Chapter 54 – Dudley Again

Harry re-joined us, still looking bothered. "I think Dudley is alright. I won't say anything about our discussion. I want you and Cissy to hear it fresh, with your truth teller caps on. Catta gave me a couple minutes head start. She'll bring him here."

"What is wrong?" Harry's grandmother asked, with alarm. "Was it Dudley who betrayed me? I would have happily given him the book, had he asked. He seemed like such a considerate, loving grandson. Both of you stayed away from us. That hurt us terribly, but you and Dudley explained that you were given no choice in the matter."

"It will be okay, Gran," Harry told her. "Please just wait a little and hear what Dudley has to say."

Catta appeared with Dudley, just as Harry finished speaking.

Dudley had been weeping and still seemed upset.

I hadn't even realised that Shacklebolt had left, but he now reappeared with Ron and Hermione. "I didn't want to over-reach," he apologised, I think somewhat mockingly, to Harry, "but I thought you'd want to have Hermione present for this meeting."

Harry missed or chose to ignore the tone. "Thanks, Kingsley. I think that will help."

Harry turned to Dudley, prompting him, "Please tell the others what you just told me."

"I didn't mean to, but I did a really bad thing. I think Gran's problems are because of me. You know I've been mainly living away from home and not getting along with Vernon – my Dad. I've got my own house, but I've also spent a lot of time with Gran and investigating my grandfather's murder. Vernon has been trying to follow me and trying to figure out what I do with my time, when I'm not at his house. First, he thought I spent all my afternoons and nights at the local, drinking with the lads. He stopped by a few times and wanted to know where they were hiding me. Then he decided I had changed locals. He even asked the lads about me. He was convinced they were all lying to protect me.

"I didn't realise it, until he challenged me, but one night, he stole my cell phone and checked the numbers. He saw that I had a number listed for 'Harry'. At least you didn't answer when he dialled, but he was convinced that I was seeing you and in some sort of conspiracy with you and against him. He just kept at me. About two weeks ago, I let slip to Mum that I was seeing Gran. Mum must have told Vernon, because next time he saw me, he was all over me about why was I spending so much time with Gran, and he really didn't want me to see her anymore, and what did we do together, anyway.

"I told him that we were just catching up. I said I wanted to know what my grandparents were like. It wasn't natural to know almost nothing about them. He just kept at me, and finally I said that we just walked around the house and neighbourhood and told each other stories about our lives. He was, like, what kind of stories. After about ten minutes, one of the stories that I mentioned was about Grandfather and the strange diary he had found in his boot. Vernon got really interested as soon as I said that, so I dropped the subject as fast as I could. But… that is why the bad men were spying on Gran and why they broke into her house…" I don't know if Dudley planned to tell us more, but he was now crying too hard to be able to speak.

Dudley's grandmother was comforting him, hugging him and saying something like, "It's not your fault Dudley. I don't blame you at all. You didn't pick your father. We never should have allowed Petunia to marry him. I knew he was bad from the start. When Lily married, your mother had to marry the first boy who came along, just to keep up with her sister. She even spited Lily by getting married a month before she did, even though she'd only known Vernon for four months. Not that Lily really cared any more what Petunia did. Petunia was so jealous that she just did terrible things to try to make Lily feel bad. Eventually she succeeded in driving her sister away from her. You can't imagine how awful that is for a parent. So, don't feel bad, Dudley. It is hard for a son to fully realise what an awful, unscrupulous man his father is."

"That's the problem, Gran," Dudley sobbed, although he had at least nearly stopped crying. "I know what an awful man Vernon is. I've known for at least a year. I shouldn't have told him anything. I'm so ashamed."

"I hate to interrupt this family discussion, or perhaps it's best that I do interrupt," Shacklebolt told us. "I think we've learned the basic particulars from Dudley. Now, if everyone hides out of sight from our prisoners and from the door, I think it's time that we sent these lads on their way. If you would be so kind as to reverse your 'Off!' curses as you slip away, I'll get on with the business of catching Roderick."

We did as Shacklebolt asked. From our hiding spot in the kitchen, we heard the front door open and then close again. Shacklebolt called us back into the sitting room, saying "Now we wait. You'll want to get that real notebook logged as evidence, Deputy Minister… or, I could do that for you."

It seemed as though a new bond was forged between Harry and Shacklebolt as Harry handed the diary to Shacklebolt, with nary a flinch, saying "I think this will be our secret for now. This is an on-going investigation and there are no Wizards in custody, so I see no reason to tell Madam Bones just yet."

"I concur," Dad replied. "Now we had best get out of here. I assume Kingsley still has the house under surveillance. Despite the headmaster's displeasure, I think it is back to Hogwarts for both Dudley and Mrs. Evans."

I apparated all of us to the Hogwarts grounds, just outside the main entrance. "I think straight to your headmaster," Dad announced. We found McGonagall in her office.

"I know you don't appreciate uninvited guests, but it is important to our community that Dudley Dursley and Mrs. Evans reside at Hogwarts until we catch Roderick. I don't regard it as interference in your running of the school to insist that you perform this service for the Ministry. I'll leave it to you and the Deputy Minister to work out the details."

"Um… yes, of course, Minister."

Dad, Shacklebolt, and the extra aurors were gone. I could tell that McGonagall was dying to demand an explanation, but unsure what she should say in front of Dudley. She finally decided upon "Ron, why don't you get Dudley settled into Gryffindor and show him around the Quidditch Pitch. I believe the junior team is practicing. I'm sure he'd enjoy watching them. Cissy take Mrs. Evans to the Great Hall and get her something to eat. I'll alert the Elves. McGonagall's Patronus departed, along with about half our group. "Callista…" McGonagall continued "um, you might as well stay."

"Now then, please tell me what has been going on. Why has the Minister visited yet another guest upon me? Why are we suddenly giving such a high priority to catching Roderick?"

We told most of the story. McGonagall replied, "I can understand that Lord Montaigne did not want to have written proof that his father Squibbed out an eldest son, whom he knew not to be a Squib. I can also understand why he would not want to be embarrassed by written evidence that his mother had cheated on his father. What I don't understand is why all of that would matter to him today, with Bruce gone, himself in jail, and the inheritance settlement with Harry concluded. I especially don't understand why Roderick would think any of this still matters."

"It might have something to do with the Montaigne revenge plot for nineteen years from now, although I can't think how. Maybe… maybe like Thicknesse, he thought he could cause enough mayhem that we would not only release Bruce and him but give him back his lordship. Having written proof that he never was the rightful lord would reduce public acceptance of his return. I realize that's a big stretch. Perhaps Roderick was simply just going on the last orders he was given, before he lost touch with his Lord" Harry suggested. "I don't think we should assume that this means Roderick has recently been in communication with the Montaigne formerly known as Lord. I am very interested to find out what Roderick has to say for himself."

"Speaking of which, I feel that I am safe to assume that you and Director Shacklebolt have been going behind everyone's back and illegally using Veritaserum, again. That is a dangerous way to treat Muggles."

"The Minister is aware of our activities and has approved them. I don't think there is a good way of dealing with Muggles who are paid to attack Witches by one of our own. It is vital to stop such attacks, but nothing we could do would make the Muggle government happy. What would you and Madam Bones have us do? Turn the little red book over to the Muggle police and let them read about magic and Squibs and Castle Montaigne?"

"No. I see you are in a bind. I just wish that Amelia were a part of the decision-making process. I'd feel more confident in the quality of the decision. You Wizards tend to think alike, whether you are right or wrong. It never hurts to consider an opposing viewpoint. The final answer is usually much improved."

"I sort of agree," Harry conceded, "but when the holder of the opposing viewpoint sees only black and white, it doesn't seem to lead to improvement. Working toward mutually acceptable solutions isn't Madam Bones' strong point. If she were willing to work with us to find the most acceptable way to accomplish what needs to be accomplished, I'd happily include her in such discussions, but she never takes that approach. Her attitude is what approach absolutely maximises the rights of the bad guys and if it is a totally 100% proven to her satisfaction, with all the evidence collected according to her most perfect standards, then she'll consider prosecuting the case, but only after she's been pushed hard to do so. Otherwise, she'll delay forever. Do you know how hard I worked to finally convince her that Barty could just be imprisoned for life, now that I caught him? It is as if the fact that he was twice sentenced to life in Azkaban, but escaped, wasn't relevant. She kept criticising the evidence we had on this arrest. And we have a ton of evidence.

"She just kept arguing: 'But the search of the magical boxes might not have been perfectly legal', 'but it could be argued that as a non-auror you had no authority to arrest him', 'students cursing him off his broom could even be viewed as an unjustified assault'. That's the sort of nonsense I'm faced with whenever I meet with her. Wood's not a lawyer, he doesn't even have Percy's familiarity with the law, but it took him like an hour or two to find several clear statements in law books and a past case saying that a prisoner who escapes and is recaptured automatically goes back to jail to complete his sentence and time is added for escaping. When I showed that to Madam Bones, she was babbling, 'well that is normally the case, but there certainly can be exceptions. Why Barty's lawyer might well argue this or that'. It's just totally unproductive."

"I understand the problem. I'll talk to her. She seems not yet fully recovered from her ordeal with the Death Eaters. She really does have a much more precise mind than that and used to have a drive to lock up the criminals. Perhaps Mrs. Granger can be of help. For now, I understand why you don't want to involve her. Please understand that this puts an added burden upon you and Arthur to make sure your administration doesn't engage in criminal conduct. Kingsley will go every inch as far as you allow him to go, and then several more feet."

"I am fully aware of Director's Shacklebolt's approach to such matters and have strenuously objected on occasion. I won't go into detail, but I am not blind to the problems you suggest."

"Well good, perhaps we had best leave it at that, then."

I went off with Hermione to work on jointly making sense of what we had learned from the stone. I had the feeling that we were supposed to reach out and pull in added strength from the stone, in time of need. I just had no idea how to go about doing this.

Harry said that he would return to the Ministry. It didn't look as though he would be at peace again, until Shacklebolt's aurors had captured Roderick. Given Roderick's instructions for how our former captive was to contact him, it would be at least a day until contact was made. I knew Harry would just worry until then. He had grown closer to Dudley and was upset by Dudley's involvement in this. He was also seeing his hated Uncle Vernon in a different light – not that he was surprised that Vernon was evil – he was surprised that Vernon was in any way significant.

The weather was sunny and blue-skied, a lovely treat for November. As Hermione and I grabbed blankets from Gryffindor and headed out to sit in the sun in the wind-shelter of a hedge, we noticed that Cissy was following us. We allowed her to catch up, led her to the bushes, and shared our blankets as we waited to learn what was on her mind.

"My family was eviller and more messed up than I even realised," she confessed. "I've been thinking. It's possible that my father recruited Vernon Dursley from The New Start Society. I think the Ministry has all the pertinent records of the Society. I can't suggest it, but somebody should ask Percy, Wood, or Callista to search the records for any mention of Vernon Dursley. I'd do it, but I want to go back to the castle and check my father's financial records to see if there is any connection to the factory where Uncle Vernon was the manager. If one of you could get somebody started on the Ministry search, I'll do my part."

We had only been on our blankets for less than five minutes. Hermione and I were now off to the Ministry. Cissy seemed quite pleased to have her suggestion acted on so rapidly.

Callista told us Harry was with Dad. Prudence said we might as well go in, that Harry and Dad were likely just making each other miserable waiting for whatever was going to happen with Roderick. They did both seem not unhappy that we had diverted them from whatever they had been discussing. Hermione explained Cissy's proposal. Dad immediately leapt to approve it, asking Prudence to find Percy.

That settled, Dad suggested that we sit and chat. What he wanted to chat about was whether Hermione and I thought it likely that we really could draw extra strength from the stone. He was happy to hear that we each had ideas for doing exactly that. We tried and were each able to communicate with the stone from his office. He was impressed, musing "Scotland to London, that really is quite an achievement. We might need this skill if we ever need to get a leg up on the Spencer twins. I encourage you both to keep working to perfect your new talents. For your father's sake, please focus upon improved protective spells. Harry explained 'Shield' to me. If you could strengthen that, I'd feel a lot better about your safety."

"I promise to work on that Dad. I think that there are a lot of ways that our new knowledge can make Hermione and me, really all of us, safer. I am more than a little concerned about Harry's fears equating the reaction to Hermione and me to the reaction to the Spencer twins. I think the least said to others, especially Shacklebolt, about the stone and the Mother of the Future and her Muse stuff, the better. I'd hate for Hermione and me to be murdered for something we don't even understand yet. I am very serious about being safe. I think we just have slightly different ideas of what it takes to be safe. Beyond Bill, Barb, and I guess Ellen, I don't have any gut-level trust in the rest of the Auror Corps. To me, they are just this large, anonymous crew of tough fighters, from which the next assassin may step forward. I'm thankful that Kingsley Shacklebolt seems to at least like me, you, and Harry. I think he'd have a much harder job having me murdered off as a potential threat than he would have with Henry Spencer. Still, a little bit of that threat will always be there, won't it?"

"Yes, I can see how it would be," Dad replied "but, largely because you don't know Kingsley as well as I do. I'm not at all afraid of Kingsley harming you."

Speak of the devil, a very excited Kingsley burst into Dad's office, with Prudence nipping at his heels and telling him to stop. "We've got Roderick!" Kingsley shouted. "I had an inkling that the elaborate contact plan he gave to his thugs was just a ruse. He intercepted them as they were returning to their rooming house. The whole thing took a little longer than I expected. For some reason, the thugs thought it clever to meander around for a while before dropping their post. I didn't want to bring Roderick here. You know who has friends in the Ministry who would squeal on us, before we could interrogate Roderick. He's at Harry's grandmother's house. I knew you'd be upset if we started without you."

"We certainly would," Dad agreed.

My second Apparate in less than an hour went problem free. I was feeling my normal self again. I think the travel between worlds just takes an awful lot out of a Witch.

Roderick was goop-trussed with his back up against the fireplace and three aurors in attendance. The incriminating little red book was lying in the middle of the nearest lamp table. Roderick looked belligerent, with a 'you can't break me, copper' attitude. He obviously was unfamiliar with the wonders of spiked Veritaserum.

"You may have turned my goons, but you can't turn me," he promised a smirking Shacklebolt.

Shacklebolt poked his fingers into the sides of his cheeks to make him open wide. The remainder of the Director's supply of super-Veritaserum went down Roderick's throat. The procedure left Roderick spluttering and choking, and Shacklebolt grinning. He was enjoying this a little too much. At least, that was my personal thought as we sat back to wait for the potion to take effect. I was sensing a wave of us uneasiness washing over Harry, the sort of uneasiness that comes from participation in something distasteful and embarrassing. Almost instantly, Harry seemed to steady his emotions.

{[very pleased at his sudden insight} I just realised that of course Kingsley is gloating. He and his aurors caught Roderick. I think he has been far more embarrassed than we realised that Barty escaped his aurors and we caught him, then Thicknesse avoided his aurors until we caught him, then we and the Elves caught Roderick's thugs… the Elves even caught Rita Skeeter and it was our plan that caught her. I'm afraid we've made the aurors look very weak. I'll let Kingsley rejoice in his win.}

{{I really think you should, Harry. We both know how proud a Wizard Shacklebolt is.}}

I could almost read the same thoughts from Dad. As if to confirm my supposition, just as Roderick was showing the barest hint of succumbing to the effects of the potion, Dad commented, "Well done, Kingsley, but let's get on with this, then."

Kingsley stepped forward to question Roderick. He waited a few minutes, as he carefully studied Roderick's eyes, before asking, "Why did you want this book so badly?" I hadn't noticed that he had picked up the book, but he was now brandishing it only six inches from Roderick's face. As Roderick hesitated, Kingsley spoke louder: "Well?"

"It's nothing to me. I retrieved it as a last act of loyalty to a master who has provided well for me. You must know it's Lord Montaigne that wants the book, if you've gotten this far."

"Okay, let me rephrase that question. Why does Lord Montaigne still want this book?"

"Don't know that he does. Haven't seen him lately. I remembered he had me look for it once. All-important it was. The Lord decided the book was burned long ago and stopped looking. Haven't thought of it for years."

"Why did Lord Montaigne want the book so desperately, those many years ago?"

"It was the former Lord first asked me to find it. The bastard was Squibbed and then the book couldn't be found. Knew the little bastard used to write in the thing. Hadn't seen it for a year. Thought he musta burned it but had to be sure. The wrong person could destroy the family with that book."

"What made the book so dangerous?"

"The boy mighta wrote of making magic. That would be bad. Make his father a criminal, it would. And my Lord Montaigne might lose what was his by right. The old Lord feared what young Nigel would think of him. That was the biggest weight. Still loved his big brother."

"Then why did the new Lord Montaigne want you to find the book?"

"The old Lord had to warn him of the book, afore he died. Didn't mention the magic. Just that the book could destroy the family and Nigel's future. The old Lord told my Nigel that the book could prove that he did a very bad thing. The thing needed doin', but some folks wouldn't see that. The book had to be destroyed."

"How does Vernon Dursley fit into this?"

"My Lord good as bought him. Bought him an' threw him in that silly Petunia's face. Vernon was the charmer then, and my Lord gave him the potion. Petunia chased him from the start, she did. Let him explore the house, and herself, when the parents weren't there. He tried for a year but didn't find the book. The parents never mentioned it. Petunia knew nothing. My Lord decided the book were gone before the bastard was Squibbed. Then Vernon comes to me ten days ago. Fool doesn't know my Lord is finished. Last, he seen him, he be handing out piles of money. Vernon wants more money. He says the old lady has the book. His son seen it. Had to get it afore he read it. A chance he might understand. A chance he tells Potter."

"What did Vernon Dursley do for Lord Montaigne all those years between marrying Petunia and telling you about the book?"

"Kept Potter and the other boy away from the grandfather with the book. That's what he done. Can't be telling tales to boys he can't see. Made Potter run away. But that didn't work neither. My Lord couldn't ask me to kill Potter. I said, 'just nod and I know what you want'. Couldn't do it. Felt bad about his brother. Potter were his brother's blood. Couldn't kill him. Course if he up and run away, run into some bad folks who want to kill him – that wouldn't be my Lord's fault, now would it. Just an uppity kid too dumb to be scared and can't fight good. I coulda killed him. I shoulda killed him."

"Coulda, woulda, shoulda," Hermione chanted. "And now you can't. How sad for you."

"Now what will you do to me?"

"Firstly, ask you some more questions," Shacklebolt told him. "Did you know that Lord Montaigne threatened that terrible things would happen years from now, unless Bruce was released on the Lord's schedule?"

"Yes. That be a problem for you. Can't set Bruce free, if he be gone. The Lord not be a forgiving man."

"What are these terrible things?"

"Bombs. Big, big Muggle bombs. He said 'and something else. A little surprise for them. They be doomed if they set Bruce free, doomed if they don't'. That what my Lord say."

"What is this something else, that's a surprise for us?"

"Didn't tell me, did he?"

"Where are the bombs?"

"Didn't tell me, did he?"

"Who planted the bombs?"

"Didn't tell me, did he?"

"Whom would he have trusted to hide the bombs? Who had the skill to hide them?"

"My Lord has many secrets. Didn't tell me, did he?"

"Did Lord Montaigne tell Bruce to kill Mr. Evans?"

"No. My Lord can't stop Bruce from reading. Bruce can be very angry."

"Are you employing any others, besides the two thugs who broke into this house and the man who drove them here a few days ago?"

"No. Caught them all, did you? That's bad on me."

"Does anyone else have any questions?"

"I have a question for Cissy's sake," I told Shacklebolt. He motioned that I should ask my question.

"Did Lord Montaigne ever plan to let Cissy be the Keeper?"

"You funny Witch. Cissy not my Lord's daughter. Another bastard."

There were no other questions.

"Take him to the Gringotts jail," Dad directed Shacklebolt. "Don't let him see his former Lord. We will have to speak to Madam Bones. Our investigation seems complete."

The three aurors, who had been guarding Roderick, apparated him out of the house. The rest of us got ready to apparate back to the Ministry to meet with Madam Bones. At least I assumed that was the plan, until Harry said, "It might be best if you and Hermione returned to Hogwarts, Ginny. No need to mention this to the headmaster. Or Dudley, I have to think about how to explain this to Dudley."