Midnight Escape

Meanwhile in the headmaster's office, Dumbledore's POV

McGonagall, Snape and Sprout were sitting in the headmaster's office going over what they learned from the shopkeepers near the Leaky Cauldron. Albus had given them a list of who to talk to, so it was much easier then investigating the entire neighborhood.

"There really isn't much to report," Pomona said as she handed the written version of the questions she asked and who she had asked them to. The answers were on separate parchments. "The man at the coin shop said he exchanged some Sickles and Knuts for poor Mr. Potter, so he could get some food and shoes. He seemed right pleased that the lad was back at school."

"The man at Regale's Appliances said he chased Harry out of the store many times for loitering," Minerva reported, also handing in her written version.

"The lady at the library confirms that he was there many times reading fiction and fantasy novels, and comic books," Snape sneered as he all but threw his report on to the desk. He knew even without his memory that the brat was too stupid to research.

"Very well, thank you all for doing this much," the Headmaster said politely as he shuffled the parchments into order. "I am sure that Bartemius will accept these. If not then he can do his own 'legwork', I believe is the word."

"Yes, well, I have classes to prepare for tomorrow," Snape said, standing and shaking out his robe. He then turned and left the room without looking back.

"I do as well," Sprout said as she too moved to leave, though she did stop at the door to say goodnight.

"Thank you again for your reports," Dumbledore said as they left, and then he looked at his transfiguration teacher, who remained in her seat, glaring at him.

"Did you speak to Severus and the Bloody Baron?" she asked primly, looking over her glasses, much like Albus liked to do.

"Yes, Damien says that he saw a young man in Gryffindor robes that night, but did not report it because…" the old man explained, giving her a rundown on what their stories were for the night in question.

"Do you believe them?" was her next question when he had finished.

"I am not sure, to be honest. If this had happened any other year, I would have stood by both of them unequivocally. Now, with Harry's name entered the tournament, his running away and his story to you…" he trailed off, lost in thoughts of conspiracies.

"I will keep my eye on Severus," she stated firmly. "I suggest you do the same for the Baron." She then nodded her head and stood from her seat indicating the meeting was over and left.

Dumbledore sighed, popped a lemon drop in his mouth and wondered when he had lost control of his school.

 ....

Harry's POV

Harry was in the tunnel to Honeydukes, he had used his Cloak and map to get this far. Now he wanted to see to what extreme he could take his magic. So he put the two tools on the ground, held up his wand and said "Make me Invisible." He felt a cold sensation all over his body, like he had been plunged into snow, and when he looked at his hand in the torch light and it was transparent. He could just make out a very faint outline, but other than that he was invisible.

"Great," he exclaimed, and then pointed his wand at his glasses and said, "Make a Marauders' map." A six-foot translucent map with green shapes of buildings and two moving dots, with names over them, appeared in front of him like a hologram. It showed about twenty feet in all directions.

"Minimize," he stated quickly and now it was in the corner of his right lens. He could see it just off to the side, about ten inches tall. He could just make out the two dots, but they were far away and moving further.

"Tiny." Now it was just a speck of green on the bottom of his glasses. It was there but he couldn't see anything but names. He could now read Argus Filch and Mrs. Norris, but he had no idea who they were. They were still moving away, so he didn't care.

"Expand." Made it the ten-inch version. He could see through it, so it didn't impede him too much. He moved his head and the map moved with him. He looked up and could still see the ceiling of the tunnel, and the light on the wall. He experimented with it for a minute or two and saw that he could still see quite clearly, though everything to the right had a green tint.

"This is fucking fantastic," he said with a great deal of excitement and made it minimized again.

Now he wondered what to do with his Cloak and paper map. He looked at his front pockets, pulled the right one open and said, "TARDIS," and the inside grew much larger than the outside. He had no idea why that worked, when the acronym TARDIS didn't mean that at all, so it must be intent and vision like Luna had explained to him.

He just shrugged it off, quickly picked up the two items and shoved them in the now really wicked pocket. He was going to have to do this to all of his pants. At least one pocket on each. Oh… or he could make a bag to tie onto his belt, or even get a money belt and expand that. The ideas were endless.

He looked at his cool new map, and saw that the coast was clear. So he hurried down the tunnel. He didn't want to teleport inside the wards of Hogwarts, just in case the old man could feel him leave. That wouldn't end well.

When he felt the wall of magic, he went to the other side of it, and then with a 'Bampf' and a bit of blue smoke he was in the alley next to the Leaky Cauldron. It was a good thing his teleporting worked, or he would have had to call that Knight Bus, which the twins said was a nightmare.

It was also beneficial that he had spent a lot of time here when he was on the streets, or he wouldn't have a target to go to. He surely didn't want to wind up in China on accident. He had gotten the idea off that blue guy in the X-Men comics. Nightcrawler, that guy was one of his favorite characters. He was just awesome. The way he could go anywhere he wanted at any time.

Our hero expanded his map and checked it and saw that only someone named Tom was in the pub. Being invisible, he simply snuck through without any problems. When they were going over the plan, the twins were very thorough and told him how to open the archway.

When it opened he looked around, and was disappointed that all the stores were closed, but he could see that this would be a neat place to walk around during business hours. It was so old-worldly and rustic. Nothing like the streets of London.

He peered at the stores as he made his way to the bottom of the marble steps that led up to Gringotts. The lookalikes had warned him to not go inside undercover, or they might think he was there to rob the joint. "Appear," he said, after looking at the map to make sure he was alone. This time it was a warm sensation that accompanied the change.

.....

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