Hogwarts Study Panel.

Chapter 266: Let Harry Decide

Inside the bar.

The conversation naturally turned to Harry's guardians, the Dursleys.

"They locked Harry up, and Harry said the place was like a prison cell. Then they just gave Harry pitiful canned soup with hardly any vegetables in it..."

Ron grumbled indignantly, wishing he could rush to the Dursleys' house and stuff their mouths full of slugs.

Sheen remained silent.

The Dursleys are indeed portrayed as villains; they are narrow-minded and mean, spoiling Dudley and abusing Harry. Even without Harry, they wouldn't be considered good people; for example, without Harry, Dudley would still be a bully who preys on the weak.

But their image is far more complex than that of "bad guys".

Wizards, in a world without magic, have never had a good image. Most of the time, they are synonymous with trouble, evil, and terror.

People without magic always despise wizards.

Not to mention Petunia, who was shut out of the wizarding world. She wrote to Dumbledore wanting to attend Hogwarts, but was rejected. From then on, her longing for magic turned into disgust.

Vernon completely rejected the existence of the magical world; he was arrogant and looked down on and feared those "superpowers".

Therefore, they should never have adopted Harry in the first place.

Even if Harry were in an orphanage, he wouldn't...

...Forget it, I'd rather be adopted; at least I'd survive.

But fate sometimes plays tricks. After Dumbledore arrived, they had to adopt Harry, and Harry needed to stay with his blood relatives.

So, despite their extreme reluctance, they did fulfill Dumbledore's request, providing Harry with a place of "blood protection" that allowed him to survive. Dumbledore had written in a letter, "As long as he is in a place he calls home, he will be safe." They did so, albeit in a terrible way.

The problem is that they, at least Petunia, did have feelings for Harry.

This can be proven. For example, after Harry received the Hogwarts letters, they could have let him read them, and should even have been happy, since they had temporarily gotten rid of a burden.

But they, at least Petunia, acted abnormally; she had the absurd idea that they could expel the magic from Harry's body.

On Harry's eleventh birthday, when they failed to throw away the letters from Hogwarts, Petunia and Vernon resorted to the old superstition that "witches must not go near water." But she had seen Lily skipping and hopping on the stones by the creek many times in her childhood, so she shouldn't have been surprised at all when Hagrid effortlessly crossed the raging waves to reach the island's cabin.

When love and hate are intertwined, simple right and wrong become indistinguishable.

The Dursleys are indeed despicable, but Harry could have fared much better... with just some child support.

Then the second important question arose: wizards believed that the power of magic was far greater than that of gold coins, and no one thought of this.

Thus, Harry became an inescapable, and potentially dangerous, responsibility...

Given the less-than-ideal adoption conditions and the less-than-ideal adoptive parents, it's fair to say that Harry's dark childhood was destined from the very beginning...

There was noise outside the Leaky Cauldron bar again, and when the door was pushed open, music from the record store next door could be heard.

"Oh my god, Harry, why didn't you ever tell us—"

Hermione's voice came from the bar entrance, each syllable seemingly trembling.

Her gaze swept across the bar, and she immediately spotted Sheen and the others sitting together. She quickly walked over.

"We have to call the police! These bastards! They are..."

"Calm down, Hermione."

Justin offered words of comfort.

"It's not worth getting angry, Hermione."

Broochway.

Hermione looked at Sheehan in surprise, but couldn't read these words on the little wizard's calm face.

"Alright, now that everyone's gathered, shall we...?"

Justin waited quietly for something, and then he was met with a questioning look from Sheehan.

"Let's go."

Justin felt a mix of helplessness and amusement.

The streets of London were bustling with people, and the young wizards were picked up in a limousine.

Ron looked with curiosity at the interior's mahogany trim and wool carpet, and said in a low voice:

"Can cars really be made this long?"

Sheehan was reading "The Metamorphosis," Neville kept his head down, while Harry and Hermione seemed a little reserved.

Harry opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

He seemed to understand what form Justin meant by "help".

……

The Dursleys are a typical example of people who treat others differently based on their status; at this moment, the whole family is busy preparing for an upcoming big client.

This major client is said to be connected to them and has the capability and is likely to place a large order with them (his company manufactures drilling rigs).

In the living room, Vernon cleared his throat with an air of importance and said:

"We all know that today is a very important day. Today I may make the biggest deal of my life."

I think we should go over the afternoon's schedule again—everyone should be in their places by 2 PM.

Penny, you should—?

"In the living room,"

Aunt Penny responded,

"We look forward to warmly welcoming them."

"Very good, very good. Dudley?"

"I'm waiting to open the door for them."

Dudley forced a disgustingly artificial smile.

"May I carry your clothes for you, Mr. Green, Mr. Finley, and Mr. Potter?"

After saying the name Potter, he stopped smiling, pursed his lips, and thought to himself, "How can people with the same last name be so different?"

One is a sugar daddy whom even his father treats with utmost respect, while the other is a freak.

In the car.

The young wizards were also discussing plans.

"Alright, then what we need to do is—create a new identity for Harry..."

Justin slowly explained his plan, while Sheehan was not interested in this childish game.

But it must be said that Justin's method is quite meaningful to some extent.

The core of the plan is simply this: let Harry decide.

No one has the right to help Harry make decisions; all they can do is give Harry the authority to decide his own destiny.

One could simply be a lucky person who inherited "the legacy of a missing distant relative of the Potter family in the Muggle world"—including two moderately successful construction companies.

Justin busied himself with making arrangements, and everyone was immersed in the atmosphere of anticipation. Only Harry turned his head away and quickly wiped away his tears.

Dudley was wrong. At Hogwarts, there were so many people who cared about him.

(End of this chapter)