Harry Potter and The Tomb of Hogwarts

Harry Potter and

The Tomb of Hogwarts

Chapter 4

Dudley's Story

Dudley's face had gone stark white. He dropped the wand, and the feather floated back down to the bed.

Suddenly, Dudley was up and running for the door. Harry had no time to think, but he knew he had to stop Dudley from leaving. He dove for his wand, grabbed it, and called out, Colloportus, and the door clicked. Dudley ran straight into the door and fell flat on his back.

Harry stood quickly, ran over to Dudley, and threw him over to the bed. He was a bit startled at how easily he had handled Dudley, but he didn't have time to think about that just now.

"What the hell do you think you were you doing?" he whispered angrily. "And when the hell did you start using magic? Have you been doing it all this time?"

Harry's anger was flaring up to full throttle. "How did you do it?" he demanded.

Dudley just stared at him blankly. Harry could see him trying to think of a way out. But he didn't have much of a choice. If he called out for help, Uncle Vernon would come up and he would have to explain why he was in Harry's room. That would bring up questions that Harry knew Dudley did not want to answer.

Finally, Dudley began to show signs of movement, but only to get as far from Harry as possible.

"I asked how you did it," Harry demanded, his voice getting louder.

"I, I don't know," squeaked Dudley. "I just read that book and did what it said." He pointed over to the charms book where it had fallen on the floor from his mad dash to the door.

"I didn't think I could really do it," he continued. "I mean, I didn't think it would actually work. I've never done anything like that with a wand before."

"Really. So what have you done?" Harry snapped back.

"Nothin. I haven't done nothin." Dudley's voice was getting louder, and if this kept up, Uncle Vernon was bound to hear. He had also backed all the way to Harry's desk and was cowering from Harry as though expecting Harry to hit him.

Harry took a step back from himself for a moment. Dudley was scared of him, and for the second time in his life, Harry felt something other than annoyance or anger with Dudley. He felt sorry for him.

"Look," he started, "Let's just calm down here a bit before Uncle Vernon comes up here and we both get in trouble."

Harry walked over to the desk and pulled out the chair. He then lifted up Dudley and dropped him into the chair. Again he noticed how easily he manhandled him, and that's when he noticed just how much weight Dudley had lost over the past year. But there were other things on his mind just then.

"Okay," he began, "let's start at the beginning. I know you've done this before, so when did you first start doing magic? Was it back when I was getting my letters?"

"No," Dudley replied dryly.

"Okay, so when was it?"

"Back at school. Things would just happen when I was mad or upset. Things would drop off the shelves, or some kid I was chasing would trip if he got too far away. It would remind me of when you ended up on top of the cafeteria that time. So I tried to do things myself. I looked up stuff and tried to do it, but nothing ever worked the way I wanted it to."

"So that's why you came in my room when I was gone. To see if you could make something happen on purpose."

"Yeah." He seemed more scared and nervous than ever. He looked as though he was going to fall through the chair if he didn't get himself in check soon.

"Right then. I'm not mad at you, okay?" Harry said in a softer voice. "Just, I don't know. Go to bed. I have to think about this for a while." His head was pounding and the room was spinning. He needed some time alone to think.

"Look, I'll talk to you later. Maybe I can get you one of my old books to read, if you want."

"Uh, okay," Dudley said mildly.

Harry went over to his trunk and got out his first year transfiguration book. He figured it was probably more than he could handle, and it would buy him some time.

"Here, take this. It's one of my transfiguration books. It'll tell you how to change a cup into a rat, things like that. Just don't show it to Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon. They'll go nuts if they know you can do stuff, and then they'll probably start treating you like they treat me."

Dudley's eyes flew open and he opened his mouth to speak, but had second thoughts and shut it again.

"That's right. Just remember what Aunt Petunia said about my mum. If she would kiss off her own sister because she was a witch, she could do it to you too. Just hide it under your bed or something. They never go in your room anyways."

"Right," Dudley replied with a little more energy. He headed for the door with his book, but when he tried the handle, the door wouldn't open.

"Oh, right," Harry said, lifting his wand. Dudley jumped back, and Harry lowered it again saying, "Don't worry, I'm just going to unlock the door."

He pointed the wand at the door, called out, Alohomora, and the door unlocked. But Dudley still wasn't moving.

"Hey," he said, "I thought you couldn't do magic outside that school of yours."

Oh great, we're back to that attitude again, he thought.

"Well, I wasn't until today. But I got permission, so now I can. That's probably why we didn't have owls knocking on the windows to give me a letter expelling me from school when you were doing magic. They thought it was me, and I can do spells at home now, but only for practice, or in case of emergencies like last year."

"Oh," was all Dudley said.

"So, I've got to go do something for a bit. Just take the book and hide it in your room before Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon come upstairs looking for us for dinner."

Dudley nodded and headed out the door. Harry followed him out, and just for safe measures, magically sealed the door again to make sure nobody tried to get back in. Then he headed downstairs and back into the kitchen. He had to do this quick before they would get too upset.

He walked straight through the kitchen door and over to Uncle Vernon.

"Excuse me," he said as politely as possible, "but I need to go back out for a moment. I left something back at Sirius's house that I need to have for homework."

Uncle Vernon just grunted back at him, and he took this as a yes, turned back around and headed for the door. Just as he reached the door, Uncle Vernon spoke up.

"Dinner will be promptly at five, so if you want to eat, you'd better hurry up." His voice was full of spite, but Harry ignored it. He didn't think he would be hungry any time soon anyways, not with what he had just learned.

"Right," was all he replied. He walked straight out of the room and out of the house. The moment he was out the door, he began to run straight to Mrs. Figg's house.

A few minutes later, he was at her front door and knocking considerably harder than necessary, but he had to talk to her now.

The moment she opened the door, he started talking as fast as he could.

"Hold on, Harry," she said with her hands up, "you need to calm down a bit. Now take your time and tell me what's going on. Was it another Dementor?" It was obvious in her voice that she was greatly concerned.

"No, it'd Dudley. He's a wizard, or I think he's a wizard, or maybe he's a Death Eater using Polyjuice potion, or, I don't' know."

"Hold on, Harry. Did you just say that Dudley's a wizard?" She was clearly confused, but it didn't seem like she was all that concerned. It seemed like she was very curious, rather than worried.

"Yeah. When I got home, I came in my room and he was using my wand to levitate a feather. He got the spell from my first year charms book."

"Oh my. Now that is interesting. I don't believe I've heard of that happening in quite some time. But then, look at your mother's abilities. It's not a huge surprise that Petunia could have a child who was magically inclined."

"But how could that have happened when he's not a wizard," Harry asked her. "I mean, he wasn't last year. He couldn't even see the Dementors when they came after us. One of them was only a few inches from his face trying to kiss him, and he never saw a thing."

"That's right," she said in an almost amused tone. "I'll bet that's what kick-started everything. I'll bet he's been doing small bits of magic ever since. It was probably like you when you did small things at school or home, whenever you got mad or scared."

"Yeah, I know. He mentioned a couple of times at school where weird things had happened to him."

"Right," she announced. "Well, I think this is something that we need to tell Dumbledore about. Please, come inside. I'll make us a spot of tea while we wait for him."

Harry went inside and they went over to the family room where he took a seat on the couch. She walked up to the mirror on the wall, picked up a small piece of parchment, and turned to Harry.

"Harry dear, would you mind?" she asked.

"Mind what?" he replied.

"Oh my, I'm sorry dear. I had assumed you had used one of these before. This is a conference mirror. Just tap it with your wand and say the name of the person you want to talk to, and they will answer. It's a lot like a phone, without having to dial. In this case, we want to talk to Dumbledore, so just tap it and say his name and he should come on in a few moments."

Of course, Harry hadn't heard half of what she had said. The moment she had said what it was, he remembered the small mirror Sirius had given him last Christmas. If he had only known what he'd had he could have talked to Sirius that way. He could have...

"Harry," Mrs Figg said, snapping him out of it. "Did you hear me? We must contact Dumbledore as soon as possible."

"Right," he replied quickly. He tapped the mirror and called out Dumbledore's name.

"Alright. Now, while we wait for him to answer, I'll get a pot of tea going for us." She hurried into the kitchen. A few moments later, she came back, offering Harry a seat.

"It might take a few minutes before..."

"Hello," came Dumbledore's voice from the mirror.

Harry stood quickly and got in front of the mirror. It was a bit odd, looking at Professor Dumbledore this way. It was like watching the telly and having it watch you back.

"What can I do for you Harry?" he asked with a soft smile.

"Well, sir, it's Dudley. I don't know what happened, but it seems like Dudley has somehow become a wizard. I caught him using my wand to do magic in my room."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, slowly stroking his beard. After a few long moments he continued.

"Well, it looks like I will be seeing your Aunt again sooner than I had imagined." He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, then he suddenly returned his gaze to Harry.

"Harry, do you think that Dudley is likely to do anything too impulsive within the next two days?"

"No sir," he replied. "I talked to him for a little bit, and I gave him my first year transfiguration book. He shouldn't be able to do anything with it over the next couple of days. I was in class with Professor McGonagall for two weeks before I could do much of anything, and I had a wand."

"Indeed. Well, I think the best course of action at this point is for me to speak with young Mr. Dursley in person. Do you think he might accompany you to Mrs. Figg's house on Monday? I can speak to him there before you go over to Grimmauld Place."

"Well, yeah. I think I can talk him into it." He hoped he sounded surer of himself than he was. He had no idea how he was going to talk Dudley into coming with him to meet Professor Dumbledore.

"Good. Arabella, would you mind getting in touch with Minerva and letting her know what's going on? I am in the middle of something now, but as soon as I wrap things up here I will be going over to the Ministry to inform the Registrar of Wizards and Witches that I will be registering a Slyder."

"Right. Is it okay if I have Harry call her? It'll take me at least half an hour to get her if I try myself."

"Indeed. Harry, do you think you might be able to help Mrs. Figg with contacting Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes sir," he replied happily.

"Thank you, Harry. Well, I must get going if I am to finish up here in time to catch Cornelius before he goes home for the day. I'll see you on Monday, Harry. Arabella," he said, nodding to her. A moment later, he was gone.

While Harry called for Professor McGonagall, Mrs Figg went into the kitchen and came back a few moments later with a fresh pot of tea, just as McGonagall appeared in the mirror. He and Mrs. Figg brought her up to date on what had transpired and told her what was going to happen. She promised to be there on Monday to help speak with Dudley, and more importantly, to prepare Mr. and Mrs. Dursley for what was to happen next.

Since it was nearly six by the time everything was settled, Mrs. Figg fixed Harry a couple of chicken sandwiches and a bag of crisps for dinner. He left for home at a quarter to seven. When he got home, he headed straight upstairs, past his room, and knocked on Dudley's door.

After a few moments, Dudley opened his door. He didn't say anything, but opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside. Harry stepped in and looked around. He had only gone into Dudley's room a few times, and not in a long time. The room was a big mess, with clothes and old broken computer parts, video game boxes, and a couple dozen movie cassettes lying all over the place. He cleared a spot on the bed and took a seat.

"Well," he started, "I spoke with my Professor and he wants to meet with you."

Harry figured the best way to do this was to talk to Dudley in a straightforward manner, tell him what he needed to. Professor McGonagall said that she would be talking to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in a few days, so Dudley wasn't going to dodge that bullet anyway. This was simply going to be his chance to talk to Dumbledore first.

"Why does your Professor want to talk to me?" Dudley asked. "He doesn't think I'm going to that freak show you call a school, does he?"

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed," Harry retorted, "you're a freak now too, just like me. You are doing magic now, and that makes you a wizard. The sooner you come to terms with that, the better off you're going to be. As far as why you are going to talk to Professor Dumbledore, he wants to talk to you. Since he's the most powerful wizard in the world, as well as Headmaster of Hogwarts, I think you might just want to hear what he has to say while you have the chance. Besides, he's got a lot of pull with the Ministry, and right now you could use someone with connections to watch out for you."

"So what's he want with me?" he asked, more fear than confidence emanating from his voice.

"He just wants to talk to you. He'll probably offer to let you come to school if you want, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Personally, I don't care either way, but you need to talk to him so he can tell you how to live with your magic without blowing up the house. You remember what happened when I got mad at Aunt Marge, don't you? What if you did that to Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon?"

Dudley's eyes went wide in horror. Harry knew at that moment that he had him. There was no way Dudley was going to chance making a mistake and blowing up his parents. He may have been a spoiled brat, but he wouldn't be spoiled much if his parents floated away.

"So, can I tell him you'll be there?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. How am I supposed to get there without getting in trouble?"

"Well, tell them that you are going out for a while. Just leave about fifteen minutes before me and tell them you don't want to be around when I leave. They'll believe it. Besides, it will be on Monday, so you'll only have to tell Aunt Petunia. She lets you do whatever you want anyways. Just go to the park, sit tight for five minutes, and then head back to Mrs. Figg's house. By the time you get back from the park, I should be there. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall will be there around then, and they can tell you what you need to know. Trust me, if they'll help a git like Malfoy, they'll help you."

"Why don't you piss off," Dudley replied. He thought about it for a few minutes, screwing up his face in the process. Finally, he replied, "Yeah, I'll be there."

He paused for a moment, then stood up and headed to the door.

"Well, you can go now. You might be helping me out here, but don't go thinking that I'll start liking you or anything. I can barely..."

"Hey," Harry said, interrupting Dudley. He stood up and walked towards the door, and Dudley. "Don't you go thinking I'm doing this for you? I can't have Voldemort going around finding out where I live. If you go out and do something stupid just because you don't know any better, it could get me killed."

Dudley's face went ashen white again. Harry ignored it and walked to the door, put his hand on the doorknob, and just before he opened it he said, "Don't forget. I'll be leaving here on Monday at nine in the morning, so you need to leave by eight forty-five. Got it?"

Dudley just nodded his head.

Harry cracked open the door and looked down the hall. When he was sure that nobody was coming, he headed straight to the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked ready for an early grave. He sighed, dried his hands and face, and headed back to his room.

He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. It was only a little after seven, but he felt like it was midnight. He spent a little while reading through his Animagus book, but it was not long before he was so exhausted that the drawing began to melt into a swirl of colours, the words becoming blurred and distorted.

Finally, he tossed the book on top of the desk, changed, and got into bed. He closed his eyes and was just beginning to fall asleep when he remembered that he had to do his Occlumency training. So again, he stared at the ceiling and started counting. He never made it to ninety.

Sunday flew by very quickly.

Harry decided to spend most of the day inside his room practising his summoning and banishing spells and reading The Many faces of an Animagus. What had surprised him was how many mystical creatures were in the book. Of course, most of them were just unusual versions of common creatures like a six-foot tall spider, giant birds, and of course, giant dogs.

There were some more unusual animals, though. There is a Hellcat, which is basically a smaller brother to the lion with fiery red hair. There is a Nightmare, which is basically a black horse with fire for hair, a Pegasus, which is a flying horse, and also a Hippogriff.

But the ones that truly intrigued Harry were the sphinxes. Each of the sphinxes had a human-lion like body, with wings of a large falcon. But the Androsphinx which had the face of a man, the Criosphinx with the heads of a ram, and Harry's favourite, the Hieracosphinx with the head of a hawk or falcon. He liked the latter best because it reminded him of Buckbeak.

But he was also torn because he also liked the Lammasu. The Lammasu had the solid body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and the face of a man.

He wasn't sure why, but he liked the idea of having the body of a lion with wings. It just seemed to look like a natural combination to him. The funny thing was that he didn't much enjoy riding on Buckbeak, but he somehow knew that it would be different to fly on his own.

After a while, he put down the book and went back to his charm practice. He worked on some disarming charms for DADA, transformed his chair into a cat and back again, and levitated his furniture and moved it around the room. Around three o'clock he took a quick walk to the park, just to get out for a bit, but was back half an hour before dinner.

After dinner he went up to his room and packed his things. Since this time he would be gone for a week, and he would be going back quite often, he decided to pack nearly half his stuff, though he made sure to leave just a bit more here than he was going to take. With how comfortable he was at Grimmauld Place, he had to find some reason to call this place home, and he couldn't think of anything better than keeping a majority of his things here, even if just barely.

When he was packed and ready to go, he headed to Dudley's room to remind him of the plan for the next day. By this time Dudley was back to his old crude self, but Harry could tell that he was a bit anxious to find out what was going to happen tomorrow. It was fun to know that Harry was one up on Dudley for a change.

When he returned to his room around seven, he decided that he would spend the rest of the night working on his Occlumency lessons. He only had two days to get back into shape and he knew that he was in for it if he wasn't at least as good as he was the last time he had faced Snape. That reminded him of their last lesson, where Harry had looked into the Pensieve of Snape's memories and incurred a fury from Snape like he had never received before. Snape had thrown him out of his office and cancelled the lessons from that point on.

He hadn't been very rattled by Snape throwing him out, but he had been very upset by what he had seen in the Pensieve. He had watched as his dad had ribbed, raged, and even assaulted Snape, which in and of itself wasn't all that bad, except then he found out that his dad had done it all for the fun of it and not because Snape had done something first. His mum had asked why his dad had attacked Snape and he had said, "Well, it's more the fact that he exists," and Harry couldn't stop thinking that his dad had been wrong in what he had done. He had talked to Sirius and Lupin about it, but they weren't really objective about it, and they didn't exactly seem to feel that his dad was really wrong for what he had done. And now Harry was getting all upset about it all over again when he was supposed to be working on clearing his emotions.

He cleared his mind and started his exercises. He tried to clear his mind and imagined a tree with a hundred birds in it. He took a deep breath exhaled, and one of the birds flew away. He took another breath and another bird flew away.

He continued his exercises until he was ready for bed. He went to the bathroom, cleaned up, came back to his room, and went to bed. He finished the night with his standard skyward exercise to clear his mind, and it was not long before he was fast asleep.

Harry awoke brightly at six the next morning and was cleaned up and in the kitchen by a quarter to seven. He found that everyone was already having breakfast when he got there. He tried to say as little as possible and only acknowledged Dudley with a nod. Dudley replied with a quick nod back and went back to his paper. He had been reading the paper for quite some time now, emulating Uncle Vernon, which of course Uncle Vernon gave him lots of praise from for.

"That's my boy," he would say. "Always keeping up with the news. That's how a young man gets ahead in life. You'll be able to come to work for me at the office by next year if you keep this up," he would say proudly. Of course, when Harry tried to watch the news on the telly, he was a mischievous kid trying to get himself into trouble.

Harry finished his breakfast as quickly as possible and headed back up to his room. He put the three bags he was going to take with him into a pile on his bed and shrank them so he could put them all into his backpack. Finally, he made sure to pack his schoolbooks and wand. It was just as he had dropped his wand into the bag that he heard the familiar knocking at his window.

He opened the window to let Hedwig in. Hedwig hopped onto his desk and waited for Harry to pull the small parchment from his leg. The moment Harry removed the letter from Hedwig's leg, she flew over to her cage and began to eat.

Meanwhile, Harry opened the letter and read.

Dear Harry,

I don't know if this letter will get to you before we see you on Monday, but I wanted to ask you something before we get there. Dumbledore asked me and Hermione to meet with him at nine in the morning, but then this morning he told us we'd have to wait until later in the day to talk to him. And he wants us to wait until he owls us before we can come to Grimmauld Place. Do you have any idea what's going on? Hermione is going to come here at nine on Monday and we'll be waiting here for him to show. If you can try to get a letter back to us before then, we'd really appreciate it. Thanks, and we'll see you soon.

Ron.

Harry sighed. He knew he wouldn't be able to get Hedwig over to Ron before Dumbledore got there, and even if he could, he couldn't say anything anyhow as he had promised Dumbledore that he wouldn't. So he just sat there and read the letter from his best friend one more time.

Next, he went over to Hedwig's cage and put out his arm for her to hop onto. Then he brought her over to the window and she jumped down to the windowsill.

"Hedwig, I know you just got back, but I have to send you over to Sirius's house. That's where I am going to be during the week for the holidays. So I need you to head over there, and I'll have the cage ready for you when you get there."

Hedwig seemed to slump down an inch or so, but she quickly recovered, turned, and jumped out the window, flying off towards the sun.

Harry quickly shrank Hedwig's cage and put it into his bag. Then he headed for the door. It was already eight thirty-five and soon Dudley would be heading downstairs to go to the park.

He sat down with his back to the door and put his ear to the door. It was lucky that he had done so early, as only a few moments later he heard Dudley leave his room. He took a few steps, stopped in front of Harry's door, and knocked lightly on the door. Harry quickly jumped up and cracked open the door.

"Just making sure you weren't going to chicken out," Dudley whispered. Before Harry could respond, Dudley smirked at him for half a second before turning, strode down the hall, and headed downstairs and out of sight.

Harry went back to the bed and watched the clock. The next ten minutes seemed like a lifetime. At one time he actually thought he saw the clock begin to turn backwards. Finally, at eight forty-eight, Harry decided that he couldn't wait any longer, grabbed his bag, and headed downstairs.

He went into the kitchen, found it empty, and headed into the living room. There he found Aunt Petunia watching the talk shows.

"Well, I'll be going then," he said nonchalantly. All he got in response was a wave of her hand.

He shrugged, hefted his backpack, and headed out. He walked straight to Mrs. Figg's house and found Dudley sitting on the sidewalk between two cars.

He stood just before Harry got to him and looked extremely worried.

"You should know now that if this is some kind of a joke," he began, "I'll make sure you won't be able to use that wand of yours for a year. Do you understand?"

His voice was raw and hard, but Harry could see that he was fuelled by complete fear.

"Don't worry," he assured Dudley, "I don't care about you enough to go through all this trouble just to play a stupid hoax on you."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Two reasons. One, because if you screw something up and do magic in the house, that brings a good amount of unwanted attention. Then Voldemort's Death Eaters will come and try to kill me, and then he'll kill you, Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon just for the fun of it. And secondly..."

"Oh come off it," Dudley said, talking over Harry. "It's not like everyone in Europe is searching the country just to kill you. You're not that important."

"Yeah," Harry laughed, "well we'll just see what you think after you have a talk with Dumbledore. You just tell him what you just told me and see what he says."

Harry didn't wait for Dudley to respond, but turned around instead and shook his head and went over to Mrs. Figg's front door. The door opened just before Harry knocked and Mrs. Figg ushered them in quickly.

"Hurry up, boys. You know how much of a gossip Petunia is. We can't let her know you've come here until you have spoken to Dumbledore. I'm glad you got here a bit early too. It will give me a few moments to talk to you boys before he gets here. Please, take a seat and I'll be with you in a moment."

Harry sat down on the couch, followed promptly by Dudley. They didn't talk to each other, and after a few moments, Mrs. Figg came back in with tea. She offered them both a cup, took one for herself, and sat down in the armchair across from them.

"So," she said, addressing Dudley, "there are a few things that Dumbledore asked me to tell you before he arrived. First, he wants to assure you that you are completely free to leave at any time. However, it would be in your best interest to stay and listen to everything he has to say to you as he is here to help you in whatever you decide you want to do."

It occurred to Harry that his must be a very painful subject for Mrs. Figg to discuss, as she was a Squib and all. Dudley was given the gift that she was denied, and he might not even want it.

"So," she continued, pulling Harry's attention back, "I suggest you stay and listen to everything he has to tell you. After that, you can decide what you want to do. Now, Professor McGonagall will be joining us soon and she's probably going to show you some magic, just a few light spells to get you familiar with magic. I know you will have questions for her afterwards, but are there any questions you want to ask me before they arrive?"

Dudley seemed, struck dumb for a moment, but just as Harry began to speak, Dudley spoke up.

"Um, are you a witch?" he asked, fear sparking in his eyes.

"Oh no, dear," she replied in an upbeat voice, "I'm a Squib. Not an ounce of magic in me."

"What's a Squib?" he asked, the fear ebbing from his eyes.

"A Squib is a person with Magical parents, but not magical themselves. It's the opposite of a Muggle-born wizard or witch."

"Sorry, but what's a Muggle?"

"Oh my. I forgot you don't speak with Harry too much, now do you. Yes, well. To answer your question, a Muggle is what the wizarding world calls non-magical folk, like you and your parents, or just about anyone you'd normally know. Course, you're not exactly a Muggle any more now are you."

Harry thought he could detect a hint of jealousy from Mrs. Figg, but he didn't' get a chance to think about it as a moment later a rumbling sound came from the fireplace and out came Professor Dumbledore, followed moments later by Professor McGonagall.

Professor Dumbledore was dressed in his full dress robes while Professor McGonagall was dressed in her Muggle clothes. Harry was sure he knew why she was wearing that. Though he had never seen it himself, Hermione had told him about how McGonagall had come and spoken to her and her parents to present her first year Hogwarts invitation.

Professor McGonagall had arrived in Muggle clothes, and then used magic to change into her school robes right in front of them as an example of magic. Harry doubted that she would do the same in front of the Dursleys, as she already had a fair idea of what the Dursleys were like.

"Good day," said Dumbledore. "Hello Harry. Hello Mr. Dursley."

Dudley flushed. Being addressed by Dumbledore had been an experience that Harry would never forget, and looking at Dudley, Harry didn't think Dudley would ever forget it either.

"Harry, may I speak with you for a moment?" he asked.

"Yes sir, of course," Harry replied, a bit mystified.

"Minerva," he said, nodding to her. She nodded back with a courteous smile and turned to Dudley. She started by introducing herself, but Harry didn't hear anything else as he was led into the kitchen by Dumbledore.

"Harry, I wanted to speak with you briefly about your cousin. You know him much better than any of us, and I was hoping you might be able to give me some insight into his personality, what we might expect from him, and how he might fit in at Hogwarts."

"Well, to tell you the truth, Dudley and I never really got along sir. He and I have always had the same kind of relationship as me and Draco Malfoy. Frankly, he's a spoiled, bullying, selfish git. Sorry, but that's the only Dudley I know. As far as how he'll react to being a wizard or going to Hogwarts, I haven't a clue. I know that he'd be tempted just so that he can do that much more than anyone else, but at the same time, his parents aren't going to like it none too much and I don't think he'd be willing to tell them. More than that, he thinks that anyone who uses magic is a freak, so I don't know what to tell you."

When Harry finished, Dumbledore remained motionless for a few moments, then a smile crossed his face. It was as though he couldn't have hoped for better answer from Harry.

"Harry, I would like to ask you something very important, and I know it's going to be hard for you to answer so I won't expect an answer today, but if your cousin decides to come to Hogwarts with us, would you be willing to help him integrate into the school? I'm sure the fact that he is your cousin will make a large impact on the students and it isn't going to be easy, especially with his heritage."

"Well, sir, frankly, I don't know what to do, but it would be my guess that he wouldn't want to hang around me anyway. He doesn't much like me and he's spent that past fifteen years picking on me."

"Of course," said Dumbledore, smiling even more broadly, "but I think your cousin just might surprise you, if you are willing to give him a chance."

"Well, sir, if he wants my help, I'll see what I can do. But I wouldn't expect any miracles."

"All I would ask is that you try. If he does not find the help he needs from you, I'm sure he will find it with some of the other students. However, since he is a Slyder, he's going to be an even bigger outcast than that of a normal Muggle born wizard."

"Sorry," Harry chimed in, "but a Slyder? I don't remember hearing of a Slyder before."

"Yes, you wouldn't. A Slyder is very rare person indeed. A Slyder is a Muggle or Squib who becomes a wizard at a very late age in life. It is usually connected to a life and death situation involving magic, but even then it is very rare for the event to trigger that kind of a change in a person."

"So it was the Dementor attack last year."

"It is very likely. Honestly, had he been anyone else, I would have found it hard to believe. However, the most impossible events seem to surround the great Harry Potter, now don't they?" Dumbledore said with another broad smile.

"Yeah, it does. But if it takes me a lifetime, I plan to break that cycle," Harry said, smiling broadly as well.

"Indeed, I can see why you might try. Well, I think it's time for me to return to the living room to speak with young Dudley. I think it would be best if you would only stay for a few moments, as things may get a bit embarrassing for him. However, if you could give him a vote of confidence before you go with Professor McGonagall, I think it would help a bit."

"Yes sir," Harry said mildly.

They both stood and headed back into the living room. McGonagall was showing him the levitation spell by moving a cup and saucer around the room, then back into her hand. Harry headed back to the couch and sat down next to Dudley.

"So Dudley," he said in a chipper voice, "what do you think?"

"I don't know. It's all kinda weird. But I can tell you one thing. Even if I did want to try it, to go to that school of yours, there's no way Mum and Dad are going to let me go."

"Actually, I believe there is something I may be able to do to help you with that," came Dumbledore's voice. "Harry, if I could speak with Mr. Dursley here, he and I will meet you at Grimmauld Place in a bit." Though it came as a request, Harry knew there was no objecting, though he wouldn't even if he could.

"Yes sir," Harry responded, nodding his head. He turned to Dudley and said softly, "Dudley, if you want to have any chance of learning to use magic the right way, listen to Dumbledore. He's the greatest wizard alive, and if you go to Hogwarts, he'll be your headmaster. So trust what he tells you. And remember, you can go whenever you want, and I don't really care either way, but if you know what's best for you, you'll stay and listen to what he says, okay? Good. So, I'll see you in a bit."

Harry gave Dudley a weak smile, patted him on the shoulder, then stood and headed for the fireplace where Dumbledore was waiting for him.

"Thank you Harry," he said affectionately. "I know this wasn't the easiest thing for you to do, and that's yet another sign of just how far you've come in the past five years, and I'm very proud of you. Now, we'll see you in a little while, and don't be too surprised if young Mr. Dursley is with us."

"Yes sir," Harry responded. "But don't be too surprised if he decides not to come."

"Well, we'll see soon," Dumbledore said with a mischievous grin.

Harry stepped into the fireplace, smiled to Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Mrs. Figg, and gave a salute to Dudley as he called out "Grimmauld Place," was consumed in the flames, and disappeared.

He arrived at Grimmauld Place a few moments later with Lupin sitting at the dinning room table waiting for him.

Lupin stood and headed over to greet him, but was a bit too slow as suddenly Dobby popped in from nowhere and hugged Harry around the waist.

"Hello Harry Potter, sir. Welcome back. Dobby is happy to see Harry Potter back. Is there anything Harry Potter is wanting for lunch?"

"Well, Dobby, if it's not too much trouble, I wouldn't mind a sandwich," He said, smiling down at Dobby.

Dobby smiled broadly, jumped off Harry, and headed off to make lunch.

Then Lupin finally made his way over to say hello. They sat down for lunch and talked for nearly an hour about Dudley, and what Dumbledore might do if Dudley did decide to go to Hogwarts. They talked about how Harry would cope with Dudley going to Hogwarts, and Remus gave him advice whenever possible. Then, just before noon, they tired of talking about Dudley and headed upstairs to do some more house cleaning.

They continued to work until two thirty, and then went back downstairs for a snack. They were just digging into some brownies when the familiar rumbling from the fireplace caught their attention. They looked over just in time to see Molly Weasley pop out of the fireplace, followed by Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Ron, Ginny, and last but not least, Hermione. The moment they saw Harry, they all headed straight for him and before he knew it, he was drowning in a pool of hugs, slaps, and handshakes.

But before everyone could say hello, the fireplace began to rumble again and Dumbledore popped out, followed by Professor McGonagall, and finally, to Harry's surprise, Dudley. What's more, he was wearing a Hogwarts robe.

"Hi all," Dudley cried out with pride, "Guess what? I'm going to Hogwarts."

Coming Soon

Chapter 5

A Wizard Named Dudley