The day I chose to leave the Dursley was when once again they chose to shut me in without food while they left for lunch outside. The poor baby Dodders spilt some food and I got blamed for it, and to rub salt in my wounds Vernon smugly coddled Dudley by telling him they would be going to his favourite restaurant.
As soon as they left, I called the name that has been threatening my lips since I could talk. "TIPSY!" I waited for 3 seconds holding my breath for each second, I let it out when I heard a voice call out.
"Master Harry, you've finally called us!" The house elves always loved tacking care of me so these past few years must have been horrible for them not knowing where I was and how I was doing.
"I'm glad to see you Tipsy. Tell me how are you and the other elves." She immediately started balling and mumbling out an answer. I was able to get the gist of it, the elves had been completely abandoned at Hogwarts. Dumbledore took them to Hogwarts after the night with Voldemort but he forgot to assign any specific tasks to them and due to how many elves Hogwarts had they never had enough work.
"It's okay Tipsy, we'll all be heading back home soon. First can you tell me if there is any tracking magic on me?" I didn't know if she could do that, I never knew how powerful they were supposed to be. She looked at me in askance for a second and then snapped her fingers.
"Master Harry, you have 2 charms on you. One is a charm for some form of a ward and the other is a tracking charm." Tipsy stated to me after finishing her analysis of the spells she found on me.
"Can you replace the charm to other people?" I wanted to move the tracking charm to Dudley and the charm for the blood ward to Petunia. I didn't know what would happen if I moved two charms onto muggles but I figured one charm would not do anything. And the blood ward made more sense for Petunia being the one in the family with closer blood ties to me.
"Master Harry, who put these on you? Do you…" I stopped her by raising my hand.
"Don't worry Tipsy, I already know who and how I will get an answer for them. Just please do ask I ask." She looked reluctant but nodded. "Okay good, there will be people coming back here and you will be transferring the charms to two of them. For now, gather all the elves and take them back home and get it cleaned and ready. When I call you again, I will come back home with you then." Once again, she looked reluctant to leave me but I encouraged her with a pat on the head.
After she left, I used my magic to unlatch the bolt for the cupboard. I still couldn't many things a first-year wizard could do but for a 4-year-old I was plenty decent. I made my way to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out some of the treats they kept for their precious son. I ate a truffle and made my way upstairs to the bedrooms. I first went to Dudley's room and broke all of his toys by using them to practise my magic. I used them to practice flinging something very hard at a wall. It may have been a very petty thing to do but I'm also a 4-year-old, I can't always be mature. I then went to Vernon and Petunia's room and tore through it and took anything of value. I put it all in one of the bags they had and then brought it down with me. I then finished all the other treats and took a nap on the couch waiting for the rest of the "family" to come home.
I woke up instantly when I heard the car pull into the driveway. I'd heard it enough locked in my "room" to be able to discern it even from the couch. Before they could enter the house, I called Tipsy back. "Tipsy!"
"Master Harry, you called me back!" she said excitedly.
"Yes, I did Tipsy, it's time for me to come home. First, I need you to knock out the three people that will be entering the house and then transfer the location charm to the little boy, and blood ward charm to the woman." I knew she understood when she nodded excitedly at finally getting a task from me. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the front door unlock. As soon as Vernon entered, he started yelling, I had left the door to the cupboard wide open for a reason.
"I knew it you…" was as far as he got.
As I walked into view Vernon had already been knocked out by an invisible Tipsy. Petunia looked at me in horror and was about to scream out when Tipsy knocked her out too. She didn't have to bother with Dudley, who was already peacefully asleep in his carriage. Tipsy then snapped her fingers twice and looked at me in glee. I knew it was all done when I saw that expression. "Okay Tipsy, take me home."
As soon as I got home, the Potter Manor, I was greeted by the rest of the house elves.
"Sebas, Albie, Nabel! It's good to see you all" I could feel myself tear up seeing all the house elves together again. When I first came to this world I was scared to be left alone after the inevitable night with Voldemort. But after seeing them I knew I would be able to live a better life than I was meant to.
I looked around the manor, it seems they had done a good job cleaning it before my arrival. It looked just like how it did when we lived here before Dumbledore got James and Lily to agree on moving to Godric's Hollow. If the elves were taken back by my mature conduct, they didn't show it or comment on it. I guess they were just happy to be back home.
"How have you all been?" Iasked them once I was done lookig around.
It was Sebas who answered me "Not that great Master Harry, but better now that we are home with you."
"Tipsy told me that you had a rough couple of years. Did anyone question you all when you left?" I asked them. This time it was Albie who answered
"No Master Harry, too many house elves for any of the professors to notice". That worked out for my benefit, though it was disheartening to hear that even the professors were negligent of house elves.
After catching up on their experiences at Hogwarts I sent them off to clean up the rest of the house. While they were doing that, I took a walk around the house, reminiscing on all the memories I had of the Potters in this house. I let out a deep sigh after I was done, figuratively closing this chapter of my life so I could focus on the next phase. I needed to be me not the Harry Potter from canon. I finally have control back in my life, and I will live it how I want. The first thing I decided to do was head to the master bedroom and let myself fall asleep on the soft bed.
I was woken up by Nabel with a big breakfast tray, my mouth began salivating instantly. But I made sure to only eat enough to fill me up, eating too much right away will only make me sick since my body wasn't used to it. The elves were very concerned but I told them I just wasn't hungry for the day. I didn't ever want them finding out how I lived with the Dursleys, I was scared for what they would do.
After breakfast I started browsing through the library the manor had. I focused more on magic theory in the beginning and then slowly made my way to the other subjects. Eventually the elves prepared a spot for me in the library that I could use as a study space after seeing me spend so much time in the library. I also had them prepare a space for me to practise magic. I'd tried asking them for advice but couldn't get much from them, all their magic was innate to them and so they weren't great with explanations.
I eventually got set in a routine that I got lost in. The mornings were devoted to book learning, both magical and normal education. I had the elves get some books for me from a closed bookstore. The afternoon was spent practising magic and putting all theory I was learning to use. The evenings were spent just lounging around the manor, I also had the elves fetch some board games that I played with them.