Dobby turned out to be a very fast learner. The elf thoroughly trounced both boys in Street Fighter 2 and had grown quite attached to Zangeif. Harry, Dudley, and Dobby stayed up late into the night taking turns playing through Super Mario World. Technically, Harry was in his forties, but this was the most fun he had ever had with his cousin. Harry fell asleep on the floor to the sounds of Dobby muttering about ice stages.
He woke up the next morning to find he had been tucked into his bed. The smell of freshly cooked bacon drifted through the house. Harry changed into some fresh clothes before making his way to the kitchen. Aunt Petunia was at the stove. A plate piled high with pancakes rested on the counter beside her. Next to it was one with bacon and another with sausage.
Dudley and Vernon weren't down yet. The most surprising thing was the stack of mail waiting for him in the living room. They were neatly sorted into stacks. Maybe he had been a little impulsive taking down all of the wards.
"Good morning, Harry." She gave him a broad smile. "Take a seat, it's just about done."
"I can still help." Harry took his place at the table. "I enjoy cooking."
"That would be wonderful, dear." Petunia put a plate of pancakes before him. She kissed him on the top of the head before getting back to the stove. "Eat up. We have a long day of shopping ahead of us."
Harry sighed. He knew he needed new clothes, and he looked forward to sleeping in his new bed, but an entire day of shopping sounded tiresome. Out of habit he reached for his coffee cup, only to find it wasn't there. He had taken to drinking it his first year as an auror. Tea was great for a slow release of caffeine, but coffee had that punch he needed to wake up.
"Aunt Petunia?" He turned to look over his shoulder at her.
"Yes, dear?" She asked.
"Is there coffee?" He asked.
"Coffee?" Petunia blinked. "They let you drink coffee at school?"
"Kind of." Harry chuckled. "Dobby!"
"Yes, Harry Potter?" Dobby popped into being next to him.
Petunia jumped at the sound. Dobby turned to look at his aunt. The little elf's face went hard.
"Dobby is to be doing the cooking." The elf turned back to Harry and waggled a finger at him. "Dobby is a good elf, Dobby be doing the cooking, cleaning, and gardening."
"Thank you, Dobby." Harry said. "I'm more than happy to let you take care of the cleaning, but I enjoy cooking and gardening. Plus, we're in a muggle neighborhood, we can't have people seeing."
"I'm sorry, Dobby." Petunia spoke up. "I didn't realize you wanted to cook. If you would like, you could handle dinner tonight."
"We're going to have a lot of bags from shopping to bring in and sort later." Harry added. "I saw how good of a job you did with the mail."
This seemed to mollify the elf. Dobby nodded. "Dobby sorted them by name, removed the charms and curses, and gave Mistress Hedwig plenty of water and treats."
"You are an excellent house elf, Dobby. That wasn't why I called you." Harry continued. "Do you think you could make me a pot of coffee?"
"We don't have a coffee maker." Petunia cut in.
Dobby shot her a look. "Dobby will."
The elf disappeared. Vernon came in a moment later. He gave Harry a nod as he sat down. The man had the morning paper tucked under his arm. It was something so small, but it hit Harry deeply. He had countless memories of being yelled at over the morning paper. To go get it, blame for it being wet, missing, or late. His uncle had got it on his own since all the spells and compulsions were removed.
"Once we're done with breakfast, we'll head to the shopping center to get you sorted." Vernon said. "Dudley should be down shortly. Don't mind if he tags along, do you?"
Harry shook his head. "Not at all."
Petunia froze. She opened her mouth to speak but was silenced when a new kettle appeared on the stove. A jar of ground coffee beans rocked into place on the counter next to it. Harry smiled as a freshly poured cup slid into place before him.
"Thank you, Dobby." Harry said.
"That was the… elf?" Vernon asked.
"Yes." Harry nodded. "That isn't what it was about, but I should have mentioned him. Dobby, would you come here for a moment?"
"Harry Potter calls?" Dobby appeared next to him. "Does Harry Potter not like the coffee?"
"It's great, Dobby, thank you." Harry patted the elf on the shoulder. "Dobby, this is my Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon, this is Dobby. He works for me. He's basically a magic butler." He turned to face Dobby. "In the past my family and I have not had the best relationship. We are working to fix that. There were spells and compulsions in place for them to treat me poorly. I'm going to look into setting up protection so it won't happen again, could I have you keep an eye out for any sort of changes?"
"Of course." Dobby nodded his head. "Dobby will protect Harry Potters new family."
"Thank you, Dobby." Harry smiled at him.
Dobby glared at the food on the table, then disappeared.
"That will take some adjustment." Vernon shook his head. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"
"I'm going to setup some wards as protection to prevent others from influencing us again." Harry cut in. "We can't let Dumbledore know we're free of his meddling."
"Isn't he the headmaster of your school?" Dudley asked.
"Yes." Harry nodded. "Unfortunately, moving to a different school would bring too much attention. He would have us all charmed more than ever before to follow his every command. We have to play this safe for now."
"I don't like the idea of having to deal with that bastard at all." Vernon growled.
"Vernon, language." Petunia gasped.
"I don't either." Harry admitted. "Right now, he's too powerful. He holds a high office in the British Magical Government, as well as the international one too. There are quite a few people who don't even think to question him. He has people loyal to him installed in the government, law enforcement, and those among the general populous."
"How does one man hold so much power?" Vernon asked.
"People think he killed the magical equivalent of Hitler." Harry said.
"Did he?" Dudley asked.
"Kill? No. But he did capture him." Harry said. "What people don't know is that they were partners, romantically as well, and that Dumbledore only took action because their side was losing."
"They're side?" Petunia asked.
"He has made sure no one alive knows of his involvement." Harry continued. "Dumbledore has carefully crafted the story of his greatness. Don't get me wrong, he is a powerful wizard. The way he constructed the wards around this house, and the spells he used on me, were masterful. It would take years for me to be able to defeat him in an all-out fight."
"Harry." Petunia grabbed his hand. "You shouldn't have to defeat some powerful wizard."
"We'll be safe here once I get new wards in place." Harry patted her hand.
"Are you sure about setting up new wards?" Petunia asked. "You said you had just started learning about the protection magic."
"My professor says that I'm a natural." Harry lied. "I have books that I can reference as well. If nothing else, I can hire someone to get everything in order."
"Okay." Vernon took a deep breath. "Send the letter once you've got the protection settled. How much will this cost?"
"I'll cover it." Harry said.
"Unacceptable." Vernon cut back. "This is a family expense. Besides, we can use the monthly allowance to pay for it."
"Pardon?" Harry narrowed his eyes at his uncle.
"Ever since you were dropped on our door." Vernon said. "Ten thousand pounds a month."
He had been dressed in rags, given scraps, and forced to sleep in a bed that wasn't fit for an animal, and they were getting thousands of pounds a month. His magic flared, causing the dishes on the table to float. Harry had to take a series of deep breathes to calm himself. He concentrated on lowering the plates slowly.
Petunia and Vernon shared a long look. The woman moved faster than Harry had thought possible. Petunia picked him up from the chair and pulled him into a bearhug. He could feel hot tears dropping onto the top of his head.
Harry froze. He had been hugged more times in the last twenty-four hours than he had in the first twelve years of his life. Harry was still adjusting to the sudden hugs from Petunia, but this was too much for his brain to process. She was a lot stronger than he had expected.
"Let's all of us have breakfast, then we can head in to do some shopping." Harry said.
Harry wasn't sure if he had ever regretted his words as much. A quick trip for some new clothes and bedding turned into an all-day event. Petunia insisted on getting him multiple outfits for every season. She seemed to get more affectionate as the day went on. Harry had to clean her lipstick off his cheeks more than once. Dudley then made sure he had the right sort of 'real' clothes. Even Vernon helped him get a couple of business formal type outfits.
It got even worse when they moved on to the bedding. Harry was happy with updating to some simple colors, he stuck to gold and red. Petunia was all too happy to oblige. She picked out sheets, blankets, comforters, pillowcases, and new pillows. Dudley dragged him into a couple of different sports shops for some posters, then a comic store for some more. When he realized Harry had only read the occasional discarded issue, it turned into an hour-long dive into various comics. Vernon, as it turned out, was an avid reader. He pulled Harry into a bookstore, and they came out with a stack that would make Hermione drool.
They made it home around dinner time to find a large meal waiting for them. Dobby had pulled out all the stops for his first night cooking for them. The elf packed away the new clothes and made the bed while they ate. Harry was too tired to think by the time he fell into his new bed.