Harry Potter: Dudley From LOTM - 354

Chapter 354: Dudley’s Question

"Even if he wanted to practise that spell, why did he have to provoke Buckbeak? That was incredibly dangerous," Harry said, frowning.

"Some magic can only really be trained under pressure," Dudley replied. "Have you forgotten? When we practised spells before, you did fine. But once it was a real fight, things were very different."

The three of them exchanged looks and had to admit he had a point.

Training and real combat were not the same at all. It had taken the battle with the Acromantulas for them to truly grasp the knack of casting silently and without wands.

Dudley drew his gaze back from where Malfoy had disappeared and glanced at Hagrid, who was still standing there, looking dazed.

"Professor Hagrid, you should carry on with the lesson," he prompted.

"Oh. Right. Er... yes, carry on," Hagrid said, finally snapping out of it.

He called the rest of the class back to order. It was obvious he was desperately nervous about this first lesson. More than once, he seemed as though he had no idea what he was doing, and Malfoy’s near miss had rattled him badly.

When the class ended, Harry was still worried that Malfoy had only claimed to be fine and would go after Hagrid later, using the incident as an excuse to get revenge.

To everyone’s surprise, Malfoy really did not seem to have told his father. No complaint came from the Board of Governors at all. After a tense stretch of waiting, Hagrid finally realised the matter had simply blown over.

The first few days of term passed quietly overall. Nothing happened that struck Dudley as especially strange.

He was in no hurry to hunt Draco down about what had happened over the summer. His instinct was to wait. Given time, Malfoy might come to him of his own accord, and then Dudley would have a better chance of seeing the full picture.

On Thursday, they had their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year.

"Here is hoping Professor Lupin does not turn out to be another Lockhart," Ron said as they walked.

"I could live with another Lockhart. I just do not want another Quirrell," Harry said.

"Fair point," Ron agreed at once.

"Relax. He is not another Quirrell," Dudley said. "He is a werewolf."

Ron hunched his shoulders, clearly still uneasy at the word.

In the Defence classroom, everyone had already found seats, pulled out textbooks and quills, and were waiting for Lupin to arrive.

Before long, he came in, looking just as he had on the train: shabby robes, battered case in hand, that faint, tired smile on his face.

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly. "Please put away your books and quills. This will be a practical lesson. All you will need are your wands."

"I suspect you have not had many practical classes before."

He smiled as he said it. Dumbledore had already told him a fair bit about his two predecessors.

"Actually, we have," Harry blurted out.

"Oh? I must have been misinformed, then. It seems Professor Dumbledore did not tell me everything," Lupin said, looking genuinely curious.

"If you count knocking out the Defence professor as practical work," someone said dryly.

"What?" Lupin stared at them, startled.

Dudley’s mouth twitched.

All he had wanted was to be an ordinary student.

Instead, almost every eye in the room slid towards him. A moment later, Lupin’s followed.

"Well... it is not like I set out to attack him," Dudley said. "Professor Lockhart needed someone to play the werewolf. I played the part. He went flying when I hit him."

He kept his explanation brief.

"I see. In that case, that 'werewolf' of his is rather more capable than he is," Lupin said, momentarily at a loss.

"It is not just that," Neville piped up. "Afterwards, Dudley taught us a lot more. That was a proper practical lesson. We learnt the Disarming Charm."

"Yes. That really was a proper lesson," Harry added. "The Disarming Charm has been useful ever since."

The Gryffindors all nodded in agreement.

"Let us hope I am not the one being hexed across the room this year," Lupin said with a wry little smile. Then he clapped his hands. "All right, follow me."

He led them out of the classroom.

Soon they found themselves, wands in hand, outside the staffroom.

"There is plenty of space here," Lupin said. "Perfect for a practical class."

He pushed the door open and went in, and they all followed.

The room was indeed quite large. In the middle stood a tall wardrobe draped in a black cloth.

Not far away, in an armchair, someone was sitting.

Professor Snape.

As Lupin moved to close the door, Snape rose to his feet.

"Leave it open. I have no desire to witness this," he said curtly.

He swept past them in long strides. As he went by, he shot Dudley a vicious glare.

"You and he do not seem to get on," Lupin said lightly once Snape had left.

"Really? Is there anyone he does get on with?" Dudley said without thinking.

Lupin made no comment, but turned instead to the shrouded wardrobe.

With a flick of his wand, he sent the black cloth flying aside. It drifted down over a nearby chair.

The wardrobe shuddered violently, making several students jump.

"Do not worry," Lupin said, still smiling. "There is a Boggart inside."

His reassurance did not help much. Several faces went even paler.

A Boggart was very much something to worry about.

"They like dark, enclosed spaces," Lupin went on. "Cupboards, under beds, the backs of wardrobes. They turn up in all sorts of places."

"So. First question. What is a Boggart?"

Hermione’s hand shot into the air at once.

"Miss Granger?"

"It is a shape‑shifting magical creature," she said. "It turns into whatever we are most afraid of."

"Excellent. Five points to Gryffindor," Lupin said with a pleased nod.

He was just drawing breath to explain how to deal with one when another hand went up among the students.

Everyone turned, surprised.

Unlike Hermione, who raised her hand at every opportunity, this boy almost never volunteered answers.

It was Dudley.

"Mr Dursley? You have a question?" Lupin said, just as surprised as the others.

"I want to know how Boggarts find out what we fear," Dudley said. "Do they read our thoughts and pull it out of our minds, or do they use some other method?"