“What are you doing here?” Harry growled, ignoring the tension of the current situation and instead directing his sudden anger to his least favorite professor.

“What I do is not your concern, Potter,” Snape replied, spitting out Harry’s surname like it was a curse.

Fred and George, watching the scene with wide eyes, turned and smirked at each other. They noted that Harry was about to retort and stepped in to prevent their friend from saying something stupid.

“Whoa, ickle Harrykins!” said Fred. Harry jumped, noticing the presence of the others in the room for the first time. George was standing next to Vernon, who was still petrified and silenced. He was acutely aware of the situation, though, as indicated by his fire red complexion and roaming eyes that threatened murder the second he was released.

“Our esteemed Potions Master is here waiting for the Order to arrive,” stated George. “Speaking of arrivals,” Fred continued, “we all should probably head up to Gryffindor Tower. They should start returning soon and we wouldn’t want these three,” George said, pointing to the Dursleys, “getting in the way.”

“What? No, I want to stay!” Harry exclaimed. “I need to know what’s going on.”

Snape scoffed. “You most definitely will not be staying. You will be called if your illustrious presence is required, which I highly doubt.”

Harry took this moment to look around the room. He knew that it was no use arguing with Snape, especially with their mutual hatred. He saw Dudley standing slightly behind his mother, one hand loosely covering his bottom, performing an excellent impression of a rhinoceros hiding behind an acacia tree. The acacia tree, otherwise known as his aunt, had such a surprising expression on her face that Harry was momentarily taken aback. She was not shaking in fear, as he had expected, but glaring at Snape with unmasked hatred. Harry had assumed that face was only reserved for him and the occasional stubborn stain. He looked between Petunia and Snape, who was also now staring back at Petunia.

“Do you two know each other?” Harry asked, not believing what he was seeing.

Petunia turned towards Harry, her expression fierce, as she pointed and started to say, “That man,” but was promptly cut off by Snape. “Potter, it’s none of your business. Haven’t you learned enough about sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong?” Snape stepped close enough to Harry that he could feel Snape’s hot breath on his cheek and sneered, “Why, one could say that you must be dogged by memories of recent events.”

Harry was furious. He knew that Snape was referring to Sirius. Harry reached into his pocket for his wand, and upon realizing that it was currently inside of his trunk, decided to use muggle methods to get his message across. He reached forward and grabbed the front of Snape’s robes, pushed him up against the wall, and yelled, “Don’t you DARE mention Sirius!”

Fred and George each took out their wands, preparing to break up the impending fight between Harry and Snape. Harry was breathing heavily and Snape’s expression turned furious. Just as Snape was reaching into his robes for his wand, the fireplace roared green and Albus Dumbledore stepped out.

Seeing Harry and Severus ready to duel each other in his office, Dumbledore bellowed, “That’s enough!” They both moved apart swiftly, each still looking angry but now focusing their attention on Dumbledore. Looking weary, Albus looked between the two. “I am disappointed in you both. We do not have time for petty arguments, especially tonight.”

Harry and Snape both appeared apologetic, but Harry spoke up, “he insulted Sirius!” Snape responded smugly, “I did no such thing.” Dumbledore stepped between the two and replied, “We shall discuss this later. Right now, there are some things that all of you need to know.”

Harry’s anger melted and was replaced with fear. “What happened? Is anyone hurt? Is Remus okay?”

Dumbledore raised a hand to halt Harry’s rapid questioning. “Yes, Harry, Remus is fine. He is currently being escorted to St. Mungo’s by Ms. Tonks. He was hit by two curses that merged in midair, causing him to develop a bad case of biting boils. Apparently, mixing a Furnunculus curse with a biting hex causes large boils complete with pointy teeth to form. Spell reversal should be able to sort him out and he’ll be coming to Hogwarts in a day or two, as long as the boils haven’t bitten off any appendages.”

Harry made a disgusted face, while the twins started whispering to each other, no doubt discussing ways to market a new “biting boils” gag. Dumbledore continued, “There were a few more severe injuries, but everyone is expected to make a full recovery.” The Order is currently modifying the memories of Muggles that happened to view tonight’s events.” Looking towards the twins and Snape, he said, “We will be meeting here in a few hours.”

Dumbledore turned to the portrait of Dilys Derwent and asked, “Dilys, can you go to your portrait in St. Mungo’s and keep me informed?” The woman in the portrait nodded and left the frame. Noticing the portraits for the first time, Dudley screamed and pushed himself further against his mother. “Mum! Those pictures are moving!” One of the painted men replied, “Of course we move! What are you dim?”

Dudley squeaked and Dumbledore turned to the painting and with a tired expression, stated, “Phineas, please. You are not helping the situation.” He then turned to the Dursleys.

“Hello again, Petunia.” She did not respond, but nodded slightly to the Headmaster. “This must be young Dudley and your husband, Vernon. It is a pleasure to meet you both. I do wish the circumstances were better.”

Albus turned to Fred and George, “Boys, if you would be so kind as to remove the silencing and binding spells from Mr. Dursley.”

Harry covered his ears in preparation for his uncle’s tirade. He missed Snape’s amused look as the spell was lifted. Vernon immediately stalked towards Harry, who had backed up against the wall and was staring wide eyed at Vernon, moving his hands from his ears to in front of his face. Harry hadn’t expected Vernon to try anything while in the presence of wizards, but apparently Vernon’s anger was stronger than his common sense.

“You!” Vernon screamed as he grabbed Harry by the collar. He did not get a chance to finish his murderous plans as Dumbledore silently sent a stinging hex at Vernon’s wrists.

Vernon yelped, yanking his hands off of Harry. Snape had his wand out, but was content to watch the drama in front of him and let the Headmaster handle the out of control muggle. “What are you playing at?” Vernon shrieked at Harry, afraid to touch him again in fear of another shock.

He heard the twins chuckle and Vernon quickly waddled towards them, saying, “I’ll have you two arrested! Breaking and entering, kidnapping…” Seeing Dumbledore, he trailed off and turned his attention to the elder wizard. “And you! You must be the head freak of this freak school! Return me and my family at once or I’ll press charges against all of you!”

Changing tactics, Vernon continued, “Keep the boy! We didn’t want him in the first place and we certainly don’t want him ANYMORE!” He enunciated every word, as though Albus was senile and hard of hearing.

“Vernon,” Petunia said sternly. She was fully aware of what wizards, especially Albus Dumbledore, could do, and didn’t want to see Vernon get hurt. He stopped talking and turned to his wife. Something about the look in her face and the scared, yet curious, expression on Dudley’s face made his temper cool slightly.

“I’m going back to my home with my family,” Vernon stated firmly.

Dumbledore chose this moment to intervene. “I’m afraid, Mr. Dursley, that that is not an option.”

Vernon’s temper returned as he demanded, “What do you mean, not an option? Wave your little sticks and send us HOME!”

Dumbledore was adverse to using spells on muggles, especially mind control spells. At this point, he felt a mild calming charm was necessary, for both the safety of his ears and the safety of Vernon. He knew that the man likely had high blood pressure and did not want him to have a cardiac episode in his office. He had enough trouble with the Ministry as it was, without adding a dead muggle in Hogwarts to his list of problems. He wandlessly cast a mild version of the cheering charm on Vernon and replied, “Your home suffered some structural, fire, and subsequent water damage. We were able to save or repair the majority of your possessions; however, your house remains uninhabitable.”

Vernon was uncharacteristically speechless, probably due more to the spell than the shocking information. Dudley, who’s bravery had increased enough for him to step slightly from his mother and begin examining the office, shouted, “What about my things? My Playstation and computer must be ruined! You can’t get that stuff wet!”

“Dudley, your possessions are indeed safe. We cast an Impervius spell over the electronics, papers, and furniture to prevent any water damage,” Albus replied.

While this information quelled Dudley, Petunia was not as satisfied. “You cast magic on items inside my home? I will not have bewitched things! I’ve done my best to keep that unnaturalness out of my home and won’t let you bring it back in!”

Albus sighed and ran a hand over his face. “My, my, Petunia. I had hoped that your jealousy—,”

“I’m not jealous!” Petunia cut in.

Albus raised a hand and continued, “As I was saying, I had hoped that your resentment had declined over the years, but I suppose that was too much to hope for. Your possessions are safe and I will personally guarantee that all enchantments are removed from each object returned to your home. However, I had hoped that you cared more for your nephew than you do for your knick-knacks.”

Albus looked towards Harry and continued with a chill emanating from him, “When I was in your home tonight, I saw some stark differences between how you treated Harry compared to your son. While you did provide him with a roof over his head, I had hoped that you would have treated Harry like a son. Instead, you have treated Harry like a common servant. I saw the locks on the door and the cat flap!”

Petunia had the conscience to look ashamed and Harry turned red. He did not want his life with the Dursleys discussed out in the open, especially in front of Snape. Harry glanced in his direction to see Snape staring at him with an inscrutable expression. Harry quickly looked away and turned towards the twins. Fred and George were looking at him with pity, but judging by their clenched fists they were already thinking of ways to get back at the Dursleys for their mistreatment of Harry. Harry shook his head and focused his attention back on the Headmaster’s conversation.

“What if Lily had taken in Dudley? Would she have treated your son like you have treated Harry these past fifteen years?”

“How dare you compare me to precious Lily!” Petunia shouted. Perfect, Lily, who could do no wrong! She was the one who got herself killed and left me the burden of dealing with her freaky offspring!”

Vernon, upon seeing his wife upset, walked towards her and replied to Dumbledore, “Now you leave my wife alone!” Dudley had turned pale, as though realizing for the first time the injustice of Harry’s situation. He turned to his parents and to the utter shock of all in the room, yelled, “Dad!” and grabbed a hold of his arm. “Listen, Mr. Double Door,” he said to the Headmaster, causing the twins to snicker. “Maybe how we treated Harry wasn’t the best, but there’s nothing we can do about it now, seeing as we’re all homeless.”

Looking stunned at Dudley, both Vernon and Petunia stood with their mouths open. Dumbledore’s eyes regained a bit of their twinkle and he replied, “Thank you for admitting your past indiscretions.” Turning to look at Harry, Dumbledore, “I hope that you will treat your cousin better in the future, Dudley.” Harry was even more shocked than Vernon and Petunia. He pinched himself on the arm, thinking that this must be a dream. He and the Dursleys were at Hogwarts and Dudley had nearly admitted his horrible treatment towards Harry over the years. As Harry hissed in pain from his pinch, Snape snorted and Harry glared at him.

Dumbledore was still talking, “…are not homeless, seeing as I have found temporary housing for all of you.”