An Abrupt End

Harry jumped.

"You must be Harry!" The moment he entered the meeting room, a dark-haired man with the same hooked nose as Snape and Krum greeted him.

"This is my dad." Krum blinked.

Though the stiffness in his face kept him from making any further expression.

His whole body nevertheless radiated an unprecedented sense of ease.

Beside him, a similarly dark-haired woman—presumably Krum's mother—rapidly spoke to Krum in Bulgarian.

"Thank you so much.

Viktor told me that without you, he would have been alone at school the whole time.

You also helped him greatly during the tournament," Krum's father said enthusiastically.

He blocked most of Harry's view.

Harry had to put considerable effort into getting away from him.

Then he saw the others on the other side.

There were Fleur and Ryan.

Ryan was chattering nonstop in French with Fleur's mother.

Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding Ryan's hand.

In a corner of the room, Ilvas waved at Harry in advance before speaking Portuguese with his dark-haired parents.

Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Aunt Petunia, and even Dudley.

Other than Aunt Petunia, the other two were smiling at him.

"Didn't expect it, did you, Harry? My mum came too," Dudley said warmly.

Harry awkwardly stepped forward. He gripped Ginny's hand more tightly.

He still was not used to Dudley's enthusiasm.

He could quickly forgive Ron's mistakes.

But Dudley... he feared he would never get used to him for the rest of his life.

"Hello," Harry greeted them.

Aunt Petunia nodded.

But her gaze seemed to be avoiding him, fixed only on Dudley and the portraits whispering among themselves.

Mrs. Weasley, meanwhile, looked a little uncomfortable.

Clearly, she and Aunt Petunia did not get along very well.

Only when Ginny and Harry approached did she smile.

She promptly pulled Ginny