Harry Potter and the Year of Surprises

Harry Potter and the Road to Destiny

Chapter 1 - Quick Departure

None of his relatives had uttered a word since they got in the car. In all the time Harry Potter had known and despised them, they had never been this quiet. Usually at the end of a school year they would rant and rave and insult him until they got home. But this year after half an hour in the car with them they had not yet made a sound. That is unless you count Dudley trying to fit his hands around his bottom and whimpering pathetically. 'Although,' thought Harry, 'I suppose you can't really blame them.' They had been stuck on the M25 outside London for twenty minutes now having just pulled away from Kings Cross Station.

After the reception they'd received there he figured he might just be lucky enough for them to be so afraid, that they wouldn't say a word all summer. He could hope anyway. But then again if his past luck was anything to go by this summer would be just as bad if not worse than all the previous ones. He supposed that as soon as the shock of meeting 'Madeye' had worn off they would be back to their old selves again. At least this year he knew that help would come if he asked for it. His past summers away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had definitely been some of the lower points of his life, and for Harry that was saying something.

The summer after second year he had all of his mail stopped by a house elf, been sent an official warning by the Ministry of Magic for the use of a hover charm, (that he did not perform) and got locked in his room by his aunt and uncle who fed him soup through an installed cat flap. The next summer he inflated his Uncle Vernon's Sister, Aunt Marge, ran away from the Dursley household, almost got knocked over by a triple decker bus and found out that an escaped convict was after his blood. The summer after his third year he was awoken from his sleep by a vision of the most fearsome Dark Lord of all time and found himself in the middle of a muggle torturing session at the Quidditch World Cup. He was then a witness to the Dark Mark being fired into the sky by a death eater.

Of course these three summers paled in comparison to the summer after his fourth year. He was ridiculed and slandered by almost the entire wizarding world, he was ignored by his friends and his teachers, he was attacked with his cousin by two dementors of Azkaban and he got put on trial and threatened with expulsion for performing underage magic. So Harry indeed wasn't looking forward to this coming summer. Especially now that Voldemort's return had been made public. He supposed he should consider that to be a good thing but he knew, now that it had been acknowledged that Voldemort had returned that he would attack innocent people more and more over the coming months. Also the price of his return being recognised had not been one he had been willing to pay.

He hadn't known Sirius that long but he had loved his Godfather like he would his parents. There was so much that he had never found out about him, and now he was gone. The tears that he had felt in his eyes so often at late threatened to overwhelm him again but he forced himself to think of something else. To not cry in front of his blood relatives. That's all they were after all. His Aunt Petunia may have been his mother's sister but they were not his family. The Weasley's were his family and they had done things for him that the Dursleys would never have thought of doing, and loved him in ways that he doubted the Dursleys could even comprehend.

Harry was dreading the inevitable arrival at Privet Drive. He knew that it would mean basically slave labour and he would have rather stayed in this car for two months if it had been possible.

'Tap, tap.'

'What's that noise Vernon?' asked his Aunt Petunia as she finally found her voice.

'Tap, tap.'

'Boy!' cried his Uncle Vernon to Harry as the tapping sounded again. 'Will you cut out that bloody noise!'

'It's not me,' Harry retorted. 'It's coming from the sunroof.'

'The sunroof!' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'I'm gonna bloody sue that Mercedes Warehouse if it's the last thing I do! I pay this much for a car and all I get is a constant noise coming from the blasted roof!'

'Uh dad,' Dudley piped up from the seat next to Harry in the back. 'Why don't you open the sunroom to see if the tapping stops?'

'Ah hah!' yelled Vernon scaring his wife silly, making Hedwig squawk, and causing Dudley to shake the entire car with his weight. 'This is why we sent him to that school see Petunia; I knew he'd do well there. They keep telling me he's nothing but a bully and a delinquent and that he's heading for a life on the dole! Bah that's what they think! Like I want some pansy know-it-all for a son anyway. Yes our Dudders has some smarts doesn't he Petunia. And the looks to go with it! Unlike some other people his age...' he added staring at Harry in the rear-view mirror.

As Uncle Vernon continued to ramble on under his breath about Harry what exactly made him a less than satisfactory human being, the tapping noise seemed to get a little more desperate.

'Vernon, the sunroof?' reminded Aunt Petunia.

'Oh yes, thank you dear,' said Vernon once again going back to ignoring Harry.

He reached over to the dashboard and pressed the button that opened the electric sunroof of the car. As it slid open many things happened. The first was that a tiny black owl came bombing through the sunroof of the stationary car with a letter that was easily four times bigger than the bird. The second was Dudley screaming and bringing his legs up to stretch his hands around his considerably large buttocks. The third was that this movement of Dudley's, being as large as he was, made him hit Uncle Vernon's seat with his legs, and caused him to crash into the car in front.

'BOY!' screamed Uncle Vernon for the second time in ten minutes. 'What in blazes do you think you are doing? You've just wrecked my bloody car! I don't care what your freaky friends say I'm gonna flay you to within an inch of your life when we get home!'

Harry, of course was not paying the slightest bit of attention to his Uncle's yelling. He was too busy staring at the owl with the letter sitting in his lap. He had thought it might have been Pigwidgeon Ron's owl that had delivered the letter, but upon closer inspection, found the owl to be even smaller than Pig was. Deciding there was only one way to find out who the minuscule owl belonged to he untied the envelope from its leg and the owl soared back up and out of the sunroof. He noticed a crest on the back of the envelope with the letters A.P.W.B.D on it. He thought he had seen the letters somewhere before but he just couldn't place it with his mind being how it was right then. He opened the envelope and the letter written on the thick parchment couldn't have shocked him more if it had tried.

Dear Harry,

I am writing this letter to you in order to clear up a few unfinished points from our last meeting, and to raise some new ones. I hope that most of these new developments will be good news to you but if not I apologise in advance and simply hope that you understand my actions are unavoidable. This parchment has also been charmed so that only someone with your magical signature will be able to read it.

First off I want to apologise again for my actions (or lack of them) during the past twelve months. I understand now that I should have approached the situation earlier and told you about the prophecy. I am truly sorry and I take absolute full responsibility for your loss of Sirius. If I had been straight with you from the start then he might still be alive. I do hope that you will be able to see through an old man's mistakes and learn to trust me again because I am willing to do anything I can to gain back your trust.

Although I would say what I am about to say in person I will do so by letter to give you a bit of good news early. You are now legally an adult wizard. In wizarding law, if both parents and guardians die the child has to be assigned a new guardian. This is to ensure the well-being of the child as well as to keep the child's magical abilities in check. This however does not apply to wizards who have taken their OWLs. If the parents or guardians of a child die after they have taken their OWLs the child is declared a legal adult. This means that you are allowed to use magic out of school. It also has a number of other implications but it will simply take too long to go through them all in a letter. I will discuss them with you when I see you.

Although the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery does not apply to you anymore the International Statute of Secrecy does. In other words do not perform magic in the presence of any muggles who do not know of its existence, unless it is a life or death situation.

It is important Harry that you do not cut people out of your life because of your burden. All of your friends know that you would gladly give your life to save theirs but what you must understand and accept is that they will also do the same for you. Your greatest strength against Tom Riddle is the love you have for other people and the love that they hold for you. Although I will not tell you what to do I advise that you tell your close friends about the prophecy. It will lighten the burden and they can help you prepare for the trials ahead.

I am glad to say that I am also able to help you prepare for the trials ahead. Because you are now legally an adult the blood magic that has protected you for so long from harm at Privet Drive will have weakened considerably. For this reason - among others - you will only stay at Privet Drive for tonight. You will then be transported to a location that shall for now remain undisclosed. While you are residing there you will receive training from me and from other members of the staff of Hogwarts. There will also be some people instructing you that you will not have met before. I ask you however not to tell Ron and Hermione yet. They can know soon and will be able to visit you but for the moment it is important that it remains confidential.

Inside the envelope you will find a smaller envelope that is addressed to your Uncle Vernon. I urge you to only give it to him if he causes trouble for you, it contains a curse that will only wear off one hour after you have left his house.

I hope that for once I have done something right by you Harry and I do hope that you will trust me enough to teach you what you need to know. I will see you tomorrow and you shall be picked up at 11o'clock tomorrow morning.

Best Wishes

Albus Dumbledore.

By this time the Dursleys were staring at him with absolute loathing on their faces and their was a huge purple vein throbbing in Uncle Vernon's temple which he could see in the mirror. At that point, luckily, the traffic jam miraculously faded away into nothing and the car set off.

'Well boy what did it say?' barked Uncle Vernon taking his eyes off of the road to glare venomously at him.

'Most of it's private.' said Harry in exactly the same tone. 'But you'll be happy to know that you will only have to put up with me for one night and then I'll be off. I'm being picked up and taken out of your way for the rest of the summer, and if I'm correct, the rest of our lives.'

To say Uncle Vernon was pleased with this news was a drastic understatement. 'YES!' he cried throwing his hands into the air and laughing at the top of his voice.

Harry just rolled his eyes while his Aunt screamed as Vernon mounted the pavement and nearly smashed straight into a tall overbearing oak tree.

'Oh yes, sorry darling,' he said happily, 'it's just a dream come true.' I never thought we'd be rid of the brat but now, wheeeee! He's going to be gone finally!'

'I am still here you know,' Harry said indignantly.

'Not for much longer.'

Harry didn't know what to say to that so he just sat quietly pondering what was ahead. That's when it clicked. He was free! He never had to return to the Dursleys ever again! He would never have to see them ever again.

Before he knew it they were back in Privet Drive, his trunk had been pulled up to his room, he had eaten a very meagre dinner and there he was. Sitting on his bed in the tiny room at Privet Drive for what he hoped, would be the last time.

*****

Harry simply couldn't help yawning as he woke. He was still exhausted. His sleep had once again been plagued by the nightmares he had had about Sirius for the past week. They usually involved Sirius dying and then accusing Harry for his death. Sometimes Sirius turned into some of his friends who then died and blamed Harry for it. This night he had had a particularly bad one about Ron , Hermione and Ginny. Having nightmares about Ron and Hermione he was unfortunately used to but Ginny was a new one. It only made sense though he supposed. After all he had got to know her quite well over the past year and she had accompanied him to the Department of Mysteries on the night of Sirius' death. "At least she had gotten over that crush she seemed to have on him," he thought. He was quite relieved actually to be able to talk to her and get a response that included more than an elbow shaped imprint in the butter. "Yes," he told himself, it made sense for him to be having nightmares involving Ginny dieing. She was fast becoming a good friend.

Feeling excited about the prospects of the coming day, Harry got out of bed, dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and an old t-shirt of Dudley's that was at least five sizes too large. Looking in the mirror in his room, which thankfully did not talk to him, Harry decided to ask Dumbledore when he saw him if it would be possible to get some new clothes. He didn't think that the supposed 'saviour' of the wizarding world, as the Daily Prophet had called him just before school ended, should really walk round in clothes that would have comfortably fitted a beached whale.

Heading out of his room and downstairs into the kitchen, Harry, upon seeing his Uncle Vernon at the table reading a newspaper and Dudley watching the television through his little piggy eyes, decided to cook breakfast for the Dursleys for what he dearly hoped would be the last time.

As he cooked he pondered what training he might be receiving. He figured occlumency would be a must after the incident at the ministry and learning and using defensive and possibly offensive spells would be a sure thing too. Other than that he really had no idea what they would teach him. He knew he would find out later so he tried to bring his mind back to the more pressing issue of Dudley's 4 fried eggs, 12 rashers of bacon, 3 sausages, 2 hash browns, a whole tin of baked beans, 4 pieces of toast and fried bread each, and some tomatoes and mushrooms. Silently wondering how Dudley could possibly eat so much and not break the chair he then got started on his own breakfast. Just as he was serving it up the tiny black owl from yesterday came swooping in though the kitchen window and dropping an envelope on Harry's head.

Picking it up off of the floor where it had dropped Harry slid the letter open ignoring his Uncle's quiet mutterings about disease ridden birds Harry read through the short note quickly.

Harry.

I am afraid there has been a slight change of plans. Wanting to get your training started as soon as possible we have decided to collect you at 9:00 AM As such I expect you to be in the kitchen ready to go when I appear.

See you soon,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry looked at the clock over the kitchen door. It was 8:55. Dashing upstairs to get his trunk which was still packed from returning from Hogwarts, and his owl Hedwig and her cage, he charged back into the kitchen to see Uncle Vernon holding the piece of parchment with nothing but undisguised glee all over his face. Looking at his Uncle incredulously Harry heard the clock n the hallway start to chime. 1, 2...he couldn't wait of be out of here...3, 4, 5... he wondered what exactly Dumbledore needed to talk to him about...6, 7...maybe he was to join The Order of the Phoenix he mused excitedly...8, 9.

Then a popping sound signalled the arrival of a wizard in the living room. Even though it was totally expected by everyone both Uncle Vernon and Dudley fell of their chairs. Harry didn't even bother keeping the insane grin off of his face.

Uncle Vernon's face paled considerably as Albus Dumbledore came through the door and into the kitchen. Eyes twinkling merrily he reached down and with surprising strength for a man his age pulled Vernon and Dudley to their feet before gazing around appreciatively.

Looking around at the muggle kitchen he chuckled quietly to himself before pulling out bag of sweets and offering them to Uncle Vernon and Dudley. "Lemon Sherbet?" he asked smiling benignly.

"Uh ... no no ... I couldn't really ... ummm ... on a diet you see, yes ... we're trying to steer clear of the, uh, fattier foods," spluttered Uncle Vernon, glaring at Dudley as though warning him against them. Dudley however for once showed no interest in the sweets whatsoever and was nervously holding his tongue with one hand and his buttocks with the other.

Looking down at the rather enormous breakfast that was still on the table in front of Uncle Vernon and Dudley's chair, he simply smiled and replied, "Of course, of course," the knowing twinkle ever present.

Turning to Harry he said, "Ready to go, Harry?"

"Yes Professor," he replied.

Dumbledore then pulled a rubber chicken out from the inside of his robes and held it out to Harry. It was obviously a portkey and so waving goodbye to his uncle and cousin, and his aunt who had by now appeared in the doorway, he grabbed his trunk and took hold of the chicken's head and with a strange pull behind his navel shot off. Just as the blurring colours became to much for him and he felt he was going to throw up it stopped, and he found himself sprawled out on a lush red carpet in what seemed like the hallway of some kind of large mansion. As Dumbledore pulled him to his feet, he gazed round in wonder at the spectacular entrance hall. "Professor? What is this place?"

Dumbledore looked down at Harry with an even bigger twinkle in his eyes and said simply, "Potter Manor."