Harry Potter: Dudley From LOTM - 364

Chapter 364: Aberforth

Kingsley hurriedly cast a spell to keep the wizard from smashing straight into the ground. If he died from the fall, that would be a disaster.

“You’d better tell me exactly what happened,” Kingsley said, looking at Dudley.

Dudley gave him a brief account of what had happened inside the pub, and added that everyone in there could testify for him.

But when he turned his head, he realised most of those witches and wizards had already vanished.

And the Hog’s Head innkeeper was still there, watching Dudley and Kingsley with a dark expression.

“Oh, they’ve all gone?” Dudley said. “Well, good. The innkeeper’s still here. He can testify for me.”

Kingsley turned to look at the innkeeper.

They locked eyes, and it was obvious they recognised each other.

“Is what Dudley said true?” Kingsley asked.

“Hmph.” The innkeeper gave a cold snort. “It’s true. But you lot brawled in my pub, you scared off my customers, and you damaged my floor. That all costs money!”

“No problem. Take it out of him,” Dudley said, pointing at the wizard lying by Kingsley’s feet.

Kingsley did not speak. The Auror beside him stepped forward and yanked the black cloth from the wizard’s face.

“Nilo Barry?”

The Auror gasped when he saw the man’s face.

“He’s one of the dark wizards on our wanted posters. We’ve been hunting him for ages. I can’t believe he got taken down by a Hogwarts student.”

Kingsley checked the man and confirmed he really was on their list. Only then did he let out a quiet breath.

If he was a criminal, then it was simple. No matter how badly he was injured, it could be written off as harm sustained during the arrest, and most people wouldn’t bother pursuing it.

Otherwise, Dudley would have been in serious trouble—especially now, with him completely fallen out with Scrimgeour.

“Take him. Investigate properly,” Kingsley ordered.

“And that one over there,” Harry added, pointing to the wizard Dudley had blasted unconscious in the distance.

“Need me to help interrogate him?” Dudley asked.

If that one was a criminal too, it would save Harry a lot of trouble.

“I’ll check first,” Kingsley said with a frown, walking over.

When he pulled off the black cloth, it revealed the face of a middle-aged man.

“Eric Birch.”

“He’s on the wanted posters too,” Kingsley said, looking up at the four of them.

“All right, then. He’s yours,” Dudley said.

Kingsley nodded, staring at them for a moment, not sure what to say.

They had spent so much time tracking these people down, only for four students to catch them with ridiculous ease.

It made the Aurors look a bit pathetic.

Still, given what Dudley could do, it was not entirely surprising.

What surprised Kingsley was that the other three were formidable as well.

“These are their wands. They should help with your investigation,” Dudley said, and he and Hermione each handed a wand over to Kingsley.

“Right. I’ll have my colleagues look into it properly,” Kingsley said.

Then he glanced at the Hog’s Head innkeeper.

Clearly, he wanted to ask him something.

But the innkeeper only flicked a look at Kingsley, then turned and went back into the pub, looking as if he wanted nothing to do with him.

While they were still talking, Dudley suddenly felt a wave of cold creep over him. He turned at once towards the edge of the village.

Harry and the others felt it too, instinctively hunching their shoulders.

“Damn it. Dementors,” Kingsley said, face twisting. “They’ve probably noticed what happened here.”

“Wait here. I’ll go see what’s going on.”

He sprinted off.

Dudley watched as several Dementors drifted slowly closer in the distance.

“We should go inside,” Hermione said quickly.

“Yeah,” Dudley replied.

They turned and went back into the Hog’s Head.

Dudley already understood what the place was like, so he did not react much. Hermione and the others, however, immediately frowned.

“Oh. This place is… really something,” Hermione said, choosing her words with care.

Dudley noticed that on his old table sat his crystal mug, filled to the brim with butterbeer.

He walked over and sat down.

“Want one?” Dudley asked. “It’ll warm you up.”

“Er…” Hermione looked at Dudley’s crystal mug, then looked at the filthy cups nearby, and could not decide whether she wanted to drink at all.

Seeing that, Dudley took out the Mirror of Erised and pulled a few more cups from it.

“Four butterbeers, please,” Dudley said, waving a hand as the cups floated over to the innkeeper.

Watching this, Ron lowered his voice. “I heard the Hog’s Head innkeeper is a really strange old man. We should not provoke him.”

“He seems fine,” Dudley said.

“Have you noticed?” Dudley added. “He looks like someone.”

“Like someone?” Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at the innkeeper again, frowning, but they still couldn’t put a name to the face.

The familiarity was there, but they could not say who he resembled.

Just then, the innkeeper came over with four butterbeers and set them on their table.

“Thanks,” Dudley said.

“This isn’t a place for you,” the innkeeper said coldly. “Finish your drinks and leave.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Dudley replied.

“Can I call you ‘Dumbledore’, sir?” Dudley asked.

“Oh!” The three of them looked shocked.

“No,” the innkeeper snapped.

“Then what should I call you?” Dudley pressed.

The innkeeper frowned. He clearly did not want to answer, but he also did not want Dudley guessing endlessly.

“Call me Aberforth,” he said, then turned and walked back towards the bar.

“All right. Thank you, Aberforth,” Dudley said, nodding.

He took a sip of butterbeer.

It tasted all right, provided it was in a cup he brought himself.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared, wide-eyed, looking from Aberforth to Dudley and back again.

“So… he and Dumbledore…” Hermione began hesitantly.

“He’s probably Professor Dumbledore’s brother,” Dudley said. “Just a guess.”

“Their relationship is probably about the same as mine and Harry’s when we were little.”

“Did Dumbledore practise boxing on his brother too?” Harry asked without thinking.

Pff.

Dudley sprayed butterbeer all over the table.