14 The-Boy-Who-Left (II)

Minerva McGonagall arrived in front of Russel Farmhouse and couldn't help but frown… The house was barely standing… She pressed her lips together into a thin line. According to the Book of Admittance, Harry Potter lived here and the Book has never been wrong… She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that James' and Lily's child was living here.

She shouldn't have listened to Albus and left Harry at the Dursleys… Now, there was a very good chance that Harry was living on his own and he was only eleven…

She and Albus were going to have quite a few words after she returned… Albus could bet on it. She would have given him a verbal lashing if she wasn't already on the clock. She still couldn't believe that Albus hid the fact that he lost Harry. She could understand why Albus hid it, but it didn't mean she agreed with him. She deserved to know… After all, she was one of the people who left Harry at the Dursleys.

Right now, Minerva was blaming herself for not protesting harder… She could have done more… Should have done more…

Minerva released a sigh as started to make her way toward the house… She arrived at the door and knocked. Nobody answered and Minerva's lips thinned even more in displeasure, so she gave it another try, but once again, nobody answered, nor did she hear anything from inside the house. After waiting for a whole minute, she once again knocked on the door, but once again, she received no answer.

It was obvious Minerva was getting impatient and at the same time, she was also feeling slightly worried… "Mr. Potter…" Minerva called out, but unsurprisingly, nobody answered her.

"Is anybody home?!" Minerva asked loudly only to receive no answer… Minerva sniffed haughtily as she pulled out her Wand. She tapped the door lock with the tip of her Wand and the door was unlocked with a click… Minerva pushed the door open and walked in, but as soon as she entered the house, she froze…

'Someone has been living here…' Minerva mused internally as she looked around… The house was clean, too clean and there were no signs of damage inside the house.

"Harry Potter?" Minerva called out with an unsure look… After receiving no answer, Minerva flicked her Wand to cast the Homenum Revelio Spell, and moments later, a huge frown appeared on her face when the result returned as negative… There was nobody at the house. There was a chance that Harry was out on some errand, but Minerva could already feel that there was something wrong in her gut…

Though Minerva decided to look around the house before making a decision… Yes, it was extremely rude of her, but there was clearly nobody at home and she needed to make sure if it was Harry was living here or was it someone else… Minerva spent the next ten minutes looking through the house, Minerva came to the decision that someone was definitely living here, but whoever it was, he or she was long gone.

All the good furniture was missing and whoever it was who lived here moved out recently… Minerva had a lot of questions running through her mind, but unfortunately for her, she didn't have an answer… So, she decided to do the most sensible thing. She pointed her Wand upwards… "Expecto Patronum" Minerva cast the Patronus Charm while thinking about the message she wanted to be delivered and a tabby cat bolted out from the tip of her Wand and left through the door.

Now, Minerva could only wait…

<Line Break>

~~Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts~~ (Nearly half an hour ago)

Albus steepled his fingers in front of his face, lost in his deep thoughts. He had seen the address written down on Harry's letter… He wondered what Minerva was going to find at Russel Farmhouse and if he was going to like it or not… Predictably, Minerva was quite displeased with his conduct and she was quite a smart woman, so she easily realized why Harry probably ran away from the Dursleys.

'I told you, Albus, they are the worst sort of Muggles!!' Those were the exact words Minerva screamed at him after he revealed the fact that Harry was no longer at the Dursleys.

Albus obviously didn't tell her everything as he knew that Minerva would never understand his motivations… Minerva was one of his closest friends, but she wouldn't understand the reasons behind his actions. She will only see the bad in him… Sometimes, Albus really wished that he didn't have so much burden on his old shoulders…

'I understand, Minerva… I shouldn't have trusted them so blindly, but can we talk about this after your return?' That has been his reply to Minerva's accusation.

'Oh yes… We will. You can bet all of your lemon drops on it!' Minerva has assured him coolly before finally leaving his office and Albus wasn't looking forward to the conversation. He had no idea how he was going to appease her and he was really reluctant to use Magic on her… There was a good chance that Minerva would realize that something was amiss.

Albus was still lost in his thoughts when all of a sudden the Floo flared up. "Albus! Albus! Are you there?!! It's really bad!" Albus almost jumped in fright due to the sudden interruption.

Albus easily recognized the voice and he started to wonder why Arabella Figg was contacting him all of a sudden. After Harry disappeared from Number 4 Privet Drive, he hadn't been in contact with the woman… Something must have happened and from the urgency and horror in her voice, it must be something really bad.

'Did something happen to the Dursleys?' Albus questioned himself as he stood up from his chair and made his way toward the Floo.

"Arabella, how can I help you?" Albus asked with his usual grandfatherly look on his face.

"Oh, Albus… It's so horrible! The Dursleys… They are… They are dead!!" Arabella exclaimed and for a moment, Albus froze after hearing her words, but he quickly regained his bearings. While the Dursleys have put a wrench in his plans, he still needed them so that he could send Harry back to them… The protection he had placed on the Dursleys' house has long eroded away, but he still had some use for them.

"Step aside, Arabella. I will come through" Albus said and Arabella's face disappeared from the flames. After waiting for a moment, Albus stopped inside the fireplace only to aside inside Arabella's house after a few disorienting moments. "What happened, Arabella?" Albus asked.

Arabella sniffed loudly… "I don't know, Albus. It was still quite early and only a few people were up, but all of that changed when we started to hear a child's screams. That is what woke me up, but by the time I made it out of my bed, the screams have already stopped…" Arabella explained with a disturbed look on her face.

"I kept looking around from my window to see what was happening for the next few minutes… I wanted to see if it was only me who heard the screams, but I wasn't alone… Some people even came out on the streets and that is when Vernon burst out of his house and attacked the closest man to him!" Arabella exclaimed with a horrified look on her face.

"Vernon beat the man to the death, Albus!! He beat him to death!" Arabella screamed hysterically as tears started to roll down her cheeks and Albus couldn't help but grimace internally. This wasn't good… Albus decided to cast a Calming Charm on Arabella as he wanted to hear the full story and Arabella was starting to panic.

"The cops finally arrived and he attacked them too, like a wild beast. Unable to subdue him, the cops had to shoot him down" Arabella explained after taking a deep breath. From Petunia's memories, Albus knew that Vernon was quite prone to physical violence and now that Harry was gone, was it possible that Vernon decided to take out his anger on his family and anyone around him?

Albus realized that it was quite a likely scenario, but there were some discrepancies… Why would Vernon lose his mind so early in the morning? What could have happened in the first place to make Vernon lose his mind… There were so many questions and no answers… There was a high probability that foul play was involved, but why would someone specifically attack the Dursleys in such a manner?

Was Harry responsible for attacking the Dursleys? After all, nobody besides him should have known about the Dursleys or it could have been the person who helped Harry escape the Dursleys in the first place… Today's date wasn't lost to Albus, July 31st. Today was Harry's birthday… If Harry was really responsible for this atrocity then he was afraid that the Light side had already lost the war…

Albus realized that it was going to be an extremely long day when he reached the conclusion that he needed to ask Alastor's help… again. Alastor was another of his closest friends who was quite displeased with him, but Albus didn't have much choice. While Albus was quite intelligent and all that, he knew that Alastor was simply better than him when it came to detective work. Albus was about to send a Patronus message to Alaster when an astral tabby cat appeared in front of Albus.

Albus' stomach dropped in dread… He could already feel that his day was about to become worse… "Albus, there is nobody at the house, but someone has been living here and they recently moved out" Albus heard Minerva's voice from the tabby cat, and moments later, the tabby cat dispersed into thin air…

'Yes, this is going to be a long day…' Albus internally groaned in frustration…