Dursley's Anger

Mu En flipped back to the table of contents and looked at a section in A History of Modern Magic, falling silent for a moment.

"Sit down. I know very little about you as well, but perhaps this book can give us some answers."

Harry noticed the title A History of Modern Magic on the cover. It struck him as rather strange, but he said nothing and sat down as instructed.

Mu En then turned to that page and began telling the story as he read.

With Mu En's gentle, unhurried voice, a picture from more than ten years ago gradually unfolded before Harry's eyes. Then that picture grew ever more piercing, leaving him chilled to the bone.

An hour later, Mu En closed the book, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Harry.

Harry's eyes were slightly red. Just as Mu En had said, he was trying to hide his emotions, but his intertwined, constantly twisting fingers showed that he was far less calm than he appeared.

After a long while, Harry finally said, "I..."

His throat was terribly hoarse, and he nearly choked. After coughing twice, he gave a bitter smile. "Aunt Petunia and the others always told me... my parents died in a car crash."

"If you want to vent your emotions, go ahead." Mu En waved a hand and placed the book on the table.

Harry shook his head. "Actually... I don't know what to say either. I'm not as sad as I imagined I would be. Uncle Mu En, am I... too cold-hearted?"

"Of course it isn't your fault." Mu En shook his head. "After all, you never met them. We only learned a small glimpse of their past from the cold words in a history book.

Their preferences, what kind of people they were, even what they looked like... we don't know any of that. Perhaps in the future, those things will slowly make their way into your mind, bit by bit. Like a dull knife cutting into you..."

Harry was silent for a long time before saying, "I want... I want to know more about them."

"Of course. That is only natural." Mu En nodded and pushed the book in front of Harry.

He did not know Harry's parents, so all he could do was give Harry the history book. There was not much else he could do to help.

Perhaps in the future, once Harry went to Hogwarts, he would be able to learn more there about the lives James and Lily had led.

Harry carefully turned the pages while Mu En stood and went into the kitchen...

That evening, Harry said goodbye to Uncle Mu En, who was on the sofa, and closed the door behind him. London had begun to drizzle again. He waited for a red sedan, blackened by the night, to drive past before crossing the street.

He had been in a daze all evening. Different images and voices of his father and mother kept forming in his mind, only to be denied and erased again.

What sort of people were they? What did they sound like when they spoke? What were their smiles like?

If they had not died, would everything have been different?

All kinds of chaotic thoughts tangled endlessly in his head like a knotted ball of thread, leaving him unsure how to deal with them.

When he pushed open the door, the same house came into view—one that looked warm, yet was actually ice-cold.

What would it look like if Dad and Mum were in the house right now?

Click—

The door opened again, and Uncle Vernon walked in wearing a brown overcoat, his face full of resentment. The moment he entered, he spotted Harry standing by the door, shoved him aside, and began cursing.

"Get back to your room! You're still grounded!!"

Only after shouting did he take off his water-speckled coat, hang it on the coat rack, and head toward the living room.

Petunia also came out of the living room and embraced Vernon.

"You knew all along?"

A voice suddenly sounded behind Vernon.

His fat body turned around with some difficulty in the entryway. His eyes narrowed into slits, and he was clearly furious. "What did you say?"

Harry stood up and looked calmly at them both. "My parents were wizards. You knew all along, didn't you? My mother was your sister, wasn't she?!"

Petunia staggered back two steps, her trembling mouth falling open, her face filled with terror. Vernon's entire face suddenly turned red and scalding, like a boiling kettle, twitching continuously.

"Don't—"

His voice was like a volcano on the verge of erupting as his huge body bore down on Harry.

Until his face was pressed right up against Harry's.

"Don't say that word in this house!!"

Looking at Uncle Vernon's face, Harry suddenly realized he was not that afraid anymore.

Instead, he seemed to understand why Uncle Mu En had told him not to wear his emotions on his face.

He had seen Uncle Vernon's angry face more times than he could count, but this time, beneath the anger, he saw something else.

"You really did know!!" Harry understood, and for the first time, he chose to face Uncle Vernon's anger head-on.

He spoke sternly. "Otherwise, why would you hate magic so much? It's because you know about magic."

"Shut up!!" Vernon grabbed Harry by the collar, threw open the cupboard door, and tried to shove him inside.

Harry struggled, gripping the doorframe with all his strength as he cried hoarsely, "I only want to know why you lied to me! Is that wrong too?!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Uncle Vernon pried Harry's fingers loose one by one and threw him onto the tiny bed board inside the cupboard.

Bang—

The door slammed shut. White dust from the stairs fell onto Harry's head, and the little window in the door opened again. Uncle Vernon stared fixedly at Harry.

"I don't know how you found out about all this, but from today onward, you're not going anywhere."

He did not care how Harry had learned these things. But from today onward, he would nip everything in the bud.

With that, Vernon slammed the little window shut.

Petunia kept patting her chest and taking deep breaths. She had been terrified. How dared that boy speak like that in this house!

Vernon patted his wife's shoulder, comforting her again and again.

Suddenly, a rapid knock sounded at the door.

The two of them jumped. Who could possibly be visiting them at this hour?

After exchanging a glance, Vernon led Petunia to the living room sofa, then went to the door and opened it.

Outside stood a man in a sharply tailored suit, with a stern, angular face. He wore a brown fedora and a wool overcoat.

"May I come in? As a visiting neighbor." Mu En removed his hat, revealing a gentle smile.

"No, I refuse!" Vernon said irritably. Yet Mu En had already walked inside, admiring the house as he did so. "It's so bright. I've been thinking of installing more lights in my own home, but unfortunately, I don't have a complete electrical system."

As he spoke, he took off his hat and overcoat and hung them on the coat rack.

"I said, you're not welcome here—"

Mu En paid him no heed and walked straight ahead. As he passed the cupboard, Harry's voice sounded from within. He pounded on the door and kept asking something. He had already recognized who had come from the voice.

But Mu En merely slid open the little window and said, "You should be sleeping, kid."

"I..."

"Trust me."

After saying that, Mu En shut the little window again. With a wave of his hand over the small door, he cut off all sound between the inside and outside.

Then he turned to face the pitch-black gun barrel and the figure holding the shotgun behind it.

"Mr. Dursley, I only want us to calmly discuss the child's affairs. Are you sure you want to do this?"