The Dursley family was having dinner; on the table were butter scones, fried cod, sausages, and vegetable soup, with Dudley also having a serving of fragrant mashed potatoes.
"I don't want this!" Dudley threw a tantrum: "I want cheese bread! I also want roast meat."
"You'll have it tomorrow morning, Duddikins." Petunia lovingly looked at her chubby son and said, "You need to eat well and gain weight before school starts."
She always thought her son wouldn't get enough to eat at school.
"I want roast meat now! Or I won't eat anything!"
Dudley stubbornly said, his eyes quickly welling up with tears, as if he had suffered immense grievance.
Petunia Dursley immediately panicked, quickly saying, "Alright, alright, wait a moment. Mommy will make you roast meat right away."
She got up to go to the kitchen, and just then, the whole family heard the doorbell ring.
"Who could be visiting today?" Petunia asked curiously.
"No guests... maybe it's the mail delivery."
Vernon was about to shout for Harry to open the door, but suddenly remembered that the boy had already been locked up by him, so he pushed his chair aside and went to open the door himself.
Standing outside were two strangers, one large and one small, dressed properly, with an impressive demeanor, and they weren't carrying any mail.
"Hello."
Vernon's displeasure at having his dinner interrupted quickly faded when he saw them clearly.
He began to try hard remembering... was the man in front a business partner?
Vernon politely asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
Upon hearing voices, Petunia also came out from the kitchen, and upon seeing the man at the door, he seemed somewhat familiar to her.
"Hello, Mr. Dursley." Lupin said, not warmly: "I do have some important matters, but I'm not here for you."
Vernon didn't know why, but he unconsciously stepped aside, watching the man whose name he didn't know walk into his house.
"Wait—who are you looking for?"
Vernon quickly caught up and asked.
Petunia at the door suddenly gasped, her arm trembling as she pointed at Lupin saying, "You... you... you're... you're the groomsman..."
"Remus Lupin." Lupin looked at the thin woman, saying: "It's been twelve years, Mrs. Dursley."
Vernon suspiciously looked at them, ultimately trusting his wife more, and asked curiously, "You recognize him, Petunia?"
"Actually, you should also recognize me, Mr. Dursley."
Lupin walked into the house, gave it a glance, and then looked at the owners of the room:
"—We all attended James and Lily's wedding, didn't we?"
Vernon exclaimed in shock: "You're... you're with that... wizard?"
His voice sounded like it was squeezed from a gas cylinder.
Dudley, who was gnawing on fried cod, immediately let out a scream, dropped his plate, and rushed to cover his butt, running around like a headless chicken for two circles, then dashing into the toilet, locking the door and refusing to come out.
—The last wizard he saw was Hagrid, who left him with an extra pig tail as a souvenir, which eventually had to be removed at a private hospital.
"Oh—my poor Dudders—"
Petunia hurriedly chased after him, wanting to comfort her frightened son, but only heard a "bang" as the door almost hit her face.
Vernon was also startled; he backed away repeatedly, randomly grabbing a dining knife and holding it with both hands directed at Lupin, shouting: "What do you want? Get out! Petunia, call the police!"
Lupin couldn't be bothered to deal with them and turned to walk upstairs.
Petunia rushed over to make the call, but the phone had already been lifted.
"Calling the police, is it? I can assist."
Vid said calmly, "999? Or 116111? I think either is fine."
He said as he pressed the phone number. But before dialing, a pair of cold hands pressed down.
He looked up and saw Petunia's pale face saying, "No call... no call, Vernon..."
"What?" Vernon asked loudly. He wanted to go upstairs to stop Lupin but was also worried about leaving his wife and son, too busy to think.
"Bang!" A loud noise came from upstairs, like a door of a small bedroom being blown open.
Then came Lupin's angry voice: "They're feeding you this?"
Vernon's face was full of rage, but Petunia's face revealed a bit of embarrassment.
But they had no choice but to listen to Vid.
"116111 is the hotline for the Child Abuse Prevention Association."
Vid kindly explained: "It's the only national charity with statutory powers."
Vernon stared at him in astonishment, his small eyes spinning rapidly.
In the small bedroom, Harry jumped out of bed, terrified, looking at the stranger who suddenly broke in.
"Who... who are you?"
He grabbed a pillow in panic to shield himself.
"Come with me, Harry." Lupin took a deep breath and said with moist eyes, "I'm a friend of your parents... I've come to take you away."
Harry hesitated for only a second, then jumped out of bed and grabbed his hand.
To him, there was no place worse than the Dursley family; many times, he suspected he would starve to death here.
"Wait, Hedwig!"
Harry ran over to pick up his owl cage.
Lupin looked disgustedly at the nearby bowl; there was only a thin layer of clear vegetable soup at the bottom, and in the owl's food dish were just a few wilted vegetables.
The living room downstairs.
"Of course, you can also dial 999 to call the police, but I must remind you, as guardians capable of providing financial support but deliberately not providing sufficient food, clothing, medical care, or shelter to the under-14 ward, is illegal."
Vid said calmly: "If I guessed correctly, Harry was locked in the room upstairs by you, right? The windows are nailed shut."
"Imprisoning children, abusing children, neglecting children are all criminal acts. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, domestic violence all fall under child abuse. Being reported will result in fines and imprisonment."
"Your actions have violated the Child Abuse Prevention Act, the Child Guardianship Act, and the Child Act enacted three years ago."
"If you don't believe it, feel free to investigate. Or call the police to let them decide right and wrong."
"It's just unknown, if you two are arrested and imprisoned by the police, how will the neighbors view you? Your Dudders... what will his situation be like at school?"
"How... how do you know these things?" Petunia asked in disbelief, "Are you with them... the same kind of freak... the same kind of person, right?"
These laws, let alone wizards, even ordinary people know very little.
"My parents didn't know magic either; I grew up in an environment similar to yours."
Vid slightly raised his voice: "What do you say, Harry? If you choose to report it, I'm sure this couple will be punished."
The Dursleys turned around in panic, and found, somehow, that Harry had already come downstairs with Lupin.
The two were terrified instantly.
Police... imprisonment... Dudley being bullied by classmates at school... maybe being persuaded to drop out...
Their future suddenly became shrouded in a horrifying shadow, and this shadow was brought about by the boy they had never taken seriously.
Hatred rolled in Harry's heart.
At that moment, he really wanted to call the police, to send this couple to jail, to let the whole world know his grievances.
But he opened his mouth several times, unable to make up his mind to speak, finally messily swiping his hair and saying, "I... we should go..."