Secrets She Kept » Harry Potter

Part 17

Undisclosed Location,
Coastal Australia.
1 August 1991

The sun was sitting high in the sky as Petunia Evans set about hanging out the laundry, it consisted of a mass amount of freshly washed clothing belonging to the four children in her care. They were currently joining Petunia's nephew Harry with his recent birthday gift of a waterslide, she could hear the excited screams from the children. A smile is placed on her face as she watches the two older boys watch over the set of twins who slid down the slide, giggling as they did.

This moment of peace would be short-lived. There was a visitor holding a letter that had repeatedly been sent to the address that Vernon Dursley still resided at in London, a place that Petunia had escaped for the safety of her own sanity and the children. They were happy with the new adventure they had started in a new country, although it did take adjusting to the weather compared to dreary England.

When the woman took the empty clothes basket towards the home, she was frightened by the sight of an older witch wearing long green robes and a large hat to shield her from the sun. Petunia noticed a familiar letter that had been addressed to her sister many decades ago, she knew who the witch was. "Mrs Dursley-" McGonagall began but is cut off by the Muggle sighing.

"Ms Evans." She corrects the witch. She knew the wizard community would be coming to collect Harry to attend Hogwarts, somewhere he belonged much like his parents. "You're later than expected." When she made the rash decision to leave England, abandoning the childhood home that her children had settled in, Remus Lupin was the only soul she informed. He was a wizard he could trust, he kept in letter communication with Harry.

Professor McGonagall apologies for the mistake, she was relying upon the minimal information that Albus Dumbledore had given her before she set out on the venture to invite Harry Potter to Hogwarts. He was still under the impression to keep Harry in the care of his aunt and uncle, that he would still be in their shared home where they had left him all those years ago. The witch wasn't aware the marriage had fallen apart, Albus was good at keeping secrets from her. "It took time to get the correct address." The witch comments. "I know this visit will bring up negative memories for you, however, I am under obligation to formally accept Harry into our school."

Petunia set about putting the basket in the correct place. "He's been waiting for the letter." She muses before directing the witch to the backyard where the children were safely playing in a fenced-in grass area. There McGonagall saw four children chasing each other with different water toys to fight off the heat in the air, even as it was becoming early spring.

Before the witch stepped down from the house, she turned back to the Muggle. She had been told from their sources that Harry wore a pair of glasses handed down from his father. "What happened to the glasses gifted to him by his father?" She noted the absence of glasses on his face. The smile on his face made her assume there was no abuse in this household like she thought she would encounter.

Petunia sighed. "Harry prefers to wear contacts." She mentions. "He keeps the glasses in his bedroom with other items from the Potter Estate."

Everything was much different than the witch had been briefed about.

Petunia had called the children back into the home before the afternoon temperature started dropping. Wrapped in a towel Harry was confused to see a woman wearing long clothing and a crooked hat on her head drinking tea in their small dining room. His black hair was parted to reveal the scar on his head due to the water dripping down his forehead. "Harry you have a visitor, someone from the school that we talked about." The Muggle mentions turning her attention to the toddlers who were screaming through the halls. Petunia would follow the two down the hallway to their respective bedroom.

McGonagall sits proudly on the wooden chair, giving a kind smile to the boy. Harry was unsure about the visitor, he had been told there would be someone to invite him to the private school his parents once attended. Although he had adjusted to a new life in their new home, he was unsure about following the witch back to the United Kingdom. "So you're from Hogwarts?" Harry asked the witch curiously.

The witch nodded. Harry had the curiosity like his mother did about the world that he would soon enter, yet appeared much like his father. "That's correct Mr Potter, I am deputy Headmistress. Here to formally invite you to join us the next semester at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry." She muses with a smile, using her tendencies overhearing whispering coming from the younger Evans boy.

"Aunt Petunia said my cousins would attend too." Harry quizzed the witch.

This was information that McGonagall wasn't familiar with. All she could do was nod her head, she knew children had expectations that the other children in their household too will join them in the halls of Hogwarts. The witch handed the invitation over to the boy, it also highlighted the list of required stationary for the upcoming year. "I am happy to arrange for a member of staff to purchase these items on your behalf before your travels." The witch offered, she knew the stance of her world that came from the woman raising the boy.

Harry gave a polite smile, folding the page. "My aunt already went ahead and arranged for me to go shopping with my uncle."

There was much change. McGonagall was unsure of how to feel about the surroundings around her, although she was under a duty to remain calm.

Before the witch could continue her explanation of the history of the school, Petunia is dragged out with two toddlers holding her hands. McGonagall is faced with a pair who both had light hair, although the female was lighter than the boy with hazel eyes. The girl had her mother's light blue eyes, looking at the stranger with a large grin. "My apologies, the children were curious about our visitor." Looking behind her she saw George peeking from the corner of the door, his dark hair flopping over his forehead.

"No need to apologise. Children are curious creatures by nature." The witch reasons.

Harry was the next to speak. "They're magical, like me."