A couple of weeks later, and Dudley was on his way to Hogwarts. He found himself sharing a compartment on the train with Dean Thomas, who he had bumped into on the platform, and a tall, gangling, red-haired boy with a smudge of dirt on his nose called Ron.

Ron, it turned out, was from a wizarding family and was a wealth of knowledge about the wizarding world. He had a number of brothers, three of whom were still at Hogwarts, and one sister.

Much to Dudley's delight, he had been very excited to see that Dudley was bringing a broom with them, and had spent the first part of the journey telling them both all about quidditch, which to Dudley, sounded a very cool sport and he couldn't wait to play.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Dudley, who despite having his usual full-English breakfast with extra bacon, leapt to his feet, so did Dean, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Dudley went out into the corridor. With his pockets rattling with gold and silver, he was ready to buy as many

Mars Bars as he could carry—but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Dudley had never seen in his

life.

Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman one galleon, five silver Sickles and six bronze Knuts. Dean, not having as much gold as Dudley, bought a box of Chocolate Frogs and some Cauldron Cakes. Ron stared as Dudley brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Dudley, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

Dudley, barely listening as he ate his pasty nodded. Dean too was tucking in, cautiously sampling one of his Cauldron Cakes.

The pasties were delicious, Dudley thought, shoving a Cauldron Cake into his mouth too. Ron, sighed as he started to eat one of his sandwiches.

"What are these?" Dudley asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know - Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect - famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Dudley unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half- moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. He recognized him as the eccentric wizard who had visited his parent's house. Underneath the picture was the

name Albus Dumbledore.

"I got Dumbledore!" said Dudley.

"You know Dumbledore? said Ron.

"Yeah, he came to my house," Dudley said carelessly.

"Wow," Ron said, looking envious.

Dean looked up. "I had a tiny little professor called Flitwich," he said.

Ron nodded. "Fred and George mentioned him. He's a great teacher, apparently."

As Ron and Dean talked about Flitwick, Dudley turned over his card and read:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945 and for his defeat of You Know Who in 1981 which ended the first wizarding war. He is also known for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Dudley turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be

back."

Dudley looked at the card again. "Who's You Know Who?" he asked.

Dean looked up. "He was mentioned in one of the books I bought, a really dark wizard."

They both glanced up at Ron who looked uncomfortable with this subject.

"He was a really dark wizard. Really dark. Mum and dad won't tell me much about him, but Bill has," he said, after a few seconds.

"Go on," Dudley prompted. "His name surely can't have been You Know Who."

Ron shook his head. "No, people are scared to say his real name."

"Why?" Dean asked, "He's dead isn't he?"

Ron gave a shrug. "Dumbledore defeated him," he replied. "But, I dunno, some people say he's still alive."

"But whya re people afraid to say his name?" Dudley asked, sounding scornful.

"Bill said it's cursed," Ron said. "Charlie says that's rubbish, but he can hear anyone who speaks his name and find them. Fred and George tried to get me to say his name when I was four. Mum was furious. Fred swears he had to go to Saint Mungo's for a new ear."

Dean laughed, but Dudley was still eager to find out more about this wizard who was so terrifying that people were still afraid, even after his death.

"What did he do?" he asked eagerly.

"I don't know," Ron said. "Tried to take over. Killed lots of people. Bill says he hated muggles and muggleborn wizards."

"Like me?" Dudley said, his eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah. He wanted wizards to be just purebloods," Ron snorted, sounding disdainful.

"And Dumbledore defeated him?" Dudley said, glancing down at the card again. He felt his respect rise for the old wizard. He had always felt a strong affinity to the strong and powerful.

"Yeah, I dunno how. Fred and George say they had a duel, which I guess must have happened. Nobody knows though. But Bill says, the Ministry made an announcement that You Know Who was gone."

"So what was he called?" Dudley said. Dean was gazing expectantly at Ron too.

"I'll write it down," he said finally, removing some parchment and a tattered raven feather quill from his trunk. He scrawled a word down and handed it to Dudley and Dean.

"Voldemort," Dudley said, scrunching up his eyes. Reading had never been his strong suit.

"Don't say it!" Ron hissed, dropping his half-eaten sandwich in shock.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Dudley had passed on platform nine and three quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Dean.

Dudley snickered, the boy looked utterly pathetic.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..." He left.

"What a crybaby," Dudley snorted.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose

it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in

disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting,

but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking

wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway …"

He had just raised his 'wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er - all right."

He cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you." She said all this very fast.

Dudley looked at Ron and Dean. He could tell that they hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Dean Thomas."

Dudley ignored her.

"Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell - George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Dean asked what wizards did after leaving school. Dudley half-listened as Ron told him about Bill working as a curse breaker for Gringott's and Charlie working with dragons, but he was more focused on eating more of his snacks.

"Did you hear about Gringott's, Dudley?" Ron asked, drawing him back into the conversation.

"The big bank full of those goblin things?"

"Yeah," Ron replied.

"It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Dudley stared. "Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind

it."

Dudley nodded. The wizarding world seemed even more exciting than he thought, with dark wizards and curses and magical robberies. For once in his life he was eager to start school. He was looking forward to learning of some curses and hexes of his own to use on enemies.

Ron was just telling Dudley and Dean about wizard chess (Dudley had shown the set that his father had bought for him) when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Three boys entered, two very large and one short, pale with slicked-back blond hair.

"I'm checking out the other carriages," he announced, "Seeing who is in my year." his gaze drifted over Dudley and Dean, settling on Ron for a second or so, the trace of a smirk appearing on his face.

"Yeah," said Dudley. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were

thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Dudley was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger.

Draco Malfoy looked at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father

told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, hand-me-down robes and more children than they

can afford."

He turned back to Dudley and Dean. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are

much better than others, what's your names by the way.

"Dudley Dursley."

"Dean Thomas."

The sneer on the boy;s face became more pronounced. "I don't recognize them. Your parents were our kind, weren't they?"

Dudley looked at Dean who shrugged. Ron however seemed to understand what Draco had meant for he was looking angry.

"What do you mean?" Dudley said.

"They were wizards and witches," Draco said, speaking slowly and clearly.

"Mine weren't," Dudley said.

"Nor mine," said Dean.

Draco scoffed. "What's the school coming to?" he addressed Crabbe and Goyle. "Letting mudbloods in."

Ron shot to his feet so quickly he accidentally knocked some of the snacks on the floor.

Dudley didn't know what a mudblood was, but he could tell it was an insult.

Dean hesitated a fraction of a second, but stood up too.

Draco's face paled. He didn't seem to have realized that Dudley was bigger than both Crabbe and Goyle. Although, much of Dudley's bulk was fat, he was still burly and quite an intimidating sight. Dean, meanwhile, while slim, was a couple of centimeters taller than the rest. Ron too was quite tall, though lanky.

"What's that you're calling us?" Dudley said angrily.

Draco seemed to think he was safe with Crabbe and Goyle. "Mudblood," he sneered. "It means your blood is dirty. I really don't think they should—"

Draco never finished his sentence. Dudley stepped forward and with one fluid motion, shot out his fist to punch Draco in the eye. Dudley was faster than he looked. The force of the blow knocked Draco backwards into Goyle. Crabbe started forwards, his fists raised, but halted when he saw Ron pointing his wand at him and Dean standing with his fists raised.

"You dare …" Draco began. Dudley stepped forward again, his fist cocked and Goyle stepped forward.

"Come on then," Dudley hissed, staring the large boy down who looked uncertain.

"We'll get you for this," Draco said, leading the way back out, Crabbe and Goyle following behind him.

"That. Was. Brilliant." Ron laughed, sitting back down. "Did you see the look on his face when you hit him, Dud?"

Dudley grinned. "He deserved it," he said, and Dean nodded in agreement.

"Saying we don't belong because we're, what was it?" Dean said, looking at Ron.

"Mudbloods,' Ron answered, disgustedly. "His whole family are like it.

The door opened again and Hermione walked in, "What has been going on?"

The three ignored her.

"They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared," said Ron, darkly. "Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an

excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Mind your own business," said Dudley, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

The train soon stopped at a station, and the three clambered off into the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Dudley heard a gruff voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here. "

"I saw him in Diagon Alley," Dudley said, looking at the giant.

"Fred and George mentioned him. He's Hagrid, the groundskeeper," Ron said. "Fred reckons he swallowed a bottle of Skele-Grow when he was a kid."

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Dudley, Ron and Dean and Ron got a boat to themselves. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

The boats led them through a narrow opening in the cliff, where eventually they reached a small dock. Hagrid led the way through a narrow tunnel which ended at a large door. Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times.