Days wandering around Hogwarts

Chapter 401 The Happy Summer Vacation Begins
As night fell, at number 4, Privet Drive, Harry looked in silence at the cucumber sandwich on the plate, along with a slice of poached egg from yesterday's dinner, as Erica placed the third roast pork knuckle in front of Charles.

Two slices of bread, a few slices of cucumber, and a pinch of salt, that was the Dursleys' dinner.

After not seeing each other for a year, Harry felt that if he painted the current Dudley in an oil painting of Hogwarts Castle, the frame would not be able to bear the weight and would fall off.

After Dudley breaks a chair in Charles's house, Petunia is forced to take her baby son to a child health consultation agency and comes back with a comprehensive weight loss plan.

Dudley's hellish life began. His three meals a day consisted of only bread, vegetables and fruits, without any meat, candy or soda.

In order to take care of her son's emotions, Petunia decided to make the whole family's diet consistent with Dudley's.

In addition to diet, there is also exercise.

Every morning, Dudley had to go to the swimming pool at the sports center a few blocks away for sports training and had to swim a certain distance in the water.

The coach is a stubborn and responsible middle-aged man who requires Dudley to complete the training, otherwise he cannot go ashore.

There was no point in Dudley crying, because Vernon and Petunia now had their own jobs and were not in the swimming pool, so they could not hear their son crying.

Harry trained every day in the boxing gym next to the swimming pool. It was said that Dudley's crying once attracted the police, but the police only looked at Dudley's physique, said a few words of encouragement and left.

Dudley was in a very bad mood and the food at number 4, Privet Drive was terrible, but Harry was not worried.

"I'm full." Harry finished his cucumber sandwich in two bites, put the empty plate back in the kitchen, rushed out the door faster than Hedwig could fly, and arrived at Number 3 Privet Drive across the street.

Petunia and Vernon didn't dare say a word "n" (half no) to his behavior because the murderer who was widely reported in the news media last summer lived across the street.

Although this wanted criminal was cleared of all charges, he had indeed committed murder, at least that's what the Dursleys thought.

As Harry entered the room, he smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen.

Black poked his head out of the restaurant, holding the apron he had just taken off. Seeing that it was Harry, he immediately said, "You're just in time. Kreacher has just finished making the beef pie."

As the house-elf of the Black family, Kreacher's cooking skills are top-notch among his peers.

The crust of the beef pie he made was baked to a golden brown, and the proportion of the filling and the control of the heat were perfect. Harry swallowed his saliva when he heard it.

Harry did not go directly to the dining room. He first went to the living room and greeted Jack, Lupin and Percy.

There's no need for Dumbledore. He's playing games upstairs, so it's best not to disturb him.

In addition to the beef pie, Harry's dinner also included a plate of tomato spider-leg meatball soup, which was made by putting canned tomato sauce and meatballs from the refrigerator into a pot and boiling them. Blake made it, and there was a little too much salt, so he had to drink a bottle of happy water after drinking it.

Number 3 Privet Drive is very busy right now.

Now that the Death Eaters have escaped from prison, Harry has to stay at his aunt's house to gain buffs, so Dumbledore asks Black to come and protect Harry.

Black was naturally happy about it. If Dumbledore had not disagreed, he would have taken Harry to his home long ago.

He now found that living at 3 Privet Drive was not bad. He had breakfast with Harry every day, accompanied Harry to the Muggle boxing club to "play dumb", Apparated to some old wizard bars and restaurants all over the UK to have lunch at noon, strolled back after "playing dumb" in the afternoon, watched the Muggles in the "box" make a fool of themselves in the evening, and chatted with Mr. Smith...

It would have been a perfect day if Mr. Smith hadn't been trying to get him to eat chocolate after turning into a dog.

The testing of the wolf antidote has officially started in full swing, but the director of the Werewolf Support Services Office went abroad after a meeting, leaving only two staff members to shoulder all the big and small tasks.

Lupin didn't like the atmosphere in the Ministry of Magic very much. Many people pointed fingers at him, so he simply moved his workplace here and met with Percy every night to discuss work.

Percy liked the environment in the Ministry of Magic, and he understood Lupin's difficulties, so he agreed.

Jack always listened at the side and gave some advice from time to time, which made the two new officials suddenly enlightened.

The TV series "The Wonderful Old Lady" is being broadcast on TV tonight. It is a children's comedy that tells the interesting story of an old lady who gained super powers.

Blake liked the show very much, saying it was "full of Muggle fantasies about wizards, very interesting."

When watching the show, he liked to tell Jack what a wizard should do, and Jack would always agree with him with a smile.

Today's TV series is over, Percy has gone home, and Lupin stayed to chat as usual.

Black said to Harry: "I don't think it's necessary for you to be silly with the Muggles using fists."

He, like many wizards, believes that wizards should fight with wands, not fists. Harry said: "No, I find boxing is useful for me, and it can also be used in magical duels."

Lupin agreed, "What Harry said makes sense. In the Dueling Club, his reaction time is better than most students. He can cast spells very quickly, with steady hands and precision. He can even dodge spells fired from the opposite side."

Jack also said: "I think that for wizards and non-magic people, physical health and ability are the most important."

"If you can cast spells faster and more accurately, even if it's just the kind of spell you learned in first grade to make things float, you can gain some advantages when fighting against an enemy that is much stronger than you."

Blake felt embarrassed when he saw that his opinion was opposed by everyone, including Jack who "just read Charles' textbook".

Seeing that he looked unhappy, Jack changed the subject: "Harry, did you buy the textbook?"

Harry shook his head and said, "Not yet. It's just the holiday season, so it's still early."

Jack said, "Oh, yes."

"Albus said that Hogwarts is adding another course next school year. I want to see what the textbook is like."

Harry broke out in a cold sweat. An alchemy class was added last school year, and everyone was already very busy. Now another class has been added. How can we survive?

Lupin knew some inside information, and when he saw Harry's bitter face, he laughed and said, "Don't worry, this is just a self-study course. You just need to hand in the exercise book every month."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good."

It's easy as long as I hand in my homework. I can learn from Hermione then.

However, Lupin continued, "The principal said that there are strong anti-plagiarism spells on those exercise books, so you can only write them yourself."

"By the way, if you fail this month's homework, you won't be allowed to go to Hogsmeade next month."

Harry was stunned.

Blake gloated and said, "Haha, luckily I'm graduated and don't have to do homework anymore."

Lupin also smiled and said, "When the principal added this course, he consulted all the professors and we all agreed that it was very necessary."

Blake nodded and said, "It seems that this is a good thing."

Lupin added: "Snape said he had been suffering the consequences of not having this course for so long that he was about to explode."

Blake curled his lips and said, "I think we shouldn't add more burden to the students."

At this time, Dumbledore came down from the stairs, went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of happy water, and when he saw Harry, he said, "Oh, Harry, I just happened to talk to you about something."

Harry no longer cared what the new course was. He couldn't escape it anyway, so maybe knowing it later would save him some trouble.

It was the first time he saw the principal on the first floor during the holidays. He thought it must be a big deal, so he asked, "What's the matter?"

Dumbledore said, "As you know, Hogwarts invites Muggle parents to visit Hogwarts."

Harry nodded.

The first time we invited Jack and Mr. Granger to this event, it was a good result. The second time was during this year's Potions Championship.

Dumbledore went on to say, "The last event didn't go well. The parents were frightened and the classes were affected. Neither side was very satisfied."

Jack and Mr. Granger, one pretended to be a Muggle, and the other dared to check Dumbledore's teeth. Their performance made everyone in Hogwarts misjudge the acceptance of Muggle parents.

So the second time the parents visited, the content of the visit was a bit more explicit, Peeves was no longer hospitable, and we almost messed it up.

Dumbledore made a new decision: "This school year's visit will be arranged before the start of the school year, mainly for parents of first-year students, and several students will explain and demonstrate together."

"These students need to understand the thoughts of Muggle parents and explain some phenomena in a way that they can understand."

Harry immediately replied: "That's no problem, I can go and help."

Then Penny came over.

(End of this chapter)