Dudley landed one last kick on Harry's chest. "There," he said with deep satisfaction, "Next time you'll think twice before snitching to the clerk I snuck that lady's fiver from her purse, won't you?"
Harry gritted his teeth and tried to breathe as little as possible. Everything hurt just soo much.
A voice he didn't recognize said, "Is that the best you can do? What a bunch of tossers."
"Oi!" Dudley said. "He deserved it, ratting me out to that clerk. I think we did pretty good!"
"Yeah," came the agreement from his two best pals.
The man, it had to be a man, his voice was too low to be a boy, said, "That's not how ya give a beating! Look at you. You're all breathing hard! You wasted too much time and energy in this."
Of course he wasn't doing anything to help Harry. The first time an adult sees Dudley's gang in action and he wants to help them! Harry hated his life.
"Wot? You know a better way?" Dudley said cautiously, not quite trusting that this stranger who had caught them red-handed wasn't going to start yelling for the bobbies.
"Sure do," the stranger replied cockily. A pause, then "Wanna know?"
After a brief moment in which Harry could envision the three boys looking at each other came the answer, "Yeah."
"Okay, you two pick him up."
Harry felt Piers and Malcolm lift him to his feet, not that he could stand very well.
"Keep a good grip boys, don't drop him. You."
"Me?" came Dudley's voice.
"Yeah. Make a fist, and hit him right here."
Harry felt a finger poke him just below his ribs.
"Not hard, just a good solid hit."
Harry tried to brace himself, but it was no use. The blow, when it came, took all of his air out of his lungs. He would have fallen if not for the two holding him. He tried to gasp, his mouth wide open, but couldn't get any air. It felt like he was drowning and unable to breathe.
Dudley gave a sick sounding laugh, "Lookit his face! He looks like he's a fish with his eyes popped out and his mouth opening and closing!"
"That's the solar plexus. Hit someone there and they lose all their air. They can't breathe. They're completely at your mercy. Ya see, the lungs drop down below the ribs and hitting that spot forces them closed, pushing out ALL their air. And because the insides of the lungs are wet and sticky, they stay stuck together, it takes a long time, several minutes, before they come apart properly and he can breathe normally."
"Now, knee him right there, as hard as you can."
Pain exploded from his groin. He couldn't even yell in pain, all that came out was a squeak.
"Did you hear that?" Dudley said excitedly. "He squeaked just like a mouse does when I stomp on it!"
"Yeah," came the man's voice. "The advantage of hitting him the solar plexus first is that he can't call for help." They all laughed. "Now the next target is right here."
Harry felt a touch on his side towards the back.
"That's the kidneys zone, one on each side. It's kinda hard to hit 'cause you gotta angle up a bit as they're somewhat protected by the ribs. Now, for most people it's merely painful as hell to get hit there. But this guy, he's already softened up. A solid hit there and he'll piss his trousers for ya"
"Really?" came Dudley's disbelieving voice, followed an instant later by a wave of pain from his side. His trousers suddenly felt warm and wet.
"Cor! That's cool!"
"Okay, now you try it."
"Me?" Polkiss said.
Harry felt them shuffle around as Dudley replaced Polkiss in holding him up. He passed out before Polkiss could get to hitting his kidneys.
He came to lying on the ground, face in the dirt. ". . . so if you're interested I'll be here next week and we can talk some more about me gang and you joining." The man laughed, "Maybe even get in a little practice if yer cousin here shows up. Welp, that's enough for today. Don't whale on the kidneys or bollocks too much or you'll put him in hospital for weeks. Ya rupture a kidney and the constables take a right serious look for ya. And the bollocks? Well, too much on them and he'll never have to worry about kids!"
Dudley laughed, "My folks would appreciate that!" He felt a foot kick him on the inside of his thigh, fortunately missing the target Dudley wanted.
Harry could hear some grumbling from the others, but the two holding him let him drop to the ground.
"And now what?" asked the man. "You just leave him here? Aren't you worried he'll tell someone you beat him up?"
Dudley laughed. "Naw. I'll just tell my folks that he had a falling out with his gang and they beat him up. He knows better than to say different. My folks never believe anything he says." He laughed again. "If'n Harry said the sky was blue my folks would call him a liar and lock 'im in his cupboard!
The man laughed as well. Then he said, "Well, tell you what, I'll drag him a bit farther into the trees here so someone in the park don't accidentally see him and call the constables."
Harry heard the others walking away, discussing how much fun it had been to beat up Harry and who they were going to harass next. When their voices had disappeared he felt the man grab his arm and drag him some distance. The man mumbled to himself, "What a lark. Here I am visitin' me cousin and I find those chumps. They'll make good fall guys come the right time."