Chapter Text
Mrs. Petunia Dursley was quite proud to admit, at least to herself, that she was the most normal person in all her acquaintance. Her husband, an equally normal man, worked at a perfectly normal job and told perfectly normal stories. Her precious Dudders was a perfectly normal boy, almost eleven years old, and was going to attend the best, most normal, school in all of Surrey, maybe even England. The only black mark on her otherwise sterling record was her not-at-all normal nephew. She blamed her sister. Her sister’s blasted husband was also at fault, as was that ridiculous school full of freaks and weirdos. Well, if it was up to her she’d ship the little freak off and be done with it but a small part of her, the part that maybe was afraid of wizards and magic, wouldn’t dare go against Dumbledore. He made it perfectly clear that Harry had to stay with them. Whether they liked it or not, and they most certainly did not.
Petunia knew that, just like her strange sister, Harry would be receiving a letter from that school any day now. Eleven was the age when strange little children went off to Hogwarts and became, well, stranger. Vernon and her had been preparing for this since the moment Harry was dumped on them. With the boy out of the house for most of the year they could protect their wonderful son Dudley from being corrupted by his filthy cousin’s odd magical ways. They had only told Harry and Dudders that Harry would be attending a special school for the academically challenged and mentally defective. True enough in Petunia’s opinion. Harry didn’t know a thing about magic, they had seen to that, and with any luck he’d know to keep his mouth shut on the subject once he did find out. No need for the neighbours to learn about something so scandalous.
The fiasco at the zoo for Dudley’s birthday just reinforced Petunia’s determination to get the Potter boy OUT OF HER HOUSE. He truly was a menace and her poor Dudders almost paid the price. That simply would not do. So, when Harry received his letter, marked for his residence under the stairs of all places, she couldn’t wait to tell him he was leaving. Vernon sent Dudley up to his second bedroom with a stern word about shooting his bb gun in the house and ordered the Potter boy to sit in the living room.
The letter was held firmly in Vernon’s large hand, the wax seal already broken by him earlier. They had read, re-read, and read again to make sure they weren’t obligated to pay anything, or attend some kind of orientation (not that they would), and had discussed it between themselves and decided that Petunia would explain since it was her rotten sister who had put them in this position in the first place. So, Harry sat gingerly on the edge of the settee and waited for his aunt or uncle to explain what they wanted from him.
“In this letter,” she began curtly, “is your acceptance to a special school. The same strange school your parents attended. You will go to this school and not be back here until the term is over. You will not return for holidays and you will not write back to us. We don’t want to hear about all of the strange things you will learn, or any of the odd friends you make. Do you understand boy?”
Harry didn’t really understand but he nodded anyway. All he understood was that they were sending him away, just like they said they would, and he was glad to hear he wouldn’t have to come back to the house on Privet Drive until term was finished. It was like Harry’s wishes had come true. He was waiting for the catch.
“A representative from the school will collect you and take you to get your school supplies. Don’t expect any pocket money from us boy.” Uncle Vernon was only faintly purple so Harry assumed he was happy with this arrangement. His aunt and uncle hadn’t given him pocket money before so he wasn’t expecting anything from them. He was just so happy to be leaving he couldn’t hold any other thoughts or concerns in his head. “No go, the dishes aren’t going to clean themselves.”
Harry hurried from the room feeling lighter than air. He was finally going to get away from this place and from his family. Surely things were finally going his way.