Chapter 310: The Summer Begins
Dudley kept his expression steady as he continued towards his parents, all the while carefully tracing the source of that prying gaze.
It did not take him long to pinpoint it. The watcher was on the upper floor of a tall building nearby.
In that instant, Dudley snapped his head round and stared in that direction.
A black-clad figure flickered out of sight. Dudley had only enough time to notice a head of blond hair and a pair of deep-set eyes.
"Apparition?" Dudley frowned slightly.
Whoever it was reacted with incredible speed. The moment they realised they had been noticed, they Apparated away without the slightest hesitation. They were so fast that even Dudley had not managed to see their face clearly.
"Just got back, and someone is already spying on me. Who could that be?" he thought, brow furrowing.
With that level of strength and a reason to keep tabs on Dudley, there was really only one suspect: Voldemort.
Beyond him, Dudley could not think of anyone else. Even though he had been back in this magical world for two years now, the number of people he truly had contact with was very limited, most of them from Hogwarts.
"My Diddykins, my precious boy, you are finally home."
While Dudley was still lost in thought, Petunia ran up and swept him into a tight hug.
"I missed you too, Mum," Dudley said, hugging her back.
"Oh, look at you, Diddykins, you have grown so much. You are almost taller than me," Petunia said, pulling back to look him over, eyes reddening.
Dudley quickly soothed her, then turned to hug his father as well.
"Good. Really good. You have grown taller, but you are far too skinny. Dudley, you must look more like me if you want to be a proper man," Vernon said, patting his own enormous belly.
"All right, Dad. I will try," Dudley said, laughing.
Behind him, Petunia had pulled Harry into a hug too, commenting that he had grown as well, but was still far too thin.
To Harry's surprise, Vernon hugged him briefly as well and said, for the first time, that Harry indeed looked too skinny and that Dudley needed to look after his little brother properly.
"Uncle Vernon, Dudley already takes good care of me," Harry said at once.
"Well then, clearly neither of you is fat enough. In that case, you both need to eat more this summer. Petunia, our job over the holidays is to fatten these two up," Vernon said.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing," Petunia replied as the two of them stared eagerly at Dudley and Harry, clearly already planning how to turn them into a pair of two-hundred-pound boys in a single summer.
"They are too idle. That is the problem," Dudley muttered quietly to Harry.
Harry nodded in strong agreement.
Ever since Dudley had secured that big contract for Vernon the previous year, Vernon's career had soared. He had even started his own company and earned a great deal of money. And all of it had begun because Dudley had made such a strong impression and convinced the Masons to invest. To this day, the Mason couple were still considered benefactor of the Dursley family.
"Oh, and we can go on holiday to Mallorca this year. Vernon bought a large villa with a swimming pool there. We can finally enjoy a peaceful holiday with no one to bother us," Petunia said excitedly.
"Really? That is brilliant," Dudley said with a bright smile.
Even if using his Beyonder abilities on ordinary people was a bit overkill, seeing his parents' happiness made it all feel worthwhile.
"At school, we spent the whole time on edge. Now we can actually enjoy the holidays," Dudley said.
"Dudley, have you forgotten what happened last summer?" Harry could not help reminding him.
"Harry, you are an absolute destroyer of moods," Dudley said.
He still remembered all too well what had happened around his birthday last year. But even that had not been entirely bad. At least it had made him aware that the magical world held many sealed objects lost in the wild.
They climbed into Vernon's new BMW and headed back to their house at 4 Privet Drive.
"Oh, and Vernon and I have been talking about buying a new house," Petunia said. "This one is starting to feel too small. Especially your rooms, yours and Harry's. They are far too cramped, so we are thinking of somewhere bigger."
"Anything is fine. I have no objections," Dudley said with a smile.
"I am fine with it too," Harry added.
Dudley glanced at Harry. As long as Harry was willing to regard wherever they lived as home, the protective love magic would continue. In fact, as long as Harry and Dudley stayed together, that protection could persist. It did not strictly depend on the house itself. Living at 4 Privet Drive or elsewhere made little difference.
"Good. Then we will spend the next few days looking at houses," Vernon said. "In fact, Petunia and I already have a few in mind. We were just waiting for you both to come back so we could look together and make a final decision."
"Looks like Uncle Vernon really has made a lot of money," Harry whispered to Dudley.
"Not sure exactly how much, but the business is doing very well, from what I have heard," Dudley replied.
"Dad, do you have any new clients? Maybe I can help you lock them down," Dudley said aloud.
"Clients? There are a few, but they are difficult types. I do not necessarily need their business," Vernon replied.
"That's all right. When the time comes, invite them to dinner. After all, it was thanks to me that Mr and Mrs Mason signed with you last year, was it not?" Dudley said lightly.
"We can certainly try. Our Diddykins really is our lucky boy," Petunia said warmly.
Before long, they pulled up at home.
Everything seemed unchanged, yet at the same time, everything felt different.
Over the next few days, the Dursley family zipped around town, visiting villas. Dudley had to admit Vernon and Petunia had good taste. The properties they liked were all quite nice and reasonably priced.
Eventually, they settled on a lakeside villa. You could lie in the garden, look out over the water, and watch the seasons change. It was perfectly idyllic. The villa needed some renovation, though, so they would have to stay at Privet Drive a little longer.
A week passed quickly.
One night, Dudley lay in bed thinking through the structure of a new spell.
Pop.
A soft crack broke the silence as a figure appeared in his bedroom.
"Dobby," Dudley said at once, sitting up.
"Mr Dudley Dursley, sir, it is Dobby," the house-elf said, eyes shining. "Dobby has found some interesting things and wanted to bring them to you."
He snapped his fingers. In an instant, Dudley's bed was piled high with an assortment of miscellaneous objects.
"Mr Dursley, these are all said to have belonged to You-Know-Who," Dobby said nervously.