Hogwarts doesn't need a savior
Page 233
The Night Watchman at the Golden Theater July 2024, 3
Chapter 400 The Dursleys at Privet Drive
Monday, October 8.
At six o'clock in the evening, a Jaguar sedan that looked well-maintained drove back to No. 4 Privet Drive, a garage in an ordinary household in this community that had not changed at all in more than a decade.
Mr. Vernon Dursley, the sales manager who got off work on time from Granning Company, didn't want to stay out for a minute longer. He couldn't wait to clear all the things about drilling rig sales from his mind and prepare to enjoy his evening life.
He has long passed the stage of working hard to build his career more than a decade ago. Having reached the peak of his career, he is now more focused on his family and the various little things that happen to his wife and son that seem boring to outsiders.
In every aspect, this family of three is happy - if you don't consider a certain "outsider" boy who he dislikes but has to accept.
As soon as he opened the door, he heard the shouting of his wife Penny and son Daly - this made him feel extremely happy, even though the mother and son were arguing about whether to eat a weight loss diet.
In fact, Vernon also felt that his son was only a little plump and didn't need to lose weight.
Sitting in the oversized armchair that his wife had specially ordered for him as he was getting fatter, Mr. Dursley looked very happy after a busy day. He could take a short rest before dinner.
This is how he does it every day and he enjoys it.
-----------------
Vernon Dursley's good humor continued after dinner.
Even Harry seemed to be obedient and did not attract any attention from him, but he was still not happy.
The reason was simple: his wife Penny showed him a letter that had been stuffed into her mailbox this morning or so.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley:
[Please forgive me for being so rude. I am Mr. Harry Potter's teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am writing this letter on behalf of his friend.]
[The Quidditch World Cup - a prestigious sporting event in the wizarding world - will hold its final next Monday night. Harry's friend's family hopes to invite him to attend the event and spend the last stage of the summer vacation at his friend's home. Please understand and agree.]
【I will visit you later and explain all the details.】
[Also, no reply is required to this letter. ]
Yours faithfully
Lynn Eric
"This Eric looks more like a decent person than those freaks." Looking at the neatly arranged envelope, Mr. Dursley's expression was not very good, but he was not as furious as when he received all kinds of owl letters in the past. "But does he have to come to our house?!"
The thought of those strange-looking people in strange clothes walking into Privet Drive and into the sight of the neighbors would make the whole family, who always regarded themselves as a well-behaved family, feel angry and embarrassed.
Especially after being troubled several times with problems including pig tails and balloons.
His fat face was wrinkled and he was in great confusion.
But it didn't take long - because he didn't have much choice.
Not long after dinner, the doorbell rang. Vernon opened the door reluctantly and saw a tall man dressed in a smart suit.
He was wearing a white shirt and a purple-black suit vest. If it weren't for the slightly lively bow tie he was wearing, he would have really thought he had met those partners at a work dinner.
"Sir..., who are you...?" he asked tentatively. He had a guess in his mind, but he could not connect the other party with those annoying freaks.
But the other party's next words still made his heart suddenly skip a beat.
"Hello, Mr. Dursley, I'm Eric mentioned in the letter, Harry's teacher." Lynn nodded to him politely, "Can you let me in first? I don't think it's the way for respectable people to talk at the door."
"Of course, of course... Please come in. What would you like to drink, coffee? Tea?" Although he was a little reluctant, Vernon let him in because the man in front of him did not dress as strangely as other wizards.
Even he himself did not notice that his tone and words seemed as if he was just receiving an ordinary guest.
Lin En smiled and said, "Coffee, slightly less sugar, normal milk. Sorry to bother you. I can see that your wife must be very hardworking to keep the house in order."
Vernon, as the man of the family, was greatly pleased with the well-placed compliment. He raised his chin proudly and said boastfully, "Of course, my wife is very good at housework and does work very hard - you have good taste."
As they were talking, the two walked into the living room and saw Penny carrying some fruit to give to the disgruntled Daly.
She had mixed feelings towards the magical world and stood there silently for a while before she put the fruit on the coffee table and turned to walk into the kitchen - she heard the conversation between the two in the entrance and they had already started preparing coffee.
"Please take a seat," Vernon said, sitting down in his armchair, speaking a little more politely, "You are the so-and-so Hogg..."
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Lynn said with a smile, "I have known Harry for two years."
"Is that so... Well, as for the Quidditch you mentioned, we serious people are not interested in these things, but since you can take him away two weeks in advance, I don't have any objection." Vernon said gruffly, "You look like a decent person, you should know what it means to put such a weirdo who doesn't fit in with us here."
"I understand how you feel, Mr. Dursley, but this is not something that Dumbledore and his ilk forced upon you. It is the result of some special reasons." Lynn explained, "The wizarding world is not incompatible with the world of ordinary people like you. There are crimes, murders, and even scarier things here, too."
"So they just put a time bomb like this in our home? For thirteen years at a time?!" Vernon's face turned purple with anger.
"Please forgive my directness. He may not be a time bomb, but a talisman for your family." Lynn still had a gentle smile on his face, and said to Penny who came over with coffee, "Thank you for your care."
After taking a sip, he put down the coffee cup and crossed his hands on his thighs.
"I know that you don't like magic and hate the impact it has on your family, but the magic your wife's sister cast before her death did protect this family from being destroyed by those wizard criminals."
Vernon frowned. "Criminals? To us?"
"Just as you hate wizards, there are also a group of wizards who are proud of their bloodline and hate you. I am very sorry that this hatred and the crimes that follow have never ceased over the years." Lynn said seriously.
Of course, what he said was true, but his expression was very particular, which unconsciously guided Vernon's thoughts.
Although he genuinely hated these things that were completely beyond his understanding, his vague concern about dangerous criminals who might threaten his family overwhelmed this emotion.
"...If you're not lying to me, this is indeed something that deserves attention." He said in a deep voice, "Now what are you going to do? I know that this child is a little special."
"They all say that you are difficult to communicate with, but in my opinion you are still very reasonable, Mr. Dursley." Lynn smiled and nodded at him. "He is very special, but we, at least I, would rather he be an ordinary child, just like you hope that your son will grow up healthily."
"I can understand... You're probably a good teacher, at least better than my son's teachers." Vernon's lips trembled slightly, as if he was having a fierce ideological struggle, and then he drank the hot coffee in one gulp.
"All right," he said, "I know what you mean. There will be a room here for him--in the summer holidays. You can take him away from here now."
Harry, who was enjoying the birthday cake sent by his friends in his room, didn't realize what was happening.
Chapter 401 Scars and Dreams
It was half past eight in the evening when Harry, who had packed his luggage and was standing outside his house, still had no idea what was going on today.
He didn't know how Professor Eric came, nor did he understand why he came to pick him up several days earlier than the time agreed by Ron and the others.
With a thousand question marks in his head, he stood beside Lynn blankly, watching him chatting and laughing with Uncle Vernon.
He had never seen his grumpy uncle treat any wizard like this before.
It was neither fear nor hostility, but friendliness.
Dudley and Aunt Petunia were also standing in the entrance, looking as if they were expecting him to leave quickly, but also as if they were thinking about something.
But Harry didn't understand, and didn't intend to understand.
He just carried Hedwig's cage and happily imagined the real summer vacation coming early.
"It would be nice if this kid could learn some normal people's habits and ways of speaking and doing things from you."
When leaving, Mr. Dursley said with emotion that it was rare for that big face to show normal rosiness.
"I will teach Harry well, and I hope you can give him more help and love during the holidays." Lynn smiled and nodded, "Then I will take him away first, take care."
"Take care. If there is anything related to him in this school in the future, you are welcome to visit our family."
Vernon waved his hand and watched Lynn, who was carrying Harry, walk out of his yard and disappear into Privet Drive in the night before he closed the door.
"If all those weirdos are like him, it's not that they are completely unacceptable. At least he is a normal person who is polite and knows how to talk to people nicely."
He said to his wife and son who had been waiting for a long time, "This is good. We can have more than half a month of good days. Don't let Dudley eat those fruits tomorrow. Relax for a day."
Little Dursley, who had grown fat to a certain extent, cheered - as he jumped up and down with joy, the wooden floor of the house creaked uncomfortably.
Sometimes family happiness is a good thing, but excessive pampering is not necessarily a good thing. However, many families do not know this limit.
Including the Dursleys.
-----------------
The common characteristics of middle-class communities in Britain in the 1990s were low population density and conservative living, which was in stark contrast to the noisy working-class communities.
It was not yet nine o'clock, and under the dim street lights, there were no people on the streets. Every household had its lights on, and only a few cars passed by occasionally.
After walking for a long time on the empty road, Harry, carrying his suitcase, finally found the right opportunity.
"Professor, I didn't expect you to come here." He said softly, "I thought it would be Ron and the others."
"Originally it should have been them, but some minor incidents occurred later." Lin En stopped and said, "I can see that your life here is not easy - such an aunt and uncle are really not easy to get along with."
"Yes, Professor, sometimes even doing homework is not easy. They don't allow anything related to magic to appear in that house. I can only do my homework at night." Harry sighed and complained.
"So during this period of time, both the family and you can be liberated to some extent, which is a good thing." Lynn said with a smile, "As for why I came here, it was mainly because Arthur is really not good at these Muggle social methods."
"Ah... yes, Professor."
Harry blinked and looked at Lynn, who was neatly dressed and impeccable in every way. He thought about the Weasleys who treated him like their own child and nodded subconsciously.
Indeed, compared to Professor Eric, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were not very good at these.
But after hearing Lin En say this seriously, he still found it a little funny for some reason, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
Lin En could completely guess what the boy was thinking at the moment, and added: "Of course it's not just this reason. Some of it is also because of Headmaster Dumbledore's concern for you - you should know the origin of your scar, right?"
"Eh?"
Harry, who had been smiling just now, suddenly froze in place, feeling that his little thoughts had been completely seen through.
"Looking at the way you look now, I guess it must have hurt, and it was just a while ago?" Lynn asked.
"...Yes." Harry nodded, looking a little embarrassed and ashamed.
He really didn't want to let his favorite professor know that he was overthinking and panicking over such a small matter.
But he also realized that the scar on his forehead seemed to have a function other than just commemoration.
He asked tentatively, "Professor, does the pain in my scar mean something? For example, Voldemort? I know he is not dead. I knew it in my first year." He knew that Lynn was one of the very few people who didn't care about Voldemort's name.
"It does explain a problem, but don't worry." Lin En smiled and comforted, "Dumbledore will solve it, and I will also help you and everyone who cares about you. If you are really worried, you can tell me how you feel."
"Thank you, Professor." Harry looked at him seriously and whispered, "I have had a lot of strange dreams."
"Can you describe it?"
"Well... I'm not very clear, but it seemed to be in the wilderness. I saw blood, bones, and some people who might have died and whom I didn't know. In addition, I heard Voldemort's voice. He wanted to kill me."
"Anything else? What else did you see?" Lynn asked, with a serious expression that Harry rarely saw.
"What else... Oh! Yes, I saw a few people, but I couldn't see them clearly. Every time I woke up in the middle of a dream." Harry racked his brains to think, "There was a pale man, a weird-looking man who seemed to have been burnt, and a black guy. I don't recognize any of these people."
He looked at Lin En nervously, fearing that the answer he gave was not clear enough.
"The fact that you can remember your dreams so clearly shows that you have the potential to learn memory magic and a lot of mental magic." Lynn looked at him encouragingly. "I will pass this information on to Headmaster Dumbledore. Don't worry."
"But Professor, it's just a dream?" Harry was still a little hesitant about letting Dumbledore know about this.
"Dreams are sometimes projections of reality." Lynn said gently, "As a wizard, you need to have a magical vision, especially when you think something is critical or important, or something that your intuition tells you is unusual."
Seeing that Harry seemed to understand, he smiled and patted the little wizard on the shoulder, "Don't be stressed, come on, I'll take you to the Burrow - Arthur and the others must be waiting anxiously. Once there, you can have a good sleep, have a good vacation."
"Thank you, Professor!" Harry's eyes lit up when he heard the name of "The Burrow". "How do we get there?"
"It's very simple. It only requires a magic spell - you can't learn it now, but you can when you are an adult. Now hold my hand tightly and give me all the luggage."
Lynn took the box and grabbed Harry with one hand, "Remember don't move. It might feel a little uncomfortable, like being sucked into a whirlpool. Don't be nervous. This is normal."
"Ah? Ah... OK Professor."
Harry was confused, but he obeyed and tightened his grip on Lynn's hand - and closed his eyes tightly.
Then, the world spun around, and when he opened his eyes again, he could see a crooked little building in front of him.
In just a moment, he arrived at his long-awaited "second home". Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the whole family were waiting outside the cozy courtyard.
His summer vacation has officially begun.
Chapter 402 Home Visit and New Assistant
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