Chapter 794 (1/2)
Harry was frozen, his feet on the stairs, his face taut.
”Boy! Come here With a mixture of fear and anger, Harry slowly moved his feet off the stairs and turned to follow the Dursleys. After the darkness outside, the carefully cleaned kitchen gave off a strange, unreal flash.
Aunt Petunia placed Dudley in a chair, and Dudley was still green and looked wet and cold.
Uncle Vernon stood in front of the drain cover and looked at Harry through his small, slit eyes.
”What have you done to my son?” He growled in a threatening tone.
”Nothing.” Harry replied that he knew very well that Uncle Vernon would not believe him.
”What did he do to you, Dudley?” Asked Aunt Petunia, in a trembling voice, as she sponged the vomit in front of Dudley's leather jacket. ”Is it - isn't it - you know what I mean, dear? Did he - did he use that thing? ”
Dudley nodded slowly and tremblingly. ”I didn't!” When Aunt Petunia let out a wail and Uncle Vernon raised his fist, Harry cried out, ”I did nothing to him! That's not me! It was - ”
but just then, a long eared owl swooped in through the kitchen window. Nearly hitting Uncle Vernon's head, he glided through the kitchen, dropped a large piece of parchment letter that he had in his mouth at Harry's feet, then turned gracefully, with the end of its wings over the top of the refrigerator, then flew out again, soaring up, and disappearing through the garden.
”Owl!” Uncle Vernon roared, the blood vessels surging in his face as he slammed the kitchen windows. ”Another owl! I will never let another owl into my house again
But Harry had already ripped open the envelope and pulled the letter out, and somewhere in his heart he was hit hard.
Dear Mr. Porter:
we have received information that at 9:23 this evening in the Muggle neighborhood, you performed the patron saint spell in front of a Muggle. This is a violation of section 70 of the regulations restricting the use of witchcraft by minors, which will result in your being expelled from Hogwarts School of witchcraft and Wizardry. Representatives of the Ministry of magic will arrive at your residence in a short time and destroy your wand. Since you have received a formal warning for your last violation of Article 3 of the relevant provisions of the International League of magicians on confidentiality, we regret to inform you that you must attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of magic at 9:00 a.m. on August 2.
I hope everything is well with you. Sincerely, Mafalda hopkeck, the Ministry of magic does not use the Magic Office properly.
Harry read the letter twice. He was only vaguely aware of Uncle Vernon's conversation with Aunt Petunia. Everything was cold and numb in his mind. This fact penetrated his mind like a paralyzing dart.
He was removed from Hogwarts.
It's all over. He can't go back.
He looked up at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon's face was purple and he was growling, his fists still held high.
Aunt Petunia put her arm around Dudley, who vomited again. Harry's briefly numb brain seemed to be awake again.
Representatives of the Ministry of magic will soon arrive at your residence and destroy your wand. It can only mean one thing. That is, he must run now.
Harry doesn't know where to go, but he can be sure of one thing, whether at Hogwarts or out there, he needs his wand.
In a dream like state, he pulled out his wand and turned away from the kitchen.
”Where do you think you're going?” Cried Uncle Vernon. When Harry refuses to answer, he walks through the kitchen and slams the door to the living room.
”We're not finished, boy.”
”Get out of my way,” Harry said quietly.
”You will stay here and explain what happened to my son.”
”If you don't get out of my way, I'll curse you,” said Harry, lifting his wand at the same time.
”You can't pull that thing out in front of me!” Exclaimed Uncle Vernon. ”I know you're not allowed to use magic outside that crazy building you call school!”
”This crazy building has fired me,” said Harry So I can do whatever I like. You have three seconds left. 1 2... ”
A huge glass shattering sound filled the bedroom. Aunt Petunia screamed again. Ignoring Uncle Vernon's shouts and squatting down quickly, Harry, for the third time of the night, searched for the source of the commotion, which he had not caused.
He immediately found it, a giddy, wrinkled barn owl (typical of poor Weasley owls, it was a miracle that it didn't die on the way to the mail Ju Diao ）He was squatting on the windowsill outside the kitchen when it just hit the closed window.Pretending not to hear Uncle Vernon's anguished cry, ”owl!”
Harry went through the room and opened the window.
The owl, with its legs together and a small roll of parchment in its mouth, shook its feathers and ran away the moment Harry got the letter.
Harry's hand trembled and opened the second letter, which was rather scribbled and in cheap black ink.
Harry:
Dumbledore has just arrived at the Ministry of magic, and he is trying to deal with it. Don't leave your uncle and aunt's house. Don't cast any magic again. Don't hand over your wand.
Arthur Weasley.
What does it mean that Dumbledore is trying to settle the matter? How much power does Dumbledore have to defy orders from the Ministry of magic? So, does he have a chance to return to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and Wizardry?
A little hope sprouted in Harry's heart, but was soon strangled by fear; what could he do to refuse to hand over his wand without using magic?
He will have to fight representatives of the Ministry of magic, and if he does, he will be thrown into Azkaban wizard prison, not just expelled.
His mind is working fast, and he can run away at the risk of being wanted by the Ministry of magic, or stay here waiting for the Ministry to find him. He felt that the former option was tempting, but he knew that Mr. Weasley was sincere and, in any case, it was better not to make it worse until Dumbledore tried to solve it.
”That's right,” said Harry. ”I've changed my mind. I'm going to stay here.”
He dashed to the kitchen table, facing Dudley and Aunt Petunia.
The Dursleys seemed puzzled by the dramatic change in Harry's mind. Aunt Petunia stares at Uncle Vernon in despair. The blood vessels on the purple face of the latter are more prominent than those just burst.
”Where do all these damn owls come from?” He complained.
”The first one is just the owl directly under the Ministry of magic, which came to expel me,” Harry said quietly. He was pricking up his ears to catch anything outside, and if the Ministry of magic representatives were approaching, it would be better to answer Uncle Vernon's questions more simply and quietly than to make him angry and roar.
”The second is from my friend Ron's father, who works in the Ministry of magic.”
”Ministry of magic?” Uncle Vernon cried, ”a fellow like you is in the government! Oh, that explains everything, everything. There is no doubt that our country is on the brink of extinction. ”