Chapter 9: The Project

"Well I am pleased to hear you say that Luna," Dudley said. "From what Harry probably told you It must have seemed that I would be a terrible bully? I have to confess for most of the time he lived with us, it must have seemed like that to him."

"No," answered Luna, "Harry did not say much about your family at all. But we all knew he dreaded going home for the summer holidays"

"Looking back now," Dudley said, "I am not surprised to hear that. If I had been in his shoes I would have dreaded it too."

"Why?" Luna asked.

Dudley thought for a moment or two wondering what he should say about his home situation, before speaking again.

"My parents hated magic. I don't know why. When Harry was left with us they decided they would stamp it out of him. They didn't realise that it could not be done and so he was treated terribly and I am afraid I contributed to that."

Luna looked at him, realising that he was being very candid and very honest with her and that this said much for the way he had developed into the man he was now.

"In what way did you make it worse and why?" Luna questioned him.

"I am not sure about the why," Dudley responded. "It could have been that even as a small child I resented another who was the same age as me being inserted into our family without warning. More likely it was because I was spoiled rotten by my parents and learnt to manipulate them into doing everything I wanted. I think I controlled them even without the power to apply the Imperius curse"

Luna laughed uproariously at this and he found himself laughing with her. It was some time before she regained control of herself. Then she said,

"Aren't you being too hard on yourself Dudley? Lots of children throw tantrums and try to manipulate their parents into giving them what they want."

"No, I don't think so," said Dudley. "In his last visit to our house Professor Dumbledore said something I did not understand at the time. He was talking about the way my parents had treated Harry and said their cruelty had made sure that he would not grow up to be a person who had been spoiled. Unfortunately he said that the same cannot be said about your mistreatment of your own son. At the time, I could not see any way in which my parents had mistreated me. They had given me everything I ever wanted. Now I understand better."

"You have realised that over indulgence can be as destructive to a young child as outright cruelty," said Luna. "Dudley this shows you have overcome so much of the damage they did to you and that you have matured into a fine and perceptive person"

"Maybe so," Dudley replied. "If I have, that does not change what happened to Harry. I got him into trouble at every opportunity and bullied him mercilessly."

"What changed to make you the person you are now" asked Luna.

Dudley thought for a moment or two trying to put his finger on the events and the time which started him journeying in a new direction, then he said,

"I think it was when I started to box. I found something I was good at and it also got me fit and made me feel much better about myself. Then we had to flee and go into hiding and I found myself in a strange environment and away from my friends. I also realised that Harry was not coming with us and in fact was glad to be rid of us. These things got me thinking about my life and where I wanted to go. I don't think I did much of that kind of thinking before then"

"It must have been very traumatic to be uprooted like that. You were being plunged into a world you knew nothing about," Luna commented. "I felt dreadful when I was imprisoned at Malfoy Manor, but I was used to being on my own and I also had somebody who needed my help and who gave me some purpose."