Chapter 5
This stalemate persisted until one Emma Granger, dentist, telephoned the Dursley residence. Warned by Hermione, she mentioned her profession first, and her daughter's acquaintance with Harry second. Aunt Petunia was still distinctly disgruntled, but grudgingly agreed that Harry might spend one week in the care of his friends' parents, in order to get his school shopping done, as long as the people who picked him up and dropped him off were perfectly normal. She even allowed Harry to come down from the attic while Vernon was at work, in order to do his chores; and since said chores included a certain amount of toddler-wrangling, this made Harry quite happy.
Harry was delighted to meet Hermione's parents, and thanked them profusely for their help and hospitality. He spent three days with the Grangers, and four with the Weasleys; the supply lists came on his second day with the Grangers, and the families met in Diagon Alley to do their shopping together. In between Gilderoy Lockhart's antics, and the explosive confrontation between Mr Weasley and Malfoy's father, the day had altogether too much drama. Harry couldn't even fit in his eye test, though they did manage to make an appointment for the day after next; he was duly sent over by floo, ended up in Knockturn Alley, and was rescued by Hagrid, who just happened to be passing. Living in a proper wizarding home was amazing; Harry envied Ron his home and family very much. Mr and Mrs Weasley were very kind and welcoming, but it wasn't the same thing as truly belonging.
Harry returned to Privet Drive by car, but rather than the Grangers' BMW, it was Mr Weasley's battered Ford Anglia, and they had only driven part of the way, having flown for most of the journey. When he learned of the plan, Harry was horrified: Dr Granger had promised Aunt Petunia no witches and wizards! What if Mr Weasley wanted to come in for tea? In the end, Harry persuaded Mr Weasley to take him as far as the Greater Whinging Marks & Spencer, and stop for refreshments there, and perhaps Harry could show him around the homeware section, and explain how all the gadgets worked? It was the least Harry could do in return for Mr Weasley's hospitality, and surely Mrs Weasley would like a novelty egg-beater or some such thing? Mr Weasley caved, and they passed quite an enjoyable afternoon; he still insisted on seeing Harry all the way to the house, but he was running so late by that point that he just stayed in his car while Harry rang the doorbell, and then waved to the Dursleys before driving off.
Dobby had not abandoned his plans for keeping Harry from Hogwarts, but he didn't intervene until Harry had reached King's Cross, when he solidified the barrier every time Harry tried to walk through it. Other families passed through easily, but not Harry. The Weasleys appeared at five to eleven, and there was no time for Harry to explain: he was told to go through the barrier with Ron, and all the other family members took their trolleys through first. Ron's trolley was duly blocked, and the clock struck eleven. Hedwig was already on her way to Hogwarts; Ron had no owl. Harry had no better suggestion than the flying car, and Ron was very eager to drive it.
The Chamber of Secrets fiasco was, if anything, rather more unpleasant when Harry was trying hard not to contemplate the fact that he was already familiar with the concept of conversations that sounded perfectly normal to him, but like hissing to everyone else. Oh, and also the fact that Dobby had referred to the twins as 'little witchlings', and there had been more than one incident over the summer where he had been sure he'd tidied Where's Kitty back into the bookshelf, and it had turned up in Daisy's or Dahlia's hands. Nope. Not thinking about any of that. Or about half the school thinking he was evil. Or the whole 'hearing voices' thing. He'd written to Aunt Petunia at the beginning of December, a nice, normal letter with a proper Muggle stamp on it, asking her if she might like his help with the chores over Christmas, and he'd done the same in the run-up to the Easter holidays. She'd said 'no,' both times. The Christmas reply had actually been quite chatty, for her, explaining that she'd got it all under control, and giving details about her plans for the twins' second birthday party, Dudley's 'welcome back from Smeltings' party, and the Christmas festivities themselves, and she'd included a whole one pound coin. The Easter reply had been brief and brusque, and had included the words, 'absolutely not! That would be the last thing we need at the moment.' He would have been a great deal more concerned about that one if so much of his attention hadn't been taken up with worry for Hermione.
It didn't exactly help, during the Tom-Riddle-basilisk confrontation, having an undercurrent of 'oh no I'm probably related to Voldemort, oh dammit I actually am one of the heirs of Slytherin,' running through his head. And it meant that the Headmaster's reassurances afterwards were a great deal less reassuring. After all, if Harry only spoke Parseltongue because Lord Voldemort did, then how did that explain Daisy and Dahlia? They'd never met Voldemort; they hadn't even been born until years after his defeat. And he was pretty sure that they were parselmouths. No, he felt it was far more likely that parseltongue must run in his mother's family somehow - Aunt Petunia clearly didn't speak it, but things like red hair can run in families while missing a generation here and there, so perhaps it was like that. He'd have to look into it. But he wasn't going to ask the Headmaster. For all he was kind enough to Harry, he was clearly a member of the parseltongue-is-evil school of thought. And if he did somehow have part of Voldemort stuck in him, that was something to discuss with actual Healers. For that matter, he should probably get a follow-up appointment for the basilisk injury. He was on the point of sending Aunt Petunia a letter suggesting he stay in London for a few days once school broke up, when he got one from her, very short, informing him she would be meeting him at King's Cross.