Chapter 84 - The great escape from 4 Privet Drive

(A/N : And so it begins - The start of a new Hogwarts year)

It had been a long summer for Harry, and now, after more than three months since he had talked with his friend, Harry dreamed that he was on show in a zoo, with a card reading UNDERAGE WIZARD attached to his cage. People goggled through the bars at him as he lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Dobby's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Dobby called, "Harry Potter is safe there, sir!" and vanished. And for some reason, Harry thought that the elf was the one who put him in the cage, just like he kept him from getting his letters. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley rattled the bars of the cage, laughing at him while stuffing his face with all kinds of candies.

"Stop it," Harry muttered as the rattling pounded in his sore head. "Leave me alone . . . cut it out . . . I'm trying to sleep. . . .Please…"

Suddenly, Harry opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And two faces were goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed boy as well as another annoyingly handsome face, blue-eyed and golden-haired boy.

Ron Weasley and Thomas Grayson were outside Harry's window, shocking the daylight out of the young boy.

Ron! Thomas!" Barely breathed Harry, creeping to the window and pushing it up so they could talk through the bars. "Guys, how did you — What the — ?"

Harry's mouth fell open as the full impact of what he was seeing hit him. Ron and Thomas were leaning out of the back window of an old turquoise car, which was parked in midair. Grinning at Harry from the front seats were Fred and George, Ron's elder twin brothers.

"All right, Harry?" asked George.

"Harry I came to your door last week to see you, but the ones who live told me that there's no one with your name living here so I went to Ron to see what in the seven hells was going on." Explained Thomas, while looking at his friend.

"What's been going on?" said Ron. "Why haven't you been answering our letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles …"

"It wasn't me, since I'm like a certain someone who has connections … and how did he know about that anyways?"

"Mate, he works for the Ministry," said Ron. "You know we're not supposed to do spells outside school …"

"You are the one talking about that?" said Harry, pointing at the floating car.

"Oh, this doesn't count," said Ron. "We're only borrowing this. It's Dad's, we didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with …"

"I told you, I didn't … but it'll take too long to explain now … look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can't magic myself out, because the Ministry will think that's the second spell I've done in three days, so please guys, help me with …"

"Calm down Harry. No one will come after you."

"Thomas's right Harry. Besides, we've come to take you to my home. Fuck the Dursleys."

"But Ron, you can't magic me out either…" Harry stopped, feeling like an idiot when he saw Thomas, Fred, and George grinning at him like three bloody idiots. And Harry shiver in fear, after all the last time those three got together, the whole Slytherin house had to wear bright pink robes for a whole day while at the same time smelling like some of the best female perfumes one could find on the market.

"I take it you aren't resting properly mate," said Ron, jerking his head toward his brothers and friend. "You forget who I've got with me."

"Tie that around the bars," said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Harry.

"If the Dursleys wake up, I'm dead," said Harry as he tied the rope tightly around a bar and Fred revved up the car.

"Don't worry about them. I've put them to sleep, a long and let's say not so peaceful sleep that might or might not give them a few months of constant nightmares." Thomas smiled while saying that making Harry shiver once more.

"Harry, don't worry about unnecessary things, and stand back."

Harry moved back into the shadows next to Hedwig, who seemed to have realized how important this was and kept still and silent. The car revved louder and louder and suddenly, with a crunching noise, the bars were pulled clean out of the window as Fred drove straight up in the air. Harry ran back to the window to see the bars dangling a few feet above the ground. Panting, Ron hoisted them up into the car. Harry listened anxiously, fearing that whatever Thomas did might have not worked, but to his surprise, there was no sound from the Dursleys' bedroom.

When the bars were safely in the back seat with Ron, Fred reversed the car as close as possible to Harry's window so that the boy will be able to easily climb into the car.

"Get in, we don't have all the time in the world!" Ron said while extending his hand toward his friend.

"But all my Hogwarts stuff … my wand … my broomstick … "

"Where is it?"

"Locked in the, but I can't get out of this room …"

"No problem," said George from the front passenger seat. "Out of the way, Harry. Let me and Thomas take care of this for you."

Thomas and George climbed catlike through the window into Harry's room. And boy was he surprised to see George taking out an ordinary hairpin from his pocket and starting to pick the lock like a professional burglar.

"A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," said George, "but let's be honest, a lot of those skills are worth learning, even if they are a bit slow or not so easy to master. I mean we have this monster, no offense Thomas, able to use a dagger or a sword at the same time with a wand in combat. My handsome twin brother and I are quite good at opening doors and locks, as well as using some of the things that the wizards and witches are taught ever in their lives."

A few seconds later, there was a small click and the door swung open, surprising Harry and even Ron, who didn't expect his brother to be able to easily pick a lock.

"That was easy. Anyways Harry, Thomas, and I will get your trunk. As for you… well you grab anything you need from your room and hand it out to Ron and Fred," whispered George before walking beside Thomas who was peeking out of the doorframe.

"Ok guys, but please watch out for the bottom stair, it creaks like crazy," Harry whispered back as George and Thomas disappeared into the dark.

George and Thomas cautiously descended the stairs, and for a second Thomas thought that the house seemed to hold its breath, as if it was knowing that something out of the ordinary was happening. Every creak of the wooden steps under their weight echoed through the hallway, making them wince with each sound.

George carefully placed his foot on the next step, trying to apply as little pressure as possible, but despite his efforts, the stairs groaned loudly as if in protest. Thomas winced at the sound, and they froze for a moment fearing that the impossible might happen.

In the dim light filtering through the hallway, George could see Thomas giving him a death glare as if he was going to kill the older boy for the noise. With a stifled chuckle, George tried to lighten the tense mood, whispering, "Guess we'll have to add 'silent stair-climbing to our list of skills, right?"

Thomas nodded, with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. But just as they were beginning to feel more confident, disaster struck. George's foot landed on a particularly creaky step, and the sound reverberated through the house like a mandrake's scream. Both boys froze, as their eyes widen in fear.

And then, a voice boomed from the darkness, shattering the silence like a thunderclap. "What's going on down there? Who's there?"

It was Vernon Dursley, who was supposed to be out cold, but for some reason, the fat man managed to fight back the poison Thomas gave them as well as the nightmare spell he learned from Akeno. The man rushed out of the bedroom armed with a hunting rifle. Both boys panicked when they saw the gun in the man's arms, after all, there are now known charms able to deflect a bullet.

George quickly grabbed Thomas's arm and pulled him toward the cupboard under the stairs where Harry's belongings were kept. They had to make a split-second decision to change their plan on the fly. They needed to get Harry and get out of there before the fat man could do anything that would endanger Harry's life.

"Hurry, Thomas!" George whispered urgently, quickly gathering Harry's things and stuffing them into a trunk.

But Thomas had another plan. With Vernon out on the hallway blindingly trying to find the intruders, Thomas knew that he and George will not be able to get back to the room where Harry had been kept, so he decide to do something rather stupid.

"George as soon as you got everything runs back to the car. Let me handle Harry's so-called uncle."

George's eyes went wide open when he heard the younger Ravenclaw and he tried to argue, but Thomas already left. Leaving George to take care of Harry's stuff, Thomas moved swiftly, trying not to make any noise that would give away his presence. He tiptoed down the hallway, using his advantage of being able to see somewhat better in the dark than most people to reach the end of the corridor, where he could see Vernon Dursley fumbling around, sluggishly and extremely disoriented. Making Thomas wonder if those seemed to be some of the after-effects of the poison and spell he used on them.

Nevertheless, Thomas took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves in the face of a weapon that could kill him in a mere second. He knew he had to act quickly and decisively, so he raised his dagger, aiming it at Vernon, and whispered the incantation for the disarming charm. "Expelliarmus!"

A bright flash of light erupted from the tip of Thomas's dagger, and the rifle slipped from Vernon's grasp, landing a few feet away. However, instead of trying to find the source of the spell, Vernon stumbled back and bumped into a nearby table, knocking over a vase.

The crash of the falling vase echoed through the house, and Thomas winced, fearing that it might wake up the man's wife or worse his son. Thankfully, it seems that, unlike their husband and father, the other two were out cold for the night. Letting out a sigh, Thomas levitated the vase, holding it above Vernon's head. "Sorry but not sorry, Mr. Dursley," Thomas said in a serious tone, making the man freeze in his tracks as he looked frantically around the hallways trying to find the source of the voice.

With a flick of his dagger, Thomas sent the vase hurtling toward the wall, shattering it into pieces. The loud noise startled Vernon, and before he could react, Thomas quickly aimed his dagger at the man's forehead and whispered another incantation. "Stupefy!"

A red beam of light shot from Thomas's dagger, hitting Vernon square in the chest. The man's eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Relief washed over Thomas as he realized he had successfully disarmed and incapacitated Vernon without causing any harm, at least not enough harm to kill the man. After he was sure that the man was out cold for good this time, he quickly went to retrieve the hunting rifle, putting it inside his satchel, after all, who knows when he might need it.

Just then, George, barely just barely managed to get a large trunk up the stairs, and to his surprise, he saw Thomas crouched beside what he guessed was Harry's uncle.

"Is he…"

"He's just unconscious. Let's go, George before the rest of his family wakes up."

At last, panting, the duo reached the landing, then carried the trunk through Harry's room to the open window. George climbed back into the car to pull with Ron and Harry, while Thomas pushed from the bedroom side. Inch by inch, the trunk slid through the window.

"A bit more," panted Ron, who was pulling from inside the car. "One last good push, Thomas!"

Hearing that, Thomas put some distance between himself and the trunk, making sure he had a clear shot. He took a deep breath, steadying his aim, and then with a swift flick of his dagger, he cast the Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) at the trunk. The spell hit the trunk with a forceful blast, forcing it through the window and into the car. The trunk slid across the backseat, perfectly fitting into the available space.

"Nice shot, Thomas!" George and Fred exclaimed at the same time, both giving him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks," Thomas replied with a grin.

"Okay, now come inside the car," George whispered.

But as Thomas climbed onto the windowsill, Harry remember that he forgot about someone.

"I've forgotten Hedwig! Thomas can you get him for me please."

Thomas nodded before he tore back across the room as the landing light clicked on. He then snatched up Hedwig's cage, before dashing back to the window, and passed it out to Harry.

Once Thomas was inside the car, Fred started the car as Harry took one last look at the house. "I hope not to see you next summer!"

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