To Catch A Thief

Catching Harry

Harry dodged the man wearing black and kept running. He weaved between people on the sidewalk. The guy was quick but he was quicker and knew the streets better. He jumped up onto the trash bins, worked his way to the iron stairs of the warehouse. He climbed up the iron stairs glancing down once and saw the man in black looking around for him. He kept climbing. He made it to the roof and ran across the roofs, jumping over some of the gaps. This was the fifth day the man had found him.

He thought about that weird letter and the ones that followed that had his locations on it. Maybe? He grinned. He knew the owls would find him again tomorrow. He hoped it worked. The man was ruining his business.

_____________________________________The Next Morning_____________________

He was sitting under the bridge looking for the owls. He saw them incoming. They dumped a slew of letters and Harry began to change the addresses on each letter. He didn't open them instead he just handed them back to the owls. Once they were gone he went about his business. He did that for the next week. Honestly, were they really that lame? He had taken a few phone books and wrote down the names and addresses of random people from the different areas he worked. The owls arrived again but this time the letters felt different. Harry focused on the letters and watched as each one shined a bit and the funny feeling was gone. He wrote famous people's names and locations on the letters this time. He hoped the Royal Family liked owls.

________________________________________________________________________

"The Queen?" Minerva and the rest of the Heads of Houses were at a loss. Everything they had tried failed. They had spent days visiting people who were muggles. They spent days searching the areas for Harry Potter.

"Yes. The complete Royal Family. Cornelius wasn't very happy." Dumbledore had spent over an hour calming the man down. "Severus, any luck?"

"No. I thought I saw him two weeks ago. He is fast, agile, and sneaky." Severus actually admired the skills the boy was displaying. He knew he would be laughing at anyone else if they told this story. However, it was him and he was determined not to be outsmarted by a Potter. He wasn't going to admit the boy had also robbed him. He got everything but his wand in a matter of seconds.

"It doesn't help that his relatives kept everything hidden. He has been living on the streets for six years. Frankly, I'm surprised he is still alive. Never mind been caught by the police." Pomona sighed. "Honestly, Albus, what were you thinking?"

"I thought they would love him."

Severus scoffed at that as Minerva huffed. "I warned you."

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~What do you mean I might have money?~ Harry looked down at the snake curled up by the fireplace in his small shack in the woods. He had found the shack after an old man had told him about it. It was in the wooded area outside of London. He could get to London daily by bus.

~ Wizards have separate money. That funny stuff you picked up from the man in black. It's money. The stuff in bottles is called potions.~

~How do you know?~ Harry had liked how much stuff the pouches could hold and not get heavy. Amber had taught him a lot in the years they had been together. His family left him behind in the woods after a company picnic. They had never returned.

~Mother, she belonged to a wizard. I was almost a full snake when she and her wizard disappeared. Add more wood before we go to sleep.~

~Don't I always?~ Harry threw on a few more pieces of wood. He got up and checked the door and windows. He made sure no light could be seen by the outside world. The smoke from the fireplace was something that Amber explained how to cover up by focusing on making it disappear. He pulled out some of the cold packs he froze in the river each day so that he would be cool while Amber enjoyed the warmth of the fire. He wrapped one around his neck and placed the other one on the bed. Harry sat on his bed, the fan was going. He was making a list of things he would need to collect for the oncoming winter. Even though it was early in July he still needed to plan for winter. ~Do we go someplace to turn it in for real money?~