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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 42: New Home
"Harry, we need to get off the tra—... Harry?" Ron looked behind him in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"I can't find Harry. He was right behind me when we were leaving the cabin," Ron said.
"I heard him mumbling something about there being too many people at the station," Neville commented.
Ron went back to the cabin to check. "He is not here!"
"He couldn't have gotten past us without someone noticing," Hermione said. "Is the window open?"
"No, it's closed," Ron responded. "I bet he used the invisibility cloak…"
"Why would he be so desperate to get away from us?" Hermione frowned. "I don't get it. Did we do something to bother him? I stopped asking him questions about the hat."
"Ron, come on! Mom is waiting for us!" Ginny's voice was then heard from the other side of the corridor.
"Ginny! Have you seen Harry passing by?" Ron asked.
"Harry? Wasn't he with you guys?" Ginny responded. She and Harry had spent nearly an hour sitting on top of the train, but then they had come down, and while Harry stayed with her brother, Ginny went back to her other friends.
"Forget it. Let's get down. He should appear soon enough." Hermione was starting to lose her patience with their friend's antics.
The group ended up getting off the train, and while Hermione and Neville went to greet their families, Ron and Ginny walked up to their mother.
"There you are!" Molly Weasley brought them into a crushing hug. "I missed you so much!"
"Mom, it hurts!" Ron complained.
When she released them, her expression turned serious for a moment. "And don't think that we will not be talking about that little excursion of yours to the Ministry…"
"Oh…" Ginny and Ron exchanged a worried look.
"Another summer grounded, great…" Ron grumbled.
"Okay, we should get going now. There is much to organize at home." Molly pulled out her wand. "Do you have all your things?"
"Mom, wait. We need to wait for Har—mmm!" Ron tried to speak, but Ginny covered his mouth.
"Shh!" Ginny glared at him. They weren't supposed to talk about Harry staying in their house.
Their mother seemed to pick up on what they were talking about. "Don't you worry about 'him'. I received a letter saying that he will be joining us later."
"You did? When?" Ron asked.
"Just a minute ago." She took a piece of paper from her pocket before hiding it away. "I'm sure this is something the Headmaster had planned. Now… let us go."
"Of course! That makes sense now." Ron realized that this must have been why Harry suddenly disappeared. Dumbledore must not have wanted people to see them leaving together.
"I wish he had given us a heads-up at least," Ron muttered at the end.
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"Here we are." Harry hovered over the Weasley property.
"That was kind of rude, don't you think? To leave without saying a word to your friends," V said.
The truth was that Harry had left because he panicked a bit after seeing the mass of people at the station.
This had nothing to do with any plan made by the Headmaster.
"I sent a note to Miss Weasley so she wouldn't worry about me," Harry responded to the hat.
The last thing he wanted was for them to stay at the station waiting for him.
After opening a portal to a nearby location, Harry flew the rest of the way there.
"And what are you waiting for? If they used apparition, they should be here already," V mentioned to him.
"I know that. I was just trying to get mentally ready. I have been reviewing the memories I stored about my previous visits to the Weasley household. They are very loud and animated. Especially Miss Weasley."
"Are you going to be okay?" V asked, with a hint of concern.
Harry nodded. "I think so. At least I know how I am supposed to behave, based on the recorded evidence."
"You are talking like they are not your memories," V commented casually, even though the magical artifact understood more or less how Harry felt.
Those memories of his time as a normal boy were extremely distant for Harry.
To him, reviewing those memories felt like watching a movie. The people in it were very familiar-looking, but felt alien to him at the same time.
Once he felt confident, Harry descended upon the household.
"Have you detected any wards on the property?" Harry asked the hat.
"Yes, but they are very mild ones. They won't protect this house against any serious attacker," V informed him.
Harry nodded. He had also reached the same conclusion.
"What would you say the possibilities of an attack during the summer are?"
"Oh… it's one hundred percent. Once he learns where you are, he will try to take you out before you go back to Hogwarts. You are a much easier target here," V responded to his question in a cold and calculated manner, because this is what Harry wanted.
The Weasleys were already considered a target. Any pure-blood wizard family that refused to ally itself with Voldemort would be considered blood traitors. On top of that, several members of the family had joined Dumbledore's organization and directly opposed the Dark Lord.
It had only been a few months since Arthur Weasley almost died while guarding the Room of Prophecies for the Order of the Phoenix.
"The old man will surely do something about the protections around the property. But what are your plans?" V asked."
"I will keep an eye on this house. I cannot let him hurt these people just because I am staying here." Harry knocked on the door.
"Yeah, I figured you would say that," V said. "Of course, I will help you."
The door opened wide, and Molly Weasley was on the other side. Her eyes opened widely when she saw him.
"Harry!" She immediately hugged him tightly. "Welcome home!"
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