Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 2 – Leaving Town

The week passed by fairly quickly and Harry had already packed his things.  He didn’t bother telling the Dursleys about Dumbledore’s letter.  Uncle Vernon would only get mad at him and his face would be a rotten color of green and purple if he even breathed a word about magic around the house, or anything remotely to do with his powers and family.

Now, Harry sat, picking at the three celery sticks he was given for lunch.  He thumped one quietly on the other two, playing an unknown beat to himself as he glanced at the rest of his relatives around the table.  Dudley was making faces whenever he chewed on a celery stick, the crunching sound piercing two other mini crunches.  Uncle Vernon was nosily inhaling his three celery sticks while reading the paper and Aunt Petunia was eating her sticks like a rabbit would.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dudley looking at his sticks longingly, and Harry grimaced slightly at the sight.  He stopped his thumping and quietly pushed his plate of sticks towards Dudley.  He didn’t really feel hungry at the moment; it was as if something was in the air…something that made him feel like a premonition.

Just as Dudley pounced on the three sticks the doorbell suddenly rang and Harry jumped slightly in his seat.

"Petunia, get it," his uncle said between a mouthful of chomping and reading.

Harry watched as his aunt got up from her place at the table (still chewing like a rabbit) and walked to open the door.  He glanced at his uncle who was still immersed in the paper and Dudley was now stuffing his face with the celery sticks.

"Uh…oh my!" he heard his aunt exclaim and he turned his head towards where he saw a little of his aunt’s dress before he heard a familiar light, kind voice.

"Pardon my intrusion.  But does Harry Potter live here?"

Before he even knew it, Harry leapt from his seat and ran to the front door grinning madly like an idiot.  "Professor Lupin!" he skidded to a quick stop in front of the pale, though healthy looking professor who stared at him for a moment before quirking a small smile.

"Who the hell are you?!" his uncle’s thunderous roar came behind him and he flinched slightly at the tone the backed away before he could be smashed into the wall.

"Arf!  Grrr…"

Harry peeked from his position near the stairs to see a great black dog baring its teeth and growling lowly at his uncle.

"Snuffles!" he greeted the dog and the dog looked at him for a moment, almost smiling, before turning back to Uncle Vernon and continuing a growl.

"Someone get that mangy dog out of my house!" Vernon shouted, attempting to kick the dog away.  "And why are you here, you sleazebag?"

"Stop it.  They’re here on my account.  I’m leaving to go back to school for the rest of the summer," Harry spoke up, his anger mounting at the treatment his godfather (even though he was a dog), and his friend were getting.

"No one said you’re going anywhere, boy," his uncle rounded on him, leaving the two…er- one person and a dog, at the front door and Harry quickly backed up as he saw a twisted look of evil appear on his uncle’s face.  There was something about that look that he recognized, but couldn’t place.  "You are not leaving this house until your school year starts.  You…will…get…back…into…the kitchen…IMMEDIATELY!" his uncle yelled into his face and Harry didn’t even blink.

His anger was now a pure white-hot fury.  Why should his uncle treat him like this anyway?  He knew that he could use magic on his whole family, but then he would be breaking a million laws within the wizarding world (and he had already gotten into enough trouble at times), but there were other ways.  He narrowed his eyes and glared at his uncle who had a look that said ‘don’t you look at me that way or else you’ll get it’.

"You know…my godfather (that startled both his aunt and uncle), is still on the loose.  For all I know he could be an Animagus hiding out in your very house, keeping a sharp eye on me," he stared down his uncle (he was actually surprised at this), who started to turn from purple to a chalky white.  "He would be very angry to find out that you’ve been treating me this way during the summer."

That stopped them dead cold and he dared not look at the expressions Lupin and Snuffles were wearing.  He knew that he would have to do some explaining after he got out of the house, but for now, he…enjoyed the terrified look his uncle and aunt were wearing.

"F-Fine…g-go…we won’t stop you," his uncle stammered and Harry turned around and hurried up the stairs to get his trunk and Hedwig’s cage.  He smiled to himself, pleased that with the Dursleys still thinking that Sirius was still at large; he was free to make any sort of comments about his godfather that would straighten them out.

It didn’t take long for Harry to carry his stuff down from his room, only disturbing Hedwig for a bit who was hooting a bit, her feathers ruffling at being tossed around.  He didn’t bother saying a goodbye to the Dursleys who just slammed the door close as soon as he stepped foot outside.

"They’re a rather lovely family, aren’t they?" Lupin said in a slightly sarcastic manner as they walked a few streets away from the Dursley house.

Harry shrugged then glanced around puzzled.  How did Lupin and Snuffles get here?  Surely there must be some kind of transportation, like the Weasley’s Ford Anglia (now let loose on the wild grounds of the forest near Hogwarts).  "How did you get here?"

"Apparition magic, Harry," Sirius’ soothing voice said behind him and he turned to see his godfather transforming from his dog-form to his human one, his black hair slightly ruffled as if from the lack of sleep.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed happily, dropping his trunk and the Hedwig’s cage while launching himself towards his godfather and engulfed him in a bear hug.  He dimly heard Hedwig hooting indignantly at being tossed around as he hugged his godfather tightly, for the first time since the charges against him were cleared.

"Glad to see you too Harry," Sirius replied just as Harry released him from the bear hug, smiling from head to toe.

He watched as Sirius ran a hand through his black hair and glanced back down the couple of streets that lead to the Dursley house.  "I still can’t believe they could be like that…the worst bunch of Muggles I’ve ever met," he shuddered slightly and Harry glanced up at him hopefully.

"So, then can I live with you next summer?"

"Ah…not at the moment, no, Harry.  There’s the problem with You-Know-Who," he reached over and ruffled Harry’s black mused hair.  "To put it, you’re actually quite safe at the Dursleys, more than you will be with me."

"Er…uh…what do you mean?" Harry looked at Sirius quizzically.

"Can’t explain at the moment Harry, but…" he glanced around, his eyes searching for something, but then turned towards Professor Lupin who shook his head.  "We better go now."

"Uh…how?" Harry asked, looking from Lupin to Sirius and back.  "I can’t Apparate…I never learned how to."

Professor Lupin patted Harry on the back and smiled slightly, "Don’t worry, there are derivatives of the Apparition spell.  One is to be able to transport many people at once just by linking.  It's hard, but we’ll be able to manage."

Harry looked a bit doubtful, but he had full confidence in what Professor Lupin was saying.  He grabbed Sirius’ left hand while Lupin had picked up his trunk and Hedwig’s cage then whispered something and suddenly winked out of sight.

"Just breathe normally.  It’s not too bad.  You’ll just only feel like you’ve been plunged into ice for a split second before you materialize back," Sirius reassured him and Harry began to feel the first flutters of worry creep into his stomach.  He had heard that accidents happened when one misused the Apparition spell, leaving a person ‘splinched’ or divided apart.  He suppressed a shudder that crept up into his stomach.

"Ready?" Sirius asked.

Just as Harry started to nod, he felt as if his whole body was paralyzed, ice coursing through his veins then out of his mouth, eyes, and nose.  His scar twinge a spark of pain, just enough to keep him on his senses before he suddenly felt warm air hitting his face and his body.

Harry opened his eyes that he didn’t know he closed and saw that he was in Hogwarts, more precisely, the Great Hall where four rows of tables were lined up, all facing the High Table.  It was an effort not to collapse on to his knees as his legs turned into jelly at the moment, assaulted by both cold and warm at the same time, he shivered slightly.  Only Sirius’ firm grip kept him steady and the lingering pain of his scar was what cleared his head.

"Are you okay Harry?" Sirius asked him and Harry nodded, unable to find his voice.  He kept his breath steady then glanced up at his godfather who had concern written all over his face.

"That was…" he said in a breathless voice, "bloody cool."

Sirius gave him a wan smile then checked him over, "Anything hurting?"

Harry gave a quick thought about his scar, but dismissed it as something to do with the Apparate effects.  "Not if you count as if I was hit by Jelly-Legs Jinx."

Sirius laughed lightly (the first time Harry has heard him laugh out of mirth) and let go of his hand.  "Don’t worry, you’ll feel fine in a few minutes.  Meanwhile, Remus took your things to your dorm room and Headmaster Dumbledore wants to see you."

With that, Sirius began to transform back into a great black dog.  Harry watched, fascinated at the transformation.  It was as if Sirius’ nose and mouth had stretched out, turning into black fur and a wet black nose while his eyes remained bright and active.  His hands shriveled up into paws and he went down onto all fours, a tail growing out and getting shaggier by the minute.  Soon, the transformation was complete and Snuffles barked happily, the sound echoing off the walls and bringing out some of the Hogwarts ghosts that were residing in the Great Hall.

Harry smiled as he looked around the Great Hall.  He was finally home again and it was good to be back.

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