This fight ended with a 70-30 split.
Mr. Weasley took a punch to one eye, while Lucius took punches to both eyes and received a heavy kick to the waist from either George or Fred. In the end, he had to use his walking stick as a crutch and limped away with Malfoy.
Clearly, Mr. Lucius, who had lived in luxury for years, was far inferior in hand-to-hand combat to Mr. Weasley, who occasionally had to do farm work. Moreover, having many children really was useful.
After experiencing such a farce, Lockhart's new book signing couldn't continue and had to end hastily. Of course, Lockhart himself was actually quite happy about it.
Dudley could already imagine tomorrow's newspaper headlines: 'Shocking! Two Adult Male Wizards Fight in Public—All for...'
Then the purpose of the fight would be described as competing for Lockhart's new book. If I were Lockhart, I'd definitely have The Daily Prophet write it that way... guaranteed to give the new book a little boost.
"Setting a good example for the children... fighting in public... what would Gilderoy Lockhart think..." Mrs. Weasley kept scolding Mr. Weasley. She was a devoted fan of Lockhart's books.
Besides being the bestselling novelist, Lockhart also had the nickname "friend of women." He was quite good at positioning himself.
When they finished buying new books and were about to pick up Harry and leave together, they received another invitation from Mrs. Weasley. Dudley politely thanked Mrs. Weasley and said he would definitely visit them next semester, but before leaving, he used a brand new complete set of Lockhart books to exchange for the second-hand textbooks in Ginny's cauldron.
For the remaining holiday time, they planned to return to Privet Drive. Hermione also needed to go home for a while... they'd been away long enough. Even if their parents were still hiding secrets from them, they should spend some time with them.
During the following days, Dudley and Harry stayed home obediently. Besides daily exercise, they just read books and studied. During this period, Vernon surprisingly didn't go out to fish and drink with Mr. Granger, but stayed home honestly to accompany them. As a senior executive, he also had vacation time.
Though even when Vernon stayed home, his role was limited to taking out trash and mowing the lawn, the feeling of having family around versus not having them was different.
Harry was devouring the little sausages Petunia made. He hadn't eaten these for almost a year and really missed this taste.
"Slow down, slow down, don't choke." Petunia poured a glass of water and handed it to Harry. "No one's competing with you, Harry."
After resolving her inner conflicts, Petunia's attitude toward Harry had changed very noticeably, especially after her child Dudley also entered Hogwarts. If not a complete 180-degree change, it was at least 160-170 degrees.
Really no one competing?
Dudley across from him had already finished an entire pot, and if Harry didn't eat faster, he'd only get three big bowls.
"I'll make you another portion tonight." Seeing her food being rapidly consumed, Petunia felt very happy. For children, a mother's cooking is always the most delicious and irreplaceable.
"Looks like that Hogwarts has terrible food." Vernon picked up a large tub of ice cream and lay on the sofa... he liked doing this every summer, taking a big delicious bite and then muttering quietly: "Definitely not as good as Smeltings' food... I ate there since I was little."
"Hey, Vernon, can't you set a good example for the children? Who eats ice cream first thing in the morning? Do you know what your body fat percentage is now?"
Hearing this, Vernon pouted and put his spoon back with a grieved expression.
"It's fine, Mom." Dudley said after swallowing the last little sausage. "I've already prepared weight-loss potions for Father."
Hearing there were special weight-loss potions, Vernon immediately became interested. "How effective are they?"
"They can make you lose thirty pounds instantly."
"Thirty pounds?" Vernon looked at his massive belly where he couldn't see his toes and immediately lost interest. "That's like being useless."
"If you lost two hundred pounds at once, your body couldn't handle it."
Rapid weight loss wasn't a good thing... even with potions. No matter how effective potions were, they needed to follow gradual progression.
Vernon secretly glanced at Petunia, and seeing she wasn't paying attention to him, he sneakily reached for the ice cream tub he'd set aside.
"And starting today, he'll also exercise with us."
Before he could take a bite, Vernon heard Dudley's words and was struck like lightning. Clatter... his spoon fell to the ground.
You've got to be kidding... with Dudley's morning training intensity, completing one-tenth in a whole day would be good.
Single-finger push-ups? Hilarious... just stick out the belly, no need for fingers.
"No way, no way, no way." Imagining himself exercising, Vernon's head shook like a rattle drum. In short: exercise was impossible... even if you killed him, he wouldn't exercise.
That night after dinner, four figures appeared outside the Dursley family's yard. Why four? To supervise Vernon, Petunia had also come along.
The pleasant days passed one by one, and soon it was time to part again. Hogwarts second year was beginning.
Vernon still drove the small car to take Dudley and Harry to King's Cross Station, where they met the Grangers... this had been arranged beforehand.
"Remember to call home... er, send letters."
Vernon muttered.
"I'll have Hedwig send them."
Dudley was thinking about whether he should also get an owl or something else... he couldn't always use Harry's Hedwig, though neither he nor Hedwig minded.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Many young wizards had already entered the hidden platform... this was peak time. Just as the three were rushing toward the pillar between the platforms, Dudley suddenly felt that sensation of being watched again.
"Wait." He grabbed Harry and Hermione. "Something's not right."
He managed to stop them, but this was peak time... other young wizards just wanted to get in quickly. So they charged straight at the pillar.
Then they were knocked head over heels.
"What's happening?" Ron arrived late and saw this scene... he'd just gone to the 'big bathroom' and hadn't kept up with his three brothers and sister.
Dudley walked to the pillar and tapped it with his finger. The dull sound was like a normal stone pillar. "The entrance seems to be blocked."
Because the entrance was sealed, the spells originally cast on the passage seemed to have lost their effect, causing many Muggles to notice their abnormal behavior. They all cast strange looks, and the patrolling security guard walked directly toward them.
"I'll dispel the Muggles first," Mr. Weasley said... he'd just gone to the bathroom with Ron.
Wand raised, spell cast... the surrounding Muggles all shuddered and turned to leave. Even the security guard did the same. Soon the entire station had only wizards left.
Oh, maybe not quite right. There was still Dudley.
"Time's running out... if we don't get in, we'll miss the train."
The surrounding young wizards said anxiously, especially the first-years... this was their first day of enrollment.
Mr. Weasley waved several spells at the pillar, but there was no reaction. He stared at it for a long time without discovering the problem.
"Big D, Big D." Ron tugged at Dudley's sleeve and said quietly. "My dad has a flying car... how about we..."
"Ron." Dudley said, looking him up and down until Ron felt uncomfortable, then continued. "Has your dad offended you recently?"