Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 08: Sudden Change
When Harry regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a comfortable bed.
He felt disoriented and confused, as he could not recall when he went to sleep or even where he was.
"Wait… this is…" He lifted his head a bit and looked around the room.
Harry knew this room very well, as he would clean it at least once a week. "This is Dudley's playroom."
His cousin had two rooms. He used the larger one as a bedroom, and the other one was where he kept most of his toys.
Now it was almost empty, leaving only a bed, an old desk that he remembered having seen in the attic, and a wardrobe, but Harry could easily recognize it just by the wallpaper and the curtains.
"Why am I here?" Harry began to panic.
He was only allowed in this room to clean it. One time, he snuck in here to play with one of Dudley's toys and got severely beaten by both his cousin and Vernon.
'I need to get out of here before they see me.' Harry could not remember how he got in the room, but knew he could not stay here.
He practically jumped from the bed.
"Urgg!" As soon as his feet touched the floor, he felt a sharp headache and grasped his forehead.
Just then, the door opened up, and Harry found his aunt Petunia glaring down at him with her usual expression of disgust.
"Oh… you are awake already."
Harry's eyes were filled with terror. "Aunt Petunia, I'm so sorry! I… I don't know how I go—"
"This is your room now," she simply said.
"W-what?…" Now Harry was truly confused.
"Don't make me repeat myself. Go to the cupboard and grab your things. You can bring them here yourself. Once you are done… come to the kitchen and eat breakfast."
Harry saw his aunt turn around and leave the room.
'They are giving me this room?… and she said to go eat breakfast? What is going on?' Harry tried his best to recall what had happened last night.
What could have occurred that led to this situation?
Pushing past the headache, Harry remembered being in his cupboard, dreaming as usual.
Then… he was woken up by the angry screams of his uncle. He was truly furious at the time.
The last thing that Harry could recall was the bloodshot eyes of his uncle Vernon glaring down at him while his fat fingers were wrapped around his neck.
Then… there was nothing.
Saying that he found the situation bizarre would be an understatement. But for now, he decided to do what his aunt told him and went to pick up his things from the cupboard.
It's not like it would take him a long time to move them here… he barely had anything.
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At the kitchen table, Harry found his uncle and cousin eating breakfast.
As he approached, his aunt Petunia pointed at an empty chair and told him to sit down. A plate with food had already been placed for him. It had two slices of bacon, a fried egg, and a slice of bread.
This was more food than he would usually have for an entire day. And that was only on good days.
Still feeling baffled, Harry sat down and began eating immediately, just in case his aunt changed her mind. He wanted to be done as soon as possible.
His eyes moved for a moment to the other occupants of the table, who were yet to say anything to him.
Dudley Dursley was completely confused by consuming the large pile of bacon that had been placed in front of him, while Vernon was drinking some coffee and reading the newspaper.
Neither of them seemed to react to his presence, despite how unusual it was for him to be there… eating.
Harry finished his food and brought the plate, knife, and fork to the sink.
When he made an attempt to grab the sponge so he could clean his dishes, his aunt Petunia stopped him.
"Leave it. I'll clean everything once your cousin is done eating."
Harry could not believe what he was hearing.
"Have you moved your things to the first floor already?" Petunia asked.
"Y-yes, Aunt Petunia."
She nodded. "You can go back to your room then."
"But… what about my chores?" Harry asked.
Petunia's expression changed slightly. "You… don't need to do any chores today. Get some rest."
It was a good thing that Harry was no longer holding his plate, because he would have surely dropped it after hearing that.
He turned around and walked out of the kitchen before making his way upstairs to his apparent new bedroom.
'What is going on?' He scratched his head.
The headache from before had subsided, and it no longer bothered him, but his mind was still somewhat foggy.
No matter how much he tried to make sense of the situation, it appeared to be an impossible task.
The aunt Petunia he knew would never say those things, and the last he recalled, his uncle was extremely upset with him, but had said nothing when he ate breakfast at his side.
'There is something wrong here,' Harry was completely sure of that now. 'And I really want to find out what it is. Somehow…'
He walked to his room and sat down on his bed while looking around.
This room was half the size of Dudley's main bedroom, but to Harry it was gigantic.
Compared to the cupboard, he felt like he was in a palace right now.
'Are things going to get better?' On one side, he really wanted to just accept that and be happy.
But there was this nagging feeling at the back of his mind, warning him of danger.
The universe would never give him something like this without making him pay a price, and now Harry was wondering what the price could be.
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