Payback Can Be A Bitch

Harry knew that he had left everyone in the Leaky Cauldron stunned into immobility by his exit, so he quickly took advantage of the few minutes head start it gave him. He only gave the Ministry car and its driver a quick glance. He definitely wasn't taking any method of transport arranged by that meddling old fool. Aside from the fact that he was in no mood to be gawped at by some idiot wizard who now thought of him as a saviour again instead of the next Dark Lord in training, he had no real desire to spend any more time with Dumbledork who would no doubt try and convince him that he should forgive everyone for their mistakes and get over the fact that they falsely imprisoned him. That would happen, he thought to himself, when Hell froze over and Voldemort, Dumbledork and Fudge danced Swan Lake together in pink tutus. He smirked at the thought of the three wizards dancing in a muggle ballet.

Harry briefly debated on whether or not to head to the Dursleys right now and start making their summer enjoyable. If he hadn't lost track of time, then it was still fairly early in the day, which meant that Vernon was probably still at work. That was unless they had decided to take advantage of the fact he wasn't going to be there to take a long holiday. If they had then he would have to revise his plans for making them pay for the last sixteen years of his life with them. Either way since he wanted to make a Grand Entrance, he would have to arrive at Privet Drive this evening.

Decision made, Harry soundlessly disappeared just as Dumbledore and Hermione stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron, only to reappear in an out of the way corner of King's Cross Station. Once there, he reached for the ambient magic around him and used it to prevent Dumbledore or anyone else from being able to track him, using his magical signature.

As soon as he was certain it would continue to hold without him monitoring it, Harry headed out of the station to get something to eat, go shopping, and maybe have a look around London. He'd never really seen it before, given that Vernon and Petunia never took him anywhere unless they had to.

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Harry had just finished buying a number of shirts at a place called 'T-Shirts with Attitude' and checking the time on his new watch, realised it was almost dinner time.

Vernon should be home now.

Ducking into a cafe restroom a few blocks away, Harry soundlessly disappeared then reappeared on the lawn of #4 Privet Drive.

As he took a look around, Harry kind of hoped some of the neighbours were peeking through their curtains and had seen him arrive. He really wanted to destroy the nice comfortable illusion his so-called family had built for themselves. He saw Vernon's car in the driveway, along with the car he remembered Dudley getting from Vernon on his birthday last year. That meant the whole family was home, since Petunia rarely went anywhere without Vernon or Dudley.

The front door was locked, which no real surprise, but it wasn't much of an impediment either. Brushing his fingers across the lock, Harry let his magic manipulate the tumblers. Hearing the lock click, he opened the door and slipped carefully inside, softly closing it behind him. He didn't want the Dursleys knowing he was here... just yet.

A quick glance in the sitting room and the muffled noise of the television and conversation told him they were probably having dinner in the kitchen.

"Petunia! Vernon! Dudley! I'm hoooommmmmeeeee!" Harry shouted in a falsely cheerful voice.

There was the sound of something hitting the floor with a crash. Before Vernon could rush into the hall to try and threaten him, Harry strode into the kitchen and got a surprise of his own. Marge Dursley was sitting at the table, wine glass in hand.

Oh this is going to be fun! Harry mentally rubbed his hands with glee.

Vernon had gotten to his feet, but before he could say anything, Marge who was slightly drunk, spoke up. "What are you doing here, boy? Vernon told me you'd been sent to prison for killing one of those delinquents at that school of yours. Always knew you'd come to a bad end. As I said before, breeding will tell in the end. What can you expect from a drunkard and a slut but a murderer."

At that moment Vernon Dursley was just grateful that looks couldn't kill, not even for his freak of a nephew's kind. The boy's emerald eyes had become chips of green ice in an expressionless face and it seemed as though the temperature in the room was dropping as the boy said in a raspy voice, "Shut up you drunken bitch!"

Unwilling to let this freak insult his sister, Vernon growled. "Now see here boy, you will not speak to my sister like that. You will treat her with respect, or I warn you, you will pay."

Before Harry had a chance to comment on Vernon's threat Marge, who had recovered from her surprise at being yelled at by someone she'd always been able to heap abuse on before, came around the table and jabbed Harry in the chest with her pudgy finger. "I won't shut up, you ungrateful whelp. You were taken into this home out of the goodness of my brother's heart."

Harry snorted at this as he thought, they were saving their own skins.

"Though why he did it is beyond me." Marge continued, not having hearing the snort. "Personally, I think you're a waste of space. Then after all the blessings my brother has given you what do you do, you go and disgrace this family by killing someone and getting sent to prison for it. Vernon should have gotten rid of you the morning they found you on their doorstep."

To Vernon, it was like watching a train wreck about to happen, knowing he couldn't stop it. He remembered very well though Marge didn't, what happened the last time she'd provoked the boy. Vernon should have been relieved that there were no overt signs of magic, such as the lights flickering or things in the kitchen shaking, but he wasn't. The expression on the freak's face didn't bode well for either his family or for Marge. He wanted to intervene, but didn't out of fear of being turned into a toad or something.

It was clear to Vernon that whatever kind of prison those freaks had kept the boy in for killing that other freak, it had changed him. The eyes, he had hated because they were so full of fire and that showed the boy's refusal to break no matter what had been done to him, were now as cold as ice. Vernon shuddered as he looked into them.

"SILENCE!" Harry roared causing Marge to squeak and back up until she hit the table, shoving it back against Dudley, splattering the food on his plate all over him. Harry noticed that that didn't stop him from scarfing down everything he could get his hands on though.

Harry moved closer like a cat stalking its prey. Marge tried to get away from the angry young man. She was beginning to realise that she may have pushed him too far, especially given that he had already killed someone.

Hoping that the boy still had a fear of being expelled from that freakish school of his, Vernon tried to get control of the situation. "How many times have I told you I will not have any of that unnaturalness in my house? You know what will happen if you do anything."

"Nothing will happen to me, Vernon." Harry hissed like a snake, his eyes still on Marge. "They won't expel me for doing magic. You want to know why. Because Dumbledore wants me there."

The cold eyes focused on Vernon as Harry spoke loud enough to be heard by all in the room. "Marge, do you want to know why your precious brother took me into his home and wouldn't get rid of me even though he also felt I was a waste of space? It had nothing to do with kindness. It was to save his own arse and that of his cow of a wife and pig of a son. You see as long as I lived here, they were safe from Voldemort. You remember Voldemort, Vernon, the wizard that killed my parents."

Hearing the word 'wizard' and feeling slightly braver at this indication that the boy was insane, Marge spoke up again. "Wizard?! There's no such thing. Prison must've addled your wits, boy. What few you had."

Marge shrank back as the cold green eyes turned back to her.

"This is your one and only warning Marge Dursley. You will remain silent from this point on, or I assure you, you will regret opening your mouth. You see, magic is real." Never taking his eyes off Marge, Harry waved his hand in the general direction of Petunia and the broken bowl that was still lying at her feet. The bowl quickly reassembled and floated into his outstretched hand.

He continued laying down the law. "While I am here, Marge Dursley, you will keep your opinions to yourself. If I hear one comment from you regarding either me or my parents, I promise you will learn first hand why it is not a good idea to meddle in the affairs of wizards."

He gave Marge a considering look and knowing just how stubborn her brother could be, decided to give her a reminder of just what could happen if he was crossed. "You're probably trying to convince yourself that what I just did was nothing more than a stage magician's parlour trick. Let me show you just how wrong that idea is. I'm going to give you back your real memories of the events that happened in this very house three years ago, so you'll have an idea of what I can do to you."

Snapping his fingers, Harry watched with satisfaction as Marge's face went pasty white before she collapsed onto the kitchen floor.

Seeing his mistress lying on the floor, Ripper raced out to attack the threat to her. He recognized the scent of the new two legs as being one he regularly put in its place at the bottom of the pack when he was here. He growled threateningly at the two legs but instead of being terrified and running as he had before, the two legs raised its paw.

The bulldog quickly noticed that he was rising and his paws scrabbled frantically as they no longer felt solid ground beneath him. When he was at eye level with the strange two legs, he instinctively knew something had changed. This one was no longer the weakest member of the pack. He was now the alpha male. The alpha was speaking and while he couldn't understand all of it, the tone and posture of the new alpha two legs was clear. If he bothered the alpha again, then the wolf he sensed within would rip him to shreds.

Harry was pleased to note the fear on the Dursley's faces as the dog ran out of the room. "Before you and Petunia start trying to threaten and bully me, let's get a few things straight. Then I will tell you how things are going to be around here for the next few weeks."

Harry could tell that his choice of words enraged Vernon and the only thing keeping him quiet... right now, was the occasional glances he gave to his unconscious sister.

"As you can see," Harry waved his hand around, "there are no owls carrying letters threatening me with expulsion. Nor will there be. And the reason there won't be is quite simple. Last night I destroyed Voldemort."

"Surely those abnormal freaks didn't let you out of prison simply because of that." Petunia scoffed. "You did kill some boy at that school of yours after all."

The look Harry gave his aunt, made her squeak and back up behind the kitchen counter. "Did I say you could speak woman?"

Trying once more to regain control of the situation, Vernon said, "Now see here, boy..."

"No! You sit down and shut up!" Harry's expression made it quite clear that he would force them to comply. "You don't have any say over me any longer, Vernon. Nor do you Aunt Petunia. You have both made your feelings about me quite clear over the years. Now it is my turn. I'm going to have my say and I don't want to hear another word out of either of you."

Vernon and Petunia quickly moved to the table and sat down, before he could make good on the implied threat.

"Now to answer your question, Aunt Petunia," Harry began. "I was released from Azkaban when the real killer was found last night. Not so surprisingly, it turned out to be someone who worked in the Minister's Office, which is part of the reason why the Ministry will not do anything to punish me for using magic before I turn seventeen in about two weeks. The Minister doesn't want to get on my bad side."

None of the Dursleys said a word. Even Dudley had stopped eating as he realised what Harry could do to them since he wouldn't be punished for doing magic.

"Now that that's cleared up, it's time to settle a few other matters. I'm going to make this short and sweet so that even a moron like Dudley can understand it."

Petunia started to respond to the criticism of her son, whom she considered the brightest boy in the world, but one look at her nephew's face convinced her not to open her mouth.

"Good girl, Petunia." Harry sounded like he was praising a pet for performing a trick well. "See you are capable of learning.... Now for the next few weeks, I will be staying here and you're just going to have to put up with it. I'm only going to give you one word of warning though, if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. If you don't, then you'll wish you had." Harry glared at his overweight cousin. "That includes your friends, Dudley."

Reading the promise of retribution in his cousin's eyes, Dudley gulped and nodded.

Continuing his list of conditions for a magic free life, Harry told them. "None of you will hinder me or force me to do anything I don't want to do. You've had over ten years of unpaid labour out of me and I think that is more than enough. From now on while I am here, I will be doing as I please. Is that clear to everyone?"

The Dursleys could only nod their heads, making them resemble those bobble-head dolls.

"Excellent!" Harry smiled for the first time. "Just remember that and we should get along fine, for however long I am here."

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A hooting sound woke Harry the next morning. He rolled over, intending to send a nasty hex back to the witch or wizard who had dared send him anything by owl post. He received quite a shock however when he saw a familiar snowy owl perched on the windowsill.

"Hedwig! I missed you!" Harry quickly moved over to the window to check out his beloved familiar and make sure she was ok. "How did you know I was out? How did you know where to find me?"

Hedwig gave him a look as if to say 'Silly human, I can always find you'. While she looked a little thinner and scruffier than he was used to, Harry could tell that she was pleased to see him as well. Holding out his arm for her to use as a perch, Harry brought her into the small bedroom.

Showing her the transfigured bedroom Harry asked. "What do you think, girl?"

The snowy owl's head twisted around, taking in the changed surroundings. Hedwig bobbed her head and gave an approving hoot.

"Give me a moment and you'll have a proper perch." Harry transferred the owl to the back of the chair before picking up one of Dudley's broken toys.

As he transfigured the broken remote control car into a perch, Harry smiled at the memory of Dudley huffing and puffing as he moved most of the junk out of the second bedroom. He had no doubt that it was the first real work Dudley had ever done.

Once Hedwig was settled on her new perch, Harry told her, "I'll be right back. I'm going to get you some food and water."

Remembering all too well what had happened before when her Harry snuck in food before, Hedwig gave him a concerned sounding hoot.

"Don't worry, girl." Harry was quick to reassure her. "The Dursleys and I have come to an understanding. If they don't bother me, I won't turn them into mice for you."

Harry had to laugh as Hedwig suddenly looked very predatory. "Sorry luv, but they're still human. At least for now."

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Once Hedwig was settled in for the day, Harry went down and made himself some breakfast. The Dursleys studiously tried to ignore his presence. He was a bit surprised that Marge wasn't down in the kitchen stuffing her fat face like Dudley was.

Maybe she was waiting until he was gone to put in an appearance. Given that she had all the tact of a rampaging hippogriff, it was very sensible of her. Harry had no doubt that Marge Dursley would be unable to control her mouth.

Vernon and Dudley left as soon as they finished eating, leaving Petunia alone with her nephew.

After he finished his breakfast, Harry told his aunt, "If anyone comes around looking for me tell them I'm out and you don't know when I'll be back."

"Will they at least dress properly?" Harry could tell that she really wanted to say 'the freaks' but didn't dare.

"I don't know." Harry sounded as though he didn't care. "Probably since they don't want to stand out in a muggle neighbourhood. I did warn Dumbledore that I didn't want to be bothered by anybody from the Wizarding world and what would happen to anyone who was stupid enough to ignore the warning, but given that they've never cared about what I wanted before, I have no doubt they'll think I'm bluffing. At least at first anyway."

"You sound as though you're not too fond of those people any more." Petunia observed softly.

Surprised by her unexpected comment, Harry responded honestly. "I'm not. While I loved the magical world and still do love being able to do magic, I hate the people in it. The ones I trusted the most turned out to be backstabbing hypocrites."

He half-expected to hear 'I told you so' coming from Aunt Petunia, but oddly enough she didn't say a word and Harry thought at least for brief moment, he had seen a look of sympathy on her face.

"I assume you're referring to those Weasels." Harry didn't bother to correct her mispronunciation.

"Yeah them and the rest of the people of Hogwarts." Harry muttered. "Fortunately for me, I only have to put up with them for one more year. Then I can tell the Wizarding world to go to hell."

"If you feel that way about them, why go back?" Petunia couldn't help asking.

"Because I don't feel like destroying Hogwarts, just to get out of a magically binding contract." Harry admitted. "The castle has done nothing to harm me. Besides, doing it this way, I'll have a chance to see that justice is finally done to those who tried to destroy my life."

Petunia shivered at the cold, vengeful look on her nephew's face. As she turned back to the breakfast dishes, she almost felt sorry for those freaks... Almost.