No, it was his own little achievement and he would keep it to himself for now. Let his so called best friends be surprised that even at his personal hellhole and without their help he could achieve something.
Many more days came and went as he concentrated on studying, wanting to prove himself. Including his birthday. He had almost forgotten, since there were so many books to read - starting with his first year books, he had been such a lazy student! - but as he heard the owls he remembered.
He was still a bit miffed about his best friends, even though their letters were friendly and Hermione even hinted that they might meet up soon, but he hid their boxes of Honeydukes chocolate under the floor just like last summer anyway, since he knew Dudley - and with him, everyone else in this household - was still on his so called diet.
He also knew that if he hadn't been able to vent his frustration through studying, or sometimes even voicing them to Shiva, he probably would have been really angry at them by now, but... thanks to her he was only frustrated, being reminded of the last time they left, at the beginning of last year's Triwizard Tournament. Of course, he had forgiven Ron his ignorance long ago, but if they continued like that... he wasn't sure. But for now, he put that thought out of his head and went through the other letters he got.
One was from Hagrid - Harry recognised his messy scrawl before he even read the card - and had a box full of rock cakes attached to it. He put them aside, knowing he'd not eat a single one of them, but cherishing the thought.
Another one was from Sirius and was delivered together with a small cake that was self-made if he could believe his godfather and quite good if he could believe his taste buds. He had also gotten a copy of Kennilworthy Whisp's He Flew Like a Madman, which was a biography of some known Quidditch player called Dai Llewellyn. Harry decided he'd add it to his mental list of books he wanted to read before the end of the holidays.
The last letter was the most confusing though. He didn't recognise the bird, which was a dark brown eagle owl that flew off the second he took its letter, and the writing was only vaguely familiar.
Harry,
Happy Birthday.
Take care.
No signature or anything. Frowning confused, he stroke Shiva's head, since she rested next to him right now, lying comfortably on his bed. Was that some kind of warning? But who had sent it? He knew that Dumbledore liked to leave his messages unsigned, but that didn't seem likely here, he was pretty sure the handwriting of his headmaster looked different.
Actually, he kind of hoped that this wasn't Dumbledore's doing, because the man should know all too well that he was not having a happy birthday being cooped up at his relative's home while his friends were doing whatever... wherever!
He sighed slightly, before writing clipped thank you notes for Ron and Hermione and slightly longer ones for Hagrid and Sirius.
After all of the owls were finally out again, he continued reading, while carefully trying to simultaneously eat some more of Sirius' cake. It might not have been his best birthday, but it also wasn't the worst by far.
ooo
He continued his little reading marathon for another day and a half, before he finally decided that he needed to get out again. Sure, he went out every few days to let Shiva hunt for food, but most of that time was spent waiting near the Dursleys front garden since the snake was quite fast. Which actually was great, because he really didn't want to imagine what his aunt would say if she knew that he kept a living snake near her 'ickle Diddykins'.
But that wasn't important right now. Shiva was hidden beneath his clothes - for once he was glad that he had to wear Dudley's old clothes where three Harrys would've fitted in fine - and he began walking aimlessly around, away from Privet Drive, across Magnolia Crescent and down Magnolia Road. He had no destination in mind, but he didn't care very much. It was only evening, more than enough time for a little walk.
After a while he arrived at a small park where he made a beeline for the nearest bench and plopped down on it. Almost instantly Shiva wriggled out of his shirt and placed herself next to him, on the warm wood of the bench. It had cooled down now compared to the midday heat, but it was still pretty warm outside. Warm enough that the snake hissed contently the second she stopped moving.
ooo
For a while, no one said anything. Harry found that he actually liked the peace out here, where the only noise came from the wind that blew through the nearby trees. He had no idea why no one else seemed to think that this park was a great place to be at this time of the day, but he didn't care all that much. At least he wasn't stared at and called freak behind his back, as most of Little Whinging seemed to think he was some kind of insane brute who went to St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.
He guessed that the Dursleys were the ones that started spreading this rumour, for them it probably seemed to be the better alternative to anyone finding out that Harry actually went to a magical school.
Oh well, twenty-nine days and he'd sit in the Hogwarts Express again. He'd live.
A few more minutes came and went in silence, before Shiva started speaking up for the first time since they had left the house.
"Say, master..." she began and Harry grimaced slightly at the display of her newest nickname. He had tried to get her to call him Harry, but she never did. At first it had been 'speaker' and now she had begun with that 'master' thing... "Why do you still trust that Dumbledore man?"
"Huh?" He blinked, confused. Where had that come from? Sure, after the initial distrust and quite a few times where he had followed her while she went hunting - to make sure she really wasn't spying on him and using her need for food as an excuse to report back - he had begun telling her bits and pieces from his life, about his adventures while at Hogwarts and the people he had met. It was mostly for himself, to get some of his worries off his chest, but she always listened patiently. He just hadn't expected her to comment on it.