Chapter Text
The drive with Vernon was the coldly silent type, this time. Harry stared out the window as the car bore him away from the magical world and felt the numbness begin to creep over him. He hated it here, of course. But what he hated most of all was the feeling of helplessness. He couldn’t do anything. He could only… exist, and wait for the summer to end.
If I could just... vanish, Harry thought idly.
For some reason the idea caught in his mind, like a jagged fingernail on fabric.
I- I really could disappear. One corner of his mouth quirked. I even have the cloak for it.
He pressed his head hard against the car window frame and pretended he was elsewhere. Anywhere else. Forever.
That night, locked in his room once more, with all his belongings also locked away, Harry lay in his bed and thought about it. Why did he stay at the Dursleys? Because he wanted to go back to Hogwarts, and there wasn’t anywhere else to go. But did his attendance at Hogwarts depend on him being at the Dursleys during the summer? Dumbledore obviously wanted Harry here, but how would the headmaster even know? Mrs Figg obviously watched, but it could take some time before she noticed. If Harry was able to leave without doing magic, it would probably be a long time before anyone could tell he’d left. And then what?
It wasn’t exactly a long term plan, Harry realized miserably a moment later. He might get away for this summer, but Dumbledore would likely find out from the Weasleys if Ron’s owls couldn’t find him, or from Hermione if she couldn’t reach him. If Harry warned them not to contact him, he might get away with it, but eventually his Hogwarts letter for school supplies or something else would probably give him away.
But then – they wouldn’t expel him, surely? They couldn’t punish him for something that happened outside the school year. And if that gave Sirius time to get his name cleared, Harry would have a good chance of living with his godfather next summer.
He dragged himself upright and leaned against the wall. Was it worth the risk?
One glance around his room said it was. No books, no spare clothes, no food and no Hedwig. A summer of hearing the Dursleys snigger about Sirius and calling him a freak.
No.
There was gold in the Potter vault. If there were limits on how much Harry could have because he was underage, that could prove difficult, but he only had to survive the summer. Food and some sort of shelter, that was really all he’d need. And it wasn’t like he was particularly well fed when he was at the Dursleys, so he wasn’t losing much.
Then, once he was back at Hogwarts he’d have both food and a roof over his head. And he might even find something useful in the vault, if he had time to look without Hagrid or Mrs Weasley looking over his shoulder.
He felt a rare ping of annoyance. Why did other people have keys to his vault, anyway? That didn’t seem right to Harry. His guardian, sure. Aunt Petunia, then. And if it had to be someone in the magical world because it’s a magical bank, that also made sense. But it seemed like every year a new person had his key. HIS key.
There could be family histories in that vault. Portraits. His parents wedding rings, maybe. Then Harry blinked. Old family wands, maybe?
“Huh,” he said aloud.
If he could get a spare wand that didn’t have the Trace… that changed a lot of things. He needed to know more about it, would have to do some research to make sure it was the wand that gave him away. He missed Hermione at this moment more than he could describe.
For one long, shimmering moment, the future hung in the balance. And then Harry gave one firm nod of his head. He was doing it.