Chapter 610 Dinner

There was a knock on the door of Harry's small bedroom.

"Harry - come out to eat -" Aunt Petunia said dryly. If it weren't for the tattered cloth in Harry's ears that distorted her voice, he would have been able to hear the unnaturalness in her tone, and she was much more polite and courteous than usual.

"Got it." Harry muttered, biting the quill and staring at the scribbled words on the parchment. Finally, he frowned and crossed out the word "courage" and changed it to "firm, unshakable belief". After reading it carefully, he felt that it made a lot more sense.

It would be better to give a few more examples. Harry thought that this would make it easier to understand.

"Harry -" The voice became obviously impatient.

"Coming!"

Harry jumped up from the chair, took off the cloth in his ears, then gathered the parchment together and pressed it under "Quidditch Through the Magical Ball", and then opened the door.

Outside the door was Aunt Petunia's thin horse face, her thin eyebrows were tightly gathered together, twisted into a knot at the center of her eyebrows.

Harry was stunned.

Aunt Petunia had always been unfriendly to him, and he was used to it. What surprised him was another thing. She actually stood at the door of the bedroom today, and it seemed that she was waiting there on purpose. This was totally unexpected for him. It took him a few seconds to realize how indecent his movements were. He stretched lazily, yawned halfway, rubbed his dry eyes with his right hand, his glasses were pushed to his forehead, and his whole body was twisted unnaturally.

Aunt Petunia pursed her lips tightly and forced a smile.

"There are guests at home."

"You want me to pretend that I'm not at home?" Harry asked in a muffled voice, thinking that maybe he could climb out of the window and find something to eat at Sirius' place.

"It's someone you know!" She said in a low voice, twisting her hands together, and the knuckles turned white.

Harry was surprised. He was about to refute. How could this be possible? But there was indeed a faint sound of chatting downstairs. Who could it be? He guessed randomly. Could it be Mr. Bagshot? Did he pass the interview?

Harry ran downstairs. Aunt Petunia behind him stretched out her hand in despair, moving her lips to mouth the words: hair... But Harry was gone. The sounds downstairs became clearer and clearer. One of them was Uncle Vernon, and the other was -

"Grunning Drilling Company? Yes, I know... I worked at Neil Company, but not for long, as a small supervisor... Ah, you are also a supervisor? What a coincidence..."

"Professor Hep!?" Harry shouted in disbelief.

He rubbed his eyes hard, wondering if he was dreaming. Professor Hep, Uncle Vernon and Dudley were sitting at the dining table, talking happily - from Harry's perspective, as long as Uncle Vernon didn't fly into a rage and Dudley didn't shrink in the nearest corner where he could hide, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

"Oh, Harry?" Felix looked over and couldn't help laughing, "Your hair--"

Harry touched the top of his head. Just by the feel of it, he knew that it must be a mess, because he hadn't taken care of it recently. Now that the professor saw this messy look, he felt a little embarrassed and tried to smooth it out.

"I have a comb here, if you need it--"

"Yes!" Harry shouted, he walked over and sat next to Professor Hep, staring at him as he took out a comb from his exquisite coat pocket. Harry was a little stunned. Did the professor still carry such a thing with him? But when he noticed that the professor handed over the comb with his left hand, he grinned.

This kind of secret is not to be told to outsiders.

So Uncle Vernon and Dudley could only stare at the emerald ring and comb in Felix's hand with the same little eyes.

Aunt Petunia appeared with a shuffled step. Because there was one more person than usual - and Harry guessed that none of them had the courage to sit with Professor Happ, she could only squeeze in between her husband and son, looking like a layer of spinach sandwiched between two thick slices of bread.

The dinner was not rich.

It was all simple food, especially compared with the exquisite glass wine bottle that obviously should not be on the table, it was made to look even more shabby. Harry actually saw a trace of embarrassment on Aunt Petunia's face. He was secretly surprised in his heart, and really couldn't figure out what kind of magic the professor had cast.

"It seems that there is not enough food. If you don't mind, I can cast a spell-"

"No!" Aunt Petunia screamed excitedly, and Uncle Vernon's thick neck suddenly swelled up. Harry knew that the professor's words violated the taboos of the Dursleys. They didn't want to hear any words related to magic, so he was very surprised that the professor was not in a hurry and had a faint smile on his face.

"Really? But I think he is looking forward to it." Felix said.

Harry immediately turned to look at his cousin Dudley, and saw a strong desire in his eyes, so he knew the reason. Professor Hep would never miss such a glaring hint - who is the master of this family. Harry was tired of seeing it since he was a child, not to mention the example that just happened in the past few days: Aunt Petunia cried and persuaded, but finally failed in the "comic book stay or leave dispute".

He was just surprised that the professor discovered the truth in such a short time.

Felix snapped his fingers lightly.

A row of golden plates fell from the sky. Sausages, delicacies, pies, steaks, smoked fish, salads, pumpkin juice, orange juice... filled the table. Harry was no stranger to these foods. In his opinion, the professor seemed to have moved the Hogwarts kitchen here.

Aunt Petunia's eyebrows knitted tighter, and she tried to lean back as if she wanted to escape from the chair. After failing, she nervously shook her head from side to side, fearing that a neighbor would see this scene from the window. Uncle Vernon gasped, and his face turned visibly purple.

Dudley looked at it timidly, and then eager to try.

To be honest, this scene was quite shocking. If it wasn't commonplace, Harry probably wouldn't be calm. But he was very hungry now. It was a novel experience to eat school food during the summer vacation. He happily stabbed a chicken leg with a fork.

"Um, can we eat?" Harry asked belatedly.

"I'm a guest." Felix said implicitly, his eyes sliding from Vernon and Petunia to Dudley. "It's up to the host... I'm familiar with both sides, and these things should suit your appetite. Harry eats these things at school." He added, "Unless you are on a diet."

Gulp.

Dudley swallowed his saliva. The power of this sentence is huge, Harry thought. Ever since Dudley was sent a warning letter by the school doctor because of obesity during the summer vacation of his third year, he has been trying to resist the family's diet for the past two years.

"Dudley--" Aunt Petunia said sternly.

Dudley stared at her with his eyes wide open, and one hand climbed up the table stubbornly. Vernon coughed violently, his mustache trembling, and the pig-trotter-like hand stopped hesitantly. After waiting for a few seconds, it started moving again, stubbornly pushing away the vegetarian salad they were about to eat, silently expressing the protest from the owner of the hand.

Uncle Vernon sighed heavily and picked up the fork. "Okay, you win, let's eat." As he said that, he stabbed a chicken leg - Harry had already started chewing it - and he bit off a large piece of meat viciously. Dudley

stabbed a whole steak in a lightning speed and bit it down, splashing juice everywhere.

Aunt Petunia seemed to have made up her mind not to eat a single bite. She sat in a chair, her arms folded, staring at the air in the middle of the table. Even Harry could feel her determination, and he turned his head to Professor Happ, who seemed not to notice and was scooping mushroom soup with a spoon.

Halfway through the meal, Dudley had completely thrown aside his scruples. He had eaten more meat tonight than he had eaten all week, and his mouth was full of oil. He seemed to have forgotten his fear, and bravely stood up and reached for the smoked fish in front of Felix.

"Is it delicious?" Felix suddenly asked.

Dudley, who was bending over, was stunned for a moment, raised his head and murmured, "Delicious."

"Then why don't you pick some for your mother?"

Dudley's fat arm was suspended in the air, and his face stared at Felix blankly, as if Felix had just told a very powerful riddle. From Dudley's face, it seemed that he was clearly experiencing a series of complex psychological activities. After a moment of struggle, he put a smoked fish on Petunia's clean empty plate.

Before he could aim at the second smoked fish, his mother started crying.

"So, so good, Dada..." Her thin arms hugged Dudley tightly, "What a lovely child..."

Felix and Harry exchanged a silent look and expressed reservations.

But Petunia no longer refused to eat.

Harry was amazed at Professor Heppe's behavior. He seemed to have found a trick: as long as he could master his cousin's emotions, the professor would be invincible. And now it seemed that Dudley did not reject Professor Heppe, or rather, was not afraid of him...

The comic book played a crucial role.

After eating and drinking, Felix snapped his fingers again, and this time dessert appeared. No need to ask again, Dudley was the first to pounce on it. When everything was over, Felix waved his hand and everything disappeared.

"Tell me," Vernon picked his teeth, slumped on the sofa, and said in a tough tone: "What is your conspiracy?"

"Conspiracy?" Felix asked with some amusement.

The room suddenly became quiet, as if everyone realized that this visit would not end in a harmonious atmosphere. Harry pricked up his ears. Dudley was holding a cauldron cake, and even Aunt Petunia, who was pretending to be busy in the kitchen and making bottles and jars clink, stood at the door without knowing when.

"That's right," said Vernon in a rough voice, "I thought about it while eating. Don't think I'm easy to fool, or I'm soft-hearted because of a meal... I tell you, it's impossible! But you are smarter than the big fool I've seen-"

"Hagrid is not a big fool!" Harry was irritated.

Uncle Vernon narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, I see, you want to talk to me about serious topics." Felix said.

"You're right!" Vernon turned his head quickly and kept talking to the air: "You worked in Neil Company, which is a big company... But you see, I'm not bad either. I'm an excellent sales manager and I've seen all kinds of people... If someone plots against my property or my house..."

"Are you crazy?" Harry shouted. "Me? Covet your house?"

"I'm not crazy, on the contrary I'm very sober." Vernon's eyes flashed with a shrewd light, and he gritted his teeth and said, "There have been signs for a long time, right? That-that guy named Voldemort, he has been caught, boy, you have no reason to stay here any longer..."

"Vernon." Aunt Petunia shouted at the kitchen door.

"Listen to me! That Voldemort has been caught... We are safe, but this guy still refuses to leave, Petunia, think about it, why is that?"

"I want to know why too!" Harry shouted.

Felix cleared his throat.

"It seems that there is very little communication between you. As long as you know a little about the wizarding world, you will understand that this worry is completely unnecessary and just a delusion."

"Delusion?" Vernon stared.

"That's right," Felix nodded, he crossed his legs, waved his hand, and a cup of steaming tea appeared in his palm. "My plan didn't originally include answering questions for people, but now I can spare a few minutes because it's easy to explain."

Vernon took out the energy of negotiation, his small eyes fixed on Felix's face. Petunia did the same.

"First of all, this house," he looked around with interest, "is owned by Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts - you know who he is, right?" His eyes fell on Petunia, her expression stiff. "That's easy. As a powerful wizard, he has set up advanced protective magic around you, using family ties and blood as a bond. Its function is not only to protect Harry, who is not yet an adult, but also to protect you from harm."

"The magic effect will last until Harry reaches adulthood. During this period, Harry must live here for a period of time every year. It doesn't have to be long, just a few weeks will do."

"Now Voldemort has been caught, and his followers have been almost wiped out. The reason why Harry is still here, well - I can only guess, because I am not the one who makes the decision: it may be because Voldemort is not dead yet. For the sake of caution, it is better not to let the magic fail."

"Can he still escape?" Vernon said disdainfully, "On our side -"

"There are many people who escape from prison." Felix nodded and added. Vernon's face flushed.

"Wizards and Muggles - that is, ordinary people, share some things in common, such as emotions; but there are a few differences - especially those related to magic, which may be very different. For example, in the topic we are talking about, Voldemort is a very scary dark wizard."

"He is different from the armed gangster you have in mind. He is more dangerous, much more dangerous... For example, if he is given time, he can easily destroy London."

The Dursleys shuddered.

"You, don't even think about it -"

"No matter how strange it is in your heart, it is true. Decades ago, he planned to occupy the Ministry of Magic and extend his tentacles into the world of ordinary people. He and his men enjoy torturing ordinary people. Many of the headless cases you are familiar with in reality were done by them."

"Harry's parents stood up against Voldemort at that time. I don't know if they told you or not - but they did the right thing. After that... some people died on both sides, and Voldemort was unstoppable for a while, until he found the Potter family -"

"The Boy-Who-Lived!" Dudley said suddenly, pointing at Harry: "He killed Voldemort."

Two gasps.

"That's a misunderstanding," Felix corrected. "Voldemort is not dead, but - uh, to use your understanding, he was seriously injured and had to hide. There is another fallacy. It was not Harry who seriously injured Voldemort, but his mother Lily, who cast a complex protective spell. In short, one life for another." "

Harry was sent to you for the reasons I mentioned before. He is not happy here. Although I have no right to blame you, from a neutral point of view, I still advise you to restrain yourself a little. After all, you won't be together for too long. If Harry's admirers knew...

yes, he has admirers. There are quite a few of them.

When Harry grows up, I can't control what he chooses. That's his own business, but there are some things you need to know..."

"For example, wizards never worry about houses. Take me for example. As long as there are enough materials, I can build a town in a day. And I do have similar plans, but not now." The

Dursleys widened their eyes. They were not sure whether the person in front of them was making up stories.

"It's true," Harry said impatiently, "The professor once built a castle over a hundred feet high in a very short time. Now two years have passed, and the house is still used as the headquarters of the 'Future World' company."

"Company? Whose?" Vernon asked sensitively.

"Mine." Felix said happily.

"Aren't you a professor at that school?" Vernon asked quickly, seeming happy to find a loophole in his words.

"Oh, you have to allow me to have a side job."

Vernon muttered twice, pointing at Harry with a suspicious look.

"This kid can also build a house?"

"Harry's talent is not in this area. I just gave an example. There are many things that wizards can do, such as on rockets - well, let's get back to the point. Harry is born with active magic. Maybe this has caused you some troubles... But he will be an excellent fighter, just like his parents. Even in some aspects, he has surpassed them. The downfall of Voldemort is directly related to your nephew."

...

When Harry sent Felix to the door, he asserted:

"Professor, you are doing useless work. I swear they will not change in the future."

"You are right. Some people are hopeless." Felix agreed.

"Then why-"

"I said, how to deal with relatives is your own business. I don't intend to change their minds with a few words. That's unrealistic. But at least, I don't want your relationship to get worse because of my visit."

Harry lowered his head and pondered. The professor seemed to have helped him, but the professor himself did not admit it.

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot something important, Harry, where does Mr. Bagshot live?"

"It's nearby... What happened?"

"Unfortunately, he can't come back. Something bad happened... I was ordered to pack his luggage."

"He, he's dead?" Harry's eyes widened, and the image of the frail, sometimes gentle, sometimes gloomy old man emerged in his mind. Although they had only been together for a few days, and he had urged him to curse the Dursleys, Harry already regarded him as a friend.

"Ha, a wonderful association!" Felix couldn't help laughing, "I'll tell him about your 'concern'."

Basically, the long section about the Dursleys ended, and it might be mentioned sporadically later, or appear in the extras. As Felix said, it is unrealistic to change a person with a few words. He is just an outsider and cannot and should not make decisions for Harry. In the original book,

even the scene of life and death could not break the defense of the Dursleys. I can't think of a more shocking scene, so the change can only happen to Dudley.