6 - Mission Accomplished
¶Dragon Tongue¶
√Parseltongue√
°Wolf Language°
Thoughts
"Spoken words"
{Flashback scenes}
×Animagus communication×
"I bet her family could need some answers about magic."
-(next day)-
The visit was settled. On Saturday morning at 11 AM, James Potter and Dudley Evans stood on the doorstep of the Granger household in Willow Creek. It was an unassuming single-family home but totally different from Little Whinging, where the normality tainted every single house, seeping out of the walls and infecting those trapped inside. Willow Creek was a beautiful small town, just perfect for the young witch they wanted to meet.
James rang the doorbell and took a step back. The door sprang open a precise second later and Dudley was nearly crushed by a mass of bushy brown hair. "Oomph. Nice to see you too, Hermione, let me breathe..." the boy choked.
She let go of him, cheeks turned bright red. "I'm sorry. It's just - I haven't seen you since summer has started and you didn't even write and I was worried... Come in, my parents are waiting in the living room." She led the two wizards into the hallway and waited patiently for them to take off their jackets and shoes.
The house was by far not as big as the manors in possession of the more renowned wizarding families, but warm and welcoming with a specific, indefinable air that made a house to a home. The unique yet universal flair of family was felt in every room.
Hermione's parents were sitting on the grey loveseat near the inactive fireplace and stood up as the wizards entered.
The man, tall and lanky with blond hair, extended a hand towards James. "I am Hugo Granger, this is my wife Jean. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter. And you too, Dudley. I truly hope you're doing well now. " The woman beside him smiled brightly. She was sporting the exact same hairstyle as her daughter - an untamable bushy mass of curls - and a similar statute, not exactly tall, wiry muscles, and sharp facial features.
The older wizard shook the offered hand. "Please, call me James. Thank you for inviting us on such short notice. I see you take great care of your home, it looks amazing." A trademark Potter smile always came in handy...
"So." Hermione Granger looked at the guests and asked: "Mr. Potter, how come Dudley is living with you instead of his parents?"
The dreaded question.
"They weren't exactly fond of Dudley being a wizard to say the least, so my wife Lily decided in advance to claim custody. Petunia agreed because she didn't want 'another of that lot' in her house." James' tone indicated that it was steering towards a touchy subject, so Hermione dropped it.
-
Half an hour later, they found themselves chattering about Hogwarts, wizarding politics and magic in general, when Jean spoke up. "I am sceptical about this entire magic thing despite your explanations. I can't really see myself to believe things without a proof, so I would like to ask you for a demonstration if you allow."
James smirked, held up his wand and cast one spell.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A silvery blue wisp of light shot through the room and molded to take the shape of a magnificent stag galloping around the furniture for a round, bowed its head to the people present and then dissolved into thin air.
The Grangers were gaping, James was looking smug and Dudley had a small smirk creeping up on his face. "Cool, huh? That's the Patronus charm, it represents the caster's soul. We'll learn it in fifth year because it's quite difficult but amazing nonetheless." The Evans heir explained with awe in his voice.
Hermione smiled. "That's cool. I can't wait to learn more about magic!"
Mission accomplished.
-
Hermione visited Potter Manor a lot over the summer, as did Neville, the Blacks, and the Lupin family. The children, especially those who would return to Hogwarts as students, had formed a group they took to call 'the Octet'. Pranks, homework help and support for the other first years who didn't know how to navigate the castle were included. It would be an amazing year for sure.
Then, on August 1st 1991, the group went to Diagon Alley for the Supply Hunt, in words of Remus, an almost impossible task when you had to get supplies for eight children and supervise four preteens (Neville's younger twin sisters as well as Mia and Artemis) and a set of four year old twins Regulus and Marlene earned the respective nicknames 'Hellraiser A and B' for.
Obsidian took one glance at the large assembly and decided to split up so they were at least wreaking havoc in separate shops.
Draco almost set Ollivander's wand shop on fire before he found his perfect wand (ten inches, holly wood and unicorn hair), the robe fitting took one hell amount of time, and Harry, Hermione, and Remus got stuck at Flourish and Blotts ("Yes, Mum, Stephen King's books are the perfect bedtime read, thankyouverymuch"). Not to mention Fred and George, who had taken Antares and Cassiopeia to Zonko's Joke Shop and nearly blew up the Alley - unseen by the owner but not by two annoyed Black brothers.
In the meantime, Helena had carted off the younger girls to her own home to "reduce the chances to wreck everything".
At the end of the day only Neville, Hermione, Ian, and Harry got by without leaving destruction in their wake since Dudley had accidentally released a Monster Book of Monsters.
A quarter of the Octet was grounded during the summer, much to the other's delight. Fred and George were down to clean out the cellar of Black Manor, which was only safe because Sirius had already stored any dangerous artifacts in a vault at Gringotts. And now they knew just how spacious the manor was. In a rare moment of regret, the Reckless Redheads decided to ask their guardian for pranking advice first. First off, because Sirius always found grounding work for them after all, second off, because he was a Marauder and therefore a legendary prankster.
Hermione divided her summer time between scouring her school books and visiting her friends. She was determined to stand her ground in that unknown world and she didn't want to lose friends again just because she wasn't doing good enough in school.
So did Dudley, who just wanted anything but being sent back to his parents. He seeked approval, he knew his worth, and he was not going to lean back and do nothing. Giving up wasn't an option, not anymore.
Draco, Dudley and Mia spent hours perfectioning their Animagus transformation. With help from James and Sirius, the trio had managed it in no time.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was the first of September.
---
You have no idea how weird it feels to write this version of Dudley. Here, he's nice, well-mannered, intelligent, friends with Hermione and a bloody wizard. I just sat there looking at my phone and thought: "o.O who are you and how was I even capable of writing you like this". But that's a benefit of being a fanfiction writer; I can modify the plot as I damn well please and it feels AWESOME. well enough with my blabbering, until the next chapter ;)
If you have ideas for the plot, just DM me or comment it. Don't forget to vote!
Author out!