Chapter 099

"Princess," called her father. "Please let the boy up."

Hermione laid there for a few moments more before she softly cried, "Okay."

As she climbed up, while looking away at the wall, Harry just laid there.

When she found her feet and while still not looking at anyone she quickly ran from the room.

Monica gave a sigh and quickly swallowed the last mouthful on her plate before she used her napkin to dab at her mouth. "Excuse me," she quietly said. "Delicious meal, Harry." Then rose to her feet and left the room, chasing after her daughter.

Wendell looked up, dropped his elbows off the table and, after a glance at Harry, returned to finishing his dessert.

"She hugs really hard," Harry quietly said as he began to climb to his own feet.

Righting his chair, he looked about and asked, "Where'd she go? And Monica?"

When it didn't look like Wendell was going to answer, Auror Standish replied, "The ladies have just gone to talk for a bit, My Lord. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Oh," he replied, sitting back upon his chair again. "Well, I hope they at least liked dinner."

"Harry," said Wendell, cleaning his plate. "I know they liked it. I can tell you for myself it was one of the finest meals I've ever had the pleasure of eating."

Harry blushed, looked away and quietly said, "Thank you. I'm glad you liked it."

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" asked Standish.

"I had to... I cooked for my relatives all the time while at the Dursleys," he replied. "It was the one chore I enjoyed doing."

Wendell heard the aborted response and it twinged his child abuse sensors. Looking more directly at the boy he asked, "You must have spent quite some time doing it to get that good. How long have you been cooking for?"

Harry shrugged a little too nonchalantly, Wendell thought, before the boy replied, "For almost as long as I can remember. Petunia taught me the basics, gave me a stack of cookbooks and, once she could trust me not to set the house on fire, told me to get on with it."

After finishing his plate and noticing Dobby had already banished everything else to the kitchen, he said, "I'd better go and make sure Dobby has eaten and isn't working too hard in the kitchen."

Dabbing his own lips with a napkin, he softly said, "Excuse me," rose and left for the kitchen.

Just as the aurors were about to rise as Harry walked out, Wendell gestured with his hand for them to stay sitting. They did.

When he knew Harry was far enough out of earshot, he turned to them and asked, "These Dursley relatives of his. Tell me something has been or is being done about them. I'm trained in looking for cases of child abuse and it's not hard to tell that boy has been abused."

"They faced trial a couple of days ago," replied Standish. "What they did to him I won't repeat. However, the only reason they weren't sent to prison on the spot amounts to a number of reasons. First; Albus Dumbledore dumped Lord Potter on them as an infant and didn't give them any opportunity to refuse. Second; the magics Dumbledore set up on the property to protect Lord Potter rendered Petunia Dursley sterile. Third; it appears he cast extra magics on them so they couldn't return Lord Potter back to magical world. And, each time they found a way to get him out of the house, Dumbledore would turn up and put the child back. Fourth; he pointed out to the members how, since they breached the law in allowing Dumbledore to even take him, the members themselves were partly responsible for what befell him under their so-called dubious care. And, fifth; Lord Potter begged the Wizengamot to allow them to go home, put a stop to Dumbledore's actions and put up protections from wizards and witches, including him, on their property so Dumbledore cannot put him back there, or even go himself. He also reminded the Members of the Wizengamot that the Dursleys are the last blood family he has left.

"Actually, that last was really the only reason. As Lord Potter said, politics plays a major role in the judicial process. Because it was he who practically demanded it, they accepted it. Everyone now feels they owe him a great deal so, since he didn't want them gaoled, they weren't.

"He also said that, now he's of-age, he cannot be forced back into their... care... ever again. He reminded them that, because magic had taken any chance Petunia Dursley could have another child, that was a pretty significant punishment. And, as he was the only one they hurt, his request held a lot of sway with the Members, who were all feeling quite guilty. They agreed with his demand and 'sentenced' them to that."

Scowling a little, Wendell said, "It shouldn't have mattered. It was child abuse; they should have been gaoled."

The auror could not disagree and, instead, chose to remain silent.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

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When Harry entered the kitchen it was to find it spotless. "Dobby!" he called.

The little elf immediately popped in and asked, "Yes, Master Harry?"

"Did you do all the dishes, Dobby?"

"Of course, Master Harry," replied the elf.

Harry sighed and said, "You didn't have to do that, Dobs. I came in to the kitchen to do them, myself."

Dobby again crossed his arms and looked sternly back. "Master Harry Potter, Sir, already tooks Dobby's cooking work. Master Harry Potter, Sir, not be taking Dobby's dishes work, too!"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Fiiiiiiine. I didn't like doing the dishes, anyway."

Looking around he said, "Well, it looks like everything's done. I think I'll just start on the tea."

"Dobby already be makings the tea," replied the elf. "Dobby tooks tea up for Master Harry Potter, Sir's, Miss Grangy and Master Harry Potter, Sir's, Miss Grangy's Doctor-Mum. Dobby abouts to take tea for Master Harry Potter, Sir's, Miss Grangy's Doctor-Dad and Master Harry Potter, Sir's, auror bodyguards."

Harry screwed his eyes together and had to massage his brow while thinking that lot out. "You know," he said. "Calling them all that is going to get very confusing, very fast."

Thinking a bit he said, "Alright, Dobby; new orders. The names you're giving everyone is simply too confusing for me. For the time being you will address Hermione Granger as Miss Granger, you will address Hermione's dad as Mister Granger, you will address Hermione's mum as Missus Granger and you will address the aurors as simply 'Auror'. If you know their surname you may append that to the title 'Auror'. Got all that?"

"Yes, Master Harry, Sir," replied Dobby.

"Now, tea for myself," he sighed.

"Master Harry Potter, Sir's, tea will be on the dinings table when Master Harry Potter, Sirs, gets back there."

Flinging his hands up in exasperation Harry walked out and back to the dining room. When he got back it was to find the two aurors gone, but Wendell still sitting at the end of the table. There was a fresh cup of tea before him and another before where Harry sat. Between them was a small pitcher of milk and a sugar bowl.

Harry returned to his seat, sat down and made himself a cup of tea just as he liked it - a dash of milk and two sugars.

"That was quick," said Wendell.

"That sawn-off little munchkin of a house elf of mine beat me to it," he grumbled. "Then he up and told me off for 'trying to take his work' off him."

Wendell looked at him in amusement for a few minutes and asked, "You like to do the dishes?"

"No," he grumbled back. "But, I got them dirty, I should clean them up."

"No, Harry," disagreed Wendell. "In this house we share the chores. For a start, if you cook, you never do the dishes. On top of that, while it was very nice of you to cook dinner, you're a guest here. You don't have chores.

"Now, if you truly enjoy cooking, then I'll talk to Monica about it and, if she agrees, you can continue to occasionally do so. However, it's not something you need to worry about. Alright?"

Harry nodded back and said, "Yes, Sir... Wendell."

"Good. I'm glad we got that out of the way. Next point; we're very happy to have you here as a guest. You have done so much for this family just by being a good friend to our daughter. You may not know this, but Hermione didn't have any good friends before she met you."

When Harry looked confused by that, he added, "It's true. Anyone her age she tried to make friends with only ever thought of her as someone to do their homework for them, someone who made them feel stupid because she comes across as too smart, or thought her too bossy.

"Before we met you we thought you might have fallen into one of those categories. That red haired friend of yours certainly does. However, it's clear you do not."

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