(After looking through my fridge) Sorry, I don't own any amount of Harry Potter, would you care for some yoghurt instead?
Confused and Surprised. Those two words were a good start to describe how Harry felt after he arrived back home. When he departed from the train, he found uncle Vernon waiting for him, but that wasn't that strange. The weird part started after a long, filled with silence ride.
"Come to the living room when you're done with your things." said Vernon when they crossed the doorstep.
Harry sensing another rules to be added to the mile long list, didn't complain much hefting his trunk to his room. When he came down, he noticed his aunt and uncle already seated in the armchairs.
"Sit." came short order which he quickly complied with.
"Boy, we..." but his uncle stopped himself, which was confusing, he never did it while delivering his speech.
"I meant, Harry." this was surprising part, because they used his name even less. As Harry was about to see, it didn't stop at that.
"Me and your aunt, we had a lot of time to talk, and what you said...What I mean is..." his uncle struggled, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. "We treated you differently because you are different. But we may have overdid it, punishing you too much for normal things. But as for now, as long as you don't do any of that... funny business, we will try and see you as a normal kid."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about that." said Harry finally finding his voice, after a long time just staring at his uncle.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that if i would do any... funny business, They would punish me them self." at which he handed his uncle the note warning not to use magic during holidays.
"What kind of punishment do they mean?" asked Vernon after finishing the note and handing it to his wife.
"Well I don't know, and I don't really want to find out. But Ministry is..."
"Wait, you tell me Ministry knows about... all of that?"
"I mean, the OTHER Ministry..." said Harry, throwing them a meaningful look.
After that, happened something that made Harry fear about integrity of the universe and the space-time continuum. After that, Vernon Dursley begun to ask about magical world, making Harry tell probably everything he knew about how it worked.
Later, lying on his bed, Harry had to wonder what brought this. It couldn't just be couple of words that he told them nearly a year earlier. But time. Time could do it. People all around the world have their conviction's. And no matter what they are, there is always something constant, a certain belief that helps them sort out new ideas between right and wrong. For Dursley's that belief was that "There is no place for uncommon things.", making them act against everything not normal. But if you strike this cord, not even persuading, but hinting "Hey, you aren't that normal yourself." it will have an effect. Of course, at first, they will disregard it as a bogus idea. But if the message is strong enough, it will keep nagging somewhere at the back of their heads, making them consider everything they do, and over time, make them change their beliefs, or their course of action.
Of course the final touch was the revelation that magical world wasn't bunch of school kids, or teenagers right after it, doing whatever they wanted with their magic sticks, but rather well organized community with set of rules of their own and even a police force to keep it all in order. Because, even if slightly disturbed by alien things, Dursley's weren't racist, and could understand concept of different culture. So this new way of perceiving wizards was a new, more comfortable, pair of shoes they could fit in.
From that point on, living in that home wasn't like staying in a prison, but like in a hotel, and doing chores was Harry's rent. And even if their relations stayed somewhat cool, they definitely turned more civil. This new arrangements of course weren't to Dudley's liking, but that just made his parents notice how much he misbehaved, when they started to pay attention if Harry really did all the things they were going to punish him for.
But new status quo was to be threatened by a visit of a small inhabitant of magical world.
At the day of Harry's birthday Petunia explained to him that they had a long planed dinner with Masons from Vernon's work, that couldn't be cancelled because of birthday of a nephew no one even heard about before. Harry was stunned that they even remembered when it was, forget the celebration, but never even mentioning it before, but of course he understood that changes come gradually. So he was to spend his birthday in his room, opting against going out and not knowing when the dinner ended, as only then he would be able to come back inside.
But when he came to his room after helping his aunt with preparing the meal, he noticed a strange looking creature sitting on his bed. Hearing door closing, he looked with the corner of his eye and saw Magie standing by it. She, sensing his need, after looking at the creature shook her head, thus answering Harry's unasked question if she had brought it.
When he turned his head to the bed, the creature slipped of it and bowed very low, a gesture which Harry immediately returned.
"Harry Potter sir shouldn't be doing that." creature protested after noticing what he did.
Hearing it's voice, Harry hurriedly asked Magie if she could do anything so no one downstairs would hear it too, at which she brought forth a pack of tissues which flew out and plucked themselves between the door and frame, thus silencing the room. Harry just raised his eyebrow, having more important things to do at the moment.
"I thought that it was proper greeting from... well, wherever you come from, and I didn't want to be impolite by not returning it. By the way, who are you?"
At the first part creature looked like it was about to wail, but stopped when was reminded that it haven't introduced itself yet.
"Dobby, sir. Dobby the house-elf."
"And what brought you here, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts." quickly replied Dobby.
"And is there any reason for that?" asked Harry who was slightly taken aback, not expecting that kind of an answer.
"There is a plot to make most terrible things happen there, Harry Potter sir. Dobby has known it for month's sir. Dobby must warn, but... but..."
"But you can't tell it up front." finished Harry, at which Dobby nodded his head furiously.
Harry stood there a long time, contemplating both message and messenger. Until...
"Why is Harry Potter sir still standing?" brought him from his thoughts.
"Because if it's a longer conversation then everyone should be in the same position, no matter if it's sitting or standing. Oh, I'm sorry, would you like to sit?"
Dobby immediately burst into tears, explaining between hiccups that he never been asked to sit down by a wizard.
"Why is that?" asked Harry after sitting Dobby down, and waiting for him to calm down a bit.
"House-elves are servants and should remain unseen as long as they can, and when addressed to, should be at full attention to fulfil the command." Dobby explained, speaking like he was quoting a rule-book.
"But serving guests shouldn't you be wearing something else?" said Harry pointing old pillowcase.
"Oh no Harry Potter sir. House-elf wear only one thing like this, not clothing, given when he is brought to the family he is about to serve. Only time that he could be given clothing is when he is released from service."
"So, back to the business. Did someone ask you to come and warn me about what is going to happen at Hogwart?"
"No, Harry Potter sir. Dobby heard about Harry Potter and needs to protect him. Harry Potter sir is too important to be at any kind of danger."
"Protect me? Did you do something else, beside warning me, that I should thank you for?" asked Harry half jokingly, wanting to lighten the atmosphere.
But in response, Dobby started fidgeting, and after a while reached into his pillowcase and extracted a thick wad of envelopes.
"Dobby thought that if Harry Potter won't have any message from magical world, he might not want to come back."
Harry reached for the envelopes, but Dobby just jumped of the bed and out of his reach. He tried again, standing from his chair, but that just made Dobby skip further away. Getting slightly annoyed by this...
'Magie, could you?'
Magie, who was still standing by the door, just walked past Dobby, picking letters from his hand while she did, and walking up to Harry, handed them to him right before vanishing out of view. Harry just smiled at the place she was standing a moment ago and proceeded to look through the stack, consisting mostly of letters from Hermione, but there were some from Neville, and even one from Hagrid and, what looked like a message from Twins if the look of it could say anything. While doing this, he forgot about Dobby, who was looking between his hand and Harry so fast that his ears were flapping around.
"Dobby heard about great Harry Potter sir, but no one before said anything about old ways..."
That got him Harry's full attention again, but before Harry could ask...
"Dobby was wrong. It would be best for Harry Potter sir if he was in Diagon Alley week after Hogwarts letters were delivered." and after that, he vanished with a loud crack.
Harry had no idea what that meant. What it all meant.
Later in the evening, after he was done reading the letters, which beside Hermione's, turned out to be birthday wishes, Magie returned with 'Did I miss anything?'. After he told her the rest of the meeting with Dobby, Harry had a question of his own.
'What was that thing with tissues?'
'What do you mean? You wanted the room silenced...'
'Yes I know, but why like that?' asked confused boy.
'I always do it like that, like when you tried that first spell to lift the feather.' responded slightly annoyed Magie.
'Yeah I remember. But, well, I didn't really notice at any other time. You always disappeared in the middle of it.' replied slightly ashamed Harry.
'I got tired really quickly before. But not today. Today it was easier to do.' she said with a shrug.
'So you tell me that it always look like that?' Harry asked in a disbelieving tone with a slight disappointment mixed with it.
'Hey, even if I'm not that normal, I know only common ways of doing things.' snapped Magie, irritated by his response to her efforts.
'Sorry, sorry. I just though you did something more... magical.' at which she huffed loudly crossing her arms. 'Well, fact that you're so charming still stays the same.' and even if slightly ironic, this compliment somewhat loosened her bringing slight smile to her face.
'So, what are you going to do with what Dobby said?' she finally asked.
'What I can for now. Wait.'
AN. Answering your unasked questions regarding Dursley's. Even thou I read and liked some of abused-Harry stories, I don't perceive Dursley's as horrible people. Misguided is better term for me. Petunia is acting on memories of her sister, and Vernon knows only what his wife told him.
Another chapter will also be out soon, because I already know how it will look like. I just need to write it down.