Hey everyone. This story was written for both the Holmes Mystery Challenge and The Return of the Chocolate Frog Cards on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My prompt for the Holmes Mystery Challenge was Harry Potter. I choose to write for (Gold) Imp for The Return of the Chocolate Frog Cards. The task for that one was to write about someone who tries to be funny but fails. I definitely have Harry Potter in my story and there are several instances of someone trying or (thinking that they are trying to be) to be funny. There are warnings for mental and threatened child abuse. If you don't enjoy reading those please turn back. If it's not a problem I hope you all enjoy Dudley's Tree Trip.
This was not how this supposed to be going. He hadn't meant to for anyone to get hurt least of all his cousin. He quietly sat in the hospital room that Aunt Petunia, Dudley and he had been sent to.
"How did this happen to my Diddykins?" Aunt Petunia seethed at him.
"I...I don't know," Harry had answered her honestly. He really didn't know what happened.
"Why are you such a horrid liar?" Aunt Petunia hissed at him.
Thank God this was the moment the doctor had taken to arrive. He gave soft sigh of relief that only he could hear. At least for the time being he was saved from his Aunt Petunia's anger. This also gave him time to try to think up an answer to her question. How did Dudley end up hanging from his ankles in that tree? He played the scene over in his head.
It had been a beautiful day, so far, so Aunt Petunia had suggested that Harry and Dudley go out in the backyard. Harry didn't really have many friends so when Dudley's friends Piers and Dennis came over Harry had made himself scarce under the bushes under the window.
"Where is he?" he could hear Piers' nasally voice call, making the hairs on Harry's arms stand up.
"I don't know," he heard Dudley hiss. "Am I the freak's keeper?"
The gang of them started to laugh their heads off. Harry didn't find it that funny. All Harry wanted to do was just sit under the shade of the tree over in the corner of the yard. But that would be impossible if Dudley and his gang continued to hunt him down. He really didn't feature on finding out what they wanted him for.
"Freak," Piers called in a sing songy voice. "Oh Freak. Come out. Come out and play."
Harry covered his mouth as the sound of the voice got near to his hiding place. He looked over and could see the three set of trainers standing right outside of the bush's safety. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he army crawled away from them. But the bushes had other ideas. As soon as he started to move they started to shake and make noise alerting Dudley and the others to his position.
"There he is," yelled Dudley pointing towards the bush as Harry exploded from it. "Get him."
The next thing Harry knew he was running for all he was worth. He knew if he could get to the tree he could climb to safety in it's limbs. Putting on an extra burst of energy he felt bark brush the tips of his finger as Dudley's meaty hand clamped around his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?" he sneered. He shoved Harry up against the tree viciously. "What do you think we should do with him?"
"Let's tie him up and leave him out here," suggested Piers.
"Let's string up in the tree and use him as pinata," suggested Dennis.
Dudley smirked at Dennis. "I like the way you think, man," he told him as he pinned Harry against the tree. "Go get some rope from the garden shed."
Harry watched hopelessly as Piers ran to get the rope. This wasn't how he thought his day would go at all. He just wanted to relax under the tree for love of God. Why couldn't he just get a day were he wasn't tortured by his cousin and his friends.
Piers was on his way back with the rope when the strange thing that brought them to the hospital happened. Harry had been wondering to himself what Dudley would look like hanging from his ankles in the tree. The next thing he knew he was on the ground and the sounds of a wounded animal were coming from somewhere up in the tree. Looking up Harry he couldn't help the burst of laughter that came from himself.
Dudley was hanging upside down his ankles trapped between a pair of slightly high branches of the tree he was sitting under. Pink faced and terrified Dudley screamed for help for all he was worth. Dudley had begun to wriggle to free himself when Harry heard the snap from above him. Jumping quickly out of the way he watched as the other boy fell from the tree hitting the ground hard.
SNAP!
Dudley was screaming bloody murder by the time Piers and Dennis had returned with Aunt Petunia. Who had run to Dudley's side as soon as she saw the state her son was in.
"Who did this to you?" she asked concern coloring her voice as she examined Dudley's wrist.
"He did," all three boys exclaimed point in Harry's direction.
"I didn't do it," Harry exclaimed. "I'd only been thinking how funny it would look if Dudley was hanging upside down from his ankles in the tree. That was all. I didn't do anything to him."
He could tell then as he could tell now that no one believed him. Aunt Petunia hadn't believe him when he told her before or after the doctor's office. Dudley didn't believe him either. And it was quite obvious how Uncle Vernon felt.
"Go to your cupboard," snapped Uncle Vernon. "Right now. Do not come out until you are told to."
Harry trudged drearily towards the cupboard under the stairs. It would be another few years until he found out that he was a wizard and that what had happened today was normal. But for now he'd stay silent in his misery.
I hope you all enjoyed Dudley's Tree Trip.