almost immediately strangled by panic - how was he supposed to refuse to surrender his
wand without doing magic? He'd have to duel with the Ministry representatives, and if he
did that, he'd be lucky to escape Azkaban, let alone expulsion.
His mind was racing… he could run for it and risk being cap-lured by the Ministry, or
stay put and wait for them to find him here. He was much more tempted by the former
course, but he knew Mr Weasley had his best interests at heart… and after all,
Dumbledore had sorted out much worse than this before.
'Right,' Harry said, 'I've changed my mind, I'm staying.' He flung himself down at the
kitchen table and faced Dudley and Aunt Petunia. The Dursleys appeared taken aback at
his abrupt change of mind. Aunt Petunia glanced despairingly at Uncle Vernon. The vein
in his purple temple was throbbing worse than ever.
'Who are all these ruddy owls from?' he growled.
The first one was from the Ministry of Magic, expelling me,' said Harry calmly. He was
straining his ears to catch any noises outside, in case the Ministry representatives were
approaching, and it was easier and quieter to answer Uncle Vernon's questions than to
have him start raging and bellowing. 'The second one was from my friend Ron's dad, who
works at the Ministry.'
'Ministry of Magic?' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'People like you in government! Oh, this
explains everything, everything, no wonder the country's going to the dogs.'
When Harry did not respond, Uncle Vernon glared at him, then spat out, 'And why have
you been expelled?'
'Because I did magic.'
'AHA!' roared Uncle Vernon, slamming his fist down on top of the fridge, which sprang
open; several of Dudley's low-fat snacks toppled out and burst on the floor. 'So you admit
it! What did you do to Dudley?'
'Nothing,' said Harry, slightly less calmly. 'That wasn't me -'
'Was,' muttered Dudley unexpectedly, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia instantly
made flapping gestures at Harry to quieten him while they both bent low over Dudley.
'Go on, son,' said Uncle Vernon, 'what did he do?'
Tell us, darling,' whispered Aunt Petunia.
'Pointed his wand at me,' Dudley mumbled.
'Yeah, I did, but I didn't use -' Harry began angrily, but -
'SHUT UP!' roared Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in unison.
'Go on, son,' repeated Uncle Vernon, moustache blowing about furiously.
'All went dark,' Dudley said hoarsely, shuddering. 'Everything dark. And then I h-heard…
things. Inside m-my head.'
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exchanged looks of utter horror. If their least favourite
thing in the world was magic - closely followed by neighbours who cheated more than
they did on the hosepipe ban - people who heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten.
They obviously thought Dudley was losing his mind.
'What sort of things did you hear, Popkin?' breathed Aunt Petunia, very white-faced and
with tears in her eyes.
But Dudley seemed incapable of saying. He shuddered again and shook his large blond