Petunia and Albert decided to get married in a modest secular ceremony at the town hall. Both thought that they should not keep any secrets from their intended, at least nothing major, and some things the children would also need to know.
Petunia had them all sit at the kitchen table, each having a cup of tea. She addressed the children first. "As you already know, Albert and I have been a couple for more than half a year. Now, since I'm expecting his child, we decided to make our relationship formal, which means that we're going to get married soon. Before we do that, we also want to disclose to each other any meaningful secret we have. You already know that I have some, and Albert also wanted to reveal some things to me. I thought that doing it this way would be the best since you two are old enough to understand at least most of what we're going to tell."
Discover moreFan fiction merchandiseCreative writing coursesCommunity forum membershipStory writing softwareCrossover fiction guidesShe took a deep breath, as if to fortify herself, and turned her gaze at Albert. "I've already told you that I had a sister who died when Harry was just over a year old. What I didn't tell you yet… Lily had Magic. She could do magic. Even as a child, she sometimes made flowers open or close at her will. She once jumped off the swing in its highest position and just floated slowly to the ground like a feather. Then, when she reached eleven, she was invited to attend a magical school, where her talents could grow and she could learn how to control them. I must admit that I felt very envious of her. I also wanted to go there, see all the magic and learn how to do it. I wrote a letter to the school and was politely rejected. 'Unfortunately, you have no magic, so this school isn't suitable for you,' they told me."
Harry noticed that Albert didn't look as surprised as one would expect. Had he known some of this before? Harry could only wonder.
Petunia kept talking as if finally letting go of all that she'd bottled inside for too many years. "Indeed, judging by what Lily told my parents and me in her letters and when she came on vacation, it was a wondrous place, with moving statues, talking portraits and ghosts. Even the building seemed to be alive, with stairs that would change where they led to. Yet these wonderful stories only made me more envious, eventually causing us to drift apart. I still loved her, but I could never be a part of her world. She grew up to become a beautiful, smart and talented witch. It was no wonder that the son of an old and rich family fell in love with her. She married James Potter soon after their graduation and had Harry less than two years later, about a month after I had Dudley."
Discover moreMobile app premiumGenre specific bundlesFan art commissionsRead BestsellersBooksShe stopped for another deep breath, furtively trying to wipe a tear that escaped her eye. "You must know that the magical world is no safer than the normal one. It has its criminals, its politicians, its bigots and its warlords. Unfortunately, magic makes the bad guys even more dangerous. One such dark wizard was getting powerful at the time. Lily and James fought him and his supporters. Eventually, he managed to find their hideout and came to kill them. He killed James and then Lily, who tried to protect Harry. Then he tried to kill Harry and the spell rebounded, killing him instead."
Petunia was now weeping, unable to control her feelings. Albert left his seat and engulfed her in a supportive hug, softly whispering in her ear. Harry couldn't hear what he said, but Petunia seemed to calm down. He made sure she sat comfortably and stood at her side, looking lovingly at her tear-stained face but addressing the children just as much.
"Surprisingly, our stories seem to complement each other. You see, Lily was a magical person born into a non-magical family, while I am a non-magical person born to magical parents. My parents kept hoping that I'd finally show some magic, but when my eleventh summer was almost over and I got no invitation to attend Hogwarts – that's the name of that magical school – they were forced to accept the facts. I was sent to some distant relatives who also had no magic, who accepted me as another son and helped me integrate into the non-magical world."
Discover moreAnimeRead MangaComicsFind Rare ComicsBook club serviceHe turned to Harry. "I kept in touch with the magical world and heard about The-Boy-Who-Lived. I knew he was Harry Potter and had a lightening shaped scar on his forehead. It was also presumed that he wore eyeglasses, like his father. I just didn't make the connection between that boy and you. You have no scar and no eyeglasses and your aunt only talked about you as Harry or her nephew, not mentioning last names."
Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he only nodded, hoping Albert would accept it.
Albert smiled. "I can now understand why it was so important for your aunt to disclose this. When you reach eleven, you're going to get your Hogwarts letter, and it would make keeping your magic secret from me quite impossible. Well, I've already noticed that you have quite strong magic. People who grew up without magic won't notice, but some things you do even without thinking indicate it. Now, since you're becoming my ward too, I intend to teach you all I can about the magical world. I may not know much, but I'm quite sure I know more than you need to be ready when you reach Hogwarts."
Discover moreFiction press newsletterWriting contest entryDigital story libraryCartoonsWatch CartoonsHarry smiled. "Thanks, Albert. Will I need to call you Uncle Albert after your marriage?"
Albert chuckled. "Not at all. You may call me in any way that you're comfortable with. Some of my friends just call me 'Al' while others call me 'Berty'. Whatever you call me is fine."
Dudley finally talked. "I'll call you Al. It's the shortest."
Petunia finally smiled. "I also call him Al, in private only."
"Anyway, I wanted you to know that I'm still occasionally in touch with the magical world. I have a brother and a sister – both magical. I meet with them about once a month in London, in a non-magical cafe, and we update each other about our lives. I wasn't sure if I should invite them to our wedding, but now I feel content that this will not be a problem. In a way, they can serve as additional aunt and uncle to the children and even help Harry to get readier for when he rejoins the magical world."
Petunia waved him to sit and resumed talking. "We're going to marry in the town hall in a modest secular wedding. I expect you two to show your best behaviour. I'll give you more detailed instructions the day before the wedding."
"Why don't you marry in church? Isn't it what most people do?" Harry asked.
Petunia sighed. "My family was never religious. In fact, my parents preferred to think of themselves as atheists, which means that they have no religion, although both were baptised after birth, as were Lily and I, just to not seem too different. Al's family keeps to some very old traditions that have nothing to do with Christianity, so that he has no reason to go to church for a wedding. The secular ceremony is all that we need for our union to be fully recognised by law."
This made Harry wonder. "Then what am I?"
Al smiled at him. "You're a smart and curious boy with some talents you still need to uncover. Religion is not very important in the modern world. It's more important that you do good and refrain from evil, regardless of religious beliefs. I'll see what I can find about your parents and tell you, but it may take quite some time. We currently have other priorities, as you're probably aware."
Harry chuckled. "Yes. Wedding and then the baby."
It was decided that the new family would keep living at no. 4 Privet Drive. Moving to Al's house would force a change of school for the children, that neither liked. When Al read Dumbledore's letter left with Harry after that Halloween, he also understood that the protection on the house could not be moved. He would still make sure to enhance that protection, both for Harry's sake and for the rest of the family.
–..–
It was a very modest wedding ceremony. Aside from the couple and the children, they only had Al's siblings present and his surrogate mother, on Al's side. Petunia invited Mrs. Figg and only a few of her colleagues from work. It was still a very nice ceremony, Harry thought, although very different from the ones he'd seen on television.
Petunia was wearing a nice off-white wedding dress that showed her slim body without making the almost invisible baby bump noticeable. She wore some flowers in her hair and held a modest bouquet. Al wore a tuxedo with a shirt that was the same colour as his bride's dress and a tie that had some colour patches to match her flowers.
Once the ceremony was over, Petunia threw her bouquet in a way that assured that a certain co-worker would grab it, not that anyone present seemed surprised. She then hugged and kissed Al shortly before engulfing both children in a hug that Al joined willingly.
–..–
Harry's new family was nothing like the Dursley. Al made sure to upgrade Harry's room and give him about the same facilities that Dudley had, accounting for their different personalities and tastes. Harry got a computer and an appropriate desk for it, similar in style to the rest of the furniture, and also a music system with its own furniture, with room enough for quite a few disks.
"When you reach Hogwarts, they will tell you that magic and electricity don't go together. That's just rubbish, you should know. Diagon Alley, which contains one of the largest concentrations of magic, is in the middle of London, surrounded by many office buildings where they have many computers. Had Magic clashed with that technology, none could work, not even the electric lights there, revealing Magic quite effectively. It's still hidden, so…" Al told Harry.
The boy smiled. "Just another archaic idea, to keep the magical people isolated, isn't it?"
Al nodded and smiled. He felt like he was going to be very proud of the boy.
–..–
Dudley and Harry celebrated together their eleventh birthday, making it also a kind of farewell, since they would both start at new schools after the summer vacation and would no longer share classes with their school friends. Both children were a bit apprehensive at that. Dudley would not go to Smelting, as Vernon would have liked. Since Vernon was unable to pay for it, his opinion bore no weight. Dudley would go to a much better boarding school, one that would allow Dudley to go to a college, assuming he did well, or just get a better job than Vernon ever could. It was still less demanding than some of the state schools in the vicinity, making it more suitable for Dudley, who was still reluctant to put much effort into his studies. Harry hoped his cousin would mature and change his attitude soon.
Harry couldn't tell much about the school he would attend. "I know it's in Scotland and is very exclusive, usually accepting only children of previous graduates, like my parents. It's located in an old castle at the shore of a lake, but I was warned that it's very cold there in the winter and the summer is not quite warm either."
That seemed to be good enough.
Harry could still enjoy the last month of his summer vacation, and Al made sure to make it very memorable, taking the family to some amusement parks, a weekend at the beach and regular visits to the swimming pool, where Harry was found to swim quite well after only a few lessons.
He also went to Diagon Alley with both his Aunt Petunia and Al, although that was no longer a new place for him. Since his treatment, Mrs. Figg was able to take him there every few months, if only to buy some books and talk to Sharpclaw.
The wand maker infuriated Harry when he insisted on a certain wand that was evidently wrong for him. None of the wands with phoenix feather core was even close to useful for him, but the first with a Dragon heart-string that he tried responded quite nicely and the third was perfect. Harry bought that one, leaving a very confused Ollivander behind him.
–..–
On the first day of September, the whole family escorted Harry to the train station. They arrived early, since Dudley also had a train to catch, but at another station. With both Al and Petunia having escorted family members to Hogwarts, Harry had no problem going through the wall into platform 9¾. Then when looking for a compartment to sit in, he found a girl struggling with her trunk, trying to put it on the racks.
"Let me help you," he offered, "and I hope you'll help me too."
The girl smiled. "I thought I'm strong enough, but I probably put in too many books, making it heavier than expected," she said apologetically. "I welcome your help, of course."
Even when dividing the weight between them, it was really heavy. Harry thought that some weight reduction magic could be useful. He already knew how to do it, but didn't want to attract attention to his talents. They could still manage, even if it was more tiring. Lifting his own trunk a moment later proved much easier.
They took a breath to calm down before Harry remembered his manners. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Harry Potter and I'm just starting Hogwarts."
The girl moved her hand forward to shake his and said, "I'm Hermione Granger, also first year. Glad to meet you. I think I read quite a bit about you…"
And this was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
The End of Surviving the Dursleys