Chapter 7: triathlon of death

Dudley couldn't quite place it, but something was different about today. It was the first day he actually felt like maybe he did need an emotional support dog. Something was just in the air, making his stomach do all kinds of flip-flops.

"Mr. Dursley?" Remus suddenly spoke up. Dudley blinked and looked at his new gym teacher sheepishly.

"Sorry, sir."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just spaced out." Dudley said slowly. Snuffles whined a bit and cocked his head at him. Dudley smiled and gave him a pat then went back to trying to focus on Remus' explanation of American football. But his head was off in the clouds. He missed most of the rules and was suddenly jarred awake when his friend Bernard called his name.

"Dudley on my team!" The bulky teen blinked blearily and nodded as he walked over while Snuffles with a now practiced ease walked over to Remus and sat beside him. The class liked to joke that Remus was the coach and Snuffles was the assistant coach. They both barked enough. Dudley tried to copy everyone else and keep focused. The team moved around positions so everyone could exercise all their muscles. When Dudley was the receiver he was confident that even in his distracted state he could easily catch a ball and run straight. And that's what he did.

Right into the cinderblock wall.

The entire class let out a shout of sympathetic pain as Dudley ran, thankfully not directly face first, as he'd been looking back when he did, right into the hard wall with a thud. He bounced back and fell on his back with a smack, knocking all the air out of his lungs. Snuffles was up like a shot, leaping clear over several students, who yelped, before skittering to Dudley's side and pressing down on his stomach. The boy let out a choke before he started coughing and heaving in a few breaths. Snuffles then lay beside him making quiet huffing noises keeping one paw on his chest. Remus was over by the time Dudley started clambering up.

"Are you alright Mr. Dursley?"

"Just winded." Dudley said raspily.

"Take a seat off to the side." Remus said gently.

"Alright." Dudley said tiredly. Normally he'd insist on playing again but right now he felt exhausted and his brain was still kinda foggy. As he sat there Remus came over and took his wrist. Dudley looked at him oddly.

"Just checking your heart rate." The teacher explained before he pulled out a small flashlight. "Look here?" Dudley did so and Remus nodded. "Well you don't have a concussion from what I can discern, which is good, so what has been bothering you?"

"Hm?"

"You've been very distracted today."

"Oh that… I don't know. It's like a feeling in my bones yeah know… like something bad is gonna happen." Dudley said in exasperation.

"Have you heard from Harry recently?" Remus asked. Dudley blinked.

"No actually… he said he'd send me a letter at the start of the year but he never did." Dudley said suddenly feeling more anxious "have you heard anything professor? From that side I mean?"

"I know that Hogwarts is hosting some kind of event this year, but I'm foggy on the details. Apparently they don't want it getting out too soon due to security. From what I understand the incident this summer has everyone a tad spooked. " Remus said quietly. "If that's true it wouldn't be surprising that Harry simply forgot to write you. I'm sure he'll write soon. It's only been two and a half weeks since school started for him after all."

"You're probably right." Dudley agreed. The teen spent the rest of that class on the bench with a bag of ice to his stinging face. Various other students came by periodically. Bernard commended him on an unconventional touch down which had Dudley laughing pretty hard and helped to rid him of some of his anxiety. He poked at his dinner, eating it slowly still thinking of Harry alone in that most mysterious of schools. Finally, he ate all he could and headed for bed. As soon as he closed the door he heard a quiet screech and jumped a mile.

"Hedwig!" Sirius cried with a smile. Sure enough, the Snowy was sitting on Dudley's window sill looking slightly put out. Dudley quickly opened the window and she swooped in, ruffling her feathers and making another clicking noise with her beak.

"Yes yes alright!" Sirius grumbled before he dug into his pocket and pulled out an owl treat. "Here you are!" The bird took it happily, grabbing it and swallowing it whole making a pleased sound. Then she stuck out her leg. Sirius untied it quickly and handed it to Dudley who tore it open with vigour and began to read

Hey Dudley,

Sorry it took so long to write you! Hogwarts has been a bit of a chaotic disaster as of late. I'm not sure if you might have heard already, I don't know if Sirius is getting the Prophet delivered, but this year Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament. Supposedly two other Wizard schools are coming to compete in it. I don't really understand it to be honest. Hermione's been really pissed though. From what I can pick out from her rants, the tournament used to be held something like every three years but was abolished a long time ago because lots of students were dying in it. I don't know. It all seems a bit suspicious. First the Dark Mark at the World Cup and now some deadly competition from a hundred years ago? This is the same sort of thing that was happening in second year. Dumbledore wasn't really specific on details, but he hired a friend of his Called Mad-eye Moody to teach Defence this year. Apparently he used to be a sort of Magical Police officer? He's got a big reputation for stopping dark wizards. Obviously Dumbledore is really focusing on security. Moody seems interesting enough, though he's a bit intense. Anyway, I told Hedwig to stick around for a reply. Tell me everything that's happened with you and Sirius. It'll be nice to hear something normal for a change.

Love,

Harry

Dudley smiled as he got to the bottom then frowned.

"What's a Triwizard Tournament?" He asked. Sirius blinked.

"What? Give me that." He said before he took the offered letter and read in quickly. His face turned grave and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Then he noticed Dudley's expectant look and nodded.

"The Triwizard Tournament is an international competition whereby one student from each of three schools compete in three dangerous tasks to obtain eternal glory or some such drivel. The real prize is the Triwizard Cup, which is held in the winning champion's school until the next Triwizard tournament, and usually a monetary prize of some sort to be given to the champion who wins."

"So… it's a race?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's more of a scavenger hunt with clues for how to solve puzzles of some sort." Sirius explained. "Usually the tasks are designed to push a wizard to their very limits based on Strength, Endurance, and Strategy."

"So… it's like a triathlon." Dudley said. Sirius blinked.

"What's a triathlon?"

"It's a sort of race split up into three parts. First there's a bike race, then a swimming race and then a running race." Dudley explained.

"I suppose it's sort of like that. The tasks aren't typically one after the other though. It's spread out over a few months so the champions have time to prepare." Sirius said thoughtfully "plus I take it the risk of death isn't present in a triathlon."

"Not specifically no." Dudley agreed with a wince. He looked down at the letter once again and frowned. "What do you know about that Moody character?"

"Intense is a pretty spot-on way to describe him." Sirius said with a bark of laughter. "Back in the late 70s I trained under him. He's pretty famous for his catchphrase 'Constant Vigilance!'"

"Whoa. Intense is right."

"He did a lot of good work though. I wonder when he retired from the force…" Sirius said thoughtfully. Then he shook his head. "anyway! If Dumbledore is worried about security he definitely picked the right man. Nothing gets past Alastor Moody."

"Alastor? Harry said-"

"Mad-Eye is a sort of nickname." Sirius said with a wince. "From what I understand he's rather embraced it."

"What made people start calling him that?"

"Trust me. If you ever meet the man you'll know." Sirius said with a chuckle. Then he frowned and shook his head. "Mark my words Dudley. Going off Harry's track record, He'll end up messed up in all this by the end."

"You think?"

"I know my godson. Trouble sticks to him like hippogriffs to ferrets." He spotted his nephew's very confused expression and laughed "long story."


A/N:

Hello again and thank you for reading! No quirky messages today. Just a fresh chapter for the masses.

dianaanne: It came through a bit this chapter but it'll be a bit before we see Dudley at his best. patience.

May and James Birdsong: Thank you!

Ruk: I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit before Harry comes back, but I promise that the story will go back to Harry and stick with him very soon.

Rori Potter: Thank you! I suspect the next chapter will be up before the end of the month.. possibly... maybe.

imerldarosemathew: well... I think Bellatrix would be more terrifying than exciting or exhausting but I suppose that's relative.

Be sure to stay hydrated, stay safe, and wear a mask!

and don't forget to keep on reading!

-TTC