Neville was still being unfriendly even the next day. Though he returned Dudley's "good morning" with a short "hello" of his own, he remained cool and distant. Hermione sat with him during breakfast.
"Why won't he just accept my apology?" Dudley grumbled.
"Look at it from his point of view," Dean said. "For the past three years, he's had everyone think he's some useless loser. Then he heard us talking about him, and it's like that's the straw that broke the camel's back."
"The what?" Ron asked, clearly confused. "What's a camel got to do with it?"
Dudley and Dean ignored him.
"He'll come around," Dean said, confidently.
"I didn't get the chance to talk to you yesterday," Luna said as she approached. She squeezed herself in between Ron and Dudley and helped herself to a slice of toast. "I'm really glad you're the champion. I'm sure you will do great."
"Thanks, Luna," Dudley said.
"They're saying in the Ravenclaw common room that Lockhart is going to be mentoring you?"
"He is, yeah. He bullied Crouch into letting him."
"Be careful," Luna said. "Daddy doesn't like Lockhart—says all of his books are fakes."
Dudley had heard Luna mentioned this theory before.
"And most of Ravenclaw think he's a bit of a joke. He was a really bad teacher," Luna said.
"I know he saved us from the basilisk, but he wasn't a very good teacher," Luna said.
"Yeah, but he was much better when teaching me, Hermione and Neville on our own," Dudley said. "He taught us how to do a memory charm. Plus, he's already figured out what the first task is going to be."
Luna raised her eyebrows, questioningly.
"Professor Lockhart said I wasn't to tell too many people," Dudley said, "In case it spreads around and Krum and Delacour hear about it, so don't tell anyone else—it's Sphinxes!"
Luna's eyes widened. "Ohhh! That means you will have to answer riddles. Are you good at them? A chest without hinges, key or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid!" she said excitedly.
"Erm … no idea," Dudley said, as he ate his hardboiled egg.
"An egg," Luna said. "You need to brush up if you're going to get past a Sphinx."
"Professor Lockhart is teaching me some," Dudley replied. "He was a Ravenclaw—apparently you need to answer a riddle before entering."
"Yes, some can be very tricky," Luna replied.
"I'd hate that," Ron said. "Imagine, returning to your common room after a long days studying and wanting to just sit by the fire and rest only for the door to laugh and say 'hyuk, hyuk, hyuk what goes up a chimney down but can't go down a chimney up?' Sounds like a right pain in the arse."
"It can be annoying. Last week, one took two hours and six students to figure out."
"Glad I'm in Gryffindor," Ron said, sliding his empty bowl away.
At Herbology, which they shared with the Hufflepuffs, Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley and Zacharias Smith were stood outside. Each had a badge pinned on their robes.
"Well, well, it's the Hogwarts champion," Ernie said.
Dudley glared at him. "What's your problem?" he demanded. He had had issues in the past with Ernie and Justin, but not for a while—for most of his third year, he had just ignored them.
"You are," Ernie said. "Some of us don't want an oversized, bullying lout as champion." He held his badge forward.
On it were the words "Support Neville Longbottom—The True Champion of Hogwarts"
Justin and Zacharias sniggered.
Dudley balled his fists but Dean laughed. "Is that all you've got? Real impressive, Ernie. Jealous that Big D is entering the tournament while you're still a loser."
Dudley laughed at the look of anger on Ernie's face and followed Dean and Ron inside.
"He's an idiot," Ron said, scathingly. "You haven't done anything to him for ages—why's he want to start trouble now?"
"Jealous," Dean said. "He's never liked, Dud—remember the second year, when he spread rumors that Dud was Slytherin's heir."
Dudley would never forgive Ernie for that. It's why he took delight in annoying him by talking to Susan Bones often during Muggle Studies.
Not every Hufflepuff was wearing a Neville Longbottom badge. Susan and Hannah greeted him quite cheerfully and neither were wearing them. Indeed, Susan apologized for them.
"They were actually Terry Boot's idea," she whispered when they were getting surprised. "He doesn't like you much for some reason. I haven't seen many people wearing them—it's mainly just Boot and his friends and those three idiots. Hannah and I are supporting both of, aren't we, Hannah?"
Hannah Abbott nodded.
"We just want to see a Hogwarts victory," Susan said.
"Yeah, well—I think all I've got to worry about is Krum. The Beauxbatons lot don't seem up to much," Dudley said.
He felt in a better mood when he returned to Ron and Dean.
During charms, Flitwick had them learning summoning charms which used the incantation "accio." Charms had always been a good subject of Dudley's. While Hermione had been the best in the class, making objects fly towards her as if she was a magnet, Dudley, Dean and Ron had also managed to pull it off in the end.
"Useful spell this," Dean said, casting accio on his bag. It flew too fast and hit him in the face.
"Nicely done," Ron laughed.
Over the course of the day, Dudley noticed quite a few students greeting Neville in the corridor or giving him a nod as he passed.
"I'm not surprised," Dean had said, after Dudley questioned Neville's newfound popualrity. "He's one of the champions, and the whole school heard how he jinxed Malfoy yesterday."
"I jinxed Malfoy last term, remember," Dudley muttered.
When they turned up to the class for double potions, the Slytherins were all wearing badges. For one wild moment, Dudley thought they had "Support Neville Longbottom" badges on, but when he got closer, he saw that each said "Durmstrang."
"Like them, Dursley?" Malfoy sneered. "We Slytherins decided we're going to support Durmstrang. We're too ashamed at having a mudblood and a borderline squib as champion."
Before Dudley could react Dean had pulled his wand out, ready to hex Malfoy. Being called a mudblood was always a sore point with him.
"Want to try it, Thomas?" Malfoy sneered.
For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.
"Funnunculus!" Dean yelled.
"Densaugeo!" screamed Malfoy.
Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles – Dean's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up - Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.
"Hermione!"
Ron had hurried forward to see what was wrong with her; Dudley turned and saw Ron dragging Hermione's hand away from her face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Hermione's front teeth - already larger than average - were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.
"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.
Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."
"Thomas attacked me, sir -"
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Dean shouted.
"- and he hit Goyle - look -"
Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.
"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.
"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"
He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.
Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."
Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.
It was lucky, perhaps, that Dudley, Ron and Neville started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.
"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Dursley, Longbottom and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."
Dudley's ears were ringing. The injustice of it made him want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy pieces.
Across from them, Neville was looking livid. His face white with fury.
"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one..."
Snape's eyes met Dudley's, and Dudley knew what was coming. Snape was going to poison him. Dudley imagined picking up his cauldron, and sprinting to the front of the class, and bringing it down on Snape's greasy head - And then a knock on the dungeon door burst in on Dudley's thoughts.
It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.
"Yes?" said Snape curtly.
"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Dudley and Neville upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.
"Dursley and Longbottom has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished."
Colin went pink.
"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs..."
"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Longbottom, Dursley, leave your things here, I want you both back down here later to test your antidotes."
"Please, sir – they've got to take their things with him," squeaked Cohn. "All the champions..."
"Very well!" said Snape. "Dursley, Longbottom - take your bags and get out of my sight!"
Dudley swung his bag over his shoulder, got up, and headed for the door. As he walked through the Slytherin desks, DURMSTRANG flashed at him from every direction.