Charmed Wizard

The next thing Harry knew, he was no longer in Hermione's bedroom, but a cluttered attic where his... parents and the others he'd met earlier, as well as a man he'd yet to meet, were waiting. Harry immediately backed away. He was so overwhelmed right now, both with the changes that kept happening and with suddenly appearing in different places.

Phoebe instinctively went to go to her son, but Cole lightly took a hold of her arm to stop her.

Coop fumed as he saw Cole with his hands on his wife. He had no right laying a single hand on her for any reason. “Hey, get your...”

Paige, who was right next to him, elbowed him in the side. She was normally all for someone lashing out at Cole, but even she understood that now was not the best time. Harry was already visibly freaked out by what was happening. The last thing they needed was to add conflict to that.

Cole looked at his son. “Hey. We're sorry for scaring you by bringing you back here so abruptly. We were just worried. We didn't know where you were or if you were safe.

“It was you? I didn't do it?” Harry asked.

“No, it was us. We didn't have any way to find you,” Phoebe said.

“Okay, I think the rest of us should go downstairs,” Piper said.

Paige and Leo both nodded and followed her.

Coop seemed a bit hesitant. “Phoebe...”

“We need some time,” Phoebe said quietly. She didn't like kicking him out, but Harry was reallyu freaked out and didn't need so many people around right now. Her and Cole needed to handle this alone.

Coop nodded and reluctantly followed the others out of the room.

Phoebe turned back to Harry. “Hi. We didn't mean to scare you so much earlier.”

“You told me everything I knew about my family was a lie. How did you think I would take it?” Harry asked a bit snidely.

Cole sighed. “There was no easy way for us to tell you. I know you don't believe us, but what we've said...”

“I believe you now,” Harry interrupted.

“Really?” Phoebe asked.

Harry nodded. “When I did whatever I did to leave, I ended up at a friend's house. She made a potion that tells you who your parents are.”

Phoebe turned to Cole. “A potion can do that?”

Cole shrugged. “Apparently.”

Phoebe turned back to Harry. “Do you want to sit? I'm sure you're rally overwhelmed. It might help to sit down.”

“I'm fine here,” Harry said, not wanting to move any closer to them.

“Please, don't be afraid of us. We'd never hurt you,” Phoebe promised. It was hard for not to tell that her son was going out of his way not be within at least ten feet of them.

“No, never,” Cole agreed.

“Look, you may be my... my parents, but I don't know you, or this place you keep bringing me to,” Harry said.

“We understand. That's why it was never the plan to bring you here, at least not right away. We wanted you to meet us and then get to know us at your house. But after what we walked in on, we had no choice but to take you out of there, and I'm sorry, but we can't ever allow you back there,” Cole said in gentle, yet firm tone. The y would give Harry as much space as he needed, but they wouldn't let him back with those people. His safety was non-negotiable.
Harry flinched involuntarily. “For all you know, I deserved it.”

“That's not true,” Phoebe said immediately.

“No one deserves that. I don't care what you may have done. That piece of trash had no right to lay a hand on you,” Cole told him. He hated that his son could even think like that, though he wasn't totally surprised. He knew a lot of abused kids grew up believing it was their fault.

For a second, Harry found himself wondering how his life would've been different if he'd grown up here. His life probably would've been much different than it was with the Dudley's. Maybe he would've been loved. They seemed to really care about him now. But his curiosity didn't mean that he was happy about the situation or that he was going to run into their arms. “So you're saying that I have no choice but to stay here?”

“Yes. I'm sorry, honey, but we can't let you go back there,” Phoebe said. She didn't like the way things were. It felt like she and Cole were more Harry's kidnappers than his parents, and she knew it must feel like that to Harry too. This was the entire reason they'd decided to take things slow. Unfortunately, it became blatantly obvious that that wasn't possible.

Harry felt trapped. He didn't want to stay with strangers, even if they were his parents, but what choice did he have? His only option would be to contact the Headmaster, someone he didn't trust anymore, and ask for him, but he had no owl to use to write to him. Also, he'd send Harry back to the Dursleys, and he wasn't really up for that. He could leave on his own, but he didn't know how to control that power and it frankly frightened him anyway. Plus, his newfound parents had already proven they could bring him back if they wanted.

“It's not gonna be so bad, you know? We love you so much. Let us show you that,” Phoebe pleaded.

“I don't know you,” Harry stated.

“We know, but we can all get to know each other, and we promise to do our best not push you too hard. We just want a chance to give you a good life. You deserve so much better than what you've been given,” Cole said.

“You don't know that,” Harry said quietly. He didn't feel like he deserved better. Bad things happened to people when he was around them. His parents. Lily and James dying was proof of that, as was Sirius dying. And that was all before you even took into account that he was apparently part demon. Phoebe and Cole had tried to say that it didn't mean he was evil, but from the other things they said, he deduced that most demons were.

Phoebe sighed sadly. It was clear from that statement that her son had very low self-esteem, which wasn't really surprising since he was abused. Abused kids grew up believing they weren't worth anything. “We do, and we plan to prove it. Please let us.”

“It's not as if you're giving me much choice,” Harry said a bit bitterly. “You're my parents and you'll be able to prove it, so you could do pretty much whatever you want, can't you? So fine, but don't expect me to start calling you Mum and Dad.”

Phoebe couldn't help but be a little hurt by her son's words and the tone with which he said them, but she understood. She couldn't expect him to jump for joy. “We don't. Are names are fine until you're ready for something else.”

“You took me away from a friend of mine and she's probably really worried. Will you let me make sure she knows that I'm alright?” Harry asked. He could only imagine how Hermione reacted to disappearing like that. She had to be extremely worried.

“Yeah, of course. Do you know her number?” Phoebe asked.

Harry shook his head. “We didn't call each other. We would just write.”

“How about an address? I can take you to here if I know where I'm, going,” Cole said as he stepped closer and held his hand out for the boy.

Harry nodded and reluctantly took the man's hand.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

To say Hermione was freaking out would be an understatement. She was pacing her room frantically waiting to see if Harry might show back up. She hoped so. She hoped he'd done it himself, similarly to how he arrived, instead of someone having actually took him away. All she knew was that if she didn't show up soon, she was going to have to owl Professor Dumbledore.

“Hermione,” a voice called from behind her.

Hermione whipped her head around and came face to face with Her best friend and a man she'd never met. She immediately ran to her best friend and hugged him. “Don't do that again, Harry! I was so afraid for you!”

“Sorry. Though it wasn't actually me,” Harry said as he hugged her back.

“It was our fault,” Cole said from next to Harry, causing the two teens to break apart and look at him. “We didn't know where he went and we thought it was best to get him back as soon as possible. I apologize for worrying you.”

“Are you Harry's father?” Hermione asked the man.

“Yes, I am. My name's Cole turner,” Cole said as he stuck his hand out.

Hermione shook the man's hand. “Hermione. Harry and I go to school together.”

“Thank you for helping him. He said you made a potion for him,” Cole said.

Hermione nodded. “You're taking him back to live with you, aren't you?”

“Yes. We believe he's better off with us,” Cole said. He wouldn't go further than that. He didn't know how much this girl knew about the way his son was treated by his family, probably not much, and he didn't want to betray his son's secrets to his friends.

“You're probably right,” Hermione said She didn't even know this man or any of Harry's other family and she thought he was better off. She knew the Dursley's didn't treat him right. Hopefully these people would.

Harry sent her a shocked and irritated look.

“Sorry, Harry, but it's what I believe. You shouldn't be back with the Dursley's. I may not know much, but I know they don't appreciate you. You don't belong with them,” Hermione said.

Harry nodded after a second. About the only good thing to come out of this was that he didn't have to go back to the Dursley's. In fact, they weren't even related to him. That was actually a pleasant thought. He didn't even have to call them his relatives anymore because they weren't. He'd found a silver lining in this mess.

“Before you go, I want to give you my number. He can call me, right?” Hermione asked, turning her attention to her friend's father.

“Of course. He can call anytime he wants. We could even arrange for you to come visit from time to time,” Cole said. He in no way planned to keep Harry from seeing and talking to his friends, especially when this girl seemed like a very decent and true friend. Those didn't come around often.

“That would be brilliant!” Hermione said before going to her desk. She grabbed a paper and pen and jotted down her number. Then she went back to Harry and handed him the paper. “I know this is all happening so fast, Harry, but try to give your family a chance. I know how much you've longed for people that care.

Harry nodded and pocketed the piece of paper.

Cole placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, Hermione,” he said before shimmering away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Dumbledore was sitting in his office in deep thought. He was not having the best day. Petunia Dursley had sent him a letter using Harry's owl asking him to come immediately. He'd of course wasted no time. Petunia had never set him a letter before, not surprising as she hated everything to do with Magic, so he knew it had to be bad. And he was right. When he arrived, Petunia had told him that Harry had been kidnapped. She'd said a couple had just barged in and took them.

Dumbledore had been a bit suspicious of Petunia's story. For one, he wouldn't have thought she'd care enough to even write to tell him Harry had been taken. She simply wouldn't be bothered about it. In fact, she'd probably be happy about it. For another, she just seemed to be leaving huge chunks of the story out. Plus her and her husband kept sharing suspicious looks.

It was after Dumbledore looked into their memories that he understood why Petunia wrote to him. That couple had walked in on Vernon Dursley abusing Harry. The man had become angry and almost killed Vernon Dursley. He'd also threatened to come back and finish the job. That was why they wrote to him.

Dumbledore would admit that she wasn't overly shocked that the Dursley's were abusing Harry. He never knew for sure that it was happening, but he suspected. He knew at the very least that they neglected him. He knew that would happen when he left the boy there. Now, most would call him heartless for doing such a thing, but it was necessary. He needed Harry to grow up a certain way so that he'd do what needed to be done when it came time to fight Voldemort.

Dumbledore's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”

A second later, Minerva McGonagal and Severus Snape walked in. “You wanted to see us, Albus,” Minerva asked.

“Yes, we have a problem. Please shut the door,” Dumbledore said.

Severus did so.

“I was called to Privet drive today,” Dumbledore said, earning a concerned look from Minerva and a sneer from Severus. “Harry has been kidnapped.”

“What?! How is that possible? You have wards set up to protect him,” Minerva said.

“The wards only protect him against someone who intends to harm him on the spot. It does nothing against kidnappers,” Albus said. Actually, the wards weren't as strong as he led people to believe. He did have wards up, but they weren't as strong as he led people to believe, certainly not blood wards. Such wards wouldn't even work for Harry with the Dursleys.

“Who did this? Death eaters?” Minerva asked.

“There's been no talk of an attack on Potter's home. The Dark Lord has barely even mentioned him in the last few meetings,” Severus said.

“No, I don't believe it's death eaters. Harry's family was left alive,” Dumbledore said. If Death eaters had attacked Harry, they would've killed his muggle family, not being able to pass up the opportunity to kill muggles.

“Then who?” Minerva asked.

“I'm not sure yet, but one of them is a demon. I saw his power in Petunia's memories,” Dumbledore said.

“Merlin's beard! We must find him! Shall we call an Order meeting?” Minerva asked.

“No, I don't want to start a panic just yet. We look discreetly for the time being. Perhaps we can send wiccan witches to find the demon. It is their job after all,” Dumbledore said.

“Why not just let the Trace find the boy. Surely he'll use Magic the first chance he has,” Severus said.

“If he had his wand, I'd agree, but it was left behind with the rest of his things,” Dumbledore said.

“Idiot! How stupid must you be to not have your wand on you at all times?” Severus snarled.

“Enough, Severus. There is no time for your grudges. We must find the boy,” Dumbledore said.

Minerva nodded. “I know a couple of wiccans I can ask for help.”

“Good. Do so right away,” Dumbledore said

Minerva and Severus both nodded and left the room.