The Dursleys were having dinner. On the table were shortbread, fried cod, sausages, and vegetable soup, with Dudley getting an extra serving of delicious mashed potatoes.
"I don't want this!" Dudley whined. "I want cheese bread! And I want roast meat."
"You'll have it tomorrow morning, Duddikins," Petunia said, looking lovingly at her chubby son. "You need to get plump before school starts."
She always worried her son wouldn't get enough to eat at school.
"I want roast meat now! Or I won't eat!"
Dudley insisted, tears quickly welling up in his eyes, as if he'd suffered the greatest injustice.
Petunia Dursley immediately panicked and quickly said, "Alright, alright, just a moment. Mummy will make you roast meat right away."
She got up to go to the kitchen when suddenly, the whole family heard the doorbell ring.
"Who's visiting today?" Petunia asked, surprised.
"No guests… maybe it's a mail delivery."
Vernon was about to tell Harry to open the door, but then remembered the boy was locked up. He pushed his chair back and went to open it himself.
Standing outside were two strangers, one tall and one short, dressed impeccably and looking distinguished, with no mail in hand.
"Hello."
Vernon's annoyance at having his dinner interrupted quickly subsided once he saw who it was.
He began to rack his brain… Was this man one of his business partners?
Vernon politely asked, "Can I help you, sir?"
Petunia heard the voice and came out of the kitchen. She saw the man at the door and found him somewhat familiar.
"Hello, Mr. Dursley." Lupin said indifferently, "I do have something important to discuss, but I'm not here for you."
Vernon didn't know what came over him; he instinctively stepped aside, watching this man whose name he didn't even know walk into his house.
"Wait—who are you looking for?"
Vernon quickly chased after him, asking.
Petunia at the door suddenly gasped, her arm trembling as she pointed at Lupin and said, "You… you… you're… you're that best man…"
"Remus Lupin." Lupin looked at the thin woman and said, "It's been twelve years, Mrs. Dursley."
Vernon looked at them suspiciously, ultimately trusting his wife more. He asked doubtfully, "You know him, Petunia?"
"Actually, you should know me too, Mr. Dursley."
Lupin walked into the house, glanced around, and then looked at the owner of the house:
"—We were both at James and Lily's wedding, weren't we?"
Vernon exclaimed in shock, "You're… you're with them… the Wizard?"
His voice sounded like it was squeezed out of a gas tank.
Dudley, who was gnawing on fried cod, let out a shriek. He dropped his plate, frantically clutched his backside, ran around aimlessly for a couple of circles, then bolted into the toilet and locked the door, refusing to come out.
—The last Wizard he saw was Hagrid, and he got a pig's tail as a souvenir when they parted ways, which he eventually had to have surgically removed at a private hospital.
"Oh—my poor Duddikins—"
Petunia rushed after him, wanting to comfort her frightened son, but only heard a loud "bang" as the door nearly slammed into her face.
Vernon was also startled. He backed away repeatedly, grabbing a dinner knife and holding it with both hands pointed at Lupin, shouting, "What do you want? Get out! Petunia, call the police!"
Lupin couldn't be bothered with them and turned to walk upstairs.
Petunia lunged to call, but the phone receiver had already been picked up.
"Calling the police, are we? I can help with that."
Wade said unhurriedly, "999? Or 116111? I think either would work."
As he spoke, he pressed the phone numbers. But before he could dial, a pair of ice-cold hands pressed down on his.
He looked up to see Petunia, pale-faced, saying, "Don't call the police… don't call the police, Vernon…"
"What?" Vernon asked loudly. He wanted to go upstairs to stop Lupin, but he also didn't want to leave his wife and son, so he was too busy to think.
*BANG!* A loud noise came from upstairs, like the door to the small bedroom had been blown open.
Then came Lupin's angry voice: "This is all they feed him?"
Vernon's face was full of rage, but Petunia's showed a hint of embarrassment.
But they had no choice but to listen to Wade.
"116111 is the hotline for the Prevention of Child Abuse Act," Wade kindly explained. "It's the only charity organization in the country with legal authority."
Vernon looked at him in astonishment, his small eyes darting rapidly.
In the small bedroom, Harry jumped off the bed, looking terrified at the stranger who had suddenly burst through the door.
"You… who are you?"
He frantically grabbed a pillow and held it in front of him.
"Come with me, Harry." Lupin took a deep breath, his eyes welling up. "I'm a friend of your parents… I'm here to take you away."
Harry hesitated for only a second before jumping out of bed and grabbing his hand.
To him, there was no worse place on earth than the Dursleys' house; many times he'd doubted he would survive starvation there.
"Wait, Hedwig!"
Harry ran over and picked up his owl's cage.
Lupin looked with disgust at the bowl nearby. There was only a tiny bit of clear, watery vegetable soup left at the bottom, and the owl's food dish contained only a few shriveled vegetables.
Downstairs in the living room.
"Of course you can call 999 and report us, but I must warn you, as guardians, it is illegal to intentionally fail to provide sufficient food, clothing, medical care, or accommodation to a ward under 14 years old when you have the financial means to do so."
Wade said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, Harry was locked in his room upstairs, wasn't he? With the windows boarded up."
"Imprisoning children, child abuse, and child neglect are all criminal offenses. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, and domestic violence are all considered child abuse. Reporting it will result in fines and imprisonment."
"Your actions have already violated the Prevention of Child Abuse Act, the Child Custody Act, and the Children's Act enacted three years ago."
"If you don't believe me, feel free to check. Or call the police and let them decide right from wrong."
"I just wonder, if you two are arrested by the police and sent to jail, what will your neighbors think of you? And your Dudley… what will his situation at school become?"
"You… how do you know all this?" Petunia asked incredulously. "You're… you're the same kind of freak… the same kind of person as them, right?"
These laws, let alone wizards, even ordinary people didn't know much about them.
"My parents weren't wizards either. I grew up in the same environment as you."
Wade raised his voice slightly. "What do you say, Harry? If you choose to call the police, I'm sure this couple will be punished."
The Dursleys turned around in a panic, only to see that at some point, Harry had already come downstairs with Lupin.
They were instantly terrified.
Police… jail… Dudley would be bullied by classmates at school… maybe even expelled…
Their future was suddenly shrouded in a terrible shadow, and this shadow was brought by the little brat they had always disregarded.
Hatred surged through Harry's heart.
For a moment, he truly wanted to call the police, to send this couple to prison, to let the whole world know his grievances.
But he opened his mouth, tried to speak several times but couldn't make up his mind, and finally just messed up his hair, saying, "I… let's go…"
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