Chapter 2 Him

Three days later and Damian again found himself sitting on his bed feeling extremely frustrated. He had initially been abuzz with excitement at his new found discovery. He was a wizard, a real proper wizard. So many things started to make sense to him. This was the reason why he had always felt so out of place, this was the part of him that had been missing.

A whole world of exciting possibilities opened up to him. With excitement he imagined himself flying around on a broomstick, casting powerful spells. However, these grand plans were promptly put on hold when he realised he had very little idea of what being a wizard actually meant. Did they even have wands? Damian was full of questions but his father was being spectacularly unhelpful. Other than confirming magic was real and that Damian's uncle Harry was a wizard, his father had seemed reluctant to answer anything. In fact for someone who claimed to have spent the first seventeen years of his life living with wizard he seems to know surprisingly little about the world of magic or indeed Harry Potter.

Damian suspected his father was being deliberately coy about his childhood experiences with Uncle Harry, which only increased his desire to meet this one link into the world of magic. Growing up he had never been told much about his Uncle. In fact Harry Potter wasn't technically his uncle but since Damian didn't have any actual Uncles his Dad had always referred to Harry as an Uncle. His father had always told him Uncle Harry had an unspecified job working for the government that kept him very busy, something which both Damian and his mother had accepted without question. They received a Christmas card from the Potters every year and Damian received a yearly birthday card with ten pounds in it but other than that there had been very little contact with Uncle Harry. He had once paid them a visit when he was very young but other than considering his Uncle slightly strange Damian struggled to recall it.

It seemed unlikely though that he was going to be able to see his Uncle any time soon. When his father had first suggested getting the only wizard in the family to explain the world of magic to him it had seemed a very sensible idea. However, instead of phoning Uncle Harry his Father thought it more appropriate to send a letter. Whilst Damian considered this a bit pointless he figured that maybe wizards didn't like phones but his father then decided instead of writing an address on the envelope to just write his Uncles name. Damian was unimpressed but apparently that was how his father had always contacted Uncle Harry. Perhaps Wizards didn't need addresses on their letters but Damian was not convinced, after all it wasn't the postmen that had magic powers. What with this and his father's nerves regarding any question Damian asked about his childhood or Uncle Harry, Damian was sceptical that he would ever get to meet his mysterious Uncle again.

Damian was distracted from his thoughts by two slow knocks on the door. As his Mum never bothered to knock on the door Damian didn't need to be a genius to work out who it was. "Hey Dad," he said, struggling to inject any enthusiasm into his grumpy mood.

The door was pulled back to reveal his father. Time had been kind to Dudley; ten years of amateur boxing had bestowed on him a muscular physique that most men could only dream of. Even now with the onset of middle age fast approaching he cut an imposing figure and his large frame took up most of the door.

"Look Damian I wanted to talk to you for a second," his father said "As you might have noticed I haven't exactly been too forthcoming replying to your questions."

"Really I hadn't noticed," said Damian before realising with horror that he had sounded exactly like his Mum at her most sarcastic.

"Alright don't give me the Sarah Dursley treatment," his father replied with a grin on his face "I just want to explain why I've avoided telling you certain things."

"Okay," said Damian unsure where this was leading.

"You know Harry came to live with me and your Grandparents because his parents died when he was baby?"

"Um yeah," Damian had indeed heard this story before.

Dudley gave a cautious nod and Damian noticed his father seemed slightly agitated, almost as though he was nervous. "Well your Grandparents weren't exactly happy about this. To be honest they hated him and treated him like total garbage whilst treating me like I was King of the world." His father, not a man known for his communication skills, said this very quickly as though it was a bad memory he was trying to rush through.

Damian had never heard the story quite like this before, he knew full well his grandparents didn't approve of Uncle Harry but to actually find out they hated him was shocking. Taking another look at his father Damian realised that his top lip was actually quivering. Though a man of few words his father had always emitted a calm confidence and to see that now broken shocked Damian.

His father continued speaking "They always knew his parents were a witch and a wizard but they covered it up, and even when he found out by getting a letter like you did, they kicked up an almighty fuss. Eventually they let him go but told all the neighbours he went to some school for criminally insecure boys."

"So that's why he never comes here to visit, it must bring up too many bad memories," said Damian, feeling as though he was starting to understand things a little better.

"Actually no, he doesn't come here because it brings up too many bad memories for me. I'm embarrassed about how Harry suffered here.

"But you shouldn't be embarrassed Dad, it wasn't your fault Grandma and Grandpa were like that."

If Damian thought this would placate his father he was mistaken. The former boxer's right hand still clinging to the door handle like a safety net, tightened further, the whites of his knuckles now clearly defined.

"But that's just it, I treated him like crap as well, I caused him to suffer just as much as they did, I...I was a bully."

His father wore such a look of shame that Damian was temporarily lost for words. His father was a kind and gentle man, a man he respected and looked up to above all others, he just couldn't believe he used to be a bully.

Continuing speaking Dudley looked his son straight in the eye "How I treated Harry is my deepest regret, I would do anything to be able to change the way I behaved."

"So what made you change the way you thought about him," asked Damian finally breaking his silence.

"Just before I started my fifth year at school I had a terrible experience. I don't want to talk about exactly what happened," he said before Damian could ask what the experience had been. "Suffice to say it was pretty awful and it made me revaluate my life. It didn't happen overnight mind but eventually I came to realise I wasn't the person I wanted to be and I guess I changed my ways. So I suppose you must pretty much hate me now," his Dad said sighing.

Damian thought about it for a moment. He could easily justify being mad with his Dad, after all Damian himself had suffered at the hands of bullies. But as he looked up into his father's watery blue eyes he quickly found that he didn't care what his Dad had been like when he was younger. Damian knew the man standing in front of him, knew he was a good person and believed him when said he regretted his behaviour.

"Of course I don't hate you," said Damian laughing "look I can't say I'm not shocked but look you were just acting how your parents taught you, as soon as you started to think for yourself you started to change."

Relief swept over his father's face "Really, honestly you've no idea how pleased I am to hear you say that Damian, I was so worried about what you'd think about me if Harry told you."

"Dad relax, you're a good person, anyway it doesn't look like Uncle Harry's going to bother turning up."

"Ah yes I forgot to mention that," his father said as he began to head for the door "He just replied to my letter he's going to be here in five minutes.

Damian eagerly followed his father out of the door and made his way downstairs. He could feel his heart beating slightly faster which he told himself was silly, it was only one of his own family members who was coming to visit. But he was so eager to find out more about magic and Hogwarts and even more practical information like where he could buy his school equipment. He somehow doubted that Tesco sold cauldrons or wands, well not real ones anyway.

He was woken from his thoughts by the sound of the Dursley's old fashioned door bell beginning to ring. His mother strode over to the door, a look of mild apprehension on her face. Damian thought she had done rather well to hold herself together the last few days. After all it probably wasn't easy to find out your son's a wizard and your husband grew up with a wizard all in one day.

"Mr. Potter, welcome to our home."

"Sarah, lovely to meet you again," replied Harry ignoring the rather formal tone Sarah Dursley had set. He walked into the living room and went straight to shake Dudley's hand.

"Great to see you Big D," said Harry grinning.

Dudley appeared to have recovered from his conversation with Damian as his smile matched his cousin's "Harry, thanks so much for coming."

"Not a problem, although I'm afraid I can only give you the rest of my lunch break." Harry at last turned to face Damian "Wow Damian I can't believe how much you've grown since I last saw you," he said.

Looking him up and down Damian couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Standing in front of him was a man in his late thirty's, rather skinny with head of floppy jet black hair, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Although Damian could roughly remember his Uncles appearance from his last visit he had somehow expected someone more ...well impressive.

"Not quite what you were expecting," said Harry his eyes twinkling under his glasses.

"What, no...not at all, it's great to see you again," Damian stuttered.

"Don't worry about it," said Harry laughing "I expect you were imagining someone who looked more wise and powerful, maybe with a staff and a long grey beard."

"Maybe a bit," admitted Damian feeling rather embarrassed now.

"Well I'm sorry you got stuck with me, I had a half giant come to tell me about Hogwarts."

"Oh god, don't remind me," his father said, clutching his bottom as he did.

"There are giants?" His mother shrieked.

"Oh don't worry about Hagrid he couldn't hurt a fly," said Harry, though Damian noticed his father didn't look like he entirely agreed with this statement.

"Anyway, let's all sit down so Harry can try and answer some of Damian's questions," said his father leading the group into the sitting room "so Damian what did you want to ask Harry?"

Damian felt three pairs of eyes all focus on him and found that after three days of frustration he couldn't actually think what to ask, he didn't know where to begin."

"Well let's start with the basics," said Harry sensing his confusion "There are magical people and creatures all over the world. We use magic to keep ourselves hidden from non magical people who we call muggles. We have our own shops, towns, schools and even our own government."

Damian was stunned. He'd never stopped to consider the bigger picture of the magical world. He'd only been thinking about himself and he'd never have guessed at how organised Wizards appeared to be.

"Wizards are actually like muggles in most respects we just use magic to help us do things. The school you're going to is Hogwarts. It's the only wizarding School in the country and I can guarantee you're going to have the time of your life there," said Harry finishing with a large grin on his face. "So, any questions?"

"How come I'm a wizard if neither Mum or Dad are?" said Damian. It was something he hadn't considered before but now he thought of it, it did seem rather strange.

"Sometimes magic skips a few generations but don't worry being muggle born it in no way limits your potential as a Wizard."

Well that was relief thought Damian although he did wonder how easy it would be to catch up with the other children. After all surely living in the Wizarding world for eleven years must give them a bit of head start.

"Anything else," said Harry.

"Is magic dangerous?" His mother's eyes bore down dangerously at Harry. This was clearly the only question she wanted answering.

Harry flashed a grin of understanding at Damian. "That's a difficult question to answer. Magic is as dangerous as the person holding the wand."

Damian suspected that wasn't answer his mother had wanted to hear but before she could make a comment Harry was standing up.

"I'm really sorry but I'm afraid I need to get back to work it's been a crazy day so far."

"That's fine thank you so much for coming out," said Dudley.

"I'm sorry I can't answer any more of your questions but I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get my daughters supplies for Hogwarts. Maybe Damian could come along and I could help get him sorted and answer a few more questions for him."

"Awesome," said Damian.

"That sounds like a great idea," agreed his mother.

"Well that's settled then," said Harry.

"Um before you go," began Damian nervously "do you think I could see some magic." He said the last part very quickly and was sure his Uncle was going to refuse, tell him that of course he couldn't as he had much more important things to do than impress an eleven year old child. But Harry Potter grinned, reached into his pocket and pulled out a wand. Pointing it at the open patio door he smiled.

"Expecto Patronum"

A white stag appeared to leap from his wand and galloped away into the garden. Damian was awestruck by the majestic image of the creature. Harry looked at the three of them who were all staring at him open mouthed. "Nine O'clock tomorrow," he said and then with a faint pop he was gone.

No one spoke for a moment before Damian suddenly remembered something "So Dad what did that giant do to you?"