Mystery solved

Want to see extended chapters or just support the author?

buymeacoffee.com/fanfictionforge. 

Enjoy reading.

------------------------------------------

19 June 1995. Little Whinging.

 For the Dursleys, nothing about the day seemed to portend trouble. The family had had a late breakfast and were sitting on the sofa in front of the television, looking forward to the leisurely passage of time and the summer holidays, during which Vernon was surprisingly attentive to his family. In fact, the fat man was a pretty good person in everything that didn't concern Potter, though he indulged his beloved Dudley too much... but, as they say, who among us is without sin.

 The family idyll was broken, however, by a loud knock on the door, followed by the rattle of the bell.

 Snorting bitterly through his teeth, Vernon went to open the door and found a tall man with long hair, dressed all in black, whose eyes surveyed the owner of the house with disdain and a kind of squeamishness. Behind the unpleasant man's back stood two trim men dressed in ridiculous clothes, both wearing the same blue trousers with arrows and coloured T-shirts, the right one's T-shirt being clearly a woman's.

 - Mr Vernon Dursle? - The stranger's sarcastic voice caused involuntary fear.

 - Yes, who are you and what do you want? This is private property! - Vernon felt a kind of unease, like a tickle under his skull.

 - We want your nephew, Harry Potter. - The piercing gaze of black eyes seemed to sink into the sweating Dursle.

 - G-G-Harry? - Dursle became sharply nervous. - Who are you? What do you want here? Go away or I'll call the police!

 - We come from the Dumbledore you know," the black-haired man was clearly enjoying the sight of the man's eyes widening with fear. Pushing Vernon aside, the trio entered the house.

 - So where is he? I mean, how is it we haven't seen him in over a fortnight! - It was as if the black-haired man had read their secret thoughts. - Where did he go?!

 - I-I-I don't know where he is. - Realising that his thoughts had just been read, Vernon stammered even more. - He left all his things upstairs, and he's gone somewhere.

 After pulling all the necessary information from the former fat man's memory, including the effects of the immaculately brewed Slender Body potion, which made the potionist raise his eyebrows incredulously, Snape ran swiftly up the stairs to where Dumbledore had said James Potter's lousy son's room was.

 Finding that the room contained the boy's chest and checking it for possible magical traps, the potionist threw back the lid sharply. The trap that Harry had left behind, without using a single drop of magic in its creation, went off, and a cloud of stench from ten dung bombs exploding simultaneously broke free, rapidly filling the entire room with a suffocating stench and smoke.

 To Vernon Dursle the scene looked something like this. A nasty-looking man ran up the stairs and out of sight, apparently heading for the boy's room. Then for a minute nothing happened, and suddenly, as if something had exploded upstairs, a man's voice shouted in anger, utterly unprintable curses. The two attendants grabbed their wands and rushed upstairs, but they were knocked down the stairs by the head of the staircase, who was stripped of all his aplomb, his face twisted, and accompanied by a cloud of foul-smelling smoke.

 The trio, accompanied by clouds of stench, instantly ran out the door, but the Dursleys were outside in less than half a minute, the smell was unbearable. By the time they had caught their breath, the unexpected visitors were out of sight.

 Dumbledore, calmly drinking tea in his office, and looking forward to another day of blissful inactivity, stroked the phoenix and reflected that so far everything was going as it should. The cheque signed by Bleak warmed the old man's soul pleasantly, and the aurors sent to Potter under Severus' command were to gently impress upon the boy that his actions were subjudice and subject to the law of secrecy. Of course, the exceptions to the law spoke specifically of immediate family members living in the same house as the wizard, but... why would the boy need to know that. And this way there would be another hook that could be pulled in time to keep the Chosen One from getting too out of hand. Fudge, who didn't like Potter, would probably be happy to use the timely information if the boy suddenly tried to play along on his own.

 The old man's idyllic pastime was interrupted by Snape, who had broken in through the fireplace, smelling something uncommonly foul. Judging by his flared nostrils and burning eyes, the potionist was furious.

 - Severus, my boy, what's wrong? - The Headmaster's voice was full of friendly concern. - How was the conversation with Harry?

 - Conversation?! Even you, Albus, wouldn't call it a conversation! - Snape grinned sarcastically, unwilling to calm down. - The lad had escaped from the Dursleys back in early June, and you and your much-admired Arabella Figg had blotted it out!

 Dumbledore jumped involuntarily in his chair.

 - Missed how?! My boy, are you sure?!

 - I read Dursle Senior's memory. Potter did come on holiday, somehow persuaded them to cooperate, went to London, apparently to get ingredients, brewed a Slender Body Potion and a Heart Muscle Infusion, and then simply disappeared!

 - That's not good," the headmaster became alarmed. - This can't be the Dark Lord's doing, Severus, can it?

 - If it were, the newspapers would be full of news that the Chosen One had been killed by the One-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

 - I'll call the Order together immediately, we need Potter more than usual this summer at the Weasleys'.

 - Going to slip him a Charm Potion to that self-serving red-haired girl, Headmaster? - Snape gave a twitch. - I wouldn't be surprised if Potter, even after the Charm Potion, runs away from her like fire. She's going to try every boy in the department by fifth year, judging by her incomplete thoughts.

 - My boy, you are being unfair to young Ginevra," Dumbledore shook his head reproachfully. - She would make... would make an excellent wife for a young hero.

 - Would she? - The Potions Master realised the meaning of the Headmaster's reservation. - 'You play dangerous games, Dumbledore, very dangerous...'

 Snape turned back to the fireplace.

 - 'I will have to inform the Lord that the Potters' puppy is missing,' he hissed. - Otherwise the Lord will suspect that I'm not giving him all the information.

 - Perhaps you should hold off, my boy. - Dumbledore stopped the alchemist as he prepared to return to his room.

 - Even if the boy's disappearance has nothing to do with the Lord, he will soon find out, and it is better that I tell him," Snape cut him off, mentally cursing the old overreacher who was annoying him more and more every day with his ridiculous ideas.

 - 'Well, my boy... why do you... mmm... give off such a... scent,' the Headmaster wrinkled his nose as the odour from Snape's clothes finally reached Dumbledore's sensitive nose.

 - Never mind," Snape muttered, ducking into the fireplace, "he needed a change of clothes and a bath immediately.

 A couple of hours later, the most trusted members of the Order of the Phoenix - Minerva McGonagall, Molly Weasley, Sirius Black, Daedalus Diggle and Lupin - were gathered in the Headmaster's office. Severus still hadn't turned up, not answering his calls, and the door to his room was blocked by some sort of unusually malicious dark spell, so the Headmaster didn't dare break it open on short notice. It wasn't even clear whether the potionist was at home or had already gone to the Lord's residence, the location of which he wouldn't reveal to the Headmaster, despite all his entreaties and requests, saying that too few people were privy to the secret location of Voldemort's new headquarters.

 After waiting until everyone was seated, the Headmaster opened the meeting.

 - Today, Severus had discovered that Harry Potter had disappeared just after arriving at his relatives' house. - Sirius jumped up with a contorted face. - 'My boy, wait, I haven't finished.

 - No, you wait, Headmaster! I've asked you repeatedly to let Harry go to my house, but you've refused every time, using this fairy tale of blood protection on Lily's relatives' house. And now where has that supposed defence gone?! Where were the guards your people posted outside the house?!

 Lupin, just as he had jumped up from his seat, nodded in agreement at his old friend's every word. The aura of danger emanating from the werewolf was growing stronger and stronger.

 - Sirius, but the defence really was..." the Headmaster began, but Black, who had become absolutely furious, didn't let him finish his sentence.

 - Dumbledore, don't feed your fairy tale to the last of an old dark family! Tales of magical defences created by the power of a mother's self-sacrifice can deceive someone who does not know Blood magic as the Blecks knew, wielded, and still wield it! - The last phrase sounded like a threatening innuendo. - The maximum that the light wizard Lily could achieve was to create some kind of defence on the child, but not on the house she hadn't been in for years. So don't bullshit me!

 Sirius, the air around him beginning to crackle and darken, settled back in his chair, giving the Headmaster one last angry glare. Dumbledore looked sadly at the wizard, thinking that it was time to get rid of Bleek - the boy had clearly turned to the old traditions of the pureblood family, regaining power over the clan magic, and this could not be allowed. Dark families must be destroyed for the common good, their knowledge is too dangerous.

 - There was nothing in the papers, so the journalists haven't got wind of it yet," Daedalus shook his head.

 - Severus said there was nothing new from the Dark Lord's side. So it's unlikely he has Harry.

 Sirius glanced over to Lupin upon hearing that remark, but remained silent. Realising that no one had any good suggestions, Dumbledore began to give out orders.

 - Minerva, please visit Miss Hermione's house - perhaps she knows something about Harry. Molly, Daedalus, search Scythe Alley. Remus, take over Dark Alley, you're in the least danger of anyone there. Sirius- If you're talking about the Blecks' bloodline knowledge, is there any way to find the boy using magic? 

 - I will consider what can be done, Headmaster. - Bleck pierced the head of the Order with a cold stare, which made Fawkes perk up on his perch and rumble angrily.

Same time. Malfoy-menor.

 - Is there any news, Lucius? - Through the fire in the fireplace Snape stepped into the living room, surprisingly clean and clean-shaven, having had to scrub himself for half an hour from the unbelievably persistent smell of dung, which was unaffected by any spell.

 - None," the aristocrat rose from his chair, looking at his old friend and associate with carefully concealed surprise. - The lord has not yet left the dungeons, and no one knows when his recluse will end. Have you learnt something?

 - Potter's puppy is missing. - Snape slumped in his chair, pulling the bottle of whisky closer to him. - Disappeared from his Muggle relatives' house just after the end of the school year.

 - Potter disappeared? - Lucius raised an eyebrow.

 - He'd managed to brew a flawless Slender Body potion for his uncle, and a day later he'd simply disappeared, taking only his wand and the Peverell robe with him.

 The Potions Master drained his glass in a volley, trying to block out the memories of the embarrassment at the Dursley house in his head.

 - That lousy little puppy had left a trap in his room in case anyone ventured into his things.

 Lucius realised it was best not to question the angry wizard about the trap, so he remained silent.

 - What does the old man say? - He decided to change the subject.

 - Puzzled," Snape poured himself a second glass. - He's sent men from the Order to every corner of magical London, and he's waiting for someone to find us missing. Bleek had nearly killed the Headmaster today for refusing to let Potter go to his mansion for the summer, and now the boy had disappeared from the supposedly magically protected house.

 - Had it only just dawned on Bleek that Dumbledore, the valiant protector of the Light, was using him? - Lucius grinned.

 - No," Snape admitted with some clearly visible effort. - Bleck hasn't got on with the Headmaster since he allowed Potter to meet with Milord.

 - So there may soon be one less strong wizard in Dumbledore's Order," Malfoy nodded contentedly. - It's a shame Bleek will never join us, then the entire fortune of their family would be put to good use for our cause.

 - Bleek hates both Dumbledore and the Lord now," the potionist grumbled, tipping back his second glass of whisky and picking up a piece of roast meat from the plate in front of him with his fork. - I think he'll lock himself away in his mansion or look for a meeting with one of us, he's not likely to stay away.

 - Speaking of which," Malfoy raised a finger. - 'If Potter has disappeared, then the guards from his house have been removed...'

 - Do you want our 'hero', if he suddenly returns, to have nowhere to come back to? - The potionist smirked.

 - Why not... - The aristocrat stretched out, pondering something. - There are three newcomers training on the lower tier of the dungeons right now, and they're being chased by Nott.

 - Animal baptism of fire? - Snape grinned.

 - Anything can happen," Lucius rose from his seat. - Let the candidates prove themselves fit to serve the cause of pure blood.

A few hours later. Little Whinging.

 The streets of Little Whinging, deserted at this late hour, were covered with a dense fog, in defiance of the weather forecasters' assurances of clear weather. The whitish clouds obscured sounds and colours, turning simple houses into fairy castles that glowed mysteriously in the night.

 With a soft pop, four figures draped in black appeared near the fence of one of the houses, now almost completely hidden by the fog.

 A passer-by, if he had been near the mysterious four, would have noticed that, despite the similarity of their robes, they differed in some respects. One of them wore a mask of silver moulded roughly on his face, while the other three were wearing masks of white cloth.

 - It's here," Nott Senior said quietly, pointing to the house. - Marvin, check the garden and the cottage.

 - Yes," The other man raised his wand, drawing a faintly glowing Runes scanning spell in the air. - Only Muggles in the house, no one in the garden.

 - Go ahead," Edmund waved his hand nonchalantly, clearly not intending to direct the process.

 After an unbearably long hour and a half for the Potter relatives, the Eaters left the Dursleys' house, which was slowly going up in flames. Each of the three newcomers had earned the right to a Black Mark, which they would acquire as soon as the Lord returned from what they were told was a long trip.