When Harry walked out of the bathroom, as expected, Dudley immediately burst into a deafening laugh.
"Oh my god, Mom, come look, Harry has turned into this monstrosity!" Dudley pointed at Harry's head, his mockery unconcealed.
Penny also found it a bit hard to hold back her laughter; she was right next to Dudley, helping him get dressed. "Alright, don't be too happy, sweetie, lift your left hand."
Harry touched the scar on his forehead and said calmly, "There's nothing funny about this, Dudley. If there's anything funny, I think it's having Mom help you get dressed."
Upon hearing this, Dudley's face flushed, and he was about to teach Harry a good lesson right then and there.
"Enough, stop it!" Vernon's voice rang out, interrupting Dudley's actions. "Get in the car quickly, we still have to rush to school."
Harry tidied his clothes, then followed Vernon outside.
Behind them, Penny had just picked up Dudley's shoes, intending to put them on him, but Dudley snatched them away, wanting to put them on himself. At the same time, his eyes glared fiercely at Harry's retreating back.
Penny was unfazed by Dudley's rude and disrespectful behavior; on the contrary, she felt that her precious darling had grown up and could even put on his own shoes, her face filled with satisfaction.
Outside, just around the corner from the door, Vernon grabbed Harry by the collar, slammed him against the car, and, with his hands on the car roof, glared at him fiercely.
"Listen, I don't know how much you learned from that guy, but you understand the Dursley Family rules: don't cause trouble for me at school!"
Harry looked at Vernon, neither humble nor arrogant. "As long as Dudley doesn't do anything out of line, I naturally won't either."
Harry already knew about the divide between the ordinary world and the Wizarding World and had, to some extent, understood some of the Ministry of Magic's Wizarding Secrecy Statutes.
He knew that casting magic in plain sight of Muggles had a chance of attracting the Ministry of Magic.
And Howl and the Ministry of Magic were not on good terms. He had known this since he first met Howl.
Rather than caring about the Dursley Family, he was more concerned about not causing trouble for Howl.
But that didn't mean he would do nothing.
For example, pretending he could cast magic freely might make the Dursley Family wary.
This could make his future days a little easier.
When Vernon heard Harry's words, he felt a lump in his throat, his face turning beet red with anger.
He slapped the car roof and growled, "Get in the car."
With that, he unceremoniously shoved Harry into the car and then closed the door.
Afterward, from behind the car door, he called out to Dudley, giving him instructions.
After only a couple of sentences, Harry heard Dudley's shout through the car door: "Why?! He was clearly bullying me!"
As he spoke, his eyes welled up. Harry was all too familiar with this scene; Dudley hadn't cried in years, he was a complete little tyrant, who could make him cry?
But, as long as he could squeeze out a few tears in front of the Dursley Family, no matter how unreasonable the request, it would be granted instantly.
However, this time, that trick might fall flat. Penny patted Dudley's little head, comforting him, as if not being able to bully Harry had caused her precious darling immense grievance.
Vernon was also heartbroken but still tried to console him. "Dudley, we have to be more friendly. Like a great superhero, they always show tolerance to those evil villains, don't they?"
With that, Vernon fumbled in his pants pocket, pulled out his wallet, and extracted ten pounds. "And this, is our reward for the superhero."
Harry could guarantee that he saw a smile under Dudley's arm as he wiped away his tears.
"Okay, Dad. I promise you."
"That's our precious boy." Vernon placed his hand on Dudley's shoulder with satisfaction and helped him into the car.
As soon as he climbed into the car, Dudley waved the banknotes in his hand at Harry, smiling triumphantly.
Harry turned his head away, indifferent.
At least Dudley wouldn't bother him for a while.
However, this 'while' was much shorter than Harry had imagined... Meanwhile, Howl stood outside Moonlight Fortress, stretching comfortably, and then looked at the scenery below the cliff.
The scenery here was indeed beautiful, but after looking at it for so long, he inevitably grew a little bored.
Entering the house, he immediately poked Lucifer with a poker.
"Uh... Hmm? What's going on so early in the morning?"
"No more sleeping, let's go!!" Howl said.
Lucifer instantly burst into flames, his spirits greatly lifted. "Go where?! I suggest we head north to the sea, then plunder our way along, and ideally recruit some sailors to do odd jobs, then..."
"Stop!" Howl abruptly cut off Lucifer's rambling, looking at him helplessly. "Pirates are outdated! Besides, we're not plundering, we're just changing places, traveling, understand?"
Lucifer immediately felt bored, crossing his arms, looking disdainfully at Howl. "Boring!"
After speaking, he picked up a map nearby. "Then where do you say we go?"
"Let's head south along the Scandinavian Mountains."
Lucifer looked at the map. "That would be... Norway!!"
Norway... Howl suddenly thought of something, a smile appearing on his face.
Norway, in the history of magic, held a not insignificant position.
He rummaged through his memories, finding a Wizarding village located in the Norway region from the books he had read before. Then he took Lucifer's fireproof map and marked the location.
"Let's head there first."
"Okay." Lucifer nodded, then his body surged, and flames shot through numerous pipes, Penetrate the entire Castle.
On the cliff, in the silent forest, the whistling roar of steam suddenly echoed, startling a flock of birds.
Screech—
Large plumes of white smoke spewed from the pipes on top of the Castle. The entire Castle slowly began to vibrate, and then several mechanical claws propped up the entire Castle.
Moonlight Fortress, which had been stationed for nearly two months, set off again!
Howl flew outside the Castle, hovering in the air, gently raising his palm and aiming it at the Castle.
There were several spells that seemed to work on the Castle.
As his fingertips danced, one spell after another gradually took effect above the Castle.
"Silencing Charm — Disillusionment Charm — Muggle-Repelling Charm — Peacekeeping Charm —"
A thin, light blue membrane gradually covered the top of the Castle. Soon, the entire Castle no longer made any sound and became difficult to observe or notice.
Howl was a little surprised: "So many spells cast simultaneously, yet they don't conflict at all.
The formation of spells is driven by desire, which in turn drives the world's laws, autonomously filling in the Veins outlined by incantations and gestures.
Without external interference, the integration of these spells is like the naturally formed internal organs within the human body.
The caster doesn't need to consciously think about how these different spells need to be modified or augmented."
Shaping bones and meridians, and then natural growth... This approach to spellcasting truly makes it hard not to be curious.
"Stop!!" Howl seemed to hear Lucifer's words in his ear.
"Stop your greed for magic; you'd be better off going to sleep!!"
Howl stroked his beard, gave a helpless bitter smile, and flew back into the Castle.