...It was exactly the sort of place he'd concentrated on transporting himself to- a sheltered place where he was unlikely to be found against his will. It was a rather odd occurrence, though he didn't no it, that Riddle manor, a place still associated with the man who had killed his parents all those years ago, would be the first place that he called home.
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Upon awakening the next day, Harry began to explore his new surroundings, and to plan. While in general he had always had to take things one day at a time, for the most part, it was always best to have a general idea of where he would spend time, and what he would do to get food. Exploring the manor, he found that it had clearly not been inhabited for a long time. There wasn't any food or money there that might be of use, though he found some old curtains and blankets, which he dragged up to the small bedroom he'd slept in, after shaking the dust out. The house would be enough to serve as shelter once winter arrived, at least with the old blankets in which he could curl up. Still, he only had enough food to last a week or so, if he rationed it, and the twenty pound note would most likely be needed when winter arrived.
Harry was, this time around, much more cautious. He had no desire to be found and dragged off like the last time, and so he did his best to stay out of sight. He avoided public places, and used his 'disappearing trick' to get in and out of the house. The last thing he wanted was to be spotted nearby. It was for this reason that he turned to theft. Breaking into different houses each time, all of them isolated, a while a way from Little Hangleton, prevented him from being as easy to catch, and from anyone finding his home base. He took food for the most part, things that would be less likely to be noticed, and a few pounds here and there, but never much money, as it was more noticeable. He kept his stash of food in the little bedroom with him, hidden in a small closet. What he had learned about stealth from the other boys had paid off, as well as being able to wish himself back to the manor at any time. Despite that it was hard, as he had to visit multiple places a day, since he kept to getting unnoticeable amounts, he got by well enough. His store of food gradually increased. He slept a good deal as well, which helped him get by on less, as wishing himself from place to place was tiring. It was satisfying to be free, even if it was anything but an easy life.
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It was inevitable, I suppose, that Harry would continue to develop skills of stealth- and that he would only trust people less as time passed. It happened that, one of the times Harry was in a house when it's owners returned, it was a family returning. He had had the bad luck of entering almost right before they arrived home. He heard children laughing, and their parents ushering them inside. It lead to a new skill, frankly, because it caused him to wish for something entirely different when he tried to wish himself away. You see, he had the concentration right, but he didn't truly wish to leave. All he really wished was that they wouldn't be able to see him. And so it was that when the family came inside, they saw no one there.
He watched the family for several months, in-between his 'raids,' sleep, and exploration. It was odd, really. He knew them so well, that sometimes he could forget that they didn't know him at all. He thought of them, in a way, as his family. He had no one else to call family, after all. He learned from following them, on a minor scale, as well. He learned about a large chain grocery store that was nearly putting the local one out of business from their complaints, and with the large amount of space and products inside, and his knack for invisibility, found it easy to rob from. He learned about an orchard as well, one time when the family went berry picking, and ate berries as he pleased as he watched the children, laughing and prancing around as they filled their baskets, the parents patiently picking the fruits, and occasionally glancing over and smiling. Most of all, however, he got a taste of what it might have been like to have a childhood, and a family. It was always bittersweet, standing there, watching, such sweet poison.
It was mid-August when one day he appeared in there house. He greeted them, introduced himself as Harry, and went to sit down at the table with them. They stared at him, shocked for a moment. Only moments later he was being reprimanding for trespassing. After all, he was told, he had not place there. His lips parted slightly in distress and alarm, eyes opened wide, and without a word he fled. He never returned to there home. It wasn't hard to avoid, after all, being a ways out from Little Hangleton. To think he had almost thought of them as family- but he knew better now. The only one he could trust, he had learned, was himself.
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