Harry was the only one left in the empty house, and a strange lancholy was brewing in his heart.
“Don’t you want to take a last look at the place?” Harry suddenly asked Hedwig, his voice echoing in the empty house. Hedwig ignored him, and Harry continued to talk to himself, “We’ll never be here again. Don’t you want to rember all the good tis? I an, look at this doormat. What mories … Dudley puked on it after I saved him from the Dentors. … Turns out he was grateful after all, can you believe it? … And that sumr, right here, I got my first letter from Hogwarts — my acceptance letter. Too bad I didn’t get to see it then. You can’t imagine … a few days later, the whole house was stuffed full of letters from Hogwarts, owls flying everywhere. … Oh, and last sumr, Dumbledore walked through that front door. …”
Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a mont and Hedwig did nothing to help him retrieve it, but continued to sit with her head under her wing.
Harry turned his back on the front door and walked a few quick steps forward to that place.
It had once been the only space in this house that truly belonged to him. But after he left to attend Hogwarts, he never returned to it. That once-so-familiar space had faded from his mory, like an old painting or scroll, leaving behind only yellowed tones and hazy recollections.
“And under here, Hedwig” — Harry pulled open a door under the stairs, the long-unopened door — “is where I used to sleep! You never knew then — Bliy, it’s small, I’d forgotten. …”
Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas, rembering how he used to wake every morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, which was more often than not adorned with a spider or two.
Those had been the days before he had known anything about his true identity; before he had found out how his parents had died or why such strange things often happened around him. But Harry could still rember the dreams that had dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes of green light and once — Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car when Harry had recounted it — a flying motorbike …
But just because of saying that, he had been severely punished by Uncle Vernon.
How could a motorbike fly?! Magic — in Uncle Vernon’s mind, it didn’t exist.
Or rather, he didn’t want to believe it. If you had to set a ti-fra, it would be forever.
Harry looked at this small, dark cupboard with great emotion. He still rembered that every ti Dudley stomped his feet on the stairs above for mischief, dust would fall down and fall on his head. Back then, Harry wore glasses taped at the bridge and baggy hand--downs from Dudley.
He also rembered that sumr when his magic had surged out of control and he accidentally released a Brazilian boa constrictor — earning him the longest punishnt of his life.
He had been locked in that dark cupboard for the entire sumr vacation.
Thinking about it, Harry suddenly laughed, rembering how Dudley and his friends panicked at the zoo.
He had too many mories in this house. Although life at that ti was mostly unhappy, Harry could always find so joy in the midst of suffering.
Just as he was about to go sowhere else to take a look, suddenly, a deafening roar ca from sowhere nearby.
Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door fra.
Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle Vernon’s choicest swear words, he staggered back into the kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden.
The darkness seed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionnt Charms lifted.
Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helt and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached.
All around him other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses.
In the crowd, he saw Sirius, Evan, Hermione, Ron, and …
………………………………………………………………………….
After personally altering their mories, Mr. and Mrs. Mason and Mr. and Mrs. Granger no longer recognized Evan and Hermione.
They stared blankly ahead, their eyes wide and unfocused.
Evan knew that, once the magic faded, they would begin their new lives along the path they had agreed upon.
In those new lives, there would be no mory of him or Hermione.
Now, the two of them had lost their parents and loved ones, and they only had each other.
This was especially true for Hermione, who only had Evan to rely on.
Evan wouldn’t say that girls were inherently more fragile — Hermione certainly wasn’t — but they were generally more sensitive and tended to think more deeply.
He hoped he could take good care of Hermione, especially at a ti like this.
He held her in his arms, expecting that she would break down and cry — but she didn’t.
Hermione had already cried once earlier in her mother’s arms, and she wouldn’t cry again. Even though the atmosphere now, and the look on her mother’s face, made her feel terrible, she knew she had to be strong. Her decision to follow Evan wasn’t made on impulse; it was the result of careful thought.
She believed she could help Evan. She wanted to prove herself, and she believed she would.
“Let’s go, Evan,” said Hermione softly, taking a deep breath. “The sooner we defeat Voldemort, the sooner we can co back.”
“Yeah,” said Evan firmly. “Believe , Hermione — we will win. We will see them again.”
“I believe you. I’ve always believed in you. This answer has never changed.”
When Evan and Hermione left the estate, Sirius was already waiting outside.
He had arrived long ago but hadn’t gone inside, deliberately giving Evan, Hermione, and their parents space.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Sirius!”
“It’s nothing — I haven’t waited long. I know how it feels to part from soone you love. Not easy,” said Sirius, pausing for a mont. “You two don’t need to worry too much. Mad-Eye has already arranged for soone to escort them. Their safety won’t be a problem. Our mission tonight is to pick up Harry!”
“Are we Apparating directly to Harry’s aunt and uncle’s house?”
“No, that house is under close surveillance by the Ministry and Voldemort’s people. We’re gathering nearby, and then I’ll take you both by Side-Along Apparition,” Sirius explained. “Then, we’ll use the Disillusionnt Charm to go in unnoticed. Tonight’s plan is different from the previous one. Remus, Mad-Eye and I all felt the previous plan wasn’t safe. Voldemort may have known about it, so we changed things. Only those involved tonight know the details. Listen …”
Direct magical transport wasn’t reliable, especially in the area around that house.
Therefore, the Order of the Phoenix decided to use a combination of brooms and Polyjuice Potion. This arrangent would be relatively safe.
Of course, prolonging the transfer process ant that the risks in this process would also increase accordingly.
Barring any surprises, tonight would see a fierce battle — the first between the Order of the Phoenix and Voldemort since Dumbledore’s death.
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