Dudley Dursley was just about to sit down and have breakfast with his family. Dudley and his wife Anna had three children: Joseph had just turned eleven, Diana was nine and a half, and Simon was eight and a half. Dudley's parents were visiting and the family was gathered at the breakfast table as though it were any other ordinary summer morning.

"Joseph, go and fetch the post," Dudley said to his son as he took his seat. Joseph went to do as his father asked and soon returned handing the small stack of mail to his father before returning to his seat. Dudley quickly glanced through the mail, silently handing Joseph a letter that was addressed to him as he continued sifting through the mail.

"Anything important, dear?" Anna asked him.

"Not really. A couple of bills and some other rubbish," Dudley informed her nonchalantly as he placed the small stack of post on the table beside him and picked up his mug of coffee. He turned towards his son to ask about his letter and noticed an odd expression on Joseph's face. "What is it, son?" Joseph handed his letter to his father.

"I think someone's trying to prank me, dad," he explained, confusion still on his face. Dudley took the letter being held out to him and the first line made the blood drain from his face. He was so shocked by what he was seeing that he dropped his mug and it tumbled over, spilling coffee on the table, before bouncing off the edge and crashing to the dining room floor. Anna and his parents were quickly alarmed.

"Dudley, what is it!?" Anna asked, her voice panicky, thinking her husband was having some sort of fit. Dudley turned to his parents, his face white as a sheet and his eyes full of surprise and panic.

"He's got Harry's letter," he said simply. His parents both paled and his mother gave a shriek before bursting into sobs.

"No, no, no! Not my grandson! Not my grandson! Oh, Vernon!" she wailed as she flung herself into her husband's arms. Vernon quickly snapped out of his shock in order to comfort his wife.

"There, there, Petunia. He won't be going. We'll put a stop to this nonsense, you'll see," he reassured her, throwing his son a pointed look. The rest of Dudley's family had no idea how a simple letter could cause such a ruckus. Anna looked away from her mother-in-law's sobbing form towards her husband, now completely confused.

"Dudley, what one earth is going on? What's in that letter and who is Harry?" Dudley sighed and hung his head. He was quiet for a moment and then he took a deep breath.

"Harry is my cousin, the son of my mum's sister. He got a letter just like this," he said, raising up the letter he was still holding, "because he was born a wizard." Petunia wailed even louder and then continued sobbing while Vernon growled his annoyance at hearing the word 'wizard.' Dudley's family wasn't quite sure they understood what Dudley had just said.

"You mean like a magician? Why does being able to do magic tricks make gran and granddad so upset?" his daughter asked him curiously. Dudley sighed and gave his daughter a small smile.

"Pumpkin, there're illusions performed by magicians and then there's real magic, things that definitely aren't illusions, that wizards and witches can do. This is the type of magic my cousin and his parents can do and this," he said while raising the letter again, "is the school where witches and wizards go to learn about their kind of magic." The kitchen was silent for several minutes, the only sounds being those of Petunia's quite sniffles and Vernon's hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. Anna was the first to speak.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before?" she asked, shock, surprise and hurt clearly evident in her tone and facial expression. Dudley looked at his wife with a sigh.

"Mum and dad were ashamed that she was related to people with the abnormal ability to do real magic. She and dad don't like any funny business and having abnormal relatives definitely wasn't normal so we just didn't talk about it or tell anyone." Joseph suddenly spoke up, his voice hurt and slightly panicky. He looked at his grandparents.

"Are you gonna think I'm abnormal now? 'Cuz I got this letter?" Vernon and Petunia glanced at each other and shared a look. This was something they hadn't counted on. Petunia looked at her eldest grandson pensively. Could she really stop loving her grandson? When they didn't answer right away Joseph looked back at his father, tears in his eyes. "What if I just don't go?" Dudley looked stunned at the question. Could his son simply not go? What would happen if he didn't? He looked at his parents and, seeing their confused, thoughtful expressions, Dudley came to a decision. He turned back towards his son.

"Joseph, regardless of what your grandparents do or say, your mum and I will always love you no matter what. As for going to this school or not, I want you to go. If my cousin hadn't been a wizard, I could've died when I was sixteen; he used his magic to save me so abnormal or not, I think magic's a good thing." Dudley narrowed his eyes and glared at his parents, who were suddenly looking at him with shocked expressions. Anna gasped and ran to hug her husband, tears in her eyes. She still didn't understand exactly what her husband had just revealed to her but the thought of never meeting him, marrying him and raising a family with him suddenly filled her with fear and she was just happy he was alive.

"Oh, Dudley! You could've died!?" Dudley seemed a little surprised by his wife's reaction to his previous statement but he hugged her back anyway and tried to reassure her.

"It was years ago, my dear. And I'm quite alright as you can see," he told her with a loving smile, earning a smile and a kiss from her in return. She wiped the tears from her face and turned toward Joseph.

"If real magic can save lives then I think you should go to this school too," she said firmly. Joseph looked at his grandparents hesitantly and Petunia sighed.

"It's alright, dear. I never expected my grandchildren to be like my sister but then again I didn't expect my sister to be a witch either. You're my grandson and I love you. It'll just take me some time to get used to the idea; I haven't had the best experiences with magic in the past," she assured him with a sad smile a she fidgeted nervously. Vernon sighed next to his wife and simply nodded his head. If accepting these ruddy magic people would make his wife happy then he'd go along with it. Joseph sighed with relief.

"So what's this magic school like?" Simon asked, tucking into his forgotten breakfast once more. Dudley shrugged.

"I don't know. Mum and dad didn't allow talk of Harry's school when he was home for the summer so I don't know anything about it," he admitted. Joseph's brows furrowed.

"Well then how am I supposed to get there?" Before Dudley could answer, an owl swooped in through the open kitchen window and deposited a letter in front of Dudley before promptly swooping back out again. Petunia wanted to shriek again but held it in for her grandson's sake. Dudley promptly opened it and began to read aloud.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

A representative from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be at your residence this afternoon to help facilitate your child's acceptance of the Hogwarts invitation he has received.

Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom

Deputy Headmaster

Joseph looked up at his parents and Anna nodded her head.

"I guess we'll just wait until this representative arrives and we'll ask him or her our questions." The family quietly finished their breakfast, everyone lost in their own thoughts.