1994, Riddle Manor
World War II veteran Frank Bryce trembled as he lit the gas stove with a worn match.
He lived alone in a small cottage outside Riddle Manor. Because of his wrongful imprisonment years ago, the neighboring residents all avoided him, and local children often tormented him with cruel pranks.
After lighting the gas stove with practiced efficiency, he looked up and noticed light flickering in the abandoned manor's upper windows. "Those damn brats again."
Leaving the tin kettle on the burner, the old man took his oil lamp and made his way into the dark manor to investigate.
Pushing open the creaking door, Bryce walked carefully toward the room with the mysterious light.
Climbing the stairs with aching joints, Bryce heard a weak, sinister voice drifting from inside the illuminated room.
"Venom, I need venom! Wormtail, where are you?! If I remember correctly, without me you should still be living in the sewers right now. Are you tired of serving me?"
"No, Dark Lord, I just think perhaps we don't need that Potter boy either," came a groveling reply.
Bryce peered through the doorway and saw a cowering man crawling pathetically around a sofa, while a massive snake slithered past his feet into the room.
"Nagini says an uninvited guest has arrived. Go invite him in," the weak voice commanded with cold authority.
Bryce pushed open the door and entered the room with false bravado. "Who are you people? Leave here immediately, or I'll call the police!"
"Call the police? Do you expect those ridiculous Muggles to stand against us?" The voice carried dark amusement.
Bryce looked toward the sofa and saw a hideous, wrinkled creature that resembled a malformed baby speaking with adult malice.
The grotesque being laboriously raised a wooden wand toward him. "Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of deadly green light erupted, and Harry Potter woke up screaming from his nightmare.
Harry clutched his burning forehead, looking at Hedwig locked securely in her cage by his uncle's paranoid precautions.
What a gloomy start to the day. This nightmare felt so real... I'll write to Sirius about it later, Harry thought with growing concern.
He struggled out of bed, his stomach growling with hunger. Due to Dudley's dramatic weight gain, the school could no longer manufacture clothing that would fit his enormous cousin.
For Dudley's supposed health, the entire Dursley family had been forced to follow the strict diet menu sent by the Smeltings Academy nurse.
To keep Dudley from throwing tantrums, Harry's meager portions were always much smaller than his cousin's already reduced servings.
Unable to bear the constant hunger anymore, Harry had secretly sent a letter asking Mrs. Weasley for help.
The response should arrive soon, Harry hoped desperately.
Then, a silver-white dragon squeezed impossibly through his small bedroom window.
Harry stared in complete bewilderment. "..."
"Oh, I'm really sorry. This is my first time teaching a Patronus to use Apparition, so I might not be very skilled at the technique yet," Aiden said, emerging from the dragon form and apologizing sheepishly.
Harry could understand each word Aiden said individually, but somehow when put together, the explanation made no sense whatsoever.
Thanks to the previous school year's adventures, Aiden's Transfiguration abilities had improved dramatically. Now combined with advanced alchemy, Aiden had helped Harry remove the Trace spell from his magical signature.
So Aiden could now use magic quite openly in front of Harry without Ministry detection.
Harry looked at Aiden with puppy-dog eyes so intense they could guilt a Dementor, silently transmitting: "Rich kid alert. Belly status: tragic. Friendship tax: one meal, please."
"Here, this is specially prepared by Aunt Molly just for you," Aiden said with understanding sympathy.
He took out a magically expanded suitcase from his pocket and handed it to the grateful boy.
"Aunt's special roast beef sandwiches, plus some sweets and snacks I bought in Diagon Alley. It should be enough to last you until school starts. Also, I've cast preservation spells on the suitcase to keep everything fresh."
Harry took the precious suitcase, deeply moved by the kindness. "Thank you so much, Aiden. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Well, I've delivered the supplies, so I should head back now. Also, Sirius seems to have something important to handle, so he asked me to give this to you personally."
Aiden took out an official ticket and handed it to Harry. Harry examined it carefully and saw it clearly read "Quidditch World Cup Finals."
"This is incredible! Will Sirius come to pick me up? And why can't I just move in to live with him permanently?" Harry asked, his eyes revealing desperate longing for genuine family affection.
"He has urgent business to attend to. Uncle Arthur should come collect you when the time arrives," Aiden explained gently.
"Oh..." Harry's green eyes showed unmistakable disappointment.
"Cheer up, young man. Once the new semester starts, you'll be able to see each other regularly at school," Aiden said, patting Harry's shoulder encouragingly.
Harry forced a brave smile for his friend's benefit.
After delivering the much-needed food, Aiden summoned his Patronus again, merged with it seamlessly, then used Apparition to return to the Burrow.
Inside the chaotic Burrow, Mrs. Weasley was supervising Ron's combat training, with agonized screams continuously echoing from the courtyard.
"Perhaps next year he might actually qualify to become an Auror," Aiden mused while watching Ron's painful progress.
"BANG!" A violent explosion erupted from the twins' cluttered room upstairs.
"There they go again, creating explosions in their room all night long. It's really becoming too noisy to sleep," Ginny complained, coming over to sit beside Aiden and shaking his arm while acting adorably cute.
"Aiden, is there any way you could give me one peaceful night's sleep?"
"Alchemical earmuffs, or I could carve a sound-isolation matrix directly into your room's walls," Aiden suggested, raising an eyebrow to indicate Ginny should choose her preferred solution.
"I want the matrix!" Ginny chose decisively without hesitation.
Speaking of which, the Burrow's soundproofing really was inadequate. He'd have to find a diplomatic way to convince Aunt Molly to allow a complete renovation.
Wait, someone might ask, why not convince Uncle Arthur instead? Because...
Arthur walked in from outside at that exact moment, and Aiden promptly interrupted this potentially disrespectful line of thinking.
"Aiden, is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me so intently?" Arthur asked in genuine confusion.
"Uh, nothing at all. I just finished what Aunt Molly asked me to do and happened to be gazing at the door while lost in thought," Aiden laughed nervously.
"Ah!" came one final, dramatically prolonged scream from outside the window, signaling the end of Ron's training session.
Mrs. Weasley also came inside, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Aiden, thank goodness you're back safely. How's our poor Harry doing? Has he lost weight from not eating enough? Did all the food parcels arrive as they should?" Mrs. Weasley immediately launched into her typical fretting over her unofficial foster son, who was living under someone else's roof.
"Sigh, he's fine now. I delivered everything successfully. Also, Aunt Molly, could you please stop using me like a personal owl service?" Aiden complained with mock indignation.
"But you're so much faster than regular owls!" Mrs. Weasley declared loudly.
Aiden stared at her with resignation. "..."
"Oh right, there's one more important thing. I completely forgot to have you notify Harry's Muggle relatives about the pickup arrangements," Mrs. Weasley said, slapping her forehead in realization.
"Why bother notifying them? They'd probably celebrate if Harry disappeared permanently anyway," Aiden said, shaking his head cynically.
"It's about proper courtesy, my dear nephew. Courtesy!" Mrs. Weasley said firmly, tapping Aiden's head with gentle reproach.
Then she hurried to gather paper and quill, writing a formal notification letter for the Dursley family.
Not understanding the correct way to use Muggle postage, Mrs. Weasley enthusiastically covered the entire envelope with colorful stamps.
Since Aiden didn't witness his aunt's wasteful operation, this remarkably decorated letter was sent through the regular postal system.
The next day, Vernon Dursley returned home from his drilling company to find a confused postman approaching with an unusual letter.
Vernon's face turned an alarming shade of purple as he snatched the letter from the bewildered postman, quickly entered the house, and locked the door in one paranoid motion.
"HARRY POTTER!" Vernon bellowed with explosive rage.
"What's wrong, Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked with nervous confusion.
"Look at what your freak friends sent! What if the postman starts associating our respectable family with those... those unnatural people?" Vernon roared with indignation.
"Are we really that respectable?" Harry muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?!" Vernon demanded, not hearing clearly.
"Oh, it's from Mr. Weasley. They're planning to visit our house on Tuesday," Harry said with barely contained excitement.
"Listen carefully, boy. Don't let your freak friends cause any trouble in my house, or I'll make them regret ever being born," Vernon warned with menacing authority, then stormed away.