Dudley, unlike his parents, had used the school year to regain his previous point of view about life and his place in it. He'd been raised to believe every bad thing in his life was the fault of his cousin and that his own standard of living was limited due to his parents being forced to house Harry as well as Dudley. His parents had taught him that his low school performance was due to Harry overshadowing him. All of his personality flaws had always been blamed on Harry and any negative things other adults had said about Dudley or to him, were the fault of Harry telling false tales or showing him up in some manner. Even when he knew for a fact Harry had done no such thing, Dudley had long ago accepted it was, and always would be, Harry's fault when things went wrong for him. Not even having his hand slapped in the Pizzeria had made him realize change had come for his parents. That they no longer saw Harry as the reason for Dudley's failures. Or why bad things happened to the family. For them, Harry was now the victim. A victim they couldn't really help but would no longer blame for things they didn't like in their lives.
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.
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