10:00AM Monday 4th January - the first day back after the Christmas Break
Jonas Sulk, the Master of Discipline of Smeltings Boys School looked out of his office window as his biggest (in every sense of the word,) problem walked by. Jonas sighed as he thought of the boy. He had threatened and given the boy detentions for his bullying but it had failed to make the boy realise the error of his ways. The current headmaster had vetoed any further measures as he thought that a bit of bullying was a fine tradition to have in his school. "Perhaps if he attended another school that was less forgiving of his actions the boy would change." Jonas idly thought but he knew it was unlikely.
Dudley Dursley and his gang of sycophantic followers were scouring the school grounds looking for a bit of fun. Some poor, and usually small, student caught unawares on their own, someone who would be an easy target to bully for Big D and his fellows.
"Hoskins!" Dudley roared laughing at an unlucky youth who happened to be reading a book under a tree in a secluded part of the grounds. The gang he faced had already cut off all possible routes of escape. But luckily, for young Hoskins at least, fate was about to intervene.
"Dursley!" a voice rang out behind the gang members.
Dudley turned and what he faced shocked him to the core. Four tall men wearing masks and black robes stood there holding things out in their hands that Dudley recognised only too well. Wands! His fellows not realising their peril were shocked when Dudley squealed like a pig and clamped both his hands onto his bottom as he backed away from the men.
"You're not allowed on school…" Piers yelled at the strange men before he was cut off by one of them screaming "Curcio!" Piers fell to the ground, his entire body racked by violent spasms. The man holding the wand on the boy cackled with laughter as Piers screams echoed off the nearby school buildings. The other students just stared in horror at a fate that awaited them all.
But as if answering the screams of Piers, the school buildings began to emit a high pitched wail of their own, one which every student and staff member had been drilled into knowing very well indeed. It was a coded evacuation siren. The school had always had fire drills in past years but this year the new Master of Discipline Jonas Sulk had expanded them to include different types of signals. This signal was for a terrorist attack and in these troubled times; few thought it strange that such a signal be practiced. The only thing that they did find strange was the frequency of the drills but they also knew that the Master of Discipline would brook no one, student or staff member, slacking off in the drills. They had exactly one minute before the time limit the Master had imposed ran out. Every student and staff member in the school was now running flat out for the bunker under the school buildings. It was well protected against all types of attack and held the small school armoury which staff members drew their pistols from.
The trapped gang of bullies and their intended victim however realised it was too late for them to safely gain the bunker. They knew this was no drill, this was the real thing and the strange men they faced were the terrorists.
"Kill the others," the tallest terrorist said as he moved towards the now quivering lump of flesh that was Dudley.
"Arvada…" one death eater began as he pointed his wand towards the gang.
"BANG!" A shot rang out and the death eater slumped to the ground dead. He had been shot from behind and a volley of shots struck around the other death eaters but they had quickly protected themselves with shielding spells and remained unhurt.
"Damn!" Jonas Sulk muttered as he dove out of the way of curses sent in his direction. He had hoped to take out several of the terrorists before they could react but one would have to do for now. He slipped away as two of the death eaters gave chase. He was on his home ground and they were not. He knew every twist and turn in this chaotic old school and with the other students and staff now safely holed up in the bunker, he was free to act without risking their lives.
The two deatheaters stopped when they realised they had lost their quarry. They stood in the middle of an old walled courtyard. From over a nearby wall behind them a small object was thrown and landed at their feet. They looked down on the strange muggle object puzzled but not for long. The grenade detonated and what was left of their bodies were flung into the gardens.
Jonas Sulk looked quickly around the archway into the square. "That's not going to do the lawn one bit of good." He said looking at the cratered grass. He didn't want to think what the Headmaster would say about the now smashed 18th century stain glass windows of the school chapel on the other side of the square. "Three down, one to go!" He told himself as he headed back the way he had come.
The sound of the explosion had alerted the remaining deatheater that his time was running out. He needed to get the fat muggle to take the porta key and get him back to Lucius before anything else happened. But he was having trouble. The boy had his hands on his backside and so far had refused to move them to the porta key. "Curcio" the death eater screamed and Dudley was once again screaming in agony.
"Take the porta key boy or I will curse you again!" the deatheater yelled at the slowly reviving boy at his feet. The deatheater shoved the porta key once more towards the boy but his hands remained firmly clutching his backside.
The man was knocked away by another flying in with a rugby tackle; his wand fell from his hand. Jonas Sulk rolled away and quickly regained his feet. The other man also had reacted quickly after the initial attack. He was on his feet and was drawing two long knives from his robes.
"I will thank you to leave my students alone." Jonas said to his opponent calmly.
"Fool of a muggle. You do not know what you face." The man in the black robe replied.
"Let me guess, a wizard! To be precise a Deatheater! Right?" Jonas replied as he carefully circled the man. Dudley eyes shot wide as he heard what his teacher said but Dudley's hands remained firmly on his backside.
"So Muggle you have heard of us. It makes no difference you will soon be dead." The deatheater said as he moved in for the kill but he had underestimated his opponent. A former member of the British SAS, he had not let his fighting skills diminish in his new occupation. He turned the stabbing arm of his attacker in mid lunge and swinging the man around and over his hip threw the deatheater to the ground. Jonas Sulk, still holding the man's wrist, turned the knife down and with his full weight now bearing down on it he drove the tip of the blade through the eyehole of the mask. The deatheater let out a curling scream as the blade was driven through his eye and on into the brain. The deatheater was dead and Jonas Sulk slumped onto the ground to catch his breath.
"I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." He said to no one in particular. He looked around at his students. The gang members were thankfully unconscious after their torture. Jonas checked their pulses and knew they would recover. The Hoskins boy had remained seated throughout the entire event just watching. He sat there still looking on. Jonas could think of nothing to do for the boy right now. He had a much more pressing concern. He dragged himself back to his feet.
"Mr Dursley, it's all over now." Jonas said standing over the large boy who had been the target of the deatheaters. "I think its wise to get you somewhere safer. Let me help you up."
Dudley looked up at the man who has just saved his life. Still dazed from his ordeal he moved slowly but finally managed to remove his hands from his backside.
"Where?" Dudley asked as he reached up to take the Master of Disciplines hand. Jonas quickly pressed an object into the boy's hand as he said "Hogwarts!"
"Nooooooo….." Dudley screamed as he felt a strange tugging sensation in his stomach.
The Hoskins boy sat there watching as the Master of Discipline and the biggest bully in the school disappeared before his very eyes.
A series of popping sounds around him made him turn his head to see a number of men in red robes appear out of thin air.
"These boys have been hit with the cruciatus curse but they will be alright." One of the men said as he examined the gang members on the ground.
"Two deatheater bodies here and two others over in a nearby square. I'll get them moved back to headquarters for identification." Another of the strange men said.
"Hi there!" One of the men said to the Hoskins boy. "Don't worry, we are not here to hurt you. OK?"
The boy opened his mouth to speak but the man pointed his wand at him and said "Oblivion!"
Sometime latter when the all clear had not been sounded by the Master of Discipline to signify the end of the evacuation drill the headmaster had grown tired of waiting and had thrown open the doors of the bunker. He stormed up to find the Master of Discipline to tell the man what exactly he thought of this tomfoolery. His staff and students followed ready to enjoy the spectacle. When the headmaster had entered the square and saw the blast damage to the lawn and surrounding windows he was dumbstruck. The terrorist attack had been real. He hurried on and was soon at the scene of the bodies of his students lying at the feet of a strangely smiling Hoskins boy.
"What happened Hoskins?" he asked but the boy stayed silent as he continued to stare blankly back at the headmaster.
"Headmaster, we can't find the Master of Discipline anywhere and the Dursley boy is missing too!" One of the other teachers said.
"I'll call the police." The Headmaster replied shocked at the realisation that real terrorists had struck at Smeltings and had apparently kidnapped a student and a member of staff. The headmaster also began planning a number of other calls to old students of the school who were now senior members in the government. He was going to make sure that real action would be taken against the people responsible for this outrage.
Two bodies suddenly appeared and fell to the ground just outside the main gates of Hogwarts. Jonas Sulk stood up and dusted himself off. "I hate those damn things," he said.
Dudley Dursley looked up at the man on the ground. "You're one of them!"
Jonas smiled and replied, "A wizard you mean? No I just a muggle like you Mr Dursley, a muggle with a relative here at Hogwarts. Shall we go up to the school or are you going to lie there till more deatheaters show up."
Dudley was aching all over in the aftermath of the torture but at the prospect of more men in masks showing up he managed to scabble to his feet. With Jonas support he was able to walk slowly. He dreaded what was about to happen when he got to his cousin's school full of freaks.
"Dudley? What the hell are you doing here?" Harry yelled when he recognized one of the people walking up from the gates.
"We need to get him to the hospital wing. I don't think he'll make it much further." The strange man next to Dudley said as Harry ran up.
Harry could see that the man was right. Dudley looked close to complete collapse. He was breathing unsteadily and his face was pale and drained. His eyes were slightly glazed and seemed unfocused. Then suddenly he had come to the end of his endurance and pitched forward onto the ground unconscious. Harry drew his wand and said "mobilicorpus" and Dudley's limp body was raised and turned over. Harry had difficulty controlling the now floating body but managed to get it moving towards the castle.
"Jonas" James Bond said as he ran up. "Its happened then!"
"Yes four of them were after our friend here. I took care of them but thought it best to move the boy in case others showed up."
"I'll inform the headmaster." James said but a voice from behind him said.
"No need James, I'm here now" Albus Dumbledore was there with professor McGonagal.
"Minerva, can I ask you to take the Dursley boy up to the hospital wing. Poppy can check him over for any lasting effects from a cruciatus curse." With that Professor McGonagal waved her wand and struggled with the huge body floating behind her.
"Harry this is Jonas Sulk. He's been keeping an eye on you cousin for the order. He is Tonks cousin and although a muggle, like James here he has certain talents that are very useful. Now I think you should go to the hospital wing. Your cousin will need to see a friendly face when he comes too."
Dudley's eyes fluttered open. "It was all a dream, a nightmare" he thought to himself but then the ceiling came into view. "That's odd" he thought as he didn't recognize the high vaulted ceiling. He sat up and looked around the room. It was strange. Beds lined up like a hospital ward but the décor was old. There were portraits on the wall opposite and the figures in them were moving.
"Oh no no no…" he said as the realization of where he was hit him.
The door opened and in walked his cousin Harry Potter wearing a strange robe with some sort of emblem on them.
"Oh you're awake!" Harry said as he saw his cousin sitting up.
"Where… Where…" Dudley stuttered.
"You're at Hogwarts. This is the hospital wing." Harry told Dudley. Harry had meant to reassure Dudley but by the look on his cousins face he was anything but reassured. "You're safe here, I promise."
Dudley looked uncertain so Harry thought he would distract him.
"I got your letter." Harry said. "That was a real surprise."
"I, we don't like each other but I… I didn't know what Dad was going to do. It wasn't right. Not a loony bin. Not forever!" Dudley stammered with a look of intense shame on his palid face. "Mum says she didn't know either. It was Dad, he's always hated you the most."
"Dudley, can you tell me exactly what happened over the holidays? Just pretend I am someone who wasn't there." Harry asked as he dragged a chair beside his cousins bed.
Dudley gave Harry a strange look but he was too tired to argue, so he just started describing the events as he knew them. When his cousin had finished his strange tale, Harry told him, "Get some more sleep and when you wake up I'll find out how we are sending you home. Don't worry Dudley. Like I promised, you are safe here."
Dudley was somewhat reassured knowing his cousin did not normally lie about things and he laid back and was soon deep asleep.
Madam Pomfrey arrived and began examining Dudley. At the end she asked Harry, "Why would they use an engorment charm on him?"
Harry suppressed a laugh as he replied, "They didn't. That's his natural size!"
"My goodness!" Madam Pomfrey replied shocked but continued with her examination and when it was completed told Harry "The boy will be fine. He was hit with the Cruciatus curse but not for too long."
Harry thanked her and she went to her office leaving Harry standing there,
Harry began thinking of Dudley's strange tale of the holidays. "Some people have a lot of explaining to do!" he said to himself as his eyes narrowed.