Pop! Pop!

Less than five minutes had passed since Hedwig had flown out of Harry's window. She had not gone very far, just to Mrs. Figg's house. Not bothering to scratch at the window, Hedwig crashed through it and landed in the lap of a very surprised Tonks. Tonks was in the sitting room speaking with Shacklebolt, updating him at shift change.

"Wot…" Taking the note from Hedwig, she read it and snapped, "Trouble. Let's go. Mrs. Figg, please notify the Order to send help to Harry's." With that, she and Shacklebolt disappeared.

As soon as the pair arrived at Harry's, Shacklebolt quickly sized up the situation and cast a silencing charm on Harry. "What happened?" he asked.

Dudley stepped forward. "We heard him start screaming as we came into the door. Ran upstairs and found him like this."

Shacklebolt looked at Dudley suspiciously, then at Vernon lying unconscious against the wall. " And just how did he get these hand marks on his face, and what happened to your father?"

Dudley turned beet red at this, looked down at his shoes. "D- Dad came in, saw Harry screaming and started slapping him and yelling at him to shut up. And I had to stop my dad."

Just then, Mad Eye Moody and Lupin appeared in the room, causing Petunia to give a squeak of fright and flee to the safety of her kitchen. Shacklebolt quickly filled them in on the situation and, with a word, Moody made a portkey from one of Harry's books, grabbed one of Harry's hands while Lupin grabbed the other. They then touched all hands to the book and disappeared.

Shacklebolt walked over to Dudley. "Son, the wizarding world owes you a debt of thanks. Harry has been taken to St. Mungo's. I will keep you updated. Your father ought to thank you also. Had we seen him doing that to Harry, he would have more than a sore jaw. It is really too bad that you did not come to Hogwarts with Harry that first year. I believe that you would have become a great wizard."

"What!" Dudley exploded. "I'm not a wizard! I sure never got one of those letters like Harry did."

Shacklebolt looked at him sadly. "You mean you were never told? You got your letter just after Harry got his, but your parents wrote back and said that one freak in the family was enough. In cases like this, we let the parents make the decisions and honor their wishes. A ministry official visited while you were asleep and placed a magic binding spell on you so that you would not have any accidental magic leaks."

While Dudley mulled this over, Shacklebolt walked over to the unconscious Vernon, who was beginning to stir a bit. "If it is alright with you Dudley, I am going to modify your parent's memories just a bit so that you don't get in trouble with your old man over the knockdown. The only thing that they will remember is that Harry left for the remainder of the summer. Would you also like your memory altered? It could be a protection for you."

"No sir, I believe that I will be fine, and I really don't want to forget the things that you have told me. How can I get hold of you or Harry's other friends if need be?"

"Just go down the street to Mrs. Figg's house and she can fill you in. And by the way, kid…"

"Yes?"

"Really nice punch" With that, Shacklebolt and Tonks altered Vernon and Petunia's memories, then left.

St. Mungo's Magical Hospital.

"Mens Somnus!"

The Healer that was standing over Harry turned to face Lupin. "I am afraid that there is nothing more that we can do here. I have put a block on his mind that stops all incoming stimuli; however it also puts him into a deep coma. His brain stem is not affected, so he can continue to breathe and have a heartbeat, but it is as if he is in what the muggle scientists call a state of stasis. As long as the patient is near enough to the intruder to connect with him, then he can invade the patient's mind and put him back in the same condition. The only hope for recovery is distance. You must get him far enough away that the invader cannot affect him."

Lupin smiled wryly. The Healer knew who Harry was, and knew that it was Voldemort who was torturing him, but referred to Harry as "the patient" and Voldemort as the "invader", refusing to acknowledge the desperate battle these two were locked into, one that would decide the fate of two worlds, muggle and magical. As he turned to go, the Healer cleared her throat.

"Mr. Lupin? One thing that you should know is this… When I cast that spell that shut down Harry's brain, it forcibly threw out You Know Who from Harry's mind. He is going to hurting for a bit. At this point, he may believe that Harry is dead, since there is no brain activity."

"Its about time", thought Lupin. "I don't know how much more Healerspeak I could have stood." "Thank you Healer Swanson, that comes as a bit of a relief, and I am glad that you told me about You Know Who's pain. I cannot think of anyone who deserves the pain more."

Remus left Harry's room, went to the Floo transfer point and, with a flash of green flame, left for Order Headquarters.

4 Privet Drive

Dudley sat in his room fuming. All of those wasted years, he thought. He went back in his mind recalling his relationship with his cousin. In the years before Harry went to Hogwarts, Dudley had been a selfish, spoiled prat because that was the way his parents had raised him. Bigotry and prejudice are most often learned while sitting on a parent's knee, as is kindness and compassion. The demonstration of magic that Hagrid had performed on Dudley by placing a pig's tail on his posterior had scared Dudley, but had also awakened a new emotion. Envy of his cousin. Harry was special. He had a whole other world who cared for him, and was about to embark on an adventure that made Dudley's life as a favoured child pale in comparison. This situation went on until the Dementor attack of the previous summer. Now Dudley decided that somehow, someway, he was going to throw off his past and try to make up for his actions and actually be a friend to Harry.

Dudley left his room and went into Harry's. Hedwig had returned to her cage after everyone had left the room. She looked terrible, with her feathers drooping. When the Healer at St. Mungo's had placed the charm on Harry, Hedwig lost that small psychic connection with her master, her friend. Dudley pulled up a chair next to her cage and started speaking low and comfortingly to her while writing a letter with some notebook paper and a pen. Finishing the letter, he turned to face Hedwig.

"Hedwig, I am sure that Harry will be alright, he always seems to pull through. His luck and friends will bring him through this time also. Do you know how to get a message to his friends Ron and Hermione?" When Hedwig hooted in the affirmative, Dudley rolled up the letter that he had written.

"Please take this to them, and then stay with them until Harry gets better. I am afraid that if you stay here, Dad will do something to hurt you. He hates everything having to do with Harry and the magical world, and you are a part of that. If they want to send anything to me, I will leave my window open for you, but you will need to come at night when everyone is asleep."

With that, Hedwig held out her leg for Dudley to attach the letter, gave him a gentle nip on his finger and flew out the still-open window.

a/n Mens Somnus mind sleep