Dudley takes his kids school shopping in Diagon Alley
Summary: Future AU, based on the idea that Dudley's kids are witch's and wizards. This will basically follow the day from start to end of the Dursley family first visiting Diagon Alley to pick up Dudley's eldest child, Rebecca's, school things. There is only Dudley his kids, Rebecca and Alex, and Harry going on the trip, because I didn't want it to get too complicated. Also there is a flashback to the day Rebecca got her Hogwarts letter. Rebecca (Becca) 11. Alex 9. Albus 10. James 12. Lilly 9. Though Harry's kids won't be in it. I have also changed the kid's ages and stuff around a bit. Written from Dudley's POV. The day is the 25th of August 2017.
AN: I hope people enjoy this, it is my first story for Harry Potter and I plan on it just being a one-shot. Although if anyone wants me to do a Kings Cross outing please let me know.
I am so nervous about doing this; I have never been into the wizarding world before. I have seen Harry and a couple of other Wizards do magic before but I have never spent that much time around it. I am partly scared that someone is going to curse me again; like that Giant did back when I was 11. I know that I have no real reason to be worried as I did spend that year in Hawaii with those two wizards protecting my parents and me and they never did anything to me. I just need to put a brave face on and pull it together for the kids as its there first time to.
We are just walking down Charing Cross Road, where Harry says the entrance to Diagon Alley is. Harry has told us all about the place so I kind of know where we are going, but I now just want to get it over with. We have been up since 7, as we wanted to get here nice and early to avoid all the large crowds. We got the tube here from Hyde Park where we stayed last night, as we wouldn't have the time to drive here from Sheffield. It is now about 8:30 so we have made good time, as we wanted to get here before 9 when everything opens.
As I am walking I can't stop thinking about the day that Becca got her Hogwarts letter. What an enormous shock that had been, never expected anyone else in my family to be a Witch/Wizard.
Flashback 01/08/17
Today is my day off work, so I plan to spend it with the kids, especially as Becca will be going to Secondary School in the autumn. We are planning to first go to the cinema and then go to Meadowhall and get something to eat and maybe do some shopping. As Becca has been going on for ages about this new phone that has come out, I plan to get it for her to use when she starts school.
I am making pancakes for me and the kids, while my wife Amy is at work today. The kids always say that I make the best pancakes and over the summer we have been taking alternate weeks off work so that the kids are never alone during the summer break. Plus the two weeks that we spent on holiday in Florida together as a family.
I here the letterbox go, which is pretty normal as we get mail every day, it is what's in it that I don't expect. "Becca," who is in the sitting room watching TV, "can you please get the mail for me".
"Sure Dad, I will bring it into the kitchen for you," so I carry on making pancakes thinking that there is nothing out of the ordinary. "Dad there is a letter here for me written on some weird kind of paper. Shall I open it?"
"No darling, wait until after your pancakes, there almost done. Can you please go get Alex and tell him that the pancakes are ready. Thanks sweetie." I start to plate up the pancakes thinking that even though the letter sounds strange, there can't be anything wrong with it. It never crossed my mind what it could be as I only get emails and phone calls from Harry and I haven't seen one of those letters since I was 11.
I bring the pancakes to the table and the children join me. "So is everyone looking forward to their day out?" I ask and the conversation is as normal as you would expect with a 9 and 11 year old. When we have finished eating, I send Alex back into the sitting room to continue watching TV.
"Becca, I think its time we should open that letter of yours. Hand it to me please." She gives it me and I look at it and notice that the paper is the same kind that Harry uses when he very rarely sends me actual letters. On the back there is a crest which though I can't be sure, I know I have seen before, though I am not quite sure where. "OK Becca you do the honors," and I hand it over to her. She opens it and starts to read it, "Becca read it out loud".
"Dear Miss Dursely. We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." I snatch it straight out of her hand, not believing my ears. I read the whole thing over at least 10 times and the equipment at least 5.
Then I jump up and run straight to the counter by the sink, where I left my mobile. I immediately pick it up and ring the number that I never wring and mostly keep for emergencies like this. Becca is still just sat there looking really shocked and not understanding what's going on. Someone picks up after 3 rings, "Hello Dudley, how are you? What's up?"
"Harry you need to get over here right now. I think Becca has just got a letter from your school. I don't care how you get here just get here as quick as you can."
"OK I will be over there in two minutes. Please calm down everything will be alright." I start pacing the kitchen with the letter still clutched tightly in my hand, waiting for him to arrive.
I here a distinctive crack in the back garden, and run to the back door knowing its him. I yank it open and usher him in. I then push the letter into his hand without even a hello. He then reds it looking puzzled and then slightly bemused. "Well Dudley this certainly looks like the real thing. There is no need to panic everything's going to be fine. Also there will be no Hagrid coming to get her. I am here and I will talk the three of you through all you need to know and take you to Diagon Alley for Becca to get her school things. Dudley would you mind if I talk to Becca alone for a few minutes, as I am sure she is very confused and doesn't know what is going on. Go sit down with Alex and I will be in there soon to explain more to all of you."
I then walk into the sitting room and collapse onto the settee next to Alex. I can here quiet talking going on in the kitchen and can tell that Harry is doing a great job of explaining it to Becca. The more I think about it the more I know everything is going to be fine especially as we have Harry here to help us.
End of flashback
That day Harry explained everything to the kids and I. also after I had calmed down a bit I called Amy and got her to come home so she could get the info to. After that day Harry visited several more times and we got to know more about the magical world and Harry showed the kids some magic. Also last Sunday Molly Weasley invited the four of us over to the Burrow for lunch and we got to know more wizards and Harry's adopted family. Another benefit is Becca got to meet Rose who would be in the same year as her at Hogwarts, which calmed our nerves a bit. Amy unfortunately couldn't make it today as she had been called into work at last minute, as we are both doctors working at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. We never did get that day out to the cinema.
We reach what looks like to me to be an old abandoned building part way down the street and stop in front of it. "Hah looks like Alex is going to be a Wizard after all. Pay up Dudley, you owe me 20 quid." I look over and see that both my children have awed looks on their faces. I turn back to the abandoned looking building and concentrated hard like Harry told me to and slowly a much better looking building took its place. I could tell instantly that it was magical just by its looks. I took my wallet out of my pocket and gave Harry the £20 I owed him.
"Lets go in," Harry said and we quickly made our way inside. It wasn't very busy in the pub, probably due to the early hour. "Right everyone this is the Leaky Cauldron where we might come for a snack later. This is the only non-magical entrance to Diagon Alley and probably the one that you will be using in future. Lets get out the back and into Diagon proper, as we need to get to Gringots before the queues start to build up.
We walked straight through the pub and out the opposite door. Thankfully no one stopped Harry to talk, I don know that Harry is extremely famous. "When you come next time you might not have a wizard with you, so just ask at the bar for someone to open the entrance for you. As you already know Becca and Alex aren't aloud to do magic outside school." Harry then taps several bricks in the wall and it opens up to Diagon Alley.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"
Becca: "Oh my god, this place looks great I can't wait to get a proper look round. This is a hell of a lot better that I expected."
Alex: "This place is real. It looks to good to be true. Can I get one of those owls Dad?"
Me: "Harry I have to say that when you described this place I thought you were lying. But looking as it, it is better than your description." I couldn't believe my eyes there was shops selling everything magical imaginable. It was so bright and colorful, the complete opposite to the rest of England.
"Come on everyone Gringots is at the end of the street and we need to get there for 9 and its 10 to already." Therefore we had to walk quickly down the alley, thankfully it wasn't that crowded because of the time. Although I had to pull the kids several times away from shop windows promising them that we would come back later, but we need to take care of the money first.
When we reached the bank there was already a small line outside so we knew that we might have to wait. We joined the back and a minute later the doors opened and we filed inside. We proceeded with the line to the desk closest to the doors, which read enquiries. 2 minutes later we reached the front of the line and we said that we wanted to open some new accounts. I wanted to open one each for Becca and Alex and a family one that my wife and I could also use to buy all the kids school things and anything that we might wand. I would also put the kids some money in their accounts for pocket money so they could buy whatever they wished with out my approval necessarily.
The Goblin then called for Griphook and I instantly noticed the distinct familiarity between the two of them. Harry later told me the whole story of what happened between them but at the time I decided that I would ask about it later. We then followed the goblin into one of the side rooms, to set up our accounts.
"How many accounts do you wish to set up? Also I need names, as I don't think Mr. Potter here is the one setting up the accounts." Harry gave me a not to tell me to speak to the goblin.
"My name is Dudley Dursely, Potter's cousin and I am her to set up 3 accounts. One for the Dursely family and one each for my two children, Alexander and Rebecca Dursely."
"Right then, I need some form of photo ID from the three of you," I had found it funny when Harry told me that they had only started asking for ID at the bank 5 years ago when we had been doing it for about 20. So I produced our three passports and handed them over to the goblin and he did some magic thing with them that I didn't understand and then handed them back to me.
"That seems all in order. Now how much do you wish to deposit in the 3 accounts. We now accept all kinds of non magical payment including cash, debit and credit cards." I asked Harry if I needed to go to the bank and take out a ton of cash and bring it with me. He laughed and told me up until 4 years ago I would have yes, but then they changed so that you can now do a transfer through your bank cars. I was pretty happy about that, as I did not fancy carrying all that cash around with me.
"In my sons and daughters accounts I wish to deposit the equivalent of £500 each. In the family account I wish to deposit £5,000. I also then want the equivalent of £150 on top of that in cash to take with me today. Here is my debit card which you should be able to take the money from." Harry had told me how much money minimum I should put in the accounts and take out, but I added a bit more to those amounts as we do have quite a lot of money.
I hand over the card from my wallet, he then scans that through what looks like a regular card scanner. "Everything seems to have gone through correctly. In two days you will receive a bank statement through the non-magical post with all your bank account information. For now here is a temporary statement of confirmation of your account. Let me just get the cash you asked for and you shall be on your way." He gave me my card back and then typed £150 into a keypad on a box on his desk and produced from it a bag full of galleons. We then thanked the goblin and left the bank the way we came, as we had no more business there today.
"Right I think we should start at the same place I did on my first trip to Diagon. Its time to get your wand Becca." As Harry finished Becca started to get really excited as she had seen everyone else's wands and could not wait to get one of her own. They walked down to a shop labeled Ollivander's and went inside. "Morning Mr. Ollivander how are you doing today?"
"Good morning Mr. Potter, I am doing great. This is an unexpected surprise I never expected to see you in my shop again. But who are these three people with you?"
I chose to speak up as we were here for my daughter, "good morning, my name is Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin. These are my two children Rebecca and Alexander; Becca has just received her Hogwarts letter. So we are here to get her a wand."
"Alright then it is nice to meet all of you. Rebecca if you want to come forward and try some wands out." It took about 20 minutes for her to get the right wand: cedar and dragon heart string 10 inches. It seemed like a perfectly good wand to me but what do I know about these things. We paid for the wand and thanked Ollivander then exited the shop with Becca's new wand all wrapped up.
"Ok everyone I promised George and Angelina that we would come over at 11 and see them. Angelina is also making lunch for us upstairs, so we better get over there so that you lot can look round the shop before lunch is ready." So we walked down the street to the most colorful and highly decorated shop on the street labeled Weasley's Wizard Wheezies. As we entered the children made gasps of delight at all the colorful and interesting things on display. Harry shouted, "Oi George we're here at last, I hope Angelina has some food on as we are all starving. Also George I think that you should give the kids a tour of the place."
George came over to us ready to give the kids a tour of the place and I said, "morning George its nice to see you again. Ok kids, you can spend as much time as you like out here and buy as much stuff as you like as long as it is not too dangerous as we can't go attracting our neighbors attention with strange magic. I am going to go in the back to help Angelina with the cooking, I am leaving George in charge." So I went in the back and left the kids to explore the shop with the best guide possible. I knew they'd enjoy it as the shop is very child friendly and Alex enjoys playing pranks.
I made my way up the stairs into George and Angelina's personal quarters with Harry trailing behind me. "Hello. Angelina are you up here."
Angelina came through a door that looked to be the kitchen; we were currently in the sitting room. "Morning Dudley, Harry, how has your day been so far? Please have a seat, I assume the kids and George are downstairs having a look around the shop."
"Morning to you to Angelina, the days been ok I think. When I came here today I honestly did not know what to expect. On the one hand I thought that it was going to be like how my parents describes. You know disgusting, full of criminals and people on the doll. On the other hand I thought it could be like how Harry said and very interesting and I would enjoy myself. To be honest I am absolutely loving it and I'm so glad that Becca got her Hogwarts letter otherwise I would be missing out on all this."
"I am glad to hear that you are enjoying this, when I received that phone call two weeks ago. I was really surprised, even though I new it wasn't impossible given that you are descended from at least one squib. I just didn't think that it would happen in our lifetime. I am surprised at how well you are handling it to be honest. When I arrived at your house I thought that I was going to be shouted at and told that this was my entire fault and to somehow get the magic out of her. That is what your parents would do. By the way have you told your parents yet?"
"No and I have no intension of doing so, unless I have to. We were already planning on her boarding at Sheffield Girls High and therefore she wouldn't be around much anyway. Same with Alex when he is ready to start Hogwarts. I don't see them much now anyway as I have got older I now know that a lot of there opinions were very wrong and I don't like most of them and also how they treated you Harry. Honestly I don't want them spending too much time with my children as they aren't the right people they should be around."
"Wow Dudley you have grown a lot since when we were young. You have turned out to be a lot better person than I had originally expected you to be. Having said that you are a doctor and therefore you do have to be quite caring to go into that profession."
We spent the rest of the time jus talking about how everyone's kids, if they were enjoying school etc. We also talked about everyone's families and what they were doing these days, even though I had only seen most of them last Sunday. We managed to find enough topics to talk about until George arrived with the kids who seemed to have bought enough stuff to break the bank between them. When I asked George how much I owed him he brushed it off saying, "nothing, family discount. Also its there first time and I expect plenty of return visits where I expect they will spend more." Then we had lunch cooked excellently by Angelina, it was some of the best food I had ever tasted. The kids managed to talk their way all the way through it about all the things they had bought and also how excited Becca was to go to Hogwarts.
We left all our purchases there as we were planning on flooing home from there as Harry had just connected us up to the floo network as we now had a witch in the family. Next we went to Madam Malkins to get us all some robes. Becca needed some standerd school ones and also some informal and formal wear so she could fit in better. I got Alex some to as I suspected that we might pay a visit to the school or some other magical place in the next year where he needed robes. I also needed some, as I knew I had a couple of parent's evenings to attend and also a ball or to.
After that we just went to all the general school equipment shops to get everything Becca needed for school including a top of the range personalized trunk to keep all her stuff in for Hogwarts. In Flourish and Blots as well as the schoolbooks, Becca also bought several other books for herself, as she loves reading. I bought some books of my own so that I could learn some more about Hogwarts and the Wizarding world and keep up with my children. Alex bought some of the newest children's fiction, as that is what he likes to read at the moment, they both are good readers. After that we went to get some ice cream as it was a hot day and the kids deserved a treat. Harry paid.
Finally we went to the pet shop to get each of us a new animal. I bought a Tawny owl so that it would be easier to communicate with my children and the wizarding world, I named her Charlotte. Becca got a Bengal cat as she loved cats and we have two at home which she would unfortunately not be able to take to Hogwarts as they aren't magical, we called it Khan. Alex bought a Screech owl, because even though he wasn't going to Hogwarts yet we did not want him to feel left out and he really wanted an owl called Fluffy. I just hoped it wouldn't turn out like its namesake, which I heard later was a giant three headed dog.
After that we had finished all our shopping and headed back to WWW with all our purchases. There we said goodbye to Harry who was going back to his own home and George and Angelina. Before we left I sent a deep felt thank you to Harry who had been such a great help in all this. I told them all that we would see them on the first of September to see all our kids off to school. Then with Harry's instruction we all went one by one into the floo to go back to our home in Sheffield.
When I went to bed that night, I was happy in the knowledge that Becca was going to be safe at Hogwarts. Hopefully all my worries would turn out to be unfounded even though I had heard all the stories of what Harry had done at School. I never do plan on telling my parents or Aunt Marge that Becca and Alex are a Witch and Wizard.
AN: please read and review this. I really do appreciate your feedback and please let me know if you wish for me to do a sequal.