Dudley's Discovery

Sarah Evans watched her son Mark go up to his room. She went immediately to her husband’s study and found him there, reading “The Daily Prophet.”

“Still haven’t got wind of us being here,” Robert Evans said happily. He was a short, jovial man with a large smile. “It looks like your friend is an excellent secret-keeper.” His smile grew broader by the minute as he scanned the pages. “It also looks like You Know Who hasn’t acted yet. No news is good news at this point, I’d say.” He looked back up at his wife, who was standing over him with a very tense look on her face. Her eyes were wide and it looked as though her entire body had gone very white, like a ghost.

“Sarah, dear. What is the matter?” Robert said, his smile melting from his face. He put the newspaper down on an end table and rose from his chair, helping his wife sit down in it. “What’s happened?”

“Mark used magic just now. I was in the kitchen, seeing to dinner when the alarm went off. The charm I put on his wand to let me know if it was being used obviously works. I called for him to come home and…” Her voice trailed off. She looked as though she didn’t want to continue.

“Is Mark all right, Sarah?” Robert asked, panic in his eyes.

“He’s fine, Robert. But there is something you should know. He used the wand because he was cursed.”

“Cursed?” said Robert incredulously. “But how? Who?”

“Dudley Dursley,” said Sarah softly. “Without a wand.”

Robert gave a low whistle of disbelief and looked carefully at his wife. “Are you sure? Did you look carefully into Mark’s eyes to see if he wasn’t just making it all up to excuse the use of his new wand?”

“He was as shaken as we are now,” Sarah said. “He said Dudley cursed him with boils, and if you look at his face, you can see where they were before Mark vanished them. The marks will fade in a few hours, but you can still see them right now.”

“And did Dudley see Mark’s wand? Did he know what he saw?” Robert asked with even more concern. The answer to these questions could ruin their whole plan.

“I believe he did,” said Sarah. Robert’s face fell.

“It looks like you should go get your friend. It may be time to reveal our secret, at least to the Dursleys,” Robert said with a deep sigh. Sarah Disapparated in front of her husband as he sank back down in the chair she had just been sitting in. It was going to be a long night.

Section Seven

Sarah Apparated back into Robert’s study about five minutes later, a short, round woman in tow. They both looked a bit dazed from this whirlwind trip, but recovered quickly.

“Ahh, Aurora. Thank you for coming at such short notice,” Robert said, extending his hand to hers. They shook hands and Aurora Goodfellow clasped his hand in her free one.

“It will be all right, Robert. I just have this feeling that it will,” she said gently. She had a gift for making people feel better. There was a mischievous mirth about her that was contagious, even in dire circumstances. Robert smiled in spite of himself, and in spite of the words he was about to speak.

“All these years, estranged from my only remaining family, only to reunite with them under these circumstances,” Robert said. “I don’t know how or why Dudley is suddenly showing magical powers, but we must talk to my sister and her husband and see if they have any answers.”

“I trust you know how to use the telephone?” asked Sarah, walking over to it. Aurora had Muggle relatives as well, so she was familiar with most Muggle appliances. She walked over to it and picked up the phone.

“Just give me the number and tell me what you want me to say,” she said softly, looking at both Sarah and Robert in turn, a look of deep concern on her face for what they were about to do.

She dialed the number and the phone rang on the other end. A female voice came on the line, and Aurora launched into her speech.

“You don’t know me, Petunia, but I am calling on behalf of your brother, Robert. He and his wife Sarah, and their son Mark are living only a few blocks away and have been for almost a year now. They returned to watch Harry Potter, and to make sure he was safe.” Aurora paused here, to see if there was any reaction at all to her words, but there was none, so she plunged on. “Robert Evans, Sarah Evans, and Mark Evans would like for you to know that they are here and that you can visit or call them anytime you need to do so. You cannot tell anyone else that they are here. They are protected by a very powerful charm. Their location can only be revealed by me, which is why I’ve called. Robert would like to talk to you now. Would that be all right?” There was still no answer from the other end, so Robert took the phone and started talking.

“Petunia? You must understand why we left and why we returned. I don’t have much time, but there are some things we need to discuss. Are you all right?” Robert paused for an answer, but received only an earful of that same disbelieving silence. He could instinctively tell that Petunia was still listening, but why she wasn’t responding he didn’t know. He went on after several minutes of silence.

“You took Harry in when he was just a baby after his parents died. I always thought I’d be better suited to raise him, being married to a witch and all, but Dumbledore insisted that he live with your family, away from the wizarding world until it was time for him to go to school. After my son Mark was born he showed magical powers right away. This was something that needed to be hidden from non-magic people, so Sarah and I moved far away, to a magical village where we could raise Mark safely. However, the more we learned about Harry Potter and his adventures at school, the more we realized we needed to be nearby, to watch him and make sure everything was okay when he was not under the protection of Dumbledore at school. We did not want other magical people to know we were watching Harry because we were afraid that somehow, the evil wizard who killed Lily and James would find out and try to kill us as well. We also didn’t want your family to know we were here. So we had a charm placed on our family. It’s called the Fidelius Charm and it is used to conceal something from people who don’t need to know where it is. This charm actually hid our identities from everyone else in the world. You could have seen me on the street and perhaps even recognized me as someone you’d seen before, but before our secret-keeper revealed our presence, you would not have known me as your brother. In this case, my wife’s dear friend Aurora, whom you spoke to earlier, was our secret-keeper. Only she can reveal our whereabouts. We would have continued like this until Harry came of age, but tonight, something happened that forced us to reveal ourselves to you. Your son, Dudley displayed magical powers. I know this may be hard for you to hear, given your attitudes about magic in general, but you need to know. Dudley cursed Mark, causing boils to erupt all over his face. Mark made them vanish in front of Dudley, so you may have to answer some questions from him about Mark’s identity or about our family.” Robert waited once more for a response, but again there was nothing. He knew Petunia was still listening, so he said one last bit.

“Having magical powers and not knowing how to use them properly or using them for only destruction can be very bad, Petunia. Dudley needs to know that he could cause real damage with his powers if he is not careful. Please tell him this. We will be happy to help him if he needs guidance or instruction. Just tell him to come see us.” Robert finished his speech with a shudder, feeling both relieved and terrified at what he had said. It was in Petunia’s hands now to do what she wanted to do. Robert hoped with all his might that there would soon be a knock on their door.