Chapter 3: Will And Won’t

Harry dozes at his window after hours of anxious waiting, surrounded by newspapers speculating he is the “Chosen One,” reports of Scrimgeour replacing Fudge, and Ministry safety leaflets. At exactly eleven, the streetlamp extinguishes and Dumbledore arrives, prompting Harry to hurriedly pack and rush downstairs.

Dumbledore enters the Dursleys’ home uninvited yet courteous, subtly compelling compliance, conjuring mead, and noting their poor manners. Harry notices Dumbledore’s blackened, shriveled hand, which Dumbledore postpones explaining. Dumbledore states Sirius’s will leaves Harry his gold and possessions, then raises the complication of Grimmauld Place potentially bound to a pure-blood heir.

To test ownership, Dumbledore summons Kreacher. The house-elf rages that he belongs to Bellatrix, but when Harry orders Kreacher to be silent, Kreacher is forced to obey, confirming Harry as lawful heir. At Dumbledore’s suggestion, Harry assigns Kreacher to Hogwarts’ kitchens. Dumbledore also says Buckbeak—renamed Witherwings for safety—remains with Hagrid, which Harry approves.

Harry finishes packing and returns to an icy living room. Dumbledore explains that in the wizarding world Harry comes of age at seventeen and that a protection tied to calling Privet Drive “home” will last until then. He criticizes the Dursleys for neglect and cruelty, yet requests they allow Harry to return once more before his seventeenth birthday to renew the protection.

With no real reply from the Dursleys, Dumbledore sends Harry’s trunk and Hedwig’s cage ahead to the Burrow, instructs Harry to keep his Invisibility Cloak, and opens the door into the night. Observing only that his hand’s condition will be explained later, Dumbledore leads Harry out, hinting at an additional errand on the way to the Weasleys’.