The Paranoid Harry Potter

He ran back to Number Four. Should he send an owl to Dumbledore? No, he had no time for that. He needed to move now. More Death Eaters could appear at any moment. He raced into the house, where he found his Aunt Petunia sitting in front of the television. He froze at the sight of her. What was he supposed to do about his relatives? He could not leave them to the Death Eaters, but they were not likely to listen to him. Still, he had to try. He ripped off the invisibility cloak and went to talk to his aunt.

"Aunt Petunia, you're in danger," he said, without any preamble.

His aunt let out a tiny shriek at the sudden appearance of her nephew.

"What nonsense are you talking about now, boy? How did you suddenly pop up like that? I told you I won't have any of your ... your freakishness in my house," she shrieked.

"Listen to me," screamed Harry, shocking his aunt into silence. "I just caught a Death eater outside the house. More of them will probably turn up any minute. I'm getting out of here and I suggest you do the same."

"Death Eater... But... But... your freakish headmaster... he said we'd be safe if we took you in... He said we'd be protected," she shouted right back.

Harry was barely paying any attention as his aunt babbled away. He strode towards the windows by the front door and peeked out through a crack in the curtains. Good, nothing seemed to have happened yet. The street was still deserted.

"Look," he said, turning to his aunt. "You know about the wizard who killed my parents. Don't deny it, I know you do. He's back and he wants to kill me. I just found one of his men outside and I bet that more of them are on their way. Now you can ignore me but I suggest you pack up and leave immediately. Call Vernon and meet him at work. Don't come back to this house. They'll be watching."

"What about Dudley?" whimpered his aunt, as she trembled in fear. "He's gone out for tea with his friends."

"Tea, right," snorted Harry. "Dudley is probably terrorising the neighbourhood kids in the park. If you drive by there you'll probably spot him. If not, just pick him up from wherever he's supposed to be having tea. I'm leaving as soon as I can grab my things."

Harry raced up the stairs, leaving behind his shocked aunt. He didn't have any more time to waste on her. The Death Eaters were after him, not her. Once he got away, they would, hopefully, have no reason to bother her. He had to get out of Little Whinging, now. He rushed into his room, where he found a nervous Dobby waiting for him.

"Got everything Dobby?" he asked. "Great! Grab the backpack and get under this cloak with me, we're leaving now."

He looked frantically around the room. Where was Hedwig? He had to take her with him.

"Where's Hedwig, Dobby?" he asked.

"Dobby put Harry Potter's owl to sleep and put her in Harry Potter's bag," said Dobby.

"Err..." said a flummoxed Harry. "You packed her in my backpack? Will she be okay? She won't suffocate or anything, will she?"

"No Master Harry, Dobby made sure that Harry Potter's owl is perfectly safe," answered Dobby.

Two minutes later Harry was striding away from No 4 Privet Drive, all his belongings secreted inside a backpack that was slung over his shoulder. Dobby trotted at his side.

Two minutes after that, the adrenalin was finally beginning to wear off and Harry finally realised something rather important - He had no idea where he was going.

....

Albus Dumbledore collapsed into his chair in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had had a tiring day, spending most of it studying and shoring up the existing wards at Number Twelve Grimauld Place. He wanted to ensure that Harry would be absolutely safe after he moved him there. Poor boy, he thought, it must be so difficult to live in the muggle world. Not being able to do magic at all. Why the very thought was enough to make you nauseous. No wonder the dear sweet boy was always so eager to leave every summer. He hoped that Harry was recovering from his ordeal at the hands of Voldemort. Well, he had done what he could to make the rest of the summer pleasant for Harry. Not the least of which was persuading the Weasleys to move into Grimauld Place with Sirius. No doubt a few weeks of Molly Weasley's nurturing would be good for the boy. He wanted to make sure that Harry would have his friends around him. He would need their support more than ever now that Voldemort was back. Thank Merlin that the Weasleys had been willing. He didn't know he could have handled it if they had been more like the Grangers. Miss Granger, loyal friend that she was, had been more than willing to come and live at Grimauld Place, however persuading her parents to let her leave for the summer had not been easy. No, not easy at all, he thought, thinking back to how he had been forced to use all his charisma and powers of persuasion on Hermione's parents. They had not liked the thought of their only daughter leaving their house so soon after her return from school. Still, the time he spent convincing them was worth it, he thought. Harry needed his best friends with him in this difficult time and the least that he could do was ensure that they would get to spend some of the summer together. Which reminded him, he would soon have to go look at the protections at Privet Drive, to see if the blood wards had recharged sufficiently. He had wanted to move Harry to Grimauld a week ago, but he had not judged it safe enough. Harry needed to spend more time with his Mother's closest relative. He had also needed additional time to go over the wards at Grimauld. If it had just been Sirius living there, he could have left it with the Fidelius, but he was not willing to take any chances with Harry.