The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 462 Ada's Progress

Be it an open conspiracy or an overt one, the Ministry of Magic has already used this trick, and it all depends on how Dumbledore responds.

Dumbledore was not without precautions. He was well aware of the despicable methods used by the Ministry of Magic, but he had entrusted his trust to the wrong person.

In order to protect Harry's safety, Dumbledore took great pains. Not only did he find a way to extend the underage protection law on Harry, he also arranged for Mrs. Figg, a Squib, to secretly take care of Harry.

Now that Voldemort has returned, Harry's security level has naturally been upgraded accordingly. Dumbledore has arranged bodyguards for Harry to work in shifts to protect Harry's safety.

Today's bodyguard is Mundungus Fletcher, an unreliable fellow.

It was because of Mundungus Fletcher's absence from his post that Harry lost the protection he deserved, allowing the Ministry of Magic to succeed in its trick.

In the kitchen of number 4 Privet Drive, under Vernon's repeated questioning, Harry told Vernon everything that happened tonight.

But Vernon didn't believe Harry, especially after the delirious Dudley made the wrong identification.

Vernon shouted at the top of his lungs, "You cast a queer spell on my son that made him hear voices in his head and think he was... he was going to die, wasn't he?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" said Harry, his voice rising in anger, "It wasn't me. It was the Dementors!"

"What?" cried Vernon, puzzled. "Two of those crazy things?"

A Muggle could be forgiven for not understanding Dementors, since they can't see them.

Harry said word by word: "Dementors! Two of them! I cast the Patronus Charm and drove away the Dementors, so we can both come back safely!"

"What the hell is this Dementor?" Vernon demanded, the fat on his face trembling with anger.

"They guard the wizard prison Azkaban." Petunia, who was taking care of Dudley, suddenly said.

There was a two-second silence after the words came out, and then Aunt Petunia suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, as if she had accidentally said a disgusting swear word. Vernon stared at his wife with wide eyes.

Petunia looked at Vernon apologetically. She wanted to explain to her husband, but Ada spoke before her.

"I suppose it's normal for Mrs. Dursley to know what Dementors are, since her sister is a witch."

Penny's expression became as ugly as if she had eaten a dead fly. She had been trying her best to hide herself for so many years, but in fact she remembered everything she knew about the wizarding world.

Vernon opened his mouth and closed it, then opened and closed it again.

After a moment, he said hoarsely, "If, I mean, what you're talking about really exists, what are they - what are these monsters?"

"You can think of them as depression, Mr. Dursley. It feeds on positive emotions such as human happiness, driving people crazy and even losing the courage to live." Ada said, "I don't think now is the time to dwell on these. For Harry's sake, I can help your son."

At this moment, another owl fluttered into the kitchen, this was the third one tonight. This owl brought an official letter, the latest punishment notice for Harry.

Ada and Harry didn't know how Dumbledore talked to the Ministry of Magic, but the Ministry of Magic changed the previous sentence and would make a decision when Harry went to stand trial on August 12.

The alarm was lifted. At least for a short period of time, there was no need to worry about the Ministry of Magic doing anything bad again. Dumbledore's personal visit made the Ministry of Magic restrain itself a lot. Now the only problem left was the Dursleys.

"What's the matter?" said Vernon gruffly. "Have they sentenced you? Do your kind have the death penalty?"

"I'm going to stand trial," said Harry, who was used to Vernon's rough treatment. Harry was more worried about the trial than Vernon.

Harry was used to it, but Ada had never seen it!
Ada knew that the Dursleys treated Harry badly, even meanly and abusively. But she never expected Vernon Dursley to ask such a question!
Growing up in such a terrible environment, he not only did not become evil, but was actually very kind-hearted. He is truly worthy of being Harry Potter!
Ask yourself, if she and Harry were to switch roles, she would never be able to do what Harry did. Ada would only let the Dursleys know what cruelty is.

For example, now, Ada really wants to go to the North Sea to catch a few Dementors and then throw them all in front of the Dursleys.

"If this is all over, I would like to have a private chat with my friend..."

"No!" Vernon roared fiercely, "Dudley! I want to know what's wrong with my son... with him!"

Vernon's continuous questioning and yelling, his rudeness and stupidity not only made Ada, who was watching, angry, but also made Harry angry again.

Harry stood up suddenly, holding his wand tightly, the tip of the wand kept spurting out sparks, the chandelier flickered, and the furnishings in the kitchen trembled constantly.

Not allowing underage wizards to cast spells outside of school is not only to comply with the International Statute of Secrecy, but also for their own sake.

The underage wizards have good and bad grasp of magic, and some of them have unstable magical powers and weak control, so they are prohibited from casting spells outside of school.

Harry's previous boasting of Maggie and his current behavior are manifestations of his magic being out of control. If it cannot be well controlled and allowed to continue to be out of control, it may be dangerous to Harry himself and others.

Ada quickly stood up and turned Harry towards her. She looked into his eyes and said softly, "Calm down, Harry. Calm down! Leave the rest to me. I'm here."

Maybe it was Ada's ring that worked, or maybe it was Ada's emerald eyes that made Harry feel at ease... In any case, Harry calmed down, his hands were no longer clenched, the chandelier stopped flickering, and the furnishings in the room stopped shaking.

Seeing Harry sitting on the sofa like a deflated ball, Ada walked towards Vernon. She said in an imperative tone, "Sit down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Vernon's eyes became dull and he sat down on the ground with a "duang" sound.

Vernon woke up all of a sudden, probably because his butt hurt too much. He struggled to get up, but his body was not obedient. He tried several times but failed to stand up from the ground.

"It's you!" Vernon finally recognized the girl in front of him. Three summers ago, this girl had used the same tone to make him let go.

"Don't move if you know me. If you move, I'll kill you!" Ada said, "Now, let's solve the problem. Dementors appeared in Little Whinging tonight and attacked Harry and Dudley Dursley. Is there a problem?"

Ada's momentum was not something Harry could match. Once she became serious, Vernon immediately became much more honest. Vernon nodded, although this idiot still didn't understand what a Dementor was.

"Very good. Next, Harry used magic to drive away the Dementors and protected himself and Dudley Dursley. Harry was punished for using magic outside of school. Is there a problem?" Ada continued.

Vernon grunted, a mosquito-like sound that was very different from his size. He said, "No."

"Very good. For some special reasons, although you may be reluctant, Harry must stay in your house. Is there a problem?" Vernon didn't speak, nor nodded or shook his head, just sat on the ground.

"Do you understand, Mr. Dursley? If you do, give me a reply." Ada urged softly, looking down at Vernon Dursley who was sitting on the ground.

"Impossible!" Vernon said excitedly, "Here, there is only one person in this place... He is the only one! That thing must have come here because of him. I can't let this kid stay, no way!"

Vernon didn't dare to say the word "wizard". His heart was full of fear of wizards, but for the sake of his wife and children, he mustered up all his courage and said "no" firmly.

Moreover, Vernon discovered part of the truth about the "Dementor Attack" incident, and found that it was not a coincidence, but was aimed at Harry. Perhaps his brain blood supply suddenly became sufficient, and his smart IQ took over again.

"It's such a pity that we couldn't reach a consensus!" Ada said, "It doesn't matter, it will be the same if we change someone else. How about Sirius Black? Harry's murderous godfather?"

As if she had been informed in advance, as soon as Ada said Sirius' name, an owl immediately flew into number 4 Privet Drive. The fourth owl tonight brought a handwritten letter from Sirius.

"I've had enough. Let him, let this brat and these annoying owls get out of my house!" Vernon screamed hysterically, "And you! I don't care who you are, I will never allow a lunatic to hurt my family!"

Ignoring the crazy Vernon, he couldn't break free anyway. Ada went to read the letter first. Sirius wrote on the letter: Stay there! No matter what, you must not leave the house again. I will pick you up as soon as possible.

The letter was short, even shorter than Mr. Weasley's, so short that Harry felt that Sirius was too unkind and his reaction was too bland. He had driven away two Dementors by himself tonight, and was there no one who said "well done" to him?
Fortunately, there was a sentence in the letter: "I'll pick you up as soon as possible", so Harry's mood did not fall to the bottom again.

Vernon was still yelling at Harry to get out of his house and not bring danger to his wife and children.

The noise was so loud that it made people's brains hurt. Ada waved her left hand in front of Vernon's eyes, and the world finally became quiet.

"Mrs. Dursley, I think you should know Professor Dumbledore, right?" Ada walked slowly towards Petunia and said meaningfully, "Professor Dumbledore asked me to say hello to you."

Penny said in a trembling voice: "I don't need his greetings... I don't need them..."

Ada tilted her head and motioned Petunia to look at Vernon. She said, "I don't think you want Professor Dumbledore to visit you in person, do you? Harry, he must stay."

Petunia's breathing became rapid. Dumbledore's name and his personal visit frightened Petunia, and she looked like she would faint at any moment.

Petunia's body was still shaking. She swallowed hard and said weakly to her husband, "The child - the child must stay here, Vernon."

"Very good! We have reached a consensus!" said Ada. "Now the only problem left is Dudley Dursley."

As she spoke, Ida sat back on the sofa and untied Vernon. After regaining his freedom, Vernon was as deflated as an old tire, his eyes full of doubt and confusion.

Ada took off her shoulder bag and reached her arm into it. After searching for a long time, she finally took out a glass bottle from the bag. The liquid inside was golden yellow like the sun.

"Give this to your cousin." Ada said as she put the bottle of medicine into Harry's hand.

"This is……"

"The joy potion will give people a strong sense of happiness after drinking it. The side effect is that sometimes they can't stop singing." Ada explained, "But it doesn't matter, I added peppermint to it, so this potion won't have any side effects."

Harry nodded and walked towards Dudley with the potion.

But Vernon and Petunia were very worried. They didn't want their son to come into contact with anything related to magic, even though the color of the joy potion was beautiful.

"Whatever, drink it or not!" Harry said angrily, "Just let your dada continue like this!"

After saying that, Harry threw the bottle over angrily, and Penny subconsciously reached out to catch the bottle.

The couple looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They didn't want Dudley to drink the potion, but they also didn't want their son to continue to be so stupid and dumb that he couldn't even speak clearly.

After hesitating for a long time, Petunia finally made up her mind and poured the entire bottle of golden potion into Dudley's mouth.

In an instant, Dudley's pale face turned much rosier, and a happy smile spread across his face.

The way to deal with Dementors is the Patronus Charm, and casting the Patronus Charm requires not only superb skills, but also a happy memory. Therefore, happiness and joy are the indispensable factors to resist Dementors.

This can be considered as the right medicine for the disease. The happiness brought by the euphoria can alleviate the damage caused by the Dementors to Dudley to a certain extent.

The problems were basically solved, Dudley got better, and Ada successfully completed the task assigned by Dumbledore.

She put her small satchel back on her back and left the Dursleys' kitchen.

Harry caught up with Ada on the lawn in front of number 4 Privet Drive. He wanted to see her off. Harry said, "Thank you for tonight."

"You're welcome." Ada said, "Do you know there's an orphanage nearby?"

"I know." Harry nodded. "It's not too far from Privet Drive."

Ida said, "That's good. I'll stay there temporarily. If any trouble arises before Sirius comes to pick you up, let Hedwig find me there."

"Well," said Harry, "you should be careful too. Things are not peaceful right now."

"I think you can have a heart-to-heart talk with your aunt. She seems to be hiding a lot of secrets. About your mother, about Dumbledore."

"I don't think she would like to talk to me about this." Harry smiled and said helplessly.

The two waved goodbye, and Harry stood at the door of the house and watched Ada walk to the street.

Just when Harry thought Ada would Apparate away, Ada suddenly turned around and looked at him.

"Harry! Great job tonight!" Ada said with a smile as she backed away.

(End of this chapter)