Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 116 115. The Dursleys' Changes and Dumbledore's Sigh
Then the scene changed, the forest turned into hills, and the wooden sun moved again, shining on the three witches and the knight as they walked down the hill hand in hand.

"And so, the four of them lived very happily for a long time, but none of them knew, and they never doubted, that the water from the Fountain of Luck did not have any magic at all." This was Dumbledore's voice, and the old man slowly made his final summary of the performance.

A very educational and standard ending to a fairy tale.

After Dumbledore finished speaking, Harry clapped his hands vigorously. Aunt Petunia's applause was no less than that of her son. Following their enthusiastic applause, even Uncle Vernon started to applaud.

"So what is this?" Harry asked.

"The Fountain of Luck, a fairy tale for wizards," Dumbledore said happily.

He clapped his hands, and the four little men and the adventurous land and forest where they stood shrank rapidly in an instant until they turned into six sugar cubes and jumped back onto the table.

"This is amazing, Harry, you've missed so much." Dudley turned his head and said to Harry excitedly, "Is this magic? It's so cool! He just clapped his hands, and these candies turned into those things just now - they can run, jump, and even talk!"

Dudley kept gesturing with his hands, trying to use his description and actions to make Harry understand what had just happened, so much so that his cheeks seemed to turn red due to excessive excitement.

"We really can't wait for you, so we had dinner first at Alfred's request." Dumbledore shrugged and said, "You have a great butler, Harry. In his words, it would be embarrassing for you to let the guests who come to the Potter mansion go hungry. He can't allow this to happen."

"Alfred is right," Harry said with a smile, "I would feel guilty for letting you go hungry - of course I also want to thank you, my great headmaster. You performed a perfect show for my family, and my aunt loved it."

This is the truth. After Dumbledore's performance just now, Aunt Petunia's applause was even louder than Dudley's. Even now, she could not hide the excitement on her face.

"Well, it is somewhat," Aunt Petunia said somewhat reservedly. She was still smiling, still the kind of excited smile that she tried to suppress but couldn't. "I mean, it's all very interesting, isn't it? Very magical and very fun. Dudley likes it very much, too."

Although the Dursleys could not figure out the meaning behind what Dumbledore had just performed, nor did they know how powerful the magic skills displayed by the old man were, they could at least see something new and interesting - it was fun.

This was something the Dursleys would never be able to see no matter how many Muggle magic shows they attended. To be honest, they even felt that just based on what they had seen and experienced today, the crazy bus trip in the morning was worth it.

...Is it worth it?

When Uncle Fenon thought about this, he felt as if his stomach was starting to alarm again, and he also felt dizzy...

"So why didn't Amata go to the Fountain of Good Luck in the end?" Dudley suddenly asked with a frown.

"What do you think, kid?" Dumbledore said cheerfully without giving a direct answer.

"Because when she first crossed the river, Amata pulled out all the beautiful memories of her disappeared lover from her head and washed them away by the river?" Dudley scratched his head and kept thinking. This was indeed a very difficult thing for him.

"But didn't she go looking for the Fountain of Luck to relieve her pain and longing?" Dudley said with a distressed look on his face.

"Oh, my dear little Dad," Aunt Petunia said lovingly while looking at Dudley who was thinking, "Is it possible that it is because she threw away all her good memories of her lover that she no longer suffers and misses him?"

"...Ah! Because she is left with only hatred and resentment!" Dudley suddenly realized, "After all, it is normal to wish your partner dead after breaking up."

Dudley's words made Dumbledore's smile disappear, and his face became very stiff.

What is this nonsense?

Why do children nowadays have such perceptions?
"... dear?" Aunt Petunia asked softly, her eyes suddenly becoming sharp as she looked at her husband.

"Well, that's a good question indeed." Pretending not to notice his wife's look, Uncle Vernon said solemnly, "Speaking of which, what does this ending mean? The four of them - I mean, three witches and a knight lived very happily for a long time - I don't mean anything else, I'm just curious."

Dumbledore: "..."

“Hahaha, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Witnessing all this, Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing - he rarely saw such an expression on Dumbledore's face, well, this expression could perhaps be called speechless.

Today was a very significant and special day for both Harry and the Dursleys.

For the first time, Harry hosted the Dursleys in his home. Also for the first time, the Dursleys had a clear understanding - their nephew had grown up. In other words, everyone could see that Harry wanted very much to return to his own home.

Even though they had told Harry to his face countless times in the past eleven years that he was an unwanted burden, when this burden actually wanted to leave his family, the Dursleys all had a subtle and complex feeling in their hearts.

Is that reluctance?
There must be some truth to this.

Perhaps there was also the relief of being freed from the constraints, no longer having to worry about the neighbors discovering the unusual security of their home, as well as a hint of reluctance to leave Alfu - even though they only enjoyed Alfu's service yesterday, everyone in the Dursley family fell in love with that feeling of comfort and ease.

The complexity of human hearts is always difficult to describe in simple language.

Alfred had already cleaned the guest room, and the Dursleys would stay here today—in a wizarding mansion that they had always been hostile to and fearful of, and even in a village where a large number of wizards lived.

As if fulfilling the fantasies left over from her childhood, Aunt Petunia strolled through the old mansion, accompanied carefully by her husband. In contrast, Dudley was much bolder and rushed around recklessly.

Fortunately, with Alfu watching secretly, Harry didn't have to worry about them getting hurt.

What Harry didn't expect was that even his difficult aunt and her family chose to stay here tonight, but Dumbledore insisted on leaving and refused to spend the night outside no matter how he invited him.

"I thought it was normal to stay over at a friend's house," Harry joked as he stood at the entrance of the garden.

The Potters' garden looked shabby because it had not yet been cleaned up. Especially after a large pile of broken things sorted out from the room were piled up, the garden looked even more sad, like a garbage dump.

Alfred didn't even dare to look out the window. If he looked out, his dignity as a house-elf would begin to shatter, and he would bang his head against the wall - Harry had to give an order to stop Alfred from punishing himself.

"You have to know, Harry," Dumbledore said humorously, "when you reach my age, you will understand how many inconveniences a centenarian has in life. Anyway, thank you very much for your invitation. If you want to hold a banquet full of Minotaur characteristics here next time, please be sure to invite me."

"I cook for you myself?" "Yes, you have to cook for me yourself." Dumbledore winked playfully. "To be honest, sometimes I dream about the taste of those dishes at night."

"Then you better be careful not to eat the pillow," Harry chuckled.

Having said this, both of them laughed for a while.

"Speaking of which, is there any way to limit the Apparition that is unique to house-elves?" Harry suddenly asked: "The Anti-Apparition Charm can only limit the Apparition of wizards, which is not safe enough."

"...Yes, I can. If you need it, I can find the spell and send it to you after I go back, but do you really want to do this?" Dumbledore said in surprise, "Once you cast this spell on your house, Alfred won't be able to appear in front of you immediately when you shout."

Just as Harry had guessed before, the wizards deliberately released the house-elves out of the recognition range of the Anti-Apparition Charm in order to make it easier for them to serve them.

"That's exactly what I want," Harry said sincerely. "I don't know if Fawkes told you how I met Alfred. At that time, he was still called Dobby, but I really don't want a strange house-elf to suddenly appear in front of me one day, and I can't do anything about it by flashing here and there."

"Oh, if that's the case... then I think what you need is actually another spell," Dumbledore said after thinking for a moment, "It allows only the house elves you allow to Apparate in and out of your house at will."

"Is it possible?" Harry said with some surprise, "It sounds great."

This spell was very good. To be honest, Harry felt that it would be a bit unfriendly to Alfred if he couldn't Apparate at will in the house. After all, it would greatly increase Alfred's workload and fatigue.

"Of course," Dumbledore said with a smile, "I will send you both spells, you can use them as you need them - so you have completely decided to live here?"

As he said this, Dumbledore glanced inside the Potter's old house.

"Almost," Harry explained, "I plan to invite my uncle and aunt to stay at my house for a few days every holiday. This way, I can live with my blood relatives at home for a period of time. You don't have to worry about the magic my mother left on me losing its effect."

"It seems that you have made your own plans." Dumbledore nodded slightly and said, "To be honest, Harry, before today, I could never imagine that you could get along with your uncle's family like this... I am surprised, very surprised."

he repeated.

Perhaps he should have added the word "gratified", but this word was a bit condescending to a friend, so Dumbledore did not say it.

"It's not difficult," Harry shook his head and said, "Whether it's Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon, there are only a few reasons why they can't get along with me normally. They can be easily resolved by just dealing with them."

"Yes, Harry, that's true," Dumbledore sighed and said, "But many times people know what is the right thing to do, but they never go in the right direction... for various reasons."

"It sounds like you don't get along very well with your family," Harry said sharply, and then saw Dumbledore's frozen smile as he wished.

After thinking about it, Harry still didn't say the name he saw in the church cemetery.

"...Oh, your instincts are not very friendly, Harry," Dumbledore muttered. "I think you probably don't like to hear an old man nagging you, so I'd better shut up now - Goodbye!"

As if he was chasing someone away, Dumbledore pushed Harry towards the direction of the Potter mansion. In his words, he wanted to take a walk outside by himself and asked Harry to leave him alone... Considering the name and the fact that this was Godric's Hollow, Harry did not insist and walked into the house after saying goodbye.

Standing on the cobblestone street, Dumbledore looked around. As it was almost late at night, the lights in some houses in Godric's Hollow had dimmed, while others were still brightly lit, with noisy sounds drifting out from the open windows.

He could see that Harry had walked into the Potter mansion, and in the flickering blur of a figure illuminated by the light, he seemed to be sitting by the window in the living room... Alfred had drawn the curtains.

Shrugging his shoulders, Dumbledore put his hand back into his robes. He looked carefully at the house in front of him, which had changed its appearance in the night. For so many years, this house had been frozen in a state of ruins in his memory.

But now, even if you just look at it from the outside, the house has become alive. Not only has it gotten rid of the ruin-like state, but even the rampantly growing ivy and other plants have disappeared, and there is even no hole in the roof...that was repaired by himself.

Thinking of his miserable life over the past year, Dumbledore couldn't help but sigh deeply - why did things suddenly turn out like this? ?
When did the name Dumbledore become associated with hard labor?

Is this reasonable?

Then there was another sigh.

Since the boy entered the wizarding world, many things have happened far beyond Dumbledore's expectations, and there are countless undercurrents behind the scenes that he cannot see.

Dumbledore did make another attempt, but the reaction he got from Harry Potter always made him hesitant. Many times he didn't know whether he should react more violently or turn a blind eye - and he finally chose to let it go.

In other words, he had no choice but to let it go.

Many years ago, when Dumbledore first met Tom, who later became Voldemort, he was surprised to find that the boy possessed powerful innate magical abilities and could cast some small magic on his own even before entering Hogwarts.

And this is exactly what Dumbledore was worried about, because he saw in Tom his handsome looks and decent manners, as well as wisdom and maturity far beyond his peers, but he did not see sympathy for others, and he was full of a strong desire for control and superiority, and, well, a desire for power.

At that time, Dumbledore used his powerful magical skills to suppress Tom's cleverness, and ordered him to return the things he had stolen from other children to the corresponding people. This was also something Dumbledore regretted later - if he had adopted a completely different and friendly attitude to guide education, would Tom have taken a completely different path later?
What he did at that time was essentially using more powerful magical power to suppress a weak person. It was this experience that made Tom at that time deeply realize that magic is power.

Now, decades later, Dumbledore had been thinking deeply since the day Harry entered Hogwarts and showed his uniqueness. He did hesitate whether to treat Harry the same way he did to young Tom decades ago.

What Dumbledore wanted to do was not to subdue Harry by magic, but to think about whether to restrain Harry under his control. After all, Harry at that time had shown too much of himself and seemed to be reckless, which was the most terrifying thing in Dumbledore's view - but it didn't take long for him to give up this idea.

Compared to Tom in the past, Harry is a little too strong.

In the first class of the Shaman Club, each of the four elemental giants that appeared at the beginning was close to the height of Gryffindor Tower, and their power far exceeded the limits of ordinary wizards.

In Dumbledore's opinion, even defeating just one of the elemental giants would probably require the cooperation of hundreds of ordinary wizards, and there would be heavy casualties.

But Harry can summon four such elemental giants at a time.

Although Harry said that the four elements had their own positions and wills, and the four elemental giants also fought each other according to his teaching content, Dumbledore couldn't help but think - is this a deterrent?
(End of this chapter)