"They're dead." Potter said. "A tragic camping accident, yeah. Very sad." His voice was emotionless. The both of them acted as though this conversation was boring chit-chat about the weather.
"And you were not present at said accident?"
"Mr. Dumbledore, what is this? An interrogation?! Respectfully, I don't understand how you can be concerned as you clearly never looked for the boy. I've never hidden the fact that I had him. No one ever enquired about his safety or whereabouts."
"I apologize, I did not intend for it to come across as such." Dumbledore tried to assure her. "I was a friend of Harry's parents, you see and we were all so worried when he and the Dursley family went missing."
"How interesting that you only showed concern once he was not in your grasp. Who's idea was it to leave him with such awful muggles? I would assume James and Lily Potter did not approve of such a thing?"
"Ah, you see, when Lily Potter sacrificed her life for her son, a protective barrier of love surrounded Harry. To protect Harry from Lord Voldemort's followers it was decided that Harry should be placed with blood relatives to keep these protections."
"Love - you're saying that love - that is absurd." The woman looked at Albus and the first hint of emotion crossed her face - bafflement. Like Dumbledore was a particularly slow first-year student. "That makes no sense whatsoever. But it is not important anymore, the Dursleys are dead and so these wards are a moot point."
"If they were truly powered by love and not blood they never would have worked in the first place," Potter pointed out. "The Dursleys made it very clear they did not love me and it was mutual."
Dumbledore frowned, his twinkling eyes twitched at the boy's complete lack of care about the situation.
"Look," the child continued. "It's obvious what you're here for, so I'll tell you the story. For my cousin Dudley's seventh birthday he demanded to go camping. Uncle Vernon hated leaving me home alone because he was worried I would steal food, which to be fair I regularly had to do. But Dudley said me being there would ruin his birthday, so they locked me in the cupboard under the stairs while they were gone for the weekend. But then they never came back, and I started to get really worried and scared. I'm not sure how I did it, but at some point, I must have apparated to Diagon Alley. One moment I was in the cupboard thinking about how I was going to die in there and the next I found myself in the Alley. I walked around a bit and eventually ran into mama who gave me some food. When I told her what happened she said I wasn't going back and we found out a couple of weeks later about the bear attack. I've lived with her at her potions shop in Knockturn ever since."
Potter recounted his tale with a calm voice, never breaking or flinching away as he described the abuse. He looked up when he finished, frowning slightly at the horrified expressions surrounding him and shrugged. "It's alright. Like mama said, they're dead now. It doesn't matter." And the boy looked like he meant it, unperturbed by the entire situation. The both of them were rather blunt, truth be told. But was it something the boy was emulating or was he truly fine with the truth of what had happened? Was this denial, shock, disassociation, or apathy? His mother nodded in agreement at his callous words.
"I am very sorry to hear about that, Harry, my boy. And I am very happy to hear you are doing well now. But there is still the chance that a member of Voldemort's forces might still come after you."
"Are you implying that I cannot keep him safe, Mr. Dumbledore? I assure you, we have excellent wards."
"You must understand my concern, Ms. Adams, Harry has a target on his back -"
They began to argue in barely polite earnest. It was very clear they would have to pry custody of Mr. Potter out of her cold, dead hands.
Dumbledore's concern was valid, although he was pleased by her dedication to the boy. The Adams family was not from England, he was certain. He'd heard of some in America and some in Eastern Europe, but she likely had no ties to Britain. So what had brought her to England? Voldemort had not done much recruiting outside of the country, but it was possible she'd been sent over from Durmstrang, as they were Dark-aligned.
Still, it was obvious that Harry was happy and healthy under her care, already quite advanced in his classes and utterly pleased with her. The two would not be easily separated, and the poor boy had clearly suffered an awful time living with his blood relatives. He owed Harry some happiness. Not to mention that frankly, had she been a Death Eater, the boy would already be dead.
Harry had already made fast friends with the youngest Weasley son. If Dumbledore got any inkling Harry was being raised inappropriately, he could always have him removed into their care.