Death at Hogwarts - A Harry Potter fanfiction

Chapter Eight

Arriving outside Number Four Privet Drive, I noted that the curtains were closed in the living room, though the lights were on, and I deduced that they were all watching television as usual. Walking through the wall, I arrived in the living room, invisible to their eyes and stood watching them for a few moments. Vernon Dursley sat in an armchair, greedily stuffing his face with a huge bacon and sausage sandwich. His wife, Petunia Dursley, formerly Petunia Evans, sat on the sofa nibbling a sandwich with a steaming cup of tea at her side. My eyes moved to their son, Dudley, who was staring blankly at the television screen, half a sandwich in his left hand, the right hand clenched into a white fist as whatever was on his mind got to him.

His eyes roamed to where I was stood right in front of him, watching him quietly. His eyes snapped back into focus as he frowned at the space where I was, and then, quite suddenly, he gasped and shrank back. I frowned, knowing he'd seen me, something that was impossible. There was no way he could have seen me, I was invisible to mortal eyes, and Dudley Dursley was definitely mortal.

“What's wrong Duddykins?” Petunia asked, glancing over at him.

Vernon grunted around a huge mouthful of food and looked at his son, who was currently eyeing me with terror.

“Am I correct in assuming you can see and hear me, Dudley?” I asked.

Dudley nodded, trembling.

“Relax. I am not here to harm you. In fact, I am here to help you. You are in danger.”

He started to relax as I began talking, then looked terrified again as I finished,

“Danger f-from who?” he managed to get out.

“Dudders?” Vernon said, finally having swallowed his food and staring at his son in confusion.

“I need you to come with me, Dudley. I don't know how, or why, but for some reason, you're going to die quite soon, and far before your time.”

He stood and looked at me, shaking.

“Is it. . Is it those. . . Dementor things?” he whispered.

“Dudley, who are you talking to?” Petunia asked.

“Can you. . .appear, please?” Dudley asked me. I sighed and dropped the invisibility, causing Vernon and Petunia to yelp in surprise. In my haste, I had dropped my human guise as well, and all three shrank back in terror.

“Y-y-y -” Dudley gasped, backing away.

“Calm yourself, Dudley. I told you. I am here to stop you dying before your time.” I said.

“What? Die? Dudley's not going to die!” Vernon yelled.

“Do you really think I would take time out of my busy schedule to come here and prevent his death if not?” I asked, glaring at him. He shrank back from me and whimpered. I would have rolled my eyes had I any eyeballs to roll.

“How?” Petunia breathed, staring at me.

“According to my information, which is never wrong before you start trying to contradict me, Dudley Dursley is to die by a Dementor's Kiss.”

Dudley moaned and sat on the sofa with a thud.

“But -”

“Yes, Petunia, they are magical. Only someone with magic can defeat them. As Harry is currently at school. . .”

“But why would they go after Dudley again?”

“I would say that they liked how he tasted the first time.” I mused, looking at Dudley, who gave a dry sob. Petunia went white then looked at me.

“How do you intend to stop him dying?”

“For now, I don't intend to do anything other than watch and wait.” I said, transforming back into Dean Eath again and sitting down next to Dudley.

“Watch and wait?!” Vernon hissed, his large face red. “You're just going to watch and wait while my son dies?!”

“Vernon. I have been around much longer than your kind has. I have sat and watched and waited as countless mortals have lived, then died. One more will make no difference. I said I intend to make sure your son does not die before his time and I will not.”

Silence followed my little speech, and, desperate to avoid looking at me, Dudley stared at the television screen, which suddenly exploded, causing all three of them to yell out in alarm. I simply stared at the smoking carcass, wondering what had caused it. I had sensed a flicker of magic, but not enough to do a full trace on it. I wondered who was doing this; there was no way it could be a Dementor, Dementors didn't have their own magic, and as such couldn't cause anything like this. True, everything went cold when they came near, but the set had got warmer, not colder, so warm it had exploded, small flames even now flickering inside the set.

As I watched, the room's temperature suddenly plummeted, and ice formed over the windows and floor. They were here. That worried me, that they knew where a Muggle lived, and that there were at least three of them. I didn't know the Patronus Charm; I had no need for it. Taking my scythe, I stood before the terrified Dursleys, all of whom were staring in shock at the ice forming on the windows before them.

Suddenly, the Dementors arrived. Dudley screamed and backed away and I was shocked to realise he could see them, too. However, only magical people could see Dementors, which meant that Dudley Dursley was somehow magical. I wasn't sure how, as I knew he had not once in his life had a magical bone in his body – so where was this magic coming from?

I swung my scythe at the nearest one, which screeched at me and backed away, as did the other two, and the four of us stood at a standstill; I, stood armed with my scythe, and the three Dementors looming silently and menacingly in front of me. Behind me, the Dursleys were almost out of their minds with terror. Petunia and Vernon were, of course, unable to see the Dementors, but they were certainly feeling their effects. I had to get rid of them – and fast. Suddenly, the flicker of magic came again, and this time, I sensed exactly where it was coming from. The flicker of magic was coming from inside Dudley. I turned my head to look at him, smacking the end of my scythe into a Dementor as it tried to make a move. As I stared at Dudley and examined the magic within him, I discovered an astonishing thing. Dudley Dursley had Harry's magic inside him.