The Polkis Residence
The Polkis Residence; Surrey
“Alright, you two! Are you still on that modified diet Dud?” Piers' mom, Marissa, asked as Dudley came into the kitchen. He had spent the last half hour putting his things away in the spare room before deciding he could do the rest later. “Does some grilled chicken and a salad work for an early dinner?”
“That sounds incredible, thank you.” Dudley said trying to hide his small smile by busying himself with stowing his bag beside the couch. The gesture warmed his chest more than he could have anticipated. While salad is all his own mother seems to eat, Petunia acts like it's the end of the world when he requests the same for dinner or lunch.
Dudley tried his best to push today out of his head for a little longer and just enjoy listening to his best friend talk about some cute nerdy girl he bumped into at the library the other day. “What were you doing at the library anyways?” Dudley interjects. Piers looks up at him with a shit-eating grin, “They had a flower drawing competition and I simply had to try my hand at making one look like a vul-” He was cut off by his amused-looking mom lobbing a cherry tomato at him from across the room.
The rest of dinner helped ease some of the tension that had been sitting on his bones since the attack. Dudley grabbed their plates when he noticed both had finished and brought them to the sink to rinse, unaware of the shocked faces of his friend and pseudo-mom that followed him. As her only child got older, Marissa had worried about the company her son was keeping, especially Petunia's boy, but Dudley really seemed to be in the process of positive change. Her son had told her most of what they talked about after the boy was attacked, and while horrified, she can't say she was entirely surprised. It did make her wish she had stepped up and done something earlier.
“Okay you two, let's move this to the living room and start to uncover whatever mess your parents seemed to have involved you in.” Despite having tensed when she started, that got Dudley to chuckle.
The Polkis household wasn't very large but sat on a decent plot of property at the edge of the neighborhood. Marissa had inherited the house and land shortly into her early 20s and immediately hired a demolition crew to come through and level the dilapidated manor that used to reside there. Over the years she built a modest 2-story home with an attached garage and a couple attached workspaces. The kitchen, living room, and dining area all sat in an open floor plan that had sliding glass doors leading out to the backyard, and a staircase off the side leading up to the bedrooms.
Grabbing his laptop and notebook, Dudley takes a deep breath and settles into the loveseat as Piers climbs over its back to sit next to him. His friend's mom joins a couple minutes later with a teapot and a couple cups. After a moment Dudley realizes awkwardly that they are both waiting patiently on him to start off. He reached up to scratch at the back of his head, suddenly feeling like he has no idea where to start. Which, to be fair to himself he hadn't really thought of what he'd say, just that he needed out of that house and probably couldn't do this all completely alone. There wasn't a feasible way to tell them anything without including details about magic (something he knows VERY little about) but thinking of trying to explain that made him even more uncomfortable. They’re going to think I’m fucking crazy.
“Okay, so…” He trails off and reaches for his cup of tea to hopefully give himself courage.
Both Polkis’ exchanged a glance over how nervous the other teen had gotten. “Hey mate, you’ve had a stressful week, try not to worry about what we’ll think, we’re here to listen,” Piers said resting his hand on his childhood friend's shoulder. “I can’t imagine what you could have found that could be worse than what you told me the other day but know that we won't judge you for the positions or brainwashing your parents put you through. I know it's a relationship quote but ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ my friend”
Choking on laughter after sipping her tea, Marissa turned to her son and chimed in, “First, where the hell is all this wisdom of yours coming from this week? And second, Dudley, no matter what, trust that we will believe you. I’m sure from what you mentioned after we picked you up that you were able to collect some evidence. If it's enough, I can take it with me to work on Monday and make an official report. I already mentioned to my superior that one of my son's friends alluded to an abusive home environment in case I got some information to bring to him.”
Dudley blinked, having completely forgotten that she worked in a subsection of the detectives' department for the London Police. “Oh yeah maybe, but I'm not too sure how it will help the situation.” Letting out a breath of air, he sucked up his courage. “This might sound totally insane cause it still seems that way to me, but I can't properly explain the whole thing without letting you know the background information.” He was totally rambling but how does one just say ‘Hey so theres a silly little thing called magic’. He could see the concern edging into the frowns on the other occupant's faces.
“So bare with me, I don't really know how to explain this since I don't know much about it myself, but the simplest way I can think to word it is; We have a hidden world living side by side along our own?” Seeing Marissa's frown turn into a look of understanding caught Dudley off guard so badly that he stumbled over his next couple of words. “An- We- Wait, do you already know?!”
Piers couldn't help laughing at the face Dudley made. His friend had been so worried and serious to just looked like he had the rug pulled out from under him. Piers didn't know what they were referring to but it reminded him of what his mom told him about her job a couple years ago. She had a close call while on the field and had gotten cleared by her superior to tell him a bit of what she did now that he was getting older.
“Piers doesn't know fully but I’ve been meaning to sit him down and explain everything. I work for the division of the London Police that is partnered with the DMLE and the Department of Magical Catastrophes.” She supplies.
She gets two different responses at the same time. “What's the DMLE?” “Did you say MAGIC Mother?!”
Piers kept going, apparently having connected some dots, his hands raised indignantly in the air. “Here I thought you were working with the Occult or something, but actual magic? We literally watched Supernatural together at the beginning of the summer and you didn't think that maybe then would be a good time to approach the subject?!” He looked over at his mom Incredulously. “And you!” He swiftly turned to his friend, “How have you never mentioned this before even when we were kids?” He sounded more unbelieving than anything to Dudley.
“Fear mostly,” The blonde boy said simply, unintentionally bringing the mood down again. “I still am if we’re being honest, but until this last week I had only ever had bad experiences to go with what my parents had to say about it.” Dudley looked down at the blank notebook in his lap. “My parents hate anything that's not normal, and the little black-haired baby that showed up on our porch one November morning was anything but in their eyes.”
Marissa gasped, “Oh that poor boy. Do you know if anyone ever noticed or tried to help? I remember being concerned the first time I saw how he dressed but Piers told me it was what he chose to wear.” Her son looked sheepish at that. “It's okay sweetheart, you didn't know any better.”
Dudley shook his head, “I’m not sure, I want to say yes but my memory feels weird when I think too hard about it.” That had the motley women sitting up straighter.
“Does it feel like gaps in your memory or like you are remembering it wrong but haven't questioned it before now?” she asked him quickly.
“Uh, I think both.” He says after a moment of thinking about it.
They watch her reach over to grab a notepad from one of the side tables and a pen from a drawer. She made a quick note before looking back up at them. “I think you’ve had some memory modification spells placed on you.” At their alarmed expression she continues, “The Aurors, who are like magical police,” she supplies to her son who's still a bit in the dark, “Use the spell on non-magical to protect their Statue of Secrecy. They work under the DMLE or Department of Magical Law Enforcement. However, you need a lot of training to be able to legally obliviate someone and it shouldn't be done too often. I'm concerned that you are having memory gaps when trying to think if anyone attempted to help an abused boy and not acts of magic itself. It makes me think that you have a Wix in your life that's pulling some strings that they shouldn't be.”
“That's not even half of it,” Dudley murmurs mostly to himself. It was a relief to him that it seemed obvious already that someone was manipulating the situation. “I think I’ve met someone from magical catastrophes a couple years ago when Aunt Marge got blow up”
“Blown up???” Piers asked with wide eyes.
Realizing how that sounded Dudley was quick to add, “Not like that! Like a balloon and she floated away out the back patio door. I was totally screaming bloody murder. Looking back it would have been pretty funny to watch as an outsider.”
“Ahh that may have been someone from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad,” said Marissa.
“Is there a big difference between accidental magic and nonaccidental?” Piers asked. Dudley though was just as curious.
“Well, from what I know about it, Accidental magic is just that. An accident. It happens mostly to young children but can continue into adolescence or adulthood if the individual has a large enough magical core. It also happens more often when a child is in a stressful, emotional, or abusive environment.”
“So all the time Harry did this accidental magic growing up and my parents punished him for it, they were just increasing the chances that it would happen again?”
Marissa looked sad at that, “ I think so, but if what I heard is true, I think his magic found a way to focus on keeping him alive. As long as they withheld food and water from him over years, there's no way he would still be alive if he didn't have magic.”
The trio sat there solemnly for a moment to absorb what they had gone over already. Dudley had to fight back the urge to be sick again as a fresh wave of nausea hit him. The tea he drank felt heavy over their dinner. Even at 15, his cousin was way too small and he knew even with a miracle that Harry would never heal all the damage that had been done to him.
“How about you continue your story and I'll try to fill in as much as I can if either of you has questions about the magical world. But I can start with a few brief facts to help your initial curiosity.” She grabbed her tea as Piers got a notebook for himself out for his school things.
“As Dudley said, they are a hidden society. Until the age of modern technology, they had been far more advanced than us due to what magic makes accessible for them. They have their own governments, schools, culture, religion, and histories spread around the globe. The magical world is far more than just people as well, I occasionally have to work with the Department of Magical Creatures and a specialist for magical Plants. I think Magic is best described as a naturally occurring energy that's a fundamental part of some living beings on earth that can be harnessed to accomplish both everyday as well as otherworldly feats.”
Remembering what happened in the bathroom that morning Dudley asked, “Can you harness magic if you are not magical? Like can a muggle person make a promise that magic would recognize?”
Marissa looked at him curiously before her eyes fluttered up as she thought that over. “I don't think so..” Dudley instantly felt his stomach rise into his throat. “But there are people called Squibs. They are individuals born from magical families and have either little to no magic or not enough to use with a wand. But even in the case of a squib who has practically no magic, they are still a magical being, so they can call upon magic for things like vows and promises.” Seeing that her longer description only barely made him feel better she decided to make a note about it and ask him later when he's had a moment to think about it.
Dudley busied himself with pouring a new cup of tea as he gathered his thoughts. “Let me connect my computer to the TV so I can show you some of the pictures.” Once everyone was settled back in with their respective notebooks or pads he continued. “Okay, so I haven't really had the chance to write this all out so I’ll need both of your help to take notes. While taking photos I ended up finding so much more than I thought I would, but I'll pull that out in a little bit.
I was too young to remember it but must have started on the 1st or 2nd of November 1981. My mom had gotten up to grab the morning paper only to find a 1-and-a-half-year-old bundled up in a basket sitting on her doorstep. The baby had been noticeably cold, with an open wound on his forehead, and the only thing in the basket with him was a letter. Which I found! I scanned it, one sec.” He clicked into the folder of scans he had emailed himself earlier and clicked on the first one.
“Was the letter signed?” Marissa asked, Pen poised above the notepad.
“Oh, it was signed alright. I have no doubts that my mother would have dropped Harry off at an orphanage the moment she could have had any other wizard have signed it.”
Showing large on the TV was a scan of an old crinkled letter written on a piece of thick parchment.
Dear Petunia,
I deeply regret to inform you that on the night of All Hallows’ Eve, Your sister Lily and her husband James lost their lives in the fight of good against evil. They were killed in their home in Godric's Hollow by the Dark Lord Voldemort himself while protecting their son Harry and will be memorialized as War Heroes.
We don't know the specifics of what happened that night, but what is certain is that when the dark wizard turned his wand on young Harry, he was in turn vanquished. Unfortunately, danger still lies on the path before us. Voldemort has hundreds loyal to him that will do anything to see Harry and his remaining family destroyed in the wake of their lord's disappearance.
But not all is lost my dear child, for in her dying moments, Lily performed an act of magic hardly before seen to protect her only son. And her sacrifice will live on through her blood, blood that flows through both you and young Harry. Upon you accepting him into your home, the protection and blood wards will have latched onto the residence.
It is paramount you keep the boy, the savior of the wizarding world, safe within your home. I understand you and Lily had a strained relationship in your adult lives, but I believe love and family conquer all, so I have no worries that you’ll find a place for little Harry within your family.
I offer a warning; the boy must never stray far from the wards for too long. They are powered by his proximity, and as long as Harry sees your house as his home til his 17th birthday then danger shall be averted. Until the age of 11, when he will be reintroduced to wizarding society, any extended periods away could cause the wards to fall and put your entire family in danger.
In times of strife, we do as we must for the greater good. We are relying on you to keep the boy alive until the time he may return to us.
Sincerest condolences for your loss,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.