Preparing for Separation

So from the back seat of his father's car Dudley waved good-bye to Harry, grinning because to his mind he was once again receiving a treat Harry was to have no part of and completely unaware his parents were about to break the law in a major way. After all, in his mind his parents were taking him on a fabulous vacation to Disneyland where he'd have a great time and buy lots of souvenirs and other junk. Although he'd miss his crew and all the fun things they planned to do this summer, being able to rub it in Harry's face that his folks had taken him on a summer long vacation was worth giving up his crew for a few months.

Dudley loved getting things Harry didn't get and he loved rubbing said things in his cousins face. He still had no idea his family would never again return to England if they had any say in it. For them, the bloom had gone off the English Rose permanently. Nor did he have any idea he'd never see his cousin or his crew again in order to brag about his wonderful holiday and alone time with his parents. And he'd be furious if he realized all the things his family was leaving behind now belonged lock, stock and barrel to Harry.

That Harry would be using his computer and gaming consoles whenever he wanted and watching his movies on his telly. Reading his books and playing with his toys. Not that Harry really played with toys any more. He'd long ago outgrown that need. But Dudley didn't know that. He alone didn't realize the truth of this trip. All he knew was he was due to have a very special summer alone with his parents who loved him and only him.

He also had no idea his standard of living was about to take a major nose dive since his parents would now have to pay either a mortgage or rent for their accommodations, something they'd not had to do since the morning his Mum woke to find Harry on the doorstep, and would no longer receive a stipend check from the Potter accounts. After all, they'd no longer be housing, feeding and clothing the Potter heir so they were no longer entitled to it. Their last such check had come at the beginning of July, which Harry had let them keep and it had been put towards the expense of this move. Nor did Vernon have such a well paying job anymore since he'd had to resign from his manager's position to move away at all. He and Petunia both knew they couldn't afford for Vernon to keep a position with the company even if another place in a distant branch had been offered to him.

By August 30th, Harry had made his decision. He knew there was only a small chance he would ever again be allowed to return to Privet Drive once he left the house. But if he failed to show up at Hogwarts, the chances of returning were nil. Only if he went to Hogwarts could he hope to convince Dumbledore and everyone else nothing had changed in the muggle world for him.

Besides, he had one more school year to go before he could sit for his Owl Exams. He just knew there was no way he'd be allowed to retain his wand rights if he didn't sit and pass enough of his Owls. Neither the Minister nor Dumbledore would allow it simply because both of them saw Harry as a threat to their power and popularity. Dumbledore had been trying, openly and unsuccessfully, to gain power over Harry for four years now. Not taking or passing those exams would definitely give him the leverage he was looking for. The same was true for the current Minister. He too could use Harry's failure to sit his exams as a reason to grab Harry and place him under his authority. And finally, even though he didn't like his relatives, they deserved as much time as he could give them to get as far from Britain as possible. Because they were under threat. That was best achieved by returning to Hogwarts School of Animosity and Death Traps. He had survived four years there. He could survive one more.

So he packed his trunk and told Hedwig, who had found him once he returned to his kin's place and spent the summer with him, to make herself scarce for the school year. Sadly, he informed her there was no one he'd need to contact while he was at the school and being there only placed her in danger. So he'd prefer it if she was somewhere safe while he went there. He explained to her that she'd have to take very good care of herself now since she was his very last connection with the material world. "If anything happens to you, Hedwig, I won't fight my death any more. You're the only thing I have left. If I lose you. . . So you have to stay safe if you want me to live." He knew it wasn't fair to place the burden of his life on her but it was nothing more than the truth and he'd never lied to his pet. She'd hooted sadly and rubbed her head on his cheek trying to comfort and reassure him.

Then he cleaned her cage and took it out to the shed where she could use it as a safe haven if she needed it. The shed had a vent hole in the roof that was big enough for her to fly in and out. He'd placed a spell on it that prevented the weather from getting inside the building through it but that would allow her to come and go without a problem.

And her cage had an automatic warming/cooling charm on it so no matter what the climate was outside, she'd be perfectly comfortable in her cage. He placed her cage and food supply where she could get at them for when the hunting was bad. He'd also left a narrow hose dripping water into a shallow basin so she'd have access to fresh water while he was away. A specially designed box from the pet shop in Diagon Alley would let her have a treat once a week and he'd made certain it was working correctly and fully stocked so she wouldn't run out. The box gave her a selection of treats to choose from like a vending machine offered choices to people in the muggle world.

The shed definitely wasn't an owlery but it was the closest he could come to one so it would have to do. It wouldn't be as warm a nesting place as she was used to either but it was shelter and they both knew she couldn't return to Hogwarts with him. They both knew why. She knew as well as he did someone had tried to kill her the last time she'd been at his school. Hedwig was his last remaining tie to anything mortal and neither wanted to see that tie cut or used against him to force him to behave in a manner he didn't wish to. After situating her things in the shed, Harry went to bed knowing he was in for a long nine months of worry and stress. And more than likely, pain.

The next morning, August 31st, he rose from his bed which actually was a real single wide bed his Aunt and Uncle had bought for his use while he had been at Hogwarts last year. It had a brand new mattress and box springs as well as bedding in his favorite colors. In fact, they'd completely changed things in the house, redoing and giving him the room they had always reserved for Marge to use during her frequent stays.

Gone were the pink frilly curtains and mauve colored bedspread with the rose tinted but badly stained carpet. Now the room was done in cool greens and calming blues showing Petunia at least had paid attention to what Harry liked or didn't like. His favorite Dudley hand-me-down had been a blue and green striped boat neck shirt with a wide floppy collar. On Dudley the close fitting shirt had been short sleeved and barely reached the top of his trousers. But on Harry it was always baggy and comfortable. The sleeves reached his elbows and it was long enough to tuck into his trousers waistband.

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