Chapter 10

I looked down at the world far below me. Fields of different shades of green knitted together to form the world's biggest patchwork quilt, the green interrupted by clusters of doll houses and toy cars flying up and down the distant roads. I could see it all. Everything.

I briefly returned to consciousness, long enough to see Hedgely and Professor Flip's concerned expressions looming over me and to feel the burning fire still raging in my chest, before I allowed myself to pass out once again.

I was swooping low over a field, the grass brushing the skin on my stomach. A delicious smell wafted towards me, the smell of blood rushing through veins, of salt on skin, of air being pumped in and out of lungs. It was the smell of life, and I longed to devour it. I rose upwards, out of the grass, and saw a girl, sitting beneath a tree, reading a book. She was young. I knew her meat would be fresh and tender, as I silently descended upon her. She didn't see or hear me coming, nor did she have time to scream as I clamped my jaws around her neck.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

I blinked, flying upright in my bed, trying to see who had shouted before realising it had been me.

Had I just fantasised about eating someone?

No. It had been a nightmare. That was all. It was-.

I looked down to find my chest wrapped in pristine white bandages and remembered my injury. It had been some sort of feverish nightmare, triggered by such a traumatic experience. It had to be.

I felt hot, so much so that my hair was sticking to my neck. I couldn't breathe.

What is wrong with me?

"Dudley! You're awake!"

Hedgely was perched on his own bed on the other side of the room, a book open on his lap. I thought of the girl sitting beneath the tree, the poor, poor girl...

I rolled over to the edge of my bed and threw up on the carpet.

"Professor!" Hedgely shouted, closing the book and standing up, "Professor, come here, quickly!"

Professor Flip appeared in the doorway, while I was still retching on the clean carpet and gasping for air. He exchanged a few, clipped words with Hedgely before shooing the other boy from the room. He waiting until he was sure I had quite finished, before waving his wand, causing my vomit and its rancid smell to disappear. I leaned back against my pillows.

"How are you feeling?" asked Professor Flip, pulling a stool out of thin air and sitting on it, "Does your chest hurt?"

I shifted slightly and moved back and forth, testing my chest for pain, but felt nothing. I shook my head.

"Not at all. Not anymore. But my head hurts."

"Hedgely said you woke up shouting something, before you vomited."

I nodded but didn't say anything.

"Would you like to elaborate?" asked the Professor, "Do you know why you yelled?"

"I-I..." the thought of the field and the girl made me feel queasy and my head began to pound, "I had a nightmare."

"Go on."

"I had a nightmare- and in the nightmare," I swallowed, my throat dry, "I was an invisible monster."

I expected Professor Flip to get up and storm off or accuse me of being a monster myself, or at the very least, gasp, but he just sat there, nodding. I noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and he was unshaven. The unicorn on his face was grazing on the red stubble that lined his chin. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

"How long was I unconscious?" I asked.

"Thirty-six hours, give or take."

I hadn't realised I had been sleeping for that length of time. Professor Flip must have been awake most of the time, making sure I didn't die after his promises that I would be safe.

"How badly was I injured?"

Professor Flip sighed and leaned back, before remembering he was sitting on a stool and leaned forward again.

"Dudley," he said solemnly, "A muggle would have died from a wound like that."

"So I'm definitely not a muggle, then? Do you know what I am?"

"I think I know what you are."

"What do you think I am?"

"A squib."

"A squid?" I snorted, despite the serious circumstance, "Why on earth would you think I'm a squid? I don't have one eye and loads of tentacles."

"A squib is someone born into a wizarding family but doesn't have powers themselves."

"I wasn't born into a wizarding family. My parents are muggles. You know that."

"But you are Harry Potter's cousin; you are as special as he is. You were born to muggle parents. You are not a muggle-born wizard, yet you can see the invisibilis monstrum and you could operate my kitchen and you survived an injury that would have destroyed most people. You possess the abilities of a squib. That is the best answer I can come up with."

I considered this; it seemed plausible.

"What about the nightmare?" I asked.

"What exactly happened?"

It took me over an hour to recount the horrific tale, stuttering and stumbling over words. Once I had finished, Professor Flip sat scratching his neck, mulling it all over. Eventually he said,

"Well, Dudley, no real idea. I can only guess that you now have some sort of connection with the invisibilis monstrum you encountered, like Harry does with the Dark Lord. It all sounds very similar."

I panicked at the thought of being tied to the horrible creature and what that meant.

"You-you mean, the nightmare... was real?"

"I'm afraid so, although I may be wrong."

I felt nauseous, but commanded control over my stomach and Professor Flip continued,

"When you first walked into my home and I tried to read your fortune, I thought you were special. Now I know you are."