Harry Potter and the Magical Muggle

Harry Potter and the Magical Muggle (4/?)

Author: Zoz
Author email:[email protected]
Category: mystery drama action adventure romance
Keywords: Dursleys, Harry, 5^th year
Spoilers: For all four books
Rating: PG possibly boarding on PG-13 in latter chapters
Summary: Before Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts, the Dursleys hit a bump in the road along their journey of blind hatred toward all things magical. One of them discovers that their muggleness may not be so Muggle after all. Could there be magic hiding amongst this trio? If so, how can the Dursleys and Harry cope with this revelation?

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sorry that it has taken me forever to put out the next chapter, but I am currently studying for my MCATs, trying to teach myself two semesters of physics, researching an experiment for next semester, and working…I know, know they are all just lame excuses…I will do my best in the future to put chapters out in a more timely manner because I know that I hate it when stories that I liked don’t get updated until months and months have gone by.

Chapter 4: Shades of Gray

The days after Aunt Petunia’s collapse in the kitchen on Number 4, Privet Drive was a haze for Harry.  Researchers from the Ministry had been traipsing in and out of his relative’s house at all hours of the night trying to study the oddity that had become Petunia Dursley.  This, as you might imagine, had sent Uncle Vernon over the edge.  His face became purple and he yelled and raged at the “freaks” that kept on occupying his house, until several days later he had had enough.  Therefore, Uncle Vernon grabbed a few precious items and his son complaining that these “freaks” would affect Dudley and change him into the oddity that his wife had become.  He had no sympathy for his wife, anymore.  She had become magical, a behavior that they as a team were determine to beat out of Harry.  Uncle Vernon rationalized that he was not to blame for leaving his wife in her state of need.  I am not a cad.  He thought.  I did not sign on for this when I married her.  I wanted a normal life with the wife and the children living in the suburbs.  Content on being stuck in a dead end job, while I dream of retirement, when I will be too old to enjoy the trips I plan to make and the hobbies that I will take up now that my days are free from the drudgery that is work.  Sure, Uncle Vernon was still furious that his son did not manage to obtain the internship that would allow him to spy on his rival company, but he consented to unite against the bigger evil at the moment, which unfortunately were his wife and her newfound magical ability. Consequently, when Uncle Vernon loaded his bags and his son into the company car, he did not look back nor did he have any regrets, not even a single one.

Harry, on the meantime, was concerned and confused.  His aunt seemed to be afraid of her own shadow and would break into wailings at odd times of the night screaming that she was normal or mumbling about the goings on about some neighbor next door.  Professor Dumbledore concerned for both remaining occupants of Number Four paid a visit the third evening after the incident.  Harry was confused how Aunt Petunia could produce magic, even accidental magic at that, and wondered if she was indeed a witch.  Consequently, he asked Professor Dumbledore how this could have happen.

“Ah, my dear boy for the line between Muggles and wizards or witches, in this case, is not as distinct or clear cut as everyone would like to make them.  This is not a black and white issue, but instead shades of gray.  It is possible that your Aunt Petunia was indeed a normal witch that was destined to go to Hogwarts as your mother did, but something in her childhood skewed this path for her.  Perhaps instead she was more determined to lead a “normal” life as she would call it and therefore her magical ability was never recognized.”  Harry looked at Dumbledore so questionably that the great professor decided that he must try to explain Petunia’s magical ability in a different way.  “Suppose Harry that you contained several genes to become a world class tennis player.”

“But I don’t play tennis, Professor,” Harry replied confused.

“Exactly my point, my boy!”  Professor Dumbledore exclaimed.  “Since you have never played tennis, these genes have either never been activated or have never reached their full potential because you made a choice not to be a tennis player.  Therefore although these “tennis playing” genes are still within your DNA, they are not actualized within yourself and it would be tough to tell the difference between you, a could be tennis genius, and a tennis unhopeful because your behaviors would be similar, unknowledgeable and klutzy about tennis.”

“So you are saying that Aunt Petunia made a choice to suppress her wizarding genes however conscious or unconscious it was and appeared to be a Muggle like any ordinary Muggle, as in Dudley and Uncle Vernon?” Harry asked.

“Right again, my boy.  Remember that I told you that it is not the talent within ourselves that creates the life we lead, but instead the choices that we make will shape our destiny.  On the situation on hand, it is just my simplistic hypothesis of what possible could have happened.  Of course tennis playing as well as magical ability are behaviors that people perform and we know that genes do not directly code for behaviors instead genes code for proteins which make physical changes within the body when coupled with external sources eventually produce behaviors.  Of course I am not a mediscientist so therefore my hypothesis may be a bit left of center but…”

“But Professor how did Aunt Petunia reclaim her magical ability?” Harry interrupted as Professor Dumbledore was busy in the amidst of determining how scientifically sound his hypothesis was.

“How indeed, Harry.  How indeed.  As we all know from several incidents that you yourself have gotten into that powerful emotion can trigger magical chaos.”  Harry blushed at this and looked down as his shoes.  “There, there my boy.  Nothing to be ashamed of. When I was your age, from time to time I did find myself in trouble with the Accidental Magical Reversal Department, too.”  Albus chuckled with his blue eyes twinkling.  “Anyways, either this one case of powerful emotion was enough to activate her magical genes that have laid dormant after all these years or perhaps if has been a gradual process where Petunia has felt less and less concerned as of late with how others perceive her and has opened her mind and her heart to magic with this incident as the climax point to her revolution.  This is only my educated guess, though.  We may never know the entire truth.”

“What is to become of Aunt Petunia?”

“Well…”  Professor Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably in his seat on the sofa.  “I have asked her to come to Hogwarts and she has consented.”

“SHE WHAT?!  You cannot be serious!” Harry yelled in surprise, in shock, and in anger.  Hogwarts was the one place that he felt the most like home and now it was to be invaded from his aunt from hell.

“She took awhile to persuade, but finally she realized that there was nothing here for her in Surrey now that her husband and her son has left.”  Dumbledore explained to Harry as he looked like he had been told that Snape was his real father and was taking him to live with the Malfoys, where they would sing songs about world peace and hold hands around the fire.

“What will she do?” Harry exclaimed.  He hoped that answer would not be following him around every bloody second complaining that he was not as handsome as Dudley or as brilliant as Uncle Vernon while handing him a list of chores to do that rivaled the house-elves’.  Although.  Harry thought darkly.  She must have pretty low standards if she considers either one of them intelligent or attractive.

“She has mentioned that she always saw herself as a teacher so…”  Not Defense Against the Darks…not Defense Against the Darks…if I have one more horrid teacher, I will be toast.  How can Dumbledore presume that she can teach DADA…she doesn’t even know first year magic yet!  Oh, I am screwed.  I am so screwed.  That’s it!  Harry thought wildly.  He wants me dead.  He is really a Death Eater in disguise.  I knew that I saw a victorious gleam in his eyes when I explained to him that Voldemort had overcome the obstacle of nullifying the protection my mother gave me within my skin.

Dumbledore chuckled.  “Calm yourself, Harry.  Your aunt will not be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.”  Harry almost leaped for joy, but contained himself.  “Instead I was thinking that she could help Professor Humdrum with Muggle Studies as well as beginning her own magical studies.”

“You mean being sorted and living in the dorms?” Harry shuddered.  This was worse than he thought.  Maybe she will be sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff or perhaps even Slytherin.  As long as it wasn’t Gryffindor, he wouldn’t have to worry.

“Not exactly.  I doubt your aunt would want to live with a bunch of teenagers as she learns to become a witch and her education will be more intensive since she will have to learn seven years probably condensed into two or three.  I haven’t finished the finer details working out the curriculum as well as working around Professor Humdrum’s schedule, but I am sure everything with work out in the end.  Anymore questions, Harry?”  Professor Dumbledore asked kindly.

Harry shook his head politely and was at least contented with the idea that at least he didn’t take Muggle Studies, so there was no way Aunt Petunia could torture him.  Unfortunately, Harry didn’t know how wrong he was.

A/N: Special thanks to all who reviewed my 2^nd Chapter:

princess_gia

And to those who reviewed my 3^rd Chapter:

Skate Girl, Fate201, Unregistered, KitLee, Rickmaniac Wil

Nothing makes me happier than to see reviews even if they are bad…just slap them down, no censorship necessary =)

I was a bit sarcastic tonight when I was writing and might have poked fun at people’s ridiculous ideas such as: Dumbledore being a Death Eater and Professor Snape being Harry’s father…those theories just seem so illogical and silly.  Come on people!  It makes no sense!