"Harry, please. For my parents' sake, who raised you, please." Dudley Dursley looked at Harry with bloodshot eyes, his attitude so humble he was almost on his knees.
He could have asked Draco, but Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe had been called back by Mr. Malfoy for urgent training. He wouldn't see them again until the next round began.
Mr. Malfoy had even gone out of his way to explain that there were other Death Eaters on his estate, and they might not take kindly to a Muggle-born boy like Dudley. He'd told Dudley to keep learning from Anton.
It seemed like a kindness, but it also kept him out of the inner circle.
And it was still unknown whether Draco would agree to bring his father along in the brief moment before the next round began.
This might be the only thing he could do for his parents.
His family owed Mr. Anthony Weasley far too much. There was no way he could ask Anton to prepare that Ritual Magic to turn his parents into wizards just for them.
Whenever he thought that this might be his only chance to do something for his father, caught up in the complex power struggles of the Wizarding World, and for his mother, who had longed to become a witch her whole life, his heart sank. If he let this opportunity slip away, he'd regret it until the day he died.
Dudley couldn't risk it. All he could do now was place his hopes in Harry.
Harry parted his lips and looked at Dudley with a complicated expression. He couldn't imagine taking part in a dangerous competition while bringing Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon along, much less having to fight to protect them.
"I..."
Memories of the past churned through his mind. Harry