“MOOOOOOM!”
Dudley Clutched his butt while howling, stumbling and running downstairs.
Dobby seemed very satisfied with his masterpiece. He bowed deeply to Harry. “Harry Potter must stay here. He can’t go back to Hogwarts this year. Sorry, sir, Dobby has no other choice. It’s for Harry Potter’s own good.”
Dobby’s words were just finished, and with a crack like a whip, he vanished, leaving only the two stunned boys in the room.
“Sorry, I hope it didn’t scare you!” Harry sighed.
“What was that?” asked Evan curiously.
“Dobby, the house-elf.” Harry said with a frustrated explanation, “I’m done, Dudley has been turned into a pig’s tail. Uncle Vernon will kill me.”
“But it was not you who did it. I can testify for you.”
“It’s no use. They won’t believe it.” Harry leaned back to the wall and tried to support himself.
In fact, he was absolutely right.
A few seconds later, Vernon Dursley ran up, gasping, with a grim face, a demonic glint in his tiny eyes, completely ignoring Evan.
“Boy, I warned you, how dare you do that to Dudley…?” Vernon Dursley snarled at Harry.
“I didn’t, I was…” argued Harry weakly.
“Read this!” He waved a letter in his hand and rudely slung it to Harry. “Go on… read it!”
Looking at Harry, pale, Evan leaned up, curious and looked at the letter, it read:
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that a Transfiguration Spell was used at your place of residence this evening at twenty minutes past eight.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school. (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
Harry looked up from the letter and gulped.
“You didn’t tell us you weren’t allowed to use magic outside school,” said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. “Forgot to mention it… Slipped your mind, I daresay…”
He was bearing down on Harry like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. “Well, I’ve got news for you, boy… I’m locking you up… You’re never going back to that school… never… and if you try and magic yourself out … they’ll expel you!”
“Mr. Dursley, you can’t do this.” Evan hurriedly stopped him. “I can vouch for Harry and say that he didn’t do anything.”
“Child, you don’t understand!” Vernon Dursley gasped, it seemed that he did not completely lose his mind, and remembered who Evan was.
“I saw the whole process. A house-elf did it.” Evan looked up and saw everyone coming to the door of the room. His parents looked at him worriedly, and Dudley was in Mrs. Dursley’s arms covering his butt and crying loudly.
“That makes no difference…” muttered Vernon Dursley.
Ignoring him, Evan went to his parents and whispered.
Harry stood there, pitiful, thinking sadly of his future fate.
He knew that Vernon was not kidding with him. At the moment the Dursleys knew that he couldn’t use magic outside the school, he lost his only weapon. If he was trapped here, he would probably be expelled from school.
If he escaped with magic, then he also faced the fate of being expelled.
Ron and Hermione might find a way to save him, but all communication had been cut off by Dobby, and no one would know about his current situation.
Dobby might have saved Harry from horrible happenings at Hogwarts, but he lost the only pleasure of life. Harry was not sure how the Dursleys would treat him, and the way things were going, he’d probably starve to death anyway.
Unless, the boy named Evan could help him.
Harry raised a glimmer of hope. He saw that Evan was talking to his parents. It seemed that he had taken a letter from his trousers pocket and showed it to them. He pointed to Dudley and pointed to him.
The Masons looked very surprised at first, and then they seemed to be convinced by their son. They joined Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and whispered.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit weird. Dudley gradually stopped mourning, and budged his fat body forward, trying to hear what they were saying. Harry wanted to do the same, but just then he saw Evan who turned around and revealed a reassuring smile.
Time passed, and after a fierce debate for nearly half an hour, the four adults finally reached an agreement.
“Boy, don’t ask anything, go down and pack your things now, then get out of here!” Vernon Dursley snarled at Harry and his forehead was full of green veins.
“What?!” Harry wondered if he had misheard. Uncle Vernon let him leave the house, and Aunt Petunia, who was not far away, was pouting, without any objection.
God, if he was not sure that the Masons were Muggles, Harry would have thought they had cast a powerful Confundus Charm on the Dursleys.
“Come on, what are you waiting for?” Evan gave Harry a quiet tug.
“What did you say just now? Is there anything wrong?” Looking at the smile on Evan’s face, Harry asked in surprise.
“Nothing. If you like, I want to invite you to my house for the rest of the summer vacation.”
“Is that true?!” Harry’s voice rose sharply and then dropped down. “My uncle and aunt will not agree. I can’t go anywhere; they will always keep me locked up.”
“Don’t worry about that. You also heard your uncle’s words!” Evan blinked. “After my dad promised Mr. Dursley a big drill order, your uncle and aunt will be happy to let you stay in my house until the end of the summer vacation.”
“Oh, my God! Thank you, Evan!” Harry didn’t expect things to change so much. “I’d love to go anywhere if I could get out of here, but why are you helping me? You know, we’ve just met for the first time…”
“Haha, that’s nothing. But I think as my senior, you would not mind talking to your dear schoolmate about Hogwarts.”
Looking at Harry’s surprised expression, Evan pulled out the letter from his pocket and continued. “And, I want to use Hedwig. You know that I don’t have my own owl to reply to the school.”
“Evan, you are a new student at Hogwarts, that’s awesome!” Harry was happy. He never thought he would be so lucky.
He felt that today was his own lucky day. First, he saw Dudley’s hard luck, he did not have to be punished for that, he was able to get rid of the Dursley family for more than a month, and the most important point was that he actually met a new classmate.
“Hurry up, unless you want to stay and say goodbye to the Dursleys.”
