Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 18. Is this my letter? (Seeking votes during the new book launch period)

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and the "mysterious disappearance of glass" incident at the reptile house was naturally blamed on Harry, after all, there had been too many strange things happening around him since he was a child.

Actually, it's not really the fault of Harry; it was Harry's fault all along.

For this, the Dursleys gave Harry the harshest punishment: forbidding him from eating bacon and salted meat for a week, depriving him of his right to drink soda, and allowing him only to eat fish and chips.

Harry looked dejected and mournful.

Actually, fish and chips aren't that bad; they were quite delicious the first time I tried them.

but.

Whenever Penny is too lazy to cook, she'll serve you this dish, and after a while, you'll stop liking it.

The cod, which had been frozen for too long and had lost all its texture, was paired with dry, crumbly fries, making it an absolutely unpalatable dish.

According to Harry's recollection, he didn't feel happy for a whole week.

One day in July.

Harry was helping Petunia clean up.

"Dressley, a letter from your household."

The postman's voice came from outside the door, followed by a click from the mailbox. The mail hadn't been put in the mailbox at all; it had all scattered onto the doormat.

Vernon was lying on the sofa reading the newspaper when he saw Dudley coming out after his morning exercise and a shower.

"Dali, go get the letter."

"Okay." He walked to the door and took out the letters; there were three in total.

One was a postcard from Aunt Maggie; she was traveling. Another was a bill, I think it was for electricity. And the last one was addressed to Harry Potter.

The writing was in emerald green ink. There was no stamp. On the other side of the envelope was a wax seal, a coat of arms, and a capital "H" surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.

What's meant to happen will happen.

Dali carefully checked his mailbox and, after confirming that his email was missing, felt a strange sense of loss.

He casually handed the bill and postcard to Vernon.

"Oh dear. Maggie's sick," Vernon said to Penny. "She ate some contaminated whelks."

He then opened the envelope containing the bill, gave a disgusted snort, and thought that no one liked bills. Vernon looked at the last letter in Dudley's hand.

"Dali, is that your letter? It's such a strange material, parchment? Who uses that stuff anymore?"

"This is for Harry." Dudley waved the recipient's name in front of Vernon.

Upon hearing this, the house instantly became eerily quiet; you could hear a pin drop.

Vernon, Petunia, and Harry all looked at Dudley, or rather, at the letter in his hand.

Who will send Harry a letter?

This question left not only the Dursleys baffled, but Harry was also completely confused.

"Yes, who would send me a letter?"

Vernon snatched the letter from Dudley and opened it with one hand, reading it aloud.

Harry didn't mind; he just wanted to know what was written inside, so he came over.

Vernon only read the first line, and his face instantly turned from red to green, faster than a traffic light. Within seconds, his face turned ashen, like gray oatmeal.

"Pepe and Penny, it's them!"

Those few words seemed to have used up all his strength.

Before Harry could even read it, the letter was in Petunia's hands. Again, she only read the first line, then clutched her forehead, swayed as if about to faint, then grabbed her throat, choked, and looked like she was about to pass out.

Harry became even more curious; he had never seen his aunt with such an expression before.

"Aunt Penny, what does it say?"

Harry curiously leaned closer, only to find that Petunia had already put the letter away.

"This is not something children should know."

Dudley could tell that Penny was trying hard to control her emotions and avoid breaking down.

"Vernon and I have something to discuss. You two go to the room on the second floor first."

"Okay, Auntie."

Harry behaved like a good boy.

"D-bro, do you know what happened?" Harry asked Dudley curiously as soon as he entered the room.

Perhaps because he spent so much time with Dudley, Harry was much more mature than he appeared.

He knew that instead of asking Penny and Vernon, he should ask his older cousin.

Dudley patted Harry's head, his tone like a farewell: "Harry, it's possible you won't be able to go to the same high school as me."

"Why?!" Harry's voice rose several octaves, then he realized something and asked urgently, "Is it because of that letter?"

"Vernon." Aunt Penny said in a trembling voice outside the door, "What should we do? Vernon? Should we write back and tell them we don't want him... We finally managed to treat him like our own child."

"Penny, I won't let them take anyone away. Didn't we swear an oath when we brought him in to completely sever ties with those things?"

"."

Dudley heard Penny sobbing and Vernon roaring angrily.

He had known this day would come, and he thought his parents were already prepared. However, he did not expect that when it actually happened, his parents' reaction would be even stronger than he had anticipated.

One letter threw the Dursleys into complete chaos.

Even the clueless Harry knew that something big was about to happen, and that his life might be changed because of it.

Penny and Vernon eventually burned the letter, intending to ignore it and prevent the incident from happening.

Dudley knew this was just the beginning.

The alarm clock rang precisely at six o'clock the next morning.

As the saying goes, "The early bird catches the worm," and Dali got out of bed and began his daily workout.

First, do a simple warm-up to loosen up your body.

Perform one-handed push-ups, dumbbell exercises, and resistance band exercises one by one.

Just as Dali was about to finish his morning exercise, the postman arrived on time.

"Dressley, a letter from your household."

The ink was the same emerald green as always, and it was another letter to Harry, but this time it wasn't one letter, but three.

Upon hearing the news, Vernon rushed over and tore the three letters to shreds in front of Harry.

Harry remained expressionless and unresponsive, showing no curiosity whatsoever. He knew the letter would separate him from Dudley, and he wanted to go to Smetine High School with Dudley.

On this day, Vernon nailed the mailbox shut.

Six letters on the third day

Twelve letters on the fourth day.

Starting from the second day, the number doubled every other day.

Until Sunday.

"No mailman on Sundays, and no damned letters," Vernon said cheerfully.

As soon as he finished speaking, something tumbled down the kitchen chimney and hit him hard on the back of the head. Then, countless letters shot out of the fireplace like bullets, instantly filling the entire room.

Today, it's not the postman delivering mail anymore, but owls; owls are everywhere outside the Dursleys' yard.

Looking at the pile of letters filling the entire room, Dali remained completely unmoved.

"It seems I'm destined to never be at Hogwarts."

Following Vernon's instructions, Dudley threw piles of letters into the burning fireplace.

In a daze, Dudley's peripheral vision caught sight of a letter, and his heart skipped a beat for no reason. Dudley quickly reached through the fireplace to retrieve the letter, but unfortunately, because the fire was too strong, by the time Dudley managed to salvage it, most of the letter had been burned, especially the recipient's section in the upper left corner, which was completely unrecognizable. Under Dudley's careful examination, he could vaguely make out that the name did not start with Harry's H, but with a large D.

"Could this be my letter?!"

(End of this chapter)