The Adventure of Dudley Dursley

Chapter 10: Getting Adjusted

Dudley had but a moment to grin at Hannah before suddenly the ax levitated out of his hands. It raised itself, glowing brightly, until it was hovering above them. Both stared at the ax until suddenly several beams of light erupted out of it. The brightest beam caught Dudley right in the chest, and he collapsed onto the ground, writhing on the cold dirt.

Hannah let out a scream and pulled her wand. However, she knew no spells that could stop whatever was happening. But as quickly as the beam of light had started, it stopped. Dudley sat up, panting from the exertion of what he had just gone through. Hannah looked at him, panic stricken; because she didn't know what the beam of light had done, but he smiled at her roguishly and said, "Don't worry."

The smile notwithstanding, Hannah was still confused and said, "What the hell just happened Dud? Are you alright?"

Dudley grimaced slightly from his fall to the ground and stood up. He said, "Accio" and the ax stopped glowing and flew to his hand. Hannah gasped to see Dudley performing magic, especially wandlessly, and even Dudley looked surprised that it had worked.

"Holy crap, I can't believe that just worked!" Dudley said with a start. When Hannah continued to look amazed, Dudley was suddenly worried that he'd managed to creep out Hannah. Not to mention the fact that Dudley had just managed to make a glowing ax fly to his hand by saying some crazy word he'd never known before. Dudley was suddenly a mix of two people: the person he'd been before any stumbling into the Dementors and the person he's been becoming ever since that point. Both sides of his personality raged for control for a moment. The side of his past thought of how cool is would be now that he could do magic. He could get whatever he wanted to be happy. But as soon as this idea occurred to him, Dudley was ashamed. That person wasn't who he was anymore. Yes, he'd once been a greedy little git who took what he wanted and used fear and violence to achieve his aims, but just thinking of what Langford would think to know that the nice boy whom he'd helped was considering doing brought him back to earth. Dudley realized that he didn't want to be that person ever again, and that having new abilities didn't change that conclusion. Looking up, he realized that Hannah was staring at him, perhaps aware of the internal battle that had been waging in him.

"Dudley, are you ok?" Hannah asked.

Dudley looked down at the ax for a moment, and then said, "Yea, sorry about that. I just got lost in my thoughts there for a second after I figured out that I could do magic. Well, I think I know what happened. The beam of light was two separate things. Firstly, the ax was returning the magical power that was stolen so long ago from my family. As you just saw, I can do magic again. But it also was transferring knowledge to me of all the spells that it knew and has performed. That's how I knew how to do magic without a wand. You might have noticed that you can sometimes do magic without your wand, as the wand acts to channel your magic, but the ax knows how to mentally do the same thing, although it is less powerful. So I guess that I know how to do a lot of magic now."

Hannah looked at him in awe, amazed that he knew so much magic, and the intellectual part of her personality was fascinated because now Dudley would know all sorts of ancient magic that might have been forgotten through the years between the ax's disappearance and modern times.

She began to interrogate him on these differences, and quickly learned that Dudley knew many of the same spells that she did, but also that there were differences. The pair of them talked until the sun came up, amazed that they had completed their quest, and that Dudley now was the equivalent of a fully trained wizard, albeit one with an obscure knowledge of certain areas of magic. However, both of them realized with a rumbling of stomachs that they'd been out for many hours, and that both of their parents would be panic stricken, not to mention the order members guarding Dudley. Therefore, they headed off towards the village together, holding hands, and with Dudley still reveling in his ability to do magic. They separated somewhat unwillingly with a deep kiss before going their separate ways.

Dudley was thinking about the occurrences that he'd orchestrated, and what they would mean. As he was nearing his house, he suddenly realized that his father might suddenly be able to do magic, and chuckled to himself of the image of Vernon Dursley accidentally blowing up a customer who argued with him.

Dudley realized that he knew how to Apparate, and figured that he ought to do that instead of trying to sneak into his house. Therefore, Dudley thought of his destination and turned on the spot. With a horrible squeezing sensation, Dudley appeared in his backyard with a small pop. He then conjured a small tent and pretended that he'd slept inside of it. He went inside and found his mother and father in state of mild panic about where he'd been, and calmed them by telling them that he'd spent the night in the backyard. Seeing that he was safe and sound, they accepted his story, even though they knew that he most likely had been with that "Susan" girl.

Dudley went to find his order guards. They were furious over his disappearing, but calmed down to see that he was still safe. Dudley told them that he'd found the ax, and then mentioned the added benefit of gaining magical gifts from the ax. Hestia seemed willing to believe that this was possible, but Dedalus was skeptical. However, Dudley hefted the ax and pointed it at him saying, "Expelliarmus!" With a whoosh, Dedalus' wand flew from his pocket and spun into the air.

"Ok, I believe you Dudley, now can I please have my wand back?" Dedalus said with a grin.

Dudley then proceeded to tell the pair about what he'd learned, and how Dudley's other relatives (through his father's side, including his Aunt Marge) most likely had some sort of magical ability, but not the knowledge to use it. They decided not to tell Dudley's parents right away about Dudley's new abilities, nor Vernon's possible abilities. Things at the house were as good as they'd ever been, given that the elder Dursleys had become quite accepting of the two order members and their occasional uses of magic. The risk of upsetting this balance kept the truth about this new discovery a closely guarded secret for the moment.

After having a meal, Dudley told the house that he was heading out again. This time, he promised that he'd be home for dinner, and left to find Hannah at her house. She'd finally calmed down her father and was able to go outside for a little walk.

As the pair of them continued their talk, Dudley noted how heavy the ax was, and realized that although this powerful magical artifact was priceless, he didn't want to carry it around all the time and therefore that he needed a wand.

Luckily, one of the memories that he gained was that of the fact that one of his ancestors had acted as a wandmaker. Therefore, he knew what sorts of materials would allow him to make a wand. Dudley told Hannah that he wanted to make a wand, given the fact that he couldn't exactly carry the ax around all the time. She expressed doubt, explaining that it was a very specialized craft, but Dudley was adamant that he could do this. He gathered the necessary wood (in this case, Hazel) and then considered what sort of object he'd need for a core. He searched his new memories and realized that there was a hidden spot in the forest outside of Goodmanham that contained ancient remains of wandmaking supplies. Dudley cast the charm that caused the buried materials to rise above the soil and together he and Hannah sifted through the materials. There were many odd things which they identified as Dragon heartstrings, Phoenix tailfeathers, Unicorn tail hairs, Hippogriff Talons, and Chimaera scales (which Hannah knew were incredibly rare and powerful). Dudley picked up each in turn, and felt a warmth flowing into him from the Chimaera scales. Therefore, Dudley would create a wand of hazelwood and chimaera scales. Hannah told him that according to wand lore, this would be a powerful wand, based upon the core, and that hazel was associated with knowledge, which actually fit into Dudley's newly developed intellectual thirst.

Having settled upon the material, Dudley sat down and assembled his wand, muttering charms as he worked. As he finished, the wand seemed to magically seal around his core, and lifting the wand, a series of bright sparks shot from the tip. Holding the wand in his right hand, Dudley felt as though the wand belonged in his hand, almost as though it were an extension of his arm. He raised the wand, and said, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of bright blue flowers burst from the tip of his new wand. "I guess it works," Dudley said with a grin, as he handed the flowers to Hannah.

Hannah leaned in to kiss him before they had to separate for the night, as it was getting late once again. Dudley again Apparated home (still reveling in the fact that he didn't have to walk the distance), and walked into the room, quickly hiding the ax, but keeping his wand in his pocket. As Dudley sat down for dinner with his parents (the two order members were reading an owl they'd received in another room and discussing it in low tones), his father came crashing into the room (as he often entered rooms as though he was charging into battle). For the first time in months, Vernon seemed to be in a bad mood (as even he'd admit that he enjoyed being an important person in this town, and since his house and car were considered luxurious for this village, he felt privileged). When Petunia asked her husband what the issue is, Vernon told her, "I had a bit of a bad day today Petunia. I think there is someone pranking me at work, and when I catch them, I'm going to have them shot!"

"What do you mean Vernon?" Petunia asked.

Her husband elaborated, "Well I was taking inventory over lunchtime today, and couldn't find the newest set of tools we received. I was searching and muttering to myself, slightly worried because I had someone coming to buy them later in the day, and all of a sudden the missing pieces came flying out of nowhere and almost conked me in the head. Someone must have been hiding in the shop and hidden them, and then thrown them at me."

Dudley realized that far from being the victim of a prankster, his father had accidentally used magic at work that day, and resolved to tell him the next day. As there was some sort of holiday the next day, Dudley wouldn't have school, so he asked if he could accompany his father to work. His father quickly agreed, pleased that Dudley wanted to come and follow in his footsteps. Dudley realized that he didn't want to get too into details with his father when he told him the next day, and instead would simplify things. He called Hannah and told her that he'd be busy the next day, and then went to sleep.

Meanwhile, the family's order guards were reading the letter they'd received with a great deal of concern. It appeared that someone had sent them the owl with the knowledge that they couldn't reply, but in an effort to fill them in on news from the wizarding world. The news they read was pretty horrifying, as they saw the deaths and disappearances that had occurred since they'd left. The loss of Mad-Eye was particularly sad, but they'd been in hiding when that occurred almost a year previously. The state of the ministry and Hogwarts was also horrible, but it appeared as though their only hope was that Harry would defeat the forces of darkness that surrounded the world.

The next morning, Dudley awoke and prepared himself for the day. He ate breakfast and showered, then got into the car with his father. Given that it was a holiday, they would be opening late, but Dudley knew they needed to finish the inventory at the shop and to tidy up before opening. Once they were inside, Dudley drew the blinds on the shop and began to work with his father. As they were working, Dudley talked with his father. He realized that his attitudes greatly influenced his father, and by expressing his affection for Harry, he got his father to reconsider his treatment of the boy. There also was a bit of an awkward conversation when his father attempted to have the sex talk with Dudley, but he managed to skirt by that by mentioning the pranking the other day. Once his father began ranting about this topic, Dudley said, "I know what really caused the pranks Dad." He then proceeded to explain that recent events had taught him that the family had magic in it, and for some reason it was now free).

Vernon immediately suspected that those "ruddy order folks" had brainwashed his son, but when Dudley removed his wand from his pocket and cast a cleaning charm on the mop in the corner (which then began to mop the shop on its own), Vernon realized that his son was more than just confused, he'd been tampered with.

"When I get my hands on those damn Order folks, they're going to be dead for doing this to you. They've turned you into one of 'them' and you were perfect. Don't worry Dudders, my boy, I'll find some way to make them undo what they've done or I'll have them in the stocks."

With a sigh at how his father was taking the news, Dudley interupped his father's ranting. "Dad, DAD! Shut up! No one from the order 'did this to me.' I did it myself. And in case you haven't noticed, you've managed to upend half the stuff in this shop because of your anger."

As Vernon looked around, he saw that in his fury over what had occurred, objects had flown off shelves of their own accord, and were now broken and littering the floor.

Dudley again withdrew his wand and said, "Reparo" and the broken tools and goods were suddenly fixed. With a flick, they flew back onto the shelves.

Vernon took a small step backwards from his son, yet even still he appreciated that he did not own a shop full of broken goods any longer. For a moment, he stared at his boy, then said, "You said you did this Dudley, please explain yourself."

Therefore, Dudley explained about his families past. He told his father about how his ancestors had been famous wizards, and how they'd been renowned and beloved. He explained how the Dursley clan had been robbed of their heritage by an evil wizard, and that Dudley had undone the damage.

At this point, Vernon began to calm down. The fact that there weren't villagers chasing him with pitchforks was a good first step. He also liked that his ancestors had once been famous. He allowed Dudley to explain how their ability to do magic didn't really change that much, as neither of them were weirdos, but were finally living up to their potential.

Vernon seemed to still be shocked, and Dudley explained that he might want to explore his new heritage once he got a chance. "If you think I'm going to go to some ruddy school, then you're nuts Son."

"No Dad, I think you ought to get used to this, and then once you're ready, there are mail courses that you could take, just so that you don't cause things to happen that you don't mean to do. You might even like it, and if you do, we can get you a wand."

The pair continued to talk into the afternoon (forgetting to open the shop in the process), and then Dudley told his father that he needed to do an errand. Dudley then Apparated out of the shop to his home, leaving his father alone and in a state of shock yet again. He appeared at home and told his mother much of the same story. The scene was almost an eerie repeat of his talk with his father. Initially, Petunia had reacted badly (the word freak was throw around), but once she found out that her husband was also a wizard and recovered from her subsequent faint, she began to calm down. Her love for her son and her husband overpowered her prejudice, and slowly she began to come to grips with the massive change to her small world.

After his exhausting day with his parents, Dudley ventured to Hannah's house for some peace with someone who wouldn't challenge him or question him in uncomfortable ways. The pair of them sat down to talk into the evening, with Dudley explaining what he had gone through that day, and the two of them cuddling in the house. Hannah's father was out that evening, allowing the pair of them to enjoy the house alone in many circumstances that would not have been possible if someone else was home.

Suddenly, Dudley, who'd been kissing Hannah and had her wrapped in a hug, felt a burning pain on his hand. He yelped and released her. With a gasp, Hannah pulled the DA galleon from her back pocket and looked at it. She then looked at Dudley with fear on her face and said, "Dudley, there's some sort of battle starting at Hogwarts!"