Favorites. Book 1: What kind of a magician am I now?!

August 8, 1988 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, England “Aunt Petunia, can I help you?” I suggested cautiously. She laid out the groceries on the table, clearly considering what to cook. The crease on her forehead smoothed out. “Yes, I want to make a kidney pie. Peel the potatoes and cut them into semicircles. I'll take care of the giblets for now.” We were silent for a while, doing our job. She took the kidneys out of the water, rinsed them, and began to cut them into pieces. Finally, I felt that Petunia-san had entered a state of some kind of peace that happens to women when they cook. “Aunt,” I broke the silence, “tell me, don't you notice something strange around?” “What exactly do you find strange, Harry?” She looked up at me warily. Well, well, it seems that if there is any mental influence, it is associated with everything "strange", "magical". “Our family is like a little enchanted,”  I tried to look naive. “The same Dudley is such a good boy, we study in his room, he taught me how to read well. And yesterday he said some nasty things to me after dinner. He almost cried about it today. He said he didn't know what had gotten into him.” Petunia pursed her lips, but she was clearly thinking about something. “But don't worry, I'm not offended by Dudley, he didn't do it on purpose,” I continued the careful processing. “I understand that our family is having a hard time. My uncle's business is not going well, and I still have to pay off my debts to the bank for the house, right? “Yes, a loan," she blinked in surprise. Unlike Harry, I know the value of money and how difficult it can be to live when you don't have enough money. Nothing comes from nowhere. Everything has to be bought, everything has to be paid for. My uncle, when I was helping him in the garage, happily babbled about his company, extortionate taxes, and house expenses. The cost of the car he drove to London, the price of petrol, school fees for Dudley and me. In general, we live, not particularly posh, but in a nice, quiet area. They spend an extra pound on their child, and Vernon dreams that "his son doesn't need anything and Dudley has what he didn't have." Vernon is older than Aunt Petunia and was born after some local war. He told me that he was starving, and "everything happened." He also comes from a family of ordinary workers and "made his own business". Basically, the Dursleys are pretty understandable people. Decent enough not to kick an orphan into an orphanage, but trying to save a little money. On the other hand, we feed at the same table and eat the same food, except that Dudley sometimes gets too many sweets. But I can't say that he eats only cakes every day, as I remember from Harry's story. Rather, by contrast, they didn't require housework from their own child and gave them a little more freedom, this provokes childish resentment and it seems that the world is biased and unfair. I'm well aware of how shitty life can be. Having had enough of loneliness and hatred, I even enjoy living in this family. I guess if I was loved by being licked from head to toe, like Dudley sometimes is, I'd be very uncomfortable. As it is, a slight level of hostility and alienation suits me perfectly. And it seems to me that this has changed over the past week. Maybe because I started offering help myself? Is there a lot of work in a house with three bedrooms, a guest room and a kitchen with a living room? And the local lawn is not very big, you need to make sure that no weeds appear, and Petunia takes care of the flower beds herself, except that I water them. And Vernon-san somehow became less drunk that I was just sitting in my pants for nothing. “Oh, and I eat so much," I sighed. “But I would eat less, but I'm always hungry.…” My aunt chuckled. “Yes... Lily was always hungry, too, and she was always nibbling.…” She stopped, and I realized that this was Petunia talking about Harry's mother and her sister. “It's probably something from the family," I continued carefully, as if treading on water for the first time, trying not to break the fragility of the moment. “You're also very thin and graceful. She's also very beautiful”, Carefully pumping the color into my face, I asked: “Was your sister as beautiful as you, Aunt Petunia?” She looked away, confused, and blinked rapidly. “Your mother was very beautiful, Harry.” Petunia-san sobbed. "But... I don't have any pictures of her left. When she… When was the last time Lily was at home… She took all her photos, all her things.… And I was very afraid. It was as if she was running from something or someone, or didn't want us to remember her. The last time I saw her was when I was three months pregnant," my aunt mused. She stopped by… After my father's funeral… Your and Dudley's grandfather... he didn't survive the death of your mother... grandmother. Yes, that was the last time I saw her. We had a fight with her because she didn't come to the funeral. I'm sorry, it's hard to remember.…”   “Nothing, sorry to bring up the subject, Aunt Petunia”,  I nodded. “Losing loved ones is very hard. It's a pity that I didn't know my grandparents, I'm sure they were good people.” “Yes, yes," she replied absently. “I'll fry the potatoes, and you peel and chop the onion into half rings, please.” I concentrated on peeling and then slicing a large onion head. Very interesting facts are being revealed. Could it be that Lily herself worked on the mental impact of the Dursley family? Assuming that there was a war going on in the wizarding world, in which, according to Harry, the main victims of the Dark Villain were Muggles and Muggleborns… Maybe the death of Lily and Petunia-san's parents wasn't an accident? And if she did, she only spurred Harry's mother to drastic actions. In fact, this is how she "cut herself off" from her relatives, sort of "quarreling", protecting her sister's family from the war. They might have known this on the "dark side", but in the organization that included Lily and Harry's father, they might have thought that everything was fake, without serious magic. Either not to know about Lily's plans at all, or not to go into details. As far as I understood, many there were "hereditary Shinobi" and could simply not expect something complicated or tricky from "yesterday's peasant woman". But women tend to protect their family.… Then maybe Director Higekane's actions have some meaning. And this "protection" came into conflict with the presence of a wizard in this family, that is, me. However, this does not negate the lack of financial assistance to this family. Damn, there's very little data. You can make thousands of assumptions. Maybe this way, or maybe that way, or maybe I won't figure out how at all, just because I don't know the world, the local culture, and even less the traditions of magicians very well. By the way, I'm not sure if I'm going to be a magician. It's likely that all this magic is tied to the soul, and I'm Naruto Uzumaki, not Harry Potter. However, I don't feel the chakra either, but I meditate and try to discover something about myself every day for several hours before going to bed. Morning warm-up in the garden under the cover of trees, so that the neighbors do not see, brings so far only greater flexibility and strengthening of the body, but with the passage of the chakra, everything is deaf. I've never felt so empty. “Everything is ready," I showed the sliced onion. It's good that the glasses protect against corrosive fumes, but it still stung my eyes a little. “Cut more bacon into small pieces, the size of your little finger”, Petunia-san looked up for a minute from the frying pan on which the potatoes were frying. *** Our joint pie turned out to be very tasty. Under the layer of baked dough was chopped meat with fried potatoes, giblets and sauteed onions. During dinner, my aunt watched the family closely, apparently, my words hit the mark. But the whole point of mentalism, like any genjutsu, is that it affects you until you notice. Once you start calibrating or questioning the reality of what's happening, you're already halfway out of the trap. “My son, you're doing so well”, Petunia praised Dudley. “Harry said you're helping him improve his English. You're a smart girl. I'm proud of you. And I'm glad you're getting along well with your cousin.” Dudleybeamed with satisfaction, reminding me of Cheji in my childhood. I winked back at him and felt strangely light-headed. Literally. “Ay-ay-ay, what's wrong with me?” I squeaked, almost losing my glasses. I had to jump up a couple of meters, but I didn't just fly like a balloon yet. The Dursleys were staring at me with their mouths slightly open. “Potter, come down immediately!” Vernon-san almost lost his composure and growled. “And how?” I asked, waving my arms stupidly, trying to land. “Grab it!” Dudley handed me the handle of Dudley's broom, and I was pulled to the floor. Pale Petunia-san poured herself some water with trembling hands and drank it noisily. It seems that such a vivid "performance" in front of the whole family happened for the first time. And here I inadvertently shook the family skeletons. “How did you do it?” My cousin asked me. “I don't know," I answered honestly, gripping the chair tightly. And we all locked eyes on Aunt Petunia. Well, I wonder how she's going to get out of it, and how my fate will change now in a family that's been... enchanted by aversion to magic?.. It's a good thing I had dinner, otherwise I don't want to be punished on an empty stomach at all...