After saying that, Aunt Penny began to walk towards the door behind Harry. Harry pursed his lips slightly, his body stiffly swayed, and he turned sideways to make way for his aunt who was hurrying over. He stood in the kitchen for a while, walking around aimlessly, opening and closing the empty cupboard. He had no idea what he was doing. After a while, he slowly walked towards the living room.
Harry noticed that the small door of the storage room he had lived in for ten years at the bottom of the stairs was open. Inside, piles of shoes and umbrellas were scattered on the floor. Apparently, they had been ruthlessly abandoned after the owner had chosen them. Two spiders crawled out of the storage room unhurriedly with their long legs.
Compared to the room upstairs where he had not spent much time, this storage room evoked more nostalgia in Harry. He unconsciously walked towards the door and looked inside. His eyes were attracted by the two rusty toy soldiers on the cement table in the cupboard.
The two toy soldiers were placed next to two empty glass jars. One of them was standing, and the other was lying on top of it. The one standing had a long sword in one hand and the other was behind his back. The one lying on the ground had red rust all over his waist. For a long time, these two toy soldiers were Harry's only toys other than grass and stones.
Harry leaned into the cupboard and held the two toy soldiers in his hands. Suddenly, a deafening bang came from upstairs. Harry straightened up, and his head hit the low door frame with a bang. He rubbed his head and crawled out of the cupboard, closing the door behind him.
"Boy, why are they here?" Vernon leaned all his weight on the stair railing. He snorted and blew his breath on his beard. He looked at the sealed fireplace in the living room and turned to Harry. "Is it going to come out of this damn fireplace again?" he asked gruffly.
This fireplace had been sealed for as long as Harry could remember. In front of it was an electric stove that pretended to be burning coal. If the Order of the Phoenix chose to fly over, they would be stuck between the real fireplace and the fake one. If a bad-tempered wizard attacked, it would undoubtedly explode again, and the explosion would be powerful enough to affect half of the living room.
Harry shook his head. "Of course not. The Ministry of Magic monitors the flying network. They won't —"
"We're here, Dursley." Sirius removed the Phantom Spell and put his hands in his trouser pockets. Judging from his impatient tone, this was undoubtedly a wise move. He did not want to lose control and take out his wand to cast a curse on Vernon Dursley, who had been abusing Harry for a long time.
Harry shouted in surprise, "Sirius! I — "
"Ah! For God's sake! Can't you use a normal — "Vernon's pig-like eyes widened. He was startled by the sudden appearance of a large group of Order of the Phoenix members and interrupted Harry. However, he immediately shut his mouth when he saw Sirius glaring at him. In his heart, although Sirius had been proven innocent by Harry and the people on the other side, Vernon did not believe it. In his heart, even if Sirius was wronged, he would be more than happy to blow up a street if he wanted to.
However, due to the deterrence that the other party had brought to him during the long vacation, the fearful Vernon did not dare to say anything. He just moved his feet a few steps to the left, blocking Penny and Dali who were on the stairs behind him.
"Good evening, Mr. Dursley." Lupin came out and tried to shake hands with Vernon Dursley to appease the frightened fat man, but Dursley had no intention of reaching out his hand. Instead, he quickly shrank back and looked at Lupin warily as if Lupin was going to make a pig's tail out of his moon.
Sirius, who was standing next to Harry, frowned and snorted coldly. He then said angrily, "Stupid Muggle, if he wanted to harm you, why would he need to shake hands with you?"
"Stop it, Sirius." Kinliss glanced at Sirius strangely. He comforted in a low voice, "You've been too nervous for the past two days. Don't worry too much about Harry … Sirius, have faith in Dumbledore. We will definitely be able to safely transfer Harry this time. Your godson won't have to interact with his Muggle relatives anymore. You should be happy."
Vernon was so angry that his beard trembled, but he did not dare to refute. He shrank back in fear.
Realizing that the other party would not shake hands with him, Lupin, who had experienced similar situations many times, withdrew his hand skillfully. Then he looked at the tall pile of luggage in the corner. "It seems that you have packed your things and are ready. Can I put them away first? "
"Hurry up, Remus. They have a lot of luggage." Tonks yawned and urged.
"Tonks, did you not sleep well last night because you were worried about the operation? Now that you have time, you can sleep for a while. I'll take over the task of sending these Muggle away. " Moody stared at the Tonks' tired face with her magic eyes and spoke in a gentler tone than usual. As the senior Aura of the Tonks, Moody had always taken good care of her.
"No, I just …" Tonks waved her hand incoherently. "I mean … I've been staying up late recently."
"Don't worry! I don't know why Dora likes to read the history of medieval magic recently. She has been reading until late at night recently, so she's a little tired now … "Lupin saw that everyone in the room was looking at him and hurriedly explained in a righteous and awkward manner.
"Ha! You can compare your statements next time. "Sirius finally looked normal and joked with his good friend and niece.
Lupin smiled bitterly and shook his head. He did not explain any further. He took out a cloth bag that was enchanted with a Traceless Stretch Spell. He opened the bag and opened it wide. Then, he waved his wand and used a Levitation Spell to command the pile of luggage to fly into the bag.
Vernon stared blankly at the pile of luggage in the corner. Thinking of this group of people who appeared in the room silently just now, he asked, "So, how do we get out of here?"
"Mr. Dursley, you just have to pretend that you're going out shopping and drive away without Harry," Lupin said. "Tonks and I will use a Phantom Spell to follow and protect you."
Sirius raised his eyebrows and said sarcastically, "I think that's easy, just like what you're used to doing."
Vernon's red face looked a little angry, but he did not defend himself. Instead, he shouted angrily, "Then, it's time to say goodbye. This is great."
Vernon stretched his hands up as if he was surrendering. He did not want to be entangled with this group of strange people in his mind. After his hands fell down, he turned around and wanted to leave.
Lupin and Tonks cast a Phantom Spell on themselves again. Penny stood up and followed behind him. She began to check the buckle of her handbag. She did not look in the direction of Harry at all. "Are you ready, Dada?"
"Let's go!" Vernon had already reached the door of the living room. He stopped and urged angrily, "Dudley?"
"I don't understand. Is he not going with us?" Dudley stood there with his mouth slightly open. He raised a fat finger that was as thick as a ham and pointed at Harry.
Vernon stared blankly at Dudley, as if Dudley had just said that he wanted to be a ballet dancer. Then, he shook his head angrily, his fat double chin shaking. "Of course he's not."
However, Dudley was not satisfied with his father's short answer. He squinted his eyes in confusion and continued to ask blankly, "Why?"
"Why? Because … Because … Because … "Vernon stuttered." He doesn't want to. "Vernon turned his head and pointed at Harry." Isn't that right, kid? "
"Absolutely not." Harry answered the question before Vernon could finish. His voice was firm. He raised his face and said in a mocking tone, "And, I'm a waste of space, right?" Harry put his hands behind his back. He was delighted at the thought of parting with them. After 16 years of extreme disgust, Harry felt that it was not difficult to make his choice.
Vernon, who had a big belly, swayed after being mocked by Harry. He put down his raised hand and said coldly, "Well, this is goodbye … Dudley, let's go."
Vernon strode towards the front door again, but Dudley did not follow him.
Under Vernon's puzzled gaze, Dudley looked at his father. He swayed his body and placed his hand on the small sofa that was left behind between him and Harry. He stepped on the sofa and slowly flipped over towards Harry. The sound of his footsteps and dust caused by his weight reminded Harry of the time when he stayed in the storage room under the stairs. Dudley would purposely run up the stairs to disturb him and the dust that fell into his eyes from the gaps in the stairs.
But at this moment, Dudley's expression didn't seem to be mocking him as usual. This big guy's lips kept moving and his face was flushed red as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. In the end, he gave up and slowly extended his hand to Harry.
Harry lowered his head in disbelief and looked at Dudley's fat pink hand. He was not too sure and tentatively extended his hand as well. In the end, both of them shook hands.
Dudley raised his face. His gaze was dull but sincere. He opened his mouth and raised his eyebrows as he tried to organize his words. After a long silence, he finally said, "I don't think you're a waste of space." Dudley pursed his lips as if he was trying to force out a smile.
Harry seemed to have lost the ability to express himself. "Thank you," he said dryly.
Time seemed to have stopped for a few seconds. Harry and Dudley lowered their heads and looked at their hands. Dudley realized that Harry would not change his mind because of his words. He smiled sadly and turned around casually. He walked towards his father, Vernon, with heavy footsteps.
The members of Order of the Phoenix, who were previously impatient, calmed down. They did not intend to rush Dudley. Invisible, Tonks looked at the two cousins in front of him approvingly. Sirius' expression was very sad — he thought of Regulus.
Only then did Harry vaguely realize that the cup of black tea he had kicked earlier might not be a prank at all. Although he was a little touched, he was relieved to see that Dudley's ability to express his feelings seemed to have been exhausted.
However, Dudley, the big Muggle, did not choose to go around when he walked over. He stepped on the sofa again, but only halfway. Before he walked over, Dudley looked back at Harry hesitantly. He finally raised his arm and snapped his fingers as if to signal good luck to his bad friends.
The smile on Harry's face seemed a little relieved. He watched his cousin completely step over the sofa. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was trying to hold back his tears. He looked at the backs of his big cousin and uncle as they left the room. His tightly pursed mouth opened, and with a somewhat hoarse voice, he said, "Goodbye, Big Bro D (Big Bro D)."
D, Dley's bad friends called him. "
Hearing the sound of Vernon and his son leaving the room, Aunt Penny, who was checking the buckle on her handbag, looked up. She did not expect to be in the same room as Harry again because she fell behind. She hurriedly buckled her handbag and said dryly, "Okay … Goodbye." Then, without looking at Harry, she strode towards the door.
"Goodbye," Harry said.
Aunt Petunia stopped and looked back.
For a moment, Harry had a strange feeling that Aunt Penny wanted to say something to him. She looked at him with a strange and timid gaze, as if she was hesitating to speak. Then, she suddenly shook her head and rushed out of the room to chase after her husband and son. (Author's note: JK Rowling said in a later interview that Aunt Penny wanted to say, "I hope you'll be well.
Safe. ")
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