Vernon Dursley always considered himself to be a good hard working family man. He was the one who earned the money for the house therefore it should not matter how he came across the money. That should not have been a big deal, right?

That was probably the understatement of the year.

You see, one day Vernon set his briefcase down on the ground while he stopped at a local coffee shop and ordered a coffee with a large pastry to eat. As he was sitting there enjoying his pastry, a small group of men sat at the table next to his. They discussed their matters in hushed voices while Vernon finished up his pastry. Grabbing his briefcase, Vernon left the coffee shop. After opening his briefcase, he discovered a large sum of money inside. Vernon made excuses to leave work that day and went to a bank to stash that money. He later went home and went about his usual routine as if he never found it. That was only yesterday.

“Boy! You had better get up now and start breakfast or you’re going to get it!” Vernon bellowed as he descended from the stairs. A moment later, a small scrawny figure emerged from the cupboard under the stairs. The boy looked to be about 8 but in fact, he was going to be turning 10. He had black messy hair, vibrant green eyes, round taped up glasses and he was wearing hand-me-down clothes that were quite a few sizes larger than he was. Harry, who was always referred to as boy or freak by his relatives, scrambled from his “room” to the kitchen where his uncle was waiting.

Harry got coffee for his uncle and began preparing breakfast. He made plenty of food for his obese uncle and cousin. If he was good, maybe he would actually get a chance to eat. Harry put plates out on the table and poured a glass of milk for his cousin, who was bounding down the stairs. Harry was just setting it down when his cousin slammed into him, making him spill the milk all over Vernon. Vernon’s face began turning a nasty purplish color as he stood up from the table. Harry backed away slowly and stammered out apologies for spilling the milk, even though it was not his fault. It was a well known fact to everyone in the Dursley household that if anything went wrong, then it was automatically Harry’s fault.

“You are going to get it now boy! That was my favorite work shirt!” Vernon roared. He grabbed Harry by his hair and dragged him over to the cupboard under the stairs. He punched Harry a few times before kicking him as he slid to the floor. He grabbed the barely conscious boy and threw him into his cupboard before slamming the door and locking it. Vernon changed into a new work shirt before going back downstairs as if nothing just happened. Vernon ate his breakfast and then left for work while Dudley went to his room to play with his gaming system.

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At approximately 3:30 in the afternoon, Petunia went over to the cupboard under the stairs and unlocked it. “I am having tea with the neighbors and you are not staying in this house alone. Go stay outside for a few hours.” Petunia stated before leaving to prepare herself for the tea party, which was really an excuse for the ladies to get together and gossip.

“Yes Aunt Petunia.” Harry replied as he crawled slowly out of the cupboard in order to not jerk his injuries around. Harry made his way over to the park and sat on the swings, daydreaming about someone coming to rescue him from this miserable life. It began getting dark out and he was lost in thought, therefore did not hear his cousin come up behind him until he went flying off the swing and landed face first in the sand. As he landed, his sore ribs were jarred and it took a moment before he could catch his breath again.

Dudley did not waste time waiting for Harry to catch his breath. He went after him like a wolf set on his prey. Dudley had only hit his cousin a few times before he heard something behind him. Harry took advantage of the loose grip from the momentary distraction and made a run for it. He took off running back towards the house and heard Dudley start running after him. Harry turned the corner onto Privet Drive and was not very far when someone grabbed his arm in a strong grip. Harry tried to rip his arm out of the strong hold but it was no use. Harry turned towards the person and discovered that it was not his cousin who had the grip on him. Before he could say anything or do anything, a cloth covered his mouth and he grew sleepy. The last thing he saw was his cousin turning the corner and another man grabbing him. Then the whole world turned black.

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Petunia returned home from her afternoon tea with the neighbors and noticed that it was getting dark out. She was picking out some food for dinner, when she heard a creak behind her. She turned towards the sound and saw a man standing there. She started to scream but something was quickly shoved over her mouth and her world slowly faded away into darkness.

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Vernon went about his usual day at work, but he could not shake the feeling that he was being watched. Vernon went home after work and everything was dark inside. He searched blindly for a light switch before finding one. He flipped on the kitchen lights and the first thing he noticed was the food sitting out on the counter. None of it was cooked or even in the process of being cooked as it usually would be by this time in the evening. The second thing that he noticed was a letter of some sort sitting on the table. Walking slowly towards the table, Vernon paled upon seeing the photograph next to the letter. It displayed his wife, son and nephew tied up and unconscious. Vernon then picked up the letter and began reading.

Dursley—If you want your wife, son and nephew to remain alive you will return our money to us. If you contact the police in any way, your family will die and we will mail you their body parts in cardboard boxes. You have two days to get the money. We will be contacting you.

Vernon read the letter twice before sinking down in the nearest chair. He now had to get all the money to these people in two days before they killed his wife and son. He could care less about his nephew since he never wanted the worthless little freak in the first place. It was too late in the evening for the banks to be open so he would have to wait until the following morning in order to retrieve the money. Since there was nothing more to do for that evening, he went upstairs to his room and fell into an uneasy sleep.

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While Vernon was just getting off work, three men were pulling into an old shabby looking house. It looked bad on the outside but was pretty decent looking on the inside. It had four bedrooms total and three of those bedrooms just now became occupied with people. The men brought in Petunia and placed her in the first bedroom. There was nothing more than a bed in this room. The kidnappers unceremoniously tossed the unconscious woman on the bed before leaving the room and locking the door from the outside.

It took two men to carry Dudley into the next bedroom. He was placed on the bed, which seemed to barely support his weight. They locked his door before leaving. Finally, Harry was brought into the third bedroom. The man carried Harry over to the bed before dumping him onto it. Just as the locks to his door slid into place, Harry began regaining consciousness.