Through Adrian's negotiations, the Dursleys reluctantly agreed to let Harry study with Adrian during the day and return him in the evening.
When Harry followed Adrian out of that oppressive house, sumr sunlight was streaming down on Privet Drive's tidy streets, and Harry felt even the air had beco fresher.
Although he still had to return there at night, this was already trendous good news.
"Speaking of which," Adrian slowed his pace and looked at Harry curiously, "why did they lock you up this ti? What did you do?"
Harry pouted and kicked a small stone by the roadside.
"Dudley drank my hair-raising potion," he said huffily. "That greedy guy... I clearly warned him it wasn't a drink."
"Hair-raising potion?" Adrian asked casually. "Did you make it yourself?"
Harry nodded embarrassedly, his ears turning slightly red. "Yeah... Hermione said I could try changing my hairstyle occasionally. I found the brewing thod for this potion in a book."
"However," he sighed and continued, "maybe I got the formula wrong. That hair-raising potion made flowers grow all over Dudley's head, tangled up with his hair."
"Probably so impurities got mixed in."
The corner of Adrian's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
That scene must have been quite interesting.
Then Adrian looked thoughtfully at Harry's perpetually ssy hair—it did need proper care.
Perhaps he could recomnd trying Lockhart's egg shampoo.
With Adrian's help, Harry's life underwent subtle changes.
Now he could openly walk out the Dursley front door every morning without having to sneak around like before.
As soon as the clock hands pointed to the appointed ti, he could rush to Adrian's for magical training.
Even though the lessons were rigorous, he could clearly feel his spell level improving day by day.
Of course, to maintain the protective magic Lily had left behind, occasionally he still needed to spend entire days with the Dursleys.
For the current Harry, this was sheer torture.
That was truly unbearable...
The last day of July was Harry's birthday.
Harry had always kept his Hedwig at Adrian's house, so the address for receiving and sending mail was also there.
That day, Harry sat on the sofa in Adrian's shop unwrapping packages—recently Adrian had removed so shelves and replaced them with comfortable sofa sets.
Because he had discovered that no custors ca to his shop anyway.
After all, Muggles couldn't find his shop, and wizards rarely ca to the Muggle world.
Of course, this didn't matter. Adrian wasn't here to do business—this was just his residence.
Harry had received birthday cards and gifts from Ron and Hermione.
Of course, there was also Adrian's gift. At Harry's request, Adrian had given him another protective charm.
Adrian's enchanted charm-making skills had beco increasingly refined recently. This ti he again used wood carved from lightning-struck timber.
He had experinted with other materials, but their effects were sowhat unsatisfactory.
This type of charm could absorb one spell attack at a critical mont, though unfortunately, it only worked when the spell hit the charm itself or nearby.
Besides this, Harry also received a letter from the Weasley family.
The Weasleys invited Harry to visit the Burrow in their letter, and if he was willing, he could stay with them for a few days.
Harry was already looking forward to it.
Only, the holiday plan Adrian had made for him...
Seeing Harry looking at him expectantly, Adrian agreed.
Amid Harry's cheers, Adrian poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "Don't forget your Hogwarts holiday howork. You only have one month left."
Only then did Harry realize that with intensive training, his sumr howork remained untouched.
Hogwarts assigned a trendous amount of holiday work—almost every professor left many essays.
However, Harry wasn't concerned. He was still imrsed in the joy of visiting the Weasley family.
"How will you get to the Burrow?" Adrian looked at Harry and asked. "Floo Powder? Or shall I take you there by Apparition?"
"No need," Harry shook his head. "Ron said they'd co pick up early tomorrow morning, saying they have sothing interesting."
The next day, Adrian finally learned what Harry's "sothing interesting" was.
Normally, Adrian slept in the bedroom on the shop's second floor at night.
That early morning, a sound like a car engine ca from outside the window.
At first, Adrian thought it was a passing car, but soon—
"Professor Westeros!"
A familiar voice reached his ears.
Adrian got up from bed with confusion, picked up his wand from the bedside table, pointed at the clothes on the corner hanger, and the garnts imdiately flew over and dressed him automatically.
Then he quickly walked to the window and pulled back the curtains. Blinding headlights shone directly at him, forcing him to squint.
After his vision adjusted, he could see the scene outside clearly.
A flying old Ford was hovering unsteadily less than three feet from his window. Harry had half his body leaning out the driver's window, his hair whipping wildly in the night wind.
"Professor!" Harry shouted excitedly. "Ron, George, and Fred ca to pick up!"
Adrian couldn't help but look back at the wall clock—the hour hand pointed to two o'clock.
Indeed... children's energy was boundless.
Then Adrian looked at the driver—should be George? Or Fred?
He couldn't tell them apart anyway.
"Very sorry to disturb you, Professor Westeros," George or Fred in the driver's seat explained. "But Harry insisted on saying goodbye to you before leaving."
Adrian nodded and waved at Harry. "Well then, goodbye. Have fun."
The car closed its windows and slowly rose a few feet, then suddenly made a sharp turn and circled back.
The window rolled down again, and one of the twins poked his head out.
"Wait! Almost forgot!" he said. "Mum specifically asked us to tell you—she hopes you'll visit the Burrow, Professor Westeros!"
'An invitation from the Weasley family?'
Adrian nodded. "Thank you for the invitation. Please give my regards to Mr. Weasley. I'll co through the Floo Network tomorrow."
He was certainly willing, though he preferred using the fireplace rather than a flying car.
Flying from here to the Burrow would probably take several hours—he'd rather spend that ti resting.
"See you tomorrow then, Professor!" Harry waved.
"Tomorrow morning we'll have Mum open the fireplace restrictions," Ron added.
His voice faded as the car suddenly accelerated.
The vehicle traced a dangerous arc through the air, nearly colliding with a streetlamp, before disappearing crookedly into the night.
Adrian was certain the twins didn't have driver's licenses.
Mr. Weasley's flying car was indeed a marvelous magical item, and he was quite interested in it. Perhaps he could later ask Mr. Weasley about the magic required to create such a flying car.
________________
You can read more chapters on:
/IamLuis
User Comments
0 comments from readers