Harry sat cross-legged on his little bed. He was now in the cupboard under the stairs.
Although Harry had been very reluctant to go in, how could a six-year-old resist two adults and a chubby boy who weighed more than some grown-ups?
But he couldn't just leave things like this. September was less than two weeks away, and he would be starting his second year of primary school. If a classmate came over to play, or a teacher made a home visit, was he supposed to tell them he lived in a cupboard?
Six-year-old Harry didn't yet know that if his classmates or teachers found out he lived in a cupboard, the aunt and uncle who had been bullying him all along would be in serious trouble.
Harry knew nothing about that. He was only wondering how to get Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon to let him return to the little room he hadn't liked very much before.
Harry was clever, but his intelligence was still within the limits of an ordinary person's, so for now, he was merely a very clever seven-year-old boy.
As a result, the plan he came up with would make him cringe so hard he wanted to claw at the wall whenever he remembered it years later. Still, Harry was grateful he had made that choice, because things had worked out quite well in the end.
"Dudley, there's something I want to discuss with you!" Putting on a shamelessly cheerful smile, Harry sidled up to Dudley. Harry would never have done anything like this before, because Dudley and his friends used him as a punching bag. He always kept as far away from Dudley as possible.
This behavior clearly threw Dudley off, too. The chubby boy stared blankly at Harry and actually asked without thinking, "Discuss what?"
It was working already!
Harry was thrilled and excited. Of course, he had made preparations before daring to approach Dudley.
It was a minor mental spell called the Heart Bewitching Spell, which could influence the emotions of people with weak wills. Harry had tested it. Probably because his mental power-a concept from the Aegean World-was too weak, his targets didn't even need strong wills to resist it. He couldn't affect normal adults such as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon at all.
Then could it only affect children or small animals?
Harry had given it a try, and Mrs. Figg's cats had proved that it worked on small animals, at least. So Harry prepared to try it on Dudley.
Caught off guard, Dudley froze for a moment as Harry sidled up to him, and Harry's mental magic slipped through that opening.
"Dudley, you know there'll be a test when school starts, right? Are you ready?" Harry felt like the big bad wolf tricking a little pig in a cartoon.
Dudley's expression immediately twisted a little. Primary school lessons were actually very simple, or so Harry thought. Unfortunately, all the energy Dudley got from food went toward growing his body-and growing it sideways, at that. This had taken something of a toll on his brain.
He wasn't exactly stupid, but he certainly wasn't very bright. On top of that, he disliked studying, so his grades were pretty dismal.
Every test was practically a nightmare for Dudley, because the results would be mailed to the pupils' homes.
Those were the only times Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia might hit Dudley at home. Occasionally, of course, they both did. For instance, on the third monthly test of the previous school year, Dudley had actually scored zero in maths...
"You... have a way?" Dudley sounded doubtful. He was a little puzzled as to why he was willing to listen to so much talk from a cousin he didn't like at all. Worse still, he felt that Harry was making a lot of sense.
Seeing Dudley's expression, Harry knew he had taken the bait. He chuckled. "I have a special way of studying that can help you quickly learn everything you need for the test. But, well, we have to do it in my old room."
Dudley eyed Harry suspiciously, then finally raised a fist. "If you dare trick me, I'll use you as a punching bag to try out my new boxing gloves."
"No problem!" Harry grinned smugly.
And so, that very evening, Dudley cried and howled, demanding that Harry be moved back into his old room. This infuriated Uncle Vernon. Although Harry's bed was a folding bed that was easy to move, carrying it up and down from the second floor was still hard work for a man of his size.
But apart from the times just after tests, Dudley was utterly spoiled at home. And so Harry returned to the little room where Dudley's assorted belongings took up half the space.
Harry was very pleased. As for dealing with Dudley afterward, he already had a plan.
A special way of studying?
Of course Harry didn't have one!
But he did have a little Quick-Memorization Spell. It allowed someone to remember large amounts of information clearly for a short time. Its original purpose was to help mages memorize incredibly complex magic arrays.
After all, drawing a magic array had to be completed within a certain amount of time. Magic arrays were often so complicated that even experienced mages struggled to remember every detail. Thus, when they needed one, they would usually consult a book or their notes, memorize the magic array with the Quick-Memorization Spell, and then draw it.
The Quick-Memorization Spell only lasted about seven days, which was roughly how long remained until school started in September and the start-of-term test took place.
Harry was very pleased. This was his first practical use of magic, and so far, both the process and the results had been quite good.
Of course, winning over Dudley alone wasn't enough. To live comfortably in this house, he would have to win over his aunt and uncle as well. Before this, Harry had had no way of doing that. His aunt and uncle seemed to hate him from the bottom of their hearts. Now, however, Harry had plenty of methods at his disposal. All he needed was time...
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