CHAPTER 6

- Who is Dudley Dursley? -

Fourth year brought the Tri-Wizard tournament to Hogwarts. Dudley didn't think too much about it. Sure it meant he missed a year of house Quidditch matches but that didn't mean he couldn't arrange pickup games. He was also getting a little bored with beating. Sure it was fun but it was too easy against the other teams. He never even used his full strength to hit the bludgers, he didn't want to kill anyone. Next year he was thinking of trying out as a chaser.

He didn't think much of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Since his first year he had witnessed the amount of bullying and racism in all its forms at Hogwarts decrease. He didn't enjoy having to witness it all once again and he wasn't too sure how well anyone would take it if he started flattening headstrong boys and terrifying stuck-up girls from the visiting schools. Which wasn't to say he wouldn't if he witnessed anything more than their snooty attitudes.

Professor Moody was a strange one. A little too Dark Arts happy for Hogwarts. Dudley knew that better than most as he he had read up on much of the Dark Arts as he could. Forewarned was forearmed. Still the material was useful, as was discovering that he was nearly immune to the Imperious. Still he wasn't as immune to Veela charms as he wanted to be, that he was better than the rest of the boys his age just wasn't good enough. He begun working on improving that.

When his name was spat out as the fourth contestant he almost missed the mix of strange emotions that quickly played across Professor Moody's face. Anger, confusion then finally pleasure before Moody's face returned to its normal grim countenance. When Dumbledore called for him to come up for the second time he raised his open hand and replied in a tone that brooked no argument, "Give me a moment here if you would."

There was a moment of shocked silence but before the Headmaster could gather his scattered thoughts Dudley stood up and raised his wand. "I swear by my magic that I did not enter this tournament nor did I ask anyone to enter me on my behalf."

There was a flash as his wand lit up to seal his Oath. He looked down and gave both the shoulders of his two worried girls a little squeeze, "Don't you worry. I'll be fine. Someone else will pay for this."

To the rest of the room he spoke again, "I had no intention of competing and if I find the one responsible for entering me then they will meet my fist. However, if I am unable to withdraw I will do my best. For Hogwarts!" Then he walked out of the hall. The initial applause was scattered but by the time he left the room only a few of the Hogwarts students weren't applauding.

Dudley ignored most of what was said in the small antechamber until Moody entered the room and start spouting off just the same suspicions that Dudley had. Dudley watched Moody's face and body more than listened to the words, then he stood and approached Moody, "Professor, A quick question if I may?"

Moody turned a suspicious eye on Dudley and cautiously asked, "Well, what is it?" Suspicious he might have been but he wasn't prepared for Dudley's first to slam into the side of his first with the strength and speed of a pro bludger. Wizards can cast a lot of spells to reduce physical damage and accidental magic is just another name for using magical instinctually to defend yourself. None of that was enough to prevent Moody being laid out in one blow.

Before anyone else recovered from the shock Dudley had calmly retrieved Moody's hip flask and taken a sniff. Turning to Dumbledore he asked calmly, "Polyjuice, wouldn't you agree?"

No one talked much about Dudley's inclusion in the tournament after that. Not only was it obvious he hadn't wanted to be in the tournament but that he had flattened a fully grown wizard with one blow suggested he wasn't in the mood to listen to anymore complaints. Common belief that it was likely he was going to provide a good showing even if he was underage.

The first task came up quickly and Hagrid was quick to thank Dudley for all his help in second year by informing him just what the first task would involve. Dudley politely thanked him and didn't bother to inform him that the goblins had already provided a whole wealth of information on the financial activity of those involved in the tournament that had led him to the same conclusion. He even already knew just what charms were on the four golden eggs. They were listed on the bill. To be fair he passed on the information about the dragon to Cedric and confirmed that the other two champions also knew.

Dudley walked out to great applause. He blew kisses to his two girls and started casting on the dozens of small rocks scattered about. The audience watched fascinated as the rocks quickly formed into three rough little rock figures half Dudley's height. The first two little stone golems started running about throwing small rocks at the dragon's face whilst the third, whom Dudley dropped a disillusionment charm on quickly ran up and collected the golden egg. Dudley had given the judges a jaunty wave and begun walking out of the arena before anyone had quite realised that it was over. The golem carrying the egg met up with him just as before he exited and handed the egg to Dudley before falling apart.

His lowest score was an eight, and that was from Karkaroff who had scored both Cedric and Fleur very poorly. It seemed that decking a disguised death eater in front of the man had made an impression.

That night the girls rewarded him for his performance in way that Dudley wouldn't soon forget and blew all thoughts about the tri-wizard tournament from his mind.

Professor McGonagall had raised an eyebrow but hadn't said anything when Dudley told her that he would be asking both Hermione and Padma once he had been informed that he needed a date. Ten minutes later both girls had agreed and kissed him soundly in front of the rest of the Ravenclaws. There was applause. It was the confirmation for the rest of the house that they were all together, something that had been suspected for a long time.

The Yule ball was a resounding success. The boys were all very well behaved, Dudley looked the happiest anyone had ever seen him on the arms of two beautiful women and no one wanted to risk upsetting him. Even Malfoy and his goons kept to a distant corner dancing with their dates and not bothering anyone.

Rita's article in the Daily Prophet the following morning was less than flattering and though it didn't target Dudley it raised his ire. Money was spent and the investigator went back to work. A letter was published the following day from Dudley lambasting small minded reporters and those that believed such idle speculation without evidence. The editor put in a retraction of some of Rita's comments and Rita was put on suspension. Dudley had already paid the investigator for a weeks work and was pleased to learn a few more things about Rita that might be useful later before the man finished his contract.

Knowing the charms on the egg Dudley listened to the clue the second night he had it. However when Cedric let Dudley know the password to the prefects bathroom he still managed to put the room to good use. Dudley, Hermione and Padma enjoyed the room very much.

Not even the professors wanted to anger Dudley so a few nights before the second task Flitwick was allocated the task of approaching Dudley and letting him know the task involved a hostage rescue. Dudley sighed turned to his two girlfriends but before he could ask the question Luna was jumping up and down, "Oh, can I be your hostage please Dudley. Please. Pretty Please."

Seeing no complaints from either of his two amused girlfriends Dudley agreed and a few days later Flitwick collected Luna to much applause and cheering.

Dudley decide to go with the Gillyweed rather than the goblin made bracelets of water breathing that he had commissioned or the bubblehead charm he had studied. Neither of them would help him swim faster though they would make great backups.

Guessing correctly that the tracking spells he put on Luna would be removed before she was placed under the lake Dudley made use of a variant on the Homenum Revelio that he had commissioned through the goblins. Dudley was surprised when it only picked up three humans at the bottom of the lake. A second quick cast confirmed his first guess that the spell didn't detect Veela's. An interesting fact he wondered if he could use to get a partial refund on the money he had spent on the spell or, and preferably, a discount on the next piece of spell work he commissioned.

By the time he had had a good track on where he needed to go the Gillyweed had done its work and he dived into the water. Not bothering to conceal his presence he used his wand to light up his surroundings. A quick conjuration added animated flippers to his feet. Webbed was good, animated flippers were better.

He almost missed seeing Fleur being mobbed by Grindylows as he swam over her. A few broad area bone breaking spells targeted around Fleur saw her free and able to continue on. Noticing her being a bit worse for wear he conjured animated flippers for her and swam alongside her till they reached the hostages.

With a little smile and a wave he ended the animation charm on her flippers and swam off quickly with Luna. On the way he cast a bubblehead charm on Luna and woke her up. He knew Luna would want to experience at least some of the journey. Luna did seem overjoyed though it took a moment for him to get through to her that he couldn't hear a thing she was saying within the bubble.

Once again he came in first, this time with a very grateful and slightly amused Fleur taking second place.

The day after the second task Flitwick introduced Dudley to Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who had requested a private interview.

After casting a large number of privacy spells in an empty room Amelia, as she asked to be called, conjured two chairs and they both sat. "First let me tell you that everyone who knows the following information has sworn an oath of secrecy to me until I choose to release the information or something happens to me. Likewise I will protect any secrets you should tell me. First I would like an oath from you to keep the contents of this conversation secret till released by myself, my successor or ten years have passed."

Dudley nodded his understanding and quickly read off the prepared oath. He was already trying to determine just how much she knew and what options he had.

"The reported death of Bartemius Crouch Jr by Dementor Kiss before he recovered from your punch was a fake. Bartemius Crouch Jr has recently admitted under Veritaserum that he had cast a very complex charm on a copy of the birth record of one Harrison James Potter stolen by his father from the ministry. It was a piece of that birth record that came out of the Goblet Fire modified by the magic of Bartemius charm and the Goblet's own enchantments so that any reader would only see your current name."

Dudley took a long deep breath but didn't deny any of it.

Amelia nodded as the unspoken acceptance, "Only three others know of your true identity and neither they nor I have any issue with you keeping that secret. We have confirmed that Bartemius did not have time to pass on his findings to his master though it's likely he'll at least guess the truth given his rough understanding of how Bartemius planned to lure Harry Potter into revealing his presence. Bartemius suspected that you were actually being privately tutored in a foreign country and hoped to use the magic of the Goblet to force you to return to the United Kingdom to be sacrificed in a ritual to return Voldemort to life."

Amelia continued describing their belief that Lord Voldemort was currently hiding out in the Malfoy Manor. That he had already retrieved most of the components of the ritual baring Dudley's blood. When she mentioned that they were busy trying to determine exactly who the father of Voldemort of Dudley quickly enlightened her as to the true name of Voldemort. The evil smirk on Amelia's face was a sight to see.

She also mentioned that Bartemius Crouch Jr had intended to modify the destination of the Port Key on the Goblet of Fire closer to the date and that Voldemort might attempt to have another of his Death Eaters do the same.

Dudley nodded and the discussion turned to their options for protecting him and dealing with Voldemort.

The third task proved to be no challenge to Dudley. Having the maze on the grounds of Hogwarts meant it was a simple enchantment to have the layout added to the Marauder's map. Plotting the quickest path took seconds and he took off at a comfortable jog creating a few small earth golems to run ahead and set off any traps before he got there. The first he lost to a great armoured slug like beast that he didn't recognize. Turning the ground under the beast to quicksand sorted it out and he used the creature as a bridge before it recovered.

The Sphinx's riddle was all too easy for someone who had answered riddles everytime he had wanted to enter the Ravenclaw for the past four years. The acromantula gave him pause, he had only read about them before and they were a lot more terrifying in reality. Still thin legs were no match for cutting charms. He felt a bit bad about leaving it without putting it out of its misery but he didn't to waste any energy not knowing what else he might soon be facing.

A spell on the cup confirmed that the portkey's destination was not nearby so he used the provided medallion to summon the waiting team of hit wizards and auror's. After everyone had disillusioned themselves they linked hands and Dudley grabbed the cup.

Malfoy Manor had seen better days. Dudley mostly just stood back and watched as the hit wizards went to work. The aurors directed the action and handled the traps and wards whilst the hit wizards just hit everything that moved with devastating power. Twelve Death Eaters died on the scene. Four more didn't survive their injuries and the rest were never seen again. Voldemort's homunculus was force fed the draught of living death and taken away. Malfoy was one of the death eaters that was taken away and never seen again. He like the others captured were reported as having escaped the battle. All the hit wizards and auror's along with Dudley moved a distance away before Malfoy Manor went up in a burst of Fiendfyre.

Amelia let the the manor burn to the ground before congratulating Dudley on a his win and unfreezing the port key charm on the Goblet.

Dudley found out later but the auror's had erected a ward around the last part of the maze once Dudley had reached the centre meaning that no one had realized that he hadn't been in the maze the whole time. So he was rather surprised when they all started celebrating and there were no questions asked about the delay in his return. The other three champions soon were extracted from the maze and they also congratulated him on his win. It was all very nice though it was his girls kisses and what happened that night after the party that truly made the victory sweet.

He invested the winnings in the Weasley's twins plans for a joke shop. If it wasn't for the map things might not have gone so smoothly. It also seemed like a sound investment. Once the twins had learned not to bully with the pranks they had really impressed Dudley.

That summer was the beginning of his new life. He and his family moved into the newly constructed Greenhill Manor complete with boating lake, multiple pools, tennis courts, quidditch pitch and extensive gardens. It also had whole separate non-magical wing for his parents so they wouldn't have to interact with his many friends and visitors. Dudley had made enough money from dealing in antiquities and repairing jewelry and artwork that he didn't even have to dip very far into his trust fund to pay for everything.

Why every wizard wasn't filthy rich he had no idea.

Dudley was the last in Little Whinging. He walked slowly to the park, to the darkest corner amongst the oldest trees. There he knelt over a patch of grass that looked no different from any other.

"Sorry Big D. Still don't have an answer for you on your first question. I guess it was just accidental magic. All I remember wishing I was you instead of me and then it just happened. As for why you died so quickly, that I have an answer for. According to those that have viewed my memories the damage you did to my body before the swap my magic could deal with. When we swapped you then had all the damage but none of the magic. It was just too much for my old small frail body. That ones all your fault Big D. So sad. Yeah, anyhow, so I doubt I'll be back. Everyones happy and I'm pretty sure I've done better with your body than you ever would have."

Dudley stood and walked away. He had a portkey to catch and a new pool to test out. His life wasn't perfect but it was a hell of a lot better than it could have been. With the Department of Law Enforcement on the trail of Riddles remaining Horcruxes and two beautiful and very smart girls at his side Dudley felt he had very little to complain about. He'd worry about how to deal with Hermione's and Padma's parents another day.

- Who is Dudley Dursley? -

Author Note: Thanks for everyone who's read, followed and/or reviewed this story. Was a fun little idea that, once again, I needed to get down before it would stop bothering me. Many of my ideas I can just scribble a few reminders of the idea in case I ever get a spare moment but some just demand to be written.

The story almost remained as another 'First Chapter' but once I got to where Dudley/Harry headed off to Hogwarts I just kept typing. I switched to narrative so I could get through it before the day was out. I can't see myself writing anymore. Too many ideas yet to be put on paper or finished.

If someone wants to take some ideas or the plot from this story please do so and drop me a pm so I can read what you come up with.