Sorry, but I don't own Harry Potter. I just own this story and every other story I've written. That's it.

Please let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for potential burglaries for this version of Harry, please let me know and drop a review.

Safecracker.

Almost Caught.

It's funny, a few months ago I was planning on finally saying goodbye to this miserable part of the world. Now it looks like I'm going to have to stay here for a while longer; the trouble with knowing about this 'Wizarding World' is although I've got access to a source of knowledge about it, there is only so much I can actually glean from Auntie Petunia, so I'm going to have to stay here longer than I'd wanted, Harry thought to himself as he walked down the street from school back to Privet Drive. He was following Dudley, whom he could pick out easily from a distance and he was also keeping watch in case of any wizarding activity (he wasn't sure if more wizards would come for him, but after that mess with the Death Eater, he wasn't going to take any chances.

In the last week since discovering that his abilities in hypnotism and breaking out of locked cupboards was down to magic and that he belonged to a hidden society of witches and wizards, Harry had been trying to work out what he was going to do with the knowledge of his true heritage. Yeah, he had slept on the matter and he'd decided to stay here for a little bit longer in case this Dumbledore guy had some way of tracking him down and returning him to Privet Drive and wiping his memory, although that was virtually impossible given he had left the notes he'd taken from Aunt Petunia in the cupboard under the stairs, and he had also written instructions for himself to hypnotise Aunt Petunia and ask her about her sister once more. Also included in the instructions were details about his magic and how to carry out certain tasks to make it work.

But he hoped it didn't come to that. It had been complicated learning how to hypnotise people, and he didn't really like the thought of having to relearn such a vital skill which was now an integral part of his repertoire, which was why he had written them in note form and he'd also written them into the walls of the cupboard itself in case anything happened to the papers.

But regardless of the risks in case Dumbledore returned him to Privet Drive, Harry didn't see why he should stop being a burglar; not only did he feel a rush of excitement in breaking into different people's houses, but at the same time if he was forced out onto the street then he would have a means of supporting himself.

He nodded to one of the people who lived close to Privet Drive, and he mentally sighed with relief when the woman smiled back in greeting. He was a long way from the actual neighbourhood he, unfortunately, lived in, so the people here were out of reach of the gossipers his aunt hung out with.

"Hey, kid."

Harry turned his head slowly and he found himself looking at a young man in his twenties leaning out of the window of his car as he drove it slowly along the road. Harry shook his head and continued walking; the Dursleys might not have given any thought at all about what happened to him. Hell, they wouldn't have actually cared one little bit, but at school, he had learnt about the dangers of walking with strangers or getting into cars with strange people. In any case, he didn't trust people full stop.

"Hey, don't be like that," the man said, driving his car forward so he could keep up with the boy, only convincing Harry, even more, this man wasn't the nice guy he was trying to portray himself as. "I just wanted to ask if you'd want to go to a party; my own son has few friends, and I want to make it a party to remember."

A party for a son who doesn't exist? My god, does he truly think I'm stupid? Or gullible enough to think I'd fall for it? Dudley and his friends might fall for that, but even if this guy tried anything with them, he'd quickly regret it. He'd be put into a hospital before he even had a chance to do anything too serious.

Harry glanced at the man, who was looking at him with an expression that, thanks to his limited experience, he couldn't identify although it reminded him of the greedy look Dudley always got into his eyes either when he saw something he wanted, or a table full of food. Harry didn't know what the man was actually thinking, but having someone looking at him in that manner was enough to make him sick.

Looking ahead his heart sank. There was a T junction ahead and Harry needed to cross the road so he could return to Number 4, but if he tried to cross the man who was stalking him in his car could swerve around and pick him up from there. Harry glanced at the man and tried to work out what he should do about this guy. There was no doubt in his mind this guy wanted him for something, but thanks to his lack of experience in the real world, Harry just didn't know what, but he knew the man was desperate for him to get into the car. If that happened he had no idea what would probably happen to him.

With that in mind, Harry walked over to the car, seeing the man's clear surprise that he actually stopped the car, before a smile of triumph spread across his face.

"Look into my eyes," Harry said, focusing his magic on the man.

The man's smiling visage faded and his expression turned blank.

"Why do you want me to get into your car?"

"I want to take photographs of you in the nude and then me and my friends can then have sex with you," the man said in a clear, emotionless voice.

A perverted paedophile. I did wonder if he was that, but why is it the police are so useless they don't even properly try to look for people like this? Harry thought to himself before a thought occurred to him. "You said friends, how many do you have who are perverts like you?" he asked.

"There are thirty of us."

Thirty? No wonder kids like me are at risk. "Not anymore. You are going to go to send all of the photographs of the kids and the names and addresses of your friends to the media. Repeat your instructions."

"I am going to send all the photographs of the kids and the names and addresses of my friends to the media."

"Yes," Harry replied while he thought about what could happen to this man. Personally he didn't really care, but still, he had to think of something that would be fitting. He had it. "You will send the photographs and the information of your associates to the media by using a second class stamp. You will do this at 9.00. After you have posted the letter, you will go to Station Road where you will sit on the railway bridge. At 9.04, you will jump off of the bridge. Do you know what is under the bridge?"

"Yes, a railway track."

"That is where you're wrong," Harry grinned as he became immersed in the fantasy he was concocting in his head. "It looks like a railway, but it is actually the gateway to another world. A world where your heart's desire lies. But you can only enter this world at a certain moment every day. You will let nothing and no-one interfere. Do you understand?" Harry paused as he forced his magic to drive the instruction into the man's mind. "You will let no-one stop you. When you get to the bridge, you will climb over the top and you will jump without hesitation. Without any hesitation."

"Without any hesitation," the man repeated.

XXX

Relieved to be free of the paedophile and not really caring about what he had hypnotically commanded the pervert to do, Harry carried on back to Number 4. He had needed to run after his cousin to make up for all the lost time, but once he was comfortable with the distance which meant when he returned to Privet Drive he wouldn't be locked out as he had been in the past, he slowed down.

Harry almost couldn't believe it. He had been so focused on his own problems with the Dursleys and the very real realisation if he left somebody powerful would just send him back to Number 4 he hadn't expected something as sick as a paedophile to come up to him. It left Harry feeling nervous and he looked around almost fearfully since he didn't know when the next attack would come. Harry was so nervous it took him a while to calm down, but it left him with a lesson he felt he could have done without.

I already knew the world was dangerous; I thought at first the Dursleys were what made it dangerous, but now I know I'm some kind of saviour in a world I don't even know never mind remember, and now I know if I try to leave of my own free will I can be sent back here. That's bad enough, but now I know its not. Now some pervert wanted to do all sorts to me. I've got to learn how to defend myself. I have my magic, but I don't want to use it unless someone notices. I can practice how to use my magic, but at the same time, I want to know how to protect myself without needing to be reliant on my powers.

But even as he thought that Harry was led to the conclusion he'd come to earlier. While he could presumably not leave Privet Drive by himself even if he had the means now since he'd probably be found and taken back since whatever was protecting him at Privet Drive from these Death Eater guys was being monitored by this Dumbledore bloke, Harry wondered if he could come up with a plan which would make the Dursleys willingly drop him in London somewhere, and leave him to fend for himself. In a way it was a similar plan Aunt Petunia had come up with, only it involved him as a young kid instead of someone older.

While the plan was attractive since he would be on his own without needing to look over his shoulder in Number 4 anymore, in London on his own he would be looking over his shoulder for a society he knew so little about no matter how much he'd gleaned from the Death Eater or his Aunt (he could have interrogated the Death Eater a little bit more in hindsight, since now he had more than a few questions he hadn't asked since he had been stunned by the existence of magic and the knowledge people out there wanted him dead or had abandoned him to live in Little Whinging, but in his Aunt's case there was a lot she knew and yet she knew nothing at all) there was still a great deal he didn't understand.

So what do I do? Harry thought desperately. He knew he only had a few more years before his letter from Hogwarts arrived, but when he walked into the school for the first time, he wanted to be prepared.

Prepared for what? Well, I want to have a better handle on my magic. I want to know how to protect myself, both magically and non-magically; that one might be a problem. I also need to branch out a little with my crimes, maybe go for something big like a bank or a jewellery shop. But how do I do that? Hmm, I also need to gain criminal contacts as well; if I had a few of them I could possibly find someone willing to teach me how to fight either with a knife or even a gun. I don't like the thought of killing people, but I need to if it helps keep me alive for a few more days. But my mind keeps going back to the same problem, do I stay with the Dursleys, or do I go?

As much as he hated to admit it, staying with the Dursleys would give Dumbledore the impression everything was well until Harry was ready. Also at the same time, he could survive for a little bit longer without these Death Eaters trying to kill him. The only downside was living with the Dursleys was tedious, and their abuse of him often got out of hand and it was one of the defining reasons why he wanted to leave in the first place.

But now…

Harry groaned, wishing he could make up his mind about what to do. His plan for escaping the Dursleys was no longer viable, but there were possibilities for manipulating them to-hold on a second, he realised with a shock as the light went off in his brain. His plan to manipulate the Dursleys…what if he flipped the idea over its head, and approached it a different way. He could hypnotise the Dursleys; his hypnosis of Aunt Petunia was proof of that, but if he could hypnotise the other Dursleys - Dudley and Vernon, since Marge's visits were frankly infrequent, although he had no problems with brainwashing her if he had no alternative - then he could make them do what he'd want within reason.

A nice little fantasy seeped into his brain, of finally getting the life of affection he'd wanted for years until he'd realised it would never happen, but now he had the power… No, it was a bad idea, he realised when he went over the possibilities. The Dursleys had already spread dozens of rumours about him over the years, it would certainly cause problems if they certainly changed, and if his theories about Dumbledore and his aunt being able to recite that line from a letter she had practically forgotten because she'd forced herself to forget it, then the wizard would find out and that would cause problems he couldn't even imagine right now, although he had no doubt that if he could manipulate the mind then others could have that power too.

No, if he manipulated the minds of the Dursleys, then he would need to be simple and subtle.

Harry decided to wait for a few days, do some research into what he could do. He had a burglary to commit tonight, and he would need to concentrate hard for it. In any case, he had felt he had plenty of time to think through his plan and look for different options to go with it.