Perhaps because the Dursleys thought Adrian was a good person, or perhaps because Adrian's wand was glowing red, Petunia invited Adrian into the living room.
She would never have imagined that one day she would invite a wizard into her own house.
The scene was truly ironic.
"Are you really Harry's professor?" Petunia asked quietly, seeming somewhat incredulous.
Adrian nodded, a gentle smile flickering in his dark eyes.
"I am a professor at Hogwarts, naturally also Harry's professor," He said, stroking his wand. "But actually, our relationship might be better described as 'master and apprentice.'"
"Then... Professor Westeros," Petunia stammered, "what... what brings you to us?"
Adrian noticed that Petunia's gaze remained fixed on his wand, so he deliberately slowed his movements.
He placed his teacup back on the saucer, looked at Petunia, and said gently, "Don't be nervous, madam. I'm just here to take Harry away, because he still has today's training to complete."
At this moment, Vernon suddenly stood up, his chair scraping harshly against the floor.
"He's upstairs in detention. You can't take him," he shouted angrily. "Don't think you can threaten us with that broken stick of yours—it won't work! I'm not afraid of you!"
Vernon suddenly turned and somehow produced a gleaming double-barreled shotgun, its black muzzle pointing directly at Adrian. "Get out of my house!"
Adrian didn't even raise an eyebrow. He leisurely spun his wand between his fingers, and a gentle red light shot from it, precisely hitting the shotgun in Vernon's hands.
Vernon suddenly felt his hands lighten. When he came to his senses, the shotgun had transformed into a rose, with crystal dewdrops still clinging to its petals.
"This..." Vernon stared dumbfounded at the bouquet in his hands, his fat face trembling continuously.
"I'm not here to threaten you," Adrian shrugged, then said, "However, it's better to put down that little toy."
The living room fell silent for a moment.
Finally, Adrian sighed slowly. "How about this—we can make a deal."
"What deal?" Vernon watched Adrian warily, the rose in his hand being crushed out of shape, several petals falling to the floor.
"It's simple," Adrian crossed his arms, turning his gaze to Petunia. "I want to take Harry away, but Harry will still stay at your house at night—you know the reason, Mrs. Dursley. In exchange, I can give you a large sum of money. Let me think... how about five hundred thousand pounds?"
Upon hearing Adrian casually mention such an astronomical figure, the entire living room fell into eerie silence. Vernon's mouth gaped wide enough to fit an orange.
'Someone would actually pay such a huge sum for Harry!?'
But Petunia's face grew even paler.
She suddenly stood up, saying firmly, "Leave, Mr. Westeros. We are Harry's guardians—you cannot take him away."
Vernon stared wide-eyed at his wife as if seeing her for the first time.
But to support his wife, he could only glare maliciously at Adrian. "Human trafficking is illegal!"
Adrian was momentarily stunned. 'How had this escalated to human trafficking?
I wasn't trying to buy Harry.'
However, since even five hundred thousand pounds couldn't move these two people, Adrian couldn't help but look at them more highly.
Logically, given how much these two detested Harry, letting Adrian take Harry away should have been a good thing.
Adrian looked at Petunia with a smile. "Then... madam, what would it take for me to take Harry away?"
Petunia took a deep breath, her fingers tightly twisted together, eyes flickering.
Finally, she avoided Adrian's probing gaze. "You can take Harry away during the day, but we won't accept the money."
Hearing this answer, Adrian narrowed his eyes, keenly noticing the complex emotions in Petunia's eyes.
But he wasn't some emotion-reading machine—he didn't know what Petunia was thinking at that moment.
Vernon's fat face flushed red. He seemed to want to say something but ultimately just snorted heavily.
Although he didn't understand why his wife would refuse such a large sum, having that strange man take the boy away during the day was fine by him.
In his view, raising Harry was just a waste of time. If it weren't for Petunia's reluctance, he would have thrown Harry out long ago.
"I respect your decision." Adrian stood up and performed an elegant half-bow. "Then starting tomorrow, from nine in the morning until seven in the evening, Harry will study with me. I guarantee he'll return on time."
Then Adrian looked at Petunia. "Ah, by the way, may I see Harry?"
Petunia nodded stiffly. "He's in the room on the left side of the second floor."
After Adrian's figure disappeared up the stairs, Vernon collapsed heavily onto the sofa, looking at his wife in confusion. "That was five hundred thousand pounds! Enough for us to move to a high-end community, buy a big house, and send Dudley to the best private school!"
Petunia forced a smile, lowering her voice. "We can't take things from those freaks, Vernon. Who knows what tricks they might pull with the money? Maybe those bills would suddenly turn into poisonous snakes."
Vernon had a sudden realization. "You're right, dear! So clever!"
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Those monsters are best at such underhanded tricks."
In fact, Petunia simply felt that if she took Adrian's five hundred thousand pounds... she would definitely lose something more.
Meanwhile, in Dudley's small room on the second floor.
The door was locked, iron bars had been installed on the windows, and a cat flap had been added to the bedroom.
Harry lay on the bed with nothing to do, lost in thought.
He had been growing recently. If he still lived in that small cupboard, he probably wouldn't fit in a little while longer...
If only he could perform wandless magic. Adrian had once demonstrated this advanced spellcasting method to him—just a wave of the hand could cast magic.
Even if the Ministry detected magical activity here, there would be no record of the spell in his wand.
He could cast an Unlocking Charm on the locked door and sneak out while the Dursleys weren't paying attention to seek Adrian's help.
Sigh, and there was Hedwig. If he hadn't left Hedwig with Adrian, she could have rescued him too.
Just then. "Alohomora!"
A familiar voice came from outside the door. This was followed by the sound of the door lock opening.
Harry quickly jumped up from the bed. The sound of the doorknob turning was particularly clear in the quiet room.
The door slowly opened, and Adrian's figure appeared in the doorway.
"Good afternoon, Harry," Adrian knocked on the open door, smiling. "I hope you've rested well these past few days. We still have a lot of training to complete."
Harry's eyes instantly lit up.
________________
You can read more chapters on:
patreon.com/IamLuis