The Boy Who Lived

That lot...

After the arrival of the inconvenient child, Petunia had read Dumbledore's letter, explained to Vernon that it was her sister's child and said they would be keeping it until it was seventeen. No more was said on the matter but Vernon could tell his wife was scared. He could always tell when Petunia was scared, however, this time, it didn't give him the usual satisfying sense of power. Rather, it unsettled him. He let it slide and took it out on her in other ways instead.

Little Dudley was intrigued by the new arrival and spent the first two weeks prodding and pinching it. The child learnt quickly to be quiet and take its cousin's behaviour stoically and soon Dudley got bored with it. And it was something of a relief when it no longer cried at night when it was shut away under the stairs. But both adults were slightly wary of the child with its emerald-green eyes that were just like Petunia's sister's. Maybe that's why Vernon took such a huge dislike to the child; its eyes were such a vivid reminder of all he disagreed with... that lot. Still, a sort of life went on for the Dursleys. Though it was not usual in those following weeks for either Petunia or Vernon to notice a certain tabby cat outside their house. It was deeply unnerving and although neither of them confirmed their feelings to the other, they both had the distinct feeling they were being watched.

Once, Vernon picked up a pebble to lob at the cat but he hadn't realised the stone had a sharp edge and he cut himself badly before he had a chance to throw it. Another time, Dudley decided he wanted the cat, he had learnt another wonderful new phrase ('I want!'). However, when Vernon cautiously approached the cat to pick it up, it appeared to sneer at him and swatted his hand away with its claws out and a hiss. Petunia tried to entice it into the house with food but it simple turned its nose away in a haughty fashion.

There were strange incidents too. One morning, when Vernon unlocked the cupboard door, he found a nightlight in the small space. He accused Petunia of being soft on the child. She denied it, utterly confused as to where the light had come from. Vernon smashed the light up with a hammer and threw it in the black bin. The next morning the light was back and both Petunia and Vernon were too scared to touch it, especially after Vernon's hammer fell off the bannister and clunked him on the head. Vernon was adamant that he'd put his hammer away in the garage. Another time, as the rather plump Dudley was sitting astride his slight and underfed cousin, pinning his arms to his side as he crushed his chest under his weight and was pinching him particularly nastily, there was a scream and a crash. When Petunia and Vernon looked around, they found a frightened Dudley sitting on top of the display cabinet and one of Petunia's favourite porcelain figurines in pieces on the floor where it had been knocked off. They ignored the silently crying child on the floor as they stepped over it in their rush to save their little Diddikins before he toppled five feet to the floor.

The strangest thing about that incident was that when Petunia returned with a dustpan and brush to tidy away the mess, the figurine was mended and back in place, as if the incident hadn't happened. Only, when she looked closely, the figurine had changed almost imperceptibly, now it wore a long green tweed-type of coat instead of a green dress, and it had neat square wire-framed glasses and its expression was one of severe disapproval. Petunia turned the figurine around so it was no longer looking at her. She was certain that within ten minutes, it had rotated back again. That night, she hid it in the cupboard under the stairs with the child. The next morning, it was back on the bookshelf but at night, thereafter, the child started asking for 'Minnie' and pointing to the figurine. Petunia couldn't help glancing out of the window at the cat that was sitting on the front wall, glaring in at her. Petunia also couldn't help noticing that the cat had very similar markings just like the figurine's glasses.

The next time Vernon picked up a pebble to throw it at the cat, Petunia placed a hand on his arm to stop him and then cautiously removed the stone and let it fall to the floor by their feet. It didn't stop the neglect of poor Harry Potter, if anything, it drove Vernon and Petunia to be rather more secretive and cunning in their neglect and abuse, for they learnt that that cat wasn't always around or the figurine couldn't 'see' what they were doing when they were in the back of the house and Dudley, even at two-years-old, learnt that it was better to keep punches and bruising pinches to where they were hidden under clothes.