A/N: Hey there guys. I realize I've only ever written Alex Rider before, but my biggest passion has always been Harry Potter. I haven't delved into the fandom before now because I was worried that I wouldn't do it justice. However! I am in a Young Adult Literature class at my college and I have a creative assignment that has given me artistic license to do whatever the hell I so choose with any of the books we have read so far.
I, quite obviously, chose to do a...character analysis...of sorts, to show the progression of Dudley as he grows up. It will be told in summers, each summer taking up one chapter.
I hope you enjoy it, and if not, PLEASE let me know why. This assignment is due Thursday and if you have any constructive criticism it would be MOST appreciated!
Also! I did fabricate one or two things in order to fill in the blanks...so if it doesn't sound familiar, that would be because I made it up. ;)
The Cousin-Who-Lived
A Memoir
Early on in life I discovered that if I screamed, I got pretty much anything I wanted. A new toy at the supermarket, an ice lolly from a street vendor, I just had to utilize the waterworks and gifts streamed my way. I guess that made my life pretty easy until I turned fifteen. But I guess I should start from the beginning.
There was always one thing that crying wouldn't fix. My parents simply wouldn't get rid of Harry. In hindsight, this was a good thing, but I just couldn't understand that if I hated Harry…and my parents hated Harry…why did he live with us? I guess for that reason alone I tormented him daily – without fail – for ten years. My family made his life a living hell.
When he first showed up on our front porch, I couldn't understand who this intruder was. Nothing he did was right in my parents' eyes, so why should I have to be nice to him? That was my mindset from the get-go.
Certain incidents regarding Harry stand out in my memory. At my fifth birthday party, Harry was beating me at musical statues and Aunt Marge hit him with a walking stick so that he'd lose. Then, there was the Christmas that Harry received dog biscuits as a gift. As time progressed, these things started to seem normal. There was one time that stands out in my memory as quite strange. Mum, Harry, and I were shopping when a random stranger walked up to us in the street. He gaped and then bowed to Harry. Mum hurried us away, but the confusion was there. For my seventh birthday, my parents decided that I was a "big boy" and took me and thirty of my "closest friends" to go see The Brave Little Toaster at the local cinema. I specifically recall asking them what they'd do with Harry and they said that they'd "take care of him." I didn't see him for a day. It was from there-on-in that I irrevocably knew he was supposed to be under dirt in my list of things to despise.
Nothing changed in the following four years. I could still turn on the waterworks and get whatever I wanted, Harry was still dirt, and life went on. And then came July, 1991.
I remember the morning well. It was the first time I'd ever seen fear in my dad's eyes. Harry received a mysterious letter. I tried to grab it but he threw Harry and I out of the kitchen before I could. Stunned, I wrestled Harry for the optimal viewing means at the door. We both tried to listen but didn't really understand what was going on. Hearing my parents walking towards the door had us scrambling to get away from it. I promptly put the ordeal out of my mind. That night though, I threw a hissy fit of epic proportions. Why did Harry get to have my second room? I hit, I screamed, I cried, and I didn't get my way. I went into shock, finally acknowledging to myself that something had my parents spooked.
The rest of the month read like something from a bad cartoon you catch on the telly on Saturday mornings. Whoever the mysterious letter writer was, they weren't giving up. These things showed up everywhere. Harry kept trying to get a copy, I kept trying to get a copy, dad kept trying to stop us. We moved around a lot during that month. It was all a blur. I was really mad at my father for making me leave most of my prized possessions at home while we traveled, but it didn't make a difference. He went nuts trying to avoid the letters.
We finally ended up on a rock in the middle of the sea. Thinking this was the end of all the madness, we all went to bed hungry but I was slightly mollified that I got the couch while Harry was relegated to the floor. I was promptly awoken by someone banging in the door. Not just any someone, a giant. Terrified, I ran and hid behind my parents. I watched through my mom's arm while Harry was told he was a wizard. I watched him receive a cake for his birthday and my stomach rumbled. I listened as my pathetic cousin learned he was famous in a world that wasn't supposed to exist. My father kept trying to drown the giant out but apparently the giant got really angry cause in the blink of an eye he's pointing a big pink umbrella at me and I'm hit by a violet light. The next thing I knew I had a pig tail and I was squealing. I ran into the bedroom and holed up in there until the giant left, taking Harry with him.
I didn't sleep that night. I kept trying to figure out what was going on with my bum. I was confused as to how this extra appendage was going to affect my daily routine; going to the bathroom, wearing clothes, etc. I poked my head out of the room to find Harry and the giant gone. I went to wake up my mum to let her know the hut was empty and she woke up dad. We all walked outside to discover that our boat was gone. Dad blew a gasket after that. We had to wait for the old toothless hut owner to figure out that we were stranded. A day later, we found our way back to the house and Harry showed up at the front door. Dad reluctantly let him in, getting by with the knowledge that in a month, Harry would be gone for the school year.
I avoided him the next month. Fear of the unknown kept me at bay. He might use his magic to turn me into a toad and then where would I be? Every time he walked into a room, I hightailed it out of there and found somewhere else to be.
The day that Harry left, I ended up in a London hospital trying to get my pig tail removed in time for school. With the surgery a success, I went back home to prepare for my first year at Smeltings.
So, what did you think? Am I leaving anything out? What's missing? Please peer edit it for me. xD
Thanks guys!
~Moldy
