"That won't do. I have to stay here. Please agree to this. If it doesn't work, I will have to take necessary measures." Lamia still had that smiling face, but it made people inexplicably scared.

"You can't do this. Your Ministry of Magic will come after you. They won't allow you to bully a family of poor defenseless citizens!" Uncle Vernon thought for a long time and finally came up with an excuse for himself.

"Really? But I'm not under their control now." Lamia said viciously. She opened her mouth, her sharp teeth flashing coldly. "Well, do I need to take any action? You know, sir, this is very tiring."

"Forget it, forget it, do whatever you want." Uncle Vernon's face was full of fatigue after being called away by Aunt Petunia.

"That's great, sir, I think we'll have a great vacation." Lamia smiled as if she didn't see anything.

"Dudley, Dudley, baby, baby, what's the matter with you? What have you done to him?"

At this moment, Aunt Petunia, who had been quiet, suddenly screamed. She threw herself on Dudley who was lying on the sofa, and her wails were so loud that they almost broke the sky.

"He's fine," Lamia said as she walked over to take a look.

"How could he be okay? His soul must have been sucked away by the Soul Eater. It's all your fault! It's all your fault!" Aunt Petunia simply couldn't hear what Lamia said. She stubbornly believed that Dudley was harmed by Lamia and Harry.

"His soul? They didn't take it—his soul wasn't taken—"

Harry was about to explain when Aunt Petunia grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him like a madman.

"I said, he's fine." Lamia said and pulled away Aunt Petunia who was pestering her. She looked dazed.

"Of course they didn't suck his soul out, if that was the case you would know," Harry said angrily, his clothes were all wrinkled, it was all Aunt Petunia, and he was obviously about to explain.

"When will he wake up?" Aunt Petunia finally spoke after a long time.

"Now." Lamia glanced at the sofa.

Sure enough, the next second, Dudley was groaning on the sofa, saying he was cold.

"It's okay, it's okay." Aunt Petunia rushed over and hugged her fat son, and the three of them hugged each other.

"You beat them off, didn't you, son?" cried Uncle Vernon, quite excitedly. "You gave them a straight left and a straight right, didn't you?"

"He can't possibly give a Dementor a straight left followed by a straight right," Harry said through gritted teeth.

Lamia could see that Harry was jealous of Dudley. He also wanted to be held in the arms of his parents like this, even if he had to be a Muggle all his life.

Lamia sighed and patted Harry on the back. They were not destined to live such a dull life.

Harry knew what Lamia meant, but he felt bad.

"Then how come he's all right?" Uncle Vernon asked fiercely. "How come he wasn't sucked out, huh?"

"Because I saved him—"

With a whoosh, a flutter of wings, and a soft sound of falling dust, a fourth owl burst out from the kitchen fireplace.

"For God's sake, you can stay here, but no more damned owls!" cried Uncle Vernon, pulling out clumps of his beard by the roots. It had been a long time since he had been driven to such extremes. "No more owls in here! I can't stand it any more. Listen to me!"

But Harry had already torn a roll of parchment from the owl's feet, and he didn't care what Uncle Vernon thought.

The letter was from Dumbledore, and he explained everything—the Dementors, Mrs. Figg, the Ministry's dealings, and how he, Dumbledore, was going to make things right.

Harry ignored Uncle Vernon's continued rant about the owl, which had just flown out of the chimney, stirring up a cloud of dust. He squinted his eyes and continued to read the letter.

Arthur has just told us what happened. Whatever you do, don't leave that house again.

Harry felt that this was a very unkind reaction to what had happened tonight, and he turned the parchment over, expecting to find more words on the reverse, but there was nothing.

His anger was rising again.

No one cares about his feelings, they just let him stay here, and he doesn't like this place at all!

"A bunch, I mean, a flock of owls flying in and out of my house, and I won't allow it, boy, I won't--" Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry's collar, his eyes widening.

"The owl's coming, and there's nothing I can do about it," said Harry grumpily, shoving the letter into his palm.

"I want to know the truth about what happened tonight!" Uncle Vernon roared. "If it was the Dementors who hurt Dudley, why were you expelled? You did it, and you've admitted it!"

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