THE TIME ANOMALY

CHAPTER NINE

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"Sirius! Remus!" James called. "You can come in!"

"Who's - " Harry started, but James cut him off.

"Friends," was all he said before two men in their thirties appeared. "This is Sirius Black, your godfather, and your Uncle Remus Lupin. We were all in the same year in Gryffindor together."

Harry stared. "N-nice to meet you, Mr Black, Mr Lupin."

Sirius spluttered in shock while Remus only grinned.

"My name is Uncle Sirius or Padfoot. Mr Black makes me sound so old!"

"Harry," James said, shaking his head, "you are not to call any of us Mister - ever! That's Uncle Remus or Moony to you."

"Sorry," Harry said quickly.

"He's Prongs if you're wondering," Sirius interjected, jerking his head at James.

"Why do your have names like that?"

"Because this!" James and Sirius choroused, before turning into Padfoot and Prongs respectively.

"That's a great secret, that is," Sirius said, turning back, "and don't you tell anybody. When I'm a dog, you need to call me Padfoot. I even have a dog collar to prove it!"

"What about - er, - Uncle Remus?" Harry enquired. "Can't he turn into an animal too?"

"I'm, er - "

"He can only turn into a wolf on the full moon."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Harry exclaimed. "But not as cool as being able to turn into it whenever you want, I suppose." After a pause, he continued thoughtfully, "I suppose that makes you a werewolf then?"

"Well - yes," Remus admitted, not looking at Harry.

"I wish I could howl at the moon," Harry said wistfully.

"It used to be quite dangerous," James said. "He would act like a wolf entirely. He would actually be a real wolf, you could say, but now there's a potion, and he can control it and not rip us to shreds or make us werewolves. If a werewolf bites a person that person turns into a werewolf too. Don't ever tell anyone he is a werewolf, because most people would say, 'yikes! A werewolf! Run away and don't talk to him!' because people think that they are terrible dangerous, even when they're not wolves at the time. If you ever see him - or anyone - start turning into a wolf, run quick because they might not be able to control it. But they're fine the rest of the time." he lectured. "Although, if you can turn into an animal yourself, that won't be a problem."

"So... people basically won't stand to be around a werewolf? That's rubbish! I mean, it's all well and good if they are a wolf at the time, but in general, they're just totally normal people?"

"Yep!" Sirius piped up. "Some people are just prejudiced that way, especially if they're wizard-raised. There's only a few wolves that really deserve it, like Fenrir Greyback, who purposely goes around trying to turn other people into werewolves. He's one of the worst, and he was on Voldemort's side back in the war. Just remember that Moony is totally perfectly normal all the rest of the time."

"Is there a name for being able to turn into a different animal?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes. It's called being an Animagus."

"Plural is Animagi," Remus interjected.

"Yes."

"That's so cool! Can I learn how?"

"Yep! We can start on the Christmas holidays. Those idiots can teach you."

"Why can't you? And don't go calling them idiots!"

"I didn't mean it that they were idiots, I was joking around. We all do that all the time," Remus explained. "And it's much better to learn from an actual Animagus than not, because they know better how it works and how it feels and whether you're doing it wrong."

"I see. "

"So, the all-important question - are you coming home for the Christmas holidays?" James asked.

"Er - I was going to stay at Hogwarts, but I suppose I could go back to Aunt Petunia's... I'd have to sleep in the cupboard again, there aren't enough bedrooms for all of you - "

"The cupboard?" James parroted. "What are you talking about?"

"The cupboard under the stairs, of course. Freaks don't deserve better, it's a miracle I got Dudley's second bedroom after the first Hogwarts letter came."

The adults occupants of the room were gaping at him.

"Wh-what else happened?"

James was stunned and couldn't tell who'd asked the question.

"What do you mean?"

"What was a normal week like?"

"I-I was told never to discuss it... I'll be in so much trouble when I get back to Privet Drive..."

"You won't be going back," James said clearly. "We'll be going to my house - to the Potter Estate."

"But Aunt Petunia needs me to clean the house and tend to the garden!"

"She can do that on her own," Remus coaxed.

Harry snorted. "Aunt Petunia? Work? Not on my life."

"What about Dudley?" Sirius questioned.

"The only thing that keeps him from getting too fat to move is Harry Hunting," Harry explained. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would faint if he was asked to work, anyway."

"What's Harry Hunting?" Remus wondered.

"It's where Dudley and his gang chase me all over the neighborhood and then beat me up," Harry admitted.

"Is he punished?" James ground out.

"I told you earlier, his parents would faint if he was asked to do work, he's basically encouraged to beat me up." Harry said matter-of-factly. "If I tried to hit him back, I'd probably get punished for hurting their Ickle Dudleykins."

"What sort of punishments?" Sirius asked tersely. "And for what other reasons?"

"If I got better marks than Dudley on a test, and let me tell you, he was so bad I had to not turn my homework in somtimes. He'd steal it anyway before I could. Most punishments were for not getting the house and yard done in time to start making dinner, and it'd consist of a long time in my cupboard, generally with no meals, which I got almost nothing to eat anyway - "

"huh?" Remus asked.

"I'd make them a lavish meal, and I'd only get a crust of bread and butter, for example. Lunch was best, I ate that at school, and they had to give me a good amount to keep up appearances."

"What about accidental magic? What then?" James asked keenly.

"Usually a very harsh punishment, I wouldn't even get any bathroom breaks." Harry said. "I wasn't bored, though - I had the spiders to talk to, and a few toys I'd stolen from one of Dudley's vast collections or his second bedroom that he wouldn't miss." he added hastily.

"Was there anything else?" Sirius asked, almost fearfully, Harry noted.

"Well... no - no of course not," Harry said abruptly.

"We won't pressure you, Harry." Dumbledore said kindly. "but we're here if you need us."

"You won't be!" James snapped at him. "how could you not have checked up on him? One visit, even on one of his best days would have revealed somthing was up! You wouldn't even have had to make your presence known! You've got - " James paused for a moment, remembering somthing. "You've got my Cloak. You wanted to study it - it's been ten years, and we could use it now. Anyway, did you not send anyone to check up on him?"

"I had Arabella Figg - from the Order, remember - "

"Mrs. Figg? She's a witch?" Harry asked incredulously.

"See? he knows her!" Dumbledore encouraged.

"No, she only babysat me once a year," Harry said. "It was horrible there, her living room smelt of old cabbage and she makes me look at pictures of her cats all day. Aunt Petunia made me dress up nicely whenever, I went over there to keep up appearances. There's no way she could've known about it."

"It's obvious to me," James said, looking at Harry with a critical eye. "You're way too thin."

"Sorry," Harry said quickly.

"It's not your fault, Harry, it's the Dursleys. You won't be going back."

"but his mother's protection - " Dumbledore protested.

"What?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

So Dumbledore explained all about Lily's sacrifice.

"That is utterly rediculous!" Sirius snapped. "those are based almost solely on intent. Harry and his relatives have absolutely no kind intentions towards him, those wards might keep away Muggles with ill intent - but no way a trained wizard, much less Voldemort or any of his followers. Potter Estate is warded to just short of the Fidelius - and more that you would only find in the Potter Grimoire and nobody today have even heard of. There's no way intent-based blood wards could hold a candle to the Potter Estate's wards. Oh.. and Harry Figg's only a Squib - Muggle born to magical parents." He added.

"Oh," Harry mumbled, while the Marauders continued railing against Dumbledore.

"You never told me the address!" Remus said. "You told me he was in safe hands!"

"You never at least tried to give Sirius a trial!" James growled.

"I'm Harry's godfather!" Sirius yelped.

"Lily's will should've told you what to do with him!" James demanded. "What happened?"

"He never got any mail! Did you put an owl-redirecting ward on him? He should've been getting goblin statements about his vault and stuff from the time he was seven, and fanmail since he was one!" Remus speculated.

"I don't know what happened to Lily's will, and Figg mentioned he was a bit thin, and I dismissed it over him probably being a picky eater, and she didn't mention it again - and one of the reasons I put him there was to keep him away from his fame till he was old enough to handle it so I redirected his mail! I completely forgot about the Gringott's statements!" Dumbledore defended.

"So he should have absolutely no contact with the wizarding world?" James demanded. "Remus could easily look past the Boy-Who-Lived and see Harry!"

"He would've wanted to see it all, he couldn't go to Diagon Alley or the Ministry, he'd get pointed at because of his fame!"

"Don't go making excuses!" the Marauders snapped as one. "You're solely responsible for his condition! At least tell me you got him looked over by Madam Pomfrey?"

"I've not seen Madam Pomfrey yet," Harry said absently, still stunned that he had three adults defending him from Dumbledore. 'I shouldn't need protection from Dumbledore... yet he's responsible for the Dursleys,' Harry realized.

"Tell me," James hissed, "why shouldn't I school him at home? I can't trust you to take care of him!"

"I..."

"The only reason I'll keep him here is to make friends and keep contact with the ones he has at the moment! Come Harry, I want to meet them." James stalked out of the room, followed by Harry, Remus and Sirius.

Author's Note:

I am so, so sorry for the loong time between updates. I'll be keeping up as best I can from now on... but I can't promise any scheduled updating. Sorry about that.

I am doing my best to put Dumbledore in a neutral light - it's hard after reading Dumbledore bashing fics, and yet he does deserve some of it - am I doing a good job of it? I admit I'm not nearly as perceptive as some people and thought Dumbledore was the best 'till I started FFN and realized how terrible he was.

Figg got discouraged with Dumbledore's dismissal, and stopped reporting.

Sirius knows a lot about wards as he was taught a lot by his family over the summers and before Hogwarts, and then ran away to the Potters for the last few years before coming of age, who kindly continued his education. At least, that's what happened in my imagination.

Harry is an abused child - mentally and physically. He still thinks of himself as a freak - that the Dursleys need him and all that rot.