Dudley was happy to be going home for the Christmas break, but he was conflicted.
He was happy to be going with Harry for their first Christmas as family, but the memory of last year tainted the joy. He was sitting with Harry, Hermione, and Draco in a compartment, Harry next to Hermione with Dudley and Draco sitting opposite of them. They were discussing the Chamber of Secrets and the attacks from the Heir of Slytherin. Harry told them what the diary had shown him, including his suspicions that he was lied to by the diary.
"I know who Tom Riddle is, he has a plaque for services to the school in the trophy room. I had to clean it up when I was put in detention with Filch. The filthy squib." Draco was about to continue when a wand was suddenly in his face.
"Don't talk about squibs like that, one of my best friends is a squib and she is an amazing person." Dudley was furious and it took both Harry and Hermione to calm him down. Once he was calm, Draco apologised and Dudley accepted it on one condition.
"Never insult squibs around me again."
When they arrived at King's Cross Station the atmosphere was back to normal and any awkwardness forgotten. They had continued to discuss the Chamber and Tom Riddle until the train stopped.
Waiting on the platform was Aunt Petunia looking incredibly happy.
As they travelled back to Privet Drive they gave her an abridged account of the year so far, leaving out the attacks and neatly wrapped up by the time they arrived.
After being there for a few days, Harry's joy at being back had been abruptly burned out. Vernon showed his ugly face and tried to tell Petunia that he had custody of Dudley for the holiday. She wasn't having any of it and they argued, which ended with Vernon grabbing Dudley and hurting him. He ended up leaving empty handed and drove away lost in angry thoughts and cursing Harry for ruining his happy life. It wasn't until Vernon stopped at his sister's house that he noticed the bright red eyes from the back seat, and the face they were attached to.
"Hello uncle. It's going to be fun to spend time together," 'Harry' whispered,which made Vernon angrier than he had ever been.
"You worthless freak, you've already ruined my life and now you stow away in my car to do what exactly? Are you here to steal like your worthless parents?" The fat man bellowed at him, spit flying at 'Harry'.
"How dare you speak to Lord Voldemort in such a way. Know this, muggle, you're not dealing with your nephew anymore. He hasn't been here since you hurt your son. Thank you for that by the way, this is the best control I've ever had over him." A malicious grin spread across 'Harry's' face as Vernon began to panic.
'Harry' lifted his hand and sent Vernon through the living room window and followed him through.
"Wait, please. Don't do this, Barry. I'm begging you," Vernon pleaded for his life. In response 'Harry' laughed a high and cold laugh, full of malice and evil.
"You don't even know your own nephew's name. It's Harry. SAY IT!"
"Harry. Harry."
"Now say: please Harry, don't do this," he snarled at the crying fat man.
"Please, Harry, we're family. Don't do this," he pleaded with 'Harry', to which that same high and cold laugh sounded again.
"Harry isn't in the room, you're dealing with me."
When 'Harry' left, his wand hadn't even left his pocket and yet, Vernon was dead. So was his sister. 'Harry' made it look like a robbery gone wrong and left, smiling all the way. On his way home he found a couple of muggle youths and made them believe themselves guilty and linger near Marge's House.
He was gone for less than an hour and slipped in without detection.
When Harry awoke the next day it was with no memory of last night. None at all. He went downstairs to find his aunt and cousin crying.
When he inquired as to the cause of their pain they informed him.
"Vernon is dead," Petunia cried. "Marge as well. It seems it was a home invasion and robbery, but he fought back and argued with them and they stabbed him and Marge. They said she was confused, but they couldn't risk her talking. They were then shocked by their own actions and confessed." This explanation was punctuated with tears and sniffles from both Dudley and Petunia.
Harry felt awful for them, sure they had barely played a part in each other's lives, and the parts they did play were unpleasant at best, but to be murdered in such a senseless act of violence was disgusting.
"At least the guilty party will face justice," Harry found himself thinking.
This Christmas was very solemn and quiet. Nobody on Privet Drive was doing much celebrating. One of the neighbours, an old lady named Mrs Figg, came by to comfort Petunia.
Then came the articles in the papers. It's not every day a businessman gets brutally murdered in his house.
Drill company higher up murdered in his home
By June Mansonia
Christmas is meant to be a time for family, for opening presents and giving generously to our less fortunate members of the community. A time of music and celebrating and partying.
Unfortunately that wasn't to be for 42 year old Vernon Dursley, the head of the sales team at Grunning's Drill company. He had recently gone through a divorce after a serious aneurysm caused his sister to be a complete amnesiac.
Three young lads, whose identities are being kept private due to their ages, broke into the house of Marge Dursley where her brother was looking after her full time. The perpetrators have given us a timeline of events which we will go over below.
First Mr Dursley returned to his home and locked up.
After some time, the youths smashed the living room window and entered the house.
They demanded Mr Dursley give over his money and they wouldn't hurt him.
Dursley became irate and started shouting about the fact that he is only there to help his sister, and that he has worked hard for everything he has.
Marge Dursley then entered the room and, in a fit of confusion, walked straight up to the thieves to call them freaks.
This caused the confrontation that resulted in the loss of life.
This article won't go any further with the details out of respect for his surviving family. He will be missed by many.
Harry couldn't let his cousin and aunt face their grief alone and so he set to making some food with his aunt to keep her company as well as learning from her. With the absence of tears this scene would look like a scene from a Christmas movie, however the murder of Vernon left no room for festivities.
So it was that Christmas had come to pass and the train to Hogwarts was occupied and en route. There was a grim atmosphere in the compartment when Draco first opened it to see both cousins looking miserable. Upon finding out about the murder of Dudley's father he immediately set out to take their minds off it. This was made easier by the arrival of Hermione who already knew about Vernon's death.
They were talking about the attacks at school when Harry suddenly got up and left. Hermione followed him out, promising Dudley and Draco that she would talk to him.
She caught up with him as he reached the back of the train and entered a compartment together. As soon as the door closed he started ranting.
"Everywhere I go people get hurt. I guarantee there have been no attacks while I was away from Hogwarts. Someone is trying to frame me for all these attacks and I can't stand it." He stopped to take a breath, but it didn't help, so he resorted to punching the window on the door leading to the compartment. It shattered and cut the back of Harry's hand to which Hermione muttered.
"Boys," then whipped out her wand and cast Reparo and Episkey. The window reformed and the cuts vanished. Before Harry could do anything else dumb, Hermione gave him a hug and rubbed his back. They returned to the compartment twenty minutes later and both cousins were in a better mood, clearly Draco had managed to cheer Dudley up as well.
When they had finally arrived at Hogwarts it wasn't the jubilant occasion they had expected. There had been two attacks while they were gone.
"You're going to want to sit down before I tell you," Ron warned them.
"Just tell me Ron, Harry and I have had a shit Christmas. My Dad was murdered, how could things get worse?"
Ron blushed in embarrassment and discomfort before he continued.
"It's Neville and Theo. They're petrified."
Their worlds fell from under them, as Harry filled with rage.
"Were they attacked together or separately? You mentioned two attacks," Harry questioned Ron.
"Together, the other attack was on Hufflepuff's seeker, Cedric Diggory."
As New Years rolled around Harry entered the new year with a newfound sense of determination. He would put a stop to these attacks, no matter the cost.
Gone from his days was any leisure time, training would replace it. He would become strong enough to conquer anything.