"They… they're my aunt and uncle," Harry answered with a wry smile.
"Oh, I see!" The old lady nodded in understanding, then looked out the window at the large tree. "Child, I noticed you from the moment you hid behind that tree in front of my house."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."
"Oh, no, child! Don't ever think that. You didn't bother me at all," Mrs. Figg said. "There are always mischievous children running and playing on the lawn in front of my house, but I never feel bothered by them."
"..." Harry remained silent, just nodding in thanks. The room fell into a quiet stillness.
"Child, you must be a wizard, aren't you?" Mrs. Figg suddenly asked with a smile.
"How… how did you know? Are you…?" Harry looked up in shock. He was certain he had never shown his magical abilities to anyone!
"I'm not a wizard. My father was," Mrs. Figg said. "It's a shame, though. I didn't inherit his abilities and became a Squib."
"I remember many years ago when he used magic in front of me, I thought he was a brilliant magician."
"Then how did you know I'm a wizard?" Harry asked, a confused expression on his face.
"My father used to tell me that if a child had the potential to be a wizard, they would receive a letter by owl on their eleventh birthday and go to a magical school to learn magic," she said.
"Two years ago, I suddenly saw many owls in front of the Dursley's house, and they were all carrying mysterious letters."
"From that moment on, I knew a wizard was living in that house."
"After that day, I started to deliberately observe the Dursleys' house, and I noticed that the child who always wore ill-fitting old clothes suddenly disappeared."
"I assume that person was you?"
The old lady smiled as she shared some of her memories, then looked at Harry with a gentle gaze.
"Yes, that was me," Harry nodded, a bit embarrassed but with a touch of pride in his voice.
"Then if that's the case, why didn't you go home just now?" Mrs. Figg asked, confused. "I saw you standing there for a long time."
"I..." Harry looked down, wanting to say something but remaining silent for a moment before answering honestly. "I left that house. I'm all alone. I didn't tell anyone." He forced a strained smile.
"Oh, I see..." The old lady nodded in understanding, then suddenly placed her wrinkled hand on Harry's wrist. "However, child, I think there's something you should know..."
"I'm very old. When I can't sleep at night, I often sit by the window on the second floor and read."
"A few days ago, I suddenly noticed that the lights at the Dursleys' house were on very late. And I also saw Mrs. Dursley occasionally come out of the house, look around, and then go back inside."
"I think she was waiting for you."
"No! That's impossible!" Upon hearing Mrs. Figg's words, Harry's face was filled with disbelief and scorn. "They've hated me since I was a child. They wish I would just disappear from that house. There's no way they would stay up late with the lights on waiting for me. You must be mistaken!"
"Child, I've lived in this house for decades. Although I don't go out much, I know what the Dursleys are like, more or less, so I can understand why you would want to leave that house," Mrs. Figg said, reaching out to comfort him. Her voice was slow, but for some reason, it made him feel incredibly calm.
"I could tell from the way you used to dress that you weren't happy living with the Dursleys. But whether you hate them or resent them, you chose to come back, and you stood there looking at the house for more than ten minutes."
"Child, when it comes to people, some things don't just disappear from your life just because you want them to go away."
"To be able to let go of the grudge in your heart and truly face the worst part of yourself often doesn't just require courage. It requires a kind of detachment that allows you to let go of everything."
The blueberry pie on the table had slowly gotten cold.
After hearing Mrs. Figg's words, Harry's expression became complicated, and his mind was in a jumble. He felt lost because, since he was a child, his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had loathed him. Their hatred was so deep that they wished he would just die.
He had always had to wear Dudley's old clothes. If he accidentally did something wrong, he wouldn't get dinner. Sometimes, he would even be kept like a caged monkey, locked in that dark, dusty cupboard under the stairs.
Before Hagrid came and took him to Hogwarts, his childhood had been almost entirely bleak.
So if they hated him so much, why would Aunt Petunia wait up for him to come home?!
At that moment, Victor's face flashed in Harry's mind, and a familiar voice echoed in his ear: "Your aunt has been risking her life to protect you."
"Huff..." Harry took a deep breath. At that moment, he finally understood something. He stuffed all the blueberry pie in front of him into his mouth, stood up, and bowed deeply to Mrs. Figg. "Thank you so much, ma'am! I know what I have to do now!"
"I wish you luck, child," the old lady said with a smile, watching Harry walk away.
A moment later, as the front door closed again, Mrs. Figg let out a long sigh, and her hunched body suddenly straightened. Just then, a voice came from behind her.
"Thank you, Tonks."
"It's nothing, Professor Dumbledore. For James and Lily's son, it's the least I can do."
Mrs. Figg turned around. Her previously aged face suddenly became very young, with bright, dark eyes and mysterious, violet hair.
Nymphadora Tonks, a graduate of Hogwarts, a Hufflepuff, and currently an Auror for the Ministry of Magic. She is also the wife of Remus Lupin, a former member of the Order of the Phoenix. She is a natural Metamorphmagus who can easily change her appearance, like her hair color or the shape of her nose.
She hates being called "Nymphadora" because the name sounds like "nympho" in English, which is an indecent term. She also has two aunts, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy.
"Harry is a poor boy," Tonks said, taking off her old lady costume and changing back into her Auror clothes. "But Professor, you didn't have to get me to do this. Mrs. Figg has been secretly looking after Harry for so long; she'd be much more suitable than me."
"Oh, you should know that Squibs have a rather odd temperament. And Arabella hates the Dursleys so much that I was afraid she would act on impulse and not play the guiding role well," Dumbledore said. He then slowly walked to the window, watching the Dursleys' house. "Tonks, Harry is still too young. He doesn't understand the meaning of family, and this has made him feel conflicted since he left the Dursleys."
"Harry must understand the meaning of family. As terrible as the Dursleys are, they are still his only family in this world..."
At that moment, outside the door, Harry had walked up to the Dursleys' front door. He took a deep breath, then pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong, ding-dong...
A loud ring came from inside, followed by the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor.
"Did you forget something?" Petunia asked, opening the door. She thought her husband and son had forgotten something at home and had come back to get it.
"A-Aunt Petunia," Harry stammered as he greeted her. Petunia heard the familiar voice and slammed the door open with such force that the door hinges groaned.
"Harry Potter! How dare you come back here!" Petunia's face instantly became grotesque. She grabbed Harry by the collar and dragged him inside. "You revolting boy! Where have you been these past few days?!"
BANG!!!
The door slammed shut with a loud bang. Tonks, who was watching this scene from a distance, frowned and looked at Dumbledore. Her eyes were suddenly filled with doubt. "Professor, is that what you mean by the meaning of family?"
"Yes, it's just a poorly-executed way of showing it," Dumbledore replied expressionlessly.
"Okay," Tonks shrugged, not saying anything more. After all, she was just a student. Dumbledore was the professor. If he said so, then so it was. The professor was usually right, anyway.
Inside the Dursley's house, Harry let Petunia drag him into the living room and throw him onto the hard sofa. "Harry Potter, you disgusting boy! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?!"
"Because you suddenly disappeared, I've had to make up all sorts of reasons to explain your absence to the neighbors. I even missed the chance to go on vacation to Scotland with Dudley!"
"You better explain yourself, or you won't be coming out of that cupboard for a month!"
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