The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

At this moment, Dolly truly embodies the image of a cunning 11-year-old brat.

As a result, Dolly's words drove them into a dead end.

"So that means he's still my cousin, and I have to treat him like a cousin?"

This seemingly ordinary but true statement left Penny and Vernon speechless for a moment.

Because if they admit this statement, wouldn't that mean their past behavior was inappropriate?

If they don't acknowledge it, then the couple's legal adoption obligations seem to be invalidated again.

Neither of them admits it. Are they going to admit that the two of them hated Harry's parents and then abused Harry?

This is even worse; it completely ruins their perfect image in their daughter's heart.

But if we don't acknowledge all of this, are we really going to treat Harry as family?

This is even more impossible; the Dursleys were not such magnanimous people.

Just as Dolly was about to deliver the final blow, Harry stepped forward.

In a soft but firm voice, she said, "I will pay the rent."

"I will pay you in the future; I'll owe you for now."

07 A family that reconciled

After saying that, Harry seemed to collapse from exhaustion and gasped for breath.

But he still looked at the Dursleys with a determined gaze, especially at Vernon.

Vernon was the head of the household, and also the one who would directly lash out in anger and beat him.

Harry was naturally afraid of the enraged Vernon, but he was a born Gryffindor, so how could he be afraid and not move forward?

Dolly could only secretly give Harry a thumbs up, indicating that this guy was truly brave.

Although it would have been much more effective for Harry to say that than for Dolly to say it.

After all, Dolly could only explain it all as a joke or with a childlike perspective, otherwise it would seem too absurd.

But when Harry said those words, it instantly severed the relationship between the two families, and turned Vernon and Petunia's actions of taking care of Harry into a simple exchange of interests.

This is actually very hurtful.

After all, Petunia and Vernon may not really love Harry, but how could they not have any feelings for a child they raised?

At least Penny isn't like that.

When Harry truly faced a life-or-death crisis, Petunia's emotions almost broke through the walls of her heart.

It was jealousy of his sister, disgust for Harry, and the walls he had built over the years pretending to be a normal person.

She wanted to wish Harry good luck, but ultimately didn't.

After all, at that time, the Dursleys themselves had become targets of the Death Eaters, and capturing them might allow them to extract information about Harry's whereabouts.

Sure enough, Dolly secretly glanced at Penny and noticed that Penny's hands were trembling.

She kept gripping the tablecloth, trying to hide the surging emotions in her heart, but in the end she still pulled on the tablecloth and tugged at the plates on the table.

This sound, like a starting gun, sent Vernon back into a rage.

"How dare you say such a thing, you little beast!"

"We adopted you all these years, not for money!"

"What money do you have? You don't have a single penny. Your parents don't have any money either, and you won't have any money in the future!"

"What do you take us for? Child traffickers?"

Vernon roared and charged at Harry, who instinctively tried to run away.

Dolly, however, couldn't let it happen, because she was the one who made it happen.

Therefore, she wanted to keep the conversation going and not let it turn into a farce.

"Harry, how much money will you give me in the future?"

Dolly stood up on the chair and started yelling.

Vernon had to suppress his anger somewhat, and turned to Dolly with a forced smile.

“Good boy, this isn’t about the money; it’s about Harry humiliating our whole family!”

Vernon originally planned that once Harry came of age, he would kick him out and the two would never speak to each other again.

In this way, he fulfilled his responsibility of adopting Harry, and Petunia's sister could die in peace.

As for any reward, Harry is content as long as he doesn't starve to death on the streets.

Therefore, Vernon felt that Harry should at least understand that the Dursleys did not owe him anything for raising him.

You could even say he was his benefactor, even though this benefactor wasn't perfect.

But Harry's behavior now tells Vernon that Harry feels only resentment and disgust towards this family, and even wants to use money to settle the custody relationship.

In his eyes, his adoptive parents were nothing more than thieves who adopted him in order to inherit his parents' estate.

What is this if not an insult to his and his wife's character?

However, Dolly knew very well that Harry hadn't thought that far ahead.

Or rather, most of the time, Harry's approach is to do things first and think later.

As for thinking, isn't there an external brain, Hermione?

So Dolly couldn't let the enraged Vernon take action, so she continued, "But Dad, Harry isn't family, he's not a tenant, so what is he?"

"Mom, can you tell me what Harry means in this family?"

Dolly passed the question to Penny, which made Penny shudder again.

Vernon forgot his anger and rushed to Penny's side.

He even raised his voice, which was unusual for him, to Dolly, saying, "Dolly, don't torture your mother with these kinds of questions."

"You don't understand yet. Adult matters are complicated; they can't be resolved with just a question like 'Do you need money?'"

Dolly blinked, then her eyes widened.

Vernon's ferocity did not anger her; after all, she had the soul of an adult inside her body.

However, Dolly also knew very well what kind of behavior could ease the situation.

So she closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and burst into tears.

The crying was deafening, and even the crystal glasses in the room trembled.

Harry, who was some distance away, quickly covered his ears. Vernon was shocked and then began to regret being so harsh on his daughter.

Harry doesn't understand anything, and neither does his daughter, does she?

He was just being innocent and naive, but today is his daughter's birthday, and he actually made her cry.

With his wife still crying, he had truly failed as the head of the household today.

Vernon then began to persuade Dolly while comforting Penny.

With his attention divided, he naturally couldn't keep an eye on Harry.

This gave Harry time to calm down, and he even considered turning around and running away.

But Dolly wouldn't let him escape. She called out to him, "Harry, how much money will you give our family in the future?"

"You said you had to pay rent!"

Vernon opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

But seeing her daughter's tearful eyes, she could only blush and shut up.

Never mind, children say the darndest things.

"Um... I don't know."

Harry, caught off guard, hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "A thousand pounds?"

Harry never had any pocket money; he considered a thousand pounds a huge sum.

Vernon was clearly angered again.

If their contributions were actually settled in pounds, a thousand pounds would be utterly humiliating.

"not bad."

But Dolly interrupted again, saying, "A thousand pounds a month is a lot of money, isn't it, Daddy?"

Vernon was taken aback. Harry meant a thousand pounds a month?

That's quite a lot.

Although his annual income exceeded £50,000, he only received £40,000.

Harry spends a thousand pounds a month, which is almost a third of his income.

Considering Harry's own expenses, Harry's salary would need to be at least half of Vernon's, which Vernon considered almost impossible.

He even frowned, as if to tell Harry not to talk nonsense, that he couldn't possibly earn that much money.

"Then it's settled. We'll give you a thousand pounds a month after you find a job."

"From today onwards, you are Harry, a tenant of the Dursleys."

Harry's mouth dropped open, his forehead covered in question marks.

Is he really a tenant of the Dursleys?

Is this considered a downgrade or an upgrade?

Also, he said a total of one thousand pounds, how did it become one thousand pounds per month?

08 The Poor Owl Messenger

Vernon glanced at Dolly, then at Harry, who looked completely bewildered.