Albus Dumbledore stood outside Privet Drive. It was dark, save for a few lampposts conveniently located at every street corner. Most people who lived in the houses down the street were safely tucked away in their beds, not knowing what happened several hours before.
Dumbledore had recently found out about the deaths of James and Lily Potter. That saddened him to an extent, since he had failed them when they trusted him to protect them from the wrath of the Dark Lord Voldemort. According to one of his agents, the dark lord was killed when he attacked the Potter family. That same agent mentioned the disappearance of Seamus and Sean Rowes after the deaths of Joanna Rowes Black and Shannon Rowes Snape. Dumbledore knew it was a matter of time before Sirius Black and Severus Snape would come after him regarding the deaths of their wives.
But that was for a different time; he had something more important to do.
He stared at a huge gray cat that had come to nestle up beside him. The cat soon transformed into a woman. Minerva McGonagall was no stranger to these evening meetings in the Muggle world, as she often participated in those meetings. But she didn't agree to this one, especially if it was in an area populated by Muggles.
She said to him, "Albus, this is a bad idea. I think sending him to live with Muggles is a mistake."
"Minerva, my dear," said Dumbledore, "Muggle families with magical children are appearing everywhere and pureblood wizarding families are dying out due to a lack of children. Many wizards and witches have a magical parent and a non-magical parent. I know Petunia and Lily Evans attended Hogwarts because they both had magic in them."
"Indeed," said McGonagall as she glared at her husband. "And what makes you so sure that Petunia would be willing to take in Harry Potter? When last I checked, she married a Muggle, something that's frowned upon in wizarding society. Is there no other magical family we could send him to?"
"I know Molly Weasley had begged me to let her keep the boy when she first heard the story about Harry, but I had to turn her down," said Dumbledore. "I firmly insisted his family would want to see him first."
"Always have to be the sentimental one, aren't we?" McGonagall snapped at him. "You do realize that you've earned her wrath, and I know the Weasleys and their wrath. She won't forgive you for this, not if you know she came from the Prewett family. That family is known to hex anyone who dares to cross them."
"This is for the best, my dear," said Dumbledore. "Harry needs his family. He needs his childhood. He needs the chance to grow up and live a decent life. He doesn't need the fame and glory. He’s too young for that."
"And Sameth Ulrich experienced fame and glory and it hasn't gone to his head," McGonagall snapped while thinking about Irina Ulrich's newborn son. Sam was born in Liverpool before the deaths of his grandparents, Paul Alexander Ulrich and Isabella Braumlein-Crenshaw Ulrich. Many people believed the old couple was killed in the traffic accident that took the lives of over 75 people. (Of course, the traffic accident was actually a wizard attack.) Their only daughter, Irina, believed Dumbledore had her parents killed for a mysterious reason. As such, she left the Order of the Phoenix after her parents’ funerals.
"That’s because Irina is hell-bent on keeping anything fame-related away from her son. She also isn’t letting anyone magical near her house," said Dumbledore. "She's a stubborn woman, and she refuses to trust me."
"She'll never trust you, not since you caused the accident that killed her parents on the night Sam was born," said McGonagall. "In fact, I don’t think your spy in the Ulrich family is useful. The family is stubborn; they won't let the fact that Paul and Isabella Ulrich were killed at your hands slide."
"Indeed," said Dumbledore. "If Irina knew what was good for her, she would beg for my forgiveness the first chance that she got. Instead of doing that, she wants my head on a spike and hung over the London Bridge. She may be a powerful spellcaster, but why does she have to be so stubborn?"
Just then, a huge motorbike roared into view and pulled up in front of the two old wizards. A huge man stepped off the bike and retrieved a basket from the sidecar. The man said, "I've found him in the ruined house."
"Where did you get that bike?" McGonagall snapped at him, not approving of the fact that the man was riding on a Muggle bike. Didn't he know how dangerous Muggle bikes were? He could have fallen off the bike and gotten hurt.
"Sirius loaned it to me," said the man. "He asked me to keep an eye on it until it was safe for him to retrieve it."
"Indeed," said Dumbledore. "Now, where is the baby?"
"Right here," said the man as he opened up the basket and revealed a small boy lying inside it. He was asleep, wrapped up in a blanket, and clutching at something that looked like a blue raven. A scar was on his head over his right eye, one that was in the shape of a lightning bolt.
McGonagall said, "You're sure no one saw you, Rubeus?"
Rubeus Hagrid frowned as he stared at the two old wizards. "I had a few minutes to take Harry and leave before the Muggle authorities came to question me. Sirius is talking to them right now as we speak."
Dumbledore frowned; he would have to punish Sirius Black for that later. He then said, "I have made up my mind. The boy stays with his family. I don’t want anyone outside the family to raise him. If that occurs, then they will die. If the Dursleys give Harry away, they and the adoptive family will die. I will make sure the boy arrives at Hogwarts dependent on me and unhappy with his life."
McGonagall shook her head; she knew this would not end well. She would deal with that later. She and Hagrid vanished before anyone could see them.
Dumbledore frowned, knowing that the plan was set in motion. He set the basket in front of #4 Privet Drive and slipped a letter on top. He then backed away from the porch and disappeared into the night.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbTRC1P9pE
Petunia Evans Dursley saw the baby lying asleep on the front porch the next day. She recently found out about her sister Lily’s death from a letter that was placed on top of the blankets. She picked up the baby and thought to herself now who on earth would place my baby nephew on the front porch? Don’t they know he could have froze in the night, or someone could have carried him off without me knowing it? Or to make things worse, he could have wandered off and no one would have noticed him until it was too late. She walked back into the house with the baby, not knowing what to do next.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnURPBAANo
Her husband, Vernon Dursley, saw Harry and frowned. He wasn’t ready to take in an orphan, especially one with magic inside him. After Petunia explained to him about finding Harry on the front porch, he said, “Well, isn’t there anyone else out there who can take care of Harry?”
Petunia gasped. She knew her brother Carlyle Evans wouldn’t willingly take charge of the baby. There was also the matter of the near-annihilation of the entire Potter family for her to consider. “Not that I know of,” she replied. “You think that people would have some sense when it comes to matters such as this.”
“I know,” said Vernon as he read the letter. “If this Dumbledore person cared about Harry, as he claimed, he would've came here and explained everything to us instead of dropping the kid off like a package from the UPS and expecting us to take care of him. Dudley’s already a handful, so why would we want to introduce another baby into this house?”
“There has to be another family out there who would want to take care of him,” Petunia frowned. “A family that actually knows about magic.”
“What about your brother Carlyle?” Vernon suggested.
Petunia glared at him. “VERNON DURSLEY!” she yelled, making their baby son Dudley cry. “I thought I told you to never mention that name!” Vernon was surprised; Petunia would normally hold her temper. Since she found out about her sister’s death and the task of raising baby Harry, the woman was ill-tempered, as it were.
“Why not your brother?” he wondered. “He could take care of the boy.”
“Because that good-for-nothing idiot abandoned our family when Lily got her Hogwarts letter,” said Petunia. “I was 14 and Lily was just 11. Lee was 18 and full of hot temper. Being influenced by those “so-called” normal friends of his, he shunned Lily and yelled at mum and dad for supporting her.”
“What about you?” Vernon asked.
“I had to pick a side: to side with Lily or side with Lee. I eventually had to side with Lily, even though I didn’t like the idea of magic. Lee took off the next day and never returned. To this day, I never forgave him for leaving us.” She sighed and went to comfort a crying Harry. “If only I could make him pay for leaving us, we’ll see…”
She set baby Harry down on a small cot and read the letter, hoping to find a clue about who had killed her sister. Petunia knew they weren't exactly close, not since things went sour for her after her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. That was the year she discovered she could do a limited amount of magic. Because of that, she decided to leave Hogwarts and attend a Muggle school instead.
Albus Dumbledore was displeased with Petunia’s decision to leave. Even though he made threats and such, Petunia refused to budge. She decided that because the old man poked his nose in her life once again, she would make him pay for it.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsd1QLDuT5
Several days after Harry’s arrival to the Dursleys, James Harold Potter and Lily Marie Evans-Potter were buried. Baby Harry cried, and so did Petunia. Vernon frowned and shook his head; baby Dudley was asleep the entire time.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jm2TA2lOC
Just as the pastor read the final funerary rites, the person Petunia had hoped to never see again came to the funeral.
Carlyle Ariel Evans (who liked to be called "Lee") shrugged as he came towards the graves of Lily and James Potter. He had the same red hair as Lily did, yet his eyes were blue like Petunia's. (Petunia was unlucky enough to get the infamous blond hair from her mother, Gloria Williams Evans.)
Yet Carlyle did not come alone, as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman stood next to him. She was inappropriately dressed for the season in England, as it was wet and rainy. While everyone wore funeral attire, Carlyle and the mysterious woman wore t-shirts and shorts, looking like they were dressed for a day at the beach instead of going to a funeral.
“So you’ve decided to show your face here after all these years,” Petunia snapped. Carlyle Evans did not look at her or say anything. “Where were you when mum and dad died? Where were you when Lily and I needed you? Oh, I know; you were too damn busy lollygagging on those bloody Californian beaches, were you not?”
“I,” Lee began.
“It doesn’t matter what you have to say!” Petunia screamed as she turned to look at him. “You think after all these years you have walked out on us, you can waltz back into our lives and everything is going to be great? No way! Mum, dad, and Lily are dead! I’m the only here and this…” she pointed to Harry, “is her poor child, the latest casualty of your stupidity!”
“Petunia, I…” Lee tried again.
“Don’t you dare try to explain yourself to me!” Petunia shot back in anger. “You walked out on us just as we needed you the most! I’ve lost almost every member of my family because of you! You are a mean and evil creature that doesn’t even deserve to be called my brother!”
“Who are you to call my husband that?” the woman snapped as she started for Petunia.
“Husband?” Petunia sputtered as she turned on the woman. “Ha! Are you that stupid that you would marry such a hurtful---?”
“Well,” said Lee, “this is my wife, Mary Lewis. We got married last year and…”
“…and you didn’t think your family didn’t need to know about it, or did you?” Vernon cut in. “You thought they were going to reject her? Demand you divorce her and marry someone they approved of?”
“Well, until I found out about Lily, I had no credible reason to be here,” said Lee. “Besides, I wasn’t in California; I was in Scotland. Do I seriously have to have a reason to be here? Do I?”
“Well, you have one now,” said Petunia. She reached over to pick up little Harry. “This is Lily’s baby, your nephew Harry Potter. You’ll be taking care of him from now on.”
“And what if I don’t,” Lee began.
“Don’t even think of backing out this time,” said Vernon, “because we’ll be watching you. Also, you’ll be moving next to us so we can keep an eye on you…”
“…and if I ever find even the smallest trace of abuse on Harry, I will crush you the way I should have crushed you years ago!” Petunia snapped.
Lee knew what was at stake. He stared at the baby, noting his pale white skin, and black hair. But when Harry opened his sharp green eyes, Lee knew exactly whose son he was.
“You mean to tell me that Lily dared to marry one of those no-good wizards she was obsessed with?” he snapped as he continued to stare at Harry.
“I would watch what I’m saying,” said Petunia as she recalled James and Lily’s wedding. Everyone who attended the wedding paid more attention to Irina Ulrich and her light blue dress with the plunging neckline than to the newly married couple. The maid of honor in question also brought her two small sons, Caleb and Jesse, who were born out of wedlock. Petunia recalled the gossip that surrounded the Ulrich family, which ended when James had put his foot down and ordered everyone to stop gossiping about Irina and her children.
That was then. Lily dared not ask Petunia about Carlyle at that time, knowing Petunia would shut down regarding their older brother. But Petunia knew it would be a matter of time before they would discuss him abandoning his family.
Lee said, “If you think I’m going to stick around and help you when you chose magic over our family, think again.”
“You chose yourself over our family,” said Petunia. “You didn’t think we needed you? When mom and dad died, you weren’t there! How can you say that I was selfish in choosing magic when YOU left?”
“Maybe I came back because I realized I had made a mistake,” said Carlyle. He stared at baby Harry before continuing, “I'll do something for the boy, but not for you or Lily, and not because I care about you or her, which I don’t.”
“Indeed you will,” said Petunia.
Unknown to them, Dumbledore was also at the funeral. He saw the confrontation between Petunia and her brother Carlyle, knowing he had another member of the Evans family to deal with. He would not allow Carlyle to get himself involved in little Harry’s life. Harry was not to have a decent childhood, nor would he have other relatives to confide in. This would not do at all.
He knew he had to punish Carlyle Evans for interfering with his plans, but how would he get away with it without Petunia finding out about his involvement in her sister’s death?
That’s the end of that part of the story.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w1j4aQyPS
Here’s what happens next:
Upon their arrival to Little Whinging, Lee and Mary moved to #6 Privet Drive, which was next to Vernon and Petunia. Also, Lee and his wife had to raise baby Harry as their own. Petunia kept an eye on the boy daily and checked for any signs of abuse or neglect, as Lee and Mary seemed to be no good at raising children, let alone Harry. Dumbledore wasn't pleased with this arrangement, as his plans to train Harry as a soldier would go awry, no thanks to Petunia Evans Dursley.
Speaking of plans going awry, Dumbledore’s 5-year-old daughter Amber and her 3-year-old best friend Willamaerha Thristal recently helped Will escape from her cruel older brothers. Will’s story was that her mother had died when she was born, and her brothers never let her forget that. They were very cruel to her. Her father, Melanus, was worried about his daughter and tried to protect her from her brothers as only a father could. During the funeral for James and Lily, Amber had to sneak Will out the house when no one was looking and go to Hogwarts. That story will eventually intertwine with that of Harry.
Well, Harry’s story was about to begin in a way no one anticipated…624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpVJ8lkbwt
