For Harry, the years until his 11th birthday had seemed to drag on, but he was almost there. Just another month and he would be able to get his letter from Hogwarts. Today he had to go to the zoo with Dudley and his gang, before he could take off and hide from his relatives by going to Potter Manor. He had learned years ago that if he disappeared for more than a couple hours he would get in as much trouble as he would for using magic.
Blue and Grandpa Charlus both had continued over the years to try and convince the boy to move into the Manor full time. Harry had eventually “agreed” to move in after he got his letter from Hogwarts. No one would need to know where he lived after that letter was received so he could move into the Manor without any other issues. He had only seen Albus once outside the house since that first week after he came back. Harry had Blue check was Albus did, and found out that he had put some low level wards around the house to confound any wizard who came nearby. For some reason Albus thought that was enough to protect the boy who lived, why did Harry ever look up to that man?
Harry was excited to go to the zoo, he wondered if could trap Dudley behind the glass again this time around and not get in trouble for it? That would make this the best day ever in this timeline. Harry sat patiently in the car while being picked on by Dudley and his friends. It wasn’t nearly as bad this time around because Petunia and Vernon didn’t beat him as much which meant that Dudley hadn’t learned to be as big of a prat as he was in the previous timeline.
After a rather uneventful tour of the zoo they finally made it to the snake exhibit. Harry went over to talk to the snakes while his cousin was distracted. Harry told the snakes that he was sorry they were trapped behind the glass. The snakes were quite friendly until Dudley pushed Harry out of the way to see how he made the snake stand up. Crap Harry thought, this is just like last time, and now he wouldn’t be able to trap Dudley behind the glass because everyone was looking his way…again. Sometimes Harry felt like he was doomed to repeat the same mistakes. The good news was that after the small incident, his relatives didn’t think it had to do with magic and let the incident go. Now he only had to wait a month until his 11th birthday. Now all Harry had to do was make sure that he got his letter to Hogwarts without his relatives finding out. He would like to avoid the incident from his previous lifetime, although seeing Dudley with a pig tail was pretty funny.
“Blue can you come here for a minute”
“Yes Master Harry”
“When my Hogwarts letter arrives can you make sure my relatives do not see it? Can you take it from the owl for me so it doesn’t turn into a big incident?”
“Of course Master Harry, I will be waiting here for the Owl to make sure there is no issue.”
“Thank you Blue, you are the best House Elf a boy could ask for”
Blue smiled and disapparted, he didn’t want to let his young master down. He would make sure a house elf was nearby at all times to make sure there was no issue retrieving the letter.
On July 24th, Blue was able to retrieve the letter and respond without Petunia or Vernon realizing what was going on.
Harry already knew what the letter said so he wasn't even worried about reading it. Blue could handle it.
Harry woke up on the morning of his 11th Birthday quite happy, knowing today was the day he would receive his letter. Harry was shocked to see a small rectangular box on his night stand when he returned to his room. To Harry From Gabriel Use it well. Harry smirked at that knowing what he would find in the box, a beautiful 11 inch yew wand with a threstral hair core. The wand was definitely a perfect match for the elder wand. In the box was also a wand holder that was invisible when strapped onto your arm, a great secret weapon for the young Harry Potter. Harry knew that his relatives would not celebrate his birthday, so he wasn’t shocked when they asked him to make breakfast and dinner as usual. Harry was excited to go back to Potter Manor for a real birthday like had celebrated the last few years.
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Upon arrival, most of the paintings inhabitants were in the entry hall ready to wish Harry a Happy Birthday. The house elves were also present and ready with a big birthday cake. “Thank you all for helping me celebrate my birthday, it’s nice to know I have family that loves me.”
Grandpa Charlus was sad that this was all the family that Harry had, and he was upset that Harry was still living with his muggle relatives but he knew the boy needed to interact with other people even if they were some of the worst people around. “Harry, we have been thinking about how to trick you Aunt and Uncle into letting you go to Hogwarts and we think we have found a solution if you are willing to go with it.”
“What is the solution Grandpa Charlus?”
“What if we sent a muggle letter to your guardians that stated you have earned a scholarship to a muggle school that will be free of charge for them? The letter will say it’s a year-round boarding school and they will have the option to let you come home for holidays or not. That way they could feel like they didn’t have to take care of you anymore?”
“How would I explain that I got entered for the scholarship?”
“There are few options, you could tell them you entered it so they wouldn’t be forced to take care of you anymore. Or you could always use a slight compulsion charm for them to agree to send you. Or both. We think this would be the simplest option to get you out of the household from now on.”
“ I agree Grandpa, that probably is the best option. Blue can you handle conjuring a muggle envelope and letter for me?”
“Master Harry we has already taken care of it, please checks it before we send it to them”
“This will work perfectly, this is the best birthday gift so far” (not including the wand no one knew about).
The next day when the mail arrived. Vernon yelled “BOY GET IN HERE, WHAT IS THIS LETTER ABOUT GOING TO A SPECIAL SCHOOL FAR AWAR? THIS ISN’T RELATED TO YOUR FREAKISHNESS IS IT? YOU BETTER GIVE ME AN ANSWER BOY!”
Harry flinched because it had been so long since he was yelled at like that.
“Uncle Vernon I saw an application to go to a military school in Scotland that would help train me into a young man you could be proud of. On my application I stated I was an orphan that had family looking after me. I requested financial assistance so that you would not feel obligated to take care of me any longer”
All the while Harry was casting a mild compulsion spell behind his back. One useful thing about having future knowledge was that it made it possible to cast spells silently, or in this case while talking about something else.
Vernon sat there for a moment very intrigued about the option of getting rid of the boy, but then he would have to start doing the yard work himself. Plus the boy was a better cook than Petunia at this point. Harry could see the conflict in his Uncles eyes and decided to cast a compulsion spell on his Aunt. “Vernon what are you waiting on, sign the paper already! Boy when would you be leaving?”
“I could leave next week if that is what you want Aunt Petunia”
“Yes, Vernon sign the paper, where do we have to drop you off at?”
“Don’t worry Aunty I can walk to the bus stop myself, if I could have 5 pounds to take the bus it would be appreciated”
Petunia ran to her purse to get the money. Vernon started grumbling about having to train Dudley to help around the house some while he signed the paperwork.
All Harry could think about was that he kept his relatives and Dumbledore in the dark about what was going on. Now he could move into his family house full time with no one knowing the truth. Harry knew that he only had to keep this charade up until he was emancipated during the Triwizard tournament, which should be possible for him.
The next week Harry left his relatives house with his school backpack and that’s it. Harry walked a couple hundred feet down the road where Blue was waiting to take him away.
“Master Harry sir, please come over here and we cans leave”
“Thank you Blue, please take us to the Manor”
“No problem Master Harry”