Order Meeting: Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts

For the first time since November of 81', there was an Order Meeting called by Albus Dumbledore. The members that were here had been confused at the necessity of this meeting during peace time. Like everyone else in the Wizarding World, they did not want to think of times of war. As far as they were concerned, the days of fearing for their lives were over thanks to Harry Potter. Very few met the young wizard personally since he had been hidden for his own safety.

Albus Dumbledore sighed in frustration. None of his tracking devices or spells have located the missing savior. It is time to have the Order Members aware of the situation. Perhaps Remus will be able to find him with his superior sense of smell. The old wizard took a deep breathe before addressing his colleagues.

"It is with much regret that I am calling this meeting. I am afraid that I have some troubling news regarding Mr. Potter."

"I told you that those people were the worst sort of muggles!" Minerva McGonagal sniffed angrily.

Severus Snape snorted. "Is the brat not getting enough attention? Headmaster, I do not want to hear about a spoiled little prince!"

Among the cries of outrage, Remus Lupin fumed. "I would be careful Snape if I were you. Showing contempt towards the Boy Who Lived makes you sound like a disgruntled Death Eater." Remus growled.

Severus Snape gave the werewolf a look of loathing. Many others, Remus included, were glaring at the Potions Master as well. Albus Dumbledore tried to restore order unsuccessfully.

"Aye Lad, I could not agree with you more. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater I say." Moody commented while glaring darkly at Snape.

"Enough!" Albus Dumbledore shouted. Unsurprisingly, everyone quieted down.

"The protections that I put up for young Mr. Potter and his family has fallen. It seems that Petunia did not treat Harry well. Arabella told me that he has had a difficult life with his family. I did not know that he would be so unhappy to runaway and declare that his families home is not his."

"What! You said that he was happy and safe!" Severus Snape shouted. As a spy, he knew that he had to hate Lily's son. It had seemed that Harry's childhood had resembled his more than his loathsome father's.

"How dare you Dumbledore! Even though I could not have taken him in, plenty of light sided families could have. We could have made sure that he was safe!" Remus Lupin fumed.

"Oh, that poor dear." Molly Weasley sobbed.

"We could have trained him up so that he would be prepared for those dark wizards." Mad Eye Moody added gruffly. He did not care that most of the group were glaring at him for his suggestion.

Albus Dumbledore had waved his wand which created a loud bang. Everyone settled down to hear what he had to say.

"While my decision to place Mr. Potter with his relatives is regrettable, we must find him. Rest assured he will not go back to his family. However, the monitoring devices I had attuned to Mr Potter as well as tracking spells have failed. My theory is that Mr. Potter has used accidental magic to keep himself hidden."

The Order Members gasped at this piece of news. That was powerful accidental magic after all. However, this is the Boy Who Lived. It should not be surprising that he could do such a thing. These were the thoughts of those present.

"Since we can not find him magically at the moment, I was hoping that Remus would be able catch his scent. Until his magic is finished hiding him, it is our only hope." Dumbledore added gravely.

"Of course I will do my best to find Harry. However, if I do find him, I will want an oath that you will do your best to make sure that Harry is happy and safe." Remus said stubbornly. While he was grateful for everything the old wizard has done for him, his best friends son came first.

Albus sighed at the lack of faith that Lupin was showing him. There was nothing more he could do than find young Harry and ensure that he had a happy childhood. "Of course Remus. It saddens me that you think it is necessary. If any little boy deserves a childhood, it is young Harry."

Remus hesitantly nodded before he settled down for the rest of the meeting.

Severus Snape scoffed. "Our lone hope to find that brat lies with the wolf. It is clear that we are desperate and therefore doomed." he added in his most acidic tone.

The usual cries of outrage to the Potions Masters typical jibes rose within the order.

"Enough!" Albus Dumbledore shouted. "We can not afford to argue amongst ourselves. At this moment Harry Potter is missing and his condition is unknown. We do not have any time to waste."

Ritz Carlton Hotel: London

While the Order Meeting is concluding, Nicole aka Harry Potter has resided in The Ritz Carlton Hotel as she has previously done many times in her previous life for the last three days. The various potions she has procured have come in handy for many reasons. For one thing she can not be found by anyone looking for the boy who saved them all.

Secondly, Harry's body had changed remarkably after that potion. The main purpose worked since there was no sign of the famous scar on Harry's forehead.

The most notable change was his height. Where before he was much too short for his age, now he was only slightly shorter than average with a lean muscular build for a child. It appeared that after his slave labor, Harry had some visible muscle that he would have had in canon if he had proper nutrition. In Nicole's opinion, he had looked like a young swimmer.

The most shocking change was having perfect vision. While many people in the books believed that Harry inherited his fathers poor vision, he clearly had his mother's eyes as well as eyesight. Lack of nutrition ruined his eyes.

Overall, Harry's body was much healthier than it had been since he was with his parents. At the moment she had not purchased non prescription contacts since she was staying in the non magical world. Even if she had run into a magical person, she had only left the hotel in an adult body. No one looking for Harry would look twice at her.

The last three days have been very busy. Nicole is currently going through her purchased magical books at a pace that would make Hermione Granger jealous. Her experience in the best of schools, not to mention Columbia Law School, gave her superior study habits.

Her primary focus was studying magical theory, law, and customs. Since the law was her chosen field in her old world, Nicole was hoping for an obscure law to help her start anew. It would take years before she would be good enough to do anything magically that would suit her purposes.

From what she had read in the Harry Potter Series, The Goblin Nation barely tolerated The Ministry of Magic as well as wizards. If she could find a law to make it legal, she could use their feelings and greed to her advantage to carry out her plans. After all, the wizards savior wanting nothing to do with his fame would amuse them in her opinion. Of course, she would throw in some gold for their silence. It would not do if a goblin eventually blabbed her identity. Nicole would require nothing less than oaths of secrecy from anyone who knew of her identity. It was not like money was difficult to come by for her.

After having read numerous law books, Nicole was beginning to lose her patience. It was when she was going to retire for the day that she had found a solution to concealing her identity. It would be tricky, but it did not seem like she had much choice.

A/N: I know that Remus seems OOC since he did not stand up for Harry like this in canon. My reasoning is that he never knew how bad it was, although he should have guessed due to his appearance IMO. Also, he is younger than he was in the books and more likely to question authority. He was a Marauder for a reason after all. I also would like to think I got Snape's reactions right. He is a difficult character to write. I would love your opinions on how I handled the Order Meeting since that was the most difficult part of the chapter for me. As far as Nicole taking a legal approach, what else could a former muggle law student do? A ritual? Mary Sue she is not. It also makes sense that a scholar like her could read faster than Hermione. She does have much more practice and experience than she does so that was not meant to insult Mione.

I was amazed by the many alerts for this story. It had inspired me to finish this chapter earlier than I would have. Thanks to those who had reviewed the last chapter, although I would have loved more. As much as I love reviews and as much as they inspire me, begging is not my style. If you are for some reason uncomfortable signing a review, I would love to hear from you in a PM. Please let me know what you think. Reviewers or PMers like you can help me complete and improve my story.

As far as the delay is concerned, I am recovering from surgery. I am OK and this is the first day that I have not been in much pain. The good news is that I can now focus my energies in writing. I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but I wanted to stop there. I had to have a cliffie. :) *Impish grin*

Lastly, if I made some glaring errors, please forgive me since I am clearly not at my best. I did edit it believe it or not. I can always fix mistakes later if it is needed.

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