Chapter 867
A Magical Trick
Chapter 867 A Magical Trick
Harry woke up very early in the morning.
The rough sheets and the smell of laundry detergent made him feel uncomfortable, but Harry would rather go out and face the Dursleys than stay in this cramped room.
To maintain the protective magic left by his mother, Harry would return to the Dursleys' house for a month every summer.
Although Sirius's house was nearby, and although Uncle Vernon's fists had stopped hitting him after he paid for living expenses, this month still felt exceptionally long and agonizing for Harry.
He lay in bed with his eyes closed, reminiscing about his experience of going to the Lilliput Adventure with his friends a few days ago... It was as if he wasn't at No. 4 Privet Drive, but walking through a huge, emerald-like forest of grass.
Slender blades of grass formed a green dome above his head, and sunlight was filtered into shimmering golden spots. They "climbed" the huge rocky mountain and narrowly escaped an attack by a longhorn beetle.
Riding on the giant snail, the group slowly crawled along the vines; and to cross a small ditch, they painstakingly moved a branch to build a bridge, the sense of pride they felt upon completion still echoing in Harry's chest.
He was excitedly jumping on the huge leaves when he accidentally knocked over a flexible branch, and the dew that had accumulated overnight poured down on his head.
"Harry—!"
Padma yelled in exasperation, but Hermione burst out laughing: "Good heavens, this is hilarious!"
"Hey, try this!"
Ron roared and charged out like a bull, crashing heavily into a cluster of hosta flowers that resembled a dense forest.
"Wow—"
The icy dew poured down as if someone had poured a bathtub of water over their heads, and everyone screamed and ran away with their heads in their hands!
"Dong dong dong..."
A series of heavy footsteps sounded, and Harry instinctively thought of the magnificent stag beetle. He held his breath, opened his eyes, and found himself not in Lilliput, but at the Dursleys' house.
The heavy footsteps came from Dali.
He drove up the stairs like a truck, his shouts echoing throughout the entire house:
"Mom, I'm hungry! Is breakfast ready?"
Harry sighed regretfully, snapped out of his reverie, reluctantly got out of bed, put on a T-shirt and jeans, and tiptoed downstairs.
The aroma of frying bacon filled the air from the kitchen to the living room. Aunt Penny, flipping eggs in the pan, said kindly:
"Wait a moment, Dada, breakfast will be ready soon."
Uncle Fernon shoved his massive frame into a chair next to the dining table, turned a page of the newspaper, and snorted, "That kid's still not up?"
"Who knows!" Aunt Penny scoffed. "He's always running around, he must be hanging out with... with those kinds of people. Dada, remember to stay away from him, lest you catch all sorts of weird diseases!"
That's as if Harry were some kind of pathogen.
Dudley sat at the dining table and chuckled foolishly.
“Speaking of which,” Vernon said in a low voice, “Penny, have you noticed? Um… we haven’t heard that beat-up motorcycle for a few days.”
Penny was spreading butter on Dudley's bread when she heard this, her hand stiffened slightly, and she hurriedly said, "Shh—don't mention that person!"
"Oh...I'm sorry, darling."
Finnon immediately apologized, while glancing quickly at the window and door, as if worried that the wanted criminal who supposedly "killed more than a dozen people" might come to the door.
He grumbled inwardly—why hadn't the police put Sirius Black in jail yet, instead letting him swagger around the streets? The thought of such a monster living near Privet Road sent chills down his spine… But if anyone suggested that Vernon should voluntarily go to the police to report a wanted criminal near his home… come on, he would never do such a risky and provocative thing.
The atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly became dull, with only Dali focused on eating his breakfast, completely unaware of what his parents were saying.
Harry came down the stairs at that moment and sat down in a chair at the end of the table. In front of him was a lone piece of toast and a small piece of carrot, a portion that would probably fill a three-year-old child.
But Harry didn't care; he left Sirius Black's snacks at his house for several times the amount of Dudley's.
After a laundry detergent commercial ended on the television next to me, some cheerful music started playing.
"Good morning, everyone! Welcome to 'Magic Like Magic'!" a man said in a very melodious voice. "I'm your host, the amazing Mike!"
"A Magical Magic Trick?" Vernon exclaimed with immediate disgust. "What a strange name!"
Harry didn't even look up, chewing on his dry bread, showing little interest in the so-called magic tricks of Muggles.
—Even the most amazing magic trick can shrink a person.
He thought to himself with pride.
"Today, we have two very special guests—the twin wizards from Devon, Webb and Willie! Let's welcome them!"
The host Mike's tone was like a rollercoaster, with dramatic ups and downs that instantly grabbed Dudley's attention. Dudley's cheeks were bulging from eating, and he stared intently at the screen.
After a sparse round of applause, Harry heard a very familiar, cheerful voice:
"Good morning, England! I'm Webb, who looks like Wiley!"
"I am Willie, who looks like Webb!"
"Cough-cough!"
Harry nearly spat out the bread in his mouth. He covered his mouth, coughed loudly, and turned to look at the television.
Vernon looked at him with disgust, while Petunia stretched out her long, thin arms and quickly moved all the plates as far away from Harry as possible.
Harry, completely oblivious to their expressions, stared in shock at the screen as he saw two young men in brightly colored plaid shirts and exaggerated wigs flashing the familiar smiles at the camera.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and those of you who are somewhere in between—"
"It's breakfast time now, I hope you all have something delicious brewing in your teapots—"
"I really hope you'll be laughing like boiling kettles when you see our magic show later—"
During the summer holidays, Vernon and Penny had seen some of the Weasley children, but clearly, they didn't recognize the people on TV at all.
"What twin magicians? I've never heard of them before," Finon muttered, his small eyes fixed on the screen, clearly intrigued.
Harry's heart pounded, and he desperately wanted to jump up and block the screen, but his body was too stiff to react.
On the screen, the twins solemnly took out a deck of cards, showed it to both sides, and then Fred drew out the Ace of Hearts, keeping everyone in suspense like a traditional magician:
"Now, I will randomly insert this card in the middle, and with just a snap of my fingers, it will miraculously move to the bottom of this deck!"
(End of this chapter)