A Slight Mishap
Summary: Harry Potter knew something was going to go wrong when, as a punishment, Snape made him test an uncompleted ageing potion. Something always goes wrong. And he was right.
Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Harry Potter or anything that you recognise in this story.
A/N: Two months!!!! Only two months. That's good, right? It means you weren't waiting nearly half a year. And I've already started on the next one that I hope to have out as soon as possible!
Chapter Twenty-Three; No Action Escapes Consequence
Number four Privet Drive was peaceful, as it tended to be at this time of the year. Only the other day Petunia and Vernon Dursley had seen their "perfect" son, Dudley, off on a train back to Smeltings; now that the Christmas holidays had ended he had to return to school. Saddened by his departure but content in the knowledge that he would be home for summer within the next few months, the Dursley adults had gone back home and relaxed.
Not once during this time had they thought of their wretched nephew, who was, as far as they knew, still stuck in the form of a two-year-old.
This would be their first mistake.
The Durlsyes didn't know what had happened to Harry after they had last seen him, nor did they particularly care. In fact, they were half-hoping that he wouldn't be returning to them at all when summer arrived. They had even gone so far as to make plans that didn't consider Harry being there. After all, if he was truly (and hopefully) out of their hair for good, then they assumed that it meant they had nothing to worry about from him ever again.
This was their second mistake.
Perhaps if they weren't so arrogant and narrow-minded Vernon and Petunia might have stopped to think about what the sudden deaging of their nephew meant for them. They also may have wondered about his memories and whether he still remembered anything from his childhood. This would have led them to consider exactly what Harry could tell the witches and wizards they feared so much.
But they didn't think of any of these things. They were quite content to forget all about Harry and the abnormal world he belonged to. After all, "out of sight is out of mind", as Vernon liked to say to Harry and about Harry.
This was the biggest mistake they could make of all.
But while they ignored the wizarding world, certain members of that same world were no longer content to ignore them. The truth had started to come out, and now the Dursleys, so blissfully unaware of the commotion that had currently been wrought, would be caught up in the furious whirlwind coming straight for them.
Said whirlwind was right now residing in the park in Little Whinging and consisted of only three people; Molly Weasley, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. One could argue that just three people could not be constituted as a largely damaging force... but that would just be underestimating the power of righteous fury.
"Remus, all set for work?" Sirius asked as the three crouched behind some bushes.
Remus smiled grimly and adjusted the new muggle suit he was wearing.
"Yes," he assured his friend.
"Molly...?" Sirius began.
"Ask me again and I will hex you," Molly said, her hand straying to her pocket where her wand was hidden. She didn't look at all like she did just half an hour ago; her hair was longer and blonde, her eyes were chocolate and she was wearing a neat muggle skirt and blouse.
"Right," said Sirius, nodding hurriedly. "You're ready too. So am I." He frowned and held up the small mobile phone he was clutching. "Should be easy enough to work this..."
Remus shot Sirius an exasperated look, but otherwise didn't comment. He had spent nearly an hour explaining to the convict how a mobile worked and how to properly talk into one. Which was ridiculous considering he only had to make one call.
All of a sudden the bushes rustled, causing the three of them to start. Quick as a flash Sirius transformed into a shaggy black dog just moments before a curious little dark-haired girl parted the leaves and peered at them.
"Hello," she said, grinning toothily. "What are you doing?"
"We're sitting," Remus said.
"Oh." The little girl thought for a moment. "That's a weird place to sit. Are you hiding?"
"No, we're just sitting here and talking," said Mrs Weasley kindly.
"Oh." The girl grinned again. "Okay. Bye!"
Her head disappeared. And then...
"Mummy, there's two weird people and a dog hiding in the bushes!"
The three sat in awkward silence.
Remus coughed. "Cute kid."
"Better get a move on," Molly advised. "Before someone comes to check."
HPHGRWHPHGRW
Vernon Dursley was very proud of his job. He did it well, if he did say so himself, and over the years he had grown throughout the company until he was one of the chief personnel on site. As such he felt it was perfectly fine for him to lounge in his very comfortable chair all day and get people to run around for him.
"Sarah, collect the papers on this months expenditure from John's office," he yelled.
The pretty secretary stuck her head through the door, an annoyed look on her face.
"Alright, no need to shout," she said, and then was gone before Vernon could snap a retort.
Vernon huffed angrily. Last month his secretary had left and the company had had to replace her with Sarah, a smart-mouthed young university student. Perhaps he should talk to the bosses about her...
After a few moments, however, thoughts of his annoying secretary had fled his mind as his attention was caught by the jam roll he had bought half an hour ago and had yet to eat. Now was as good a time for it as any, however, and there wasn't much to do until Sarah returned.
It was as he was chewing on his third bite of roll that Sarah returned. And with her was disaster incarnate.
"Mr Dursley, sir?" said Sarah as she laid the papers on his desk. "Here are the reports you requested. And there's someone here to see you, sir, along with Mr Summings."
Vernon nearly choked. Mr Summings was the manager of this branch of Grunnings and he made all the major decisions regarding its employees. Quickly he waved Sarah off and shoved the last of the roll in his mouth, chewing it and swallowing it very quickly as his secretary invited his two guests in.
Mr Summings was not an incredibly tall or imposing-looking man, but he was a prodigy in business. He knew which buttons to push and he knew how to get what he wanted, which was how he had ended up in the manager's position. The man trailing after him was an unknown and Vernon eyed him curiously and a little distastefully.
It was hard to imagine that this man was in any shape or form important. He had the look of someone who had seen, and was still seeing, a hard life of lots of work and poverty. He might have been wearing a new suit, but it was obviously very uncomfortable on him. He couldn't have been that old, but his face was weary and his hair was already greying.
Yet when he looked at Vernon his eyes were hard and piercing. It unnerved the large man, he had to admit, so he instead looked at Mr Summings.
There was no solace there. Mr Summings' lips were pursed and his arms were crossed in the classic pose that demanded he explain himself this instant. Vernon was at a loss to understand what was going on.
"Mr Dursley," said Mr Summings, his tones clipped. "We need to speak with you privately."
"Of course," said Vernon instantly, shooting Sarah a significant look.
The girl rolled her eyes and snapped the door shut. Once it was closed Mr Summings and the other man took the two seats in front of Vernon's desk.
"How can I help you?" Vernon asked.
"This is Mr Smith Algard," said Mr Summings, his frown becoming more pronounced. "He is from the head corporation of Grunnings and he has come to me with some very disturbing news."
Vernon frowned too. What sort of disturbing news? And how did it affect him? A feeling of unease was starting to churn in the pit of his stomach. In an odd moment of perception he knew that something very bad was about to happen.
He was right.
"Mr Algard is here to investigate claims that you are embezzling money," Mr Summings said. "We ask that you give up all your files and reports for pursuance at this moment."
Vernon heard the words as though from far away. This wasn't possible... couldn't be possible! He had never embezzled funds in his life before!
"I... of course," he blustered. "Anything to prove my innocence."
Mr Algard smiled slowly, a smile that sent shivers up Vernon's spine.
"Thank you, sir," he said calmly. "I assure you that it won't take long at all to find what I want."
Vernon stared at Mr Algard. Why did he have the sudden feeling that his life was about to go down the drain?
HPHGRWHPHGRW
Petunia hummed happily as she watered the flowers in the garden. It was still quite chilly from winter, and most of the flowers weren't in bloom anyway, but she liked to make sure that they were healthy before summer arrived.
Mrs Tilburry from next door was in her garden too – a garden that was in far less than impeccable condition. Petunia was aware that she had the best kept garden on the whole of Privet Drive and she had no problems with flaunting it in the face of her neighbours.
"Not much point to that, Petunia," Mrs Tilburry said from over the low fence. "It's barely out of winter!"
"I like to take care of my garden," Petunia said sweetly, making a point of eyeing Mrs Tilburry's wilting violets.
Mrs Tilburry scowled and blushed. She might have replied, but Petunia would never know as her attention was caught by a woman crossing the street.
She was a plump woman with a round face, long blonde hair and soft dark brown eyes. She was obviously well-off – the state of her clothes was pristine and she looked like she took very good care of herself.
She was also looking right at Petunia and smiling, clutching a very expensive looking handbag in her right hand.
Petunia instantly straightened. She didn't know who this woman was, but she was headed straight for number four, and her standing with the neighbours could only be improved by associating from an obviously well-to-do person.
"Petunia!" the woman cried as soon as she was in hearing distance, attracting the attention of Mrs Tilburry and all the surrounding neighbours. "Lovely to see you, dear!"
"Hello," said Petunia, then was utterly surprised when the woman grabbed her in a hug.
"Why, I haven't seen you in forever!" the woman gushed, pulling back. "How have you been doing?"
"Very well, thank you," said Petunia politely.
"Oh, no need for formalities!" the woman said with a laugh, waving her hands. "Don't you remember me? It's Alice Jakes... we went to high school together!"
Petunia smiled. She did not remember the woman, though she did vaguely remember a girl by the name of Alice. However, Alice obviously remembered her.
"Oh, of course!" she said. "How could I not have recognised you! You look like you've done well for yourself since then!"
"Well, I'm a teacher now, and they pay very much for my job there since it's got such troublesome students!" Alice laughed, waving her hands again – Petunia was starting to wonder if standing so close was going to get her hit.
"What a wonderful profession!" Mrs Tilburry spoke up, causing Petunia and Alice to look at her. "I'm Petunia's neighbour. Where do you teach?"
Alice smiled. But it wasn't a smile like any of the others. When Petunia looked at this particular smile she was put in mind of a shark moments away from eating its prey.
"St Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys," Alice said.
Petunia froze. What?!
"Oh, I can see how the students would be troublesome, then," said Mrs Tilburry. The other neighbours were starting to wander over too, all wondering about this cheerful visitor from such a facility. "Actually, you might know one of the students there!"
Petunia couldn't move. She was just watching the proceedings, watching as everything she had worked to achieve on this street began to slip away.
"I know all the students," Alice said, beaming. "More often than not I tutor every single one of them at some point."
"Oh, well, one of our own goes to that centre," said the woman from number eight. "You must have heard of him since he's such a trouble maker. Harry Potter?"
Alice blinked and frowned.
"Harry who?" she asked.
For a moment the group stood in silence. Petunia's shock was slowly giving way to horror, but she didn't know how to stop what was happening.
"Harry Potter," said the man from number 3 slowly. "You must know of him, surely. He's Petunia's nephew. How old is he now Petunia?"
"Six... sixteen," Petunia said, forcing the words out.
"Well, can't say I've ever heard of him," said Alice. "I've been at that school for the last eight years and I'm sure I would know of Harry Potter. Unless he's knew? How long has he been there?"
"Since he was eleven," said Mrs Tilburry with a suspicious frown at Petunia.
"Well, I would certainly know of him then!" Alice said, laughing. "If he had ever been there, that is! But that name has never come up on our registers!"
No one was going to say anything now. But they would talk about it later. There would be no denying the word of someone who actually came from St Brutus'. Which meant Harry Potter had never been there.
And Petunia and Vernon had lied.
It would make them wonder what else they had been told about Harry and Dudley were lies. None of them knew Harry. All they had were the words of the older Dursleys, who had told them he was trouble, a criminal, to stay away from him because he was a ruffian who would steal from them as soon as their back was turned.
That was all they knew of Harry Potter, and it was all they had known of him since he was first let out of Petunia's sight when he went to school at six years old.
Petunia knew all this. She was still frozen. In moments Alice had come along and utterly destroyed her reputation.
"So, did you know Petunia well?" Mrs Tilburry asked.
"Oh, yes," said Alice. "Always a very outspoken person and formed very strong opinions of someone after first meeting her. I remember her sister, too! Such a lovely thing she was, though Petunia and she never did get along."
"Sister?" asked the woman from number seven.
"Lily Evans," said Alice. "Only met her once – absolutely beautiful with red hair and green eyes and the kindest disposition you ever did see. Wasn't she, Petunia?"
Petunia had never spoken of her sister – she could see the looks of curiosity on her neighbours' faces. In fact, all of them had thought she was an only child before Harry had arrived and she had had to work fast to give them a sob story about their falling out at the time.
"Of course..." she said. "She died long ago, but we never spoke much..."
"I would assume as much," said Alice with a frown. "Especially after you called her a no-good freak and her boyfriend a drunken freeloader. I'd not speak much to you either."
Petunia felt herself pale. How did Alice know about that?! Who had she been speaking to?
"Well, I thought I'd just stop by and see you since I was in the area," Alice said pleasantly; she seemed far too cheerful for someone that had just ruined Petunia. "I hope to see you again soon, Petunia!"
"Yes, me too," Petunia lied.
With a jaunty wave Alice set off down the street at a brisk walk, whistling as she went. Petunia and her neighbours watched her go, and then everyone started wandering away.
In groups.
Talking.
Petunia had no doubt that they were talking about her. This street thrived on gossip of any sorts, and a scandal had occurred right in front of them. Not only was Petunia's nephew likely not the delinquent they had been told he was, but Petunia had been the cause of the rift between her and her sister!
Later the neighbours would lament about 'poor Harry' and the life he had likely lived with the Dursleys. The stories would blow out of proportion, though come far closer to the truth than they likely meant to.
One thing was for certain; no one would ever again believe a word that Petunia Dursley said, and they would certainly never envy her again.
HPHGRWHPHGRW
Vernon was sweating. Mr Algard had found some papers and had frowned heavily before calling Mr Summings over to look at them. For ten minutes they had looked over those papers and then Mr Summings had made a quiet call.
That had been half an hour ago. Mr Summings had received a call barely moments ago and, as Vernon watched, he hung up on whoever it was and pulled out a radio.
"Security, please send my guests up to Vernon Dursley's office," Mr Summings said. "Tell them our finds have proved conclusive."
"What?" Vernon asked nervously.
No one answer. Five minutes later the police burst through the door and Mr Algard stood up, papers held in hand.
"You've been embezzling, Mr Dursley," he said. "Thousands and thousands have gone missing and you didn't cover your tracks well enough. You're under arrest."
"And you're fired," Mr Summings said gravely.
Vernon blustered. He yelled. The police had to knock him to the floor to handcuff him, and he yelled all the way out of the building and into the police car. Something had gone wrong and someone had made a terrible mistake. It had to be.
Mr Algard, a.k.a Remus Lupin, smiled slowly and straightened his tie. There would be no escape for Vernon.
HPHGRWHPHGRW
As his parents experienced the worst day of their lives, second only to the day they found Harry on their doorstep, Dudley Dursley was also experiencing the worst day of his life. Currently he was standing in the principal's office and was being read a list of all the evidence they had supposedly collected on him.
Everything seemed to have been brought to light by one anonymous phone call who had complained about a child that his son (who they had refused to name) had mentioned had bullied him. That phone call had sent the teachers and principal into investigative mode and they had pulled up every file, every complaint and spoken to as many of the students as possible.
Now the results were being read to Dudley.
The problem was that it was all true, every single count of bullying and destruction of property. They had tried to call his parents, but both of them had been unavailable so far.
Finally the principal leaned forwards in his chair.
"We do not tolerate bullying, Dursley," he said sharply. "Nor do we tolerate destruction of our property, or smoking, or any of the countless other things we have found on you. We should be calling a detention centre for you... but I will give you one chance to turn yourself around. I will not call them."
Dudley found himself sag in relief. He had dodged a bullet.
"Now, go pack."
Dudley blinked. "What?" he asked stupidly.
"I might not call the detention centre, but nor will I tolerate your presence in my school any longer," the principal said. "You are expelled."
Dudley gulped. His parents were going to kill him.
HPHGRWHPHGRW
Petunia sat on her own lounge, staring sightlessly at the television in the corner. She felt numb, utterly numb after the day's events.
Dudley was expelled and he was sulking in his room.
Vernon was in jail, arrested after a false accusation of embezzlement.
Her reputation was in ruin.
What was she going to do?
At that moment someone knocked on the door. Petunia considered just ignoring it but, when they knocked again, she sighed and pulled herself up.
When she answered it she wished she had just stayed where she was.
"Good evening, Petunia," said Albus Dumbledore gravely.
"You!" Petunia gasped. "What are you doing here?" And then a thought occurred to her. "You're responsible aren't you? For everything that happened today. It's too much of a coincidence that you would show up straight after it all!"
"That it is," said Dumbledore, the smallest hint of a smile on his face. "While I was not personally responsible I know those who were."
"Why didn't you stop it?"
"Because you deserved it."
Petunia felt all the breath leave her body.
"The atrocious care that you gave your nephew has finally come back to bite you," said Dumbledore, sounding as pleasant as though he could be simply discussing the weather. "I would not stop your comeuppance for all the tea in china."
Petunia struggled to say something.
"So... why are you here?" she finally croaked out.
Dumbledore smiled. It was a smile that reminded her of the smile Alice had given her before she ruined her life.
"Don't presume that I would let you off lightly, Petunia," said Dumbledore. "I trusted you and you forsook that. Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black had their turn." He smiled again. "Now it is mine."
Petunia took one look at him and was unable to prevent the whimper that escaped her.
Because she knew, at that moment, that her world was about to crash down around her ears.
Next Chapter; Chapter Twenty-Three; The Dilemma – Ron and Hermione find that their day gets a lot more exciting when they hear what Ginny witnessed. From there they investigate, though they might not like the answers they discover.
A/N; Okay, I will say now that I will not actually write a scene about what Dumbledore did. Later there will be a mention of it, but no actual scene unless I decide to write a one-shot to tie in with it. The last part of this chapter was simply to say that even Dumbledore was not going to sit back and take what happened calmly.
On another note I've started the next chapter and hope to get it up shortly. I hope this chapter met expectations; I was so nervous about it because most of the people who reviewed said they were looking forward to good Dursley comeuppance! I did the best I could with it and I hope you feel they got proper punishment.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed;
tatewaki2000, dragongirlG, jimmy-barnes-13, Teufel1987, bkwrmgrl87, wierdiesRus-WerdrThnUSince1908, stefunny2010, angelic fanfic writer, Alexandra Knight, zarkan, jbfritz, fanfic addict o.0, Sabishii Kage Tenshi, loretta537, HevenSentHellBroken, and Starlit Warrior
Special thanks to Teufel1987 who gave me the basis of ideas for this chapters. When I got your review my thinking changed and you see what you see now. So thank you!