Harry Potter: Charlie's Candy Factory

Chapter 141 The Leaky Cauldron (Happy Children's Day)

Soon, Dudley, who didn't know anything yet, was just like usual. After eating his own breakfast, he was in a mess and collapsed on the sofa.

I pressed down a piece of the originally high-quality sofa, including the springs below, and waited to hear the sound of "creaking" being squeezed by force, and I couldn't help but feel my scalp numb for a while... …

On TV, BBC TV is broadcasting a new episode of Mr. Bean.Dudley couldn't help watching it fascinated, and from time to time he would let out a burst of laughter mixed with a few "huh huh huh".

Unlike his parents, in the eyes of heartless Dudley, these few months can probably be called the happiest days in his history!

There is no need to go to school or leave home. His parents still love him. Every day, in order to make him happy, they will prepare rich food for him in different ways.

And all he needs to do is eat, watch TV after eating, and then sleep.Other than that, there is nothing else... This is simply a fairy-like day!

Except for a major change in his face and face - he is no longer as handsome as before.

But what does that matter?Anyway, no one would see him like this, so he looked in the mirror and got used to it, but he didn't feel that scary.

Besides, Dudley once overheard a story told by an Asian boy in his class, which told the story of a monk who led three apprentices and became a god...

Although he couldn't remember the name of the story, he still vaguely remembered that one of the monk's three apprentices in this story had a pig's head just like him now.

Since he can become a god, maybe he can too?
.......................................

Dudley was so engrossed that he didn't notice at all that his father had put on a formal suit that he hadn't worn for a long time, carrying a briefcase, and came to the door together with his mother.

"I haven't worn it for a long time... This dress seems to be a lot smaller."

Dursley lowered his head, looked at the obvious and exaggerated curve of the suit propped up by his bulging belly, even the few buttons on it seemed to be unable to hold up, so he couldn't help muttering a few words.

Penny's gaze was so gentle that it seemed like water would flow out, and she didn't hide the love in it at all.

Listening to her husband's words, she froze, frowning slightly, showing a bit of difficulty.After hesitating for a moment, he asked

"Otherwise, let's go buy some suitable clothes first? Anyway, there is still some time before the deadline stated in the recruitment notice..."

However, Dursley shook his head, picked up the hat hanging on the hanger at the door, put it on his head, and said in a deep voice

"No, let's go earlier!"

After finishing speaking, he turned around and resolutely turned the handle of the outer door of the house. As the door was slowly opened by Dursley, he took a big step and headed straight towards his yellow car that was parked outside the door. The car goes.

He got in the car, inserted the key, and started the ignition. After a series of skilled procedures, Dursley took a last look at his wife standing in front of the door and waved his hand. smile.

Immediately afterwards, with the roar of the "rumbling" car engine, Dursley finally left.

With complicated hearts, I started my journey towards the address marked on the recruitment notice...

He skillfully controlled the steering wheel with one hand, and took out the folded recruitment notice from his suit pocket with some difficulty with the other hand, shook it vigorously, opened it, and glanced at the address on it again. .

"The Leaky Cauldron, Charing Cross Road, Westminster, London?"

Dursley raised his eyebrows, and couldn't help but continue to mutter to himself, "It's a weird name, but it also fits the characteristics of a wizard's name."

After finishing speaking, it seemed that some old jokes that were not funny a long time ago were inexplicably thought of in his mind. The corner of Dursley's mouth grinned, and he exhaled heavily, the original complicated feeling in his heart was also inexplicably relieved. a bit.

"Face it, Vernon."

Turning his head, his eyes moved back to the asphalt road in front of him.As he spoke, he slowly pushed down with his right foot on the gas pedal.

"Sometimes things are like this. Living in this world is always unsatisfactory. It's not that you hate something, so you can really keep away from it... Besides, who knows if it will be really bad? Maybe it will be there , they can even buy you a dental insurance?"

The pointer on the speedometer of the car began to move up slightly tremblingly with the tightening of the accelerator. The sound of "rumbling" became louder and louder, and a faint feeling of pushing back came from the car.

Immediately, the whole car was driven, twisting and turning in the not-so-crowded traffic, following the occasional road signs that appeared on the road, and galloping towards London's West End.

……

Dursley didn't lie to Petunia. At least in terms of distance, Surrey is indeed not far from London. Normally, it's only about an hour away.And after Dursley deliberately accelerated his speed, this time was also shortened by him again.

Soon, the car came to an abrupt stop beside the road sign that said Charing Cross Road.

With a "click", he turned off the ignition, opened the door, and got out of the car. When he got out of the car, he didn't forget to take the recruitment notice from the co-pilot's seat.

Afterwards, standing in this beautiful city that he had no contact with at all, Dursley licked his lips, and couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

London is only less than [-] miles away from Xiaohuijin Quming, but the environment is a world of difference.

Compared with the freshness and elegance of Little Whinging, even the air has a warm tone that is not very fast-paced. Everything in London reveals the atmosphere of the new era.

Standing in this most prosperous city in the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, you can even feel a faint collision between the old and new eras.

The high-rise buildings rising from the ground echo the calm Buckingham Palace.

The bells of the Elizabeth Tower on the banks of the Thames River and the disco music from Leicester Square from time to time present a horn of horns.
Apart from the fact that the gloomy sky was enough to comfort Dursley, everything around him made this middle-aged man from "a small place" feel a little bit more excited.

He turned his head and looked around, and his eyes swept over handsome men and women with smiling faces, or handsome old-fashioned gentlemen with newspapers in their hands.

Then subconsciously looked at the brown suit on his body, which he bought many years ago, and couldn't help feeling a little bit regretful...

If I had known earlier, I should have listened to Petunia's advice... Going to buy a suit of clothes would at least make me look more decent.

But it's a pity, after all, it's already reached this time, and it's obviously useless to say anything else.

As a result, Dursley had no choice but to take a deep breath, and retracted his protruding stomach inward, in order to avoid the extremely embarrassing event of actually squeezing the button out.

Then I started to simply tidy up the folds on the clothes, from the hem of the suit to the tie.

He turned around and looked at the window of the car. After confirming that everything was correct, he finally nodded his head twice in satisfaction, and began to search for his destination this time - the Leaky Cauldron along Charing Cross Road.

Walking around in circles along Charles Cross Road, while thinking about how to introduce myself to the interviewer at that time, in order to look fresh and refined, and distinguish it from the ordinary people outside, while looking for the so-called Leaky Cauldron Bar

However, soon, Dursley encountered a new problem—he walked back and forth along Charing Cross Road for about three to ten minutes, searching all the way, but he didn't see any sign of "The Leaky Cauldron" at all. signage.

"What's going on, did I read it wrong?"

He finally had no choice but to stop, and took out the recruitment notice again, frowning a little, and while muttering to himself, he carefully looked at the address on it again.

"That's right, it's just..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but it stopped abruptly.

I saw that under the address written in the recruitment notice, the portrait of the little elf who took off his hat to thank him had changed into a different look at this moment.

He put the hat back on his head, faced forward, and gave Dursley a funny and friendly smile, but slowly raised his hand, pointing in one direction and never put it down.

"Huh?" Dursley narrowed his eyes, then turned around tentatively, and looked at the elf again.

Sure enough, following Dursley's turn, the elf also turned around, raised his arm around a half arc, still pointing at the position just now.

He raised his head and looked in the direction the elf was pointing.

It was a brick wall between a luxury store and a French restaurant.The walls were covered with a layer of red ivy, and there was nothing special about it.

With some doubts, Dursley walked over slowly, and stopped about one meter in front of the wall.

"Are you sure?"

He raised his head, looked around, saw that no one noticed his behavior, then quickly lowered his head, and asked in a low voice.

The elf smiled even more, and nodded hurriedly, as if answering Dursley's question.

Immediately afterwards, under the portrait of the elf, a line of words emerged, the information on it was very short, only two words consisting of "Rush out"

"Gudong..." Dursley was taken aback for a moment, then his Adam's apple twitched twice, and he swallowed.

He raised his hand and patted the wall hard, and the hard wall immediately reacted back to his hand, making the fat palm painful.It is certain that this is not an illusion, but a real wall. .

"Are you sure?" He widened his eyes, looked at his somewhat flushed palm, and asked again in disbelief.

The answer that the elf gave him was still Rush out, but this time the font was several times bolder than before.

"It's crazy..." Dursley's lips trembled twice, he gasped for breath, and the disbelief in his tone became more and more intense.

"How could I really believe in a ridiculous wizard's trick, driving all this time and hitting a wall?"

But after all, he didn't leave, but kept wandering his eyes between the wall and the recruitment notice.

It lasted about five or six minutes of long inner struggle... It wasn't until someone on the street noticed Dursley's strange behavior and began to wonder if the fat man was urinating while lowering his head against the wall without saying a word, he finally Made up my mind.

"I think this is probably the dumbest decision I've ever made...but! It's for my son!"

Dursley took a few steps slowly and backed away. After about another five or six meters away, he stopped.

"Dudley!!!!"

Suddenly, the original calm on the street was broken by an impassioned roar.

Everyone subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a bloated man in a suit lowering his head, closing his eyes, and galloping towards the wall at lightning speed.

While running, he roared like a hero.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

"Peng!" sounded, and before the crowd of passers-by realized what had happened, the fat man had already disappeared. The moment his head was about to hit the solid wall, he disappeared in place.

The people on the street were so frightened by the scene in front of them that they didn't say anything for a while, but suddenly, they all froze at the same time. After a flash of bewilderment in their eyes, they turned their heads and returned their attention to what they were originally doing. In terms of things to do, stop paying attention to the ordinary wall and the disappearing Dursley, as if nothing had happened.

.......................................

Today's Leaky Cauldron is more boisterous and lively than ever.

Among the noisy and chaotic crowd, there were not only witches and wizards in stained robes, but even many Muggles in suits like Dursley.

At this moment, those Muggles also gave up the restraint in the original society, held up the wine glasses in their hands, imitated the appearance of the wizards around them, drank freely, and joined this wonderful carnival that had never been seen before. .

Here, under the fuel of alcohol and atmosphere, everyone seems to have become friends, without the sensationalism in many speeches.

Muggles and wizards held hands, leaning shoulder to shoulder, gulping down the fine wine in their cups, chatting about their respective experiences, or bragging about their stories, as if they were good brothers who had known each other for many years.

"Your clothes are nice!! I've never seen this fabric before. Was it made by a Muggle tailor?"

"Dunhill (Dunhill), very expensive! I knew I was going to come for an interview today, so I wore this one specially!"

"Hahahahahaha... Interesting, let's have a drink!"

.........

(End of this chapter)