Chapter 785 Five Letters

"But what are Dementors," asked Uncle Vernon furiously, "and what can they do?"

"I told you - they suck all the joy out of you," said Harry, "and if they get the chance, they'll kiss you -"

"Kiss you?" Uncle Vernon's eyes almost exploded, "Kiss you?"

"That's what they call it when they suck the soul out of your mouth."

Aunt Petunia let out a scream.

"His soul? They didn't do that - he still has his -"

Aunt Petunia grabbed Dudley's shoulders and shook them, as if to check that she could hear Dudley's soul shaking inside her.

"Of course they didn't suck Dudley's soul away, you'd know if they did." Harry was irritated.

"So you fought them off, son?" Uncle Vernon said loudly, as if someone was trying to bring the conversation back to a level he could understand. "Beat them two-on-one, is that you, son?"

"He can't take on two Dementors one against two," Harry said through clenched teeth.

"Then why is he okay?" growled Uncle Vernon. "Why isn't he sucked out?"

"Because I cast the Patronus Charm -" Harry's chest heaved violently. Although such things were not uncommon, he was particularly angry now.

With a whoosh, a click, a flapping of wings, and a falling dust, the fourth owl flew out of the kitchen fireplace.

"By God," growled Uncle Vernon, and a large tuft of beard was pulled from his chin, an action he had not done in a long time. "I don't want to see owls here, I can't stand it anymore, I tell you!"

But Harry had already removed a roll of parchment from the owl's leg. He was pretty sure the letter was from Dumbledore, and it explained everything - the Dementors, Mrs. Figg, what the Ministry was going to do, how he and Dumbledore were supposed to smooth things over - but This was the first time in his life that he was disappointed to see Sirius' handwriting.

Pretending not to hear Uncle Vernon's complaints about the owl and not seeing how a few dust particles had fallen into Uncle Vernon's eyes as the owl flew back to the fireplace as he was closest, Harry read Sirius' note.

Arthur has told us everything that happened. Whatever you do, don't leave that house again. Harry found their response to tonight's events so inadequate that he closed the parchment and started looking for the rest of the letter, but there was nothing.

And Harry's temper rose again.

Didn't anyone say "well done" to him for defeating two dementors by himself? Neither Mr. Weasley nor Sirius acted as if he had behaved inappropriately, and were unwilling to speak to him until they had determined the damage he had caused.

"A peck mark, I mean the owl pecked here and flew out of my house. I don't want that, boy, I don't-"

"I can't stop the owl," Harry said, clenching Sirius' letter in his fist.

"I need the truth about what happened tonight!" cried Uncle Vernon. "If a Dementor had hurt Dudley, would you then have been expelled? You did that - you knew it, and you admitted it! "

Harry took a long, steady breath. His head felt hot again. The last thing he wanted to do right now was get out of the kitchen and away from the Dursleys.

"I killed the dementors with my Patronus magic," Harry said, forcing himself to calm down again. "It was the only thing that could stand against them."

"But what are the dementors doing in Little Waking Road?" Uncle Vernon said, raising his voice.

"Can't tell you," Harry said tiredly. "Because I don't know either." His head was flashing with stars.

Harry's anger gradually subsided. Harry felt dehydrated and exhausted. The Dursleys were all staring at him.

"It's you," Uncle Vernon said sternly. "It's you they're dealing with, boy, and I know that. Why else would they be here? Why would they be in the alley? You're the only one here - the only one ——”

Apparently, he couldn't bring himself to say the word wizard. "The only one - you know what I mean - you're the only one for miles around, oh no, but they've moved on."

"I don't know why they are here. Besides, Fanlin is in Egypt, and this matter has nothing to do with him." Harry tried his best not to think about it, but because of Uncle Vernon's words, Harry's exhausted brain restarted Entered into working state.

Why do dementors come to Xiaowei Jin Road? Why did they appear just as Harry arrived in the alley? How were they transported? Has the Ministry of Magic lost control of the Dementors? Or, as Dumbledore once predicted, will they abandon Azkaban and join Voldemort's camp?

Fan Lin also mentioned this before. Before leaving, Harry received a letter from Fan Lin and Hermione, asking him to be careful during the holiday...

"Are these dementors guarding some weird prison?" Uncle Vernon asked, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

"Yes," said Harry. If his head stopped hurting, if he could just leave the kitchen and go back to his dark bedroom to think...

"Oh! They're here to arrest you!" Uncle Vernon exclaimed happily, with the air of triumph of a man coming to an unassailable conclusion. "Right, kid? You broke the law!"

"Of course I didn't," said Harry, shaking his head as if to shoo away a fly, his mind now racing at full speed. So why?

"That must have been the one who sent them here," Harry said quietly, a statement that meant far more to him than to Uncle Vernon.

"Who is that person? Who must have sent them here?"

"Voldemort," Harry said. He didn't think the Dursleys were that strong. They would flinch when they heard the words wizard, magic or wand, but they didn't tremble at all when they heard the name of the most evil wizard in history.

"Voldemort, wait—" Uncle Vernon said, his face perking up again, a look of realization appearing in his pig-like eyes.

"I've heard that name before, and that person is -"

"My parents' murderer, yes," Harry said dully.

"But he's gone," said Uncle Vernon impatiently, without the slightest indication that he found discussing the murderer of Harry's parents a painful subject.

"That's what the big guy (referring to Hagrid) said, and he has escaped."

"He's back." Harry said seriously.

It was a very strange feeling, standing in Aunt Petunia's overly clean kitchen, next to the tall refrigerator and the big screen TV, calmly discussing Voldemort with Uncle Vernon.

The Dementors' visit to Little Waijin Road appears to have broken down the great, invisible wall between the non-magical and magical worlds of Privet Drive.

Harry's two lives seemed to be confused in a way, everything seemed upside down.

The Dursleys were asking for details about the wizarding world, but Mrs. Figg knew that Dumbledore, the Dementor soaring in Little Wedge Lane, might never return to Hogwarts.

Harry's head hurt even more.

"Back?" Aunt Petunia asked softly. She looked at Harry as if she had never seen him before.

And suddenly, for the first time in Harry's life, he was fully aware that Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister; he couldn't say why it struck him so powerfully at that moment; all he knew was that in He wasn't the only one in the house who knew what Voldemort's return meant.

Aunt Petunia had never looked at Harry like this in her life. Her huge, pale eyes (so unlike her sister) were not narrowed with disgust or anger, they were widened with fear.

Aunt Petunia's violent pretense that had been present throughout Harry's life - that magic didn't exist, that there was no other world but the one Vernon lived in - seemed to be fading away.

"Yes," said Harry, speaking directly to Aunt Petunia now, "he came back a month ago. I saw him."

Aunt Petunia's hands found their way to Dudley's leather-jacketed shoulders and took hold of them.

"Wait a minute," Uncle Vernon said. He looked at his wife, then at Harry, and then at his wife. It was obvious that he was dizzy and confused by this unusual understanding. It seemed that some kind of change had already occurred between them. happened.

"Wait! You said Voldemort has returned."

"Yes."

"Is he the one who killed your parents?"

"Yes."

"And now he's sending the dementors behind you."

"It looks like it," said Harry.

"I see," said Uncle Vernon, looking from his pale wife to Harry before pulling on his trousers. He looked in high spirits, his huge purple face stretching before Harry's eyes.

"Great, that settles that," he said, the front of his shirt wrinkled as he smoothed it down, "Can you get out of this house, kid!"

"What?" Harry asked.

"You heard me - get out!" growled Uncle Vernon, and this time even Aunt Petunia and Dudley jumped.

"Get out! Get out! I should have done this years ago! The owl used the house as a lounge, Din exploded, more than half the couches were destroyed, Dudley's tail, the markings around the ceiling and the car Flying Ford - get out! get out! You did it all! You're a record of history! If some lunatic is following you, you shouldn't be here anymore. You can't endanger my wife and kids. , you can’t bring us trouble. If you want to go down the same path as your useless parents, that’s what I have to do! Get out!”

Harry froze in place.

The letters from the Ministry, Mr. Weasley and Sirius were now in his left hand.

Don't leave this house again, and whatever you do, don't leave your uncle and aunt's house.

"You heard me!" Uncle Vernon leaned forward, his huge purple face so close to Harry that Harry actually thought Uncle Vernon's saliva would reach his face.

"Get out! You were so eager to leave half an hour ago! I was right behind you! Get out of here and don't ever set foot on our door again! I don't know why we took you in when we first saw you, Ma. Grid is right, the place you should be in is the orphanage. We overestimated our strengths, thought we could drive the magic out of you, thought we could make you normal, but you were rotten from the start , and I’ve had enough of it too – owls!”

The fifth owl fell down the chimney, falling so fast that it actually hit the ground before it could fly again, letting out a sharp, painful cry.

Harry raised his hand to grab the letter, which was wrapped in a red envelope, but the owl flew over his head and flew directly to Aunt Petunia. She let out a scream and quickly knelt down and hugged her with her arms. Hold your head.

The owl dropped the letter directly on Aunt Petunia's head, turned and flew away down the chimney. Harry rushed over to pick up the letter, but Aunt Petunia hit him.

"You can open it if you want," said Harry, "but I can hear what it says anyway. It's a wizard's howl."

"Let's stay away from it, Petunia!" cried Vernon.

"Don't touch it, it's dangerous!"

"It's addressed to me," said Aunt Petunia in a trembling voice. "It's addressed to me, Vernon, look! Mrs. Dursley Petunia in the kitchen of No. 4 Privet Drive. !" She held her breath in horror.

The red envelope cover has begun to smoke.

"Open it!" Harry urged. "If you don't open it quickly! It can do anything!"

"No!" Aunt Petunia's hands were shaking. She looked around the kitchen for an escape route, but it was too late—the envelope was already burning. Aunt Petunia screamed and threw the letter away. A terrible sound filled the kitchen, echoing in this small space. The sound came from the burning letter on the table.

"Remember me for the last time, Penny."

Aunt Petunia looked very weak. She slumped into the chair next to Dudley and buried her face in her hands. The rest of the letter burned to ashes in silence.

"What is this?" Uncle Vernon asked hoarsely. "What-what-not Petunia?"

Aunt Petunia said nothing.

Dudley stared at his mother stupidly, opening and closing his mouth.

An eerie silence lingered in the kitchen. Harry looked at his aunt, confused, his head starting to sting again.

"Petunia, darling?" Uncle Vernon asked timidly, "Petunia?"

Auntie raised her head. Her body was still shaking. Her throat was swallowing.

"This child - this child must stay here, Vernon," she said weakly.

"W-what?"

"He'll stay right here," said Aunt Petunia, without looking at Harry. She moved again.

"He...but Penny."

"If we kicked him out, the neighbors would talk about it," she said. She soon regained her usual brisk, boisterous demeanor, though her face remained pale. "They're going to ask embarrassing questions, they're going to ask where Harry is. We have to keep him."

Uncle Vernon was flat like an old tire. "But Penny, honey-"

Aunt Petunia ignored him. She walked straight towards Harry.

"You stay in your room," she said. "You don't leave the house. Go to bed now." But Harry didn't move.

"Who sent that wizard's howling letter?"

"Don't ask questions," Aunt Petunia stopped sharply.

"Do you still have contact with wizards?" Harry asked.

"I told you to get in bed!"

"What does that mean? Remember what was the last time?"

"Go to bed!"

"What's next?"

"You must listen to your aunt and go to bed now!" (To be continued)