Author's Note: Here is the Dursley chapter! A lot was removed, making it a lot shorter. I'm hoping it's the shortest of the story, but we'll see. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Further notes at the bottom to explain some of the reasons for certain changes in this chapter. This is the last I have currently but hope to start on the rest soon. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: The Course of Concealment

Vernon and Petunia Dursley arrived home the next evening after dropping Dudley off at his friend Pier Polkiss's house for the night. As he pulled his company issued hummer into their driveway, he noticed with a single glance at the garden that the freak, as he referred to it in his mind, had been neglecting its chores once more. It slipped his mind- probably on purpose- that he had locked Harry up in the cupboard, so he wouldn't have been able to do them anyways. All that mattered to Vernon Dursley was that the freak that had been left on their doorstep five years ago and destroyed their perfectly normal life, hadn't done its chores. "I'll have to give it a more memorable punishment for this." he muttered in annoyance and anger. "It never learns!" he growled, heading into the house with Petunia behind him.

While his wife headed for the living room, he headed for the cupboard it was kept in. Only for him to stumble to a halt as he spotted a small pool of blood just under the door. "What the...?" he trailed off as he processed what he saw. "Petunia!" He called behind him, knowing she would hear him. He heard her approach him as he was thinking how grateful he was that Dudley wasn't home.

"What is it Vern- Oh my God!" Petunia cried out in horrified disgust at the mess under the door. She stumbled back, crashing into the wall, a bony hand covering her mouth. The two adults stared for a moment before Petunia hissed at her husband. "Open it!" Vernon shook himself and did as she told him. He swung the small door open and looked into the dim space. Petunia nearly gagged behind him at the morbid sight. "Is- Is he-?" she trailed off, unable to actually say the words.

Vernon approached a little closer. "Wake up freak!" Vernon ordered, using the tone of voice it knew meant it would be punished if it didn't comply. It didn't move, not even anything small. Vernon scowled as he observed it. 'Huh.' he noticed after a few minutes. 'It wasn't breathing...' He scowled. 'Of course the useless thing would die, making it even more useless.' He turned to his wife with a scowl. "It's dead, Pet." he told her. She blanched.

"There's a dead body in my house?" she sounded horrified and disgusted. But Vernon could see that she was beginning to panic. "What do we do?" She asked, starting to hyperventilate. Vernon turned his back on the dead body in the closet and hugged the woman.

"It's going to be fine Pet. We merely get rid of it. It is rather dark out due to the storm rolling in." Vernon told her. While it was mid evening now, the sky wouldn't normally get this dark for hours still. He had cursed it on their way home, but now he was thankful for it. "We'll tell Dudley and anyone who else asks that we just sent it away to get help. It was getting too violent and acting out and we just couldn't do anything else. It's that simple. And it's not like the other freaks have cared about it in the past five years. I doubt they're going to care now." He assured the woman who took a bit longer than he was expecting to calm down.

"You're right." She took a couple deep breaths. They hadn't made any inquiries about the boy since they left him on their doorstep. They hadn't approached them even after they had moved, or the boy first started getting punished for not doing his chores. It would be fine. It was unfortunate that he had died, as it had been nice not having to do the housework so much. But they just couldn't have normal lives when he was around. They could be free now. Besides, it wasn't there fault if his freakishness hadn't helped him. It was just a failure on his part for the weakness. She would believe that, because it was the only thing that would let her not feel the horror of the situation. "Alright, this will be fine. I'll get rid of its things, while you dispose of it." she said with false confidence. If she considered him an 'it' like Vernon did, this would be easier to accept. That was a basic concept. You didn't feel bad about dead insects. This was the same concept. Surprisingly, it worked. Or maybe it was the shock of the whole thing? Either way, Petunia felt like she could do this.

"That's my Pet." Vernon beamed. "As for the paperwork of things, I'll take care of it." he assured. She nodded decisively and went to fetch what she needed to get started on the mess while Vernon went to the shed in their back yard to grab one of his extra tarps to wrap it up in. It took some time, but Vernon made quick work of wrapping it in a tarp while Petunia was in the kitchen grabbing what she needed- and downing some brandy to give her strength. He glanced out the front window. The rain that was coming hadn't started falling yet, but given how dark it was out there, it would soon.

Deeming it time, he hefted- though not really, most of the weight came from the tarp rather than what was wrapped in it- the tarp and made his way to the hummer. He was very glad that some hooligans had broken the lamps around their house and the one across the street. It added some extra darkness that gave him the cover he needed to slip it into the back seat. His lip curled. He'd have to disinfect that seat. Once he was closed the door, he headed back inside to check on his wife who, thanks to the brandy, had more color in her cheeks as they went over their story. "If anyone asks where I went?" Vernon asked Petunia.

"You were going to give a friend of yours a surprise visit. He wasn't home so you grabbed a coffee on you way back." Petunia answered. "Remember to keep the receipt." she cautioned. He nodded.

"I will, Pet." he assured, then went to the car, got in, and drove away. Petunia meanwhile, turned towards the mess in the cupboard and let out a disgruntled sigh and got to work with a manic energy. She wanted any evidence of it being there gone! She wanted their normal life back. That was the mantra she had to tell herself as she got to work.

Neither Dursley, at any point during that evening, noticed the smoky green snake that had first watched everything from the moment it had gotten into the house when they arrived, to the moment Vernon left in his hummer with a body in the backseat, and a snake under the seats.

Galen had returned earlier than planned because he had felt his connection with his wizard waiver. And that had filled him with dread. He had had to go further to get enough prey to keep him content for another week, thus, arrived back at Number 4 Privet Drive at the same time as the two adults that had always hurt his wizard. He could taste rain, magic, and blood on the wind and knew something was wrong. The moment the door was open, he slipped in. Thanks to his abilities and his currently small size, he had gone unnoticed by either muggle. He made his way towards the small place his Harry was usually confined in and waited for the large walrus like man to open it. Galen nearly went into shock at the image of his wizard, bloody, cold, and lifeless on the ratted cloth his wizard referred to as his nest.

'But this can't be! I can still feel my wizard. He's alive so how is-' Galen stopped himself, getting closer as the two adults disappeared. He flicked his tongue, and there it was. The cold bite of extremely dark and old magic. Faint. So faint that Galen had almost missed it. But there none the less. This wasn't his wizard. But someone did have him, and Galen, after another taste of the air, was able to taste a specific marking in the magic. One of Tom's followers had his wizard. He hissed in annoyance. He couldn't differentiate all of the other tastes on the magic, but many were herbs though they had faded. Maybe a follower who was usually always using potions and stopped for a time? He would have to think more on it later. He slipped his way outside and under the man's stinky carriage. He would accompany the man and his fake wizard's body just to see what the man was going to do. Then he would return. He was sure his wizard was saved by another and would send them back to grab him. When they came, he would track them and demand he be taken to his bonded wizard.

Vernon had driven for little over an hour, already knowing where he wanted to dump it. He had been thinking about this for more than a year now, and it was really convenient that it finally did what he wanted. Though he had been hoping for something a bit more useful, like a car accident he could get some extra money out of. Sadly, that wasn't going to be the case, but they were going to be freak free come tomorrow morning and that made up for it. He arrived and grabbed a shovel and hauled out the tarp. The rain had hit this place much more lightly than it did Little Whinging, and that meant the ground would be just soft enough for easier digging, but not soaked to the point of leaving him covered in mud when he was done. He made his way through the trees and eventually found a small clearing that would work well for his needs. He dropped the tarp carelessly and began to dig.

Vernon had always been a robust man, but he was also rather strong with semi- decent stamina. However, by the time he reached three and a half feet into the ground, he could feel his stamina draining and decided then that it was good enough. It wasn't that big anyways. With a nod to himself, he rolled the tarp into the hole and without even sparing it a glance, began to re-fill the hole. It was some hours later that he finally arrived home, half-drunk coffee in hand as he entered the house, kissed his wife's cheek, and only glanced at the now sparkling clean cupboard area. They were finally free. He smiled at his wife, noting how tired she was, but relieved as well that everything had gone as planned. They would tell Dudley when he got home tomorrow that the freak was gone and no longer their problem. And when he got back to work, he'd forge the proper paperwork that the school would need for its leaving. This was going to be the best thing for his family, and he had no regrets about it.

Galen watched from the garden in distaste as the large spawn of the Dursley adults arrived home that morning, only for the three of them to leave to celebrate the supposed death of his wizard. The very thought made him hiss furiously. How dare they! But he stayed and waited. It was still rather early in the morning when he sensed it. The same presence and magic that he had tasted the night before, mixed in was the taste of his wizard's magic and blood. He peered out from under the hydrangea bushes to keep an eye on the pale, dark haired wizard that was casually strolling down the sidewalk towards Number 4 Privet Drive. Galen tilted his head as he watched him for a moment from the bushes at the edge of the sidewalk.

The man slowed just slightly as he was passing by, and when the man seemed to drop something and leaned down to pick it up, Galen moved. He commended the man for not flinching when Galen appeared, swiftly climbing up under the glamoured sleeves of an open robe and around the arm of the one who had most definitely saved his human. Then the man continued on his way until they were safely away from prying muggle eyes. "Let's get you back to Harry, Galen." the man's deep voice rumbled softly. Then silently, they apparated away. And no one would know either of them had been there.

Author's Note: There we go. I'm sure you noticed how this version of Nagi- Galen- doesn't have the weird magical teleporting ability of its predecessor. I decided to drop that. I wasn't liking it when I re-read the original story. He can still grow and shrink as he pleases to certain degrees. He can only enlarge to his current full size, but he can continue to grow. Did that make any sense? I hope so.

I'm also sure you noticed how everything with the Potters and Albus were gone. That's because, in this version, they have no idea where Harry is or what's happened to him. Nor do they really care. So there we have it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully the next one will be longer. I'm not positive though because I'm also cutting out a large portion of it. However, on the other hand, I think I'll be putting in more about it. We'll see how it turns out.

Thanks again to everyone who's reading and reviewing. It makes me really happy and excited about where this re-write is going. Until the next chapter!