Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 110: 109. Harry's Birthday and the Dursleys' First Magical Trip
"House elf," Harry added, "Any questions? I think you guys like him quite a bit."

"Of course," Uncle Vernon nodded repeatedly, "Only if no one finds out. Anyway, what I mean is - uh, where can we hire one? It's this kind of house-elves. I mean, this is much better than a nanny or a servant. Those guys are always..."

Uncle Vernon muttered a bunch of ugly words, mostly curse words.

The Dursleys once hired nannies and servants, but unfortunately they were all fired within a month.

Maybe those hired people did have more or less problems themselves, but Harry would not say against his conscience that the Dursleys had no problems. It was indeed difficult for a normal nanny to continue working in this family.

Perhaps house-elves were the only creatures that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon could find no fault with.

It can be seen that Alfu's diligence and ability, as well as the crucial role he played in negotiating this big deal today, even made Uncle Vernon temporarily put aside his disgust for the magical world and want to get a house-elf for his own home.

After all, the implication of Alfred's constant calling of Harry "Master" was quite obvious, and Harry had already said directly that he wanted to return to the Potter's old house in Godric's Hollow - to be honest, Uncle Vernon was quite supportive of this.

"I'm afraid it's difficult, uncle." Harry thought for a moment and said, "Even in the wizarding world, house-elves are a very rare creature. At least they only appear in wizarding noble families with a long history of hundreds of years. I was able to hire Alfred because of an accident."

It was indeed quite unexpected. Even Alfu himself did not expect that he just wanted to protect Harry Potter, but somehow he became Harry Potter's house-elf.

"Oh, okay," Uncle Vernon said with regret. His eyes kept scanning Harry's head and Alfred's body. He suddenly asked, "Then after your employment period is over, can you -"

"Alfred will only serve Master Harry!" Before Uncle Vernon could finish his words, Vernon, who was following behind and hearing the conversation, opened his eyes wide and screamed. He looked at Uncle Vernon as if he saw an enemy, "Alfred will always be the butler of the Potter family! Forever!"

Harry shrugged and said nothing.

All Uncle Vernon could do was sigh loudly...even Aunt Petunia, who was following behind, couldn't help but sigh.

"You are such a lucky boy!" Uncle Vernon said loudly, patting Harry on the shoulder again. "Anyway, let's go in quickly! There is still a long way to go today!"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked in surprise, "Are there any guests tonight?"

"Well, I can't really be considered a guest," Uncle Vernon said hesitantly. He seemed to be struggling to arrange the most appropriate words in his head. "Well, I mean there has really been no such thing before. This is very new... Uh, Penny?"

After saying some strange things along the way, when they walked into the living room, Uncle Vernon suddenly turned around and called out to his wife.

"Of course." Aunt Petunia pursed her lips, and Harry was sure that a reserved and subtle smile appeared on her face. "You may have forgotten, Harry, today is your birthday."

Birthday.

In a flash, Harry finally understood why Alfu had secretly used onions to tell him about the situation in the refrigerator.

"Actually it should be tomorrow. Your birthday is after twelve o'clock tonight," Uncle Vernon suddenly said, "but aren't we going to that valley tomorrow? The sooner we go, the sooner we can come back. To be honest, I can't wait to see the new holiday villa."

"No problem," Harry suddenly laughed, "Thank you, I'm glad."

How strange! Even in the second year after he suddenly returned to this world, he did celebrate the birthdays of Hermione and others, but Harry still couldn't match his own birthday with the birthday in this world where he was born.

It's no wonder. After all, in Harry's memory, everything related to the word birthday happened in the world of Azeroth. He was surrounded by many kind elders, friends or comrades... Well, sometimes he was surrounded by enemies, which was very unfriendly.

As for his original world... he had no memory of it - even the only thing he had quietly said to himself in the cupboard after the clock struck midnight was the blessing, which had long been forgotten by Harry into pieces.

But that was a long time ago, and now Harry was sure that when the sun rose tomorrow morning, his bed would be piled high with gifts from friends and supporters.

If there wasn’t a second Ah Fu showing up to intercept his letter.

"…Like your uncle said, we have other plans for tomorrow." Aunt Petunia walked quickly to the refrigerator and took out a plate of raspberry cake. "So we discussed it and decided to move things up - you don't mind, do you?"

It was a fairly exquisite cake, and although not as huge as the one given to Dudley, it was at least enough for four people, with lots of fruit.

"Of course not," Harry looked at his cousin, "Do you want me to blow out the candles?"

Although he had eaten a lot at dinner, Dudley still looked as if he wanted to eat the cake.

"Uh, wait a minute." Dudley slurped his saliva and rushed to the second floor. Then he rushed down again, holding a rather large object in his arms and bumped into Harry's arms. "Birthday present!"

"...Game console?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Super Nintendo!" Dudley had already cut a piece of cake for himself and said to Harry proudly, "I've read your letter. I just can't imagine that magic is so fun, but there are only so many entertainment options for wizards, and they are all boring. You should try the invincible Legend of Zelda. You're welcome."

Harry pulled out the cassette from the console. On it was a picture of a green man holding a shield, with a handsome long sword standing upright on a stone next to it.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

"Maybe it's because magic itself is fun enough." Harry shrugged and said, "Thanks, I'll give it a try."

The variety and fun of entertainment in the Muggle world are indeed far greater than those in the wizarding world.

"You'd better find a girlfriend first," Dudley said nonchalantly while devouring the cake. "I've already changed three, Harry, don't fall too far behind me."

"Oh, my little Dad, he is always so popular." Aunt Petunia's face was full of pride when she talked about it. She rushed over and kissed Dudley on the cheek. "I told you, if you lose some weight, no girl would be able to resist your charm."

Seeing this scene, Uncle Vernon also chuckled. He was quite proud of the fact that Dudley was very diligent in changing girlfriends, and he would even show off to others whenever he got the chance.

And Harry...once again, he really felt that children in the British environment were a little too precocious, so many things were quite strange.

——Except for allowing children to drink alcohol early.

Harry originally asked Jaina to send back the weight loss potion just so that his uncle and his family could have a healthy body and not get any disease due to obesity, but he didn't expect Dudley to become like this after losing weight.

In addition to gifts from Dudley, Harry also received birthday presents from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia for the first time. Uncle Vernon gave him a watch, and Aunt Petunia's gift was a hand-knitted scarf. Harry tried it on and found that the stitches were very dense and the pattern was beautiful.

Even Jaina received a gift, which was Aunt Petunia's homemade owl food, which Jaina loved very much.

Well, Harry also received some advice from these two people - more weight loss potions and beauty potions.

Especially the latter, the beauty potion sent back by Harry has made Aunt Petunia the most popular figure in the ladies' circle and has helped a lot in Uncle Vernon's career development.

No wonder Harry found that his aunt's family had changed a lot after returning from vacation.

But Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with this. After all, even the closest relationships needed to be maintained with care... This was enough for now.

After a wonderful night, when Harry was awakened by the sound of Jaina pecking at the cage the next morning, he saw the bedside full of gifts as he expected.

From his friends, from students at Hogwarts, from his supporters in the UK... Harry knocked on Dudley's door, and Dudley was happy to join in the opening of gifts - on the condition that Harry gave him all the candies or snacks sent by the wizards. Two words, deal.

Hermione gave Harry a new dental care set, while Ron gave him a new set of wizard chess. Neville's gift was a book, which he also found at home - "The Origin of Wizardry".

It wasn't a book about magical theory or family magic, but rather some records and conjectures about wizarding history. Harry thought it was a good source of interesting reading.

Several of his friends attached letters with their gifts, urging Harry to come to their homes as soon as possible. To be honest, Harry was really a bit headache-after all, he was quite busy during this holiday.

After thinking for a while, Harry quickly wrote a few words on the paper and tied it to Jaina's legs, and the good girl quickly rushed out of the window.

A letter to Rita Skeeter.

Harry decided to give this pretentious reporter another try, but if she couldn't play her part, then perhaps she should be shut up... Harry felt that it was a pure waste for Dumbledore's prestige to be eroded like this, both for Hogwarts and for the wizarding world.

After eating the breakfast carefully prepared by Alfred, Harry and the Dursleys stood at the door of their house - they were ready to travel by magical means.

This was indeed a brave step and a great attempt for the Dursleys.

Harry did study the public transportation system of the wizarding society, and the first and foremost one was the magic of Apparition, which allowed wizards to travel freely and secretly to wherever they wanted to go.

In addition to Apparition, the most trusted tool among wizards is Floo powder. However, before using Floo powder, the fireplace of the corresponding family must be connected to the Floo network. The Ministry of Magic will be responsible for this process. As a pure Muggle family, the Dursleys' fireplace is naturally not connected to the Floo network.

Then Harry found another mode of transportation that allowed him to travel to any place at will - the Knight Bus, which was said to be inspired by Muggles in order to meet the demand for a means of transportation that could be used safely and carefully by minors and the infirm.

Considering the need when the Knight Bus was created, Harry felt that his uncle and aunt would prefer the word safe and cautious.

The only thing that Harry found strange was the specific description of the Knight Bus in the book... The author of the book really praised the Knight Bus very much, and also recorded the comments of many people who had ridden the Knight Bus.

Unfailingly good reviews.

The comments were all like 'smooth arrival, amazing reliability, as long as it's within the UK, they can take you accurately no matter where you go', 'Every British wizard must ride the Knight Bus once, otherwise their life will be incomplete', 'Highly recommended, will definitely choose it again next time I travel'... This kind of words, in short, it seems quite reliable.

"Are you sure it's okay to stand like this, kid?" Uncle Vernon straightened his back and tried his best to avoid looking around. The weather in the early morning was not hot, but sweat had already seeped out of his forehead. "We don't have to do anything? Are you sure you have enough money to buy the tickets? I don't know if they accept pounds."

"Don't worry, dear." Aunt Petunia reached out and hugged Uncle Vernon's arm. Although she looked a little nervous, she was in much better condition than Uncle Vernon. "Wizards use a different currency - should it be okay, right? Harry?"

At the end of her words, Aunt Petunia looked at Harry. Well, actually this was her fourth time to confirm.

As for Dudley...this kid now wishes he could just fly.

"Definitely enough," Harry answered at a speed that left no room for doubt. He really didn't know of any bus that was so expensive that even a few hundred Galleons couldn't cover the fare. "Everyone, relax a little. You must have all ridden a double-decker bus, right? I read in a book that the Knight Bus was adapted from a Muggle bus."

"I read it in a book?" Uncle Fenon turned his head suddenly, his small eyes wide open, "So you haven't sat on it before, kid!"

"I thought you knew, Uncle," Harry said with an innocent look, "I only came into contact with the wizarding world last year."

The two of them stared at each other for two seconds.

"It should be fine," Harry added, "The Knight Bus was established to facilitate the travel of underage wizards and the infirm. It has a history of more than 1865 years since its establishment in . It can be said that it has withstood the test of history. All you need to do is hold out your wand and stand by the road, and it will appear in front of wizards who need to go somewhere else at the fastest speed."

"...It seems to make some sense," Uncle Fenon said somewhat angrily.

Compared to some new things, he does have more trust in things that have been around for a longer time and have gone through the test of various situations.

“Something has appeared!!”

Dudley suddenly shouted excitedly - in fact, his voice was slower than the speed of the car appearing. When Dudley shouted the first word, the car had already stopped in front of the four people.

This was a three-decker bus of bright purple color. Just as Harry had said, its appearance was no different from the ordinary three-decker buses in the Muggle world, except that on the huge windshield at the front were written the words "Knight Bus" in large golden letters.

But this is not the point. The point is that this car seems to have just rushed out of the comics that Dudley loves to read. The whole car is very dynamic - its lower part is braked abruptly, while its upper part seems to be unable to stop and protrudes to the front, and then quickly shrinks back, like a huge piece of jelly, bouncing back and forth quickly several times.

"...Are you sure there's nothing wrong with it, boy?" Uncle Fenon whispered.

In response to this question, Harry quickly replied.

“Trust in history.”

Believe it, you can believe it.

"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus! This is an emergency transport for witches or wizards in distress. Just hold out your wand and step aboard, and we'll take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I'm your conductor—"

This Thornpark seemed to have memorized this passage by heart, and his speaking speed was such that he would not miss any exciting scenes even if he was commentating on the most intense Quidditch match.

When the sunlight penetrated the car's cabin, through the translucent glass, Harry and the other three saw several brass bed frames inside the cabin. The beds were covered with dark purple sheets. There were also dark purple curtains embroidered with golden stars hanging on both sides of the windows.

"—and this is Ern Plan, our driver. So, where are you going, dears?"

As Harry and his friends carefully examined the Knight Bus, the conductor named Sampark finally followed his professional ethics and said what he should say when he first met a customer.

And on the other side...

“Believe in history?”

This is Uncle Vernon.

"Emergency passenger transport?"

This is Aunt Petunia.

“Why didn’t the car fly from the sky?”

This is Dudley.

"Destination Godric's Hollow, two adults and two children, are there any discounts for buying tickets?"

This is Harry.

(End of this chapter)