Harry Potter and the Secrets of Dumbledore

Harry Potter and the Secrets of Dumbledore

Chapter 3

The Reunion

Harry sat in the carriage he had borrowed from Hogwarts, waiting for the train to arrive at the station. It was another beautiful day, which could only help the situation he found himself in. Finally, he could see the smoke and hear the whistle as the Hogwarts Express rounded the bend into Hogsmeade station.

As the train slowed to a stop, he got out of the carriage and stood in front of it to watch the passengers disembark. It should be a small crowd as school wasn't in session yet. He noticed all kinds of people and had to smile at what must have been going through her head during the trip here. He spotted her slowly getting off the first car, and walked in that direction before she started to panic.

"Aunt Petunia, over here!"

She turned in his direction, with a nervous smile, walked over to him, and said, "Hello Harry." She gave him a big surprise when she took his hand, pulled him close, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He was chuckling in his mind and thought, "oh boy...how things have changed."

He returned the gesture, took her bag and led her to the waiting carriage.

At the sight of the animal harnessed to the carriage, she stopped, put her hand on her chest and said, "What in the world..."

Harry had almost forgotten that she had been with Uncle Vernon when he died, thus allowing her to see the animal. "It's a threstral," he stated. "I'll explain them later, along with all the other questions that I'm sure you will have. Shall we go?" He helped her into the carriage and off they went. It was a short ride to the house. They hadn't said much as Harry just sat back observing her as she looked around at her new surroundings.

Once they had arrived at the house, he helped her out of the carriage, grabbed her bag, then turned to threstral and said, "Home to Hagrid." It headed down the path in the direction of the castle and disappeared around the bend.

"Welcome home," smiled Harry as he led her into the house.

Petunia walked in a few feet, stopped, and looked around. "This is really very lovely Harry. The views are breathtaking!"

Harry just smiled, "Please sit down and make yourself comfortable. Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely, thank you."

He started to point his finger toward the kitchen, but stopped. As he turned to look at her, she took a breath and said, "Go ahead, it is your house." He once again faced the kitchen, pointed his finger, and said, "Tea and cookies."

He turned to face her again with the intention of starting a conversation, but ended up observing her watch what was happening in the kitchen. The tea kettle had flown over to the sink, filled itself with water and flew back to the stove where it was now being heated on the burner. At the same time, two cups floated out of the cupboard and onto the waiting tray, along with the sugar jar, the small pitcher of milk, a couple of small plates and spoons, and another plate with cookies that had prepared itself. The kettle had poured the hot water into the tea server. The entire tray floated over to the table between the chairs they were sitting in.

Petunia looked at Harry with the strangest expression. It was a mix of surprise and awe, with a hint of trepidation thrown in. Finally, she said, "Harry, I'm confused. All you did was point with one finger and say three words, and then the rest happened by itself. You didn't use your wand or anything else."

"Aunt Petunia..." he started but was cut off.

She looked at him and said, "I think we can drop the title of aunt." She then looked at the floor and continued, "After all, I really wasn't much of an aunt to you, especially when you were a little boy." Harry noticed a tear falling down the side of her face.

He reached over and gently cupped her chin in his hand and raised her head. There were more tears streaming down her face as she looked into his green eyes.

"No, I don't think we can drop it. First of all, I don't think my mum would have approved of that idea. Secondly, I would say we've come a long way since my childhood...which is why you are here."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just sipping tea. Aunt Petunia broke the silence and asked, "Harry, why did you ask me to come here to live?"

"For the same reason that Dumbledore left me in your care when my parents were killed...we are the only family we have. True, you've been doing fairly well since Uncle Vernon died. It became much harder for you once Dudley was sent to prison. Add to that the discovery of your latent magical powers...it just made sense."

"About the magic. Harry... I was born a witch."

Harry said nothing and continued to drink his tea listening to her story.

She took a deep breath and continued, "I received my letter from Hogwarts a couple years before your mother got hers. I even attended for the first two years. I wasn't much of a witch though. I struggled with low grades and was horrible at the practice of witchcraft. During the summer after my second year, Lily received her letter and I knew I just couldn't go back. Though my parents were disappointed, I registered at the local muggle high school and never went back to Hogwarts."

She looked at Harry, apparently waiting for him to say something. He just reached for a cookie and said, "Please continue."

"Well, Lily went off to Hogwarts and immediately became an excellent student and a powerful witch. When she came home for the various holidays, she couldn't talk about anything else but magic, the school, and everything she was learning and experiencing. Yes, I was jealous and started resenting her. In the meantime I met Vernon, a really nice, though ambitious, young man. We dated and married. At the same time, your parents had been dating and married a short time after we did. Once Vernon heard that Lily was a witch, he flew into a rage. He told me that I had to choose between him and my sister. I chose him. We rarely saw your parents and then only when necessary. Naturally, we were all at my parents funeral. It was an especially bad time since they had died tragically in a house fire...or so it was thought. The truth about their deaths is that they were killed by Voldemort. He wanted information on where to find your parents. They refused to tell him anything and he murdered them in cold blood. The fire was simply for the police report."

Again, she looked at Harry. He drank some of his tea and made a simple gesture for her to keep going.

"Lily and I came up with a plan to keep in touch via Dumbledore...which he agreed to. I became pregnant and shortly thereafter, she was expecting too. You and Dudley were born a few weeks apart. Your parents never saw Dudley, and we had never seen you until you ended up on our doorstep."

"Dumbledore had left an extensive letter with you that night explaining what had happened and that we were to raise you. There was a separate note to me on how to contact him so we could have a private conversation. We met and he explained how the old magic would protect you from Voldemort through the family blood and all. He also explained how once you started Hogwarts you had to spend a minimal amount of time with us each summer to renew that protection. The other part of the agreement was that the small amount of magic Dudley has would never be developed and his name would be stricken from any and all magical records."

"I honestly hated treating you the way I did, but Vernon kept the threat of leaving if I ever really embraced you." At this point she broke down and started crying.

Harry got up and walked over to her chair, sat on the arm, put his arms around her and let her cry into his chest.

She finally regained her composure and looked up at him and said, "Would you please say something, or yell at me...anything."

Harry quietly asked, "Why?"

"What do you mean why? I just told you the reason you had such a miserable childhood was because of my jealously and selfishness. I should think you'd be furious at hearing the truth!"

Harry put his arm back on her shoulder and quietly said. "I was furious when I first heard the story twenty two years ago. I've had a long time to think about it, to come to terms with it and to forgive you."

"What do you mean...twenty two years ago?"

"After Voldemort returned, a war broke out, as I'm sure you are well aware. Before I finally defeated him, we learned of a plan he had to kill you for your involvement in my protection all those years. Years that I kept foiling his every plot. Years that he couldn't kill me because of an ancient magic he never really understood. He and his followers killed many of my friends and parents of my friends, not to mention many more wizards and muggles alike. Part of me wanted to let him go ahead with his plan against you, part of me wanted to save you. I was having a major struggle inside myself."

"Dumbledore called me to his office and told me the entire story. He explained how it really wasn't entirely your fault and that I needed to search my heart before making any final decision. Angry as I was, I just couldn't let my mother's sister come to any harm if I could help it."

"So, Voldemort is gone. I've had many years to think about it...and here we are."

Petunia hugged him and started to cry again. "Harry, not only do you have your mothers eyes, you also have her sense of compassion and love."

They sat in silence just hugging for awhile. Finally, Harry asked, "Do you want to see your new home now?"

She nodded in agreement. Harry picked up her bag and led her through the house, down the new hallway and into the guest house.

Petunia looked around almost speechless. "Harry, this is beautiful! A bedroom would have been enough."

"Well, this way we can each live our own lives, but also spend as much time together as we wish. After all, we've got a lot to catch up on. Come outside for awhile, we can sit down and I can fill you in on your new surroundings."

They sat on the chairs that were on the patio outside Petunias house. Harry pointed out the village and Hogwarts castle, and told her all about the surrounding area.

"As I told you before you agreed to move here, this is an all magical village. It's going to be a challenge for you to get used to this lifestyle after spending almost all of your life in a completely muggle environment. Do you still have your wand that you purchased when you started at Hogwarts?"

"Oh...no," she said somewhat defensively, "I burned it once I decided not to have anything to do with magic again."

"No problem," Harry replied. "Tomorrow we'll go to Diagon Alley, where you can exchange your muggle money for wizard money. Then we will get you a new wand, some books to get you started, and anything else we might think of."

"Isn't that place in London?"

"Yes, why?"

"Honestly, I don't know if I'm up to a roundtrip on the train again so soon."

"Don't worry about that. We'll be using a much faster means of transportation." He couldn't resist a slight smile as he spoke.

"Oh, I should tell you that anytime you are in the house or anywhere else on the property, you have nothing to fear. I have put a very powerful guardian charm over the entire property. It won't allow anyone with harmful thoughts or intentions against those inside the charmed area to enter. Just consider it an invisible wall."

"Shall we go into the village for a tour and a bite to eat?"

Petunia smiled, "that sounds lovely. Thank you!"

They walked all over Hogsmeade while Harry explained some of the more "unique" stores and people they encountered. He introduced her to several of the shop and inn keepers so she had people she could rely on for help and advice when she was in the village without him.

*****

Back at the house, they sat and talked for several hours. Some catching up over many lost years, then moving on to the current situation whenever she started feeling guilty about the past. It was actually going better than Harry had expected. He was finding out that she really wasn't as terrible as he had perceived her to be for all those years of wasted childhood. She, on the other hand was finding out just how remarkable her nephew really was. Not only the many major, life saving and heroic feats on his long list. In fact, he didn't mention those things at all. It came out that Dumbledore had secretly been keeping her informed since his first year at Hogwarts. She was actually meeting Harry the man. She was amazed at his wisdom, patience, generosity, and humility.

Aunt Petunia sighed and said, "Harry, I just can't get over the kind of man you have grown into. Wisdom, patience, and humility beyond your years, not to mention your generosity!"

He started laughing at one point and said, "Don't get carried away, I also have one hell of a temper and still find it hard to control at times. I've gotten better over the years, but it is still a battle."

Suddenly an owl flew into the room and landed on the arm of Harry's chair. Aunt Petunia turned with a start and a small sound of surprise. Harry read the note, walked over to his desk, wrote a short reply and sent the owl on its' way.

Harry sat down again, looked at his aunt, and said, "That's one of the things you will have to get to used to around here. I get many owls, so they will be in and out all the time. Oh yes, something else that you'll need to get used to is Dobby."

His aunt looked at him with a bit of apprehension, "Who is Dobby and what is there to get used to?"

"Dobby is a house elf that works at the school and usually pops in here late at night to tidy up the place and then pops back to the castle. Last night I asked him not to come for a few days so we could have some privacy and time to adjust to our new situation." He proceeded to tell her Dobby's story and about house elves in general.

"I figure that we'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and the day after that I'll take you to the castle to meet the staff and Dobby. The professors have agreed to tutor you in an accelerated course so you can begin using your own magic."

"Oh Harry, I don't know about that...I thought you could just give some of the basics that I'll need," she said in a nervous voice.

"Aunt Petunia, I know that this sounds like a lot to take in at once, but you are now living in a magical area and should start adjusting as soon as possible. It is also very generous of the staff to be willing to give you private lessons in their spare time. I will help you all I can, but the new term starts in two weeks and I'm going to be very busy learning my new job and may not be around as much as you or I'd like."

She gave him a weak smile. "I understand Harry, it's just so overwhelming at the moment. The last thing I want is to be a burden on you or get in your way...especially considering our past."

Harry took her hand and gave her a very compassionate look. "Aunt Petunia, the past is just that...the past. We will talk about it on occasion, but we need to go forward from this point for this to have any chance of working. I don't want to sound harsh, but you must remember that I am your nephew, not your husband. You will have to learn a new sense of independence that you haven't had in many years. Don't worry, it will all work out."

"Now, we've got a big day before us tomorrow. I suggest getting some sleep so we can get an early start."

They each started heading toward their bedrooms when Petunia stopped, turned around and said, "Harry..." He turned and looked at her. "Thank you again for everything."

"Your welcome. Good night."