Miserable Harry

While Lester's career was flourishing, Harry Potter, the Chosen One, was having a very difficult time.

On this day, the portly Mr. Dursley, waving an order form excitedly, strode into his home.

"Penny, look at this! It's an order from the Bide Group!"

A surprised scream came from inside the room. Harry's aunt, Penny, hadn't even put on her shoes before running out and giving Dursley a warm hug.

Mr. Dursley, on the other hand, had a large belly and an air of self-importance.

Even Dudley, who is usually incredibly rebellious, showed an expression of admiration, surrounding his father and vying to see the orders from the Bide Group.

"Bide Group? What's that?"

Inside the kitchen, Harry, looking miserable in his oversized chef's uniform, was preparing lunch for the Dursley family.

While the Dursley family were partying in the living room, Harry quickly grabbed a piece of beef, put it in his mouth, and began to enjoy it.

For the past month, Harry has gone from heaven to hell.

The Dursley family treated him like a free servant, making him do laundry, cook, mop the floors, and clean the entire mansion.

The worst part is that even though they're a family, they eat completely different things.

The Dursley family lavish meals every day, while he could only eat some vegetables and thin porridge to barely fill his stomach.

Just then, a domineering voice rang in his ear. "Dad, Potter actually stole some beef!"

Dudley was furious Dudley watched Harry chewing. That was his food! Why was Harry allowed to eat it?

"It's alright, my dear Dudley!" Mr. Dursley said nonchalantly, stroking Dudley's hair. "With the order from the Bide Group, we'll soon be able to truly live the life of high society."

Mrs. Dursley was furious. She went over and grabbed Harry's ear, scolding him, "You thief! Our family took you in out of kindness, and you steal our food!"

Harry winced in pain, glaring fiercely at his aunt.

Mrs. Dursley was even angrier. She grabbed Harry by the ear and was about to shove him into the downstairs storage room.

"Penny, forget about that little bastard," Mr. Dursley said, now quite pleased. "To celebrate, we're going to a five-star hotel in central London. Now, hurry up and change!"

Upon hearing that they were going to a five-star hotel, Penny ignored Harry, released Harry ear, and exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"

"Of course, this is an order from the Bide Group. From now on, we'll be truly rich!"

Dudley was overjoyed, running around and shouting, "We're really rich now!"

Looking at the jubilant Dursley family, Harry felt inexplicably disgusted and muttered, "What Bide Group? Never even heard of it."

Unexpectedly, Dursley overheard these words, and the previously smiling Mr. Dursley's face immediately darkened.

"You little bastard, what are you saying?"

"The Bide Group is the government's only designated partner; even a hair on its leg could crush you!"

"Now that you're living with the Dursley family, you need to watch what you say. Don't let me hear you speak ill of the Bide Group again!"

Harry was terrified. If he said another bad word about the Bide Group, Mr. Dursley would definitely kick him out.

"Kid, remember this: a month from now, people from the Bide Group will be visiting our house. You stay in that room on the third floor and don't come out, understand?"

"The room on the third floor?"

"Yes," Mr. Dursley said impatiently. "You don't need to live in the storage room under the stairs anymore. Go to the room on the third floor and clean it up, then move in properly, understand?"

Harry was overjoyed; a real room, it was like a dream come true.

Of course, this wasn't Dursley pitying Harry; he was simply trying to make Harry behave himself on the day of his visit a month later.

Dursley aware of his own mistreatment of Harry. If the Bide Group found out, he would definitely lose any chance of cooperation, which would be a case of losing the big picture for a small gain.

Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office, Seventh Floor.

"Lester Bide, I really underestimated you."

Dumbledore flipped through recent Daily Prophet.

The headlines above are either about how excellent the Rocket Crossbow is or how generous the benefits are at the Bide Rocket Crossbow Superfactory.

Seeing the newspaper articles praising the Bide Superfactory, Dumbledore a pang of regret.

Previously, no matter how talented Lester was, he was still just a student, so Dumbledore could forcefully award the House Cup to Gryffindor.

But now, Lester's Rocket Crossbow are all the rage in the Wizarding World, and his factory is attracting countless Muggle-born.

"Alright, I'll make it up to you after the Minister for Magic election is over this semester, once school starts."

Dumbledore regretted it; if he had known Lester would be so successful, he would have given Lester face.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Gryffindor and Slytherin could win the championship together?

Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now; Dumbledore only has two choices left.

One side was to become enemies with Lester, while the other side was to win Lester over, making him an ally in the future fight against Voldemort.

Dumbledore chose the second option without even thinking.

In his mind, the Wizarding World still needed to be ruled by force. No matter how powerful Lester was, how many factories he had, or how much money he had, it was not as great a threat as Voldemort.

Dumbledore still vividly remembers the pressure Voldemort brought to the Wizarding World back then.

Therefore, in order to defeat Voldemort, Dumbledore needs to cooperate with all available forces, and Lester is a good choice.

Although I stormed out last semester and lost face, so what? Isn't it normal for capable people to have a little temper?

He was willing to risk his life to defeat Voldemort. So what if it's about saving face? Dumbledore of that!

Thinking this way, Dumbledore found Lester more and more pleasing to the eye, clearly already regarding Lester as one of his own.

Of course, it was fortunate that Dumbledore didn't know that all the things that slandered him were instigated by Lester; otherwise, even if he allowed Voldemort to return, he would have torn Lester to pieces first.

Having decided on his stance on Lester's future, Dumbledore then produced an envelope. The sender was none other than Barty Crouch, a candidate for Minister of Ministry of Magic!

The letter was simple: the ministerial election was now in full swing, and Crouch hoped Dumbledore would use his political resources to support him.

In return, Crouch would help him drive Fudge's influence out of the Ministry of Magic.