–I’ve decided it’s time you learn to Stun,†said Hestia one day, as they sat down to what he expected would be a lesson on Hex Deflection.
–Already?†asked Dudley. –You said just a few days ago I wouldn’t be ready for that for at least a few weeks.â€
–Well, I’ve changed my mind,†said Hestia shortly. –Stunning is a highly advanced spell, but it is one of the best defenses if you are being attacked. I think you should get as much practice time as possible.†Dudley nodded, and she jumped into the explanation.
Two hours later, they stopped for lunch, and Dudley had gotten nowhere with the spell. He had tried several dozen times to Stun a small spider Hestia had captured, but the spider had not so much as played dead.
–I told you it wouldn’t be easy,†said Hestia. –This is a fifth-year spell, and you’re only a few months into your training. It’s incredible what you’ve been able to do so far. You’ll get this one too.â€
Dudley nodded, feeling awkward once again. Hestia, Dedalus, and Mrs. Longbottom wouldn’t stop telling him how surprised they were at how fast he was progressing. Dudley was embarrassed by all the praise, though he’d been praised his entire life by his parents for no reason. For the first time, he had something to truly be proud of, but all the attention made him feel uncomfortable.
Several hours later, while Hestia and Dedalus had gone to do an assignment for the Order, Dudley had taken the spider into the parlor to practice on his own, pointing his wand and saying, Stupefy! more times than he could count. Eventually, it seemed as though he was getting it. The faint, white light that he had been producing slowly turned into a pink, then red color, and the spider seemed to be moving more slowly around its cage. Dudley became more and more excited, until finally, a red light issued from his wand and the spider flew backward in its cage, slumped against the wall.
–Yeah!†he shouted, jumping from the couch and throwing his fist in the air. He heard a floorboard creak behind him and turned around to find the last person he wanted to see staring at him from the doorway. His father, shoulders slumped and mouth hanging open, looked at Dudley as though he was a stranger.
Dudley, hoping against all logic that Vernon hadn’t just seen that, slipped his wand behind his back and sheepishly said, –hey, dad.â€
Vernon just continued to stare at him expressionlessly, and Dudley thought that his father’s worst rage would have been more bearable than the silence now enveloping them.
–Dad, I, er…†Dudley started, but trailed off when he could think of nothing to say.
–I tried,†said Vernon, and his voice was so meek and helpless that Dudley was scared for him. –I tried to stop it.â€
–Dad?†asked Dudley quietly, confused.
–I tried, I did,†Vernon said, pleadingly, and Dudley had a vague sense that he wasn’t even speaking to him.
–Dad, what are you talking about?â€
–I tried to keep you from it,†said Vernon, and he looked so defeated that Dudley couldn’t help but feel badly for him. –For years, I was able to, but they finally got to you.â€
–Dad, they didn’t get to me,†said Dudley softly. –Harry got to me a few years ago. I changed my mind about magic after he saved my life, dad.â€
–No, no,†Vernon moaned, and he sat down heavily in a chair just inside the door.
–Yes, dad, he saved my life,†implored Dudley. –From the dementor.â€
–I kept it from you for years,†said Vernon. –I thought I stopped it.â€
–You’re not making any sense,†said Dudley.
–I thought when you didn’t go to that school, it would be over,†Vernon said, again seeming only vaguely aware that Dudley was in the room with him. –I thought that was it, but they still got to you.â€
Dudley stared at his father for a moment, looking so weak and defeated, as confused thoughts flew through his mind.
–What school?†said Dudley sternly.
Vernon looked up at him, seeming to have come out of his daze.
–Dad! What school?†Dudley shouted.
Vernon stood up suddenly and turned from the room.
–Dad!†called Dudley, running after him. –Dad, do you mean Hogwarts?â€
Vernon turned at the foot of the stairs, his face swollen and purple. –I thought I stopped it then. I thought it would just be Harry,†he said, shaking his head sadly, –I didn’t care about Harry. But not my son. Not my son.†He looked at Dudley sadly before turning and climbing the stairs, leaving Dudley behind him.
Dudley stared down at the wand in his hand, given to him by Mrs. Longbottom. Was I meant to go to Hogwarts, too, six years ago? he thought, his mind racing maddeningly. Should I have gotten my own wand then?
His mind made, Dudley thundered up the two flights of stairs to his parents’ bedroom, the blood boiling under his skin as he thought about all that his dad had taken from him. He shoved the door open and strode into his room, where his dad was packing his trunk. His mom jumped as Dudley rushed in, but he paid her no attention.
–You knew!†he shouted at his dad, pointing his wand at his throat threateningly, though his brain was hammering so heavily he couldn’t remember a single incantation. –YOU KNEW!â€
Vernon’s eyes bugged out of his head as he saw the wand turned on him. –You get that out of my face right now!†he said. –Put it down!â€
–Not until you tell me!†Dudley shouted. –Tell me everything!â€
–Get it out of my face!†Vernon shouted again, but Dudley wasn’t listening. –I’m leaving! I’m leaving this mad house right now! I’m the only sane one left!â€
–You can do whatever the bloody hell you want as soon as you tell me what you did!†Dudley shouted. –The Death Eaters and Snatchers can have you for all I care!â€
–Dudley!†Petunia shrieked from the corner.
–Tell me!†shouted Dudley, ignoring his mother and jerking the wand toward his father threateningly.
–Fine, I’ll tell you!†Vernon said. –But you put that down. I won’t say anything with it in my face.â€
Dudley nearly refused, but lowered his wand after a few seconds’ thought. Vernon eyed it nervously for a moment, then sat down on the bed and sighed.
–Six years ago, when Harry’s acceptance letter to that school came, it wasn’t, well, it wasn’t the first letter,†Vernon started. –A few days before that, someone had come to the house, someone from the school. He had two letters: one for Harry and, well, one for you. You were at the market with your mum and Harry, and I got rid of him, told him we wanted nothing to do with their kind and to take both of you off the list.â€
Dudley breathed heavily, trying to suppress his anger at this revelation. –Go on,†he said through clenched teeth.
–Well, I thought it was over,†continued Vernon, –until a few days later, when Harry went to get the mail and there was another letter for him. He wanted to read the letter, and you wanted to read the letter, and I wasn’t going to have it. I didn’t want either of you finding out. I didn’t want you asking questions.â€
–But there was only one letter,†Dudley said, –for Harry. They didn’t send another for me.â€
–Well, I had told the wizard we wanted nothing to do with it,†said Vernon. –I suppose that was enough to stop them sending you more letters: your parents were normal and I had said no, so they didn’t try anymore. But Harry’s parents were, you know, their kind, and I was only his uncle, so I guess that wasn’t good enough for them.â€
–Dudley had a letter, too?†asked Petunia weakly from the corner. –How could you keep that from me?â€
–I just," Vernon started weakly. "I didn’t want to upset you."
Petunia gave Vernon a look of complete disgust and walked out of the room without another word.
–So I should have gone to Hogwarts,†said Dudley. –I could have known years ago! I could have learned enough by now to protect us all, without needing the Order to be following us around the whole time!â€
–What difference does it make?†shouted Vernon, standing angrily again. –You wouldn’t have gone anyway! You mother and I wouldn’t have allowed it, and you wouldn’t have wanted to!â€
–Maybe if I’d known-â€
–Maybe if you’d known, what?†Vernon thundered, his face swollen and purple. –You thought Harry was a freak! You were embarrassed of him! You wouldn’t have wanted to become the same thing, not until these freaks brain-washed you!â€
–They’re not freaks!†shouted Dudley. –I’m not a freak! You’re just afraid!â€
–I’m not afraid of them!â€
Dudley raised his wand again, pointing it at his father. Vernon flinched and stepped backward, tripping over the bed and falling onto the mattress, all the time keeping his eyes trained on the thin piece of wood in his son’s hand.
–Not afraid, are you?†mocked Dudley. He shook his head angrily, then stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
He ran downstairs, hoping to get some privacy. He heard someone in the kitchen, so he went to the parlor and began pacing around the room angrily.
He should have gone to Hogwarts. All these months with the Order, as he listened jealously to the others speaking about the castle where they’d learned everything, he wished he had gotten the chance to go. And he did have the chance, but his father threw it all away. Dudley found himself resisting the urge to punch something, and he wished someone had taught him to magically repair things already, so that he could punch a wall or break a vase.
–You wouldn’t have gone to Hogwarts anyway!†his dad’s words resounded suddenly in his mind. Of course I would, he told himself, unconvincingly. He thought back to six years ago and tried to imagine how he would have reacted, had two letters arrived at Privet Drive, one with his name. He imagined his reaction if the huge man named Hagrid had wanted to take him from his parents that night at the Hut on the Sea. He would have been terrified: terrified of being different, of disappointing his parents, of what his friends would think. Would the excitement of magic have been enough to convince him to embrace it? He wanted to say yes, wanted to hate his father for keeping him from Hogwarts but, as horrible as he was, his father was right. He wouldn’t have gone to Hogwarts six years ago, letter or not.
Dudley fell back heavily in a chair, a lot of his anger escaping from him, as he realized that, six years ago, he was just as bad as his dad. He’d changed since then but, once upon a time, Dudley had blindly hated Wizards too.
He heard a great thundering noise coming from the stairway and looked toward the foyer. His dad had thrown his trunk down the stairs and was now kicking and shoving it toward the front door. Dudley sighed heavily, making a decision, and stood up.
–Dad, you’re not leaving,†he said, as Vernon reached the front door.
–I ruddy well am!†Vernon shouted back. He pulled his coat from the hanger by the door and wrapped himself in it.
–No, you’re not,†said Dudley calmly. –I won’t let you get hurt.â€
–What are you going to do?†asked Vernon, narrowing his eyes. –Use one of Hestia’s little tricks? Wrap ropes around me? Paralyze me?â€
–I don’t need magic to stop you,†said Dudley, setting his wand on a table. –I can still wrestle you to the ground with one hand behind my back.â€
Vernon raised his head haughtily and looked his son over. Then suddenly, he threw his trunk in Dudley’s path and ran from the house, as though escaping a kidnapper. Dudley leapt over the trunk and ran after his dad, wincing as he felt the sharp cold air.
He caught up to him quickly, just after Vernon reached the bottom of the porch steps. Dudley wrapped his big arm around Vernon’s neck and shoved him to the ground in one fluid motion. He held Vernon’s arms behind his back and yelled, –I told you you’re not going anywhere!â€
–Let me go!†Vernon mumbled, his face shoved in the snow.
–And where do you plan on going anyway?†asked Dudley. –You left your trunk, you don’t have a car, and it’s freezing outside. Do you even know where we are?â€
–Anywhere’s better than here!’
–Yeah, let a Death Eater kidnap you, and then we’ll see where you want to be,†said Dudley. He pulled his father to his feet, still holding his arms behind his back, and began marching him back into the house.
They were halfway up the steps, Vernon struggling violently but fruitlessly, when Dudley heard two cracks behind him. He turned around in alarm, but calmed down when he saw that it was Hestia and Dedalus.
–What are you two doing out here?†asked Hestia. –It’s freezing!â€
–He’s trying to run away,†said Dudley, still shoving his father up the stairs.
–He’s been threatening to run away twice a week for six months now,†said Hestia. –I’ll believe it when I see it.â€
–I am!†shouted Vernon. –I’m done with you lot!â€
–He saw me doing magic,†Dudley explained.
–Oh, didn’t take it well?†asked Dedalus.
–Well, no,†said Dudley, as he shoved Vernon through the front door.
–Dudley, now he knows you’re a Wizard, why are you still Muggle-wrestling him inside? A couple Knockback Jinxes would have gotten him inside with a lot less effort,†Hestia suggested, smirking.
–I don’t think using magic on him is the best way to make him calm down,†said Dudley.
–I am NOT calming down!†shouted Vernon. –This is kidnapping! You’re holding me here without my consent!â€
–If only we’d started practicing Stunning a few days ago, you could have used it on him by now,†said Hestia.
–What is all the noise out here?†demanded Mrs. Longbottom, appearing suddenly from the kitchen. She stopped and took in the scene before her: Vernon trying wrestle himself away from Dudley and Hestia laughing in the corner. –Not this again. I am an old woman and I do not have the patience for this.â€
She drew her wand and aimed it at Vernon, casting a full-body bind curse on him. He stopped struggling and Dudley let him fall heavily to the floor.