Dumbledore, Another Piece of Bad News!

"We've finished shopping. Harry and I are going home.

Mr. Dumbledore, if I'm not mistaken, Aunt Lily and Uncle James were following you back then, standing on your side against Voldemort, weren't they?

Then, as the family of wizards who died under your command, I believe we have the right to know the relevant details.

Before midnight tomorrow, please come to 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging and tell us exactly how Aunt Lily and Uncle James were murdered.

Also, if you have any other requests, we can discuss them with us tomorrow.

Please don't break the appointment. Before the day after tomorrow arrives, I will make a decision: whether our family stays in the United Kingdom or goes abroad.

This isn't a threat. You don't have to come.

But if you don't, then when Harry and I return here again, nothing you say or do will be able to influence either of us in the slightest!"

Dudley spoke with extreme solemnity, paying no heed to Dumbledore's increasingly conflicted expression.

He wanted to give Harry an explanation, give himself an opportunity, and give Dumbledore a chance as well.

The butterfly had already stirred up a hurricane, and the future was no longer clear. In that case, he might as well make the storm even fiercer!

"Dudley, I disagree with how you put it. Lily and James were my companions, my teammates, not people who were following me around... But fine! I'll keep the appointment tomorrow. There are things for which I need an answer as well! A direction!

"As for going abroad or attending Hogwarts, I hope both you and Harry will consider it carefully!"

Dumbledore's face was filled with sorrow and conflict. In just a few short hours today, he seemed to have aged ten years.

His heart was exhausted!

What he did not know was that it was about to become even more exhausted.

"I look forward to your arrival."

Dudley said that politely with a blank expression, then handed over the certification document Ollivander had written. "This is your payment! Thank you for violating Ministry of Magic regulations and helping me make an unregistered large Space Suitcase!"

Dudley's words remained barbed. It was a retort to Dumbledore's earlier emphasis on separating him from Harry.

Besides, even if Dumbledore had not modified the suitcase for him, he would still have given Dumbledore the document.

The reason was simple. He wanted Dumbledore to be even more overwhelmed, which would help with tomorrow's negotiations.

After handing over the document, Dudley turned and slowly walked away, saying at the same time:

"Hagrid, once your old coat has dried tomorrow, I'll trouble Mr. Dumbledore to bring it back to you. And keep in touch, my friend!"

"Huh? All right, I'll write to you!"

Hagrid answered foolishly. He suddenly figured something out: as long as Dudley and Harry did not completely stand against Dumbledore, it would not affect their friendship.

Thinking that, his heart no longer felt so conflicted, and he brightened up.

However, Dumbledore beside him could not brighten up. In the underground vault, he had personally watched Dudley pull the cracked killer's wand from a massive rock.

At that time, the killer had already turned to ashes, making identification impossible.

Dumbledore had not thought much of it, assuming Voldemort had possessed some unlucky wizard. He had never expected that unlucky wizard to be Quirinus Quirrell, an outstanding Ravenclaw graduate whom he had personally invited to become this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

The position of Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had long ago been afflicted with an unremovable curse by Voldemort, who had failed to obtain it.

Any wizard who took up the post would suffer an accident within a year, either dying or becoming crippled.

But Dumbledore had never imagined that Professor Quirrell would be cursed to death before even starting the job.

Even after becoming Voldemort's host, he still could not escape the curse?

Dumbledore was deeply troubled. Quirrell was dead, and Hogwarts would open in just one month.

He had to find another outstanding wizard with comparable fame or strength, and who was willing to teach, to become this year's unlucky fool—oh, no, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Frowning, Dumbledore stood with Hagrid and watched Dudley and Harry pass through the back wall of the Leaky Cauldron, enter the pub, and leave Diagon Alley.

Then he sighed. His aged hand rested on Hagrid's arm as he Apparated.

Both he and Hagrid needed to return to Hogwarts and have some peace.

Dudley and Harry boarded the returning Muggle train.

It was already past noon. Harry's eleventh birthday had truly been thrilling, exciting, and eventful.

"Cousin, you actually don't need to think about so much. Wasting time isn't your style."

On the train, Harry stroked Hedwig's feathers and suddenly spoke with some hesitation.

"You're the one overthinking things, Harry!" Dudley said with a smile. "Too much happened today. We both need time to process it. We didn't deliberately postpone talking to Dumbledore just because it's your birthday."

"I knew it!" Harry curled his lip. "I'm strong! Besides, things are already obvious.

"Because of a prophecy, Voldemort went on a targeted killing spree until he reached my old home, killed my father and mother, encountered me—his destined nemesis—and got beaten into a half-dead, neither-human-nor-ghost state.

"Dumbledore wanted to raise me according to his own ideas, so I could completely kill Voldemort! But his plan has too many flaws, and it's too small-minded. You don't like it, Cousin."

"Very smart!" Dudley smiled and ruffled the stray hair on Harry's head again, his expression turning serious. "That should be the main thread of events. But there are definitely many details that need sorting out.

"Voldemort was a ruler back then. He would not have acted alone. There must have been many followers and accomplices. Dumbledore may not care much about them, but we cannot let them go!

"If we take revenge, we do it properly. The chief culprit and every accomplice must receive the fate they deserve!"

"That's right! I'll take revenge on every bad person who harmed my parents!"

Harry was equally solemn. Having grown up with Dudley, he was no harmless softie.

"Then, Cousin, what exactly do you think of Dumbledore? After everything that happened today, I'm a little unable to see clearly."

Harry asked in confusion, "My parents followed him in fighting Voldemort. Logically, we should stand with him, but the way he handled things... is really strange."

"Do you remember the first name Dumbledore blurted out after rushing onto the battlefield?"

Rather than answer Harry directly, Dudley brought up a detail.

Harry thought for a moment and replied, "He called my name first, then Hagrid's, asking whether we were hurt."

"You and Dumbledore were essentially meeting formally for the first time today, yet his instinctive first concern was you rather than Hagrid, with whom he was practically inseparable. Why do you think that was?

"Remember, Hagrid had just been rescued from unconsciousness by us, while you hadn't been injured much at all and remained conscious the entire time."

Dudley guided him patiently, explaining in an orderly manner.

"That means that, in Dumbledore's heart, I'm more important than Hagrid?!" Harry logically arrived at the answer.