Harry, You're Being a Bit Too Extreme
After absorbing magical energy at the Dursley family for a while, Veratia left and returned to school to continue her classes.
Harry didn't know what was so appealing about the knowledge of the Muggle world, and he didn't want to learn about it for the time being. His priority was to find Cassandra as soon as possible.
In his spare time, he would also make sure to go to Godric's Hollow to practice his magic.
Magic certainly cannot be practiced at the Dursley family, since the Ministry of Magic's Trace can monitor the Dursley family ' area.
Just imagine, when the Ministry of Magic officials see magical fluctuations within the Dursley family area...
Let me see who in the Dursley family knows magic? Oh! It's me! Harry Potter!
He didn't want to cause himself unnecessary trouble.
Some time ago, he went to two Merlin's ruins – the remaining Moonpetal he had were only enough to support him through two trials.
Unfortunately, there was no trace of Cassandra there.
Not long after, he celebrated his birthday.
July 31st was his birthday, and also Neville's. Harry received many greeting cards, from Dumbledore, Snape, Wood, Neville and Seamus, and Cedric.
There was even a greeting card from Professor Scamander, which contained a small card from Pabbie, Pabbie complained about why he didn't celebrate his birthday with her.
Harry carefully hid the greeting cards away, and then opened the letter delivered by Ron's old owl with its tattered wings.
After the envelope was opened, two pieces of paper fell out—one was a letter, and the other was a newspaper clipping.
This clipping was clearly taken from the Magical World's newspaper Daily Prophet, because the figures in the black and white photograph are moving.
Harry picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read the following.
"Ministry of Magic staff wins big prize!"
Arthur Weasley, head of the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, received the Daily Prophet's annual Galleon Award.
An elated Mr. Weasley told a reporter from The Daily Prophet, "We're going to spend the money on a summer trip to Egypt, where our eldest son Bill is working on breaking spells for Egypt Gringotts Bank."
The Weasley family will stay in Egypt for a month and return before the School Opening the Hogwarts School, where five Weasley family children are currently attending.
Harry looked at the photo of the event. He saw the nine Weasley family standing in front of the pyramid, waving enthusiastically at him, and a smile involuntarily spread across his face.
Mrs. Mrs. Weasley was small and plump, while Mr. Weasley, bald, was very tall. Their six sons and one daughter all had bright red hair—although it wasn't visible in this black and white photograph.
Ron is standing right in the center of this photo, in the C position.
During his adolescence, he was tall and thin, with his arm around his sister Ginny, and his pet mouse, Scabbers, perched on his shoulder with its two front paws on its chest, just like a little squirrel.
Harry could even clearly see that the mouse was missing a finger from its paw.
"The photos of the magical world are so clear..." Harry was still marveling.
He couldn't think of anyone more deserving of such a large sum of money Weasley family; they were a good family, but unfortunately, they were very poor.
He picked up Ron's letter, opened it, and read:
Dear Harry:
Happy birthday!
I have some good news to share with you, you know what? Gringotts suddenly sent someone to say that my grandfather... oh, my great-grandfather Gareth actually left us a huge sum of money in Gringotts!
My God, our whole family is overjoyed. We never expected our ancestors to leave us any money, but as you can see, Gareth did it.
I don't know why he demanded that Gringotts only give us 300 Galleon a year, but I know we've struck it rich!
Also, Egypt is awesome.
Bill took us to all the pyramids; you have no idea how many spells the ancient Egypt sorcerers cast on them.
His mother wouldn't let Bill go into the last pyramid, where there were many strange-looking skeletons left behind by Muggle who had forced their way into the pyramid; they had grown extra heads and other things.
I still feel like I'm dreaming. Like I said on the train, I still can't believe my dad actually won the Daily Prophet lottery! Seven hundred Galleon! And with the Galleon from Gringotts, that's a total of a thousand Galleon ...
Most of the money was spent on this trip, but they wanted to buy me a new outfit, and Ginny too... Ginny won't have to use her old, secondhand textbooks anymore. We'll both get new textbooks and new clothes, just like Chinese New Year... No, that's not right. We've never been this happy, not even during Chinese New Year.
We'll be back about a week before School Opening. We're also going to London to buy our new books. Will we run into you London? Try to come to London!
Happy birthday again! Oh, and by the way, Percy got elected Head Boy! Wow, Mom and Dad are totally doting on him. I hope I can be Prefect and student council president someday... Oh no, dude, I absolutely didn't mean to compete with you...
your
Ron Weasley
Harry put down the letter, feeling both amused and exasperated.
Competing with Ron for the Prefect and Head Boy?
If he hadn't visited Hogwarts a hundred years ago, he might have had similar thoughts.
But now he just feels a little listless.
He opened Pabbie's letter and the gift Pabbie had given him.
Dear Harry:
I'm heartbroken because you didn't take me with you to find Cassandra. You betrayed your promise to me, and I'm very unhappy.
But I'm not that unhappy, because it's your birthday now, and I'm planning to throw you a little party—I'd be very happy if you could come to my little tent in Scamander and celebrate your birthday with me.
Enclosed with this letter are some materials from Magical Creatures, all given to me by Newt. I hope you like them.
In addition, we have found the Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest. You don't know, there are... I think there are at least ten thousand of them, but Newt says there are more. Good heavens, a dense swarm of spiders, some even taller and stronger than Unicorn. I really don't know how wizards are supposed to deal with them when they encounter them.
Two Acromantula tried to attack us, but Newt subdued them. He caught one and used the Portkey to escape with me—otherwise, we would have been torn apart by the overwhelming number of spiders.
Who could imagine that just a few decades ago, these spiders were just two individuals, a male and a female?
I would be very happy if you could come here. Please remember to let me know in advance.
Your loyalty
Pabbie Sweeting
Harry opened Pabbie's package, and a bunch of Magical Creatures materials fell out, including Mooncalf's pelt, Niffler's claws, Unicorn Hair, Phoenix's tail feathers, Acromantula's venom, and a bunch of other valuable materials.
He strongly suspected that Pabbie's actions might deplete Mr. Scamander's accumulated stockpile over the years.
As Harry unwrapped Pabbie's gift, he remembered the package Ron had sent. So he opened Ron's gift, which was a small spinning top that was said to Winky when it encountered someone it couldn't trust—but Harry found that the top had been spinning rapidly ever since he took it out, as if it were having a seizure.
People who are not trustworthy?
Harry shrugged and put the top aside.
Beside him lay Hermione's letter and the birthday present she had given Harry. Harry opened the letter, which stated that Hermione had gone to France for a trip and had brought him some gifts she had bought France.
Harry reached out and opened the package, finding inside a long, thin black leather box with a line of silver lettering printed on it: Flying Broomstick Repair Toolbox.
Inside was a large jar of Fritwood's Perfect Flying Broomstick Polish, a pair of Winky silver broom twig trimmers, a small brass compass that could be attached to the flying broomstick on long trips, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.
He loved the gift and carefully placed it in the corner of his wallet, separate from Alfonso.
Alfonso is dozing in his wallet; he looks like he's sleeping very comfortably.
After unwrapping all the gifts, Harry stretched and turned around to find Veratia smiling at him.
"Veratia?" he said with surprise. "When did you arrive?"
"I've been here for a while," Veratia said with a smile.
They arrived a long time ago?
Harry's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at the top on the table out of the corner of his eye and saw that it was spinning rapidly and making a buzzing sound.
"It seems the top is really broken," he thought indifferently.
"Happy birthday," Veratia said with a smile. "Have you thought about what to do? Like... how about we go out for dinner together?"
"Pabbie invited me to Professor Scamander's tent. She said she wants to throw me a birthday party. Why don't you come with me?" Harry said.
Veratia suddenly became alert.
"Okay, I'll go with you." She said, taking an Apple out of her pocket.
Harry saw the Apple and asked with interest, "What's this? Apple?"
Veratia grabbed Harry's shoulder and coaxed him gently, "This is the forbidden fruit—you know, the very fruit that Satan tempted Eve to fall... Now I'm giving it to you."
"I knew it, Aunt Vivi," Harry said, narrowing his eyes. "You actually wanted to corrupt your nephew, good heavens..."
Veratia:...
She thought to herself, "Today I've really shot myself in the foot."
I shouldn't have brought up that aunt's thing; it seems Harry hasn't forgotten about it yet.
She shoved the Apple into Harry's arms and said to him, "Come on, let's go downstairs and then go together from the Leaky Cauldron to Newt's tent."
As she spoke, she pulled Harry downstairs with her.
"Aren't you going to have some food with us, Miss Grindelwald?" Petunia asked.
"No, Petunia," Veratia said with a smile. "My friends are still waiting for him. Thank you, Petunia."
After saying that, the two left the Dursley family and got into Veratia's car.
Yes, Veratia's car.
"You bought this?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised. "Wait, when did you learn to drive?"
"Otto gave them to me." Veratia explained the whole story to Harry in detail, then reassured Harry, "Don't worry, it's just a transaction... I gave him two swaddling clothes that his father used to wear."
Harry thought for a moment: a seventeen-year-old girl holding a swaddled baby and saying to a seventy- or eighty-year-old man, "This is the swaddle your father used to use..."
No matter how I think about it, it feels a bit awkward.
"I learned to drive in my spare time recently." Veratia didn't think anything of it, sharing her daily life with Harry as if it were just casual conversation.
"I feel somewhat ashamed in the face of your thirst for knowledge," Harry said, looking out the window.
Veratia laughed and said, "It's just a wizard who missed a hundred years trying to catch up on what he missed; it's not really about thirst for knowledge."
The two arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, parked their car, and then Apparition to the outskirts of Hogwarts.
Inside Professor Scamander's tent, not only his family but also the Flamel couple, as well as Dumbledore, could be seen.
When Harry came over, everyone went up to him, and Mr. LeMay even took out his wand and gave him a string of ribbons.
"Happy birthday!" everyone said, clapping together.
"Thank you, thank you all." Harry was somewhat overwhelmed. "My goodness, I never imagined so many people would come to my birthday party..."
That's true. A hundred years ago, he always spent his summers at the Malfoy family, and no one ever held a birthday party for him.
His so-called birthday celebration was nothing more than Cassandra eating some cake with him and then the two practicing magic together.
"Now you see." Pabbie came over to Harry's side with a merriment, but Veratia walked over from the side with a blank expression.
Seeing Veratia's expression, Pabbie instinctively shrank back.
There was no way around it; Veratia's aura was just too powerful, to the point that even the donkey... and the Unicorn couldn't quite accept it.
Harry reached out and grabbed Pabbie by both ears, pulling her back.
"What are you doing?" Harry rubbed her ear. "Why are you shrinking back? Did you see something scary?"
"Yeah, Pabbie?" Veratia walked over to Harry and asked with a smile, "I thought you'd seen something terrible."
"No," Pabbie said firmly, "I didn't see anything, my legs just went weak!"
Everyone laughed together, even Newt laughed for his silly aunt.
Professor Dumbledore was very talkative, and he kept pulling Harry aside to talk about the Horcrux Tom had made; Veratia sat quietly listening, occasionally saying something to help Dumbledore and Harry fill in the gaps in their knowledge.
Pabbie often brought Harry some fruit, Veratia pretended not to see it, letting Pabbie feed Harry imported fruit.
"Recently, news has come from the America," Dumbledore suddenly said, "That a young man with red eyes and black hair is wreaking havoc there, killing many ordinary people and some wizards. They are preparing to concentrate their efforts on capturing him first."
"Is that so?" Harry asked curiously. "If nothing unexpected happens, he's Voldemort, right?"
"Hmm, he infiltrated some Muggle organization, and apparently even went to that space shuttle called ' Columbia '," Dumbledore said, frowning. "But he failed. America wizards have close ties with the Muggle World; wherever the space shuttle is, wizards are on high alert."
"A space shuttle?" Harry asked uncertainly. "What's he going to do on the space shuttle? Is he going to launch Horcrux into outer space using it?"
You know what, that one sentence immediately sparked Dumbledore's train of thought.
"I think it's not impossible that you're saying this," Dumbledore nodded seriously. "Voldemort is proud, but he's also extremely afraid of death. After he learned about Muggle in America, he'll Muggle target some of the equipment they use... If his Horcrux go into space via the space shuttle, then we'll have no way to destroy Horcrux."
"But if the space shuttle explodes, like the Challenger a few years ago," Veratia said, "The resulting flames would be enough to destroy the Horcrux, wouldn't they?"
"You also know about the Challenger?" Dumbledore glanced at Veratia.
"Of course I know," Veratia smiled modestly.
"Horcrux can only be destroyed by Fiendfyre; ordinary flames have absolutely no way of destroying them," Dumbledore sighed. "Besides Fiendfyre, there's the Basilisk Fang... We still haven't found out why the Horcrux 'Basilisk Fang can destroy Horcrux."
"Albus, I need to remind you that the inventor of Horcrux was the Herpo the Foul of ancient Greece," Mr. LeMay said, crossing his arms. "And the first Basilisk was also bred by that Herpo the Foul. It's hard to say what the connection is."
"Besides these?" Theseus asked, "What other news is there from the American wizarding world?"
"I don't know the rest, but I've heard he seems to be looking for something from mythology," Dumbledore said, shaking his head.
"Myths and legends?"
Everyone present was stunned.
Theseus asked in astonishment, "America is only about two hundred years old. What myth or legend does it have?"
"That's something no one else knows. If you want to know, you can ask Voldemort himself. I believe he'd be happy to tell you," Tina said to Theseus.
"So what do you plan to do, Dumbledore?" Newt suddenly asked. "Are you planning to go to America to see what Voldemort's remnant spirit is up to?"
Dumbledore suddenly smiled.
"You know, Newt, they won't allow a foreign wizard like me to enter, especially to solve big problems within their country."
Newt nodded knowingly; he knew all too well what kind of people America wizards were—except for Tina.
Arrogant and haughty—almost every negative adjective seems insufficient to fully describe them.
"Any other news?" Harry asked again. "You know, besides Voldemort —we only know he's wreaking havoc in America, and we can only watch helplessly as he completes his evil plan—what else?"
"That's all the news, Harry." Dumbledore seemed a little disappointed. "You know, nothing else matters except Voldemort."
"What about Horcrux?" Harry asked again, "Like Gringotts ' vault?"
Newt suddenly said, "By the way, Dumbledore, I think if Voldemort were to choose a vault to store his Horcrux, there's a very high probability he'd choose the Lestrange family —if I remember correctly, you once told me that the Lestrange family's daughter-in-law, Bellatrix Lestrange from the Black family home, is Voldemort's loyal follower."
"The Lestrange family?" Dumbledore frowned. "But as far as I know, everyone in the Lestrange family is in Azkaban ... Besides, without the token, we can't get into the Lestrange family vault, and I don't think Bellatrix Lestrange would give us the key to it."
"Furthermore, Gringotts will not allow us to enter the vault without the token. This is Gringotts ' principle and reputation. If we lose it, no one will deposit money with Gringotts anymore," Dumbledore added.
"I have an idea!" Pabbie suddenly said.
"What method?" Harry asked with interest.
"Why not impersonate Bellatrix Lestrange?" Pabbie suggested. "For example, get her hair, use Polyjuice Potion..."
"That's a good idea, but how do we get the Lestrange family heirloom?" Newt asked, looking down.
Harry cleared his throat and said, "I suggest using a more practical little Charms, like the Imperius Curse..."
Everyone turned to look at Harry.
Imperius Curse?
Okay, you're going a bit too far.
However, this method is not impossible; at least it is theoretically feasible.
"I'll do it," Veratia volunteered. "I'll Azkaban, retrieve the Lestrange family token, and impersonate Bellatrix Lestrange ..."
Are you coming?
Dumbledore had been quite sleepy, suddenly became wide awake.
My dear senior, please don't go to Azkaban...
"No need, I have a way of handling this." He said with a smile, "I still suggest that Senior Grindelwald stay here and wait for me to retrieve Lestrange's hair, what do you say?"
"I have no objection," Veratia nodded and said.
"However, I seem to have heard that Bellatrix Lestrange is a notorious madwoman," Newt asked hesitantly. "I don't think Miss Grindelwald could imitate her..."
"That's hard to say," Veratia said with a light laugh. "How will we know we can't imitate her if we don't try?"
The plan was settled, and no one had any objections.
The birthday party was lively, at least that's what Harry thought; but Pabbie didn't seem very happy because Veratia had smeared cake all over her face.
After the party, Harry didn't go back to the Dursley family, but instead stayed at the Leaky Cauldron.
As agreed, Dumbledore went to retrieve Bellatrix's family heirloom.
The Leaky Cauldron wasn't the nicest place, but it was spacious enough. Everyone there knew Harry and nodded and greeted him when they saw Harry.
Harry was enjoying his time there. He had already told the Dursley family before he left that he wouldn't be going back for the rest of his vacation and planned to stay at the Leaky Cauldron the whole time.
After all, in the Leaky Cauldron, one can use magic freely without worrying about being caught red-handed by the Ministry of Magic, whereas at the Dursley family, there wouldn't be such freedom.
It wasn't that he was afraid of the Ministry of Magic, he just found it troublesome.
When he had free time, Harry would go to Borgin and Burkes to look at some rare items, or to some good places that ordinary wizards could hardly find, to buy things that he couldn't buy outside.
He searched for a long time but couldn't find any Moonpetal leaves, so he simply gave up.
However, September is just around the corner, which is the harvest season for Moonpetal, so there's no rush.
Harry is now squatting in front of the Quidditch shop, staring at a broom that is surprisingly beautiful.
The area around the shop was crowded with all sorts of wizards, all marveling at the broom. It was simply too beautiful, seemingly representing the crown jewel of the Wizarding World's highest craftsmanship.
"Just released... a sample broom..." a male wizard with a square jaw told his companion.
"Isn't this the fastest broom in the world, Dad?" a boy smaller Harry asked his father in a shrill voice as he swung on his father's arm.
"The Irish International Team just ordered seven of these beautiful brooms!" the shop owner announced. "This kind of product is a favorite at the World Cup!"
Harry noticed the description next to the broom and murmured as he read, "The Firebolt flying broom represents the highest level of craftsmanship. Its handle is crafted from exquisitely streamlined ash wood, treated with Diamond -hard polish, and features a hand-engraved registration number. Every twig at the tail of this product is carefully selected to ensure perfect streamlined shape, making this product unparalleled in balance and precision. The Firebolt can accelerate to 150 miles per hour within ten seconds, and its braking mechanism is incredibly captivating. Price negotiable."
Price negotiable.
This shows that this broom is not a cheap product.
It would cost at least tens of thousands of Galleon, he thought. Ten thousand Galleon was equivalent to fifty thousand Pound Sterling, enough to buy Mr. Granger's Bentley.
However, such a comparison is not entirely accurate, since both the Bentley and the Firebolt are luxurious vehicles, at least that's what Harry thinks.
He forcibly turned his head away, refusing to look at the broom anymore.
It should be said that his savings were enough to support him in buying this broom—but what about later?
We've spent all our money on this broom; what are we going to do now?
He still has a Nimbus 2000, which is enough for him to use, and the Nimbus 2000 can also help him win the Quidditch Championship.
What more could he want? he thought.
Besides, if he bought this broom, Veratia, who is always thrifty, would scold him to death.
But this did not stop Harry from having his eyes drawn to the Firebolt like a compass as he passed by.
Sometimes, he would buy some supplements for Hedwig to take.
Owls also need nutrition; you can't just feed them dead mice every day, can you?
Flourish and Blotts wasn't as bustling as it was last year, after all, Lockhart, that fraudster, had been exposed by a respectable old Lady.
He spent several Galleon to buy all the books he needed for the year.
After placing the books in the corner of his wallet, Harry contentedly lay down in his bedroom, where he would practice Charms most of the time.
After some practice, Harry had mastered the trick of disarming multiple targets at the same time.
Theoretically speaking, it's similar to Avada Lightning Chain, but the Lightning Chain from your Disarming Charm is more acceptable, at least it uses some white magic or Harmless Minor Curses to mark it.
At least it doesn't require using the Imperius Curse or Cruciatus Curse, which are necessary to enter Azkaban, to mark the target, which is a significant improvement.
The Leaky Cauldron was actually quite noisy. It was located in the middle of Magical World Muggle neighborhood, with the hawking of wizards from Diagon Alley behind it and the sounds of Muggle cars on the street. In short, it was extremely noisy. If Harry hadn't known the Silencing Charm, he would have been kept awake by the noise.
He also ran into Neville, but Neville had come with his grandmother.
Neville's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, was an old woman who seemed ten times more stern and rigid than Professor McGonagall, but surprisingly, Augusta had a very good impression of Harry, absolutely wonderful...
She even paid for Harry and Neville to eat the newest, most expensive, and most luxurious nut ice cream at Florin Ice Cream Shop.
"Good boy, look how thin you are." Augusta reached out and rubbed Harry's little face. "Thank you for taking care of Neville at school," she said.
"You're welcome, madam," Harry said with a polite smile to Augusta.
On the penultimate day of summer vacation, Hermione and Ron also arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Harry." Hermione knocked on Harry's door. Harry had just woken up. He rubbed his eyes and opened the door, only to find Hermione and Ron standing outside.
The two of them together.
"I feel like you two are hiding something from me," Harry said, yawning.
"What could we possibly be hiding from you?" Ron chuckled, patting Harry on the shoulder. "Come on, buddy, let's go downstairs and grab something to eat. Oh, you go wash up first, we'll wait for you downstairs... Oh my god, Mom and Dad miss you terribly, they want to say hello... Oh, and it seems my dad wants to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.
"You'll find out when you come downstairs. Go wash up now," Ron said to Harry with a smile.
Harry shrugged, didn't ask any further questions, and turned back to the bathroom to wash up.
After everything was tidied up, he went downstairs.
The Leaky Cauldron seems a bit different today. On the wall of the bar, there seems to be something... a wanted poster?
The man on the wanted poster caught his attention.
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(Ah... another big update is coming! Big updates! Awesome!)