"Uncle Askin, Auntie Claire." Harry greeted the Granger family standing ahead.
"Hello, Harry." The Grangers responded with a smile, reaching to take the suitcase from their daughter's hand.
"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Penny." Harry greeted the Dursleys, suppressing a surprised expression.
Uncle Vernon cleared his throat, somewhat awkwardly saying, "Well, we're here to pick up Dudley today, and incidentally you—since you're back, let's head home."
After politely saying goodbye to the Grangers, Harry followed Uncle Vernon and Aunt Penny into the car.
In the car, cousin Dudley was holding a gaming device, engrossed in playing.
He didn't even notice someone had sat down beside him until he couldn't clear the blocks and turned his head, startled, "Whoa!"
"When did you get here, Harry?" he asked, patting his chest.
"I've been sitting here all along, cousin," Harry said with a smile. "I saw you were engrossed in your game, so I didn't interrupt—what you have there, is it a game console?"
Dudley picked up the gaming device and waved it in front of Harry.
"You mean this?" he asked. "Yes, it's Nintendo's latest Gameboy... oh, not exactly the latest, I heard it's been out for a few years."
With that, he handed the device to Harry, "Here, Harry, give it a try—it's quite fun, especially this Tetris... I can't understand why it's called 'Tetris'..."
"Because it combines some Greek word, Dudley," Harry explained to his cousin, "The first few letters probably come from the Greek word 'tetra,' meaning four, but I don't know what word 'is' comes from."
"It's tennis," Uncle Vernon said while driving.
After returning to 4 Privet Drive, Harry got out and walked into the Dursley residence as usual.
"To be honest, your method was quite useful last time."
Uncle Vernon's face was flushed purple, not with anger, but with joy.
The last time Harry saw him this happy was when Dudley entered Smelting Middle School—both father and son were thrilled to be at the same school.
"Because of your little invention, we successfully closed deal after deal," Uncle Vernon beamed, "We not only bought a villa on Mallorca Island, but also got a new Bentley, all thanks to you, Harry."
"I'm glad," Harry said with a smile.
"So, to show our gratitude," Uncle Vernon cleared his throat and said to Harry, "We're not the kind who ignore grace, so we've set up a fund for you. Once you reach adulthood, you can use it freely—whether to buy a car or a house, it's more than enough—but I must warn you, young man, if you want to buy a car, don't go for any German brands, got it?"
Harry laughed and replied earnestly to Uncle Vernon, "Alright, thank you, Uncle Vernon."
His emotional intelligence was high; even when everyone was happy, he wouldn't display any sarcasm.
No matter how insignificant cars or houses from the Muggle World might be to him, they were still Uncle Vernon's gesture of goodwill.
That evening, the Dursleys prepared a lavish dinner.
However, Uncle Vernon kept pointing out that Dudley had lost weight at Smelting and should really eat up to regain his masculine vigor.
Considering Uncle Vernon was treating him well now, Harry graciously refrained from expressing any sarcasm or dissatisfaction, simply echoing the Dursleys' praises of Dudley.
But only he and Dudley knew the real reason Dudley had slimmed down was due to the weight loss magic potion Harry had sent him.
Dudley felt quite pleased with himself, having slimmed down and gained a bit of charm, at least the girls didn't dislike him, ensuring he wouldn't remain single forever...
"I'm learning boxing," Dudley said, grabbing a steak, "The coach thinks I have the traits of a good boxer; I feel it suits me well."
Harry's face turned dour.
Hey, this little chubby cousin's boxing skills were mostly developed by practicing on him.
"Oh, sorry Harry," Dudley said when he saw Harry's darkened expression, "I didn't mean to say that, haha... although I did train with you back then."
"Alright, let's drop it," Harry replied with a smirk, "It's always good to find something to do; I wish you an early victory in the boxing championship!"
"Not just any championship, I'm going for the world title!" Dudley said, waving his fists.
After dinner, Harry saw Hedwig fly gracefully from outside the window, landing on the table in his room.
It had a parchment in its mouth, which Harry tore open and read:
Dear Mr. Potter:
We are pleased to inform you that a new academic year will start on September 1st, and the Hogwarts Express will depart at eleven o'clock from Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station.
On certain weekends, third-year students will be allowed to visit Hogwarts.
Please have the consent form attached signed by your parents or guardians.
The letter includes a book list for the new school year.
Yours sincerely,
Deputy Headmistress
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Harry didn't look at the book list but instead took out the Hogwarts permission form, and walked to the living room.