"Who is it, in the middle of the night?"

Uncle Vernon Dursley cried out, apparently upset with the late night visitor, and he came down from the upstairs living room. Harry froze, brass binoculars in one hand and sneakers in the other, completely forgetting to tell the Dursleys that Dumbledore might come over in the evening.

This made Harry feel panicked and amused, and he stepped over his suitcase and unscrewed the door, just in time to hear a deep voice say, "Good evening, you must be Mr. Dursley." I'm guessing Harry told you I'm going to come and pick him up, right?"

Harry rushed down the stairs in three steps and two steps, but when there were still a few steps left, he came to a sharp brake, and long experience had taught him to stay as far out of his uncle's hand as he could at all times.

In the doorway stood a tall, thin man, with a long silver-white beard and hair that had reached his waist. Half-moon shaped glasses frame the bridge of his nose, and he wears a black traveling cloak with a pointed wizard hat.

Harry was also pleasantly surprised by the other person, a white face was revealed under the black cloak, and the aqua blue eyes seemed to flow like waves.

This face is so familiar to Harry, not to mention Hogwarts, but in the Dursleys, Harry has been rescued from suffering countless times.

"Hello, Mr. Dursley, I don't think you reproach us for our sudden visit, do you. Van Lin said, smiling at Dursley.

Vernon Desley's beard was about the same as Dumbledore's, but black, and he wore a dark brown dressing gown, staring at the visitor with his small eyes as if he couldn't believe it.

"Judging by your shocked and skeptical expression, Harry must not have told you about my visit," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "But let's assume that you will warmly invite me into your house. In such a turbulent situation, it is not wise to wait at the door for a long time. ”

Dumbledore walked in in style, Van Lin followed, and then closed the door as a matter of course, he was already very familiar with this kind of thing, so you expect Vernon to welcome them in?

There are still some possibilities to bring Mr. Al here.

"It's been a long time since we last met," Dumbledore said as he gazed at Uncle Vernon from his towering nose. "I must say, your Purple Gentleman's Orchid is so good-looking. ”

Vernon Dursley didn't say anything, but Harry believed he was about to explode, and sure enough, after a while—the blood vessels in his uncle's temples were bulging to the limit—but Dumbledore seemed to have taken Vernon's breath away in some way. Perhaps due to his ostentatious wizarding outfit. But it could also be that even Uncle Vernon felt that Dumbledore was a difficult person to intimidate.

"Ah, good evening, Harry," Dumbledore looked at him through his half-moon glasses, a satisfied expression. "Great, great. These words seemed to wake up Vernon Dursley. As far as he knew, anyone who complimented Harry on being "wonderful" would not be the same as Vernon.

"I don't want to be rough—" he began to read word by word in a threatening tone.

"Still, it's worrying that pitiful, occasional rudeness still happens so often," Dumbledore said solemnly. "But it's better not to say anything, dear friend. Ah, this must be Penny. ”

The kitchen door opened, and there stood Harry's aunt, wearing a pair of rubber gloves and a civilian dress over her pajamas. She usually re-mops the kitchen before going to bed, and apparently she's busy. Her long horse face was nothing but shock.

"Albus Dumbledore," Dumbledore said before Vernon introduced him. "Of course, we have already passed the letter. And this one...... I guess it doesn't need me too much introduction, does it?"

Harry thought it was a bit odd to remind Aunt Petunia that he had sent her an explosive letter, but Aunt Petunia didn't object.

"Hello, Mrs. Dursley. Van Lin nodded, "I'm glad to see you." ”

"Heh......"

"This must be your son Dudley, right?"

Dudley was peering through the living room door, his big golden head sticking out of the striped collar of his pajamas, looking as strange as if he had detached from his body, his mouth wide open in surprise and fear.

Dumbledore waited, apparently to see if the Dursleys had anything to say, and after a moment, he smiled.

"Shall we go inside and talk?" Dumbledore almost ran away as he passed Dudley. Harry jumped down the last few steps and followed Dumbledore, still clutching his binoculars and sneakers.

Dumbledore found an armchair by the stove and sat down, looking around with an amiable expression of interest on his face. He looked out of place in the tension.

"We ...... Shall we go?" asked Harry anxiously.

"Yes, we do. But before we can do that, we have a few more issues to discuss," Dumbledore said. "And I tend not to talk about it outside. We're going to bother your aunt and uncle for a little while. ”

"Van Lin, how did you ......"

"I'm on my way, you know, there's a reason to go there, and I think Dudley would love to see me. ”

"He's going to die if you think about it!" Harry smiled heartily, for Dumbledore and Verlin's arrival, Harry naturally welcomed it, extremely welcome.

The two of them looked at Dudley's curled up and shaking body a little unscrupulously, in fact, it was not Dudley's fault, if Vernon could accept a little bit, Dudley would not be afraid of being like this.

"Did you really decide to do this?" Vernon entered, Penny holding him by the shoulders while Dudley hid behind the two of them.

"Yes," Dumbledore said simply, "that's it. He unimperceptibly drew his wand, and with a flick of it, the couch flew over and struck the Dursleys in the knee, causing them to collapse on the couch. He shook again, and the couch flew back in.

"It'll be more comfortable for everyone," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"Please sit down. Harry sat down in one of the remaining armchairs, deciding not to look at the stunned Dursleys.

"I thought you'd prepare some snacks for me," Dumbledore said to Vernon, "but as it stands, my optimistic idea is a little silly. Then he waved his wand again, and a dirty bottle and five glasses appeared in midair. The bottle tilted over and poured a large amount of honey-colored liquid into each glass, and the cup flew into the hands of everyone in the room.

"Miss Rosmerta's finest mead made in oak barrels," Dumbledore raised his glass to Harry, sipping his own. Harry had never tasted anything like it, but he loved it very much. The Dursleys looked at each other quickly, in panic, trying to completely ignore the cup in front of them, but it was difficult because the cup kept dangling gracefully in their heads.

Harry couldn't help but guess that Dumbledore was having fun. Looking at Van Lin's expression, it was clear that this was Dumbledore's little way of entertaining himself.

Well, it's funny, maybe wait until he's an adult......

"But, Harry, are you sure you look ......" Van Lin said suddenly, looking at the sneakers and binoculars in Harry's hand, Van Lin still knew his friend very well.

"Are you afraid we're not coming?" asked Dumbledore shrewdly.

"I'm going to go over - uh - clean up," Harry scrambled to pick up his binoculars and sneakers that had fallen to the ground. It took him more than ten hours to find everything he needed, and finally he pulled the cloak out from under the bed, screwed the lid on his bottle of color-changing ink, and slammed the crucible in the box. Then, with a box in one hand and Hedwig's cage in the other, he returned downstairs.

He was somewhat disappointed to find that Dumbledore was not waiting in the foyer, which meant that he had to go back to the living room. Everyone was silent. Dumbledore hummed a calm ditty, which was pleasant, but the atmosphere was more solemn than cold custard.

Harry said, "Professor—I'm ready. "I didn't dare to look at the Dursleys.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Well, there's only one last thing left. He turned to the Dursleys again. "You know no doubt that in a year Harry will be an adult-"

"No," Aunt Petunia said for the first time since Dumbledore's arrival.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"No, he's not. He was a month younger than Dudley, who would not reach the age of eighteen until two years later. ”

"Ah," said Dumbledore pleasantly, "but in the wizarding world, seventeen is an adult. ”

Uncle Vernon muttered "ridiculous", but Dumbledore ignored him.

"Now, as you all know, the wizard named Voldemort has returned to this country. The wizarding world has been at war lately. Voldemort tried to kill Harry several times, and his situation was far more dangerous than when I left him at your door fifteen years ago, when I left a letter explaining the death of his parents, hoping that you would take care of him as if he were your own son. Dumbledore paused, and although his voice remained relaxed and calm, and there were no obvious signs of anger, Harry felt a chill emanate from his body, and noticed that the Dursleys had leaned together slightly. "You didn't do what I said. You've never treated him like a son. In your hands, he has nothing but neglect and destruction. Arguably the luckiest thing is, he at least escaped the kind of damage that both of you did to the hapless boy sitting between you. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon instinctively looked around, preferring to see someone else crowded between them rather than Dudley.

"We—did we mistreat Dudley? you mean——?" Uncle Vernon said manicly. But Dumbledore made a quiet gesture, and Uncle Vernon fell silent as if he had been beaten. "The magic I cast fifteen years ago was that as long as Harry could call this place home, he would be protected strongly. No matter how miserable, how unwelcome, how badly he was treated here, you reluctantly gave him a room to live in. This spell would cease as soon as Harry turned seventeen, in other words, when he was older. All I ask is: before his seventeenth birthday, you let him live in this house one more time, so that the protection can last until then. ”

The Dursleys didn't say a word. Dudley frowned slightly, as if he was still thinking about when he had been abused, Uncle Vernon looked like something was choking on his throat, and Aunt Petunia blushed strangely.

Van Lin looked at the room full of Muggles, and if anyone could understand wizards, Penny was clearly one, but she was not very smart at times.

However, it was obviously not a realistic matter to get an answer from Vernon, and in fact, Van Lin did not need any answer from the Dursleys, after all, it was something that had already been decided.

"Alright, Harry, Van Lin...... I think it's time for us to go. Dumbledore finally said, and he stood up, straightening his black cloak. "See you next time. ”

He told the Dursleys that they seemed to wish that moment would never come, and he took off his hat in greeting, and then walked away.

"Goodbye," Harry hurriedly said goodbye to the Dursleys and followed Dumbledore, who was waiting next to Harry's suitcase, which contained Hedwig's cage.

"We can't afford to be dragged down by these things," he pulled out his wand again. "I'll send them to the Burrow first. However, I want you to take your invisibility cloak with you...... Just in case. Harry laboriously pulled the Cloak of Invisibility out of his chest, trying not to show Dumbledore the mess inside. He slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket, and Dumbledore waved his wand, and the chest, cage, and Hedwig were gone. He waved his wand again, and the front door opened in the cool, misty night.

"Now, Harry, let's go into the night and continue our bizarre and seductive adventure. ”

Although for the past few days, Harry had hoped that Dumbledore would actually come and pick him up whenever he was awake, but when they actually set off from the privet road, he instinctively felt a little uncomfortable.

Outside of Hogwarts, Harry and his headmaster never spoke anything in the strict sense of the word;

The last time they saw each other last year often crept into his memories, adding to Harry's embarrassment as he roared so loudly, let alone smashing some of Dumbledore's most cherished possessions.

Dumbledore, however, looked very, very relaxed.

"Take your wand and be vigilant, Harry," he said alertly.

"But I guess I'm not allowed to do magic outside the school, Professor?"

"If someone attacks you," Dumbledore said, "I allow you to use any anti-evil and cracking spell you can think of. However, I don't think you have to worry about being attacked tonight. ”

"Why, Professor?"