I don't own Harry Potter, only the plot is mine.

Chapter 3 - Let me tell you a story

Harry and Dudley were released from the hospital wing the next morning. Harry would have just loved to ditch his cousin at the door and head off to explore the empty school, but he soon changed his mind when Snape rounded the corner.

"And where do you think you are going Mr. Potter?" Snape sneered.

"Well I was gonna go outside and show Dudley the school grounds, err... come on Dudley..." Harry reluctantly grabbed a speechless Dudley and they headed for the big oak doors. Harry was having a hard time pulling Dudley. He was easier to move when he was stunned.

"Come on Dudley, let me show you around..." Harry shoved his outside.

"Bloody Hell, this place is huge!" Dudley's eyes literally grew to the size of plates. "How could freaks like you–" Dudley stopped in his tracks and screamed. Harry jumped at his scream and turned around with his wand at the ready.

"Well if it isn't Harry's dolt of a cousin...How ya doin' piggy?" Hagrid's beared turned up into a smile. He saw Harry from the forest and decided to have a chat and scare his cousin, which he dubbed "piggy" due to the last time they met. "Didn' mean to startle ya Harry...I was just in the forest visitin Gramp. He's mu' more civilized then las' year."

Harry did notice he didn't have any fresh bruises. "Hey Hagrid, what am I supposed to do with a muggle here. I can't ever leave him alone! He could get, well, squashed!" Harry then thought that was likely not going to happen. Harry got a good look at his cousin's size in the sunshine. "Well what if he gets stuck somewhere or lost. He doesn't know his was around." Harry didn't want to spend every moment with Dudley. He might as well spend a week in detention with Snape. At this point, he didn't know which was worse.

"Don't worry Harry, I think Dumbledore is gonna solve tha' problem right now..." Hagrid turned to meet Dumbledore, who was striding across the grass.

"Hello Hagrid. Everything going well I trust, with Gramp?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, Professor, just dandy." Hagrid had a pleased look on his face. Harry didn't know what was going on with Gramp. He didn' t think Dumbledore even knew about Gramp. But, then again, Dumbledore really never missed anything.

"Harry, we put your things in your Gryffindor dormitory. I think there is some summer homework that you need to see to, yes?" Dumbledore looked at him fondly, that incessant sparkle shining brightly.

"Uh...err..yeah I guess so. Um, Professor, what is Dudley supposed to do? It isn't exactly safe for a muggle to wonder around the castle and grounds is it?" Harry, not really concerned for his cousin, wanted to know if he was going to have to spend all summer babysitting his cousin.

"Dudley will be fine, he is going to join me in a small walk around the grounds. He then will join Professor McGonnagall and I in a small meeting. I need you to meet us in the Room of Requirement at half past three, ok?" Dumbledore said. Harry, confused, agreed to meet him, McGonnagal and Dudley at half past three.

Harry totally forgot about doing homework when he got to his dormitory. He thought it nice not to have to remember a password, since during the summer the dorms were open. He then proceeded to put away the things on his bed. He wondered how his stuff got here. He didn't grab anything pertaining to school besides his wand. He then thought back to the reason why he had to leave so abruptly from the Dursley's. "What did Lucius want? Well, duh Harry, um, to murder you for Voldemort!" Harry rolled his eyes at himself. All this has been a trial on his brain since that fateful night. "I thought that the old magic protected me from harm if I was inside the house? Well that was another question for Dumbledore when I see him." Harry then began to plan on what he was going to do while at Hogwarts for summer vacation.

I wonder if Ron or Hermione knows I'm here. Well I better write him and Hermione just in case. They might try to "kidnap" me again and discover I'm not even there. Harry then sat down and started writing his friends.

Harry looked at the clock after he finished Hermione's letter. It was three o'clock. Well, he would take the scenic route to the Room of Requirement. Harry walked out of the dorm and headed for the seventh floor.

Dudley walked with Dumbledore around the grounds. Dudley was silent for a while, just looking around the massive grounds in awe. Smeltings is a pig sty next to this place. His eyes widened when he saw on of the tentacles lazily lift out of the lake and drop back in. "Umm, hi, umm, so, umm..." Dudley didn't know what to say. He thought that this bloke named Dumbledore, strange name, but he got the funny feeling that this was normal, he must be older than dirt.

Dumbledore calmly looked around. He did not know how Dudley was going to take this news. How could the book of wizards have missed him? Was it possible? Could he have suppressed the magic for so long? Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well Dudley, what do you think about our school?" Well, he thought he might as well know how he felt about the school before he told him he had to stay.

"It's, err, nice. Beautiful really. My old school never looked this good." What was he saying! His parents were just murdered by his kind, and he was making small talk with one of the leaders of the scum. For he thought that Dumbledore was a leader. No guy ,he thought, could live that long and only be in charge of a school. "Look when can I go home?" What home, he thought, two dead parents, and no one to give a shit? "Harry is going to pay for this..." Dudley mumbled.

"Do you really believe that Harry had anything to do this? Do you think he asked for so many to get killed?" The sparkle died out of his eyes. For once his eyes filled with what looked to be anger, coated with guilt, sorrow, and what looked to be grief. Dumbledore looked away. When he looked back at Dudley, he had a confused look on his face. "You have never been told of what plagues our world, have you? Well you must learn, because you, yourself might be in danger as well..."

Dumbledore then started at the very beginning. Even before the death of Harry's parents, even before Tom Riddle, "Let me tell you a story. A true story. This school was founded by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin..."

Well that's number three...let me know what you think. College takes a lot of my spare time but I'll try to update as soon as I can.