The boat bumped gently into the harbour wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Page 65) Hagrid led him along the long, crowded streets of London.
As they walked, Harry found himself in slight shock, still not being able to completely comprehend all that had happened last night. His Mum and Dad- wizards. A whole new world that he never new existed and he belonged to it.
And all the time, his aunt and uncle had known, but had hidden it from him. Harry shook his head as he remembered all of the trouble Uncle Vernon had gone through to hide them on the island, away from the letters that would ruin the secret. Even after all that, Hagrid had still found them, for which Harry was very glad. He could only imagine how long Uncle Vernon would have made them stay there, with the only way off the island being the- being the-
“Boat,” Harry muttered with horror. He quickly glanced over his should, to where the harbour lay. He could barely make out the speck that was the boat. The boat, that just so happened to be the only way of transportation off the island. The Dursleys were stuck. And Harry was sure that the Dursleys would blame him for that when they all returned to Private Drive.
“Err, Hagrid?” Harry asked quietly as Hagrid marvelled about the ‘amazing Muggle contraptions’.
“Yeah?” Hagrid answered, grinning as he raised his eyebrows and pointed to a parking meter.
“We just took the boat from the island,” Harry said, voicing his realization out loud. “How are my aunt and uncle and cousin supposed to get off it?” Hagrid’s grin faded into a slight frown.
“Oh,” responded Hagrid, looking over his shoulder to the small speck of a boat. He fingered his pink umbrella slowly. “Stuck on an island-serves them right, after the way they treated you…” Harry tried to fight off a smile as the image of a panic Dudley with a pig’s tail popped up into his mind. He lost the fight with himself, and grinned briefly.
Hagrid sighed. “I guess I can’t just leave them there- wouldn’t look real good on me record.” He started pacing absentmindedly, giving the parking meter a pat as he walked by it. “And I can’t just send the boat back magically- too many Muggles around to see that…I could contact the Ministry… there must be some department about Muggles and wizard mix-ups…”
Harry felt another, wider, grin start to spread across his face. The Dursleys were stuck on an island, in the middle of nowhere, and had no way to get off it. He, on the other hand, was a wizard, and was about to set off on the greatest adventure of his life. Harry smiled in the bright sunshine, gazing at the almost clear sky.
Wait ‘till Dudley realises there’s no television out there.
*
“THAT GREAT BUMBLING BUFFOON!” Uncle Vernon’s voice broke through the misty morning. He barged into the small shack of which he and his family were staying in, anger all over his face.
“Vernon, honey, what on earth is the matter?” Petunia questioned, looking up from the table that she was scrubbing furiously. Dudley sat up on the couch slowly, just waking up.
“That- that- that Giant took our boat!” Vernon yelled, pointing furiously to the empty shoreline behind him, which was just visible behind his large bulk.
“Is that a bad thing?” asked Dudley stupidly, still half asleep. He rubbed his eyes and started searching for the cake he had eaten half of last night.
“Yes, son! It is a very bad thing, unless you have a phone with you to call someone on the shoreline!” Vernon boomed, his voice vibrating the windows of the small shack. He tore out of the shack, and started pacing across the small beach line present. The island they were stuck on was round and small, and waves were gently rolling onto the shoreline.
Dudley looked at himself for a second, and then looked at his father through the door. “I don’t have a phone, Dad,” he called out slowly.
“Of course you don’t have a phone! That’s why we have a problem!” Vernon shouted back. He kicked a couple of shells with his leather shoes, sending them flying across the sand. Aunt Petunia, who had walked to the door, backed up into the shack again. She decided it was best to stay out of her husband’s way for a while.
Dudley, having just found Harry’s birthday cake and eaten a fourth more of it, suddenly realised that it was around nine in the morning. He looked around, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Mum, where’s the television? My show should be on now…” He continued eating the chocolate cake, and searched the small shack for the telly. After a minute of finding nothing, he went up to Aunt Petunia and stared her, a worried expression on his chubby face. She looked anywhere but him, not wanting to let down her only child.
“Umm, Dippy Darlings, there is no, I mean-it is really that, well...” She wrung her hands nervously, trying to explain this gently to her tantrum prone eleven-year-old. She stared at the dirt floor, which was really starting to get on her nerves, because it was dirty. “There is no television here.”
Dudley’s eyes widened in disbelief, and they started moving around the room at lightning speed, trying to find the small box he spent so much time in front of.
“No- no telly?” He started swinging the cake package, now half empty, up and down.
“I’m sorry Dummpy Whummpy, but you can’t watch a show this morning,” she answered, looking at Dudley cautiously. She knew the signs of a fit when she saw them, so she added quickly, “When we get home, you can watch the telly for the rest of the day, how’s that?”
“No!” Dudley threw the cake box on the ground, and started pouting. “I want to watch the telly! Today! NOW!”
Vernon entered the shack at that moment, completely oblivious to the building tantrum he had just walked into. Excitement coloured his beefy face. “That’s it! I’ve found the way to get to shore.” He stepped around Dudley, who was now in full tantrum mode, screaming and throwing things. “We use smoke signals to get an airplane to land here, and then we fly to shore!”
“I want to watch the telly!” Dudley screamed, ignoring his father completely. He continued to chuck random objects he found at the walls.
“Wonderful idea, Vernon,” Aunt Petunia supported, clapping her hands as if she really thought it would work. In truth, she thought that was the worst idea her husband had ever come up with, yet she tried to be supportive, dodging the glass Dudley threw.
Petunia and Vernon grabbed the blanket from the couch, and then hurried outside, where the wind was blustering around.
“Give it here, and we’ll light fire to it!” shouted Vernon over the wind, taking the blanket. As Vernon struck a match, Dudley came out of the shack, having realised that no one was paying any attention to him. He stood next to his mother with a cross expression on his face.
“Got it!” Vernon set fire to the blanket, and watched proudly as bits of smoke began to rise from it. Suddenly, the wind blew a huge gust, and Petunia's pink flowered apron came loose and flew over to the roof of the shack. As she made to retrieve it, another gust blew, and the blanket, still on fire, was also carried over to the shack’s roof.
Muggle Island by Trivia Camlee
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his world; they are all the wonderful creations of JK Rowling. Mr. Bill Cradler, however, I did make up... :)As always, any comments or constructive critiques are welcomed; I love to hear what you have to say, good and bad. Thanks for reading!
Also, a huge thanks to Zackie, my amazing beta! Once again... be there, or be a triangle, Zackie; thank you for your help! :)
Chapter Notes: This chapter is dedicated to my sister, who was the first to read it when it was still a plot bunny. Thank you for your encouragment! :)