Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 17: The Director
Amelia Bones was the Director of the Auror Department.
As someone holding such an important position, she had grown accustomed to spending many nights working overtime.
"Still nothing?" She stared down at a figure made of green flames that was standing inside her fireplace.
The figure had the appearance of a tall man wearing long robes. "My apologies, Madam Bones. We only have a vague description to go on, and London…"
"It's a big place, I know." Amelia said. "Okay, let me know if something comes up."
"I will." The figure in the fireplace disappeared, and the green flame became extinguished.
Just as the Director was about to return to her desk and prepare herself for another long shift, someone knocked on the door of her office.
"Come in." She said, expecting it to be her secretary.
"Madam Bones." A young girl poked her head inside. "You have a visitor."
"A visitor at this hour?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. The sun had barely started to come out, and the Ministry was yet to open to the public. The only people still here were the workers.
"Yes, he says that it's an emergency."
"Another one?. I mean...who is it?" Amelia asked.
"W-wait, sir!"
Amelia heard the voice of her secretary yelling at someone before the door was opened completely, and an old man walked inside.
"I'm sorry, but this is too important to wait any longer."
"Albus?!" Madam Bones had not expected to see the Headmaster of Hogwarts waltzing into her office at dawn.
"Indeed." Dumbledore nodded. "I needed to see you immediately and was told you were still in your office."
"What is this about? Did something happen at Hogwarts?" Amelia asked.
"Mmmm no, it's not about the school." Dumbledore glanced over at the secretary.
Amelia took note of this. "Leave us, please." Whatever had happened, it appeared that Dumbledore didn't want too many people to know.
The secretary nodded and closed the door, leaving the two of them to talk in private.
"Okay." She pointed to one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Tell me about it. It's very unusual for you to come see me like this."
"I'll go directly to the point, if you don't mind." Said Dumbledore. "Harry Potter is missing."
Amelia Bones flinched. "Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Last night, he left the house of his relatives, and no one knows where he went."
"Relatives? What relatives? There are no members of the Potter house alive." Amelia asked.
The location of Harry Potter's house had been one of the best-kept secrets. With a great deal of reluctance, the Minister of Magic had left the job of securing a safe place for Harry Potter to live in the hands of Albus Dumbledore.
"Actually…they were relatives on his mother's side. A small family of muggles." Dumbledore said.
Amelia looked shocked. "You had the Boy Who Lived growing up in a Muggle house?! Does he even know anything about our world?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "He doesn't even know he is a wizard. I thought it would be better for him to grow far away from all of that."
Amelia narrowed her eyes. "Does the Minister know about this?. Because I was certainly told nothing about it."
She saw the Headmaster shake his head again. "Yes, thought as much. He is not going to be happy when he hears about this. We all thought that the boy was being taken care of by some proper wizard family. You know, one that would help develop a wizard with his immense potential. But you went and put him with muggles…why?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I had good reasons for making that decision. But this is not important right now. I need to find him immediately. It's too dangerous for him to wander around with no protection. Old followers of 'You Know Who' are still around…still looking for the boy. If they find him before us…I don't want to think what they could do."
The old wizard decided to hide the fact that he found traces of magic having been used inside Harry's room, because he was still trying to figure out what happened there.
Amelia sighed. "Okay, yes. You are right. Let's find the boy first. Can you tell me where the house of these relatives of his is?"
"Privet Drive. A small residential neighbourhood in the southeast of London."
Amelia stood up from her chair and walked towards a detailed map of the city that she had hanging from her wall. "Privet Drive…" She moved her finger across the paper until she located the place.
"Wait…hold on. Southeast of London? This can't be a coincidence…"
"What is it?" Dumbledore saw the sudden change in Madam Bones.
The woman returned to her desk, took a report from the table, and then resumed her examination of the map.
"Last night, we got two reports of misuse of magic in South London. One incident happened in South Croydon, and the other one was in Sutton, around an hour later. The Office for Improper Use of Magic and my department were immediately notified, and we moved to control the situation."
"Tell me about it. What happened?"
"First incident was fairly innocent. One man was hit with a sleeping spell. The traces were already faint when we arrived, and the only Muggle witness actually believed that the man had suffered some sort of heart attack, so we didn't need to do anything."
"Did you get a description of the one responsible?"
"They just mentioned having encountered a lost boy, moments before this happened. The male muggle attacked this boy and then was put to sleep."
"A lost boy?" Dumbledore opened his eyes widely. "Did they say what he looked like?"
"Short dark hair and glasses. He was wearing old clothes and a large backpack."
"That has to be him!" Dumbledore said. "But…Harry doesn't know how to use magic."
Amelia nodded. "Yes, when I first heard about this incident, I thought it was a simple case of accidental magic. It would not be the first time that a magical child manages to do something like that in self-defence."
"What about the second case? The one that took place in Sutton."
Madam Bones frowned. "That one was a lot worse…let me tell you."
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