First Spellcasting, Preparations for Departure!

"Don't think about it for now, Harry! I feel the same way you do, but there's no point in just guessing here.

Didn't Hagrid say Dumbledore could stand against Voldemort? No one understands a person better than their enemy. Once we get to Hogwarts, we can just ask Dumbledore directly!"

Dudley comforted Harry. He figured Harry had eaten too many sweets, causing excessive insulin secretion and temporary hypoglycemia. Combined with his intense emotional fluctuations, that had caused the dizziness.

"We've learned enough tonight. Go back to your rooms and sleep! Get some rest—we still need to buy the things we'll need for learning magic tomorrow morning!"

Dudley brought the evening's discussion to a close.

"That's right, Harry, go rest! There aren't many things Dumbledore can't solve! You'll see once you get to Hogwarts!"

Like Diggle, Hagrid was an unthinking Dumbledore fanboy. He thought Dudley was absolutely right and chimed in as well.

Harry went upstairs, burdened with worries.

Petunia was also somewhat distracted. Vernon gave Dudley a few instructions, then helped his wife back to their room to rest.

Before long, only Dudley and Hagrid remained in the bizarrely expanded living room.

"There's no helping it, Hagrid. With your size, you can't exactly sleep in one of our beds without using magic."

Dudley spoke to Hagrid apologetically.

"It's fine, I'll sleep on the floor! Tomorrow morning, I'll take you and Harry to Diagon Alley! I promise, you'll both be very popular!"

For once, Hagrid's words showed a little social awareness.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Dudley smiled meaningfully.

He pushed the dining table aside to clear some space, pulled several cushions off the sofa, and made a simple bed on the floor for Hagrid and the two dormice.

He then wedged a chair against the front door, whose lock had been destroyed.

With Hagrid stationed in the living room, there was no need to worry about burglars breaking in.

Once he had finished all that, Dudley casually glanced at the corner of an envelope sticking out of Hagrid's shirt pocket. Then, after exchanging goodnights with the simple-minded half-Giant, he went upstairs.

As he passed Harry's bedroom door, Dudley knocked on it several times. "Stop overthinking things. Listen to your cousin—cast the 'Calm Mind' spell on yourself, then go to sleep!"

"Okay, Cousin!"

Harry had been lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. Hearing his cousin's command suddenly energized him. He rolled over and obediently did as he was told.

The next day, the bizarre Undetectable Extension Charm on the first-floor living room had worn off, just as the information Dudley had obtained from the system had indicated.

The moment Hagrid, who was lying on the makeshift bed in the living room, opened his eyes, he saw Dudley directing Harry to cast a spell on a "small" coat using his Umbrella Wand.

"Harry, say it after me: Engorgio! At the same time, wave your wand like this!"

Dudley demonstrated with the Smeting Wand. To better develop Harry's imagination and spiritual strength, he had not allowed Harry to come into contact with precise but rigid spellbooks like Standard Book of Spells too early.

So Harry did not yet know the standard spells used by wizards.

"Engorgio!"

Harry recited the incantation, swung Hagrid's Umbrella Wand in the prescribed gesture, and cast the Engorgio spell on one of Uncle Vernon's old coats that he no longer wore.

With a crackle, a dazzling yellow beam shot from the tip of the Umbrella Wand and struck Vernon's old coat.

The coat immediately swelled, quickly becoming large enough to fit Hagrid's frame. But the spell's power did not fade. Instead, it caused the coat to undergo another miraculous change.

It transformed from an ordinary brown coat into one with irregular red-and-yellow patterns, a coat in vivid dopamine colors.

"Cousin, this wand seems to be resisting me!"

Harry voiced his feelings after casting a standard spell for the first time.

"Looks like Hagrid's wand isn't very compatible with you. But we got the result we wanted, didn't we?"

Dudley smiled, then turned to the half-Giant who had already awakened. "Good morning, Hagrid! Do you like the gift Harry and I prepared for you?"

Hagrid looked at the incredibly bright coat and leapt to his feet excitedly. "I love it! Bang! Ow! You two are brilliant!"

Hagrid's enormous head struck the living room ceiling, yet he still remembered to praise Harry and Dudley.

"Your spell has worn off, Hagrid. You'd better keep your head down for now!" Dudley reminded him helpfully.

"All right! Kids, I reckon it's time we set off. Dumbledore asked me to handle something very important on the way!"

Hagrid bent down with difficulty, took the Umbrella Wand Harry handed him and the colorful striped coat Dudley gave him, then swept his huge hand across the low table where his belongings were stored and wrapped everything inside the coat.

The two awakened dormice crawled in as well.

Then Hagrid carried his things, maintained the uncomfortable posture of bowing his head and hunching over, and painstakingly made his way to the door, forcing himself through it.

The Dursley household's front door was completely warped. It had become almost twice its original size and could no longer be shut.

"Oh my God! What am I looking at? What a huge robber!"

"Run!"

Two early-rising neighbors on Privet Drive were frightened by Hagrid.

"Oh no! Well, can't be helped!" Hagrid pulled out his Umbrella Wand. "Obliviate! Muggle-Repelling Charm!"

The terrified neighbors had their unpleasant memories erased and calmed down again.

Inside the Dursley household's living room, Dudley suddenly could no longer see Hagrid at the doorway. He also vaguely felt an urge to move away from the entrance.

However, once Dudley firmly decided that he would not leave, he could see Hagrid again.

The system protected his independent thoughts from being altered. Using this hidden ability, Dudley successfully freed himself from the effects of Hagrid's Muggle-Repelling Charm.

The Muggle-Repelling Charm could make Muggles overlook the existence of wizards, make them want to stay away from the caster or a particular place affected by the spell, and could even cause Muggle technological devices within its range to malfunction.

It was both a simple and terrifying spell. If war broke out between Muggles and wizards, this spell would put Muggles at a tremendous disadvantage.

But it was not completely impossible to break. As long as they captured a wizard and made a Muggle come into physical contact with him, sharing the wizard's mystique, the Muggle could temporarily escape the spell's influence.

Some dark associations flashed through Dudley's mind. He naturally reached out and took hold of Harry's hand, lest Hagrid suddenly become attentive and spot the flaw.

Then he picked up the dozen or so bagged sandwiches Petunia had deliberately prepared early that morning from the dining table, and slipped the thousand pounds Vernon had specifically left behind—though it was not much use—into his pocket.

In his coat's inner pocket were also three packets of chilled blood, insulated from temperature by foil and cotton, as well as a rough ruby wrapped in kraft paper and tied with twine.

"Let's go, Harry! We're heading for the wizarding world!" Dudley said breezily.

"Oh, okay, Cousin!"

Harry replied somewhat puzzled. Once they stepped through the misshapen front door, he could not help asking, "Cousin, aren't you going to say goodbye to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?"

"Come on, cousin! We're going shopping, not marching into battle! We don't need to put on some tearful farewell drama, do we?"

Dudley made a lighthearted joke on the surface, putting Harry at ease.

But inside, Dudley was not as happy as he appeared.

He knew his parents were hiding behind the door of the first-floor master bedroom, listening to the sounds of them leaving, their hearts filled with worry.

But this was something the Dursley Household had to experience and adapt to.

As the Savior's family, until Voldemort and his followers were completely finished, they either had to keep a low profile and hide themselves away, or live in constant fear until they gained overwhelming strength.

There was no third path.