Chapter 319: Reviewing Previous Spells
Dudley and Harry went back to their rooms, fetched their wands, and returned to the garden.
"I will go first," Harry said, taking the initiative as he handed his wand over.
Scrimgeour took it, but did not cast anything immediately. Instead, he asked, "When was the last time you used a spell, and what spell was it?"
Harry thought for a moment. "It would have been back at school. I do not remember exactly what the last spell was. Stupefy, maybe?"
He genuinely was not sure. Sometimes he cast spells without using his wand at all, so the exact last spell he had channelled through it was fuzzy.
Scrimgeour nodded and did not press further. This was Harry Potter standing in front of him. He was only carrying out a formality, not seriously suspecting Harry.
"Prior Incantato," Scrimgeour incanted.
Hum.
A faint image shimmered at the tip of Harry's wand.
"It was Stupefy," Kingsley confirmed.
Scrimgeour nodded again and handed the wand back without further comment.
Seeing this, Dudley passed his own wand over.
"The last time I used it was also at Hogwarts, but I do not remember exactly what the spell was," Dudley said with a shrug.
Ever since leaving Hogwarts, every spell he had cast had been wandless. He had nothing to fear from this check.
"You do not remember?" Scrimgeour said, giving him a searching look. Then he touched his own wand to Dudley's and spoke.
"Prior Incantato."
A twisted shimmer of light rose from the tip of Dudley's wand.
"Apparition?" one of the Aurors blurted.
All of them looked surprised, even Kingsley, though he recovered quickly. He knew Dudley's magical talent and was not shocked that he had mastered Apparition.
"Oh, so it was Apparition," Dudley said, nodding. He was glad it had not been some overwhelmingly destructive curse.
"When did you learn that, and who taught you?" Scrimgeour asked.
In the wizarding world, Apparition was normally taught only to witches and wizards over seventeen. How old was Dudley now? He had only just turned thirteen.
Being able to use Apparition so skilfully at that age was almost unheard of.
"I learnt it at Hogwarts. I begged Professor McGonagall to teach me," Dudley replied honestly.
"Professor McGonagall," one of the Aurors repeated.
At the familiar name, several of them pulled expressions that mixed awe and unease. From that alone, it was clear most of them had once been her students.
"I will verify that with her," Scrimgeour said, looking Dudley in the eye.
"Feel free," Dudley said, rolling a shoulder.
"Prior Incantato."
Scrimgeour suddenly cast the spell again, forcing the wand to reveal the spell before last.
"Scrimgeour, that exceeds the required scope," Kingsley said at once.
Checks like this were routine, but they almost always stopped at the most recent spell. No one chained the spell twice like Scrimgeour just had. He had gone beyond what the law strictly demanded.
Dudley's face cooled.
This Scrimgeour was starting to feel a little too targeted.
But the spell had already been cast, and everyone was watching Dudley's wand. They were all curious now as to what his second-to-last spell had been.
Boom.
A mass of terrifying fire exploded out of the wand tip, bathing the garden in light.
"Oh, Merlin's beard!"
"Good grief!"
The Aurors could not help crying out at the sight.
"Fiendfyre," Kingsley said in shock.
"Dark magic," Scrimgeour said. His gaze on Dudley was no longer neutral but edged with a predator's intensity, like an old lion that had finally scented prey.
Dudley's eyes narrowed.
He did not even remember using Fiendfyre with his wand. If he had, he would have immediately dispelled it from the wand's record when they arrived.
All eyes swung to him.
Apparition at his age might be chalked up to extraordinary talent. Fiendfyre was something else entirely. That was a step into the forbidden zone of magic. There was no way Hogwarts would have taught such a curse to its students, and Dudley had only just finished his second year.
"Did Professor McGonagall teach you that as well?" Scrimgeour asked. "Or did you steal it from somewhere?"
Dark magic was one thing. The fact that Dudley could already successfully cast Fiendfyre at this stage was another, and it shocked the assembled Aurors.
"Dudley, what is going on?" Kingsley stepped forward, placing himself partly between Dudley and Scrimgeour.
"That one... Professor Dumbledore taught me. There were special circumstances," Dudley said after a brief pause.
He had not expected Prior Incantato to dredge up Fiendfyre. If he had, he would have used a Beyonder ability instead of the wand. Now things were complicated. For the moment, he had no choice but to use Dumbledore's name as a shield.
"Dumbledore, is it?" Scrimgeour's eyes slit further.
"Dudley is very close to Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster often tutors him privately," Harry spoke up from the side.
"I can vouch for that. Perhaps we should simply ask Professor Dumbledore," Kingsley added.
Secretly learning dark magic, especially a highly offensive spell, was a serious matter. But if it had been formally taught by someone as respected as Dumbledore, the situation would have changed. Dark magic was not entirely forbidden in the wizarding world. Spells used for research were allowed, and Aurors themselves were often required to learn certain dark curses for critical moments.
"I will confirm it with Dumbledore," Scrimgeour said. "For now, we will be holding on to your wand."
As he spoke, several soft cracks sounded again from the street.
A few figures appeared at the far end of Privet Drive.
"What a wretched night. No, that is wrong. The last year or two have all been dreadful," one man was saying.
"Minister, things may not be that bad yet. At least we still hold most of the wizarding world," another replied.
They walked towards the group as they talked.
One of them was Albus Dumbledore. The other was Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic.