Chapter Seventy-Five: A Farce
Harry's mouth was dry, and his internal organs were mixed together. He hurriedly jumped up and chased after him, trying not to make a noise. He jumped over the last six steps and landed like a cat on the hallway carpet, looking around for Dobby.
"Don't!"
He prayed in his heart that the little monster would not cause trouble, but the development of things was always not subject to human will.
He heard Uncle Vernon in the dining room saying, "Mrs. Mason, tell Penny the jokes about the American Plumbers, she's always wanted to hear ......"
Harry ran through the door into the kitchen, feeling a pang in his stomach. Aunt Penny's elaborate meal was floating under the ceiling while Dobby crouched in the corner cupboard.
"Don't," Harry said in a low voice, "please! They're going to kill me! β
If these things landed, the movement would surely alarm the Dursleys, and what awaited Harry would be a tragic fate!
"Harry Potter must promise not to go back to school."
"Dobby, please......"
"Promise, sir."
"I can't!" Hogwarts was too important to Harry, the only place where he could escape the family.
Dobby gave him a sad look.
"That's all Dobby's can do, sir, I'm doing this for Harry Potter's sake."
The plate slammed to the ground, and Harry felt his heart stop. The plates shattered, and the cream splattered on the walls and windows. With a loud crackling sound like a whip, Dobby was gone.
Everyone in the dining room was alarmed, and Uncle Vernon rushed into the kitchen to find Harry standing there dumbfounded, splattered from head to toe with Aunt Petunia's pudding.
Like Dudley before him, Uncle Vernon showed remarkable quickness and adaptability.
"My nephew has something wrong with his brain, so he gets nervous when he sees someone, so we let him stay upstairs."
Uncle Vernon coaxed the frightened Haysons back to the dining room, telling Harry that he would be beaten half to death when the guests were gone, and then threw him a mop. Aunt Petunia scoops out some ice cream from the fridge to entertain guests.
Harry began to scrub the kitchen, still shivering. He was terrified that the Dursleys would take him under control and stop letting him go to Hogwarts.
"I'm really sorry for the bad experience I had, but my nephew is actually a poor man, his parents died in a car accident very early, probably in infancy, so he has been a little bit of a bad brain. Penny and I have been adopting him all the time because we see him pitiful......"
Uncle Vernon presented himself as a benevolent persona, which undoubtedly impressed the Haysons, and if it weren't for the next owl, then maybe Vernon would still be able to do his business.
While Aunt Petunia was handing out ice cream, a very large owl flew in through the diner's window like a whirlwind, dropped a letter on Mrs. Mason's head, and flew away in a whirlwind.
Mrs. Mason screamed in fright, and immediately fled the house, screaming monsters! Monster!
Mr. Mason stood for a few moments, told the Dursleys that his wife was terrified of all sorts of birds, large and small, and asked if it was a deliberate joke, before leaving the table despite the Dursleys' apology.
Harry stood in the kitchen, clutching the mop to support his body. Uncle Vernon pressed towards him, his little eyes shining with a demonic light.
"Read this!"
He waved the letter from the owl and said viciously, "Take it and read it!"
Harry took the letter, there was no birthday message in it.
Mr. Potter: We've been told that you've used a levitation spell at your lodgings at 9:12 tonight.
You are aware that underage wizards are not allowed to use magic outside of school, and that if you continue to do so, you may be expelled from the school (Act on the Reasonable Restraint of Underage Wizards, 1875, para. 3).
Also keep in mind that under Section 13 of the International Federation of Wizarding and Wizarding Secrecy Act, any magical activity that may attract the attention of non-members of the wizarding world (Muggles) is a serious offense.
Have a great summer! Mafalda Hopkirk, Department for the Prohibition of Misuse of Magic at the Ministry of Magic
Harry looked up, choking in his throat.
"Looks like Dudley was right, you really didn't tell us you couldn't use magic outside of school," Uncle Vernon said, his eyes glint with madness.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to beat you, but I have other news for you, boy! I'm going to lock you up! You'll never want to go back to that school! Forever! If you use magic to escapeβthey'll fire you! β
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"You asked me to come here to see this?"
Snape looked in the mirror at the farce at No. 4 Privet Road, his face gloomy and uncertain.
"Of course not, it's just a coincidence, I'm not a professor of divination, so I can't be that far away."
Luo Cheng smiled and said, "Of course, I asked Professor Snape to come to the house for other important things, but since there is something going on with Harry Potter, I want Professor Snape to take a look." β
"I don't understand what you're calling me for, and I don't care what happens to Harry Potter, and it seems to me that a stupid and pretentious idiot would better not enter the wizarding world."