Disclaimer: We (Perfidious and MyDearGoddessofthemoonandsun aka Mizu and Jaysal) do not own these characters (except Berniss), they all belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling.
Ratings: T (for abuse)
Warnings: Neglect, Abuse (physical/emotional/verbal)
Authors Note: This will be a series of "oneshots" that will be related to each other.
Beta: Shiro Kurisutaru
Summary: Pre-Hogwarts. The Dursley's relationship with a boy would come to a series of fortunate incidents that would shape him to think in a more...logical manner.
-000-
Lily's Child
For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.
"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."
"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."
Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.
"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.
Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.
"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.
A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"
(Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
Petunia looked at the child at her feet and scowled, who in their right mind would leave a baby in this weather. Last night had been an especially chilly night and who knew how long the poor thing had been lying by their doorstep. As Petunia picked the baby up, it squirmed and rolled over on its side, she noticed that the baby seemed to be clutching an envelope. She gently rocked the child and went back inside the house into the kitchen where Vernon sat reading the morning paper. Vernon heard her come in and quickly noticed that there was a baby in her arms, "Pet! Why on earth do you have a baby with you? I thought you were just going to put out the milk bottles by the door?"
"I found him by our doorstep. He was left there by himself in the cold. What kind of mother would abandon her baby like this?
"Probably some no good teenage girl who decided to leave her child at a perfectly good family's door."
"Poor thing! Oh, Vernon, what should we do? What if the neighbours hear about this?"
"Then they will hear how good abiding citizens we were, and how we decided to take that baby to a place were it would be given to a good family. Say now, what's that in it's hands?"
"It looks like a letter. Maybe the mother wrote it?" Wondered Petunia as she walked towards the sofa, and lay the baby down.
"Do you think the girl knew us? Maybe a girl in this neighbourhood?"
"No mother worth her salt in this neighborhood would do such a thing! If some poor sod had gotten pregnant before marriage, I would have known about it by now," she muttered as she started to unwind the baby from its bindings. "It's a boy."
Vernon got up from his seat and stomped his way towards his wife and the baby boy on the couch. He took the letter from the baby's grasp and carefully opened it.
"Well, he looks like a healthy baby boy, except for that nasty scar on his forehead. When do you think you can drop him at an orphanage? Vernon?"
Petunia glanced up in concern at her husband's prolonged silence, and quickly noticed, with a feeling of dread, that he appeared to be growing paler as he read on.
"Honey?"
Vernon scrunched his face up in a nasty scowl, before spitting out, "He's one of them."
Petunia blinked, before slowly reaching out her hand and taking the letter from her husband hand. She knew, just knew that what ever was in that letter would change her family's life forever. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down before she started to read. Her heart was beating quickly, and she could hear her blood rushing through her veins at the realization of just what that seemingly innocent letter contained.
There printed within the letter was the name of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The very same man that she had sent a letter to so many years ago, when she was young and foolish, and wanted to be a freak too. The shock of just who's baby she had in front of her suddenly hit her so strongly, that she couldn't seem to breath for a couple of seconds.
Right in front of her eyes was the very reminder of a past she never wanted to remember. Lily's child. The letter explained what had happened to her good for nothing, freak of a sister... the idiot finally got herself blown up with her freak of a husband. Dumbledore's letter went on to explain to her that the child - Harry James Potter- would be safest living with her family, because of the freakish protection her sister had placed on him. Once again, it seemed that even in death, Lily still managed to ruin her perfectly good life by forcing her back into that disgustingly freak of a world. Except this time it would be through her freak of a nephew.
"What are we going to do with it, Pet?" fretted Vernon, as he started to wring his hands together. "We can't let it live here. What if he does some freaky thing and contaminate our Dudley?"
"We have no choice," Petunia sneered. "It says here we have to keep the freak."
"Fine! But there is no bloody way that I will allow that thing anywhere near my son! He's a menace and I don't want that freak to get any of the same privileges as our Dudley! It doesn't deserve it!" roared Vernon, as his face turning more and more purple.
"Don't you dare snap at me! You think I want the little thing here, ruining my lovely life and home? It's presence make me remember those nasty times with her."
A moment of silence past between the two of them as they glared at each other. Vernon's gaze slowly started to softened as he stared at his distraught wife. She looked so pale in front of him, and so very hurt, her eyes brimming with unshed tears and anguish at the very memory of her sister. "I'm sorry, Pet. I shouldn't have blamed you."
He very gently took her lovingly into his arms, trying to wordlessly convey to her that he was here and that he would protect their family from the intrusion of her nephew. He would never let one of them ever hurt his family ever again, on this he would make sure of.
A sharp cry broke the silence between them, reminding them of the burden they would have to bear. Two sharp emerald green eyes looked up at the couple from the sofa... unnatural green eyes. Lily's eyes. A strong wave of nostalgia suddenly hit Petunia, taking her back to a time when she and Lily would dress up and have tea parties with their stuffed animals. When they would tell each other everything and have secret handshakes and passwords. A time before they took her away from her, and changed her little sister forever. A gentle, bittersweet time, filled with memories best left forgotten, where they would never hurt her anymore.
Petunia pursed her lips tightly, making her look even more like a horse than usual.
"The boy will sleep in the guest room for now, until we can decide on where to put him. In the mean time, I've got to go and wake up our sweet little angel. He must be hungry by now."
-000-
It was her Diddydum's fifth birthday, and everything was going to be perfect. Vernon had gone to the airport to pick up Marge, and the Boy was outside finishing decorating the backyard for the party. Dudley was out with his best friend, Piers and Piers' dad, who would bring them back in time for Marge to arrive and for the rest of his little friends to get here. Her little boy was so popular!
The Boy should have been right about done by now. Honestly! How long does it take for that lazy child to do anything?
"Boy! Hurry up! Dudley and his friends are going to arrive any minute now."
A little boy, too small to be five years old, sat outside in the back yard. He glanced up from weeding the garden. He had messy black hair and green eyes, with a pale face and a skinny body. The boy appeared to be unhealthy. He wore clothes that seemed to be several sizes too big for him, and were hanging off his shoulders.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia," the boy replied in a soft voice. He quickly got up and scampered to the door. He had learned very early in his young life, that the chances of him not being punished would improve if he was quick and efficient in his chores. Petunia watched him with a scowl on her face, daring him to try and make her wait longer for him.
"Get in the kitchen! I want the yummy snacks ready for my popkin once he gets home. I won't be having my baby and his friends starving just because you couldn't finish them on time! They have to be delicious and perfectly made, so pay attention to my instructions. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Aunt Petunia."
"Good! You will be making chocolate fudge cookies, and will have to use the oven. So don't you dare burn those cookies! If I see that you've burned them, there'll be no supper for you for a week! Am I understood?"
Under Petunia's watchful eye, the boy began to set up the ingredients. Following the recipe as best as he could, he blended everything together, and rolled the dough into walnut sized balls before placing them on the cookie sheet. Slowly, he carried the baking sheets towards the open oven. However, before he could carefully set the pan in, he heard a screech cry, "Hurry up!" It broke his concentration, causing him to jolt the pan and burn himself.
He gave a small cry of pain and shut the oven door. Muffling his sobs with his uninjured hand, he ran to Petunia and waited for his next order. Petunia sneered at his tearing face before deciding that they had wasted enough time.
"Stop your sniveling, Boy. It's pathetic!"
With a last cold look over her shoulder, she turned around and exited the kitchen. She was determined to impress the kids with the new race car printed plates and utensils for their food, completely ignoring the little boy nursing his wounded hand.
Thirty minutes later, Marge had arrived and the last couple of Dudley's friends had managed to squeeze themselves into the kitchen. The Boy had been locked away in the cupboard under the stairs, so he wouldn't be able to ruin Dudley's special day. Everything was perfect.
After the party, when everything settled down a bit, Marge sat down with Vernon and Petunia to discuss how they had been upbringing the Boy.
"I've heard all about this little monster for years from you two, and I hope you have been strict with him. It's like with dogs, you have to be firm and make sure it understands who is the boss. Where is the little critter anyway? Let me take a good look at the runt that the two of you have been forced to put up with. Maybe I can even try my hand at instilling some obedience into him."
Petunia and Vernon exchanged a nervous look before Petunia rose from the couch. A minute later, she came back with the Boy. She pushed him towards Marge.
"This is him."
Marge eyed him with her beady eyes. "He's not much, unlike our Dudders. A runt, that's what you are. You got that, Boy?"
The child remained silent.
Marge narrowed her eyes, "Well? Speak up, Boy!"
When he didn't make any movement, Marge yelled, "Ripper! Come here boy and teach this runt a lesson!"
Ripper came barging into the sitting room, growling as he eyed the small boy before running at him. The boy's eyes widened before he gave a small cry, and bolted towards the back door into the yard. However before he could run far, the boy tripped on his baggy pants and fell. The dog was on him within a second. The boy squeezed his eyes shut, covering his head with his arms. He wished Ripper would get off of him. He jerked when he heard a yelp and the sound of Ripper slamming to the wall.
"RIPPER! MY BABY!"
The horrified screech rang through the house, before the stomping of what could only be a pack of rhino's got louder and louder. Marge came through the door just in time to see Ripper picking himself off the ground. She quickly ran towards him, checking him over for any broken bones or sprains, before whipping around to scream at the boy.
"YOU!" A fat, meaty finger pointed at the boy, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY RIPPER?" Taking a last look to the growling Ripper, she stalked up to the cowering boy.
"I didn't do anything. I swear," the boy whimpered, scampering up to answer, afraid that Marge would set Ripper after him again if he doesn't.
" You filthy little LIAR! I'll teach you not to mess with my dog!" Marge reached out her beefy hand and smacked the boy, causing him to fall over and bang his head. Pain exploded from his head, and for a moment all he could see were bright dots. The last thing that he saw was a blurry hand reaching out to him before it went dark.
-000-
Harry Potter knew that the moment that bell rang for recess, he would have to figure out a way to escape from Dudley and his gang. Today, during class, he accidentally answered a question right and got a sticker for his "improvement" by their teacher. Dudley had been in a foul mood since then. Nobody in their class ever played with Harry, knowing that if they did, they would also become a target for Dudley.
Harry's eyes tracked the little hand on the school clock, watching as it got closer and closer to the ten. Dudley started fidgeting in his seat, looking more and more excited about the idea of going out and terrorizing the other children, especially Harry. There were maybe two minutes until recess, and everyone was starting to pack away their things. As Harry went to his cubby he got shoved by Dudley, and had his books stepped on twice. One minute left and everyone was starting to crowd the door. Harry, being smaller than everyone else in class, managed to sneak to the front. The sound of the bell ringing was the only warning Harry got. Dudley just spotted him in the front. Everyone got out of Dudley's and his friends way when they start running down the hall after Harry.
A loud clash sound came from behind Harry. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw that Dudley had tripped over a recycling bin and dragged Piers with him. The library was right around the corner and as Harry skided around the turn he noticed that the door was shut. He knew that he didn't have a lot of time, he could already hear Dudley barking orders at his friends and the squeaking of their sneakers on the clean floor. Hoping that the door was unlocked, he ran. However the door wouldn't budge. Harry, becoming desperate, started to jiggle the door knob while pushing against the door, hoping that it would force the door open.
Thump, Thump. He could here his heart beating loudly, and Dudley was probably just around the corner. Thump, thump, there was nothing left that Harry could do... they were going to catch him.
"Argh! You bloody door! OPEN UP!"
Swoosh! The door opened so fast that it almost hit Harry's nose.
"Wha-?" gasped Harry as he looked at the miraculously open door. The louder squeaking of Dudley's shoes quickly reminded Harry that he still hadn't gotten away. He dived into the room and slammed the door shut, just in time too.
"Hey! Where did the freak go?" gasped Dudley, it sounded like that little run had tired him out.
"Don't know, maybe he went in the library?" Piers, while not gasping for breath like Dudley, did sound a little winded. Harry, still crouching behind the door, scrunched his eyes shut and started to pray that the door wouldn't open. 'Please don't open! Please don't open.'
He could hear Piers fumbling around with the door knob, swearing underneath his breath. "It's no good, Dudley! The doors locked! He's obviously not in there. Maybe he's outside?"
Their voices got more and more faint, until Harry couldn't hear a thing. Slowly, he started to get up and walk towards the window. Peering over the window, he could see Dudley outside bullying what looked like another member of their class. Letting out a relived sigh, Harry started to look around the library. Walking toward one of the many rows of bookshelves filled with books, he came across the science section, Harry looked around for some reading material to occupy his time. Perhaps it was by luck, or magic, not that magic exists, the first book he happened to grab was titled ESP: Extrasensory Perception.
He looked around and found a nice chair by the back of the library, so even if someone did come in they wouldn't be able to spot him. After getting settled in his seat, Harry opened the book and delved himself into the pages. Page by page, cover by cover, he read until he could read no more. Harry's young mind was in turmoil.
'ESP, extrasensory perception,' he thought. 'Could this be what I have?'
Harry's thoughts flew to the incidents when strange things happened, such as turning his teacher's wig blue, the ugly sweater that Aunt Petunia tried to force onto him shrunk until it was no bigger than a puppet, and when his aunt shaved his hair until all that is left was the bangs that covered his scar, how it grew back the next day. Then just now, how he made the locked door open.
'It fits, I did all those things because I have ESP.'
Harry's eyes widened, "The Dursley's lied to me, I'm not a freak. They probably knew I have these powers and maybe, maybe my mum and dad had it too, because they didn't want me to know. Whenever something happens, they would punish me for it."
Before he could think further on the subject, the bell shrilled. Jumping up from the chair, he ran back to the bookshelf to set down the book. Giving it a last glance, Harry ran out of the room.
The rest of the day seem to be over in the blink of an eye, before he knew it, Harry was running down the street desperately hoping to get back to Private Drive as fast as he could.
Flashback
It had been three days since Harry's sixth birthday, and he had been gifted a pair of old socks. Aunt Petunia had sent him to work outside, with only a bottle of water as a snack. He had tried to drink as little water as possible to save more for later, since it was such a hot day and Aunt Petunia does not give refills. However, Dudley had gotten bored and decided to make Harry's life more miserable by stealing his water and dumping it into the grass. That had been three hours ago, it was now noon and the temperature had risen dramatically. The wheelbarrow had just been filled with rocks and weeds, when Harry started to feel very weak and faint. He had tried to lift it up, when he tripped and went crashing into the nearby bushes. A very angry, hissing voice suddenly rang through the yard.
"Ssstupid human! How dare you try and sssquish me with your lanky body!"
Harry glanced around, but did not see anyone. Remembering that he haven't had a drink in the last 3 hours, he thought that he must have finally lost it. He picked himself and was ready to go back to work, when he noticed a tail slid underneath the bush.
He blinked, "Huh? What was that?"
Harry crouched down and peered underneath the bush. Two glowing small eyes gazed back. He jerked back in surprise. A snake? What was a snake doing under his aunt's bush. He quickly looked down again and saw its head poking out.
"What are you looking at bird brain?"
Did that snake just TALK?
"Did you just talk to me?"
If snakes could make facial expressions, this snake would have given what seemed to be a 'No duh' look before hissing, "No I wasss talking to sssome other human who almost managed to sssquish my tail."
"Hey! It's not like I meant to! It was an accident!" If there was one thing that made Harry upset the most, it was being blamed for something that was really not his fault.
"...you ssspeak?"
"Well of course I speak! Why wouldn't I be able to speak! What? Is Harry not good enough to be able to speak?" He huffed and puffed and felt even more tired than before. His vision seemed to spin, before he suddenly collapsed on his side. Ranting had not been good for his parched throat, and not having anything to use to protect himself from the sun had made things worse.
The snake slid closer to the fallen human before poking him with her tail.
"Oi...human, you okay? Hello?"
A small groan was her only answer. Humans! Why couldn't they ever say what they meant and be done with it! They're such frustrating species.
End Flashback
Entering number four as quietly as possible, Harry slipped into the back yard and went behind the shed.
"Berniss! Berniss! Where are you?"
"Ssstop your incessant yelling, I felt your footstepsss from down the street."
"That's not possible," Harry pouted.
"How do you know? Now what happened to cause you to act ssso lively my youngling," Berniss hissed as she slid from underneath a bush and up Harry's arms.
"I was in the library today and I found this book about something called Extrasensory Perception. It explained the different abilities that people with ESP have! I think I have ESP and that my parents might have had it too! And that's why I get punished by the Dursley's, because they think my ability is abnormal! But it's not, there are others like me who have ESP."
"BOY! BOY, WHERE ARE YOU?"
Ugh. Aunt Petunia seemed to be in a jolly good mood today. "I'll tell you more about what I found out soon."
"I will be under my bush if you need me," Berniss hissed back, before sliding down Harry and under her bush.
Harry quickly turned around and started running towards the door. "Coming, Aunt Petunia!"
"Where are on earth were you, you stupid boy? Can't you see that my poor Dudley has been practically starving himself waiting for you to make him his afternoon snack? The nerve! Get in that kitchen!"
Aunt Petunia stood by the back door glaring at him as if it was his fault that Dudley was hungry almost all of the time.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia."
With a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw the tail of Berniss swiftly moving out of sight and back to her nest under the bush. A small smile graced his lips, before he turned back towards the house.
-000-
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.
"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.
(Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
"Hello, my name is, Harry. What's yours?"
The boa constrictor reared its head back, as if it was shocked, before hissing, "A talking human? ¿Es usted un amigo?"
"Yes. What's your name?"
"Yo no...I don't have one. Losss humansss here never gave me one, and mi madre wasss taken from me when I wasss very young." The snake gently coiled its tail around himself, acting as if it was giving itself the snake version of a hug.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like me to give you a name? You sound like you know Spanish or Portuguese ...so I'll call you Diego."
"Hmm. Diego. Me gosto muito! (I like it a lot!) Graciasss amigo! Now if only you could help me get out of here. Itsss nice and all, but what I would really like to sssee is my paísss de origem (home country), Brazil!" A wistful look crossed his face, as he obviously day dreamed about the place his family came from, but had never visited.
Harry gave Diego a fond smile, before quickly looking around the room, trying to find where the Dursley's were and if anyone had noticed that he was hissing to the snake. It had been a rough morning for Harry when he made the mistake of commenting to his uncle that he had dreamt of a flying motorcycle. His uncle had blown up quick spectacularly at that little comment.
He found them on the other side of the room, looking at some of the other reptiles. Dudley was wearing a look of absolute boredom, which meant that soon he would give in to his (as Berniss called it) "Stupidity Impulse" and cause trouble to whoever he decided to cast as his prey.
Harry decided that he should quickly say his good byes to his new friend, when all of a sudden a loud voice cried out.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
(Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
"I'm free! Graciasss Amigo! Brazil here I come!" Diego slid out from his tank, and playfully snapped at Dudley and Piers before sliding out the door. Dudley ended up falling into the tank, while Piers managed to fall next to it. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon ran towards them, screeching and yelling, asking if the boys were okay (Harry understood perfectly well that he was not included when they asked if they were okay).
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?".
(Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
Aunt Petunia glanced sharply at Harry, before a look of understanding flashed by her face quickly followed by a scowl and a hateful glare. Uncle Vernon was no better, he immediately grew stiff and his face had become a horrible purple-red. After Piers had been taken home and they had gotten back to Private Drive, Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry by his shirt and dragged him into his cupboard. Harry could hear Aunt Petunia screaming and blaming him, while Uncle Vernon tried to calm her down, from the kitchen.
"That little freak! How dare he endanger our little Dudley! And on his birthday too!"
"Calm down, Pet, don't you worry! I'll make sure he stays in that cupboard until we think he's learned his lesson, and that he gets double the amount of chores plus less rations of food when we let him out."
Later, Harry would learn that the boa constrictor only made it to the edge of the parking lot before he was caught by the zoo keepers; they ended up deciding to have him transferred to one of the zoos in Brazil for a mating project. Harry would come to think that that boa constrictor had the weirdest luck (second only to his own), while Berniss would come to say that Diego was one of those snakes that were so idiotic, and naive, that the world had to give them good fortune to even survive. Personally, Harry thought that she was upset that Harry got punished for the "zoo incident " while the snake got away scott-free and with a new home and mate to boot!
Luckily Harry had, by now, learned some control over his ESP powers. When he was absolutely sure that everyone was asleep, he would mentally picture the locks on the cupboard opening and his door swinging softly open. Then he would "summon" some of Dudley's money from his room, and sneak out of the house all the way to either the convenient store or a small fast food place. He never got caught because he knew for a fact that Dudley had always been bad with numbers. So long as he had money in his piggy bank, Dudley wouldn't notice a couple of pounds were gone.
This continued until Harry was let out of his cupboard. By then he had gotten very behind in his school work and was also expected to do all of the chores Aunt Petunia had set aside for him. Harry had never been more grateful for his abilities. They made his work load easier and he could get them done at a faster rate, therefore leaving him more time to catch up with his homework.
Before going to bed one night, Harry had the strangest feeling that something exciting was going to happen soon. He didn't know why, just that this year his birthday would bring something... special to his life. Berniss had told him that he should never doubt his instincts, and it was best to listen to her when she got into lecture mode. It almost as bad as mother hen mode. Staring up to the darkness of his cupboard, he recalled a faded memory, so fuzzy he wasn't really sure if it was a memory or not. It was of a soft voice, the smell of lavender and baby powder, strong firm hands and a feeling of content. With that in mind, Harry quickly fell into a peaceful sleep.