Somewhat surprisingly, having relatives that hate you is not actually conducive to sneaking off to London.

Harry knew that his aunt and uncle would be completely wroth to hear about him sneaking away.

So, he did them one better.

He ran away.

Complete with suitably dramatic note - the sort Uncle Vernon would laugh until he cried over.

Dear Aunt and Uncle,

As I'm certain you're aware, I know that you hate me.

I know that you can't stand me, and that you'd rather never have met me.

I've decided that living anywhere other than here would be preferable to your neglect.

Besides, you give me so many chores that I haven't had time for fun in years!

The 'overly entitled nephew' bit went on for quite a bit after that - Harry's experience with Severus Snape gave him plenty of ammunition.

The truth, along with the falsehoods, would have Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia laughing - and not just for sheer relief that their weird nephew wasn't coming home.

It was Saturday. On Saturday, a child on a train is not an entirely unremarkable thing, and when someone stopped Harry, he could always say, "My mum's in the loo." Besides, Harry was a slight and small child, and very good at not being noticed.

Getting to London was easy. Finding Diagon Alley? That was quite a lot more difficult. Luckily, Harry had pocketed a "Muggleborn Guide" in the bookstore, which gave him... directions. Not that he had an auto, but... if you gave most adults a map, they'd at least point you where you wanted to go.

Diagon was a different place without Hagrid. Luckily, Harry had planned for this - his experience with people mobbing him had led him to find a ski-cap, and wear that over his head. Wizarding folk had little sense of fashion, so this would pass unremarked.

Harry bought the books that caught his eye, and a good few that didn't. Wizarding Manners, Comportment and Composure, and a basic guide to Mind Magic were things he didn't want to learn, but knew he had to. He got an entire encylopedia on Wizarding law, and all 7 years of coursebooks. Then he moved onto the apprenticeship books (one per Master, so Charms had a gadzillion. Harry plucked two that looked reasonable)

He left, and bought some ice cream.

Then he left Diagon entirely, and proceeded to the nearest public library. It was the perfect place to be caught by the police.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were already going to assign more chores, so Harry being hauled back by the London police didn't make his life any harder on him. He'd made sure there were no burns (from cooking) or bruises (mostly from Dudley), so it wasn't even like the police wanted anything to do with the Dursleys. They just wanted to do a pro-forma interview, and promptly concluded that Harry was a spoiled child.

Harry managed to shrink his books and hide them under the stairs, where he would occasionally read them - when he wasn't drowning under chores. It was a difficult balance, but Harry was aware that any bit of knowledge could save his butt.

[a/n: Guesses as to House? Up Next: Train and Sorting.]