(A/N: Thanks for reviews! They've been helpful, and I'll briefly answer questions asked: He'll go as Harry (the Dudley angle probably would not have been fun to read), and it's unlikely Prototype characters will show up- Unlikely, but possible, should there be a need. Now, onto the story.)
It was dark, and Dudley Dursley raised his head above the covers, smiling.
Dudley's life had always been fantastic, though until one fateful day in an alley he'd often not appreciated just what he had. It was certainly nothing like the life Harry Potter had.
Harry Potter had lived in a cupboard under the stairs. He was treated like an animal, raised like an animal- And it didn't take him long to become one. A thinking animal, perhaps, cunning, but still putting up only a facade- To survive. Everything Harry Potter had done since he was one was to survive.
For Dudley and Harry both, it was the best day of their lives when Harry Potter died.
Dudley was a bully- And Harry was his favorite target. He'd cornered him in an alley, all alone- He was frequently flanked by his peers, his fellow bullies, but not then. He lunged forward to beat on the defenseless five year old-
And Harry Potter had split open and consumed him.
On that day, Dudley Dursley died, and Harry Potter lived.
On that day, Harry Potter died, and Dudley Dursley lived.
When he'd consumed Dudley, he became him- His memories, his form… His place. Harry was starved in the dark. Dudley was given everything he wanted in life with the barest of efforts.
As he looked down at his hands- Arms no longer thin and wispy, but fat and nearly sagging- He knew immediately that he didn't want to be Harry Potter anymore.
All of that, though, was a long time ago. Years. It had been so very easy to take Dudley's place- He simply told Dudley's parents- His parents, now- That ickle Harry had run away. Mimicking Dudley's stupid tones was easy for Harry even without a lifetime of Dudley's memories, and having his voice made the impression flawless.
The Dursleys, for their part, were ecstatic. Finally, the brat was gone, and no one could blame them for it! He was always disturbed in the head, they'd tell anyone who asked. No real surprise he ran away- Probably tried to live in the woods, the nut.
The Dursleys were very good at convincing people they were normal people, model citizens, and so any questions quickly stopped. Dudley was quite happy with this- After spending years in that closet, slaving away as personal servant… It was good to be someone new.
Everything in his life was perfect up until a letter addressed to Dudley Dursley arrived from a place called Hogwarts.
Thankfully, the Dursley family settled that right out. He hadn't even had to whine at his parents- Formerly his aunt and uncle, in his previous life- As he had 'grown up' and stopped whining and being so stupid. He'd done so slowly, carefully enough that the Dursleys would be proud and not suspicious. It had paid off.
No one answering to the name Dursley wanted anything to do with Hogwarts- Petunia was fearful, Vernon was angry they'd dare try to involve his son in such 'freakishness', after Petunia had words with him, and Dudley was ignorant of this 'Hogwarts', but knew it would be taking him away from the excessively comfortable and lavish life he had with no visible benefit, and so he found himself utterly uninterested.
As it happened, however, this letter arrived to Dudley Dursley because nobody answering to the name or living the life of Harry Potter had been there for years, even though there very much should have been a single Harry Potter heading off to Hogwarts soon, one who also should have shown up on the mailing list as living at the Dursley Home- But he hadn't shown up at all.
This made a man with an exceptionally long beard worried. So worried, in fact, that he decided to delegate his tasks for the day to his Deputy Headmistress so he could to the bottom of this himself.
Everything in Dudley's life had been great ever since the alley, right up until today.
Today was the day an old man wearing something intensely eccentric showed up on the Dursley household, and politely insisted that he be allowed in. The Dursleys very much scowled at the man, but they couldn't toss him out on the street in his robes- Robes in a deep navy blue with pink stars dotting it, at that, not even a respectable sort of monk's robe- as the neighbors had already seen him come up to the door, and it would be rude to refuse him.
'Dudley' himself didn't especially care what he dressed like, unlike the elder Dursleys, but found himself wary. This was new. Not the comforting kind of new, like predictable presents and generosity from his family, but a strange kind- A potentially dangerous kind. It set his instincts on edge, even as young as he was.
His distrust in the strange man sharply increased when he took a moment to examine the boy, his eyes seeming piecing over half-moon glasses- Before he gently, but firmly, set a hand on his shoulder, and informed his 'parents' that he would be taking Dudley to speak quietly, just for a moment.
He made to protest, but when he looked back to Petunia and Vernon, their gazes seemed… off. Half lidded, not paying attention, murmuring vague acknowledgments. His wariness of the old man increased sharply as he was lead off to the kitchen.
Once in a secluded spot, one hand still firmly on his shoulder, Albus Dumbledore looked down at the child before him.
"You're not Dudley Dursley."
The accusation was quiet, but he still scowled at it. He couldn't tell how he'd been identified- A small part of his mind suggested it might be his instincts. He'd been trying to hide how off-putting the man was to him- Making him wary, but not afraid, muscles tensed to act instead of acting like the fat (Though slowly thinning) boy that he was. It had never been an issue, convincing the Dursleys- They were blind to anything not 'normal' by their own choice.
The man's grip- Albus, Dudley vaguely recognized, as he'd introduced himself earlier, not that he'd been paying attention to his words- Tightened on his shoulder. He used his free hand to withdraw a pointed stick from his robe's pocket.
It didn't look dangerous.
'Dudley' knew very well there things didn't have to look dangerous to be very dangerous indeed.
"If you do not revert to your true form, I am afraid I will have to do it for you." stated Albus. He was unfailingly polite, but there was a look in his eyes- A sort of iron will, as if this kitchen was a battlefield, and he had his eyes firmly set on a potential enemy. The disguised child might have wondered what he'd been through to act like this, if he wasn't so busy with far more pressing issues.
His scowl deepened further, but reluctantly he shifted back- He didn't want to blow his cover, but he wanted to feel whatever weapon it was the man wielded even less.
As his transformation shifted back, though, the man nearly dropped his weapon in surprise.
"Harry potter…?"
He'd learned quite a few interesting things that night.
Foremost, he was a wizard.
Secondly, he was a "Metamorphmagus". This, Dudley- Harry- Highly doubted. He was able to change long before he was a 'wizard', and it definitely wasn't related to whatever magic he would learn, as far as he thought. But the old man- The wizard- Had an explanation that he believed, and Harry would do nothing to disabuse him of this notion.
Harry. He was Harry Potter once more.
He wasn't sure he liked being Harry Potter. He'd much preferred being Dudley Dursley. He sullenly stated as much to the man who'd ruined his good life, who was very much confused about why.
Albus Dumbledore asked why Harry Potter wouldn't want to be Harry Potter.
He didn't like the answers he got. If he were any less controlled in his old age, his wand would be spitting sparks in anger. But, he had an idea. The blood wards would still be in place. Harry Potter wasn't safe.
But Dudley Dursley was.
The wizard carefully laid out an idea for Harry to think over. Harry didn't fully trust the man- He'd presented himself as an ally, but he'd never had such a thing, as far as he could remember. But, as he listened, even he had to agree it seemed like a good plan.
Harry Potter would go to Hogwarts. And Dudley Dursley would be at a boarding school in Scotland… At least, so far as the Dursleys believed. The man- Dumbledore, as he'd finally caught his land name- exuded much displease at the name, to put it lightly, but mostly kept the depths of his feelings hidden away.
Harry wasn't so sure such a plan would work, as Vernon had been set on sending Dudley to Smeltings- His own former school. This lasted until he remembered the dazed expressions the Dursleys had when a strange man had led their only child off to a secluded place without protest.
He had to feeling Dumbledore would be able manage such a plan. He was unaware of wizard law- Being that the desires of wizards would be so much higher then that of Muggles that confounding a couple now and again wasn't a real legal issue- But he did protest that he didn't even know anything about Hogwarts, much less that he wanted to go there.
Albus explained. There were quite a few points he went over in his efforts to convince Harry, such as the fact that all wizards in England went there if they cold, that his parents had gone there and left him quite a sum of funds so that he would be able to attend without worry, and that he'd be able to master his magic and make friends his own age-
But Harry had latched onto one fact in particular.
He would be learning magic. Getting stronger. More dangerous. He didn't want to get stronger in order to hurt people… He may have been somewhat different from spending his formative years locked in a cupboard under the stairs and slaving away as a servant, but he wasn't cruel. No, his reasons were much simpler.
The more dangerous he was, the less anyone would dare try to hurt him. Try to put him back where he was- Trapped in small, dark places, hit if he disobeyed or didn't work fast enough.
He would never be so weak again.
And while he mused, the sharp eyes of Albus Dumbledore eyed the orphan with a dark upbringing in front of him, and wondered what kind of terrible mistake he'd repeated.
Gringotts was interesting. Harry considered consuming a goblin, just to see what it would be like to be one, the same way he had Dudley, but ultimately there was no real gain to it, he was supervised, and he didn't really want to kill without purpose.
Even he knew that was a bad thing to do.
He'd had his enchanted bag full of money- Gringotts made, with plentiful anti-theft charms, included for being such an important client (For a small fee, of course), and now it was time to shop.
Albus had already taken the day off, so he was free to guide Harry around and help him with his purchases- Though Harry suspected he was also trying to sell him on the wizarding world as well. He was going to get free things of interest out of it, so he was content to follow along, for now.
The first purchases weren't that interesting- Books. Cauldron. A trunk. There was a pet store, and he curiously peered inside at the animals, but ultimately decided he didn't want to risk consuming something that would fight back in such a public place, even for something cool like talons or sharp fangs.
But the very best part of the trip was getting a wand, for sure.
"But it's brother… It's brother gave you that very scar."
Both he and Dumbledore had two very different reactions.
Dumbledore seemed very saddened by something about the wand and the similarities between Harry's wand and it's brother, and was distracted by this inner reflection.
Harry had found out there was someone out there who had hurt him, and tried very hard to kill him. He felt very inclined to find a way to prevent this from happening again.
They had almost left when Harry spotted something very appealing… A dragonhide wand holster. It was high quality, meant only for duelists, but Ollivanders was a very high quality shop.
Albus had argued that he didn't need such a thing- Harry stated simply it was his own money, from his own family, and he could buy it if he wanted. Dumbledore seemed unhappy about it, and was about to protest further before his eyes slid to Harry's wand.
They left without further incident, Harry sliding both purchases into his 'pocket'… Quietly consuming them in the dark fold where no one could see.