Once at the farm, Harry was immediately surrounded by everyone, and Steven thoughtfully prepared a sumptuous dinner.
"So, what exactly happened?"
After dinner, Theo asked.
Holding a cup of pumpkin juice, Harry recounted his story – as soon as the summer holiday started, the Dursley Family took away all his magic-related belongings.
But at least he could still move around freely until he met a house-elf who called himself "Dobby."
"He said something terrible was going to happen at Hogwarts and that I should not go back."
Harry spoke with hesitation, still finding that day quite absurd even now.
"He said he wanted to protect me; not only did he intercept the letters you sent me, but he also used the Levioso spell to flip over the dinner Aunt Petunia prepared for guests, ruining Uncle Vernon's business."
Under the concerned and tense gaze of Hermione and others, Harry tried to express the matter in a lighthearted tone.
"Then I received a warning from the Ministry of Magic and was locked up... uh, until Vid and Mr. Lupin came to rescue me."
"Very strange." Theo frowned: "Without their master's orders, house-elves shouldn't act on their own, nor use magic."
"Who could be behind this?" Hermione looked around and asked.
"It must be Malfoy!" Harry said: "He hates me."
The group discussed the various misdeeds of the Malfoy family for a while, and Michael noticed that Vid hadn't expressed an opinion.
When everyone began to yawn, Vid said: "Let's go to sleep. The farm is enchanted; house-elves cannot enter without permission."
Harry nodded, gradually agreeing with everyone's view — Dobby was sent by Malfoy to tease him; taking his words seriously would be silly.
Everyone went back to their rooms, leaving Michael behind.
"Vid," he asked: "Are you still thinking about the house-elf's warning?"
"What do you think?" Vid asked.
Michael thought for a while before saying: "We don't have house-elves, but I've heard my father talk about them… Everything they do should be driven by their master's orders according to their nature."
"But…" Michael changed his tone and said: "I believe that anything with its own mind is never absolute."
"While a house-elf betraying or even murdering its master is rare, it's not impossible."
"But there's nothing to worry about," Michael naturally added: "Dumbledore is here!"
Michael's admiration for Dumbledore had reached its peak at that moment.
Although he hadn't mentioned it, last year, he spent most of it worried about the Mysterious Man potentially wreaking havoc on students.
But later events proved that the Dark Lord who once cast a terrifying shadow over the British Isles was just a pawn on Dumbledore's chessboard.
What could be scarier than the Mysterious Man?
"Indeed." Vid nodded: "I hope Hogwarts can remain peaceful this year."
Michael went to sleep, and before going upstairs, he glanced back.
Vid sat by the window, flipping through a newspaper, with flickering candlelight beside him. The silvery moonlight falling on his body seemed to cloak him in a layer.
An owl passed through the night sky.
Vid's gaze fixed on an advertisement in the newspaper —
[Gilderoy Lockhart will be signing and selling his autobiography – "Magical Me" in Diagon Alley]
...
In the bedroom, although Harry was extremely sleepy, he still opened his long-missed Friendship Book.
This page linked him, Ron, and Hermione together.
Having not received any birthday wishes, Harry thought he had been forgotten by his friends, becoming very dejected.
But after Dobby's appearance, Harry learned that they had all sent him gifts; they were just intercepted by the pesky house-elf, restoring his confidence.
Hermione was at Granian Farm, and Harry felt he should let Ron know he was safe, letting him know it wasn't that Harry didn't want to contact them, but simply couldn't.
As soon as he sent a message in the Friendship Book, Ron's responses came rushing in one after another.
[Ron: Thank Merlin, you're alive!]
[Ron: Why haven't you replied to me? I invited you twelve times; Dad said you used magic in front of Muggles and got warned by the Ministry of Magic…]
[Ron: Are you okay? I'm planning to steal Dad's car to come and get you; Fred and George will come too.]
His handwriting was sloppy and written quickly, whenever Harry tried to reply, Ron's next message appeared on the parchment.
Seeing the last sentence, Harry was startled and quickly responded:
[Harry: No need.]
[Harry: I've left the Dursley Family.]
[Ron: What happened?]
Only then did Harry have time to slowly explain to him and also shared everyone's speculations with Ron.
Suddenly, he heard a noise at the bedroom window and looked up to see Hedwig staring at him seriously from outside.
Harry opened the window, Hedwig paced inside, then pushed a fresh dead rat towards him with her claws.
"Is this for me?"
Harry laughed helplessly: "Thank you, good girl... but I don't eat rats, you go ahead…"
...
Life at Granian Farm was incredibly interesting.
Everyone followed Steven, learning to care for Crup puppies, rescuing fairies tangled in vines, and watching the hippocampus leisurely splashing with foals by the lake.
In the early morning, they collected Moonstruck Beast droppings, exchanged food for Motra Rat antenna juice, and near dusk, they left chicken and fresh fish near Cat Raccoon burrows.
"It usually hunts on its own, but now it's nursing," Steven explained: "If there's not enough food, it might abandon one or two weaker cubs."
Young Wizards occasionally found feathers from Silence Birds in the bushes. These were materials for making Veritaserum and Memory Potion, which could be sold for quite a bit of money. Steven generously expressed that anything they picked up themselves could be taken away.
In the afternoons when nothing was happening, they wrote homework, practiced magic spells in the living room, or sometimes flew around the farm on brooms.
In a matter of days, Young Wizards left via the Floo Network, and Lupin prepared a new house, ready to take Harry away.
Before that, he candidly revealed a matter: "Harry, Vid, I… I am a Werewolf."
He hadn't wanted to tell anyone this, but after thinking it over, he felt it shouldn't be kept a secret.
"A Werewolf?" Harry was bewildered.
He knew what a Werewolf was but lacked a real sense of their danger.
Vid nodded: "I know."
"You… knew?"
Lupin was first surprised, then smiled wryly: "No wonder you've never contacted me on nights of the full moon. I never realized…"
Looking at Harry, he explained: "When I was young, I was bitten by a Werewolf, so I became one."
"But I assure you, you're safe. Before each full moon, I leave the house. And I take the Wolf Poison Potion regularly..."
Finally having work from Vid, he had enough money to buy the Wolf Poison Potion, a magic potion that allows a Werewolf to remain rational after transformation.
"Of course." Lupin worried Harry might be bothered and quickly said: "You can stay at Granian Farm too. I've asked Mr. Morry, and he welcomes you to stay until school starts."
"I'll go with you." Harry firmly said, grasping his hand: "I trust you won't hurt me!"
He longed for a refuge to call his own and had long awaited it. Even a Werewolf couldn't make him afraid or want to back away.
...
"Get ready, Vid." After a peaceful day at the farm, Steven happily said: "Tomorrow we visit Mr. Scamander; I've already arranged it."