Concordia Discors

CONCORDIA DISCORS

Chapter 5

"The outcome of the war is in our hands; the outcome of words is in the council."

- Homer

Harry Potter dragged his eyes away from Bellatrix and looked Lucius defiantly in the eye. He was pleased to see that the senior Malfoy looked more than a little nervous beneath his air of superiority. With a vindictive smile, Harry inquired, "And how are you. Mr. Malfoy? I trust Azkaban wasn't too rough on you?"

Behind him, he heard his aunt and cousin gasp. Praying they would be careful now that they knew what they were dealing with--they both remembered that Azkaban was a wizards' prison--he patiently awaited a response.

"Your concern is touching, Potter. But we both know I wouldn't have remained there long." Malfoy sneered at him and stepped forward, wand pointing at him.

"No, probably not. But it seems that the, er... weakest... are the ones who suffer the most there," Harry countered slyly. "So you can understand my concern, I'm sure."

"Why you little--" Malfoy breathed, gripping his wand tighter in his fist.

Surprisingly, Bellatrix Lestrange stepped forward as well, grabbing his wrist and turning to smile at Harry. After squeezing Malfoy's arm in warning, she spoke.

"Well hello Harry.... It's been weeks!" She smiled at him as if they were old friends. "I've been going insane from missing you."
Harry stared at her, confused. He knew for a fact that Bellatrix certainly hadn't missed him... So what was she playing at? Growing more fearful by the minute for his relatives, Harry was only hoping to get them all out of there alive.

His aunt, apparently, had other plans. She darted around Harry at a speed he hadn't thought possible, her hand flying up to slap Bellatrix across the face. "Bitch!" she screamed at a shocked Bellatrix, as Harry grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back.

The cold, dark eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange glittered with anger and amusement as she turned back to Petunia Dursley. "Well, well, well, mama's got spunk, does she?" She paused for a moment, apparently remembering something. "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry Potter, I forgot... Your mother is dead, isn't she? My condolences."

"You're the one who killed my nephew's godfather!" Petunia screeched. Wincing, Harry hoped desperately that she would realize what she was doing. Petunia Dursley was no match for Bellatrix Lestrange.

Bellatrix smiled and curtsied. "Pleased to meet you," she said in a voice that was almost kind. "I'm also the one who tortured his dear friend Neville's parents to insanity, and the one who almost got to screw an unconscious friend of his."

Harry stared at her, rage boiling in his veins. "What?" he said in a dangerously low voice.

Bellatrix smiled at him sweetly. "Well, after Mr. Weasley passed from fighting the brain too much, Rodolphus almost had to drag me away. Dear Ronald is such a sweetheart, Harry, it's no wonder you like him so much."

Harry started forward, murder on his mind, but stared in shock as his aunt's hand swung forward again. This time, before it could connect, Bellatrix grabbed Petunia's wrist and crushed the bones beneath her fingers. Petunia gasped in pain and fear, but aside form that, she did not relent.

"Get out of the way, dear," Bellatrix whispered. "You cannot stop me. Now get out of the way before I blast you into millions of little pieces."

Petunia was shaking in fear, but at the threat, suddenly, she was almost transformed. She stood up straight, a strange glint in her eyes, and stared Bellatrix straight in the eye. "No," she said calmly.

Bellatrix stared at her. "No?" she repeated. She removed her hand from Petunia's wrist and pointed her wand straight at Petunia Dursley's heart. "One last chance, you foolish woman, get out of the way."

"No." Petunia whispered.

Bellatrix shrugged, and Harry stared. "Can't say I didn't warn you..." she said sweetly, raising her wand.

"Mum!" Dudley shouted, and Harry started forward yet again, but found himself pushed backwards by his aunt, who had, somewhere inside herself, found an incredible amount of strength.

"Avada--" Bellatrix began in a sing-song voice... From the corner of his eye, Harry saw his uncle edging forward.

"Kedavra!" She screamed... The jet of green light raced for Petunia's chest, but she stood strong... When it was an inch from its target, Petunia found herself suddenly thrown to the ground, and Vernon Dursley fell unmoving beside her.

"Vernon!" Petunia screamed. Harry fell back in shock, staring at the sight before him. Behind him, he heard Dudley give voice to a howl of rage. Petunia began crying, hoarse, lost sounds he had never heard from anyone in his life. He had, only moments before, felt that the most bone-chilling sound in the world was the sound of a Dementor screaming.

He now knew he was wrong.

"Oops," Bellatrix Lestrange said calmly. "Missed. Now... who's to be next...?" she said in a singsong voice, holding Harry's gaze. "I think it should be..." she walked over to Dudley and lifted his shaking jowls with her finger. "What's your name, pet?"

Petunia growled from the floor, a hoarse gutteral sound that shook everyone in the room. "Don't touch him, bitch."

Bellatrix turned slowly from Dudley, and for a moment Harry thought she had frozen where she stood. Then, in a movement so fast that she was only a blur, she spun on Petunia and pulled out her wand. "Crucio!" she whispered.

The jet of red light hit her squarely in the chest. Harry braced himself for the howls of pain, closing his eyes... he couldn't watch this again...

But they never came.

Harry opened his eyes, staring at the sight before him. His aunt was a pasty white in color, shaking, with a trickle of blood dripping down from where she was biting her lip, agony flashed in her eyes...

But she didn't make a sound.

Dudley got over the shock much more quickly than Harry did, his ignorance of the Wizarding world, for once, paying off. He reacted in a moment, kicking Bellatrix in the back of the leg, only to receive a binding curse from Lucius Malfoy that sent him into the wall.

With a feeling of great trepidation, Harry turned slightly to look at Bellatrix. To his shock, and fear, she was eyeing Petunia with a mixture of awe and annoyance.

"Got a little of your sister in you, don't you, Petunia?" she whispered.

Harry's aunt flinched, but Bellatrix, smiling at that sight, continued.

"Do you know what my master told me?" she murmured in a malevolent voice. "He was the one to kill her; he heard her last words... And he told me that she said, to Harry, your nephew, that she wished you would have been able to look beyond your jealousy... so she could have seen you, one last time."

For a few seconds, there was silence. Finally, mustering up every ounce of courage he possessed, Harry stepped forward.

With an arrogance and calm manner he didn't feel, he looked Bellatrix Lestrange straight in the eye and said, in a level tone, "Leave. Her. Alone."

"Potter," Malfoy the Elder hissed with a smile. "Do you reall think you can take on two fully grown dark wizards, with an aunt and cousin to protect?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, yes, I do. If I remember correctly, last year I took on twelve fully grown dark wizards, with five friends to protect." He bit his lip lightly, trying desperately to quell the fear that was rising up inside him.

Suddenly, he realized his wand had been hanging loosely in his hand the entire time. His mind reeling, he struggled to stall while trying to come up with something--anything--to save his aunt and cousin.

As he struggled through the haze that had not been lifted by the Dementor's absence, he suddenly remembered that night in his fourth year, when Viktor Krum had been attacked, and Crouch had been kidnapped... Dumbledore had sent a great silver thing to get Hagrid! But his heart sank as he realized... he didn't know the incantation.

"If I remember correctly, you ran from us, Potter," Malfoy shot back in rage. "Like little children playing hide-and-go-seek."

"I didn't run anywhere, I was following her--" he jabbed his thumb at Bellatrix "--who, might I add, was running like the cowards you lot are."

Bellatrix snarled and pointed her wand.

Harry smiled sweetly, hoping it didn't come out like the grimace it felt like. "Oh, I'm sorry Trixy, did I hurt your feelings? I didn't mean to say you were a coward... oh... well, okay, maybe I did..."

'Be quiet, you insolent, little brat! You dare.. How you dare..." Bellatrix raged.

As she sreamed at him, Harry's eyes flickered to Dudley, who nodded and edged slowly towards his mother.

"Oh no you don't! " She screamed, and turned her wand on Dudley once more. "Avada Kedavra!" she shouted.

And in a flash of light, another Dursley fell dead to the ground.

Dudley stared in shock at the sight of his mother laying on the ground in front of him. His hands shook and his eyes flashed.

"Malfoy, was it?" he said sharply, turning to Lucius.

The older man simply smirked, a light of great amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"What is it, boy?" he whispered. "Would you like me to kill you? Would you like me to make it quick?"

"I would like you," Dudley replied in a deadly whisper, "to fuck off."

Then, in a flash, he raised his lg, and Malfoy dropped to the ground, howling in pain.

Bellatrix spun to him yet again when Malfoy screamed, but this time, harry was quicker. "Stupefy!" he yelled, and she fell to the ground in a dead faint.

Looking down at her, Harry whispered, "Sweet dreams, Trixy..."

Quickly, he stunned Mafloy as well, who collapsed mid-scream, and then turned to Dudley.

The sight that greeted him was one that would haunt him for years: a sixteen year old boy, curled up on the ground, crying over his mother's body.

Harry moved forward sadly. "Come on," he whispered.

As the two boys stole swiftly away, the only witness to their grief was the slowly-rising sun.

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Hermione Granger was bored. It was a terrible thing to say, she knew, in times as tragic as these, but it was the truth.

There was nothing happening now, with the London Battle basically over, and she was left to sit quietly in her headmaster's office. Wondering why in bloody hell he had called her here for 'something important' and then sat her down to eat, completely avoiding said 'important' subject for a good twenty minutes.

Witha sigh, she set her crumpet down. "Uncle Albus, what is it?"

Her great-uncle frowned at the crumpet he held in his hand. "It needs a bit more jam, don't you think?" he asked her with a benign smile.

Humming to himself, he reached for the jar of strawberry jam.

"Uncle Albus..." she repeated.

""Hmm?" he asked. "What was that, my dear?"

"Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore, don't you pull that trick on me..."

"What trick, dearest?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Uncle..." she said, stressing each syllable, "don't insult my intelligence like this. I know you've got something up your bright purple sleeves."

He sighed a great, long-suffering sound. "Can't get anything past you anymore," he muttered tiredly, but his eyes twinkled with mirth as he bit into his crumpet.

Hermione waited patiently...or so she thought... for a few seconds more, then...

"Albus Perc--"

"Very well, very well," Dumbledore sighed, holding up a hand to ward her off. He took another bite of his crumpet, then began, "I know you've been feeling left out in all this..." He waved his free, non-crumpet-occupied hand around, searching for a word "... action, due to the war and such. I've been trying to think of something you can do."

Hermione brightened. "Oh? There's actually something you'd let me do?"

"Well... yes and no, my dear. I would hate to let you do anything that may put you in danger, but I know that I have little choice. At least this way I can know what you're doing and be sure that it's all safe. I don't know what I'd do if you left me now."

Hermione smiled. "You have nothing to worry about, Uncle. You're taking good care of me. You're taking good care of all of us."

Her great-uncle smiled back, heartened by this. "Well, you see, this doesn't involve danger at the moment, but I'm sure that if we're successful here, you could play a much larger part in the war to come. A large part, but still as safe as possible. I can't see of any better options."

"I just want to help, Uncle..."

"Yes, yes, I know." He took a bite of crumpet, then brushed some crumbs out of his immense beard.

"What is it that you suggest?"

"Lemon drop?" he asked, holding out the tray, that twinkle in his eye sparkling in the light.

"Uncle! You do not suggest a lemon drop, so please get to the point! I mean, I love you, but you are an infuriating old man!"

Albus smiled, unfazed. "Yes, yes, I am. It's odd, you're remarkably like Severus when it comes to your opinions."

Hermione frowned. "Like Professor Snape?"

Her great-uncle nodded. "But that is besides the point, at the moment. You wish to know what I suggest... first I must know, have you read up on the ancient ways of our kind?"

She nodded excitedly. "Of course."

"Then you know all about covens...?"

"A coven! Uncle, that's a brilliant idea!"

Dumbledore smiled, a twinkle lighting his eyes. "Yes, I thought so. You see, with the joined power of a few of Hogwarts' greatest female minds, we'd have quite a powerful force behind us. You are in agreement, then, I presume?"

"Of course! Oh, so much to organize! Have to find willing women... a -"

"Child! I'm not quite finished with you, first."

Hermione snapped her mouth shut and slammed her brain on the brakes, listening to her great-uncle. "Then, what?"

"I have a few ladies listed that I think you should ask..." He shuffled a few papers around and pulled one out, handing it to his pupil.

Hermione read it over quickly.

Luna Lovegood

Hannah Abbot

Sally-Anne Perks

Ginevra Weasley

"Oh, of course, Uncle. I would have asked Ginny and Luna anyway, of course, but... who is Sally-Anne Perks?"

Albus smiled. "There is one girl from each house on there. Miss Perks is a going-on-sixth-year Slytherin, much like yourself."

"A Slytherin? Are you sure she'll even consider this?"

"Of course she will. She, much like Miss Lovegood, is an outcast in her own house. Have you ever seen her participate in the Slytherin sport of, to put it frankly, Gryffindor-bashing?"

Hermione shook her head. "None I can remember..."

Dumbledore twinkled, leaning back in his chair and folding his fingers across his lap. "Precisely, my dear. Miss Perks has few friends, one of which happens to be Miss Lovegood." He smiled, staring off at the window, seemingly lost in the past. "Yes, Miss Lovegood does make odd friends. She reminds me of... me, in the old days."

Hermione blinked. Great-Uncle Albus was like Loony Lovegood...? "Erm... of course, sir. Well, if Sally-Anne is willing to join us, I'd be happy to have her. Is that good?"

"Very."

Hermione nodded, smiling. "Good," she replied, while still puzzling over the relation between Luna and Dumbledore. Her eyes slid downward to rest on the surface of her uncle's desk... Suddenly she was very unwilling to look him in the eye. She sat quietly and nervously, twisting strands of hair around her finger as she bit her lip.

Watching her carefully, her great-uncle sighed. We're going to have to work on her poker face, he thought with amusement. "Hermione?" he said quietly.

The almost-sixteen year old girl jumped and looked at him guiltily. "Yes?" she replied in a timid voice.

Her great-uncle looked at her kindly. "What is it?"

Hermione twisted her hair even tighter around her finger, bit down harder on her lip, and looked away again. "I... I had another one of those... dreams," she whispered.

Albus Dumbledore sat up straight, startled. "What about?" he demanded instantly, though still retaining his kindly manner.

"That's just it," Hermione muttered in defeat. "I don't know." Leaning forward, she braced her elbows on his desk, and rubbed her hand across the back of her neck. "It was... complicated."

"Complicated how?" Albus asked gently.

She sighed tiredly again. Looking at his great niece, Albus felt his heart cry out in sympathy. For one so young, she looked as if she felt very, very old already.

And it would only get worse.

"There's... darkness," she began haltingly. "A storm... Lightning forking across the sky. And rain is pouring down in sheets, and the lake is flooding... Trees are falling over in the Forbidden Forest, and all manner of creatures are running out of it, trying to escape... And an army of werewolves stands at the edge of the forest. And there's... a power... a terrible, awe-inspiring power, across the grounds from the werewolves, and the darkness is growing stronger every second... And then the rain changes to snow, and a ray of light shines through the dark... And it's green, and red, and yellow, and blue, and white..." She looked at him, confusion and fear showing clearly on her face. "And then it disappears."

He stared at her, shocked. What could this mean? he wondered. It sounded like a prophetic dream, but no... Hermione wasn't a Seer, was she?

Suddenly, a shout sounded from his fireplace. Headmaster and student, great-uncle, and great niece, spun to face the flames, and were greeted by the sight of a panicked Remus Lupin.

"Albus!" Remus said urgently.

"Come quick! Harry's aunt and uncle... they're dead! The boys are no where to be found!"

Hermione swayed where she sat, and grabbed onto the edge of the desk. Dead? her mind shouted. His aunt and uncle... dead? Her eyes shot to her great-uncle, who looked older and more tired than she had ever seen him, and there was something on his face she had never seen: fear.

With a quick gesture, he motioned her forward, and reached for his pot of floo powder. Seconds later, the office was dissolving behind them as they sped to number 12 Grimmauld Place, Hermione's heart racing in her throat.

I am stronger than my fear, her heart told her mind.

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Remus Lupin paced the floors of the meeting area impatiently. He raked a quivering hand through his light brown and growled in frustration. Somewhere out there, James's son was in trouble, and what was he doing? Pacing up and down, waiting for orders! The wolf inside him cried out for action. Somewhere, his honorary nephew was in grave danger.

And he was doing nothing.

From his right, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Looking up, he saw Arthur's pale, concerned face watching him anxiously. "Sit down," Arthur said quietly. "There's nothing we can do right now. Let's just wait for Albus to get here and go from there."

Remus stared at him, annoyed. Arthur just stared back, not giving an inch. Finally, Remus sighed and sank into an empty chair next to his friend.

"Useless," he muttered to himself. Seconds later, green flames shot up in the fireplace, and Albus Dumbledore stepped out, followed closely by Hermione Granger.

Hermione stared her old teacher down, rage flickering in her eyes. "You are NOT useless," she declared, in a tone that brooked no argument. Remus stared at her, his mouth hanging open, and Moody, Kingsley, and Arthur chuckled quietly.

"Oh, sod off," Remus muttered darkly.

They laughed even louder. Albus chuckled tiredly and glanced at Hermione in amusement. The young girl blushed slightly, but did not back down. She turned to Remus again and said, in the same tone, "Don't you EVER let me hear you say that again!"

"Alright, alright," Remus agreed quickly.

Dumbledore shot him a winning smile and turned to face Kingsley. "Kingsley, where's the girl? Callie, wasn't that her name?"

"Yes, sir," Kingsley replied solemnly. "She's asleep upstairs. I believe Molly and Ginevra are seeing to her. "

"In good health, I trust?" Dumbledore asked concernedly.

"Oh yes," Kingsley replied with a wry grin. "When I left, she was begging me to take her with me... She said something about 'bossy and babying women'."

After several minutes of awkward silence, Hermione glanced nervously at the headmaster and then said, "Well, what do we know?"

Moody rubbed a gnarled hand over his face and spoke. "We left Potter and Dursley to get back to Petunia and Vernon Dursley on their own at around 3 AM. At about 3:45 that same morning, Callista met Kingsley here, and an elderly gent passed by who informed us that there were two people threatening four others. He told us that a man and a woman in black robes, with silver masks hanging around their necks, were brandishing sticks at a woman and two boys, and a man was dead on the ground. We reached the site he told us about at 4:10 and found Vernon and Petunia Dursley dead on the ground. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, who were described by the elderly man, were nowhere in sight, nor were Potter or Dursley Junior."

Again, there was a tense silence.

"Captured?" Arthur ventured in a frightened voice.

"It's likely," Remus sighed. "Harry wouldn't just run off and leave his aunt and uncle to die."

The six wizards and witch sat in mournful silence, until Dumbledore voiced what they were all hoping. "Unless," he said, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were already dead when Harry and young Dudley fled the scene." Turning slightly, he looked to Hermione, who flinched and shrank back form the attention. "What do you think, my dear?"

Hermione folded her hands together on the table surface and concentrated her attention on circling her thumb over her index finger. "I don't know," she whispered. "Harry wouldn't--"

From the outside hall came a crash, and she broke off mid-sentence. All six occupants of the room spun to face the doors that had just swung open, and waited for the stream of new arrivals to cease.

With the mildest bit of shock--and annoyance--Hermione noted that Mundungus Fletcher and Severus Snape were among the arrivals, but was greatly heartened by the small smile Minerva McGonagall sent her way.

Once everyone had settled into a seat, Dumbledore called for order, and gestured at Remus to repeat their findings. Then, he turned to Hermione once again, and said, "The perspective of Harry's closest available friend would be most useful, Hermione."

Severus Snape, robed in his usual jet black even in July, shot to his feet. "What is the girl doing here, Headmaster? I will not have the bossy know-it-all poking her nose into Order business!"

The room fell into a silence yet again, but this one was a decidedly hostile silence.

When he realized he was being glared at from all sides, with particularly menacing glares coming form Arthur, Molly, and Remus, Snape shrank back into his chair as gracefully as he could manage.

"Your opinion is noted and appreciated, Severus," Dumbledore said in an even voice, leveling the potions master with a calm, impersonal stare. Then, in a decidedly pointed gesture, he turned away from Severus and gave Hermione his rapt attention. "You were saying?"

"Well," Hermione began anxiously, and shot a glance in Snape's direction. The bat-like professor was breathing heavily through his nose, his eyes shooting daggers at her. "I agree with Remus; Harry wouldn't run off and leave his aunt and uncle to die. No matter how horrendously they treated him. It's most likely that Vernon and Petunia were killed because they tried to defend Harry, and that once they died, Harry somehow outsmarted Lestrange and Malfoy and got Dudley away to safety."

For a few moments, everyone deliberated her words. Finally, Remus spoke up. "That seems like the most likely scenario." He said slowly. "Harry would never stand by while someone died near him--his aunt and uncle must have been threatened in some way, so he was powerless. And then they died to save him... and he decided to save the one person he could."

"Ah but you forget, Lupin," Severus sneered at his former colleague. "Potter did stand idle while someone died... or have you forgotten Cedric Diggory?"

"Severus!" Albus Dumbledore shot to his feet, glaring down at the potions master. "I am warning you!"

The potions professor stared at him, pain and defiance flickering in his eyes.

Perhaps hoping to diffuse the situation, Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke up. "But where would they go?" he wondered aloud.

"Diagon Alley?" Hestia Jones guessed.

"No, too public." Hermione said.

"True, true..." Arthur sighed.

"Maybe heading for Hogwarts?" McGonagall threw into the open. "Hoping the teachers are there?"

"It's possible," Moody grunted, and shared a glance with Shacklebolt. "But unlikely. Potter won't try for such a long journey when he knows without a doubt there are Death Eaters on his tail."

"Then where is he?" Tonks demanded exasperatedly, brushing her hair--today an electric blue--out of her face.

To everybody's shock, the now calm voice of the potions master spoke up again.

"Petunia Dursley provided a blood Potter, did she not?" Snape said smoothly, "Could not Dudley Dursley do the same? Petunia died to save them, or so we assume," he sneered in Hermione's direction. "Perhaps Petunia's sacrifice will protect the boys?"

Hermione stared at him. "My god," she breathed, "You're right. The sacrifice would... put up an ancient magic over the house... and protect them as long as they return once a year... I read about it once in--"

Dumbledore cut her off, saying sharply, "Remus, Kingsley, Arthur, Moody, Tonks... Go to 4 Privet Drive immediately and retrieve the boys. Bring them back here right away."

The five wizards and witch nodded and left the room silently.

The remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix sat around the table, none saying a word. With another tired sigh, Albus Percival Wulfic Brian Dumbledore rubbed an ancient hand over his eyes. "Harry," he whispered, "what happened to you?"

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"Hand me that board, Dudley," Harry said as he held out his hand.

Without answering, Dudley walked across the room and picked up a two-by-four that sat on the counter.

"Thanks," Harry replied around the nails in his mouth.

Raising the hammer, he proceeded to nail the board into the last uncovered window. Dudley took a seat at the counter and watched impassively.

"Harry?" he said quietly. "What's it like being an orphan?"

Harry froze. Turning slowly, he stared at his cousin. What could he possibly say? he wondered. What words could describe what it like to be an orphan?

"Dudley..." he began helplessly as he walked away from the window. "I..."

With a loud crash, the not-yet-boarded window fell from its pane, and Harry and Dudley spun around to see the unsmiling face of Mad-Eye Moody peering through at them.

"They're in here!" Moody growled to someone standing behind him. Through his shock, Harry recognized the "Oh, thank Merlin!" that was the reply as the voice of Arthur Weasley, and then five people were climbing through his now broken window. Bemused, the two boys watched as Mad-Eye, Arthur, Remus, Kingsley, and Tonks climbed quickly into his kitchen, Tonks tripping over the frame and slicing her leg open.

Dudley stared at Tonks with his jaw hanging open, then rushed quickly to the toilet to get her bandages, his face turning bright red. Harry chuckled and Moody grinned, and then Arthur and Remus rounded on Harry.

"What in Merlin's name were you THINKING?" Remus demanded.

Harry stared at him, incredulous. "My aunt and uncle--who used to hate me but recently came to care about me--just died to save me. I'm supposed to be THINKING?" he shouted back.

Arthur grabbed Remus's arm and pulled him back. "Harry, Remus, calm down," he said urgently. "We need to get you some things and get out of here quickly. You need to bring all of your school books from year one up, Harry, and whatever you'll need for school... You won't be coming back here before then. And Dudley needs to pack whatever clothes he wants to keep."

Nodding, Harry spun around and raced up the stairs, with Dudley, who had just finished wrapping Tonks' leg, in close pursuit.