If anyone walking past Number Four Privet Drive were to peer into the garden on the side of the house, they would see a strange sight indeed. They would see an old blackbird that had fallen out of the tree, having what seemed to be, a seizure.
Aberforth could not contain his laughter. The moment was priceless. He remembered the looks on the Dursleys' faces and the guests when the Magical Reversal Squad showed up, and went into hysterics yet again. Petunia looked as though she would wet herself and Vernon looked as though he would tip over and fall onto the floor with the slightest shove.
'Nice cover' he thought as he watched the Reversal Squad "perform" their magic "tricks" for the party guests. Oh, and then Petunia's expression when Alexandria Beirnon and Matthias Kroger explained their presence…. Aberforth could easily forget how boring the last two weeks had been and just think about how entertaining it was to look through the perfectly cleaned window at the events unfolding inside the house.
Of course, as soon as he picked himself up off of the ground to look back inside, Petunia ran around the kitchen closing all the blinds so that nobody could see in. Bugger. Abe flew back up to the tree that he had been occupying for the past two weeks. After he perched on the crabapple, he tried entertaining himself since he could no longer peep into the Dursley household. He couldn't exactly twiddle his thumbs while in his animagus form, so Aberforth decided he would go poop on Vernon's windshield for the fourth time that day. It was oddly satisfying.
On his way back, Abe almost crashed into the tree. He heard a loud pop. There in all his glory, striding up the Dursleys' walkway was Albus Dumbledore.
Oh goody, more fun, he thought as he almost collided into the crabapple tree.
Back in the house, Matthias was casting an innervate charm on Petunia while Vernon was banging his fists on his isolation bubble. Alexandra's jaw dropped open when he introduced himself to her. The other three Squad members were all reacting similarly. Toby dropped his wand, Alexandria had a blank look upon her face, and Matthias looked like he just got trampled by a herd of hippogriffs.
"May I come in?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of…of c-course Headmaster." Alexandra stammered. It wasn't every day that the world's most powerful wizard showed up to help you with a muggle problem. Even more interesting was what came out of his mouth next.
"I'll take it from here shall I? Thank you very much for all that you have done. That will be all." Alexandra's jaw hit the floor. She didn't know how to respond, so she motioned her shell-shocked co-workers out the door. Once all of them were outside, Matthias broke the silence.
"Huh. That was interesting."
"No kidding." Alexandria said.
"So…What now?" Toby asked.
"Lunch anyone?" Alexandra replied.
"Sounds good. Where to?" Alexandria inquired.
"Leaky Cauldron?" Suggested Toby. Everyone nodded, still a little bit confused as to what just happened. Four pops later, the Dursleys' front lawn was completely empty. Well, except for a bewildered blackbird.
"You! You will change my Dudders back!" Petunia screamed, advancing on the Headmaster. Here was the man who had brought this all upon her. This was the freak that dumped That Boy on her doorstep. He was the one who muddled up her life. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened! None of it! And now, her son was a freak. No, she would make him correct it. This couldn't happen to her son.
"Mrs. Dursley, Mr. Dursley, why wouldn't you want your son to-"
"BECAUSE HE WILL NOT BE A FREAK!"
"Perhaps we should sit down," Dumbledore sighed.
"Finete Incatatem." He added as he assessed Vernon's situation. The obese man had been banging on his barrier as if he could break it down if he tried hard enough. Needless to say, it hadn't been working.
Vernon let out a grunt as he fell to the ground. He was leaning all of his weight on the isolation bubble that when it disappeared, he fell straight down in a large thump!
Dumbledore ignored this, and proceeded to try and figure out what had happened here this day. Truth of the matter was, he needed more details. He needed to understand things better before he could help the situation. Now if only the Dursleys would cooperate.
"Mrs. Dursley, if you would kindly explain, I was only aware that underage magic occurred from two different sources here. If you would please elaborate, I am sure we could get your son sorted out quickly." Dumbledore said calmly as he made his way into to sitting room and sat down in a plush green armchair. He didn't dare use any magic for fear of exiting the muggles into another near panic. So, he settled for the one that was already there. It wasn't near as comfortable as his conjured chairs usually are.
"Happened?" Petunia nearly shrieked, pointing towards the play pen, "Happened! That greedy little gutter-snipe is what happened!"
Dumbledore looked over in the corner where Harry and Dudley were playing happily. Dudley was shredding the paper and Harry was gleefully helping. He smiled at them, his eyes gaining a little bit more twinkle when he heard Harry giggle as Dudley threw some of the confetti on top of his shock of black hair. He was not happy with the tone or name calling in reference to the youngest of the Potters, but chalked it up to the trauma of the situation. These were parents that were simply in denial. Not to mention, more than a little frightened about how this would affect their lives. Harry was an easy scapegoat. So, for now, he would let the comment slide.
Albus turned back the Dursleys and motioned Petunia to continue her story with his left hand.
Vernon seemed to find his voice again and boomed in what he thought was a menacing manner, "That little ruffian has tainted our son! On his birthday no less! He was pulling that train towards him. The red one that Dudders got from the Wilkinson's,"
"Indeed, it was his first train! Do you know how much it must have cost?" Petunia interrupted.
"I take it magic was involved?" Dumbledore commented in a sober voice.
Petunia and Vernon both shuddered at the word "magic". Albus was momentarily amused by the similarity in which people in the wizarding world responded to the use of Voldemort's name. As though it wasn't something to be discussed in mixed company.
"I suppose you could call it that. It isn't everyday that toy trains travel vertically of their own accord, now is it!?" Vernon snorted pompously.
"How so?" Dumbledore inquired simply.
"He it! It he! Train…it! Boy!" Petunia spluttered. Her husband patted her comfortingly on the head as though she were a highly excitable dog.
"That boy pulled our Dudley's train to him. It just started moving on its own. Then crawling up the side of his pen. I don't know how it happened. But it…it wasn't natural. It wasn't right!" Vernon growled angrily. "Then…and then…" Vernon put his head in his meaty hands, shaking it side to side.
Albus let him be silent for a while, listening to his raspy breaths and Petunia's panicky gasping ones, as they tried to calm down. After a moment, Albus leaned forward slightly and asked calmly, "Then he what?"
"Dudley…He…He fl-floated! He floated a-above the wrapping paper!" Vernon finished.
And then Dumbledore made a mistake. "Impressive." He said with a smile.
The Dursleys didn't think so. Not one bit. Vernon went back to changing his face's color into different shades of green while growling menacingly and Petunia gave a loud shriek.
"IMPRESSIVE? Impressive! I don't want him to be impressive! I WANT MY SON TO BE NORMAL!" She shouted on the verge of tears. "Why can't I have that? I thought I was done and away with this funny business when I distanced myself from Lily and then you dump her kid with me! Why me? Why can't I have a normal life away from you people? Why?" Her tears started falling freely and she started pacing "And then that boy goes and shows my son magic." She spat. "I can't do this. I don't want this! Make my son normal again!" Petunia fell back down on the loveseat that she and Vernon had been occupying.
Vernon put a beefy arm around his wife and glared at the man seated in front of him. Petunia had told him about what freaks her sister and brother-in-law were. Naturally he supported her and shared her hate for them and anything not in the norm. So now, when their own son was showing those unnatural abilities…. He just wanted things back the way they were before, before the boy.
"Change him back," Vernon said coldly, "I want him to be normal again."
Albus was confused. Normal? Change him back? Did he hear right?
"Mr. Dursley, what exactly is wrong with Dudley?" Albus inquired.
Vernon yelled, "Wrong!? He's a bloody w-w-wizard!" He whispered the last part afraid one of the neighbors might over hear him.
Albus let out a sigh. He wished he could change the Dursleys' feelings towards the wizarding world, but alas, he couldn't. He looked back over to the boys playing in their pen and his brow furrowed. The sides were cracked and falling down, and it looked as thought it would tumble over with a small push. 'Wait a moment…is that playpen broken? What is going on? Why would they put mere babies in something like that?' Albus was broken out of his thoughts by a tearful Petunia. Albus turned his attention back to the couple, "There has to be something you can do for our Dudders. Something! Suck the magic out of him with your stick or…something!"
Dumbledore almost smiled at that, but thought better of it. He let out another sigh and said, "Mrs. Dursley, I'm afraid that that is both highly unethical and holds the potential of having harmful side effects on the child, occasionally." Seeing Petunia's panic written across her face, he knew he could not force her to raise these children she didn't want, to live a life that would make her miserable. "To answer your question, yes Mrs. Dursley, there are ways to bind his magic, but there are no ways to 'suck the magic out of him'." This wasn't completely true. There really were ways to take the magic out of a person. But these were used on criminals, not children. He just wouldn't tell the Dursleys this. It was wrong to completely rob a person of their powers.
"So you can fix him?" Petunia asked hopefully.
"Well, not to 'fix' him, but yes there are ways to bind his powers. It would be a sort of barrier making it impossible for him to access his magic. Is this what you want? It is reversible, should you change your mind."
"Yes, that is what we want!" Vernon said quickly, "We just want him normal again."
Albus looked at them sadly and said, "I am sorry, but there is also a catch. It would take weeks to get authorization from our Ministry to brew the potion to bind your son's magic."
He hated Binding children's powers; it wasn't fair to them. Not to mention, potentially dangerous. In the past century, the Ministry had only ever consented to Binding a child's power on 6 occasions. Most were because of the manner in which their fledgling powers manifested had been terribly traumatic to the child; to the point that the child's magic would always haunt and horrify them. And was therefore allowed to be stripped away, as a safety to the child. On one occasion that he had assisted in, the child's first use of magic had been at the age of 8. A neighborhood dog had charged upon the boy, and the poor child's magic had set the animal on fire. The lad had been more than happy to never have to be responsible for anything of the sort ever again. His parents had been quite relieved that his memory had been able to be modified, and their son did not have to suffer nightmares from then on. Albus had had to agree that that had been in the boy's best interest.
This was an entirely different matter. However, judging on the Dursley's behavior, and their extreme prejudice against magic, growing up in this household as a wizard could be quite detrimental. If only there were a way to keep this from becoming the seventh time this century. But Albus wasn't really seeing the possibility of persuading the Dursleys. Perhaps though, he might still be able to force their hand on Harry's behalf. They hadn't seemed nearly as concerned that Harry had performed magic. They had almost expected it. Maybe, he thought, just maybe they would come to see the benefit of magic in time. It was conceivable that they might be persuaded in later years to allow Dudley's magic to be returned to him. Yes. That was what must be done. Temporarily sacrifice the magic of one, for the well being of two.
"Weeks?" Petunia breathed, "I can't wait weeks! What if the neighbors see? What if-"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Dursley but, it will take at least two weeks." Albus said.
"Then you bloody well go fast! We can't have the neighbors hearing about this!" Vernon said in what he thought was a threatening tone.
Albus just nodded as he stood up. "I will be in touch, good evening Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," He smiled at the boys in the playpen in the corner. 'This had definitely been an interesting day', he thought as he let himself out the front door.
Aberforth was baffled. 'What in Merlin's name was Albus doing here? And what the bloody hell just happened? And what exactly do I do now?'
Finally, after pooping on Petunia's roses, making a few scratches on Vernon's car, and pulling off the clothespins that were holding up the laundry that was hanging on the line so that the clothes would fall in the dirt, Abe decided to try again to find a way to listen in on the conversation inside the house.
Aberforth flew around the house looking for any openings to listen through. As he was flying around the second story, he saw an open window. Now why didn't I think of this before? I could have gotten a better view of the party! Well, and the M.R.S.' conversation with the Dursleys. Argh…
He flew through the little window and found himself in what must have been the master bedroom. The room was unnaturally clean. It was disgusting to Abe. How can someone live in this? It is like a hospital! He surveyed the room. The walls were salmon pink, the carpet was sea foam green and the comforter on the bed was white. The bed frame was redwood with a tacky outline of fig leaves. 'Fig leaves? You've got to be joking…He thought. And who picked out the colors for the room? Please tell me it was Dudley, because if it was Petunia, I just might go poop on her gardenias'. On opposite sides of the room, set against the wall about five feet from the king sized bed, were a redwood vanity and a boring looking desk. On the vanity, there was a pallet of eye shadows and blushes, a framed picture of a newborn Dudley, and a line of black or light pink coloured lipstick tubes. The desk was covered with stacks of papers and some sharp looking pens. In the corner of the desk next to the telephone there was a framed picture of Petunia, Dudley, and Vernon.
Oh…the possibilities…now the real fun starts. Aberforth thought wickedly. Sadly, he didn't get up to very many pranks before he heard the front door close and Vernon shouting. Forgetting his intended mischief, Abe flew out of the room to find out why Vernon was shouting this time. As he was nearing the bottom of the stairs he heard Petunia say, "I just can't believe our Duddikins is one of them…"
"I know dear. That freak better hurry up and make that medicine! I don't want our son to continue to be tainted like them." Vernon said while walking into the kitchen to get a drink.
'Medicine'? 'Continue to be tainted'? Was he talking about a potion? Aberforth re-ran what Vernon had said through his mind again. 'Could he be talking about a Binding Potion? Those have only been used about five or six times in the past hundred years… There's no way Albus is going to get the Ministry's permission to brew one…'
Over in their corner, Dudley abandoned his precious wrapping papers and turned to the red train that Harry was currently playing with. Dudley made to grab the toy from Harry and Harry pulled it out of Dudley's reach. Dudley really wanted that toy, so he did what he usually did when he wanted something. He cried. Loudly. His mother heard him crying and came running to the pen. She stretched out her bony fingers and snatched the train from Harry. She handed the toy train to her son, making sure to make as little contact as possible with both boys (Dudley was still a freak). Dudley immediately stopped crying once his mum handed him the train, but Harry made the mistake of letting out a sniffle when it was taken. Petunia turned and slapped him upside the head and glared at him. Harry stayed silent.
As Aberforth watched this exchange, he wished he could do more to the Dursleys than poop on their belongings. 'While Albus was here, didn't he see that the Dursleys hate the poor boy? Couldn't he see that Harry is unwanted here? These people aren't fit to take care of their own child, much less the savior of the wizarding world.' he thought. There was no telling what the Dursleys would do to Harry and their own son; they could do a lot of damage to the boys. He had to do something. Soon. Abe smiled internally (it is hard to smile as a blackbird). He knew just what to do. Now he needed a plan. After all, every truly good prank needs planning. He quite intended this to be his best yet. And between you, the blackbird, and me, that was saying something.
Five days later…
Aberforth strode up the Dursleys' walkway with a very prominent twinkle in his eyes. Anybody who saw him now would have no problem believing that he was indeed his brother. It would be quite impossible to tell them apart based solely on observing him in the Glamour Charms he had applied. He didn't need a Polyjuice Potion to clone his brother; he looked just like him except for some of the details. His white beard was extended, he aged himself a bit, and he added a few inches to his height. And, not only was he the spitting image of Albus, he adorned himself in a set of periwinkle purple robes with daisy embroidery in yellow on the bottom.
'Could I look more like a nancy boy? Oh for goodness sakes…honestly I don't understand how he puts these sorts of robes on in the morning and still manages to keep a straight face throughout the day…or perhaps he wears them to throw people off guard and make them think he's just a barmy old man… Either way, I still feel like a flaming fairy.' Abe thought as he glanced over his reflection in the window. He placed his non-prescription half-moon spectacles over his newly crooked nose and smiled at himself. This was going to be fun.
He stepped up to the Dursley's front door, and took a deep breath to steady himself for the ordeal ahead. Catching a glimpse of himself in the window on the door, he mentally reminded himself that walking into this place with a wide smile on his face was probably not the best idea. 'Ix-nay on the prankster's smile. Check. Tone down the sparkling eyes. Check. Set face to bear unhappy news. Check. There.' Now that his face was appropriately contorted for his purpose, he lifted a long, aged finger, and pressed it to the doorbell. The bell had not yet tolled the 'dong' part of its music before the door was flung wide, and he was all but dragged inside. 'Right,' Aberforth thought. 'Best not to let neighbors see. For their sakes and mine.'
After he was pulled into the house (not so gently mind you), Petunia and Vernon looked at Abe with anxiety written all over their faces.
"Well? When can you do it?" Petunia demanded.
Aberforth looked down through his half-moon spectacles at her and did his best not to smile as he said, "I am sorry ma'am, the wizarding court overruled me. There is nothing I can do. I'm sorry."
"N-nothing you can d-do…?" Petunia stuttered. She looked as though someone stole her puppy on Christmas day. Aberforth almost felt sorry for her. Well, that is until, she extended a bony finger and poked him in the chest.
"This is your fault! You dumped that…that cretin! On our doorstep! And expect us to house, clothe, and feed him in our home! Then when we have a genuine need, you won't raise a finger to help us!" Petunia said as she raised her finger to, yet again, poke Aberforth in the chest.
He recoiled and put his hands up in surrender. "Dear lady, please calm yourself." Ew…why must he still speak like he's from the middle ages? I need some of Albus' spiked lemon drops… "This, of course, is not your only option. Unhappy as you must be with my answer, please do not think that you are the only non-magical family to be unable to cope with this sort of thing. Why, there is a boarding school for just such a purpose. Visiting, of course, allowed…" he petered out his conversation; letting his last words sink in.
Petunia and Vernon were aghast. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and Aberforth could nearly see the cogs working in their brains. "Boarding school. Visiting. He couldn't mean that we should just hand our child over to their care? We couldn't possibly, ever… Could we?"
When the silence was finally broken, it seemed that the Dursleys had come to an agreement, without even speaking a word to each other. Vernon cleared his throat first. "There really isn't any way we could… you know. We just don't know how to…"
For a moment Abe feared that they would suck it up, and do the right thing after all. 'Damn it all.' Then Petunia laid her hand on Vernon's considerable shoulder, and continued for him. "We really couldn't you know. There is no way that we would be happy together. Constantly worrying if he would hurt himself or others. Not being able to sort it out for ourselves." Tears started to fall down her pale face, "Always relying on the government of…of your kind to sort things out for us, strangers popping in to fix his messes. That simply will not do, Sir. I, we… we can't do this. I had no idea how it would really be to raise a, ahem, a wizard. Much less two." She spoke slowly, as though sorting her thoughts and feelings as she went along. Vernon closed his eyes and gave her a small nod as she finished speaking.
Aberforth gave an internal sigh. It was going to work.
"It is for the best." Aberforth said in what he hoped was a somber voice. "When shall I pick the boys up?" He asked.
Vernon looked at Petunia and calmly asked, "Petunia dear, when can we let go? I want some time with Dudley before he goes to that…with them."
"I don't know." She said, "How…how often will we get to see him?"
"Holidays of course and if you write ahead of time, I can bring them around when you ask." Aberforth replied. A few more tears fell from Petunia's face as he was talking and she nodded mutely.
"Give us a week." She said simply.
"Of course." Aberforth said. He was actually doing a little mental dance thinking, 'Oh Albus, this is going to be great!'
"And the boy? What of the letter?" Vernon asked.
"Ah, yes, the letter," Aberforth bluffed. He was going on the assumption that they had not received any wizarding letters in the week and a half that he had been absent from their home. He could only hope that this was somehow a reference to Albus. Perhaps an explanation of their custody of Harry. Come to think of it, hadn't he seen a letter with the bundle that was baby Potter? Yes. That must be it. He couldn't be sure, but he hoped this wouldn't blow his cover.
"Erm, the letter. You have it still, I presume?"
Petunia gave him a scandalized look, and stage whispered angrily, "You think I would allow something like that to go into my garbage bin? The bin we set out at the end of our driveway, in public? Are you mad?"
"My apologies, madam. May I see it?"
Vernon cast him a suspicious look, and folded his arms. "Why?"
"Vernon, hush," Petunia said placidly. She laid her hand reassuringly on her husband's arm, and shook her head as if to say, "Leave it be. If it gets this mess taken care of sooner, so be it."
Petunia lifted a key from her skirt pocket and then went over to her china hutch. She unlocked the glass doors and reached her hand up to the ceiling of the cupboard and with a slight pull, released the letter, which had obviously been taped ingenuously in her "secret hiding place". For a muggle, Abe mused; she was a right sneaky woman.
"Here." She said as she handed the envelope to Aberforth. He nodded in thanks while opening the letter. His eyes moved like a typewriter as he skimmed the words quickly. Blood wards, yes that did sound like Albus' reasoning. The death of the Potters, very diplomatically put indeed. There was the explanation of beginning at Hogwarts, and of Harry's coming of age; along with the request that he be treated as they would their own son. 'And that had all worked out splendidly', thought Abe sarcastically. The blood wards would be tricky, though. He wondered how long Harry would be gone from the house, before Albus knew, how long the Dursleys would have before the wards were gone. After all, Harry had been with them for less than a month. Surely that was not enough time to charge them to full strength. He would have to be quick with his arrangements, or all his careful planning would come crashing down around him. Probably accompanied by the wrath of his brother.
"I am assuming you want me to take your nephew as well." Aberforth said. The Dursleys said nothing. "Right. I will need you to sign a couple documents." He pulled out a few pieces of parchment he had gotten from a lawyer earlier that week and handed them to Petunia.
"What are these?" She asked.
"This one grants me temporary guardianship of Dudley and this on," He indicated to the second paper, "grants me guardianship of Harry." Petunia was sniffling wetly as she signed the papers.
"Thank you ma'am. I will be back in one week's time to collect the boys. Please have them and their things ready to leave be noon." Aberforth said, "Good evening."
"Don't you leave by the front door! I will not have the neighbors talking! Go out the back!" Petunia reprimanded sharply.
Abe nodded and made his way to the back exit. He smirked gleefully. "It worked! It worked!" He chanted to himself as he disapparated.