Speak, Memory

The Mind of Dudley Dursley

Harry woke up late one August morning expecting yet another dull, pointless day. With Voldemort and Bellatrix on the loose he had been stuck at 4 Privet Drive for over a month now. Even though Sirius had been cleared by the Ministry after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and was now living as a free man, Harry had still been forced to stay in the house of his aunt because of the magical protection her blood provided from Voldemort.

Harry corresponded regularly with Ron and Hermione and Sirius, but he still felt miserable. On his birthday he got a huge bag of Bernie Botts's Flavored Beans from Ron and a book from Hermione, Inside the Power Structure of Wizarding Britain, which he hadn't even looked through yet. Harry had not gotten a present from Sirius, just a letter promising a birthday gift as soon as possible. Sirius, in addition to looking for a new place to live, was doing a lot of very important work for the Order that he couldn't tell Harry about. And Harry definitely didn't want to ruin his godfather's exhilaration at his new freedom by bothering him with stupid complaints about how bored he was. But Harry wasn't just bored. A cold worm of fear gnawed at his insides, because nothing had happened. Harry hadn't had any Voldemort nightmares that summer, but he didn't believe for a minute that this was the result of his own rather frustrated attempts at Occlumency before going to bed at night. Voldemort was planning something, something big. And there was the prophecy. Harry hadn't told Sirius or anyone what he and Dumbledore knew, and he himself could not bear to register the true implications of this knowledge.

Harry walked out of his room into the hallway. He had just taken a few steps when the door to his left opened and out of it staggered a bleary-eyed Dudley. Dudley was hung-over, of course; Harry had seen him come home drunk as a skunk the night before. (Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia thought Dudley had caught "one of those bloody foreign colds filthy tramps are spreading around like mad these days"). Out of it, Dudley turned to face Harry and opened his small bloodshot eyes to take in the sight; Harry opened his own eyes a bit wider as an involuntary reflex.

Harry's scar burned like a strip of blazing wire, and he felt a surge of power within him, a power that was primal and beyond his control--but was it his? He locked stares with Dudley--

A blond six-year-old bawled as was unable to write his own name--

An overweight pre-teen shook with fear as a huge snake crawled out of its glass cage--

A vast shaggy man was calling this same boy "a fat pudding"--

A doctor was removing the boy's tail while one nurse whispered, "Are you sure he's not supposed to be a pig?"--

A prim lady was telling an obese teenager that he must go on a strict diet because the school did not stock uniforms large enough to fit him--

He put a sweet into his mouth and his tongue became so large and swollen--

A huge boy was embarrassedly watching a pretty girl, who turned around, saw him, and burst into laughter with her friends--

A strapping blond youth coolly took a drag on a cigarette and began coughing uncontrollably--

"STOP IT!" Dudley roared, "Stop it, you freak!" Harry was jolted back into his own mind, where he found himself unable to make any sense of the situation. Aunt Petunia rushed over, crying,

"Dinky Diddyums, what's wrong?"

"He--he--" Dudley pointed a thick, quavering finger at Harry--"he was in my head!"

"Your head!" Aunt Petunia shrieked. Staring wide-eyed at Harry, she demanded, "What did you do, what did you do to my son, you unspeakable--"An owl swooped down and dropped an envelope into Harry's hands. Tearing it open, he read,

Dear Mr. Potter,

We detected an uncontrolled magical emission from you at 12:11 pm, August 3^rd. While we are aware that the magic was unintentional and that accidents do happen, we must caution you to exercise more control in the future, or further action may be necessary.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Sincerely,

Lucinda Peabody

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

"It was an accident," Harry said, trying desperately to stay calm. "I saw into some of his memories--I don't know why--"

"It was all my bad memories," Dudley interjected, "he did it on purpose, the bloody--"

"So you thought you'd play a joke, boy, did you?" boomed Uncle Vernon at Harry. "Give me that--" he snatched the letter out of Harry's hands. As he read it, his faced turned from red to purple, and he barked at Harry, "Uncontrolled, eh? Maybe I better teach you some bloody control--"

"You couldn't teach Ickle Diddykins here how to wipe his own arse," Harry shot back. Enough was enough. He might have to stay in Hell House for his own safety, he might have to kill Voldemort or be killed by him, but he didn't have to put up with anymore of Uncle Vernon's witless bullying. "Which isn't surprising, as neither of you have two brain cells to rub together."

"Why you insolent little--" Uncle Vernon managed to choke out.

"Pathetic, really, the way you always try to push everyone around," Harry continued. He was on a roll now; he'd been longing to say this for years. "Do you really believe that everyone doesn't know that you're scared shitless of anyone smarter than you, which is, well, everyone?"

Even if Harry had not been paying attention to the "Crack!" as Uncle Vernon slapped him across the face, the sting flooding his left cheek would have distracted him from the "Bang!" a few feet away from him. But Harry and the Dursleys all heard a man shout, "Stop that! How dare you do that to my godson!"

"Sirius?" Harry turned to see his godfather standing wand held out, glowering ferociously at the terrified Dursleys. Before anyone could say anything a second "Bang!" was heard and a familiar dry, contemptuous voice said,

"Really, Black, for an innocent man you certainly do love to act the criminal." It was Snape. "Threatening Muggles, are you?" He glanced disinterestedly at the Dursleys. "Bit of a step down from what you used to do at school--"

"This scumbag," Sirius pointed furiously at Uncle Vernon, "just hit my godson."

"Oh?" Snape raised an eyebrow at Uncle Vernon. "That boy does get on one's nerves--"

Before Snape could finish trashing him, Harry blurted out, "What the bloody hell is going on?"

"Professor Dumbledore was notified about your accidental Legilimency," Sirius said quickly. "He felt it was necessary that he see you and begin tutoring you in Occlumency as soon as possible. So he sent me to come fetch you--"

"Then what's he doing here?" Harry couldn't help interrupting.

"Professor Dumbledore does not want Order members going on missions alone, Potter," Snape said. "Particularly as Black seems to share your love of vainglorious theatrics. And as this is school business as well, the headmaster wanted a Hogwarts professor to be involved. Well if that's all, then we can all get going--"

"NO IT IS BLOODY WELL NOT ALL!" Uncle Vernon finally managed to find his voice. Turning to Snape he said, "This boy was reading my son's mind--all his bad memories--little bastard must've thought it was hilarious--"

"I told you, it was an ACCIDENT!" Harry yelled.

"Your nephew has a habit of ending up in places where he doesn't belong," Snape said coolly. "Moreover, he is quite impulsive and undisciplined. We don't know why he saw into his cousin's mind--that's what we're trying to find out--"

"Trying?" Uncle Vernon spat. "You mean he might do it again, at any time? The boy's a menace, he always was, he has no right to exist--"

"Enough," Sirius said sharply. Turning to Uncle Vernon he said, "If you don't mind your manners in the future I will make you very much regret that you exist. Now that you've wasted enough of our time, Harry and I will go up and pack, and you, Snape, I believe, are finished as well?"

"Indeed," said Snape. Uncle Vernon looked defeated and thoroughly afraid of Sirius. Snape Disapparated and Harry and Sirius went into Harry's room and locked the door.

"Are you all right Harry, did he hurt you?" Sirius asked, his eyes full of concern.

"I'm fine," Harry said quickly. After all they'd both been through he didn't want Sirius to think he was upset over a little slap. "Where are we going?"

"To my cousin Andromeda's place," Sirius replied as he used his wand to pack Harry's luggage. "Tonks's mum. I've been living with her and her husband Ted while I look for my own place."

"What about 12 Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh, the Ministry found out about it during the inquiries they've been conducting ever since the Death Eaters were captured at the Department of Mysteries. So it's no use to us now, good riddance to bad rubbish."

Harry had another question. "What--what happened to Kreacher?"

"He's dead," Sirius said brusquely. "When the Ministry took him in for interrogation he said he'd die before betraying his true masters. Then he dropped dead on the spot. They figure he used elf-magic to stop his own heart from beating or something like that."

Wishing very much to change the subject, Harry asked, "Is Andromeda in the Order too?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered, "her and Ted both, Dumbledore recruited them as soon as the Ministry cleared me. They've been quite useful--they run a wizarding travel agency, have lots of international contacts. Plus Andromeda's learned about some ancient magics and artifacts on her travels that could be useful to us, and Ted knows lots about magical creatures--he's taking care of Buckbeak. That's why Dumbledore's alright with you staying at their house--Andromeda got a place built on hallowed Druid grounds, protected by a very ancient magic. Plus she's brilliant at Charms, she's added all sorts of protections herself." Looking around the room, Sirius asked, "Is everything you need packed?"

"Yes," Harry said, "but--"

"Look," said Sirius, "I know we have lots to talk about, but we really shouldn't until we get to Andromeda's.

"OK," Harry said somewhat disappointedly, glad at least that his godfather respected his intelligence.