He wasn't immune. The blonde had about a full minute of relief at the sight of the castle, staring up in awe. Then the worry refilled up inside of him. Dudley even wouldn't care if his cousin's excited movements did wind up turning over their boat. There already was a horrible sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.
Harry tugged at him impatiently. "Come on Dudley." The blond stumbled over the edge, left foot catching. He reached down, annoyed, and pulled it out. Neville bit his lip as he glanced down at Dudley's shoe. "You can't just stay in the boat. There's a whole castle to explore sitting up there. Let's go!" Harry tugged harder and then called back, "You coming Neville?"
Ron jogged to catch up with them, his eyes amused. "He always like this then?"
"Don't be laughing at my cousin," Harry said. His nose crinkled over at the red head.
"Er." Thrown, Ron blinked dumbly. His mouth moved before finally being able to speak. "I was kind of talking about you."
"Oh." Harry's face cleared and brightened. "That's all right then."
The path ahead of them turned from wet grass to rocky stone steps. With a grin, Harry went faster. By the time they reached the top, they were the first there standing beside the very large man who lead them there. The man's beard shifted as he peered down at them with warm eyes. His gruff voice rumbled out a greeting and they all nodded when he asked if they were doing all right. "Good." And after checking behind them for the rest, he raised up a large hand, fisted, knocking on the huge oak door three times.
The door opened to a woman in emerald green robes, dark hair pulled back. She gazed down at all the students with a stern face. Dudley could feel something else besides worry over the sorting again. Hope. That whatever happened inside, hope that she was head of whatever house his cousin got. The woman, Professor McGonagall, Dudley recalled numbly, led the first years inside. He couldn't even feel some of the earlier awe as they walked. Walked closer to their pronouncement of where they would be placed. Breath Dudley, he reminded himself. Keep walking.
Without fully realizing it, his feet stopped moving with the rest. Everyone crowded close, so there wasn't too much room to move anyway. Dudley peered about. The professor seemed to have led them to a chamber and he could hear the muffled chatter from elsewhere. In here, no one's mouths moved as all their faces were directed up. He drew his attention back to the professor.
She greeted the whole group. Not wanting to miss any information she might have, Dudley listened closely as she spoke of the start of term banquet and how, before they could sit and join, would be sorted into their houses. Professor McGonagall went on to stress the importance of houses and how it would be like your family while at Hogwarts. Dudley chanced a quick glance over to see his cousin grinning at him.
The blond put his attention back up to the professor. Any hope he might have clung to in reducing any of his worry disappeared. She wasn't saying anything he didn't already know or figure out. Then after a terrifying pronouncement that they would be sorted in front of the whole school, she left.
"How?"
"Some sort of test I think." He spun to see Ron fidgeting and biting at his lip. "Fred says it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."
Dudley's shoulders slumped at the reminder. Ron didn't know how either. "The same brother who said we'd wrestle a troll?"
The red head nodded, wincing at the reminder himself. "Yeah, that's the one. Sorry."
Besides Harry, who looked more excited at the mystery, everyone else waiting in the chamber looked just about the same. Scared. Or panicked. Hermione was talking very fast as she went over all the spells she could remember reading from the schoolbooks. Those near her seemed more alarmed with how much she already knew before whatever the test was. In an odd way, her words soothed Dudley. He knew those spells and recognized those phrases from the books.
If there was a test of their knowledge involved, he'd been swiping Aunt Lily's old class books to read at St. Jerome's Church for the past couple of years. Preforming them was a different thing, but that was why they were coming to Hogwarts. He could manage a Pepperup Potion with as many times as he'd watched his aunt make it. Well, probably. There was a spell involved to tie up the potion at the end. The rest of it he was pretty certain he had memorized.
"Woah! Dudley, look!"
With his cousin's sudden delight followed by screams, he whipped his head around quickly to see what it was. Pearly white and translucent, nearly twenty ghosts had floated through the wall of the chamber. Caught up in an argument about someone named Peeves, they appeared unaware of the students below.
Harry dashed forward and Dudley managed to snag his cousin before he jumped up. Doing a little hop instead, Harry waved. "Hello!"
The ghosts all turned, seeming startled at the sight of them all. "Students," said one. He smiled down at them all. "About to be sorted, I suppose? Hope to see you in Hufflepuff. My old house you know."
It was then Professor McGonagall came back and the ghosts drifted back out of the chamber. His cousin rushed forward, winding up behind a sandy haired boy. Dudley watched him line up, the tightness around his chest returning as he saw Ron glance back from hurrying after Harry.
Dudley clutched the top of the owl cage and found Neville beside him checking on his toad. He waited, putting it off himself. "Ready," he finally asked. Neville's round face turned to face him, sheet white, like the ghost Ben Carpenter from primary school dressed as last Halloween. Dudley amended his question. "To keep me company up there?"
Hesitating, looking at the doorway first, Neville nodded. Then they went to get into line at the back. Spotting a messy head of hair poking out of line up ahead, the blond set his face. Sure enough, Harry found them and took a foot out of line. Dudley narrowed his eyes and jabbed the air with his finger. The point was clear. Stay in line. Dudley jabbed his finger again and tipped his head up. Slowly, Harry turned his head back around and caught Professor McGonagall's formidable gaze. He went back into line. At the professor's sight heading back toward him, Dudley hurriedly shifted back into a proper line himself.
Their line traveled, going through a set of double doors into the Great Hall. Older students had gone hush at the sight of the first years coming inside. There were a few whispers, which meant not all of them were staring at them. Four long tables made up the length of the hall. Four houses, Dudley thought and swallowed. He craned his head to get a good look up ahead, past the older students and tables and floating candles lit above them. Dudley had hoped to get an idea of what he'd be facing. What they all would be facing for the sorting. Instead, he noticed another table at the front where the professors sat. And Albus.
The older man noticed him too, raising up his goblet in a tiny salute before taking a drink.
Upon reaching the front, all older student's eyes on them, Dudley watched Professor McGonagall closely as she left and returned. A stool and a very patched and dirty hat. Old. Blue eyes focused in on the hat. If they were going to just pull their house out of a hat, it was turned the wrong way.
The hat's brim moved, then it began to sing.
Dudley's stomach clenched. Magic. It was going to be a magic, looking inside of you for your qualities sort of magic. There was no way it was random like in primary. They weren't going to pull a house out of the hat. It was going to be the hat pulling the house out of you.
Nothing hidden in his head that it couldn't see?
Panicked, Dudley gulped for air, trying to slow down his breathing. The hat went on, singing on all the qualities of the houses until it ended to an applause. Then, without pause to quell any nerves, the sorting ceremony continued with Professor McGonagall calling out the first name to sit and put on the hat to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah.
The pink faced girl stumbled out of line to place the hat over her head. It fell down over her eyes. Well, at least they wouldn't be able to see everyone staring when the sorting happened, Dudley thought morosely. "Hufflepuff," the hat declared. And she went to sit at the cheering table to the far right. Bones, Susan was next to be called up.
Dudley's stomach swooped. Alphabetical. They were going alphabetical. Sure, he wasn't going to be first to go, but him and Neville standing at the end of the line coming in made no difference to putting their sorting off a little bit longer. He'd be sorted first. Before Harry. Before Neville. Ron and Hermione. Even the Malfoy boy from the train would be sorted after him.
Hufflepuff.
Then Boot, Terry. Ravenclaw.
Brocklehurst, Mandy. Ravenclaw.
Brown, Lavender. Gryffindor.
Bulstrode, Millicent. Slytherin.
Corner, Michael. Ravenclaw.
At the C's already?
Cornfoot, Stephen. Ravenclaw.
Crabbe, Vincent. The boy from the train went to Slytherin. As did the girl who followed. Davis, Tracey.
Dursley, Dudley.
Automatically, he moved his feet and feeling as though he was truly ill, sat on the stool and put the hat on like those before him. Two for Hufflepuff, four for Ravenclaw, three for Slytherin, and one for Gryffindor. If it was going to try to keep house numbers even—
"Hmm. Plenty of dedication."
After getting over the shock of the hat speaking directly to him and not just singing or shouting house names, Dudley shifted on the stool. Hufflepuff perhaps, he wondered.
"And not a bad mind here. Not in the slightest. But where to put you? Ravenclaw would serve you well, except, well now. You know the value of knowledge most certainly, however, your purpose to learning is driven by a different need. A desire to prove yourself. You are not afraid to take a chance to get what you desire either. A wizard."
He stiffened at that. It knew. It knew what he and Harry had done this summer.
"Even in the face of failure, trying whatever you could, reading more about it. Yes. Drive, determination, resourceful to reach your goals. To not just fit in, but to better yourself. A better person, to be a good man. One who does not live up to your parents' names."
And before Dudley could think anything against that being called out, the hat opened its brim to shout for the whole hall.
"Slytherin!"
Author's Note: As far as I know of from reviews, no one expected this house for Dudley. I know I saw him going to Slytherin when he preformed his first accidental magic. He's determined, even if he worries. More than Harry does to say the least. Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. I always thought Slytherin and Hufflepuff fit weirdly together with that quality. But Dudley doesn't have exactly the same sense of fair play. Or patience. He isn't loyal enough to trust a person just on their word...look at how he never forgot who Albus was after him and Harry got caught. Agree? Disagree? I did tilt toward Ravenclaw for him, but the reasons behind his value of knowledge seemed greater. In any case, the 'What If' story continues. Which means the worry of house transfers over to Harry. Thank you to the favorites and follows and to the reviewer Alicia Olivia Mirza.