Harry, who had been brimming with excitement just a moment ago,
was instantly bewildered.
"Why? I've been on my guard the whole time!"
Douglas looked at Harry with a strange smile.
"You didn't check whether I was really Holmes."
But Harry still failed to grasp what that meant.
Only then did Douglas remember that, right up to the end, this boy had never learned that the Mad-Eye Moody who had been close to him for a year was a fake.
Well, that was a failing in his education.
But he would not admit fault.
Then he paid Harry no further attention.
As he entered, the oppression, panic, and cold that had filled the house seemed to be instantly swept away by a warm, dry breeze.
"Oh! Thank God! Thank your Merlin!"
As though he had seen a savior, Vernon dropped his shotgun, rushed over, and gave his top-tier business partner a hug.
"Mr. Holmes! You're finally here! This boy says it's nothing but lunatics and murderers out there-"
"Harry is right, Mr. Dursley."
Douglas did not refuse this reassuring embrace, but he still extricated himself immediately.
"It is indeed chaotic outside. But that isn't important."
He turned, his gaze settling on Harry again.
The severity and exacting scrutiny he usually showed in class were gone from his eyes, replaced by the particular gentleness of an elder, tinged with pride.
"Do you know why I only knocked now, Harry?"
As Douglas spoke, he elegantly removed his trench coat, which was not wet at all, and hung it on the coat rack.
Oh, he had brought no gifts this time.
Because his arrival was the best gift of all.
Harry froze for a moment, then shook his head.
"Because... you were busy?"
"Because I was giving you time to make mistakes."
Douglas