RISING FROM THE ASHES
Chapter Four – Dudley Dursley
The next three days passed without much excitement. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children spent their days outside; playing Quidditch, lying in the grass and talking, and most importantly, avoiding Mrs. Weasley and the mayhem of the wedding. Or, in Harry's case, avoiding Ginny.
Everyone was rather reserved the day of the reading of Dumbledore's will. Apparently, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Hermione had all gotten the same notice Harry had, so they would be traveling to Gringotts together.
"All right, dears," said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, straightening the collar of Ron's robes, "We best be off if we're to make it on time."
She marched over to the fireplace, and gathered a handful of Floo powder. "Gringotts Wizarding Bank," she said purposefully. She dropped the powder into the fireplace, and stepped in after it. In a flash of light and soot, she was gone. The rest of them followed suit.
…
Seconds later, Harry stumbled coughing into the main lobby of Gringotts. "All right there, Harry?" asked Mrs. Weasley, brushing soot off his shoulders.
"Y-yes," he managed to choke out.
Mrs. Weasley suddenly became business-like. She straightened up and said firmly, "All right, you lot. Follow me."
Mr. Weasley walked beside her, and they were whispering to each other urgently.
"What d'you reckon Dumbledore left us?" asked Fred, "I know I didn't have the sort of relationship with him that Harry did, none of us did." The Weasley children and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Yes, but whenever you two pulled another of your pranks, he always seemed to enjoy them. It's not like you got the worst possible punishment either, did you?" Harry reminded the twins, slightly put out.
"Oh, right," George said, "Good point."
They walked along in silence until they arrived at a door with a plaque on it, pronouncing that it was the room in which the last will and testament of witches and wizards were to be read.
"Well," said Mr. Weasley unceremoniously, "Here we are."
He pushed open the door, and marched in. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children followed.
In the center of the room was an old oak table with thirteen chairs, four of which were currently occupied by Neville, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, and Luna Lovegood, of all people.
Harry pulled up a chair next to Neville, who was seated next to Luna and Ron next to him. Hermione took a seat next to Ron, whose ears were scarlet for some strange reason, and Ginny next to her. Fred and George took their places across Ginny and Hermione, and next to the twins sat Hagrid, who beamed at Harry through his tears. Professor McGonagall was seated near Hagrid with one empty chair between them, and Harry wondered vaguely who would occupy the other three chairs.
He did not have long to wait, as just minutes later Remus Lupin walked into the room, accompanied by the man who Harry knew to be the bartender at the Hog's Head, who took a seat at the head of the table. Lupin sat between Hagrid and McGonagall.
When every chair, save one, had been filled, the bartender stood up and cleared his throat, bringing unpleasant memories of a certain Defense against the Dark Arts teacher to Harry.
"I will now take attendance of all those invited to the reading of the will of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, to be read by Aberforth Cabra Chèvre Gabhar Koza Dumbledore. I will be returning shortly, after which the reading of the will shall commence." He strode out of the room.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other in astonishment.
"That man…" said Hermione tentatively, "He's related to Dumbledore?"
"Guess so," Ron replied, wide-eyed.
"It's the strangest thing, though," she mused.
"What is?" asked Harry, still in shock himself.
"All his middle names mean goat in different languages."
Ron snickered, earning him a "Ronald!" from Hermione.
"Wait a moment…" said Harry slowly, "I think I remember Dumbledore telling me something once about his brother who was practicing inappropriate charms on goats…"
"Well, of course," said Luna from across Neville. "Everyone knows that goats are the companions of the great wizards of our time, in fact," she continued excitedly, blue eyes widening, "Their blood…"
She was cut off, however, as Aberforth Dumbledore returned, and cleared his throat.
"Ginny Weasley?" he asked.
"Here."
"Hermione Granger?"
"Here."
"Ron Weasley?"
"Here."
They went on as such until the man reached the last name on his list.
"Dudley Dursley?"
"W-what?" Harry gasped. Why on earth would Dumbledore have left something to his cousin, of all people? He doubted whether he would even bother to attend, not that Uncle Vernon would allow him to come in the first place.
The whole table, or at least those who knew who Dudley was, was in shock.
However, no one was more shocked than Harry was when Dudley walked into the room, followed by a very nervous-looking Aunt Petunia, who followed Dudley until he sat in the seat across from Luna and next to McGonagall, his fat bottom hanging over the sides of the chair.
Aberforth Dumbledore, still standing, peered at him from behind his reading spectacles. "Are you Dudley Dursley?" he asked.
Dudley stared at him fearfully for a full minute before finally answering him.
"Y-yes," He said shakily.
"The reading of the Last Will and Testament shall commence as soon as all those not listed exit the room."
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley obliged without complaint, but Aunt Petunia stared at him, her eyes wide in terror.
"N-no!" she protested, "I can't leave my Diddums with … with the likes of you!" Mrs. Weasley gently grasped her wrist and pulled her away out of the room, shrieking.
Author's Note: Ah, yes. I know it was short, and I'm sorry I took so long. I had a difficult time writing this chapter, and I know 99 percent of you will think me crazy for the ending, but I have my reasons. You'll just have to wait and see what they are, but I promise it's not as terribly horrific as it sounds.