It wasn't hard to guess what she was feeling at that moment. Fear, definitely, as well as distrust in my ability to use this interesting tool. In fact, she voiced the distrust immediately.
"You wouldn't dare, you're not allowed to use magic during vacation!" she said cautiously, yet she still entered the kitchen, though she didn't sit down.
"That's true," I replied, "but I have at least two ways to absolve myself of responsibility. One is more effective than the other. So let's not push things to the extreme, and we'll quickly get what we want the most." By "we," I meant myself and your family. Sit down.
To avoid making my relative nervous, I placed the wand on the table. Waiting for her to actually sit, I continued:
"You don't want to get involved with magic, fine, that's your choice. I can help, but it will also require your participation. If you're ready to listen, I'll explain briefly."
After she nodded, I told her my extremely simple plan.
"Regardless of the outcome, you won't see me again," I said, "that will please you right away. So, starting today, we have exactly one week to obtain certain things. Some will be easy, some—possibly not."
"And what exactly do you need?" Petunia asked.
"Let's start simple: twenty-one Snickers bars; a pack of good cigarettes and a lighter; a black coat for autumn. You have coffee, so no need to buy more. We won't need much food. Any questions?"
"And how will this help you finally get away from us?"
"Chocolate to improve brain function, cigarettes—for calmness and nerve-soothing. I won't say what the coat is for. That's the simple part; now comes the difficult part. In short, I need grenades—ideally a dozen."
Needless to say, this request, spoken so calmly, surprised Petunia greatly and, to put it mildly, frightened her.
"Calm down, I'm not planning a terrorist act, at least not in the ordinary world. I'm just going to… remove one overzealous person who is largely to blame."
Petunia recoiled slightly; her eyes widened in shock.
"Aunt, I'll tell you the situation I'm in, and you can share your thoughts. I'm simply curious to hear what someone not involved in magic thinks about it."
She blinked several times, silently nodding, as if listening carefully to everything I would say.
"Imagine this: you have a family, but only briefly, almost immediately you are taken from them. And you, a confused child, later find yourself in another family where you are neither loved nor wanted. And this despite the fact that far away, you have many, albeit distant, relatives who would accept you as you are. But you cannot move to them—no matter how much you want it, you simply won't be allowed."
Her eyes widened even further.
"And that's with your parents having given their lives for peace in an entire country."
Petunia sat on the edge of her chair, silent, her pressed lips betraying anxiety.
"…You're given 'necessary' and 'proper' friends, your access to your own money is restricted, you're not taught how to live correctly in this new world. And yet they call you a hero."
She leaned back slightly, lowering her gaze, as if trying to process what was said.
"…You appeal to the school administration to change something, to understand your situation—I'm not asking much—they'll say: 'Don't talk nonsense, everything is fine.' You go to court—the same thing, because the head of the court is the school principal where you study. You go to an international court—they'll send you away, and you know why."
Petunia let out a faint sigh, and for a moment her eyes showed confused sympathy.
"And now tell me what I'm supposed to do to live at least like an ordinary person, or rather—a wizard?"
She fell silent, scanning me with her eyes, as if unable to find the right words.
"I studied at this cursed school for only two years, and five times I could have died, no joke. No one cared, no one called law enforcement representatives to the school to investigate."
Petunia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, lowering her gaze in silence.
"Well, what do you say?"
"I had no idea such things were happening there, I…" she said, a bit flustered.
"Don't try to repair relationships out of suddenly awakened conscience," I interrupted, "Live without magic, that's your right, I have nothing against it. Just, since you want to help out of kindness rather than gain, at least do it effectively."
I can say that things finally started to move.
Excessive arguing between Vernon and me was avoided thanks to prior explanations from his wife.
He reluctantly agreed to buy the requested items; his anxiety and fear were only due to potential problems with obtaining grenades or any other explosive device of that kind. We had to spend an extra half hour calming them down and subtly hinting at the possibilities of magic.
I had already had breakfast, so we just had to wait until Vernon finished eating, and then we would go together by car to the nearest police station. The weekend worked in my favor. On the way, we'd also stop at a supermarket and a clothing store to avoid drawing extra attention.
The police station itself was two kilometers away, a large three-story red brick building that had seen a lot. As we drove past, I noticed two entrances: one main, and another on the side, probably a service entrance. I'd need to check all entrances and exits in my cloak and do it as soon as possible.
"Uncle, drop me off here. You go to the shops, don't rush. We meet here in an hour, no later. If you return earlier—just wait for me. And if someone invisible knocks on the window, don't be surprised. Just pretend to be busy, check the back seat mats urgently. The main thing is that I can get into the car unnoticed."
"Okay, and where are you going?"
"On reconnaissance."