If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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9 June 1992, King's Cross Train Station
Harry looked back towards the families exiting the platform. He didn't want to cause a scene here. The last time he spoke to the Dursleys, he had made it abundantly clear that he did not want anything to do with them again.
Choosing not to confront the man in public, he followed him to his car and was readying a small speech to give him a piece of his mind.
When he stopped by the man's car, his eyes widened when he saw his aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley in the car. The boy had lost some weight, Harry noticed, which was good for the formerly obese boy. Oh, he was still overweight, but he didn't look like a blonde potato, so that was a good thing. It seemed like his frankly childish rant when he left had rattled them enough to make a few changes. Even if he had made sure that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with them.
Harry looked around to see if anyone was looking at them. From what he understood of the trace, he was in the clear if he wanted to use any magic. There were too many magical parents that would come pick up their children. The ministry probably had a few obliviators on standby in case something happened. That meant that Vernon literally held no leverage over him whatsoever.
The Hogwarts Express was made just for the trip to Hogwarts, nothing more. It was built to facilitate muggleborn from going to Hogwarts. It was made around two centuries back to replace the endless portkeys that had to be enchanted for every student to have. It was better to overwork a few obliviators a few days a year, then arrange for hundreds of Portkeys to be mailed to students and deposit them back to Hogsmeade. Outside of the trips to the school, the Hogwarts Express was unused, and thus, King's Cross wasn't really a common place for wizards to be, especially not to use their magic. But that didn't really matter now. Harry could use his magic as if he was in Diagon Alley. The ministry wouldn't really notice anything odd in such an area concentrated with wizards and witches.
Harry again made sure that no one could see him and just stood still in front of the car, refusing to get inside. The obese muggle started to look like he was slowly getting enraged. His eyes were reddening, and so was his face in general, for that matter. He practically snarled at Harry, "Well, hurry up, boy. We haven't got all day."
The Potter scion ignored him entirely, "What are you doing here?"
The man moved in a threatening manner towards Harry, who simply raised his wand. At the sight of the magical stick, Vernon practically wilted away. Petunia paled in fear, and Dudley honestly looked confused. Had they not told him about his magic?
Choosing to ignore the comical image of a man five times his size flinching away from him, Harry spoke once more, "I asked you what you're doing here."
"What do you think we're doing here? We're here to pick you up, boy," Petunia snarled back, "I got a letter from that freak school of yours with the time to come pick you up."
"Yes, and we also agreed that it was time for us to go our separate ways. I live my life and you live yours. Isn't that what you always wanted? To get rid of the freak that your dead sister saddled you with. To get rid of the last connection you had to her world which you loathe with all your heart." Harry answered.
"Yes, and we left you alone last Summer. You didn't say anything about it being a permanent thing…" his aunt retorted.
Harry stiffened, doing his best to recollect exactly what their conversation was about. It was so long ago, but by the end, he just remembered feeling free of them. During his stay in Hogwarts, he had made plans to stay by himself during the summer. There was a small voice in his head reminding him about how safe it would be to be with them. It was what the Harry in the stories did, after all.
He shook his head and removed this thought. His confrontation with Quirrell had shown him that following the stories was not always a good idea. No, this was real life, and he wasn't going to follow some sort of silly script and let it dictate his life. Harry loved his new life, he loved his friends, but most of all, he loved using magic. He wasn't about to risk not practising magic for the sake of a story in another life.
Maybe he didn't specify that he wasn't going to leave the Dursleys permanently. But right now, he didn't care. He wasn't going back to Privet Drive. He wasn't going to leave his magic for their sake.
The Potter scion gave a good look at his aunt and spoke up, "Alright, then let's make it permanent then. I won't come back with you, and that's it."
"You what?!!" the woman screeched.
Again, Harry raised an eyebrow at the woman's voice. He really hadn't missed her voice, which is what he imagine a Harpy sounded like. He had been forced to suffer this voice for years, and he had spent almost twelve blissful months without it.
"Look, I know you tend to be emotional, but please don't make a scene in the middle of London," Harry calmly retorted.
"So, that's it, you're moving out?" Vernon spoke up with obvious glee on his face.
"Yes, I am. I can take care of myself, and you won't have to suffer my existence anymore. It sounds like a good compromise, right?"
Petunia looked like she wanted to protest but Vernon answered for her, "A very good compromise, yes."
"Well, of course, there's the legal side of things," Harry remarked, making them stiffen.
"Legal side?" Petunia repeated blankly.
"Officially, I will still be living with you. At least, as far as the government is concerned. It's not really a bother, but things like the letter you got from my school and the like will be sent to your home occasionally. Every month during my summer break, I will come to see you in case you got any documents I might need. It will barely take two minutes of your time, three times a year. Other than that, we'll essentially be strangers. What do you think?"
Harry didn't really need to do this, and it was likely that it would be for nothing. He was still a ward of the ministry in magical matters, but Petunia getting a letter from Hogwarts showed that the Dursleys weren't entirely separated from him. It was better to visit them three times a year than just accidentally miss an important document that was sent their way. He couldn't risk the ministry looking too deeply into his home life and messing his nice little system up.
Again, Petunia wanted to protest, but Vernon spoke up for her, "It sounds like a small price to pay for peace, boy. Come on, Tuney, we're going home."
"No!" the woman exclaimed, "you're supposed to be Lily's boy, not this thing… You're not supposed to leave. You should stay with us."
"And do what exactly?" Harry protested, "I love magic. I am magic. And no matter how much you would like to have your nephew with you, I know that you hate magic more. I saw it when I took out my wand. I saw your fear, your hatred, your bitterness. Stop being attached to the past, to a sister that you hated, and move on with your life. We're too different to live together without both of us being miserable. Let me go back to my magic and I will let you go back to the normalcy you crave. Goodbye Aunt Petunia, I'll see you in a month."
Harry turned and left his relatives near their car. He didn't look back. The Dursleys were his past, but they were not his future. He wasn't going to tie himself to some script anymore. Staying at the Dursleys would make them all miserable. It was better the rip the bandage now and make boundaries clear than to stay in Privet Drive out of some misguided flimsy blood ties.
Harry took one quick trip to the bathroom, and he took off his clothes after locking himself in a stall. He took out a small vial of potion from his school bag and drank it in one gulp. He suppressed the urge to gag at the taste. Still, Harry's form started to slowly grow until he looked like a man with his familiar messy hair and green eyes.
He had drunk an ageing potion. Harry had stocked up on them over the school year, purchasing one every week or so. He had enough to last him the Summer.
The Potter scion opened his bag and took out the large outfit that he had owl ordered months back, and by the end, he looked like a dashing wizard, with a suitcase. With that done, he went out to the street and waved his wand in the manner described by the book he had read.
There was a deafening BANG, and Harry blinked to shield his eyes from the sudden bright light. When he opened them, he saw that a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt exactly in front of him. They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelt The Knight Bus.
Yeah, it wouldn't be his most preferred method of transportation, but there wasn't a floo in King's Cross, and he didn't have any other choice. He didn't have any muggle money to get a normal cab, so that was his only choice.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a conductor in a purple uniform, who leapt out of the bus and started to speak loudly, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening. Where would you like to go?"
Harry tried to look as unfazed as ever, "Diagon Alley, please."
"A short trip, then," Stan remarked, "that would be five sickles for the trip. You could get a chocolate, a bottle of water, and a toothbrush in the colour of your choice if you upgrade for just four sickles more."
Harry shook his head and took out five sickles from his gold pouch, "the standard ticket is fine, thank you."
"You loss," the conductor remarked. He then helped Harry lift his trunk with Hedwig's cage balanced on top, up the steps of the bus.
The man pointed at a seat and said, "This is your seat. Over there is the driver, Ernie Prang. Try not to disturb him if you can," he then yelled at the driver, "Take her away, Ern."
There was another tremendous BANG and the next moment Harry found himself glued to his seat, thrown backwards by the speed of the Knight Bus. Harry stared out of the window and saw that they were now bowling along a completely different street.
And so, the bus kept going and stopping, dropping one passenger after another. Honestly, Harry was starting to get motion sick. The total trip was probably around fifteen minutes, but they felt like hours. Honestly, if he wasn't riding the damn thing, he would have been fascinated by the enchantments used to make this marvellous piece of magic. There had to be some spacial magic and a way to accelerate on a ludicrous level. But alas, he was doing his best not hurl to care about any of it.
He almost cried in relief when Stan started to yell at Harry, "Hey, you. We'll be in Diagon Alley soon. Get ready!"
Finally, Ern slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby-looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay the magical entrance to Diagon Alley.
"Thanks," Harry said to the driver.
He jumped down the steps and helped Stan lower his trunk and Hedwig's cage onto the pavement. He then looked at the familiar inn and took a deep breath. Yeah, he had a feeling that this was going to be his favourite summer yet.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.