Harry Potter and cast do not belong to me. Only original characters are mine.
Harry Potter Bloodline
CHAPTER 9: DUDLEY AND TAROT
Sunrise approached as the four boys began to stir the following morning. They were all refreshed having gone to bed rather early. After getting dressed in jeans and t-shirts, they were soon heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. Everyone ordered their favorites to their plates and began to eat. Dudley ordered mostly meat and bread since he would be sharing with Tarot, and kittypups only eat meat. Tarot yelped affectionately between bites of bacon and sausages.
"I still can't believe all the things you did last night, Dudley." Seamus said through a mouthful of toast.
"Yeah, it was all basic stuff, but you made it look so cool." Ron added sarcastically.
Dudley smiled, aware of Ron's sarcasm, nodded at all of them and continued eating. Harry sensed that Dudley was being a little shy about his abilities. Harry felt that Dudley was somehow holding back his true potential, although Harry wasn't quite sure why Dudley would do that. Harry decided to keep quiet and see what happened for the rest of the day. He held on to the idea that the surprises from Dudley were far from over.
They all finished their meals and headed to Hagrid's hut. Along the way, Dudley took in all the different areas of the campus that were visible as they passed. He made mental notes of them all, hoping that he would see more before the end of day.
The boys reached Hagrid's hut and Hagrid was outside waiting. "Mornin' to yeh!" Hagid yelled in his booming half-giant voice.
"Morning Hagrid." They all replied politely.
"What will you be teaching me today, Professor?" Dudley inquired.
"Ready to be about it then, are yeh?" Hagrid asked.
"Yes. Harry tells me that you are the coolest professor at this school, and I like animals. Sometimes, like with Tarot, I would almost swear that I understand them; like they talk to me." Dudley answered.
"Great. Now he's going to start talking to bloody animals! I haven't seen new guys do this much sinceā¦" Ron paused and looked at Harry who was grinning at his best friend's obvious display of jealousy.
Dudley, Harry, and Ron turned and noticed that Seamus and Hagrid were already walking toward the Forbidden Forest. Harry and Ron drew their wands and they all followed.
"Stay together boys, and Mr. Dursley may want to have his wand ready, too. Today we're going to look fer friendly forest creatures. There aren't a list or certain ones, just whatever we come 'cross fer the next bit. Now, there're a few nasties in here too. So keep yeh're guard up all the time." Hagrid instructed.
They all spent the next few hours observing several of the forests inhabitants. Everyone noted that whenever they got to a fairly dark spot that Tarot would purr loudly and glow brilliantly to light the way. After a few encounters with different species of pixies and some not so pleasant brushes with some mean trolls, Hagrid made for the entrance of the Forbidden Forest.
"Strange," Hagrid began with a puzzled look, "There's usually way more things near the entrance. It's a lot safer here. There must be something nasty hunting nearby."
As in answer to Hagrid's query, a huge ten-foot spider descended upon them. The spider was black and covered with hair that appeared to be matted with the blood of a recent kill. Deadly venom dripped from its fangs, as it looked over the group with several eyes; contemplating his next meal.
With speed and great determination, Hagrid uprooted a sizable tree and struck the spider with incredible strength. The spider took a few steps backwards, but was otherwise unaffected.
"You cannot escape me," the spider began. "My children are hungry, and you all should fill them nicely." The spider reared on its back legs and sent a mass of webbing at Hagrid. Hagrid avoided being hit by the webbing by holding the tree in front of him. When the spider started retracting the webbing, Hagrid released the tree and turned to uproot another one.
Ron, Harry, and Seamus stood in front of Dudley as they pointed their wands at the giant spider and yelled, "Stupefy!" All three spells hit the spider, but the spider only laughed at them saying, "Your magicks will not harm me."
Dudley pushed to the front of them, and Tarot jumped from his shoulder to the ground at his side. "No Dudley!" Harry shouted as Dudley stood eying the spider with no signs of fear.
"Jus' a minute, Harry!" Hagrid shouted, seeing something about the situation changing that the others were too excited to notice.
"Leave us alone. We only want to leave this forest. Please don't make us hurt you." Dudley spoke in a trance-like voice.
"You think you can hurt me? You've already tried, and now I am getting impatient!" the spider replied.
"You insist on eating us then?" Dudley responded.
The spider immediately answered, "You will be eaten."
Tarot began to yelp excitedly as ripples of golden energy started to run over his body. He stepped slightly in front of Dudley and raised his tail as Dudley pointed his wand at the kittypup, and while keeping his eyes on the spider yelled, "Lumos Incendio Mobiliarbus!" Everyone stood quietly and gawked as several familiar multicolored sparks flew from Dudley's wand, landed in a circle around Tarot, and Tarot began his slow ascent with hair standing on end, and ripples of magical energy resembling golden electricity grew bigger. Then with a loud purr, Tarot erupted with almost blinding flames.
Dudley kept his eyes on the spider, and his wand stayed on Tarot. The spider reared again, ready to charge them. With amazing timing, Dudley yelled, "Waddiwassi!" The spell hit Tarot as he shot at the spider with the speed of a rocket. The spider was still reared when Tarot struck it with the force of a crashing train. The spider screamed in pain as Tarot bounced a couple of feet back from it, his flames still crackling with energy. A split second later, the spider burst into flames that produced a heat so intense that it slightly singed everyone's hair.
With his wand still on Tarot, Dudley yelled, "Relashio Tarot Nox!" As the spell struck, Tarot opened his mouth like he was taking a huge breath, and literally consumed the flames burning on the spider. As the light began to dwindle, even Hagrid gasped as the frame of the spider disintegrated into a large pile of dust. Tarot jumped back to his perch on Dudley's shoulder. Dudley petted him and smiled with pride, as the others looked on. ' This', they all thought, ' is too much'.
"Should we be off then?" Hagrid said.
Harry, Ron, and Seamus just nodded. Dudley was strangely silent as they walked through the entrance of the forest.
They went inside Hagrid's hut, and sat down as Hagrid made tea. Tarot instantly curled up in front of the fireplace and purred himself to sleep. Hagrid poured tea for everyone and produced a plate of sweets. They all helped themselves while staring at Dudley, who seemed to be someplace else.
"Are you okay Dudley?" Harry asked with concern. There was no answer. "Dudley!" Harry said loudly while shaking him. Dudley looked over at Harry for a moment and then he just fell back into the chair. Tarot was also not moving, and Harry speculated that it was more than coincidence. Ron and Seamus looked at Hagrid curiously as Hagrid tapped on some wind chimes that were hanging to the side of a coat rack. Harry said nothing else when he remembered that the chimes were charmed to alarm the school nurse and Professor Dumbledore of a medical emergency related to the Forbidden Forest.
Moments later, Professor McGonagall and Nurse Pomfrey entered the hut breathing heavily due to their run from the castle.
"What has happened here?" Professor McGonagall asked calmly.
"Dudley is not responsive to anything." Harry responded quickly with worry causing his voice to crack.
"And Tarot's nigh waking up either." Hagrid said grimly.
"We can see that!" Professor McGonagall quipped in annoyance. "We need to know what caused it," she told them while Nurse Pomfrey examined Dudley with her wand.
Never mind that now, Minerva, we must get them to the infirmary at once!" Nurse Pomfrey shouted. The nurse conjured a stretcher and rushed through the door of the hut with Dudley in tow. His eyes were still wide open as floated to the infirmary. Hagrid carried Tarot in one hand as they all followed Nurse Pomfrey.
Once in the infirmary, Nurse Pomfrey wasted no time tilting Dudley's head and forcing three vials of red potion into him. She handed Hagrid another vial of the same, and he managed to hand it to Harry; whose hands were small enough to administer the potion to Tarot.
"This potion should restore their energy in mere seconds." Nurse Pomfrey said confidently. And true to her word, the two patients began to stir.
Tarot jumped directly to Dudley's side as Dudley groggily asked what happened.
"What do you think happened, Mr. Dursley?" Professor McGonagall asked coyly as though she knew the answer already and was only interested to see if Dudley had figured it out for himself.
Dudley answered, "I remember mind-linking with Tarot because his senses are far stronger than mine, and I could see and hear everything through him. I learned to do that when he spoke to me in my mind at Magical Menagerie, where we found each other. That's really why I bought him. We fought this huge spider, and oh! Tarot I'm so sorry. I never severed the mind link. I forgot. I was so mentally tired from the fight. When I released Tarot from the spell, he was physically tired. So when he shut down physically while we were still connected, my body shut down too?"
Harry, Ron, and Seamus felt sick as Professor McGonagall smiled at Dudley, and clapped her hands. They knew from her reaction that he was right. They also questioned his ability to speak telepathically with his familiar two days into discovering he had magical potential, and just minutes after proving he was already a formidable wizard. They gave each other a something-here-isn't-right glance.
"The Headmaster will be returning sooner than expected, and will join us for dinner this evening. You will all go to the Great Hall for some lunch, and then you will return Mr. Dursley to Griffyndor Tower where Tarot and he will get some proper rest. We will meet for dinner at six. You will please wear your robes, as guests will join us. Good day." Professor McGonagall said as she smiled and sent them on their way.
The boys went to the Great Hall and ate a small meal. They gathered some extra food, mostly sweets, and returned to their dorm. Dudley and Tarot headed straight to Dudley's bed.
"Are you sure that you're okay Dudley? You hardly had any lunch, and you look pale." Harry said as Dudley was tucking himself in.
"Thanks Harry, really. I feel fine, just a little tired. Tarot is still tired, too. We'll be fine by dinner, won't we Tarot?" Dudley asked Tarot. Tarot actually made a nodding motion with his head, and then purred as Dudley scratched behind his feline ears.
"Alright. I'll wake you to get ready for dinner." Harry acknowledged as they all lay down to nap before dinner.
************************************************************************ A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The story will take an interesting turn as it concludes with chapter 10. Please read and review. Geneaux
