to know more when he had the chance to escape it all. He had told them that he was really busy with summer school and that it would be hard to find time to write them. They may or may not have believed him but either way it worked, they gave him his space only writing when something notable happened and that wasn't very often.

As Harry lay waiting he contemplated how distant he had been that summer and he hoped that it wasn't taken wrong by his friends. He liked them more than anyone else in the world, but he was overloaded with wizards, Tad was a blessing. There was nothing to be suspicious about, nothing to question, Tad was just an ordinary muggle with ordinary problems, and ordinary parents. Harry almost coveted the life that Tad led. Sure there was no magic or adventure, but there also was no danger and difficulty.

This year Harry had left his window open for the owls that came. Every year, excluding his second when Dobby had stopped them, Harry had received birthday presents from his friends, and this year he would not be disappointed.

He was staring at the moon bright in the sky, waiting for something to appear. He saw an owl swoop into the sky. An Owl Post owl flu into his room dropping a package on his bed beside him. It then perched at Hedwig's water dish for only a moment and then was off again into the darkened night sky.

Harry picked up the package and took of the letter that was attached to the top. It was written in an untidy scroll that he didn't recognize from years past.

Dear Harry,

We heard about your birthday and it brought a tear to our eyes, ikle Harry-kinns is growing up so fast. We knew that it was about time that we rewarded our team seeker with a present, and because we can now afford it because of some generous investments, here is the first, but not last new Weasley Wizard Whiz product that you will get for free. We decided to name you the silent partner of our franchise. So here it is, maybe you can use it on your cousin.

Fred and George Weasley

Harry had to smile at this. The previous year he had given the Weasley twins financial support for the development of their wizard gag products. He had just wanted to get rid of the guilt money from the Triwizard tournament, he had not intended to become an investor in the Weasley Twins' brain child, but it seemed that he was already in deep.

He opened up the box wondering what the twins had come up with this time. Inside he found a piece of candy, and another note from the twins.

This will make anyone who eats it talk in rhymes for the next twenty-four hours. We call it raspberry rhyme candy. It may make you rhyme but it still tastes great. It is part of our candy line, along with twisting tarts and ton tongue toffees. We think that there is a market for them at both Zonko's and Honeyduke's.

Harry smiled. He wouldn't actually use the candy on Dudley of course, though it would be easy, he didn't want to get into to trouble with either the ministry or his relatives. Maybe he could convince Malfoy to eat it.

The next owl to land in Harry's room was another barn owl from the owl post. This one acted in the same fashion that the previous one had, only landing long enough to quench its thirst and then flying off again.

This parcel was from Hermione.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! I hope that you learned useful things in summer school. I am so jealous. You got to see the world through the muggle perspective it must have been fascinating. I would do the classes too, but mom and dad say that I need a break from schoolwork. Bulgaria is interesting, and Krum is sweet. The only problem is that I think he is getting too attached. Ron is also seeming a little to protective of my honor. He wrote and told me not to turn into a scarlet woman. I will be relieved to get back to school.

It was just like Hermione to be wishing to go back to school when she was off on a fun vacation. Harry smiled to himself at the thought of her dreaming about essays that she wanted to write.

I hope that you aren't neglecting your homework. It seems that Ron hasn't looked at it since it has been assigned. I have had trouble finding information on my ancient runes essay, but it figure I can buy a book about it when we go to Diagon Alley. You are going to Diagon Alley with us aren't you?

Harry cringed at that sentence. He was amazed that it was even a question that he would spend the end of his vacation with the Weasley's and Hermione.

It was harder to find a present for you this year, being so far from a bookstore, but I managed to find you something in a shop Krum showed me. I hope it will be useful.

With love,

Hermione

P.S. I just got my letter and I am a prefect!

Hermione seemed so surprised that she was the one chosen to be the new Gryffindor prefect. But it was obvious to all the rest of her classmates. Harry honestly thought that she had a good chance at head girl when her year came around.

He opened up her present not knowing what to expect. Hermione had been able to surprise him in the past for he always thought she would send books. The package was too light to contain a book perhaps it would be a study manual for the O.W.L.'s.

Harry was surprised once again by Hermione keen perception of things that would please him. Within the brightly colored paper he found a cape. At first it looked black, but when he held it up to the moon light it shimmered dark green. It had brown fir lining that was softer than any animal Harry knew of, the clasp was gold stag horns that hooked intricately to hold the material across his shoulders. Harry tried it on and felt warmth rush through his body. He knew that the cloak would come in handy for those cold winter days in the Hogwarts grounds after classes, and he was glad to finally have a piece of clothing that wasn't a hand-me-down or required for school.

Harry unclasped the cloak from his shoulders, it may have been magnificent, but it was still the summer and Harry didn't need the extra layer for at least another two months. He set inside of his trunk next to his dress robes and noticed how well they matched. Then he looked once again to the window as another owl swooped inside.

This card read:

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday Harry. It has been a busy summer for me. I have been working for the cause, but I hope that you wouldn't hesitate to write me at a moments notice if anything was wrong.

This one was from Sirius Harry's protective godfather, and ever since Harry's trauma the previous year at school Sirius had been worried about Harry's welfare to a greater extent than ever before.

My life is far better now that I have a home to stay in, but I hope you are not expecting another gift like the Firebolt. Here is something that you lost possession of last year that I think you should have back. Later on we might get a chance to improve it together.

Sirius

Within the envelope there was another piece of paper that Harry had forgotten about after the last year's incident. It was the Marauders Map. Harry was amazed that he could have gotten it back now that all of those in league with Dumbledore knew about it, especially Snape. Harry wondered what Sirius had meant when he said that they would improve it. Harry couldn't imagine how he could make it any better.

But all of this left him when he saw another bird fly in, it was from Hogwarts, carrying two letters instead of the usual one. The first said:

Dear Mr. Potter,

Congratulations. This year you have been selected from all of your fifth year housemates to be the new prefect for Gyrffindor house. You have shown throughout your years here that you hold a higher sense of honor and respect for authority than the rest of the students, excelled in all of your studies, demonstrated leadership skills, and earned the badge that has been sent along with this envelope.

Harry couldn't believe the words on the paper. Harry had known that he got special treatment at times because of his fame, but this was going overboard. Harry had broken more rules than most other students at Hogwarts, and his grades were not spectacular like Hermione's he was made out to be a prefect.

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock. All prefects are required to meet in the prefect compartment at the head of the train for the introductory meeting.

A badge and a list of books for next year is enclosed.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry felt bad about being chosen. He knew that they only wanted him to be a prefect because he was the Famous Harry Potter, and he should have expected it, but he had never pegged Professor McGonagall for a favorer of the famous. With her he always felt like a regular student and she had never been bias toward him because of his "heroic" past. Harry honestly convinced himself that any other boy in his year would be better for the job even Neville Longbottom.

Harry thought of Ron and felt guilty, Ron had gone along on all of the adventures that Harry faced and he was ignored while Harry got all of the glory. Harry knew that Ron would act like he was happy for him, kidding along with his brothers about not wanting to be a prefect, but the truth was, as it was shown in the Mirror of Erised, Ron wanted all that was being handed to Harry.

The other letter carried by the owl was from Hagrid, Harry's kind but huge friend at Hogwarts. The handwriting was almost illegible but Harry was used to it by now.

Harry,

Just wanted to say Happy birthday. I know that I haven't written much this summer but I have been busy. I hope that you had enough food this summer, if the Dursley's are giving you trouble you can always tell me and I can give that Uncle of yours a tail to match your cousin. This year I haven't had enough time to make my home baked rock cakes so I hope this present will be all right.

Hagrid

Inside of this untidily wrapped package Harry found some candy most likely bought at Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Harry had never received such a nice gift from Hagrid before. Harry wondered about what he was doing exactly for the cause. Harry figured it had to do with giants because that was what Hagrid hinted at the year before, but how well would Hagrid do in convincing giants with their notorious ill tempers that they should fight evil.

Finally Harry saw Hedwig return, but there was something else flying circles around his pet. When they got closer he figured it out. Around Hedwig was Ron's pet owl Pigwidgeon. Pig was a good little owl but was also a little over enthused. Pig was so small that he could fly large distances, but he couldn't carry much.

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday. I am glad that Hedwig came and helped out. Mom decided that she and my father needed to add stuff to the present that I was sending you so Pig couldn't carry it and Errol was on his last leg. I don't know how much longer he will last.

You have been so busy this summer that I knew you couldn't come to my house, but now that you have finished with muggle school do you think that you could visit? Mum is writing to Dumbledore just to make sure that it is okay with him. Hermione is coming over on August 15 and is staying for the rest of the holidays. I think it is a good thing. I think she is too young to be in such a serious relationship with Krum. Maybe you could talk to her about she won't listen to me.

Anymore dreams or has your scar hurt you? Because everything has been really quiet in the magic community. This just reaffirms Fudge's theory that nothing happened last year. There is this impending doom feeling that everyone who knows seems to have. You-Know-Who is bound to do something this year but what?

Anyhow I hope that you will be able to come. Don't worry about the muggles; dad will take care of them if they are any trouble. If you can't I'll see you on the train. By the way, Hermione is the girl prefect. I wonder whom the boy one is going to be? The present is from me and Ginny so don't just thank me. Hope you like it.

Ron

Harry put the letter with the others he had received that night and opened the package from the Weasley's. Inside he found that Mrs. Weasley had sent food once again because she knew how little Harry was fed while at his Aunt and Uncle's. She sent mincemeat pies, a beautiful birthday cake and pumpkin juice. Ron's present was wrapped separately. This was probably because he wanted it to be a surprise. The package was twelve inches long. Harry didn't expect much from Ron because he wasn't wealthy enough to get fantastic gifts but if he and Ginny both got it maybe it would be better than usual.

Inside of the parcel Harry was thoroughly surprised. There was a dagger. The handle was gold and red and the sheath that held it had intricate drawings of a phoenix on it. The present was one of the best that Harry had found that night and he had no idea how Ron could finance such and extravagant gift even with Ginny's help. There was a note attached to the hilt and here Ron had written:

Ginny found and it made her think of when you saved her in the chamber of secrets. She said she had to get it for you but she couldn't get by herself but together we could afford it.

Harry was very thankful to them for their sacrifice. Harry felt bad that they had spent so much on him. He knew that it would have probably taken up their savings. So Harry promised himself that he would get Ron a great, thoughtful gift for his birthday this year.

Harry felt a cool breeze come in through the open window so he went to shut it and looked down on the street. Right below Harry's window was one of Mrs. Figg's cats staring intently at his window.

* * *

Seeing Harry as he slept the night after the opening of his presents wouldn't have been difficult to read. His whole face was clenched in tense concentration and his body didn't move at all except for the tight rise and fall of his chest. It was obvious that Harry was having a nightmare.

Although Harry was in the dream state the world held a more palpable quality than it did in regular dreams. Harry felt that this must have been not a dream of fantasy, but one that was really happening and he felt that this time he would not let the crucial information slip from his mind this time as he had in the past. When he awoke in the morning he fully intended to write down all that he had seen and not let his vision get lost in his memory.

Harry tried to take in the room surrounding him. It was twice the size of his bedroom and it had stone flooring. The walls were well lit and they were stone also. The scene reminded him of the dungeons at Hogwarts, and that didn't make Harry optimistic about the scene to come. The stone walls had shelves filled with old texts and obscure ingredients that Harry had never seen before. All of this he took in before he realized he was not alone in the room. Sitting in the darkness of a chair there was a shadowed figure. There were three other chairs in the room ready to be filled and Harry had a feeling that he was about to see a meeting and this sort of information is exactly what the cause that was forming against that dark lord needed, information from the inside.

First entered a snake that Harry vaguely recognized from the last dream, this assured him that this dream was real and that Voldemort was involved.

A deep hiss came from the animal that approached Voldemort. Harry would have been able to tell even if there he wasn't a parselmouth that the creature was evil. The tone of the hissing was enough to tell any person that, but Harry was a parselmouth and he heard what the animal said to the Dark Lord.

"They are waiting outside master."

"Good Nagini let them enter." Voldemort hissed back.

Then in came three cloaked figures. The outfits gave them away completely, they were death eaters and the shadowed figure was obviously the Dark Lord. They seated themselves in the chairs before the shadowed figure and Harry waited in impatience for the secrets to be divulged.

From the shadows came a command, "Tell me of your progress in learning about the opposition."

The voice was a hiss and Harry wondered if the others in the room who weren't parselmouth, a person responded so Harry knew that Voldemort must really have a voice like a snake. Harry wondered if it was a side effect of being a parselmouth, Harry hoped not or he would be doomed to sounding evil in the future.

"We can find no leeks in our group, my lord. No information about what we are doing can be let out through a person unless they are captured."

"And how far on our we at getting a spy into the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Master," came a voice that Harry recognized but couldn't place, "We are having difficulty in finding a suitable person to penetrate their inner circle. Dumbledore is gaining support behind the backs of the ministry."

As soon as Harry heard this he was relieved, the death eaters had been unable to get a spy into Dumbledore's alliance. This made Harry far more relieved about the situation.

"This is not suitable," Came a terrifying hiss from the darkness, "It seems that you are not strong enough to manage the challenge that I have given you. If you cannot make yourself useful than I will replace you with a more worthy candidate. What will happen to you if this occurs is not certain." The last line had a deep threat intermixed with the tone of this voice.

"I will do my best master." The voice answered feebly.

"Your best is not suitable, you must succeed or the consequences will be dire," his words left no room for negotiation, "You obviously need a reminder of what failure costs, Crucio!"

As the cloaked figure fell to his knees Harry outwardly cringed in sympathetic pain. He had felt the Cruciatus Curse and he wouldn't wish it onto anyone but Voldemort. Meanwhile the Dark Lord moved on to the others who kept their posture erect throughout the torture process acting as though nothing was going on.

"I hope that you will have better news for me," the shadowed leader said in a foreboding tone, "How is our progress in regaining support?"

"We have the support of the Dementors, and they have agreed to remain at Azkaban until the time is right. We have teams that are presently out trying to regain your menagerie of magical creatures which were lost before, and we are using our contacts in the wizarding community and government to have support on all levels of class."

"What about the giants?"

"We are still working to try and gain their allegiance, but it seems that Dumbledore has sent out delegates already and many of them have joined the opposition."

"That is barely allowable, if there has not been progress with the giants by the next time we meet I don't know what could happen to you." The hooded figure took a quick look at the man cringing on the floor and he said no more. "I hope that you will have better news for me."

"Yes master." Harry saw that this figure had a glowing hand, and Harry recognized it from the year before, from the night of the third task.

"How is the plan progressing?"

The voice that came from the figure was confident, it seemed that after the previous success Wormtail had proved himself worthy of his position in Voldemort elite circle within the Deatheaters."It is on schedule, master, the team has begun training for the infiltration of the premises and it is ready for handling the creature. We will capture him before anyone knows what has happened, your plan is sure to succeed."

"That is satisfactory, dismissed."

Harry left the scene playing in his mind along with the other death eaters. He felt almost as if he was a ghost able to hide himself from detection.

The truth was that Harry was the best link that those of fighting Voldemort had in the way of information. It was very fortunate that Harry was connected to Voldemort because of the curse that was laid upon him in his infancy.

* * *

Harry woke up quickly and felt his scar stinging on his forehead. The pain was fading for it must have been attributed to the Cruciatus Curse that Voldemort laid on one of his minions. The pain in and of itself was something to write Dumbledore about but he tried and captured as many facts as he could from the scene he had witnessed. As he wrote he found that it was difficult to remember all of the details of the dream. They flooded his mind as he wrote on the piece of parchment. This is what he remembered:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

When I woke up this morning I found that my scar hurt. Before I woke up I had an interesting dream. This is what I can remember about it and I think that it would be wise to have all things that I say taken seriously. I was in a room and it was with Voldemort and three other Death Eaters. They were each reporting about assignments that Voldemort had given them, the first had to do with spying on you and the resistance. They were saying something about infiltrating into your inner circle, so be careful about whom you let be a member. Then there was another guy who was in charge of rallying for the other side and finding creatures. They have communicated with both the Dementors and the giants, but I am not sure what came of it. The last guy was talking about a special mission that Voldemort had sent him on and he said that it was going as planned and that they hoped that he thought the "capture" would go as planned.

This is what happened to me last night this is the first thing that I did this morning and I hope that this information will be helpful to you.

Do you think that it is possible that they were planning to capture me? They did not name whom they were planning on capturing but I think that from the evidence in the past I would be a high possibility.

Yours sincerely,

Harry Potter

Harry had spoken to Dumbledore many times and thought that he was a very wise old man, but his intelligence made him seem above the rest of the magical population. He was a cut above the rest. Harry was intimidated by Dumbledore and in the past that had inspired him to not tell him about his previous dreams or the burning in his scar.

Harry knew that he was doing the right thing by telling Dumbledore and he gave it to Hedwig, feeling guilty after how much he she had worked the night before. He felt that it was bad manners to reward her good deeds with another chore, but it couldn't be helped.

Harry wondered whether he should tell His godfather about the dream that he had had the night before. He always felt as though he could tell Sirius anything or turn to him in his time of need. Harry had only known Sirius for two years but already he was more like a father than Uncle Vernon ever was. Harry also felt protected by his godfather, because it was only the threat of his godfathers wrath that kept the Dursley's from chaining him to his bed and refusing to let him ever see a magic book again. But as Harry could remember Dumbledore had put Sirius on some sort of mission at the end of the previous year, and Harry didn't want to distract Sirius if he was doing something important to the cause against Voldemort.

Hedwig took the letter understanding the urgency in Harry's posture and the letter was off before any of the Dursleys' were awake. Harry had always found it interesting that Hedwig could read him so well. He felt that even though he always became disassociated from the magical community be could always send off Hedwig to get help.

* * *

After Harry sent out his letter he decided that he needed to clear his mind of everything magical. He felt that is break from all things relating to the magical world was coming to an abrupt end. He wanted to cherish the odd freedom that he felt at the Dursley's this summer. It was odd that the place that he had once actually held him in with bars was now the one place that he felt he could escape to. He never thought that he would be glad to be with the Dursley's; he also thought that he would never be a friend with a muggle. This summer he had proved himself wrong many times.

He went down stairs to the kitchen were he made himself a piece of toast and jam. As he walked toward the front door he glanced at the closet that had all once held all of his magical possessions, he was so glad that this year he was allowed to have them in his trunk in his room. He never felt secure now unless he knew that he could get a hold of his wand.

Harry went out for his usual morning jog ready to think about nothing but this proved impossible. He found that he was not alone. On every street corner there was one of Mrs. Figg's cats and all of them watched him intensely as he passed. This made him nervous and he jogged faster, then when he realized that the cats were probably all on his regular route he took an unexpected turn and went as fast as he could in another direction hoping to escape the cats eyes, this unfortunately didn't work. The cats started chasing after him.

Chasing a person was not the regular act of a cat, a dog maybe, but not a cat. Harry could think of no logical reason as to why these cats would be chasing him. And the only viable magical reason he could think of was Voldemort.

As Harry ran with all of his might away from them he remembered that Voldemort was planning to capture someone and that someone was probably him. Voldemort always had some plot running through his evil mind and Harry was afraid that these cats were a band of Voldemort's familiars that had been sent out to learn Harry's usual routine so that Voldemort could take advantage of it and use it against him. Harry couldn't believe that Mrs. Figg was really a Voldemort supporter. All of those years that he had stayed over at her house she had been nothing but kind to him. Still Harry was being chased by a horde of her cats and Harry could only guess where they were herding him, Mrs. Figg, some of her Death Eater friends, or even Voldemort himself? The possibilities were endless and Harry thought that he was supposed to be protected at the Dursley's.

The cats used their numbers to force him in the directions they chose, and Harry eventually ended up in a dead end. He had to control his fear for he knew that if he used magic over the summer he would never be allowed back at Hogwarts. Harry didn't have his wand because he never had it out during the summer, and now he felt that he was going to have to fight off all of these cats, he would do it, he would pretend they were garden gnomes and throw them over fences. He turned around to face the cats ready to use his well-developed reflexes to guard with only a seconds warning. Behind all of the cats came Mrs. Figg, the ringmaster of the cat mob.

"Harry," She said in an exhausted voice, "You are as fast as your father, why are you running so far from your relatives home? I have been looking all over for you."

Harry knew that she was a witch, and most likely in league with Voldemort, he also knew that she was a fully trained witch and he would have no chance without his wand. So Harry used the only thing that he had over her and ran.

He knew that even witches in their old age could be slowed down in comparison to the youth. He had very good reflexes and he was very fast because of his training for Quidditch in the fall. He surveyed the houses around him and he noticed that there was a stone wall on one of the houses. He knew that her spells would be refracted if he could only get over it in time. He new he had to evade capture or he was dead meat. He ran straight for a house using all of his might to propel himself over the high fence, but when his was starting to descend into the yard he heard the word "Stupefy!" come out of Mrs. Figg's mouth.

And Harry Potter lay unconscious on the ground, and in the hands of Mrs. Figg.

She stood above him and shook her head, she had expected Harry to do something other than that to save himself, especially when he faced the Dark Lord again

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