THC, Round 1, Slytherin, Charms, Drabble.

Prompt: [Dialogue] "Yer a Wizard." (Alts: "You're a wizard." "You are a wizard.")

Word Count: 790

Beta(s): Ash Juillet, Hope, Aya, Dhrish

Dudley Dursley could honestly say that he was not prepared for the unannounced visitor that had turned up on his doorstep half an hour ago. His immediate thought of closing the door and ignoring what this person meant had been very tempting. But Dudley knew he couldn't ignore this, he couldn't act as his parents had.

This wasn't a bad thing.

Now, Professor Longbottom sat on his couch, with an empty mug in front of him, waiting patiently for Dudley's wife and daughter to return from shopping. Every second of the wait was agonising.

It wasn't necessarily a surprise to him that his daughter was magical, he had suspected it several times before. However, he hadn't actually thought about it. He hadn't, before this moment, chose to think about her attending Hogwarts, or actually being a witch, or how his wife might react to the news. He only knew the ugly side of having a magical relative.

He hoped that his wife, Millie, would be supportive once she understood. However, she didn't always hold her opinions for herself, and some of them could be considered very narrow-minded and ignorant. Millie didn't know anything about the magical world, so all of this would be new to her. Dudley couldn't predict how his wife was going to react. And that's what terrified him. This secret, once revealed, concerned their daughter, and her mother's inevitable reaction would mark her for life.

His little girl, who he wanted to protect from every ill-thought. Amy wasn't as headstrong as her mother. Amy was quieter, more reserved, just like he had become. And previous experiences showed that she hung on to her mother's opinions, wanting to be just like her.

This could change anything.

The sound of the door opening filled Dudley with absolute dread. He looked back at the professor, who he had basically ignored until now, and nodded. Here goes nothing.

"Dudley, darling! We're back," Millie called, a shopping bag banging into the wall.

"Daddy, want to see my new dress?" his daughter's voice followed.

"In here," Dudley called, standing up nervously and watching as Professor Longbottom stood too.

Dudley watched his wife walk in, confusion flicking over her features until she shook out of it and smiled at the guest and put down the four bags of shopping. Amy followed but remained in the doorway.

"I didn't know we had a visitor," she commented, glancing at Dudley before offering her hand to the unknown man. "Hello, I'm Millie Dursley."

He shook her hand politely. "Good afternoon, I'm Professor Longbottom. I am here to talk about your daughter's potential enrollment at my school."

Millie looked at Dudley in confusion. "What's going on?"

Dudley took a deep breath, trying to process what to do. He had known Millie for fourteen years and now had an eleven-year-old child with her; he had to confess that he hadn't even mentioned his cousin more than in brief passing.

"Amy is a witch," Dudley stated.

"What?" Amy asked, looking affronted at the accusation.

Dudley sighed. "Not the… evil cackling witch, I think. It runs in the family. A wizard or witch where you have magical powers and can give a human a pig's tail."

"Let me assist in the explanation," Longbottom offered, and after receiving a nod, pulled out a letter. "We wish to invite Miss Dursley to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where she can excel at a wizarding education. She is gifted and special."

Millie's gaze remained on Dudley. "You're a wizard and you didn't tell me?"

"I-I'm not a wizard. My cousin was… is…" Dudley spluttered out.

This wasn't going well, why had he thought it would? The air seemed to still.

Dudley avoided his wife's gaze and observed his daughter edging towards Longbottom with curiosity written on her face. He focused his attention on her.

"Is this why strange things happen around me?" Amy asked quietly, twiddling her fingers in front of her.

"Yes." Longbottom nodded.

"Can you help me stop it?"

"We can teach you to understand and control your magic," Longbottom answered.

Dudley pushed himself up from the cream chair and approached them. "What do you think, Amy? Do you want to find out more about Hogwarts?"

Amy looked around the room, her small face twisted with indecision before looking up at him and nodding. Dudley held out his hand for the letter, he read the front of it before handing it to his little girl.

This would be the start of something new, and, this time, Dudley would be on the correct side of it. He would help his daughter in any way he could. Maybe that would include contacting his cousin; he'd prefer that than talking to this stranger.