Having gotten through three months at Hogwarts, several fights and potentially making a discovery that could push the timeline of humanity back even earlier, Dudley was happy to say he belonged at Hogwarts. They were sitting in an abandoned classroom with their discovery currently in between Dudley, Harry and Hermione.
Harry's eyes widened when he understood the full weight of the discovery they had found, and he cast a text duplication charm, which failed.
"Most curious, perhaps its preceding Latin so much makes it unresponsive to Latin based charms. We should look into runic magic, however complex it may be, it could help us with our research." He paused, scanning the text again before sighing. "We are going to have to copy this down manually if spells don't work." He began doing just that while Dudley and Hermione both looked at him suspiciously.
"What was it you wanted to talk about with us? You said it was important." Hermione inquired with concern lacing her voice. Harry, for his part, looked very confused for a moment before smiling broadly.
"I managed to cast a pretty advanced spell last night, but it knocked me out with exhaustion. No magic has been working correctly… Hermione I just thought, I want you to try the same duplication charm I tried, once I've copied it down entirely."
"What spell did you perform Harry?" Dudley questioned, having remained silent, not really having much of value to add right now.
"I managed a Patronus, or maybe I passed out before it formed, I can't remember. But I know something formed and I know I woke up in the same room I cast the spell in hours later."
"What's a Patronus?" Hermione had confusion written all over face. "I've never heard of it."
"It's a magical guardian and companion, meant to fight Dementors, but can stay in its corporeal form for as long as you can focus." He stopped for a moment, a thoughtful look appearing on his face before he finished. "I may not be powerful enough for a long time to keep it around for any stretch of time, but I can try to cast it every now and then as my core grows."
"I'll have to do some research to know fully what you're describing but for now we don't have long to copy this text."
He went back to his writing, his face completely awash with concentration, his quill moving with a fluidity that reeked of unnaturalness and an almost inhuman precision. When all of a sudden the bell rang for their next Defence lesson, breaking his concentration and returning his writing to a more human pace. He finished the piece he was writing and they rose to leave.
During their Defence lesson Harry couldn't focus on anything, except pain. His scar was hurting more than it had ever hurt. Sure, it had ached in the past, but he assumed it was normal for magical scars. It had never hurt at the Orphanage, it wasn't until he left the Leaky Cauldron that his scar had hurt for the first time. He had chalked them up to headaches before right now, when he knew for a fact that his scar was the cause. This wasn't simple pain however, it felt like something trying to claw its way inside his head through his scar. Preposterous surely, as after rubbing at it several times he never felt anything there.
He was content to remain quiet, after all his time at the Orphanage had shown him pain and taught him to remain silent in the face of even extreme pain. This pain had reached the worst pain in his life, which caused him to vomit. Taking this as a sign to go to the Hospital Wing, he didn't even bother asking Quirrel, as by the time he had gotten an answer out Harry could be half-way there, he got up and bolted out the room, interrupting the, thus far silent, test that was going on at the time and causing Quirrel to turn around to face the classroom for the first time since the test had begun.
Running through the corridors eventually the pain had decreased so much he could actually think for the first time in almost an hour. 'What was that?' was his first thought followed by 'how do I guarantee that doesn't happen again?' It was certainly the weirdest thing he could remember happening to him so far.
So caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't hear his name being yelled out in panic and concern. He certainly didn't notice the blood running down his face from his scar. That was until the person shouting to him managed to get in front of him and stop him. The Grey Lady had floated in front of him and he could see his reflection faintly in her. His eyes widened and he realised he was being asked questions.
"Why are you covered in blood? Why won't you answer me?" "What is-"
"Sorry I was deep in thought, didn't even hear you until just now. I don't even know how to explain what happened. It's a bit overwhelming." He rushed out all in one breath. He was on the verge of hyperventilation, a fact that the Grey Lady could clearly see.
"Breathe child, take a moment, collect your thoughts." She whispered in a gentle and calming way. "You can hardly tell me the story if you've passed out." After five minutes of complete silence he was calm enough to talk with only a bit of shakiness.
"I was in Defense Against the Dark Arts and the lesson began like most lessons this time of year, with an exam, when all of a sudden my scar started to hurt. A lot." He paused then, unsure of how things played out from there. The memories being like smoke in his hands.
When he didn't go on any more she assumed that was his entire summary of events.
"How and when did you get this scar? Do you even remember that?" Her voice was riddled with concern.
"When that Bastard Voldemort killed my parents and tried to kill me." He got upset at this thought, though he perked up when his brain connected the dots. "Could he be the cause of my pain today? Is it even possible?" His voice was high with excitement at possibly figuring it out, only for it to be brought back down with the Grey Lady's reply.
"Only the most evil rituals could ever cause such a bond as this. It's like a corrupted Lord/Heir bond. But it's on a scale not possible with that connection alone. Maybe possession, but that requires Voldemort to actually be here in the school, but more specifically he would have had to be looking directly at you to even do that." She explained in her motherly voice.
"So, back to square one." He sighed out in bitter disappointment.
A week had passed and Dudley was concerned about Harry, it wasn't like him to get up and run off like that, but he hadn't brought it up. How could he? He literally had no idea how he would approach him about it. He was thinking about it while he sat by the lake with Harry and Hermione, when Harry decided to bring it up himself.
"Hey Dudley, do you remember our DADA exam a week ago?"
"Yeah, you left like 15 mins before the end of the lesson after vomiting. Not to be rude, but all the first year Slytherins saw it. It was fairly memorable." He replied nearly instantly, having thought about it for the last seven days.
"It was my scar. I think someone was using magic to cause me pain, and I think it's Quirrel. I've read up on curses and you have to be in close proximity. He wasn't looking directly at me, but he has a mirror behind his desk. Maybe he was looking at me in that." He rambled, slowing down towards the end.
"Harry, I know he is weird, but you're trying to say that Professor Quirrel is trying to hurt you, using the very thing he's teaching us to defend against. I find it rather unlikely that he would do such a thing. Maybe it was just a pain curse from another Slytherin, set to go off during the exam. It's certainly more likely than a teacher doing it." With that it was final. Harry wasn't going to get help from Hermione. Dudley probably wouldn't say anything with Hermione around. He would talk to him later.
"So what do you think the next half term exams will be like? Months from now I mean, around Easter. I hope they're practical." With that they talked about random Hogwarts related things.
Walking through the dungeons on the second weekend of December was a trio of red-heads. Fred, George, and Ron were trying to find the location of the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Their success was nonexistent, ending up several corridors away from where they were meant to be. The youngest was getting nervous pleading with his brothers to turn back.
"We're deep in the snake pit, let's just turn around and get out of here before something happens. You know what they're like." He nodded to himself as if to confirm his beliefs. Fate also seemed to want to reassure Ron's fears as when they turned the next corridor they saw a mass of snakes. Marcus Flint, Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. Seemingly waiting for someone.
"You should have listened to the lion cub, we're waiting here for Potter, but we're more than happy to teach you a lesson." Flint snarled at them.
"Won't be able to play Quidditch when you're expelled for breaking into the Slytherin common room. Of course with your combined double digit I.Q. I doubt you would have managed to find it even with a week of wandering." Blaise added after Flint had spoken, continuing with a look of schadenfreude all over his face. "We'll have all the evidence we need when you're caught stunned inside the common room."
"You can't do that. It will be your word against ours. We'll just explain it to Professor Dumbledore. " Ron shouted at them, immediately worried. It was at this point a fourth person joined the side of Gryffindor, however the new addition was a Slytherin.
"I don't suppose you know anything about Pensives?" Harry walked into the conversation, looking angry. "What good is it actually having parents if they don't teach you anything? Honestly, I feel like I know more about the Wizarding world than all of you. What was it, parents too busy worshipping a dead Dark Lord to teach you anything?"
"Don't you dare talk about our parents like that Potter." The name was said with a bizarre mix of contempt and fear. "You wouldn't know what having parents is like." Draco hissed back, which made all the Slytherins laugh. Harry was laughing for a different reason.
"You think insulting me with the point I just made holds any weight? Merlin, that's pathetic." At that Harry was the only Slytherin still with a smile on his face, only it wasn't a happy smile, it was a smile of pure sadism.
Before anyone could say anymore there was a sudden appearance of another person. Well, he wasn't technically a person as it was Peeves the Poltergeist who, as always, had a mischievous grin upon his face.
"Hehe, what fun. A fight between some ickle firsties, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, and the only two students who cause more chaos than I do." He chuckled, swooping at the group of Slytherins before grabbing Malfoy and flying off with him. "Let's drop this one in the lake. We can see if he floats." With that the Slytherins ran off after him, not before glaring at Harry and the Weasleys.
"Now it's two favours we owe you, they would have stunned us and dragged us out of here before Peeves got here." Ron looked at him with a hero worship that the redhead had believed dead in him since Harry's sorting.
"Oh please little brother- Peeves did all the work- little Harry only annoyed them- which we were about to do." Fred and George grinned at them both before Harry laughed.
"I'll take the second favour from you, Ron, and accept the twins' denial of the favour." Harry nodded solemnly before they all started laughing.
Walking around on his own, Dudley heard many things. A third year Ravenclaw couple just broke up, one of the Gryffindor seventh years had just realised he didn't want the jobs his qualifications set him up for, and Filch was petitioning to return to the barbaric discipline methods of yesteryear. He always heard things that he shouldn't, whether it was confidential or magical in nature. But it was definitely weird when he heard the name Harry mentioned before Petunia Evans, his mom Lily's sister, and he was intrigued enough to wander in the direction of the conversation happening between who sounded like Professors Snape and McGonagall.
"I too am surprised, Severus. He looks just like James, but he is nothing like him. He's definitely Lily's son."
"It's a shame that others of her bloodline don't share her personality. On the many occasions I met Petunia, she was vindictive and cruel. When she met that whale, I was sure that any child conceived of that union would be a hapless fool. Yet surprisingly he is generally acceptable and has adapted well. After his sorting I was sure he would have left by now, however I have been pleasantly surprised by how well he has overcome most obstacles." He finished in his monotone drawl and Minerva responded.
"Careful Severus, it will start to sound like you admire him if you carry on." At that Hagrid entered the staff room and the conversation changed to mundane things, but Dudley had only one thought. 'Harry has a cousin at Hogwarts.'
With that bombshell he walked off. Thinking, and laughing, about the absurd notion that he and Harry could be cousins. After all, his mom was an only child.
He had held off on talking to Harry about his discovery ever since he found out about Harry's cousin, after all he had no proof or idea who it was. As he was pondering this on the last day of term before he would go back to his parents, he was walking past the Greenhouses, just enjoying the snow and sun providing a juxtaposing condition for his walk. He could hear all sorts of birds and other smaller creatures nearby, everything was truly peaceful. That was until he heard a couple of smashes followed by someone crying. Deciding it was best to investigate the sounds, he left and entered the Greenhouse he heard the smashes coming from and saw another first year, a Hufflepuff, who was sitting on the floor, covered in soil and crying. His face grew even more desperate upon seeing Dudley and his robes. Worrying that a Slytherin had come to mock him, he cried even harder.
"Hey, hey, it's alright. We can fix this and clean this all up." Dudley calmy began. "Nobody has to know anything happened here." The Hufflepuff looked at him sceptically, nobody was nice to him. Not even in Hufflepuff could he find a friend, he was too weak and too clumsy. When he broke his wrist during his first flying lesson, nobody came to visit him. 'This is obviously a prank.' He thought to himself.
"Why would you help me? Just stand there and laugh at me if you want, but please don't hit me. I'm having a bad day and don't need that on top." He whined miserably, inspiring Dudley to cast a healing charm Hermione had taught him, and smiled seeing the look of relief spread out on Neville's face.
"Now we can clean you up and try to fix these. We should have a spell somewhere that can fix these plant pots, then we can levitate the soil back into them." With that the two set to work, becoming friends in the process.
"I'm Neville by the way, Neville Longbottom."
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