Uncle Vernon was already at work a week later when the doorbell began to incessantly ring. Aunt Petunia frowned. "It's obviously one of your people," she sniffed, "unable to do the simplest thing correctly."

Harry thought for a moment about the disasters that could happen when spells or charms were cast incorrectly but bit his tongue and headed for the door. "Mr. Weasley!" he exclaimed in delight.

"Weasley?" Aunt Petunia looked up sharply. "Oh, you," she said in disappointment, hoping for more wonderful meals.

The red-headed man didn't notice. He turned back to the doorbell. "Fascinating! I'd been told you can merely press a button to get the attention of those inside a house, but to actually see one in action is amazing!"

"Come in, Mr. Weasley," Harry urged.

Arthur looked around the foyer in open interest. "Strange – your clock only has two hands and there are four of you here. Do you need me to fix it for you? I'm handy with house charms, as I'm sure Molly told you last week."

"No!" Aunt Petunia practically screeched. "None of that unnecessary flim-flammery around here."

"That's right, Molly said the use of a Confundus Charm might be necessary…" Arthur said just loudly enough for Harry to hear.

At that moment, the cuckoo bird popped out and chirped nine times. Arthur jumped back, skidded slightly on the runner, hit the umbrella stand and knocked it over. Harry rushed to put it upright. Arthur inclined his head at the clock. "So sorry, I didn't mean to insult you." He smoothed out his jumper. "Thank you, Harry." He turned to Aunt Petunia and smiled. "Now, where were we?"

Aunt Petunia was still speechless and simply led the way to the kitchen.

Arthur was delighted. He opened the refrigerator door. "Amazing! Things are cold with no magic! Isn't it great what ekelicitry can do?" He turned the knobs on the oven and frowned when nothing seemed to happen but then shrugged and moved on. Harry rushed to turn the oven off.

Aunt Petunia finally found her voice. "You … you .. just get out of my kitchen!"

Arthur put up his hands. "Of course! Molly's the same way – she has everything just the way she wants it and doesn't like others to mess with her system." He beamed as he sat down at the table. "It's just so interesting." He jumped up again when he spotted the curio cabinet in the corner. "Such amazing little figures! Do you mind if I take a closer look at them?"

"Yes!" Aunt Petunia almost shouted. "Some of those are antiques! Just … sit down."

"Of course, Petunia. I can call you that can't I?" He smiled jovially.

"I'd prefer …"

A thundering of steps down the stairs preceded Dudley's rush into the kitchen. "Hey, mum, what's for …" He skidded to a stop. His face turned white and he backed out of the kitchen, holding his hands over his mouth.

Arthur smiled at him. "Hello again, Dudley. Any problems with your tongue?"

"I'll be at the boxing gym all day, Mum. See ya later!" A moment later the door slammed shut.

Arthur looked confused. "I'm sure I fixed his tongue correctly after my boys pranked him. Is he avoiding me because he's still in pain?"

"Pranked? Pranked?" shrieked Aunt Petunia. "Your sons' trick practically suffocated my boy and you call it a prank?"

"I admit it was a bit mean, but certainly not the worst thing they've done. Why, one time they gave a treat to my youngest boy that burnt a hole in his tongue. Now that took a creative repair spell! Simply reversing the effect of an Engorgio potion on your son was no problem at all."

Harry cleared his throat. "Uh, Mr. Weasley? Muggles generally don't have access to reversals of hexes or charms," He glanced at his aunt, who was glaring at them. "When they get hurt it takes a long time for them to heal. What is funny to us can be terrifying to them."

"But I came right over, and …" Arthur sighed. "You're right. It's as bad as muggle-baiting, I suppose. I did royally chew out the twins when I got home." He looked at Aunt Petunia. "Please, once again, accept my deepest apologies. Fred and George's humor sometimes has a mean twist to it, I know, and we try our best to redirect it."

Aunt Petunia slowly nodded at Arthur's obvious sincerity. "I sometimes think my Dudders may be led too far by his friends." Harry thought it was the other way around, but didn't say anything. "I guess as parents all we can do is guide them. Harry, why don't you show our guest around."

As Harry started to lead him around the house, Arthur leaned close to him. "By any chance, are there any rubber ducks in the house? I'd love to see one."

"Not anymore, Mr. Weasley. They're generally bath toys for children." At Arthur's disappointed look, Harry made a mental note to get him one for Christmas.

Despite the lack of rubber ducks, Arthur was delighted to be in the muggle house. He spent at least twenty minutes flipping the bathroom light on and off. "Harry, exactly how does this ekelicity work?" he asked as he pondered the light.

"Um, there are wires in the wall that connect to wires in the ground that connect to a neighborhood electrical grid, I think," Harry answered. "I know electricity can come from a variety of sources, like coal or gas, but I'm not sure how. We can stop by a bookstore and see if we can find something that explains how it works."

Arthur was satisfied until Harry showed him a flashlight he had stashed in his room. Arthur looked at it carefully. "I don't see the wires. The invisibility spell is terrific."

"Oh, the power for the flashlights comes from batteries." Harry opened up the base. "See these? They store electricity."

"How wonderful! Just think if wizards could store their spells to use later."

Arthur was distracted when the phone rang. "A fellyphone!" he explained delightedly.

Harry began to feel like he was shepherding around a toddler when Arthur headed downstairs to see it in use. "Um, Mr. Weasley? Muggles don't consider it polite to listen in on other people's phone calls."

"Oh, quite right, of course, I suppose it's like listening in to fire calls. Can you show me after your aunt's done with her conversation, though?"

When Aunt Petunia got off the phone, Harry approached her. "May I make a phone call to a friend I met at school? I want to show Mr. Weasley how to use the felly .. I mean telephone."

"No!" Aunt Petunia grabbed Harry by the arm and led him aside. "I've agreed to put up with your type visiting. That's enough!" she whispered.

Harry thought fast. "Could I call Mrs. Figg, just to show Mr. Weasley how a phone works?"

Aunt Petunia looked at him suspiciously. "Why her?"

"Err, she knows me and shouldn't be surprised if I call to see how she's doing."

His aunt mumbled under her breath about backwards communities before nodding. "But keep it short!"

Harry took the phone and showed it to Arthur. "See, everyone with a phone has a separate number. Since I know Mrs. Figg's number, I can dial her number and …"

"'ello?"

"Mrs. Figg, this is Harry, and …"

"Arabella!" Arthur shouted over him. "You'd never guess who this is!"

Harry wondered for a moment how Mr. Weasley knew Mrs. Figg, but then realized they must have met sometime working for the Order.

Harry frantically motioned for him to lower his voice. "You don't have to shout. Just a regular voice is fine. Speak into here."

"Of course! Marvelous!"

Aunt Petunia glared at Harry. "Is Arabella one of you? All this time and you never told me?" she whispered harshly.

Harry frantically shook his head. "No, I swear she's not. She does know about us, though. She couldn't help me fight them off, but she helped me get Dudley home when the dementors attacked him."

Aunt Petunia eyed him. "She helped Dudley?"

Harry nodded.

"She's all right then," Aunt Petunia said with a satisfied nod. Then she gave Harry a look he couldn't decipher.

Harry found that Mr. Weasley was easy to entertain, though he could ask very difficult questions, such as how the television worked or how cars converted gas to energy. Then there was the question about how the chimney stayed upright without magic. Though seemingly easy to answer by saying cement held the bricks together, that led to additional questions about how cement was made and how did the muggles get the cement so high up and how long it took to make a chimney … Harry felt rather dazed at the non-stop questions.

Harry tensed up when he heard Uncle Vernon's car drive up. Wanting to avoid the meeting as long as possible, he brought Arthur upstairs. He could still hear the conversation at the door.

"Vernon, we have another one of those … guests … today."

"Hmph, another layabout I'd wager. No one with a job could just take off during the week." Harry winced.

To his surprise, Aunt Petunia spoke again. "This one works for the Ministry. He seems decent enough."

"That explains it. Those government types have it easy. Now, what's for dinner?"

Though Harry tried to warn him that Uncle Vernon was not easy to talk to, Arthur was almost quivering with excitement at the chance to talk with another muggle. He barely waited to be introduced and for everyone to sit at the table when he turned to Uncle Vernon. "I hear you're in drills."

Uncle Vernon puffed up. "Indeed so. I'm a director at Grunnings, the manufacturer of the finest drills in the Kingdom."

"I admit I don't know anything about drills. Can you tell me a bit about them?"

"I don't expect your type would know much about them. Just today I was faced with a dull fixed cutter. I had to review the IADC Classification and Dull Grading System for fixed cutter bits and then…"

"IADC?"

Uncle Vernon leaned forward, anxious to show off his knowledge. "The International Association of Drilling Contractors, of course. They represent companies owning and operating most of the world's land and offshore drilling units and are responsible for developing the vast majority of wells producing the majority of the Earth's oil and gas." He puffed out his chest. "Grunnings is a key member, of course. The organization couldn't survive without us. Why, I personally contributed to the RigPass Course-to-Go accreditation program that confirms personnel have met basic requirements defined by safety and training professionals in the industry, irrespective of the rig's location."

Arthur's eyes gleamed. "Fascinating!"

On the other hand, the eyes of Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and Harry were beginning to glaze over.

Uncle Vernon heaved himself up. "Just one moment." Harry could hear him rummage around the desk in the sitting room before returning with a thick book. "Here you go – I happen to have several copies. You're welcome to this one."

Arthur took it in both hands, handling it with a look of awe. "And you say you actually wrote this?"

"Well, not the whole thing, of course. But look here on page M-28. See figure M2-3A? The editors wanted to show just two clips – can you believe it? Of course, they listened to me and added the third clip."

"Would … would it be too much to ask if you could autograph this for me?

Harry dropped his napkin so he'd have an excuse bend over, hiding his face.

Uncle Vernon puffed up. "Of course not, my good man. Here, let me have the book back for a second."

Uncle Vernon rapidly warmed up to Arthur. He was obviously an intelligent man to be so interested in him and his job. "Of course, you must first learn the fundamentals. You need to know about different types of bits. Rotary bits chew away at rock, percussion bits smash rocks, and large auger bits are used if the ground is soft. With the right equipment, we can drill down a thousand feet," he boasted.

"A thousand … that's impossible!"

"Even Dudders knows that, right, son?"

Dudley looked startled to be the center of attention. "Of course," he answered, not sure what he was agreeing to.

Uncle Vernon took a large helping of lamb. "Not that it's easy, mind you. I can tell you stories!"

"Please do!" Arthur looked around the table. "That is, if no one else minds."

No one did, happy there would be no fighting at the table.

Arthur came downstairs early the next day. He'd thought of new questions to ask of Uncle Vernon about drills. Dudley was still looking longingly at the telly when Uncle Vernon came downstairs. Arthur jumped up to greet him. "Vernon – may I call you that?"

Uncle Vernon straightened his lapels and sat down. He cleared his throat. "If you insist."

"Excellent, excellent. And I'm Arthur of course. Anyway, last night you mentioned offshore drilling requirements but then we got sidetracked into a fascinating discussion of how to identify potential risks associated with a drilling operation. I'd love to learn more about drilling when you can't see the land below you. That sounds impossible!"

Uncle Vernon puffed out his chest. "An excellent topic! Most people don't understand the difficulty or the cost. Why, striking an oil reservoir with a drill pipe is like hitting a coin at the base of the building with a single strand of human hair. The costs are enormous, tens of millions of pounds. If the hit is in the wrong place, all this is down the drain."

"Tens of … how in Merlin's name do you prevent that?"

Uncle Vernon was so caught up in being an expert that he didn't notice the unusual oath. "It's not easy. Complex geophysical measurements are necessary including multi-dimensional seismic imaging, where …"

"Vernon, dear," interrupted Aunt Petunia. "You need to be leaving if you want to get to work on time."

Uncle Vernon glanced at his watch. "Quite right." He grabbed a piece of toast and got up. Arthur followed him to the door. As they were exiting the kitchen, the others heard Arthurs ask, "Would you be willing to tell me more at dinner?" and Uncle Vernon's reply "Of course, my good man."

Dudley turned to his mother. "Mum, I think I forgot to tell you that a friend invited me to dinner tonight."

Aunt Petunia glared at her son. "Oh no you don't, young man. If I have to listen to this, so do you." She turned to Harry. "And it's your fault he's here, so you will be here too. No hiding in your room."

Dudley was startled that his mother put her foot down, but sighed and was reaching for the telly when Arthur walked back into the kitchen. Disappointed, he sat back down. He was taken aback when Arthur turned to him.

"Now, Dudley, my wife tells me you're quite an athlete. Boxing, is it? I believe you mentioned going to the boxing gym all day the other morning."

"Ah, yeah."

"I don't know anything about boxing. Can you tell me about it?"

Dudley cleared his throat. "It's a combat sport and martial art where two people wearing protective equipment throw punches at each other."

"Oh, so it's like dueling!"

Harry spoke up. "Except it's more hand-to-hand."

Arthur thought things over and then turned back to Dudley. "And is there a particular area where this takes place?"

"Of course. The people are in a boxing ring and can't leave the area."

"So it's like anti-apparition wards are set up around them?" Dudley was confused at the question, but Harry nodded.

"And do you have to follow any particular rules?"

Aunt Petunia was pleased at how passionate Dudley got as he described what he had learned. He was so seldom interested in anything except his video games.

Harry was thinking about all the damage Dudley could do if he was a trained fighter when he tuned back into the conversation between his cousin and Mr. Weasley. "I think it's wonderful you're learning this skill, Dudley."

"You do?"

"Certainly. I can see it will come in very handy when you see bullying going on. You can step in and stop it."

"Of course, my Dudders will always help those in need!" Aunt Petunia said proudly.

Harry bit his tongue.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," replied Dudley.

When breakfast was over, Harry took Arthur to the local bookstore to find books that explained how things worked, which the older man poured over, barely able to contain his excitement. The cashier gave him a strange look when he bought two piles of usually slow-selling books, each two feet high, but just shook his head. In the late afternoon, Dudley took him to his gym to show him a practice sparring event. In the evening, the rest of the family learned far more than they ever wanted to about bit classification and grading, drill string, drill collars, drilling fluids, and all other things drill related. Arthur almost burst with excitement when he learned about electric drilling rigs. The two men didn't notice when the other three excused themselves while Uncle Vernon was lecturing on the difference between DC/DC and AS/SCR systems.

The next two days were similar. The cashier at the local bookstore began to greet Arthur with a huge smile when they walked in. Harry wondered when Mr. Weasley was going to find the time to read all his new books.

"You know, Pet," Uncle Vernon told his wife the night before Arthur left. "I'm going to actually miss this Arthur chap. I know we got off to a rough start, but he's actually a decent fellow."

"I guess some of those types aren't so bad," replied Aunt Petunia.

Upstairs, Harry heard a knock at his door. Opening it, he was surprised to see Dudley, who was studying his shoes intently. "Dudley? Can I help you?"

"Hey, Harry. I, umm, just wanted to say despite everything I think Mum and Dad are wrong. Some of your kind are pretty decent. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are okay."

Harry wasn't sure what to make of that comment. "Yeah. The Weasleys are my best mate's parents." He wondered why Dudley had changed his opinion. "Mrs. Weasley's a good cook, isn't she?"

Dudley seemed to find the window beyond Harry fascinating. "She is. But … both actually talked to me, and listened when I answered. Mr. Weasley was actually interested in what I said."

Harry was nonplussed at first, and then thought about it. He thought his aunt and uncle didn't ask him about his time at Hogwarts because they hated magic. But suddenly he realized they didn't ask many questions of Dudley either. He nodded. "They're like that. But not all wizards are good."

"Yeah, well, it looks like you have some good ones in your life. I guess I'll see ya around then." Dudley turned and went back down the hall, with Harry watching him and wondering what spell Arthur had placed on him before he gently shut his door.

The next morning, Uncle Vernon stopped Arthur before he left. "It's been a pleasure getting to know you, Arthur," he said. "You're welcome back any time."

Arthur smiled. "Why, thank you, Vernon. I've enjoyed my time here. Rest assured that your book will have a place of honor on my bookcase." He gathered up his own things and turned to Aunt Petunia. "Thank you for having me over. I've enjoyed my stay."

Aunt Petunia responded automatically. "It's been a pleasure having you."

"Dudley," Arthur continued, "thank you for teaching me so much about boxing. I couldn't have had a better person explain all the intricacies to me."

Dudley turned red. "Sure. No problem."

Finally, Arthur faced Harry. "And thank you for taking me around town." He glanced at Aunt Petunia before turning back to Harry. "Just let me know if you need anything."

With that the two men left for their respective jobs. Aunt Petunia waved the boys off and collapsed on the sofa, vowing to avoid all talk having anything to do with drills or boxing for the rest of the summer.

Funny story: I had to research drills for this chapter as I don't know anything about them. As a result, I'm still getting emails from the IADC. By the way, if you look on the page I referenced in the RigPass Course-to-Go accreditation manual, you'll see the clip Vernon was so proud of. I can't guarantee the page existed in June of 1996. Anyway, please review!