Petunia Dursley closely observed her nephew upon his return to Privet Drive.
Before Harry's arrival, Sirius Black, supposedly imprisoned, visited with a lawyer licensed in both magical and Muggle worlds. Sirius explained his innocence, proven in the wizarding world, and his role as Harry's guardian, expressing gratitude for the Dursleys' care.
Sirius, once infamous for mass murder, was barely recognized after a decade. Vernon didn't initially connect him to the crime. When the truth emerged, Vernon and Petunia paled. Though Sirius's innocence was magically verified, Muggle media and memories couldn't be erased. If neighbors linked Sirius to the Dursleys, their reputation—and Vernon's company—could collapse. Terrified, they reluctantly welcomed Harry under Sirius's unspoken pressure, warning Dudley to avoid him.
To Petunia, Harry seemed unchanged, obeying her, Vernon, and Dudley without protest, mirroring the Dursleys' past "normal." Yet, she sensed mockery and disdain in his gaze, unnerving her despite his compliance.
He wasn't like this.
Petunia's sister, Lily, returned from Hogwarts corrupted by magic, speaking strange words and carrying frogs. Harry seemed "normal" by comparison, avoiding overt wizardry except for nighttime noises. But he no longer saw the Dursleys as family, his eyes cold and distant, unlike Lily's husband or Sirius.
What happened at Hogwarts?
Petunia burned to know but couldn't ask, her pride rejecting the magical world.
She feared Harry, seeing him as an unknowable monster.
Harry endured life at the Dursleys. Given a bedroom instead of the cupboard, his belongings—except Asclepius and his food—were locked away. At Hogwarts, he had warmth and friends; here, he was a pariah. The Dursleys weren't his family.
A week passed without replies to letters sent to six friends—Zabini, Bloom, Farkas, Ron, Hermione, Draco. Harry assumed his borrowed owl was overwhelmed, but after two weeks, doubt crept in.
They called me their friend…
Anger flared, then self-loathing for doubting them. He weeded the garden mindlessly, venting to Asclepius.
"You're my only friend, Asc."
"Not true. That Farkas gave me a mouse," the snake hissed.
Nightly, Harry confided in Asclepius, who began to grasp the importance of friends over mates. Harry cherished the snake, keeping its case pristine.
Sirius's silence after three days—unlike his usual prompt replies—alarmed Harry. He longed for Diagon Alley, where he could check on his owl or meet Ron's family. But a child couldn't travel alone, and Vernon would never allow it. Petunia burdened Harry with chores—cleaning, cooking, gardening. Dudley's taunts about his friends' silence stung worst. Harry coped by inwardly scorning Dudley as an ignorant Muggle, resisting the urge to threaten him with fake magic.
What did I learn at Hogwarts?
Why waste time on chores for Muggles who despised magic? He could show them its wonders—sponges that erased grease, car-polishing charms—if they freed his textbooks. He needed to study, to reclaim fading magical knowledge, to surpass Dumbledore and defeat Voldemort.
I'll visit Diagon Alley, check the owl post, and learn why they're silent.
Harry rushed through chores and approached Vernon. "Uncle Vernon, I want to buy Dudley a birthday gift. My money's in the wizard bank. Can you take me?"
"What're you scheming, boy?" Vernon glared.
Harry forced a smile. "I learned a lot at that silly school. I just want to make up with Dudley after our fight."
"I'll still do all my chores. Please."
Harry bowed, inwardly cursing Vernon. Petunia intervened. "Vernon, Black might cause trouble if we refuse."
Grudgingly, Vernon agreed, driving to Diagon Alley's entrance with Petunia accompanying Harry. No warmth passed between them, deepening Harry's belief that wizards and Muggles couldn't coexist.
En route, Vernon struggled with poorly maintained roads. Stranger still, they looped back to roads already passed, as if rewound by magic. Harry noticed.
"Uncle Vernon, let me out."
"I'll go alone."
"Quiet, boy!" Vernon snapped, insisting on driving. He ignored the magical interference, while Petunia and Dudley stayed silent, fearing him.
Looking out, Harry saw a ragged creature in tattered cloth, like a filthy dwarf, casting magic on the car. It reminded him of Quirrell's wandless spells. If Harry knew movies, he might've thought of E.T.
"Dad! An alien!" Dudley shrieked, spotting it.
"Don't go near it, Dudley!" Petunia cried.
Harry scoffed inwardly. Clearly a magical creature.
Having met noble beings like Firenze, Harry hoped for reason but felt vulnerable without his wand. Vernon, terrified, stayed in the car.
"I'll talk to it," Harry said.
"Stop, you—!" Vernon roared.
Ignoring him, Harry approached. "Hello. Who are you?"
Unsure if it spoke English—magical creatures often had unique tongues, like Parseltongue or troll speech—Harry braced for failure.
"H-Harry Potter! I'm Dobby, a lowly house-elf! Honored to meet you!" The creature sobbed with joy.
Harry, baffled, recalled no such reaction entering the wizarding world. "Let's sit and talk?"
"Sit?! Never! No wizard ever offered Dobby such kindness!" Dobby wailed.
What is this creature?
"You haven't met polite wizards, have you?" Harry said, pitying Dobby's tattered state. "I've had bad Muggles too. I get it. Tell me what's wrong. I'll listen."
Harry guessed Dobby was a house-elf, bound to a wizard family, likely mistreated. But why target the Dursleys?
Dobby nodded, then suddenly bashed his head on the pavement, crying, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
Horrified, Harry stopped him, wiping blood with his sleeve, lacking a wand or handkerchief. Dobby revealed serving a noble wizard family but acting alone to save Harry.
"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts!" Dobby pleaded, warning of a danger distinct from Voldemort.
Furious, Harry demanded, "You stopped my friends' letters? Give them back!"
Dobby held letters from all six—Zabini's scrawl, Draco's and Hermione's neat script, Farkas's messy hand, Ron's and Azrael's plain writing. Harry recognized them all, except Draco's.
Dobby refused, levitating and shattering a bench before vanishing.
"Come back, Dobby!" Harry shouted. "If you care about me, don't take my friends!"
His path to the wizarding world was blocked. Vernon sped home, locked Harry's wand and books in the cupboard, and confined Harry with Asclepius. A Ministry warning arrived: one more magical infraction, and Harry would lose his wand and Hogwarts.
Parents sense their kids' thoughts from subtle cues, don't they? The Dursleys know but abuse anyway.
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