An Eclectic Catalogue of Ideas

Vernon Dursley glared down at his four-year-old nephew, his features a rictus of rage and fear. "How dare you use your freakish powers here, boy?" he snarled. "Petunia and I should never have taken you in! I'm glad Petunia and Dudley aren't here, so they don't have to see your freakishness!" He raised his fist to strike the little freak, about to continue his tirade.

And stopped.

The boy was cowering in front of him, his eyes closed, tears running down his cheeks.

And it brought to mind a memory.

Of his older brother, cowering as his father yelled at him. Of his older brother's face a mass of bruises, blood pouring from his nose as his father beat him to death for protecting Vernon. Of his mother finally taking him and his sister Marge away, and his father being sent to prison.

Oh, God, what am I doing?, Vernon thought sickly to himself. He felt an odd burning sensation as if something within him had just shattered. There was a loud crack coming from the direction of the sitting room.

He left the boy, moving to look into the room and saw a strange sight: his wife's prized Ming vase had broken into pieces on the mantel. She had received it as a gift a few weeks after they'd found the Potter boy on the doorstep, though he couldn't remember from whom.

What is going on? Why would I treat a child like this?, Vernon asked himself fearfully. He turned and approached Harry, kneeling. "I'm sorry, boy. No, Harry. I should never have treated you so badly." Even as he tried to hug him, Vernon felt the boy flinch away from him, and a few tears fell from the stocky man's eyes.

He was a monster.

It was like his mind was clear for the first time in years. Thinking back, Vernon couldn't understand how he could have acted the way he had. He knew his wife had been jealous of her sister, but the woman he married wouldn't have acted as she did either. He didn't think he'd have spoiled his son as much as well, though he admitted to himself that he might have if only to give his son a life that he'd never had. He realized that their behaviour had changed quite abruptly, Petunia moving Harry from the bedroom to the closet under the stairs right after they'd received that vase. Could the fre--wizards do this sort of thing?

Perhaps he was making excuses. Maybe he was just like his father.

Shaking his head, Vernon said to Harry, "It's all right, Harry. I'll take care of you." The big man's words were quiet, as he picked up the boy and carried him into the kitchen for a snack. It would be a long road, but he'd fix what he had done.

And if he was right, and something had caused this?

He would destroy whoever made him act like his father.

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Later that day, Petunia and Dudley returned. By that time, Vernon had fed Harry and moved him into the second bedroom, removing Dudley's old toys and putting them into the attic. That took some doing. Vernon realized he had really let himself go.

"Dudley, go outside and play," Vernon ordered the boy. "Petunia, we need to talk."

"What about, Vernon?" asked Petunia as she moved to sit across the table at him, pouring tea from the pot and adding a bit of sugar.

"The boy. Harry." Her features started to slip into disgust, before becoming confused. "Why did we treat him as we did? Yell at him. Put him in a bloody boot cupboard for god's sake?!" Vernon's voice rose slightly before he shuddered. "I was about to actually hit him today, Petunia. I rose my fist and was about to strike him, thinking all the while about how I was going to punish the freak."

Petunia's jaw dropped slightly, and she shuddered. "I don't know, Vernon. It just felt right. I was so angry at my sister, and somehow, I thought if I punished the boy, it'd be like getting back at her." She looked lost.

"When I looked at the boy, Petunia, it reminded me of my brother. How Hugh stood up to my father, and how my father kept b-beating him and finally killed him." Vernon looked at her, tears in his eyes, "I was acting like my father, Petunia. I was going to beat him bloody!"

Petunia got up and moved around the table to hug her husband. "I'm sorry," she said to him. "What happened then?"

"I felt this strange burning sensation and then it felt like something inside me shattered," Vernon whispered. "At the same time, I heard a breaking sound in the sitting room. Your Ming vase broke. You know, I don't remember how we got that, do you?"

Frowning at the thought of an expensive vase breaking, Petunia shook her head, "Now that you mention it, no. I don't remember. It was a beautiful vase, though. Did it fall in an earthquake?"

"No. It just broke on the mantel. At the exact same time that I felt strange, after stopping myself from hitting Harry. It made me think. Especially as we don't recall how we got the vase and yet you have always been so protective over it." Vernon sighed, "Think. Our behaviour changed around the time we got the bloody thing. I am wondering if it was spelled or enchanted or whatever it is to make us abuse the boy." He added, "I hope so. I really do, Petunia. The idea that I'd act so badly to a child, otherwise..." He admitted, "Even if it was, though, I think I'll hate myself for a time."

"Do you really think so?" Petunia's voice was shocked but oddly hopeful. She also was starting to feel guilty.

"I do. I'm wondering if it also made us spoil Dudley. I'm not sure about that, though, as I did want to give him a life that I never had," Vernon admitted. "As I was thinking all of this through, I realized that we might have taken it too far. Whether it's due to some spell or due to our overcompensating, we don't want a spoiled brat as a son," he noted.

"Where's Harry?" asked Petunia after a moment.

"I cleaned out the second bedroom and put him there," Vernon explained. "We'll have to purchase furniture for him. H-he was cringing away from me, Petunia. Terrified of me!"

"We'll fix it, Vernon," she said to him. "What do you think we should do now?"

"I think we need to find a wizard or witch we can trust," Vernon said, "I'm afraid of magic; it's stupid not to be when you can't defend yourself from it. But if we can find someone we can trust, we can ask them to look at the vase and give us advice about Harry."

Petunia made a face, "I know of a few. One I wouldn't go near, he was a piece of work. The best choice, I think, would be one of my sister's friends. We'd started to talk before she died. It's why I think you might be right about that crazy spell; we'd started to reconcile. Anyway, she mentioned her to me a few weeks before she p-passed. A Melia Greengrass. She was one of her best friends in school."

"How do we contact her?" asked Vernon.

"I think I'll need to do that. There's an office in the magical district where you can send mail. Non-magical people can only find the place if they've been shown it by a witch or wizard. I went with Lily and my parents. You've never been there. They don't take the post like we do. They use owls. I'll ask her to arrive as soon as possible," Petunia said, rising to her feet, happy to be able to act. And still feeling guilty.

"All right. I'll leave the vase where it is. I don't want to be accused of manipulating evidence." Vernon snorted, "Not that I could if it's magic."

"I'll be back soon," Petunia said, walking out the door. At least it was still early evening.

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Later that evening, Vernon and Petunia were waiting in the sitting room when there was a knock at the door. Dudley was upstairs in his room, playing, and Harry was in his own room playing with the lego Petunia had picked up on the way home.

Moving to the door, Vernon opened it. In the doorway was a tall, slender woman with pale blonde hair. "Mr Dursley? I am Melia Greengrass. Your wife wrote me and said it was urgent and in regards to Lily and her son?"

"Yes, please come in," Vernon said to her. Leading her into the sitting room, the man asked, "Before we continue, can you use your magic and...well, scan or observe or whatever that broken vase? Examine it for magic?"

Frowning at them in confusion, Melia shrugged and pulled out her wand. She made a strange motion in the air, stating, "Specialis Revelio. Specialis Revelio Vis." For a brief moment, some of the shards of vase glowed, and she frowned, blinking. "There are compulsion and confounding spells tied to the vase via runes. Pretty nasty ones, too. What's going on?"

Vernon ran his fingers through his hair, "My wife's sister was Lily Potter. When she died, we found her son on our doorstep. The little guy was almost blue with cold. There was a letter saying that his parents had died and that we needed to take care of him. My wife took him in and we put him in the bedroom upstairs, and made sure the cold hadn't hurt him, taking him to a doctor and applying for adoption papers."

Nodding a bit impatiently, Melia asked, "And?"

"A few weeks later, that vase showed up. We still don't remember how it got here. We just remember that Petunia received it as a gift. From the moment it arrived, our behaviour changed and we didn't even realize it." Melia was shocked to see an anguished look pass over the man's face. "We moved the boy to the bloody cupboard under the stairs and started treating him abominably." He took a shuddering breath. "Early tonight, I was about to hit the boy. Beat him. I stopped myself, thank god. It reminded me of my father. And I felt something: an odd burning, shattering sensation. The vase broke on the mantel at the same time." He looked at her, "I think someone was making me act like my bloody, evil bastard of a father."

Melia breathed in. Part of her wanted to hex the both of them. She could understand what they were saying and could guess what they hadn't said. They had abused Lily's child. But they were obviously distraught over it. And the vase... muggles couldn't normally resist compulsion charms. It required magic. "What did you call me here for then?"

"A few things," Vernon said after a moment. "First, we wanted to make sure about what happened. I'll still hate myself for how I treated Harry, but at least I now know for sure that I was forced into it." Beside him, Petunia nodded at this. He ran his fingers through his hair, "Secondly, we need someone to check in on us from time to time. I'd prefer every few days, but that might be too much of an annoyance for you. If someone does this again, we don't want to hurt him again. Thirdly, I don't know anything about you lot, and Petunia only knows a bare minimum. We need someone to tell him about magic, and teach him what he needs to know."

"You're right that it would be a bit of an annoyance to drop in every few days, but I don't mind doing it. I and Lily were very close." Pausing, Melia continued, "How about this? I drop in every weekend to pick up Harry and take him home with me. It'll let him meet magical children; I have two daughters: a daughter Harry's age and another daughter a year younger. While he's with me, I can have him attend my daughters' tutoring lessons. I was planning on having them learn non-magical subjects during the week anyway, their magical lessons can be on the weekends easily enough."

Vernon blinked, "That would suit us perfectly," he said to her. "I hope it won't be a bother?"

"I work at home anyway," Melia assured him. "I have Masteries in Magical History and Arithmancy." She paused, "From what Lily's said, that's the equivalent of PhDs in history and magical math. All of my work is done at home, so it's no trouble."

"If I might ask, who do you think cast the spells on the vase?" asked Petunia.

"I... think it might have been Albus Dumbledore," Melia said after a moment. "I've examined his magic in the past due to my job, and the signs are there. I can't be sure however as the spells ended after the vase shattered. I only have the residue to look at. If I had seen the spells in effect, I could be sure."

Petunia blanched, "Dumbledore? Really?" She shook her head, "But then what can we do if he comes around?"

"I doubt he will. He will want to keep far away if he is the one who spelled the vase. You need to be careful, though. If you do have to speak to him, never look into his eyes. There's a method of mind reading that can be used but it requires eye contact. There's a way to defend against such things, but you need magic to do so."

"Probably be better if we acted like the spell was still working, too." Vernon smirked, "Make it a game. Talk to Harry about it so he knows, and act mean outside, then give 'im an ice cream when he comes in. Just in case he has someone watching."

"I actually agree with you. But then, my uncle is rather paranoid," Melia said with some amusement. "Can I see Harry?" she asked.

"Sure," Vernon said after a moment. "He's upstairs. Come on." With this, the man stood, heading up the stairs and opening the door to Harry's new room.

When Melia saw the boy, her heart broke. He was so thin. Once again, Melia wanted to kill his guardians, but she reminded herself that they were as much victims as he was. "I'll pick up some nutrient potions. They'll help him fill out more quickly and repair any damage from malnutrition," she said before entering and kneeling beside him. "Hello, Harry. I'm Melia. I knew your mother." She glanced at the lego blocks, asking, "What were you building?"

He looked up at her, eyes wide. Then he said, very quietly - almost inaudibly, really, "A house. This is the house and this is the fence..."

"Oh, I see," Melia said with a smile. "You should maybe make a few trees too. Want me to help?" In the doorway, Vernon and Petunia watched a few moments before quietly leaving them to talk.

A little later, Melia came downstairs. "I spoke to Harry and told him I'd be having him visit on weekends. I need to speak to my husband as I have one or two ideas that might make things easier for us."

"Ideas?" asked Petunia.

"Yes. There is something in the magical world called a vanishing cabinet," Melia began. "They're fairly expensive, but were used during the war to escape from You-Know-Who. We have a pair. If we were to hide one here, Harry could simply go through the cabinet to visit my home. My husband would insist on heavy protections to ensure no one else came through, though."

"So it's like a magical portal or something?" asked Vernon, a little uneasy at the idea of magic in his house. "And You-Know-Who? I don't know, I'm sorry."

"Exactly. You enter a cabinet and close the door. When you open the door to leave, you come out of the other linked cabinet," Melia explained. "The nice thing is you can't really block their use other than destroying one of the pair. Thus why they were so useful during the war." She then took a deep breath, continuing, "The evil wizard who caused the last war is often called You-Know-Who. He put a magical taboo spell on his name, so if you said it, he knew where you were. Even now, people are afraid to say it. It's a habit. His name was Voldemort."

Vernon blanched at the idea of a spell letting you find someone who simply spoke your name. He shook his head as if to clear it, "What sort of, erm, you called them protections, would you put on the cabinet?" asked Vernon. "Will it be dangerous?"

"Not dangerous at all. I'd probably the Fidelius charm." Melia said with a shrug, "It's a very difficult spell, but I can cast it. Basically, it hides a secret in the soul of another person. Only those who know the secret can see or in some cases even know about the target of the spell. You could walk right past the cabinet and not see it unless you were given the secret. It's not utterly foolproof, but in this case, as no one will know about it, it might as well be. I'd make my husband the Secret Keeper, for his peace of mind."

"That's what Lily was under when they died," Petunia remembered. "She mentioned it in her last letter."

"Yes. Unfortunately, her secret keeper betrayed them," Melia said with a sigh.

Vernon considered. Part of him really didn't want more magic in the house. But he owed it to Harry and this 'cabinet' would make it easier for visits to happen without someone finding out. "All right. If your husband is agreeable, we can do it," he accepted. "We can put it in Harry's closet as he'll be the one using it."

"I'm fairly sure he will be. I just want to clear things with him first," Melia said to Vernon. "He's a good man, just very protective of his family. His brother and sister-in-law were murdered by You-Know-Who, and he's grown a little overprotective, that's all."

"I can understand that. I would do anything to protect my family," Vernon agreed with a frown.

"Are you going to furnish Harry's bedroom, or would you like me to?" asked Melia.

"We are," Vernon said firmly, "It's the least we can do, considering how we acted."

"All right. I'll go back home then. I should return tomorrow with the cabinet and a few books unless my husband has concerns," Melia said with a smile. She rose to her feet, "I'm glad you broke free." She considered and murmured, "Reparo," waving her wand. "There. At least it will look normal if someone checks. The spell is still gone, of course." She offered a smile and quickly walked out the front door.