Harry stared longingly out the window of the Dursleys', hoping for a link to the wizarding world to fly into the window. Hedwig’s cage remained empty, leaving Harry alone with only the letters already received.
A small owl with a parchment tied to its scrawny lag flew directly in view. “Pig…” Harry muttered with a grin as he opened the window. The owl flew strait onto the bed and ruffled his feathers. Harry took the letter from his leg and unfolded the parchment:
Dear Harry,
Did you get your OWL results yesterday? If you did, don't tell Hermione yet. I think she's trying to get a book to help studying for NEWTs for your birthday, but if she doesn't know what classes you'll be taking she can't get the right one.
We, Hermione, Ginny, and I, really don't know when you can come back to you-know-where. All we can get from Mum is "soon". Sorry, mate. I know it can't be fun hanging around with the muggles all day.
P.S. Could you please feed Pig?
Ron
Harry set the letter down on a stack previous letters. Harry wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go back to Grimmauld place. His friends would be there, and he wouldn’t have to deal with the Dursleys anymore. Still, he knew that every time he went to his bedroom in the Noble House of Black, he would here the horrible screams of Mrs. Black, waling away with Kreacher at her side. Harry thought of telling Lupin this in a letter, but it occurred to him that they might have been planning a way to remove him from the Dursley’s for a long time.
Harry reached into Hedwig’s cage for some seeds and gave them to Pig, who ate at an enormous rate. It was almost hypnotic watching the miniature owl eating and listening to the nibbling of seeds. Harry found it difficult to continue watching the bird and his mind drifted. . . .
His dream was a sea of laughter. He knew that laugh. It was that of Bellatrix’s triumphant scream and the look of shock across his godfather’s face as he fell behind the tattered veil.
The scar upon Harry’s head singed with pain. Harry threw the covers from his bed and kicked the wall below his window while giving a frustrated yell. He looked out the window where Mrs. Figg was looking at him from her garden, but quickly looked away. It was only when Harry began to calm down that he realized Hedwig was waiting for him on her cage with a letter in her mouth.
He took the letter and looked to whom it was from. It was the yearly letter from Hogwarts, but his time it contained something new:
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have received 7 out of 9 O.W.L.s on your testing. Enclosed are the exact scores from your testing.
Transfiguration: E
Defense against the Dark Arts: O
Herboligy: E
Divination: P
Potions: E
Charms: O
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Astronomy: A
History of Magic: P
O = Outstanding
E = Exceeds Expectations
A = Acceptable
P = Poor
D = Dreadful
Harry gave a frustrated sigh. He knew he couldn’t get into potions without an O, and therefore would not be accepted as an Auror. He was shocked to see that he had managed a P in Divination.
We would also like to congratulate you for being reinstated to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. An owl will be sent shortly returning your broomstick.
Your sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Harry set aside the papers and forced himself to put the thought of OWLs out of his mind.
He needed to walk a little. Perhaps he could pound all of his thoughts into the sidewalk, leaving his head clear. Not wanting to alert the Dursleys of his presences, he placed some socks on his feet to prevent them from sticking to the floor.
Harry hoped that the Dursley's weren't walking about the hall. He walked over to the door and peered through the keyhole. Instead of seeing the hall, however, there was an abnormally large eye staring back at him.
“Hey Potter,” growled a familiar voice. “You in there?”
Harry stumbled backwards at Moody’s voice. Realizing what was happening though, he opened the door. There stood three members of his old guard. Moody, Lupin, and Tonks all stood very stiffly. Lupin walked forward to greet Harry.
It was all happening too fast. The first letter he had received from Ron all summer was telling him that he was supposed to leave "soon". Harry had assumed that meant somewhere around a month. Now he was going to leave, without any notification once so ever.
“We told you we would come soon,” he said proudly.
Harry gave a weak grin. “I suppose I should get my trunk then?” He slipped back inside the bedroom, and the others followed. Lupin, using a packing charm, piled everything into Harry’s trunk.
Harry wondered why so few people had come as his guard this summer as oppose to the giant group of witches and wizards that came last year. Perhaps they had gotten the small introduction to the Boy-Who-Lived they desired and didn't want it again.
“Got that Firebolt then?” Tonks asked in an envious tone.
Harry frowned, “It hasn’t been sent back to me yet," he said.
“Sent back?” Tonks repeated.
“Yeah, Umbridge confiscated it last year. McGonagall is supposed send it back to me,” he said nervously to the three bewildered Order members, all which looked horrified.
“Dumbledore said he needs to come today.” Tonks wailed. “Oh, he’ll be furious if we go back without him!” There was a small pause, broken by Moody's hoarse voice.
Moody sighed, “I suppose we’ll have to go one man down. One of us can give Harry our broom and then Apparate back to the Order.” They again all stood in silence for a moment.
“We need at least three people. Two is barely company,” Lupin said finally.
Without any notification, Moody, ignoring Lupin, put a disillusionment charm on Harry, handed him his broom, and Disapparated. Lupin, who looked very annoyed, gave a heavy sigh. “I suppose we’ll be going man down.” he said, “Remember to follow Tonks,” Lupin lectured.
"Why do we still need to take brooms?" asked Harry. "I mean, if the Ministry is finally on our side--"
"The Ministry isn't the problem anymore," said Lupin, "It's the spies within the Ministry that we're worried about."
Harry nodded as they walked outside and mounted their brooms. “Oh, and Harry, if we should run into a Dementor, keep flying ahead, and don’t look back. We’ll take care of it.” Tonks said before kicking off into the air. Harry followed behind her, without any time to question her last statement.
Dementors? He hadn't thought of the Dementors since he was at Hogwarts. Harry hadn’t realized how much trouble the escaped Dementors must have been causing. The thought of the Order members trying to ward them off while Harry flew by sickened him.
Moody’s broom wasn’t quite as maneuverable as a Firebolt. Many times he wobbled to one side, but soon he found his balance. Tonks was concentrating on the path, while Lupin was keeping guard.
The wonderful feeling of flight from the Dursleys was great. Harry, however, was staring to doubt how much he wanted to go back to Grimmauld place. Even though his friends would be there, it would only remind him of the injuries he had caused them and the death of his godfather. If only Dumbledore hadn’t made sure that Harry was to be there tonight, he could possibly arrange for him to simply stay with the Dursleys.
For what seemed like hours they flew high in the clouds. Harry felt really stupid for once again forgetting his coat. Below he could see the bright lights of London seeping into view.
Tonks started to dive, and Harry followed with no hesitation. He wanted to get out of the cold. The small collection of lights began to shift into street lamps and headlights.
They were quite close to the ground now. They scanned the streets for numbers 11 and 13. Neither was found until Harry spotted a tall man with wooden leg standing between two houses. They landed softly on the ground and walked through the door of number 12.
The head quarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, Harry thought to him self. The large house seemed to push the other houses next to it out of the way for room.
Footsteps echoed down the weary hall. Two twins of red hair came marching towards them in greeting. “Welcome back Harry,” George said cheerfully.
“Yeah, mate,” said Fred. “You gave us a quite scare when Moody came here without you.” Mrs. Weasley came down the hall, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Everyone happily greeted Harry and helped him bring his trunk upstairs.
Harry merely grinned a fake grin, as though he was delighted to be back at the home of is fallen godfather. The old house seemed much cleaner since the last time Harry visited. The picture of Mrs. Black still stood in the hall, wailing about how Sirius betrayed her. Harry only wished that he could rip the canvas apart but maintained calmness. Harry and Ron’s bedroom was still the same.
Pig flew around the room as though waiting for a letter. Ron looked up at Harry as they dropped his trunk on the floor next to Harry’s bed.
“What did you feed him?” he groaned, pointing to Pig.
Harry looked up at the owl, which reminded him of a toy airplane that was hung from a string and spun around in a circle. He laughed. “Just regular seeds.” was Harry's reply. Ron sighed and got sat down on his bed along with Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione. They all had a look on their face as though Harry should be angry with them.
“So, is there anything I missed?” Harry asked slowly to break the silence.
“Not really, actually.” Ginny replied in a relieved tone. “Most of the Order is really annoyed they didn’t get to hear the prophecy.” she added softly, though suddenly wished she hadn't.
“Yes, but Dumbledore doesn’t seem to care at all.” Hermione said simply, “So it couldn’t have been that important.”
Harry suddenly felt really respectful and slightly shocked at Dumbledore for not telling the Order about the prophecy. He knew he would need to tell everyone about it sometime, but he simply wasn’t ready yet. Everyone continued to tell stories of thing that had happened. Harry didn’t listen very well. He nodded occasionally and laughed when everyone else did, but felt only a small pit in his stomach that would not go away within him.
Hermione looked at the clock and picked up a vial and began to wince every time she took a sip, as though it was poisonous. At first Harry didn’t know what she was doing, but then realized that she hadn’t quite recovered yet from her injuries. She looked at Harry then down to her potion. “Harry, I’m fine. Madam Pomfrey just told me to drink this as a precaution.” she said simply taking another sip. Ron opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but Ginny stepped on his foot. Harry saw this and sighed to himself. He knew they would not tell him that she needed the potion, for it would really upset him.
“So,” said Harry for a change of subject. “Who do you reckon the new Defense Against the Dark Arts will be?”
Ginny sighed in a relieved matter that they got off the subject of Hermione's potion. “Dumbledore’s having real trouble this year. Since the Ministry isn’t on his case anymore, they don’t have any volunteers. They have 'more important' uses for their members.” she said.
“Yeah, George and I overheard one of the Order meetings. They were considering getting a member of the Order to do it,” Fred said lightly. Harry’s heart lifted.
“That would be a good change after Umbridge." he said happily.
“Not quite,” Ginny replied “There aren’t many members of the Order, and they need all of the ones they have.” Harry didn’t care all that much, despite the selfishness. He knew it would be worthwhile to go to a Defense class with an Order member.
Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione were shooed from the room by a tired looking Mrs. Weasley. Harry and Ron slipped into the beds, and Ron fell asleep almost immediately. Harry looked at is bed with utmost envy. If only he could sleep that easily, simply thinking about school work, or quidditch. But he couldn't. Harry Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived, and the boy who had to continue living this life.