I should not be in here, thinks Dudley Dursley, fifteen years old and standing in his cousin Harry's room. I should not be in here. But, for once, the siren call of his video games and television and computer has seemed to dim.

That- that thing that happened last week- those Dementors, Harry called them, before being hauled up to his room and locked in by Dudley's father- that was the worst, scariest thing that ever happened to Dudley. He was used to things that were scared of him, and even if they weren't, he could fight them off with his fists. Never did he expect some magic thing that only backed off when faced with one skinny strip of wood wielded by one skinny strip of a boy. In his sleepless nights that followed, Dudley reflected that maybe there was something more to Harry than his parents had ever thought, more to this magic than just weirdness and toads and dress-wearing freaks.

I should not be in here, Dudley thinks again, starting guiltily when a car door slams outside on Privet Drive. His heart pounds away in his vast chest, and he listens carefully. His mother is still prodding Harry down the stairs to the loo; Dudley can hear her talking shrilly, and Harry's stony silence.

At this moment, Dudley actually feels a bit sorry for Harry. He knows, even though his parents refuse to accept it, that Harry saved his life the other night. Dudley doesn't really know how or why, because a few days ago he never would have even entertained the thought of saving Harry's life. But Harry did it. And now his only reward is to be locked in his room with no television or computer or anything. Dudley can't even begin to imagine.

He takes a few more tentative steps into the room, looking around. A moving flash of orange on the nightstand catches his attention. He takes a deep breath, looking furtively over his shoulder, and approaches the nightstand slowly.

It's a book, he thinks in disbelief, only the pictures are moving. Dudley's mouth drops open a bit. And not just any pictures either, but a bunch of people up on broomsticks, flying around 3 tall hoops and wearing funny orange dresses.

"Practice with the Cannons" reads the chapter heading. Dudley is astounded. They have sports teams? he thinks, and suddenly has a mental image of Harry's world, not dark and frightening and strange like his parents think it is, but a world not unlike his own, with sports and school and friends. He is a little shocked, and, hearing his mother berating Harry as she escorts him back from the loo, Dudley scuttles out of Harry's room and back to his own, amazed by this rare and bewildering flash of insight.