Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

large, square houses with perfectly manicured lawns, all owned by large, square owners who drove very clean cars similar to Uncle Vernon’s. Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colour in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his ‘delinquent’ appearance when he passed the householders. He walked quickly, so that halfway along Magnolia Road Dudley’s gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited.
    ‘… squealed like a pig, didn’t he?’ Malcolm was saying, to guffaws from the others.
    ‘Nice right hook, Big D,’ said Piers.
    ‘Same time tomorrow?’ said Dudley.
    ‘Round at my place, my parents will be out,’ said Gordon.
    ‘See you then,’ said Dudley.
    ‘Bye, Dud!’
    ‘See ya, Big D!’
    Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again. When their voices had faded once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly.
    ‘Hey, Big D!’
    Dudley turned.
    ‘Oh,’ he grunted. ‘It’s you.’
    ‘How long have you been “Big D” then?’ said Harry.
    ‘Shut it,’ snarled Dudley, turning away.
    ‘Cool name,’ said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside his cousin. ‘But you’ll always be “Ickle Diddykins” to me.’
    ‘I said, SHUT IT!’ said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists.
    ‘Don’t the boys know that’s what your mum calls you?’
    ‘Shut your face.’
    ‘You don’t tell her to shut her face. What about “Popkin” and “Dinky Diddydums”, can I use them then?’
    Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to demand all his self-control.
    ‘So who’ve you been beating up tonight?’ Harry asked, his grin fading. ‘Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago –’
    ‘He was asking for it,’ snarled Dudley.
    ‘Oh yeah?’
    ‘He cheeked me.’
    ‘Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that’s been taught to walk on its hind legs? ’Cause that’s not cheek, Dud, that’s true.’
    A muscle was twitching in Dudley’s jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had.
    They turned right down the narrow alleyway where Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a short cut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no streetlamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other.
    ‘Think you’re a big man carrying that thing, don’t you?’ Dudley said after a few seconds.
    ‘What thing?’
    ‘That – that thing you are hiding.’
    Harry grinned again.
    ‘Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s’pose, if you were, you wouldn’t be able to walk and talk at the same time.’
    Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it.
    ‘You’re not allowed,’ Dudley said at once. ‘I know you’re not. You’d get expelled from that freak school you go to.’
    ‘How d’you know they haven’t changed the rules, Big D?’
    ‘They haven’t,’ said Dudley, though he didn’t sound completely convinced.
    Harry laughed softly.
    ‘You haven’t got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?’ Dudley snarled.
    ‘Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten-year-old. You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?’
    ‘He was sixteen, for your information,’ snarled Dudley, ‘and he was out cold for twenty minutes after I’d finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you. You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thing out –’
    ‘Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry’s wand?’
    ‘Not this brave at night, are you?’ sneered Dudley.
    ‘This is night, Diddykins. That’s what we call it when it goes all dark like this.’
    ‘I mean when you’re in bed!’ Dudley snarled.
    He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin. From the little he could see of Dudley’s large face, he was wearing a