Chapter 11 : The Christmas Visit
The day after the Slug Club Christmas party, term ended. Albus had packed up his trunk with some difficulty. On the Hogwarts Express, he, Rose, James, Colin, Fred, and Roxanne had a compartment to themselves, and they spent most of the train ride cracking jokes and betting each other to eat Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The train arrived at King's Cross Station in the afternoon. Albus and James said goodbye to friends and cousins as they headed with their father towards the parking lot, where Harry's navy blue 2004 Mercedes Benz stood. Harry refused to buy a newer car, because he rarely used it. At dusk, they arrived at the Main Intersection of the High Street of Godric's Hollow. Albus got out of the car, his trunk in one hand and Hippo (who was sleeping in his cage) in the other. When they were finally inside their house, stomachs rumbling as they ate their late lunch served by Ginny, Harry came in after parking his car in the garage.
"After you two eat your lunch," he said, nodding toward Albus and James, "we're going to visit the Dursleys."
"WHAT?" shouted Albus in disbelief, while James and Lily rolled their eyes and exchanged tired glances.
"But Dad," began Lily, "do we really have to go? I mean, what's the point when we get there every year, what happens if we don't go this time?"
"No more complaining," said Harry sternly, and the three children fell silent. "We are going to the Dursleys and that's it. I called Dudley and he said okay. No more speaking, our Portkey's in the kitchen."
Harry, Ginny, Albus, James, and Lily took the Portkey (a slimy grey sock), and after being tugged around the navel through strange colors and shapes for a few seconds, the family arrived at the living room of Mrs. Figg's house. They refused Mrs. Figg's coffee and went outside. They had reached the front door of 5 Wisteria Walk when Harry turned to the children.
"Now, Lily," said Harry. "Remember me on five minutes to four to get back to the Portkey, or we'll lose it." With this, he knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" asked a harsh female voice.
"Harry," replied Harry. "Harry Potter, you know me. I've visited your house every Christmas since 2007."
Mrs. Dursley opened the door. She was a beautiful woman who wore lots of jewelry at her throat, though her personality was nowhere as beautiful as her appearance, as she had a harsh voice and kept mistaking everyone's names.
"Hello, Jessica," said Harry cheerfully.
"Come in, Henry," said Mrs. Dursley, keeping her harsh tone. "Let's not wait for the snow to melt."
Harry walked into the neat house. The rest of the family followed reluctantly.
Mr. Dudley Dursley, a very fat, beefy man with a little moustache, was in the dining room, finishing his lunch of pork chops. The children were sitting on the floor near the fridge, stuffing their faces with pieces of chocolate cake. Alex, Martha, and Linda Dursley were five-year-old triplets who had to get whatever they wanted without excuses. They were so fat nearly as big as Lily, who was four years older than them.
"Children," whispered Harry to Albus, James, and Lily. "Go and play with Alex, Martha, and Linda. I'm sorry about this."
Albus, James, and Lily obligingly went over to the three spoiled children, rolling their eyes as they did so.
"Hey, fat midgets—" began James.
"Shut up!" said Lily. "Alex, Martha, and Linda, will you—?"
"Marry us?" said Albus jokingly, as James burst into silent laughter.
"Al," whispered James, so that the triplets wouldn't hear, "should we draw sticks on which of us gets Martha and who gets Linda?"
"Stop it, James," muttered Lily irritably. "Now, will you three come into your room and play with us?"
"Yes!" they chorused happily.
"Glad to hear that," said Lily. "Let's go."
The triplets' room was colorful and messy. The bright orange walls were covered in stickers of Muggle cartoon shows such as Mickey Mouse and Sponge Bob Squarepants on them, and there was a triple bunk bed where the children slept. The beds were messily covered in boogers and spit and were covered with stuffed animals. It seemed as though Mrs. Dursley had desperately tried to clean up the room, but with minimum success, so she had given up cleaning it at all.
"What game should we play, Martha?" asked Albus, trying to sound as warm and welcoming as Lily.
"We'll play with Woger Mike," Martha replied.
"Come again?" asked James.
"She means Roger Mike," said Lily with the air of explaining one plus one to a toddler. "The big brown teddy bear they've named after the Muggle mailman."
Alex and Linda brought Roger, who was about Albus's size, and Martha started to explain the game they were about to play.
"The game is called 'Sing and Jump'," she explained importantly. "We have to sing 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm', and then after every time us and Rogers have to jump."
Albus didn't know if he had ever played such a boring game. He didn't know any of the lyrics, so he had to mumble the whole song up. Finally, after about a quarter of an hour, Albus asked if they could play another game.
"No," replied Martha, his stomach swaying.
"We could play—" began Lily.
"No," repeated Alex. "You do what we tell you to do, or we'll—"
"This is boring!" said Lily, rolling her eyes in frustration and not making any effort to prevent the children from hearing.
It all happened in two breathtaking seconds. Alex, Martha, and Linda all jumped to attack Lily, and Lily, scared, did exactly what Harry was afraid she would do. She used underage magic. Alex, Martha, and Linda were thrown backwards six or seven feet, and they hit their heads on the opposite wall. The five-year-old triplets started crying, massaging their heads and wailing "MOMMY!" as loud as they could.
Mrs. Dursley came into the room, gasped, and went to comfort her children.
"Alex! Martha! Linda!" she shouted anxiously. "What was it, my dears? Did they take Rogers from you?"
"Lily!" shouted Alex. "She threw us into the wall!"
"Don't lie, Alex Dudley Dursley, you three almost killed me before I did!" protested Lily.
"How dare you hurt any of my—!" began Mrs. Dursley, raising a hand at Lily.
"STUPEFY! OBLIVIATE!" came a masculine voice at the door, and at once, Mrs. Dursley was knocked unconscious, her eyes dazed. Harry had just entered the Dursley children's bedroom, and he had Stunned and modified Mrs. Dursley's memory.
"STUPEFY! OBLIVIATE!" shouted Harry three more times, and one by one, the Dursley triplets were Stunned and Obliviated just like their mother was.
"Lily, are you okay?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, fine, dad," replied Lily. "I'm really awfully sorry, I just couldn't stop it. I can't stop doing magic, you know."
"I understand, Lily, don't worry," said Harry. "Looks like I'm moments away from getting my sack. Come on, we've got only seven minutes to get to our Portkey. You, Albus, James, and Ginny get out, and I'll turn them conscious again and say goodbye."
Albus, James, and Lily went to the living room, where Ginny was sitting with her mouth wide open in horror and Mr. Dursley was lying on the floor, Stunned and Obliviated as well.
"Your dad'll be in so much trouble at the Ministry," said Ginny. "Who knows, Kingsley might even sack him!"
"Please, Mum," said James. "Now's not the time to worry about Dad being sacked. Dad says the Portkey'll leave in about seven minutes."
The four Potters hurried out of Wisteria Walk and ran into Mrs. Figg's house in 7 Privet Drive. Not even sparing Mrs. Figg a glance, they ran through the hallway to the living room. Their Portkey (the dirty sock) was already glowing bright blue.
"But what about Dad?" shouted Lily.
"He can Apparate!" replied Ginny. "Now come on!"
Albus hurried toward the Portkey, and he and Ginny touched the sock a split second before it went away. After a brief whirl through colors and shapes, Albus and Ginny were back at the kitchen of 37 Main Intersection, in Godric's Hollow.
"What'll Dad and James and Lily do?" asked Albus.
"If I'm right, they'll be coming here by Knight Bus, seeing as James and Lily are too young to Apparate," answered Ginny.
Exactly as Ginny predicted, in a few moments, Harry, James, and Lily came in, looking dizzy. James had a nasty cut on his lip, which had swelled significantly.
"Hello, Harry, dear," said Ginny welcomingly. "And what happened to James?"
"Oh, come ON, Mum, it was just a small—!"
"He hit the wall of the Knight Bus," Harry explained. "No worries, I can fix it in a moment. Hold still—Episkey!" James's lip was reduced to its normal size. "Learned that from Luna Scamander in my sixth year. And from now on, I'll never—EVER—go to another Dursley visit accompanied by an underage witch or wizard, for your, my, and the Dursleys' good."
"Did you really get on the Knight Bus, Dad?" asked Albus, jealous.
"Yeah, we did," said James. "But it's not that big of a deal. Had to lift my chair back up seven times or so while Violet Violent Vehicle was leaping all over England."
Albus still loved, or thought he'd love, to get on the Knight Bus, no matter how badly James described it.