I hope everyone is okay with the COVID-19 virus running rampant in the world today.

I own nothing, please feel free to let me know what you think.

The Book Thief.

The Thrill.

Harry smirked as he walked out of the house with a small plastic bag in his hand which contained some food. The Dursleys were starving him again, and he didn't want to be too sick and weak by the time he was allowed to eat once more. So, he was once more stealing from the neighbours. He knew he could have stolen from the Dursleys; while he knew it was fun, and it was great to get his own back on them by sneaking small amounts of food out of the cupboards or from the fridge, this was even better for revenge. For one thing, the Dursleys thought he was locked inside the Cupboard Under the Stairs, and he was under lock and key. For another, because he was stealing from other houses, the Dursleys wouldn't even suspect it was him.

Alright, he knew that was a bit of a contradiction. The Dursleys were incredibly paranoid and touchy, and they would believe he was responsible for anything that happened.

But they wouldn't be able to pin the burglaries on Privet Drive on him. Harry always left a door or a window open, since that was normal for a burglary, and as long as the Dursleys thought the burglar operating in the Little Whinging was normal, he was safe. In any case, Harry found it more fun to steal from the neighbours. Their inactions over the years had hurt him a great deal, and in any case, the more people he stole from instead of just one single-family meant that there was a wide diversity of food.

As he left the house, he mentally lifted the 'sleep effect,' which was more of a suggestion more than anything else, which he had discovered one night when he had heard two children one night whispering quietly while he was stealing from their house. He had only wished for them both to fall asleep and then suddenly they had. With a bit more practice, Harry was able to create the 'sleep effect' effortlessly so it engulfed an entire property and affected everything living in the house, barring himself and pet fish. That way nobody bugged him, and since he cast the 'sleep effect' which sounded way cooler than anything else he could use to describe the effect on the entire street, he went unnoticed.

When he arrived back in Privet Drive, he waved his hand over the lock of the Dursley's door. The lock the Dursleys used was good, but it was no match for his Power. In fact, no lock was a match for his Power.

Harry stepped through the door and closed it silently and locked it before he headed for the Cupboard and clambered inside without the Dursleys hearing anything. Once he was sitting on his cot, only just avoiding the bottom of the stairs although he had bumped his head against them enough times over the years, Harry studied the contents of his bag. He had taken packets of biscuits, some bits of meat, and some fruit - a few apples, pears, a few oranges and plums. That was it. He had also snagged a few bread rolls.

But that wasn't all.

Once he had examined the food, Harry smirked and reached into the pocket of his trousers. He pulled out a roll of cash, quite a large one. He had burgled over four houses tonight, and he had gathered the money up and placed it in this roll. As he counted the money slowly, mentally adding it with the money he had stolen beforehand from other burglaries, Harry munched on a few pieces of food. One of the apples and two of the oranges and some of the chocolate he had stolen helped to assuage the hunger he had been experiencing throughout the entire day. It was tempting for him to gorge himself, but he knew better than to do that; if he ate too much this close to morning, the Dursleys would know something was up, and while they hated him and pretended he did not exist, they would know if he had stolen food. Harry did not want to be beaten again for a long time, but he knew it would definitely happen if they caught him out.

His only hope was they didn't realise he had stolen from the neighbourhood.

Harry put those thoughts aside and he rested in the cot once he had fixed the Cupboard so then the Dursleys wouldn't find the remains of his food - he would need to throw out the apple core and the orange seeds and peel when he was out since no-one would be watching him, mentally checking his body clock so he would wake up in a few hours, although it was redundant since Petunia would screech at him through the door to wake up.

While Harry let himself drift off to sleep, he thought about what he wanted to do when he managed to get away from the Dursleys. He wanted to move to the country, close to the sea perhaps so, on the one hand, he would have the open fields and rolling countryside on one side, and the blue ocean in front of him, and best of all there would not be so many people near him.

One thing was for sure, Harry had no desire to live in suburbia. He was tired of the neighbourhood, their judgemental attitudes, and how he couldn't walk down a street without five or six bored housewives or families who had nothing better or constructive to do with their time that peer out of their windows. No, he wanted to put that behind him. He wanted to get away from this dump of a neighbourhood. He wanted to change his name so he could get a good education without anyone or anything tying him down. He wanted to continue stealing since he had worked out by now theft was exciting and he wanted to continue doing what he was doing. He wanted to travel far from the Dursleys, from Little Whinging and he never wanted to come here again, and he wanted to settle down in a house somewhere where he could walk and enjoy his peace, breathing in the sea air free from the misery which came from suburbia. Harry wanted his house to come with a massive library where he could sit and enjoy his books.

Harry would only leave in order to commit more thefts. He didn't care about the law, so he may as well live without it in his life.

With a smile on his face, Harry fell asleep dreaming of his own dream house.

XXX

Harry woke up instantly when he heard the shrill voice and the sound of awful banging. "Up! Get UP! NOW!" Petunia called through the Cupboard.

Slowly Harry got up. "I'm up," he called back to his aunt, biting his tongue to stop himself from saying what it was he actually wanted to say to the woman.

"Good, now get out of there, and start cooking breakfast." Harry closed his eyes, wondering why the stupid woman had to speak in such a shrill manner; in this tight, cramped space, the sound of his aunt's voice seemed to be amplified. The sound of her footfalls as she turned around and walked off, brought a sigh of relief to Harry. He was just getting up when he heard the sound of Dudley running down the stairs.

"Wake up, Potter!" Dudley shouted, jumping on the step, sending bits of dust into Harry's face. "I want my BREAKFAST!"

Harry briefly entertained the notion of using his Power to trip him up, mulling it around his mind for a bit while Dudley jumped on the stairs, which would hopefully injure the fat pig who seemed to have forgotten being put in his place not so long ago. Since his cousin was jumping around all the time, there was a chance that a little nudge wouldn't even be noticed. After giving it a bit of thought, Harry shook his head and decided against it as he climbed out of the tight cot - oh, he could not wait to get out of here, into a proper room with a proper living space and not trapped in this tight space where he could not even stand, never mind move properly.

Ever since Dudley and co had been knocked out, his 'uncle and aunt' had been keeping their eyes open even if things had calmed down. They were still lashing out at him, but they hadn't beaten him again since, and he wanted to keep it that way. Even if it would seem to be an accident, they might blame it on him.

Harry sighed and he opened the door, just as Dudley ran down the stairs, laughing like the moron he was. His blood boiled with rage when he suddenly felt Dudley's thick paw on his face and shoved him back in the Cupboard where he bumped his head.

Cursing the Dursleys in his head, Harry went into the kitchen, ignoring his aunt's sniping although he promised himself if the woman so much as said anything else, then he would lash out. After what Dudley had just done, Harry's temptation to just use his Power to get back at them had grown stronger while his desire to just keep things calm until he was ready to get out of this miserable, sick neighbourhood was pushed to the back. Harry closed his eyes and got to work preparing the breakfast, pouring large amounts of cooking oil in the pan.

"Comb your hair, Boy!" Vernon barked at him.

And good morning to you too, fat pig! Harry thought derisively while he worked, not even bothering to do what Vernon said. His hair never lay down regardless of what his filthy relatives did, and in any case, even when he had tried to put the effort in it hadn't worked since Vernon would still complain about it one way or another. Once Harry was finished with the bacon, he started on the eggs and the sausages. When they were done, Harry put the fatty food onto two plates for Dudley and Vernon, his stomach thankfully not aching thanks to the food he had in the Cupboard under the Stairs, but in the past, it had caused him trouble. Whenever they had heard his stomach rumble, the Dursleys would heap all kinds of abuse on him, saying he was ungrateful for the food they did give him which was nothing more than the equivalent of slop or bread and water at best, or at worse where they would beat him.

Harry stepped to the side, keeping out of the way of the Dursleys and he watched as Vernon and Dudley, who were both impatiently itching for their breakfasts, immediately launched themselves at the food he'd given them like the pigs they were. After he had sorted the kitchen out, Harry was given his own food which was the smallest morsel, and he was forced to eat out even though he had much more to eat in the Cupboard.

The rest of the day went on as normal for Harry - he went to school, as normal, and he had to endure having Dudley chase him as usual only for him to take refuge in the school library. But Harry endured it all since he had already made plans.

He was going out tonight.

XXX

For tonight, Harry decided on a little experiment.

As soon as dinner was over and he had washed up, the Dursleys would lock him in the Cupboard under the Stairs, and for the rest of the evening they would pretend he didn't exist until they wanted him to do something, but fortunately those moments were few and far between; the Dursleys tolerated his presence during the day, especially since he took care of the chores and when he waited on them, but in the evenings they were content to do their family thing without him.

That made it perfect for him.

With a small ball of light overhead, Harry read one of his books in the Cupboard for an hour to let the Dursleys get comfortable and to pass the time. When he was sure the hour had passed thanks to a quick check of the nearby clock, Harry closed the book while marking the page so he didn't lose his space. He banished the light and took a deep breath. He had never done anything like this before. He had made people fall asleep by willpower before, but he had never been inside the house at the same time. But he felt this was a great time to experiment, but he went through it slowly. He kept his eyes closed as he concentrated on the minds of his so-called relatives, and lulled them to sleep.

He was sitting like that for ten minutes forcing the Dursleys to fall asleep. Okay, he knew that they could have been induced to fall asleep quicker, but since he had never done it this close before, Harry didn't want to accidentally compel himself to fall asleep. He only opened his eyes when he overheard the sound of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre re-enactment coming from the lounge, and he smiled. His smile only deepened when he not only felt normal, but he unlocked the Cupboard.

He paused for a moment, overhearing the sounds before he crept silently out of the Cupboard, and he crossed over to the doorway and peeped cautiously inside. What he saw made him grin.

All three Dursleys were asleep. Petunia was laying on the couch next to Vernon - Harry idly noticed that both of them were far from each other, and not for the first time if the pair were close; while they kissed and hugged, Harry had not really seen many signs the pair of them loved each other, but since he didn't really know what love was since he had never experienced it within his own life, Harry had no idea what the pair of them felt - sleeping lightly, which contrasted hugely with Vernon who snored away, opening and closing his mouth. Harry grimaced and looked away, only to see Dudley doing the same thing.

Good grief… looking at this scene makes me wonder if the apes who were our ancestors interbred with a few pigs; Darwin wouldn't have liked the theory, not one little bit, but something has to explain why these two exist like this….Although their penchant for pork, bacon, ham, and sausages is cannibalism. Oh, lord, while am I bothered? I've got a burglary to get to. The Dursleys are asleep, so what difference would it make in the least if they're descended from pigs rather than apes?

Sneering in contempt at his relatives, Harry turned around and walked to the front door, pulling his hood up as he did before he slowly and silently opened the front door. With that, he slid into the night.