It had only been a week. Seven days doesn't really seem like much time but it definitely did for some reason. Ever since Dudley's revelation about his mum finally managing to forgive herself of all of her wrongdoings in her life, it was almost as if everything just became stationary. However, Petunia's advice now made a lot of sense to him. He had seen it first hand with Harry and his mum. It did annoy him greatly that she was almost always right when it came to these sorts of topics, but there was no way Harry would ever forgive him if he could not forgive himself.
Elsewhere, the other cousin was thinking very similarly. Harry had not told many people apart from Ginny, Ron, and Hermione about Petunia's breakdown. All of them gave him a look that wasn't exactly decipherable to one thought entirely. All of them thought differently over the situation which was why Harry had decided to keep quiet on the matter until he was absolutely sure that Petunia wasn't faking it. It was unlikely she was, but the possibility was still there. His wife and two best friends just simply wanted the best for him. The older two had seen first-hand some of the things that Harry was forced to do underneath the Dursley's roof. Naturally, Ron and Hermione were warier over the whole situation.
Speaking of his wife, she was currently at the training grounds seen as her team was qualified in the final. Harry knew she was not going to settle for second place in the final match that was in a short three weeks. The clogs had been turning in his head for a few days and the redhead could see the thoughts in question. In fact, she was also secretly considering this but did not voice her opinions to her husband as she wanted him to be ready before he told anyone about his plans. This weekend, Harry was planning on properly introducing Dudley, Felicity, and possibly Petunia, to the other side of the family. He wasn't sure about his aunt yet but this was eventually going to happen. Seven months had passed since he had first reached out to his cousin after almost four years of no contact- it just felt like the right time to make the next step.
As a whole, they didn't exactly consider one another friends at the moment. Now that Harry thinks about it, they've never really talked about what they would label themselves currently. They had brushed over the topic occasionally but never in detail. Maybe that is something he could bring up the next time he saw Dudley in the flesh. The older had been bombarded with meetings recently considering once again there were other top businessmen attempting to make alliances between their rival companies but his cousin was having none of it. He was never interested in the money side of the spectrum, he was only interested in helping people and nothing more than that. Dudley stuck out like a sore thumb in the business field but in a good way.
There are so many people in this world who are only interested in a large fortune and public image- his cousin was neither. Harry never did find out the reason behind his thought process towards this situation. The younger shook his head before stepping into his fireplace and clearly speaking;
"Ministry of Magic!"
As a whole, he didn't enjoy using the floo network to travel places but he would much rather accidentally breathe in nasty fumes than travel through a public toilet. Workers couldn't use the visitors entrance except when bringing in someone who did not work there or to take someone to a hearing of some sort. Harry closed his eyes at the memory, he always tried to block it out. Well actually, he always tried to block out the pink-faced-toad. How that woman was even employed in the first place stunned him because surely a voice that high pitched would just mean trouble.
As much as Harry tried to hold his breath it was no use because somehow the soot entered his lungs a little causing him to cough a fair amount. At least he had finally figured out how to just walk out of the linked fireplace instead of tumbling out of it like the first few times he used the floo network. His own office was a couple of floors below and his presence was noted by everyone he walked past. Too many people holding their hands out to shake, nodding politely, and wishing him a good day. Unfortunately, this was something he had no choice but to get used to- after all it was down to Harry to bring an end to the second war and also unintentionally brought an end to the first war.
There wasn't much for him to do today. In fact, he didn't even need to be in work today because he could have easily done it from home but he wasn't sure. He just had a feeling that he should be in work today and he wasn't sure what that feeling was. He just hoped it wasn't something bad because somehow almost all of his gut feelings turn out to be bad. Again, he shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Today he was simply just going to focus on his work and nothing else other than that.
A couple of hours quickly passed and by now Harry was bored out of his mind but there wasn't anything for him to do. Whenever he is in the correct mind-set to work the majority of the time he doesn't have much to do and when he is not in the right mind-set to work he always gets a lot of work. Unfortunately, this is very common for a lot of people who work but Harry does love helping people and to an extent he can't deny that he likes getting the special treatment that comes with him just simply living.
He did try to ignore it, the strange gut feeling he had just before he left his house this morning. For some reason, Harry knew something was happening right now, or was going to happen soon. He very rarely gets feelings like this but every time he does his instinct turns out to be correct except this time he doesn't have a single clue over what it is. A couple of hours quickly blended into almost five hours and by now he had long since finished the work he needed to do today but something was telling him to stay in for a little while longer.
During his free time, he did tend to reminisce on his school years. Even though a lot of the time they were extremely stressful, they were also incredible as well. He essentially got to live inside a giant fairy tale which would never end. Harry let out a loud huff and he was glad that security cameras did not exist in the wizarding world because it meant nobody could see him just sitting in a chair doing absolutely nothing. He smiled a little to himself before removing his wand and pointing it a few feet in front of him and saying;
"Expecto patronum."
There was no need for him to cast the spell, or any spell for that matter at the moment. He just needed something to occupy him for a little while until this strange feeling had subsided. He watched as the silvery blue that took the form of a stag pranced around the room. The brightness almost blinded him but it was also a bit of a comfort really, to an extent he was mirroring his dad whom he never got the chance to really know. He doesn't have any memories with James- or at least not whilst he was alive because he had spoken to his ghost not long after the link was made between Harry's and Tom's wands in his fourth year. He had also spoken to his ghost when he finally figured out that he himself was an accidental horcrux and had went deep into the forbidden forest in search for Tom to kill him then and there.
He jumped a little bit though when he noticed the main office door had opened just slightly and it only took seconds for his patronus to disappear from sight. Harry looked up to just who was there and his eyes scrunched a little at seeing very bushy brown hair which was tied back from a young face.
"What's up Hermione?"
The slightly younger woman bit her lip which told Harry that something was bugging her. She just made a simple gesture with her head which told Harry he wanted him to follow her. He frowned a little but did as she said anyway. Even though he was the Head Auror within the ministry he could still not work up the courage to go against Hermione's demands whether they be outspoken or silent like now. It was weird to see the halls rather empty but then again the people who were working at this time were only needed in their respective offices and nowhere else. He's so used to the place being filled with a giant crowd no matter what the situation.
He stopped suddenly when Hermione turned into a corridor that he knew all too well. His breath hitched in his throat and his skin paled a little bit more essentially making him look as white as a sheet of paper. Despite him working here for a little over three years now he had always avoided this corridor because he had lost someone very dear to him in that door. Not only that but he had also seen his father-in-law be attacked by a snake via a dream sequence considering himself and Tom were essentially linked together.
"I know you don't like being anywhere near this part of the Ministry, Harry. They've found something that they need you to see, I don't know what it is I was just told to summon you."
Harry nodded a little bit and shakily took a few steps further down the corridor to a door he knew oh so well. He'd seen it possibly hundreds of times by now but if he's being completely honest he gets slightly more scared the more he sees it. Of course he doesn't let anyone actually know his fear because he knows that a lot of people look up to him still and they would only laugh if they knew he was scared of what was behind that door. Another worker met them and gave Harry a slight nod of respect but didn't say anything. Harry had seen him around but he wasn't entirely sure of what his name was, in fact he doesn't know a lot of people at all within the ministry.
Then again though there is at least five hundred people who work here and if anyone could remember five hundred faces and names Harry did not know them. That fear that was ebbing away at him didn't go away but he maintained a pretty good job at hiding it except from Hermione. After all, she had known him for a decade and there was no way he could lie to her because she would be able to immediately spot it. As if she sensed his thought she rather discretely gave his arm a reassuring squeeze that nothing was going to happen. The thing was though that neither of them knew what was awaiting them here so they couldn't exactly be too sure.
Neither of the pair had a bad feeling per say, it was just an extremely weird feeling that slowly creeps up on a person. Like there is something huge going to occur and knowing it but just not knowing when it is going to occur. Both Harry and Hermione looked away from the brains as they remembered their last time in this room. Despite the rooms changing whereabouts often, the actual layout of the rooms never changed. There really was no wonder this place was called the Department of Mysteries. Only people who had worked here for a long time were ever given the task of working in this part of the large building and Harry knew that the man leading them to wherever did indeed work here so they were both safe.
He really tried to block it out, the memories he had with Sirius. Not because he wanted to forget his godfather but because the memories were far too painful. It had been almost six years yet the wounds were still open and the blood was still fresh. Harry realised with a start that he had completely zoned out for a few minutes because he soon looked up and saw lots of tiny glass balls that he remembered extremely well. There must be at least ten-thousand names assigned in here but Harry was wondering why they were both down here. Hermione seemed to be thinking similar because she gave him a strange look as if silently asking him if he had any idea. Harry understood the glance and shrugged his shoulders telling her he didn't know a thing either.
They turned off at row thirty-five and made their way down the very long path that seemed to gleam when the limited light hit off of the glass. The place was just as eerie as both Harry and Hermione remembered it. There must be a prophecy of some sort that seemed a little strange and he had been summoned to look over to see what it was exactly. They both stopped abruptly however when this man leading them spoke a quiet spell which illuminated the entire room in a bright glow and he said in a strange voice;
"Third from this section, in the middle. Look for yourself Mr. Potter and Mrs. Weasley."
The two friends gave each other a weirder look than before and crouched forward slightly to see just what it was that seemed so important. Neither of them spotted anything unusual for a few moments, getting slightly more baffled by the second but Hermione suddenly gasped. Harry looked at her startled face and she gave him an incredulous look before pointing to exactly what all the commotion was about. He really had to squint because the bright light paired with his horrendous eyesight made it difficult for him to reach anything. The crystal ball in question was considerably smaller than the rest but the name that was on it caused Harry to take a few steps back in shock.
Dudley V. Dursley.
It really was a good thing after all that Harry had stayed in work even when he didn't need to. The shock had soon set in and he once again went considerably paler than normal and his best friend was also in the same boat. So many thoughts were rushing through his head that it was difficult to concentrate on one in particular. Why was his cousin's name on one of these? He had always thought that it was only those with some kind of magical blood whose future could be prophesised. But Dudley did have magical blood, just not in that way. He was Harry's cousin, which meant he was related to Lily. Since Lily was a muggle born this meant that somewhere down their family tree there was a squib.
They both stood there, not saying a thing for a few minutes. They were just as shocked as each other at coming to this startling revelation. Something was going to happen and it was going to centre around Dudley of all people. The person who had tormented Harry for years, saw the error in his ways and made amends, was unintentionally being dragged into their world possibly more than he would like. He was still a little bit intimidated by magic and Harry knew that this was going to seriously freak out his cousin. He contemplated the possibility of just leaving it there and not telling Dudley but he knew he couldn't do that.
Hermione also came to this conclusion and they were soon led out of the winding corridors and rooms that were not there when they first travelled to this room in question. How anyone could work out their way around in here Harry did not know and he respected those who could. Remembering small details was always a difficult thing for him to do. If only he could find out what the prophecy actually was- but he could. He asked the strange man to wait there whilst himself and Hermione apparated to Dudley's home.
The older cousin was a bit startled at the impromptu visit but this soon changed to worry at seeing Harry's face. He scanned Hermione a little and recognition hit him. He'd only met her a couple of times and he chuckled a little at remembering her attempts at trying to teach Ron how to use a telephone- or a fellytone as he called it.
"What's up?"
He didn't need to say much before Hermione answered his question.
"You need to come with us, there's something that you need to see."
Dudley didn't even ask, he just took Harry's arm as the young witch and wizard apparated him to the Ministry. His eyes bulged the second he saw the interior but he didn't have much time to take it in because soon his cousin and his friend who was more like a sister to him were running down numerous corridors. Right now he was very happy he wasn't overweight because there was no way he could keep up with them otherwise. Once again they stopped outside that door and like Harry had asked- the man who took them in the first place had remained.
His eyes trailed Dudley up and down causing him to tremble underneath the scrutiny. It was a few tense moments but he soon nodded and proceeded to guide them to the room again, Dudley still looking around in amazement. He didn't even know where he was and he soon found him asking Harry where they were exactly causing the younger to stop for a few seconds before catching back up again at realising Dudley had only officially entered the magical world once.
"This Dudley, is the Ministry of Magic. Both myself and Hermione work here."
The older cousin nodded and tried to keep up with everyone whilst at the same time taking in the extraordinary sights. Even though he was still a little intimidated by everything, he cannot deny that he felt like a little kid in a sweet shop currently. A part of him wanted to know absolutely everything but another part of him just wanted to get this over and done with. Whatever it was they were doing anyway. They were soon in the room that held prophecies again and just like that, the older cousin's jaw dropped open in amazement.
This really was something he would need to get used to because to an extent he was now a part of the magical world. He frowned however when they stopped in a particular spot and Harry pointed to something he couldn't quite see with the dimness of the large room. The two wizards and witch were quick to realise this and soon the tips of their wands were glowing an icy blue. Dudley looked closer and he soon noticed what it was that was causing such commotion that caused him to be brought here with no notice at all. For a few seconds he stared at the delicate glass before shakily taking it. He ignored the dust that covered the surface and just concentrated on just why his name was on it. He gave a startled yelp when a disembodied voice was heard that Hermione seemed to recognise.
"Sybill Trelawny."
He didn't drop it however, he just held it close to his ear so he could make out just what it was saying exactly. The voice was clearly female but he had no idea who it belonged to but clearly his cousin and his friend did due to their reactions a minute ago.
"Only those who do not possess magic who are related through blood to past victims of the third unforgiveable curse can put an end to everything. Until then, peace will not last for long."
Those two short phrases repeated over and over again in Dudley's head but Hermione's hands were now covering her mouth in shock as the words sank in. Dudley didn't know himself what they meant but he knew they clearly meant something. He looked up at hearing Harry gulp a little from about a foot in front of him seen as the four people had seemed to circle around the object in Dudley's hands. Everyone was just as equally shocked but neither could understand the meaning of the words. Muggles related to past victims of the killing curse, clearly something was going to happen.
And no one knew when, all they knew was that it would probably happen soon.