'Things are changing in our little hidey-hole,' thought Dudley, 'and I think its for the better.' He was watching his mother busily cleaning the cage and talking to the hamster on the table like a mad woman. He imagined how this sight would have startled all of his friends and suppressed a grin. He knew she was not crazy at all, because the hamster was his father. He wasn't happy that Hestia had turned his father into a hamster by any means, but it did lighten the mood considerably; his mother had the sense not to mouth off or she knew she'd join he husband in the cage.
"Maybe I was wrong about you after all boy," Hestia had said. It was the day after his father had the out burst that had lead to him becoming a hamster and Dudley was relieved to hear that she sounded like she had no intention of him meeting the same fate as his father. "you seem to have more sense than your parents. Knew you weren't as daft as them form the beginning though."
"Well after Harry saved me from the dementors I sorta had a glimpse of what its like being him. I mean that bloke who came and told him he was a wizard, he told Harry he was important but I dunno, I always thought he was exaggerating. The way my parents talked about him as a kid, I always thought he was some horrible freak," He regretted these words as soon as they slipped out. Hestia looked severely displeased at what he'd said so he quickly added, "but I know better now. He wouldn't have saved me if he was as horrible as I thought."
"Harry Potter is a marvelous boy. He will save us all, or die trying I fear. Before he brought He Who Must Not Be Named down for the first time—"
"Wait, when did that happen?"
"Did you not know of your cousins accomplishments? How he ended the first Wizarding War when he was merely an infant?" Hestia Jones seemed taken aback at finding a person of Dudley's age who did not know Harry Potter's story, especially one who lived with him for most of his life.
"Erm— no actually, my parents told me, and him that his parents died in a car accident. They said that's how he got his scar. He didn't even know it wasn't true until he went to school."
"Car accident? What the ruddy hell is... Oh never mind, I shouldn't try to fathom the delusional ways of muggles. But no, that is not how Lily and James Potter died. They died hero's deaths, the both of them. It was a horrible price to pay to end the war, such lovely people. Never a nicer girl then your Aunt Lily. And your Uncle James, oh he was a trouble maker, mischievous little devil. Not a day went by when he was in school that he didn't cause some sort of mayhem." She seemed happy to remember these people, but Dudley was uneasy; he had never heard anyone call Harry's parents his aunt and uncle.
"No, the circumstances of their death were mysterious. The war had been in full swing for years, people dying, muggles clueless as to what was actually happening, and it seemed that the war would never end. Around the time Harry was born, there was a prophesy made about him. It said that He Who Must Not Be Named would meet his match in Harry and that inevitably one would have to meet his death at the others hand. Naturally Dumbledore helped Lily and James go into hiding. They were protected by the Fidelius charm, which is a tricky it of magic where you conceal a piece of information, in this case the address of their home, in a living soul and that person will become their Secret Keeper. Even it you at standing in front of the house after the charm is cast you would not be able to see it until the Secret Keeper tells you its there, essentially giving you the secret. They were all for making Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and James best friend form school, their Secret Keeper but they decided on that pitiful little sneak Peter Pettigrew as a bluff. No one in their right minds would think they'd do that, making that poor excuse for a wizard anything close to as important as the Potter's Secrt Keeper, which is what made it seem like a good idea." She sighed and got a sad look in her eyes, as if she was reliving hard memories.
"So Pettigrew was made their Secret Keeper, and even that was a secret, Lily, James, Sirius and Pettigrew were the only ones who knew. Pettigrew turned out no to be such a loyal friend. He divulged the secret to He Who Must Not Be Named and ultimately signed the Potters death certificates. Then on Halloween he went after them. They say that James tried to hold him off but, it didn't matter, he still killed him all the same. Lily and young Harry were upstairs at the time. Lily died trying to protect Harry, died for Harry, and that is what saved him. When He Who Must Not Be Named tried to kill Harry, the curse rebounded back on him, and stripped him of him powers. He was less than a human but more than a ghost. Harry is the only person to ever known to have survived the killing curse. When Sirius discovered the scene, he knew what had happened and went looking for Pettigrew. After he found Pettigrew he was livid but right before he went to kill him, Pettigrew blasted off his finger behind his back, killing about twenty muggles, then transformed into a rat a scarpered. Since Sirius was the only one alive who knew what had actually happened to the Potters, and everyone believed him to be a raving lunatic who'd just sold out his best friend and his family, and then killed another one of his so called best friends along with twenty muggles no one was prepared to take his word for it. He was sent to Azkaban without a trial. He remained there for twelve years, haunted by the dementors until he escaped when his figured out where Pettigrew was hiding." Her eyes were now shining with tears. Dudley was appalled, he was starting to understand Harry's place in his world; he was their savior.
"That's how they died… I never thought it was so complicated." He said. He heard some sniffling over by the radio, and saw tears running down his mother face.
"That h-how she d-died?" said Petunia between sobs. The startled Dudley so much he nearly fell off of his chair. His mother was actually showing affection for her sister, her sister of whom he could count on one hand the number of times she had mentioned.
"Yes, that's how it happened. Their house, out in Godric's Hollow, remains there along with a statue of the three of them. Dumbledore thought it would be a good reminder as to what violence brings to people." Hestia was eyeing his mother suspiciously but sounded sympathetic anyway.
"O-Oh Lil-ly…" Petunia was moaning now. He had never seen her act in such a manner, it was unnerving. He went over to comfort her and laid an awkward hand on her back.
"It's okay mom, she's in a better place now." He had no idea what to say.
"Well, Lily and James' deaths and Harry's attempted murder ended the first Wizarding War. Now it's up to Harry to end the second one. He is our only chance, everyone else is gone. If he fails, I shudder to think what will happen to the world. You muggles will lose even more than the wizarding population, he's already making muggles miserable. If Harry dies.." She trailed off with a shudder, as if what would if Harry died was too terrible for her to say aloud.
"Harry knows what he's doing, I just know it. He's been saying the Lord person was back for years. And mum and dad kept getting letters while Harry was at school, telling them about all the times he nearly died but managed to get away. Some of that stuff sounded really dangerous, so if he could manage all that then he'll be able to beat this bloke." Dudley was trying to sound confident, much more confident than he felt. He knew some of Harry's accomplishments, but everything he knew paled in comparison to this man. He sounded scary, nothing a seventeen year old boy should face alone.
"Alas, we can only hope you are right. Young Harry is all we have." Hestia finished. By this time there were tears streaming down her face and she was wringing her hands. Dudley knew she was not exaggerating. Harry really was all they had.
"On this emergency episode of Potterwatch it will be short and to the point. I know this is not our regular time, so I can only hope some of you are listening. If you've been hearing rumors that Harry Potter broke into Gringotts today, and escaped on a dragon, these are true. It seems the time has come for whatever Harry has been doing for the last year to come to an end. The Order of the Phoenix has alerted me that tonight is the night for battle. It's going down at Hogwarts folks. Alert all Potter supporter you can before you apparate to the Hogs Head Pub, it's the only way still into the school. Ladies and gentleman are warned that You-Know-Who is on the way to the school right now, so if you show up you are expected to fight to the death. We need all the help we can folks. Please no under aged witches or wizards, as all younger children are being evacuated as we speak. If I make it out alive I'll be sure to tell those of you who don't have the joy of giving the Death Eaters a piece of your mind the outcome of the battle as soon as I can. The password for that will be "Harry". My names Lee Jor— I mean River and I'm off to battle. See You There!"
"I am going to fight. Dedulas is going to stay here for the time being, until we can have some one stand in his place. I don't know how this battle will end, but hopefully we will come out on top. It was very nice to meet you all, but I must be going now. Good Day" Hestia said hurriedly. She was running around grabbing this that she thought she might need such as a cloak and various powders and such.
"Wait, aren't you coming back after this?" Dudley asked. He'd grown quite fond of Hestia and Dedulas in the previous months. They explained a lot of things to him about the wizarding world and he was becoming kind of jealous of Harry for getting to experience all of it.
"There's a good chance I'm not. Lee said that it was a fight to the death, and I will take as many Death Eaters with me if I have to. This night could end it all. After the battle is over I will be sure to come straight back here as soon as I can, but there is no telling what's in store for us tonight. Again, it was nice to meet you all. Dedulas I'll send word if we need help. Remember to check the radio every hour or so for news."
With that said she gave Dedulas a hug and walked out the door. Dudley slid into his chair, anxious already. 'What if she doesn't come back? What if Harry dies? What if I never get the chance to properly apoligizeto him for saving me? What if Dedulas leaves us and dad is stuck as a hamster forever?' Dudley's mind was racing. He was down right terrified. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes into hours before Dudley was jerked out of the trance he'd been in since Hestia left. A gigantic silver bear came bounding through the window. Dudley was frozen to his seat until he realized it was some sort of ghost, and it started to talk in Hestia's voice.
"The was is over, many have died. But we have won, Harry has killed Lord Voldemort." And with that, everyone in the room burst into tears.
