Standard disclaimer applies.
Notes: Okay, this isn't the chapter where I reveal what is wrong with Harry but I drop another clue. I also had an aweful lot of trouble writing this chapter. Tricky, tricky, tricky. As a result I think the chapter is not very good standard but it will have to do. Anyway, since I've finished this chapter I'm off to write the next one. You may have to wait a while for what's wrong with Harry though. I might be able to put it in the next chapter but I'm not sure yet.
Okay, I asked you all for your opinions at the end of the last chapter. I used the results to write this chapter today. It looks like Harry is going to wait until 4th year to go to Hogwarts. That works out fine for me anyway it just means that finding out what's wrong with Harry is going to be delayed because I have to write the end of 3rd year. Haha, look what your choices did. I'm sorry…shouldn't make fun cus then you won't like my story or review anymore.
Next thing. The name Xavier. When I picked this name for Madeline's brother I had completely forgotten about the xmen's Xavier…I'm just a little bit blonde. Anyway, Madeline's brother's name is said Za-vee-ay. The 'Za' bit being pronounced the same way the 'xa' is in Alexander. It's a French name, according to my sources.
No, Harry isn't a veela…but as another clue he almost is but it's not in his blood. Okay that's just bad on my part. When I made this fic to begin with Harry was going to be more veela…but I changed my mind for the time being.
Do you want relationships in this fic? I hadn't thought about them, I just thought about Danny, Harry and the whole Voldemort thingamybobber. Tell me what you want. Relationship yes? No? Just so you know though, I'm not so good at writing relationship fics…
On with the chapter now! Enjoy!
Chapter 10 – End of Christmas.
Christmas day was a remarkable day for the two families in France. They opened presents in the gigantic family lounge next to a roaring fire and a large Christmas tree. The presents came in huge piles and each person received no less than ten presents each. The presents ranged from chocolates and flowers to very rare potions ingredients and expensive jewellery for both the men and the women. The boys were currently over in the corner of the room pouring over a defensive charms book for spells to try out and the adults were watching with indulgent grins.
"Oh! Lets try this one! It would be really useful!" Danny cried out pointing to the book excitedly. Dudley agreed with him but Harry spoke out.
"But Danny, it's a very advanced charm. We aren't going to be able to do it, we aren't powerful enough!"
"Don't be daft Harry, of course we can manage it." Dudley then proceeded to ignore his brother as he and his cousin concentrated on the passage in the book. Harry rolled his eyes and sat back crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest and watched as his brother and cousin worked out how to do it.
"Says you need a really happy memory." Danny said frowning in thought. "It has to be strong."
"How about the time Hermione came back after being petrified?" Dudley suggested. Danny thought about it with a smile and said it should work. Studying the incantation the boys practised saying it over and over again for a while. Dudley, having spent a lot of time learning Latin at school and with Madeline, was very quick to get the incantations pronunciation right. One Dudley had it how he believed it was to be said he told Danny and helped him practise.
"But don't you have to do both together? Can you even manage to multitask Danny?" Dudley teased with a wide grin. Danny glared half heartedly at Dudley before puffing his chest out and standing in a dramatic pose.
"Of course I can! I'm the mighty Danny! I can do anything!" He declared with a strange glint in his eye. Dudley stared at him before both he and Harry broke down into fits of laughter. Danny grinned at them and relaxed back down to look over the book.
"Come on, I'll give it ago. Had we better go outside for this?"
"Oh no Danny…you can practise in 'ere. Eet is too cold to be going outside." Madeline announced from her seat with her fiancée. Danny shrugged and clambered to his feet holding out a hand to Dudley to help him up as Harry stood holding the book and reading through the passage. His irritation gone Harry wanted to help Danny get this spell right.
"Okay, so all I need is to think of my happy memory and say the incantation right?" Danny looked at Dudley for confirmation and the boy nodded and looked over at Harry. Harry didn't realise they were waiting for him to agree too as he was busy reading. After finally sensing their stares Harry jerked his head up.
"I'm sorry what?"
"Do I only need the incantation and the happy thought?" Harry started nodding slowly before shaking his head.
"Oh no! No, it says you need the hand movement too. Look." Harry turned the book around and pointed to a smaller paragraph on the page. Danny groaned and turned around slightly. He didn't like wand movements, he could never do them. Dudley read the passage over quickly and nodded thoughtfully.
"That shouldn't be too hard." He announced. "Taking Harry's wand from the boys pocket before the thirteen year old realised Dudley grabbed Danny's shoulders and turned him around so he was facing Dudley. "Like this I think."
Danny and Dudley practised with the wands and without the words before Dudley declared that Danny should be able to manage it now. Danny nodded and concentrated on his happy thought. Waving the wand Danny said the incantation.
"Expecto Patronum." He said clearly pronouncing each syllable how he and Dudley had practised. Nothing happened. All three boys waited for something to happen but nothing did.
"You did it wrong. You waved the wand the wrong way. Do it like this! You're meant to wave it to the left then say the words just before you end the wave." Dudley said holding out Harry's wand. "Expecto patonum."
White sparks flew out the end of Harry's wand and to the floor no sooner had the incantation left Dudley's lips. Danny stared at Dudley in amazement and awe.
"Dud, how did you do that?" Madeline and Petunia flew out of their seats and over to the children. Madeline grabbed Dudley's hand that was still holding the wand and Petunia wrapped her arms around Dudley as if trying to shield him from some unknown attacker.
"How did that happen? What's going on?" Petunia whispered desperately. Philip Tremaine, Madeline's father, rose from his seat slowly and walked over to them just as Madeline answered Petunia.
"Eet appears zat Dudley is not jus' a muggle, 'e ees a wizard too." She said looking at Dudley with confusion and awe battling over her features.
"But how!" Insisted Petunia. "He has never been able to do it before! He didn't even receive a Hogwarts invitation. He should not be a wizard!" Dudley turned to his mother and tried to calm the hysterical woman down but nothing seemed to help as the woman kept arguing that he shouldn't have magic and it wasn't in his blood.
At the end of a lengthy argument Harry let Dudley try out some other spells on his wand at the recommendation of Philip. Dudley tried easier spells such as the levitation spell and simple transfiguration spells that seemed to work after some intense practise. After over an hours practise for Dudley Philip suggested the poor boy had some rest as he looked dead on his feet. Xavier, Madeline's brother, came over and did some quick spells to check Dudley's health and magic as Dudley lay down on the sofa. Harry sat on the floor next to the sofa as all the adults sat around them on various chairs they had either summoned or that had just been transfigured.
"Vell Petunia, Vernon," Xavier said very slowly as he sat on his seat after casting his spells. "Eet seems Dudley ees a wizard. His magic ees low but eet ees zere. 'E 'as ze same magic levels as his peers though eet ees a little lower I think." Vernon looked amazed and shell shocked at the news and Petunia looked at her son with confusion before looking over to Philip who was leaning forward on his seat with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped between them. His posture screamed of anticipation for a long talk though the glint in his eye told of it being a not so long a chat.
"How?" Petunia breathed unable to push any other words from her mouth as the shock at what they'd just uncovered closed her throat up.
"It is my belief," Philip started, "that Dudley has always been a little magical and that staying here and around the Potters has unlocked his ability. If I understand correctly then Lily, your sister Petunia, was a muggle born witch, am I correct?"
"Yes but what does that…"
"My dear Petunia, Lily was a witch and developed her magic over the years. Perhaps Dudley is just a little late showing his magical abilities or his magic couldn't unlock until a certain time. I am not sure what the real cause is but as I said before it is my belief that Dudley has always been a little bit magical." Philip said. "However, I shall look into this along with the research I am already doing and I shall hopefully have an answer for you soon."
"So…what happens now?" Dudley asked from his spot on the sofa. Petunia stood up and stood next to him stroking his blonde hair.
"Well, I am not sure." Philip admitted. "I shall have to look into that as well. For now though, I suggest we continue to enjoy the day. t is Christmas after all and there should be no work or worry on Christmas."
Dudley got over his tiredness enough to help Danny with the spell. Harry also started trying it out though he couldn't manage much more than a few white ribbons of light coming from the end of his wand. Danny didn't do much better really however the white light out of his wand became a sort of cone shape becoming wider the further out it got.
Harry let himself fall to the ground and flip through the book sighing. "It says here that the spell should create a corporeal form."
"Yeah so? Isn't that what I got?" Danny asked. Harry shook his head gently.
"No, a corporeal form is where it has the shape of something else, something real. Like it could look human or like an animal or even just an object. It is meant to have a form not just a white light."
"Damn." Dudley and Danny swore.
"Like I said, it's an advanced spell and we aren't strong or powerful enough to manage it yet."
"What's it used for?" Dudley snatched the book off of Harry causing the boy to cry out as the paper cut his flesh.
"Ow! Dudley! You just gave me a paper cut." Dudley shrugged not really caring and Harry scowled before grabbing his wand and casting a spell to heal his cut. Danny and Dudley were too busy looking over the page in the book to notice that after Harry had cast the spell he went pale and fled the room.
"Oh, here it is. The Patronus spell is used to protect the caster from the effects of a Dementor. A Dementor's presence is enough to make any person within the vicinity to remember all their worst and most unhappy memories whilst the Dementors suck the happiness out of them. A dementor can virtually chill the area and the people around it and the Patronus spell is the only defensive spell against them. The spell creates a shield out of the pure, happy memory chosen by the caster. This shield is impossible for any dementor to break through or get past however the shield is hard to make and hard to withstand."
"Damn! That would be really useful. I'm gonna practise some more okay Harry? Harry?" The boys then noticed Harry's absence before running from the room having imagined what had happened.
The three of the boys spent almost every day playing with their magic. Occasionally they'd spend the time with Petunia and Vernon but since the pair loved all three of them dearly they encouraged them to practise their magic especially for Dudley to practise. Dudley soon found that practising Charms was his favourite subject where as Danny always argued that Defence against the Dark Arts was his favourite. Harry didn't have a real favourite though it was obvious he adored potions and ancient runes. Madeline tried to teach Danny and Dudley ancient runes but the pair of them never got it. They liked it occasionally but if they weren't in the mood there was no point in Madeline even trying, after all they were teenagers now. Luckily they both understood Arithmancy and she'd been teaching them that over the last few holidays.
One skill that both Danny and Dudley vastly improved on over the holiday was potions. Madeline often taught them but on the odd occasion Sidonie dropped by they had an extremely intense lesson that they enjoyed a whole lot more than when just Madeline taught them. As it was Sidonie was a very good teacher. She had relaxed with them and was joking and laughing with them throughout the class. The only problem with Sidonie was her extremely bad habit of humming, whistling or singing songs when she was brewing the potions. Since the first class with Sidonie and Harry's bad singing habits Danny and Dudley had found that they enjoyed the gentle humming or the soft songs and no longer found it annoying.
A week later on January the second the whole Dursley, Tremaine and what was left of the Potter family were sat at the dining table discussing what was to happen the next day. Dudley had spent the last week with Danny and Harry and Madeline and they all practised their magic. Dudley's power was still weak compared to Harry and Danny's as Dudley's power had only just been unlocked according to Philip. Dudley was, however, about the same level as someone in the year below Danny and Harry were in. Madeline said that as Dudley practised more his magic would get more powerful.
"I am taking Danny to school and that is non-negotiable. I have to talk to my brother." Sidonie exclaimed in a fierce tone leaving no room for argument. Everyone nodded.
"Very well, Miss Snape will take Danny. What of Dudley and Harry?" Vernon asked glancing over at the other two boys who were reading over a page in a book they'd gotten for Christmas. This time it was one of Harry's Ancient Runes books. They were copying the different runes out of the 'Dictionary of Runes' onto stones and small pebbles they'd picked up off of the beach the previous day. Sure, it was winter and it was very cold but the boys went to the beach anyway and collected the stones.
"I think that we should see about getting them enrolled to Hogwarts soon. It would be a shame for Harry to not go to school and with Dudley discovering his own magic it would be best for him to go to school too." Sidonie suggested.
"Maybe that would be best, after all he can't exactly go back to a normal school now can he not when he can cast spells and what with the risk of accidental bursts of magic." Petunia added making her husband nod though he didn't look to happy about the idea of Dudley dropping out of Smeltings school. Madeline tapped her lips thoughtfully with one finger.
"I am not sure zat eet would be a good idea for Dudley to go to 'Ogvarts." Madeline said slowly weighing her words as she said them. The adults turned their attention to her and she explained. "Vell, 'Arry 'as 'ad deux years with me and ve 'ave worked very 'ard. 'Arry vould be ready for 'Ogwarts but for Dudley? I think not. 'E vould not be to dee same level as ees peers und dat could be very upsetting. Let me teach him and get him up to ze right level then send eem to school."
"That sounds…okay." Madeline's father said after a brief moment of silence spent weighing the options. Philip nodded as if coming to a conclusion. "Yes, I believe that would be a brilliant idea. Madeline can teach Dudley in all the subjects covered in Hogwarts so he can attend as quickly as possible. He has some catching up to do if he is to go to class with his age group."
"Very well, Vernon and I will withdraw Dudley from Smeltings and Madeline can teach him full time. Make sure you cover no more subject matter than is needed. Cover all the basic and compulsory subjects and then two of Dudley's choice just like what Danny had to do at the end of last year. Okay?" Madeline nodded to Petunia whose stern gaze melted away and she smiled softly and appreciatively at the young woman she'd come to think of as part of the family. "Now as for Harry…"
"Contact Dumbledore about getting Harry enrolled." Philip suggested snapping his fingers for a house elf to get him some parchment and a quill.
"Contact him how?" Vernon said.
"In exactly the same way as you talked to Danny, letter by owl."
"No!" Sidonie said sharply. "I have a better idea. I am going to take Danny to Hogwarts am I not?" At the nods she received she continued. "I shall take Harry too and I shall talk to Dumbledore tomorrow. That way he can see Harry in person and all the information needed for enrolment can be sorted out since I know Harry well anyway."
"Sounds like a plan." Petunia said with a frown and very slow words. "I give you permission then so long as you get Harry back safely after you've spoken to Dumbledore. Even if Harry gets enrolled straight away and has to attend straight away I want to see him before he leaves for good. He can go but he must come back."
"Sounds good. Harry, what do you think?" Harry jerked his head up to look at Sidonie who waved a hand around gesturing to what had been said whilst not actually saying anything else. Harry stared then he shrugged.
"I really don't mind, I'll just do as I'm told." He said before looking back at the book and continuing to carve the rune into the pebble with his wand.
"There, that's settled then. I shall go warn the Headmaster of out arrival tomorrow." Sidonie announced standing up and walking proudly out of the room. Philip shook his head but waved his hand allowing everyone else to dismiss themselves. He, Madeline, Petunia and Vernon walked out of the dining room together and settled in a smaller lounge that was decorated in reds, browns and gold to give it a more homely feeling.
"Now, Dudley is going to need a wand if he is to start his lessons with Madeline. I suggest we go to London to get an Ollivander's wand. The French wands are okay however Ollivander does have remarkable wands and since Dudley is English I recommend one of those. Perhaps a day trip to Diagonally in about a week would be okay? That should give us plenty of time to sort out Dudley's classes ec cetera."
"That sounds okay." Vernon agreed. "Dudley would like his own wand rather than having to borrow Harry's. Danny's wand doesn't work for him. I assume that has something to do with the wand chooses the wizard."
"Yes that is true. On that note, I thought you ought to know I've made some more progress with my research. If what I've found so far is anything to go by I believe that Dudley's sudden magical abilities is linked to Harry's problem." Petunia shuffled further forwards in her seat and looked anxious for Philip to continue. Philip chuckled. "I am afraid I am not completely certain what I've found is correct however it does seem to fit. I need only research a little more, I don't want to get your hopes up at all."
"So you aren't going to tell us what you have found so far?" Vernon said a little irritated.
"No I am not. I will soon though, I swear it. I just have to do some more research and if I am mistaken in my thoughts then I wouldn't want you disappointed. Anyway, if I tell you what it might be and what needs to be looked out for in Harry's activities can behaviour then you will probably see those things and then everything will be biased. Just keep doing as you have done and report anything strange straight to me."
"Very well. I take it Dudley and maybe Harry too will be staying here in France to learn and not back to Privet Drive?"
"Yes, eef zat is acceptable." Madeline said smiling softly. The Dursleys nodded.
"It won't be long now my friends. Soon, I have a feeling I shall have all the answers soon. We are so close."
I'm sorry I didn't tell you Harry's problem. Soon though, we are so close okay? anyway, review now and I'll get the next chapter to you soon. I'm gonna go write it now...