All character and places in the Wizarding World are the express property of J. K. Rowlings. All Credit to her. I am just playing in her sandbox.
The Tweak
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump of the I.C.W, the Leader of the Light and commonly regarded as the Greatest Wizard of the Age, could admit he wasn't infallible. He knew better then anyone else he was capable of making mistakes. Too his chagrin, given his intelligence and power levels, his mistakes tended to be experientially larger in scale. Gellert and Tom were fine examples of this. Lesser so his handling of the aptly nicknames Marauders in their school days. He was among the very few who knew he was as human as the next man. Minerva McGonagal, his one time apprentice, and now his right hand at Hogwarts and his most trusted friend was another who could see this, and had no qualms in telling him what she thought. Or telling him OFF when she felt it was deserved. Severus was also apt to tell him when his own reputation went to his head.
So when Minerva protested his placement of young Harry he did not dismiss her concerns out of hand. Instead he added his very own personal 'Tweak' to the wards he raised around Privet Drive. It wasn't a huge thing, subtle and very clever. He was rather proud of himself. He'd seen for himself, in the open honesty of his friends mind, the little families activities and attitudes that day. Harry could not be allowed to suffer at the hands of such.. buffoons.
So it was with this thought in mind that Dumbledore layered in more gentle spells, subtle compulsions and suggestions that would, he hoped, guarantee little Harry a somewhat more acceptable home. He could not, and would not, force complete change on the Dursleys, nor could he force them to love their nephew, but he could make Harry's future at best a reasonably happy, at worst he'd be safe, and well cared for. A thought struck him, a rather disturbing one, the Muggle world certainly had it's own share of dangerous predators... A few simple waves of his wand and a shimmer settled over Privet Drive. There. Perfect.
Stepping back he surveyed his work. Yes, he'd laid his spells well. Smiling to himself at his own cleverness he headed to Wisteria Walk. Here he added more spells to Arabella Figg's new home. She would know, immediately should anything go awry in the Dursley's house and would be able to notify him. She already had three half Kneazle cats who she would use 'spy' on the neighbourhood. Even though she was a Squib she had a peculiar affinity with the creatures. Satisfied with his work Albus Apparated away. Not a small part of him was relieved that he'd almost definitely prevented Harry being badly mistreated until he reached Hogwarts age.
So it came to pass, that the Dursley's awoke to find their small nephew on the doorstep. Upon opening the door to discover an apparently abandoned baby and promptly dropping the empty milk bottles and shrieking like a Banshee, Petunia Dursley was very nearly given to fainting. However the shrieks of a small child caught hold of her mothering instincts, what they were, and she was instantly gathering up the frightened baby. So focussed was she on gathering up the heavily wrapped bundle she never saw the shimmer of gold that bathed her. However instead of the anger and resentment at the high-handedness of Wizards, the main emotion in the house was concern. Instead of blustering about not wanting another mouth to feed or Freaks, Vernon instead ranted a bit about irresponsible idiots who left babies outside in November. Petunia fussed and hovered, her normally pursed lips smiling as she watched over the two babies. She'd never told Vernon of course, but she'd always desperately wanted a big family. She had loved her little sister fiercely. Dudley studied the new arrival with interest and showed no signs of being malicious towards his smaller cousin. Instead he pushed a few small toys towards the quiet boy.
Little hands and faces were washed, and the nasty cut on the small forehead was swabbed and cleaned with iodine, causing the small boy to mew in protest until his Aunt cuddled away the pain. Then she made two bottles with calm efficiency and settled both babes to drinking while she and Vernon perused Dumbledore's letter.
Tears fell as Petunia realised she would never get to make up to her sister. The 'Tweak' in the wards made the old resentments melt away, leaving just a sense of hollow loss for what may have been. Instead of roaring and protesting Vernon read the letter carefully, then he read between the lines. Whilst there were fine words about little Harry 'defeating' the Dark Wizard and his parent's great sacrifices, blood wards and monthly allowances, what the old Wizard had NOT said bothered the large, very normal man. He knew something of terrorists, how they thought and acted, the things they were capable of and he did not believe the lunatic that had killed his in-laws followers would be easily appeased. They would be looking for the boy. So the old man had thought to hide him in plain sight, but in the Muggle World as he had said, a place where these fanatics would not look. Very clever really. However, just in case he had added protections for the family. He'd also arranged a monthly stipend for the boy, as if the Dursley's could not care for their own. Preposterous.
Here was the 'Tweak' for Vernon. Instead of seeing the boy as an unwanted, unnerving burden, he was Family. The defenceless victim of a raving Madman. Vernon Dursley did not like Terrorists and that was how he pictured this supposed 'Dark Lord.' A terrorist on a par with Hitler. Vernon's own grandfather had been a born German and Jewish. After the slaughter of his great grandfather and his brothers, the remaining family had had to flee the Nazis. They had changed their name, converted to Christianity and come to England. Leaving all but the horror of their memories behind. So seeing this little boy, his head cut and his eyes wide, stirred something deep within him.
"Well Pet, we have a lot to do I think. I'll take the day off." he nodded and hurried off to the phone. Petunia wiped away her tears and re-read the letter. Harry James. Not as bad a name as she'd once thought. She looked over the boys. Dudley was holding the smaller boy's hand in a clumsy but reassuring little boy way. She softened. He was Family. The last of hers, thanks to those blasted Wizards. She would keep him safe. Even from them.
For Dudley things changed far more significantly that day. No longer was he alone, the apple of his parent's eye and the centre of their world and he did not mind a bit. No. He had his 'Hawwy'. Dudley was a lot smarter then ever given credit for, and in the alternate future that Dumbledore's little 'tweak' had just shattered, he had never been encouraged to be intelligent or to think for himself. Now however, the little boys mind added two and two and came to a conclusion. His Daddy was big, and he took care of Dudley. He did not let bad things hurt Dudley, like Aunt Marge's mean, scary dog. The new boy, 'Hawwy' was much smaller then Dudley, and he looked very scared. He had a 'owie' on his head. Dudley's Mummy and Daddy said a Bad Man hurt his Mummy and Daddy and tried to hurt him. 'Hawwy' was going to stay with them now. Dudley decided, in his little boy way, that he was big, 'Hawwy' was small, so it was Dudley's job to take care of him.
Petunia was watching the two boys when there was an unexpected side effect to the 'Tweak' In the magical world there is something known as the 'Law of Unintended Consequences'. Magic, for all it's diversity is still somewhat unknown. Here it came into play, with the wards and suggestions. As Petunia Dursley looked over the two boys she realised just how FAT her poor baby was. What had she done! When her husband re-entered the room she realised how fat he was too. This would never do
"Vernon!" she shrieked, making the large man jump. "You and Dudley are going on a diet, I will not be a widow before I am fifty!" she bustled about the kitchen, flushing at how strident she sounded.. like a harpy or a fish wife. How horrible. She began putting together as healthy a breakfast as she could, and throwing out the abundance of sweets and chocolate that had taken the place of fruits and vegetables in her refrigerator and pantry. She muttered angrily to herself, her mother would have been horrified. What had she been thinking. She looked about her.. her mother really would have kicked her butt! The house was horrible, a chintz overly clean nightmare. Petunia shook her head and wondered if she'd been under some kind of spell that had lifted. She looked at her life with new eyes. There were changes to make.
Ten Years Later
Much had changed in ten years in Privet Drive. Outside, the front garden bloomed as beautifully as before, the car in the drive considerably bigger and bulkier then it's predecessor. Bike Racks were mounted to it's rear bumper and a battered roof-rack showed heavy use. Out the back, it was quite clear that many young boys had spent many hours at play out here. There was a large fort with it's own slide, fireman's pole and swing, built over a deep sandpit with neat wooded edging and a garden shed filled to bursting with all manner of outdoor play equipment. The grass was bare in patches, a side effect of too many soccer games and the branches of the apple and orange trees were suspiciously bare barring the few fruits too high to reach. Trainers and boat shoes of various sizes were scattered by the back door, the furniture was simple and a bit worn but comfortable and well cared for. Bookshelves lined one wall of the comfortable living room, crowded with all manner of books. Candid family pictures crowded the walls showing the little family of four on various family outings. The two boys couldn't have been more different, the blond boy, his face happy and blue eyes full of mischief was a head taller, and stocky whilst the black head boy beside him was short for his age, and skinny, all knees and elbows. Smart black framed glasses perched on the end of his nose, behind which brilliant green eyes took in everything. There were trophies and ribbons, small cups and plaques all proudly displaying the names, Dudley Dursley or Harry Potter is a smart display cabinet and a stereo that saw more use then the expensive television. Upstairs two bedrooms, now with a door between them, were filled with the debris and clutter know as treasure to all young boys. Both beds were neatly made, and there were no dirty plates or cups or scattered laundry in either boys rooms, the bathroom they shared was also kept tidy, with no dirty towels littering the floor or half squeezed toothpaste on the sink. Petunia had not changed so much that she would tolerate filth, but she did not clean obsessively any more and made sure both her boys were equally responsible for their own chores.
What was a Guest room in a previous life had been turned into Petunia's own little hideaway from all things male, her romances filled the book shelves, the scent of pot-pourri filled the air and sewing and craft items covered every surface and burst from every bit of storage space. The room was all pinks and purples, with lace and flowers everywhere, an over-abundance of femininity in a male dominated house. All the males in the house avoided it like the plague. Which was just fine with Aunt Petunia. Marge preferred to stay in a local pet friendly hotel. Ripper had snapped at both boys more then once and was no longer welcome to stay.
Both Dudley and his father were robust men, but healthily so and Petunia focussed her sharp eyes on her nephew, fussing constantly that he was far too thin, despite all her attempts to fatten him up. The boy tolerated her fussing with an air of one long used to it. Aunt Petunia like to fuss. If she wasn't worrying about his hair, or him being too skinny she was fussing at Vernon for sneaking too many doughnuts or Dudley for destroying his trainers again.
For the most part the family got along just fine, Dudley being very overprotective of his smaller cousin. He had been that way since day one, never wanting Harry far from his sight. It was so bad that when they started nursery school Harry and Dudley had to be in the same class or both boys would cry. There was of course some natural rivalry between the boys, which was closely watched by Vernon. Dudley was better at rugby whilst Harry excelled at soccer. Dudley won spelling bees while Harry blitzed maths problems. Both boys loathed their Social Studies teacher. Harry turned her wig blue when she picked on Dudley. Dudley beat up a bully who broke Harry's glasses and got suspended. Vernon had been very proud of both his loyal boys, while Petunia had only pretended to scold.
Harry's 'extra' talents had often manifested, and they'd been as informative and supportive as they could be, given their own fears. Dudley just thought his cousin was cool. Thanks to his parent's handling of things, Dudley liked magic for what it could do and for what it meant for Harry, but did not want any part of it himself. He knew magic had killed his Aunt and Uncle, and he liked living too much. Besides, as Harry's power grew he couldn't play Nintendo or arcade games any more, which had all but broke his heart. The controllers didn't like the magic coming off him and would catch fire. After one particularly bad explosion resulting in Harry having badly burnt hands and Dudley with reddened skin and smoke damage to his throat, Vernon had to ban the systems. Dudley would not like to give up his arcade games. He had a Game-boy now, and Harry was always very careful not to touch it. Or even Uncle Vernon's mobile. He did not want any more burns.
However being magic meant he could do some neat stuff and pull some cool pranks. Naturally he and Dudley took full advantage. Harry quickly learnt to unlock doors, float things about and change colours. A good thing too as Aunt Marge had no taste in colours at all. Harry knew all about his Mum and Dad, he even had a picture of them. His mum was awful pretty and his Dad looked a lot like him. He knew all about Magic, and Hogwarts and could hardly wait to get his letter.
"It came! It Came! I got my Hogwarts Letter!" Harry Potter bounded into the little kitchen the precious envelope clutched in his hand. Everyone at the table smiled at him, even if Petunia's eyes did tighten. She had always known this day would come, and she could only pray she would not be loosing the last of her family.
"Well boy... we knew you would get in but you can still go to Secondary with Dudley if you want to?" Both Vernon and Petunia had disregarded Vernon's old school Smeltings as an option, they did not want their son becoming an odious boor. And the uniforms were simply hideous in Petunia's eyes. Harry smiled, it was nice to know he had a choice.
The years with his Aunt and Uncle had been happy ones, largely thanks to Dumbledore's Tweak. Dudley's unwavering affection and admiration did a lot to smooth the rough spots. For it's part Privet Drive was insanely safe, no one even broke the sped limit. Paedophiles and the like found they could not even enter the street, they simple turned away, and oddly enough never harmed another child.
A tall, intimidating lady all in green took them to Diagon Alley. Without Magic Petunia and Vernon could not have gotten Harry everything he needed. They had a wonderful time, exploring the alley and browsing the different stores. Vernon chasing off the hordes of adoring fans with glee, he may be able to tolerate and even have affection for his nephew but he still heartily distrusted the majority of the Wizarding World. He for one did not like them worshipping Harry, he was just a boy. They should solve their own bloody problems and leave the boy alone. There were things there though, even Vernon admired. Especially the animated chess sets. They went home with far more then what was on the school list, and Vernon had made a prospective client from the Goblins. They were very interested in his drills. The boys had been delighted by the Goblins, the cart ride, and thought Harry's vault was the equivalent of Ali-baba's cave. Vernon had been momentarily stunned then alarmed. His nephew's financial future was just sitting in piles? This would not do. He quickly made an appointment to return.
They refused to let the boys get a broom, or the junior potioneers kit, or the deluxe box of magical fireworks. Zonko's was also scrupulously avoided. Harry and Dudley armed with magic tricks? Privet Drive would never have survived.
With his Aunt's help Harry packed everything he needed for school, and patiently listened to his Uncle's repeated warnings, things like "don't trust any one, wizard's are all a bit mad." "Write to us every week. Tell us if anything weird happens." and the funniest of all, "You tell us right away if you need help or want to come home." he knew that his Aunt and Uncle did not really like magic, he understood why too. Petunia had begun to talk, more and more about her sister and Harry quickly worked out that it hadn't all been about jealousy. Aunt Petunia had felt like magic stole her little sister away from her. Magic had killed her parents, Death Eaters had targeted them and then had eventually killed her little sister. She had no reason to love Magic. Harry shared some of her feelings. After all it had been his parents who had died. She had told him, repeatedly of her sister;'s long ago warning. "Don't look in anyone's eyes for too long, some Wizards can read your thoughts". And she'd told Harry all about her sister's friendship with an odious boy called Severus Snape. He'd carried a torch for Lily for years, to the point of all but stalking her during her sixth and seventh year. Petunia had taken great pleasure in seeing him off. Lily had come home upset and had told them that Snape was no longer her friend and she wanted nothing to do with him. She'd tearfully confided in Petunia that she, Petunia, had been right, Snape was horrible and he had joined the terrorist group growing within the Wizarding World. They wanted to kill all the Muggle-borns and he'd called her a very bad name, Mudblood. Aunt Petunia told Harry it was a very very bad word and he'd be eating soap if he repeated it. She hadn't understood as a girl but the insult rankled her now. Dirty blood indeed. Her sister had been beautiful, intelligent and sweet, if too idealistic.
So it was a less wide eyed and awestruck young Harry who came to Hogwarts. A boy with a family who did care for him, and armed with as much information on the world he was entering as the same family had been able to find. He'd been forced to read a dreadfully boring book on magical etiquette and manners, some of which Aunt Petunia decided would be good for both he and Dudley to learn as it was parallel with how 'nice' society behaved. He knew not to sign any contracts, but to send them home and his Uncle would handle it. He knew what it meant to be a Potter, and all about the Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort, and the Ministry. He knew what to expect from the Sorting, the ghosts, how to best avoid Peeves and how to get about the castle easily. His Aunt had shared his mother's earliest Hogwarts journals with him, although she'd hidden the ones from fifth year up, saying he was too young for them. She had shared many of Lily's letters home too. Her sister had written every week with tales of Hogwarts. Harry and Dudley loved these. His mother's rants about the so nicknamed Marauders and that 'arrogant toe-rag James Potter' were very funny.
The train ride had been wonderful, he'd managed not to insult Draco Malfoy and keep Ron Weasley's foot out of his mouth. When Hermione and Neville came toad hunting he sent them off to find an older student who might be able to do a spell to help them. He liked the boats and was as awestruck as everyone else over their first glimpse of Hogwarts. It really was amazing. It was an unperturbed Harry who'd waved at the Ghosts and settled comfortably beneath the Sorting Hat. He didn't really enjoy all the staring. The talking hat was very cool, delighted by what it found in his head, and he happily trotted off to Gryffindor.