Harry was still in shock when he crawled out of the car in Privet Drive. The Order of the Phoenix had just threatened the Dursleys! He could hardly believe it. Dazedly he lugged his trunk into his aunt’s house. He had just gotten it through the entry way to the foot of the stairs when his Uncle Vernon took the trunk away from him and shoved it into the tiny cupboard under the stairs.

“Now, is everyone packed? We want to get a nice early start tomorrow morning.”

“Packed?” Harry inquired in some consternation.

“Yes, packed,” Vernon said maliciously, “We’re off to Majorca tomorrow morning for a well-deserved holiday.”

“Off to Majorca?” Harry blinked owlishly. “All of us?” Questions filled his mind, were they taking him, too, did the Order know about this, when Uncle Vernon cut in, causing all his thoughts to grind to a halt.

“No, boy, we’re going to Majorca. You’re going to stay here and watch the house. It’ll be easier for you to stay in touch with those freaks we met at the station that way.” Vernon just sneered at Harry’s look of surprise. “Now go upstairs and carry down our bags, boy. Want to have everything ready for tomorrow morning!”

That night Aunt Petunia cooked a lavish meal. What little of it Harry was allowed to have he could scarcely choke down. It had never occurred to him that the Dursleys might just leave him behind while they went on an extended vacation. He kept thinking that his godfather would never have done anything like that, but then he remembered that Sirius was dead, and that it was mostly his fault. All of which made it quite impossible to eat.

“All done, poppet?” Aunt Petunia’s sickly sweet voice cut cross Harry’s musings. “Off to bed then, love, we want you to be nice and rested for our trip tomorrow.” Dudley leered at Harry, and then waddled off up the stairs to his bedroom.

Meanwhile Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had decided to have a talk with their nephew about what he would be doing while they were on holiday. They had prepared a long list of chores to hold him responsible for. Things like mow the lawn and weed the flower beds were to be expected. Harry was slightly more surprised to see clean the dishwasher and sweep the chimney. While he was looking over the list Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were telling him what he could and couldn’t do. “Don’t touch the car, don’t let strangers into the house, don’t invite any of your freaky friends over don’t touch any of our things, don’t break anything.” As expected, it was mostly what he couldn’t do. Harry wondered how he was going to do the assigned chores without touching anything.

“Now!” the suddenness of the exclamation startled Harry out of his reverie. “Off to bed, boy! And mind you no noise tonight! We need our rest!”

“Yes, Aunt Petunia.” Harry trudged up the stairs closely followed by Uncle Vernon who slammed the door and locked it the moment Harry had stepped into the bedroom. Uncle Vernon was so eager to shut his nephew in that he actually clipped Harry’s heel with the door.

The next morning, after a restless night in which he dreamed that Cedric and Sirius stood staring at him with mournful eyes, Harry awoke to Aunt Petunia opening his door and hissing at him. “We’re leaving now,” she said. “Get your lazy self out of that bed and do your chores. And mind you follow the rules!” She slammed the door behind her but did not lock it.

Harry stretched and rolled over listening to the sounds of the Dursleys’ departure as they floated up the stairs and through the door. Soon he heard the front door slamming and a car driving off. He slipped his glasses on and looked out the window to see a taxi driving away. He felt a curious sort of freedom. The Dursleys were gone. He could do whatever he wanted.

It was a delicious feeling. He decided he’d get up and get some breakfast. Maybe he’d watch a little televisions before getting started on the chores he’d been left. He slowly got dressed and wandered down the stairs. Opening the refrigerator he pulled out some bread and eggs.

Then he paused. There was very little food in the fridge. Startled he turned to the cupboards and opened them. They, too, were barely stocked. Harry sat down at the kitchen table. He should have known this was too good to be true. He had no muggle money to buy more food, and even if he did, he couldn’t get to the store anyway. He was stuck. As he sat there it occurred to him to wonder what else the Dursleys might have done that he didn’t know about. He figured he might as well eat something. After all, who knew how long his “loving family” would be gone. As he sat down to eat he flipped on the kitchen television.

The first channel to pop up was a children’s program, so he changed channels. Or rather, he tried to change channels. The numbers just kept rolling and the screen was filled with static. It seemed Uncle Vernon had had the cable turned off. What else had he gotten turned off while his family was away on holiday? As if in answer to his question the TV flickered off and the hum of the refrigerator subsided into silence. With an awful sinking feeling, Harry walked over to the wall switch and flipped it up and down a few times.

Nothing happened. Desperately he ran to the sink and opened the faucet. He heaved a big sigh of relief when he saw that, for the present at least, the water was still working. He figured it would probably stay on since Aunt Petunia wanted him to water her flowers every day.

What should he do? Harry wondered.

He had little food and no way to cook it. His aunt and uncle were gone on an extended vacation and he had no way of knowing when they would be back. He needed help, Harry decided.

But who to call?