After successfully obtaining Felix Felicis for free from her dear Professor Snape, Adelaide, in high spirits, pulled Hermione along, her steps so light she felt as if she were flying as they left the somewhat gloomy Spinners End.
If not for the fear of being accused of disturbing the peace by the surrounding residents, Adelaide would have truly loved to sing at the top of her lungs to express the excitement and thrill in her heart.
"Adelaide..."
Hermione looked at her jubilant friend beside her, hesitating to speak.
"Don't worry, Hermione!"
Adelaide stopped and turned around, placing her hands gently on Hermione's shoulders, and comforted her with a serious face: "Professor Snape only appears a bit tsundere on the surface; he's actually quite a decent person. I don't know much about his past, but at the very least, he certainly wouldn't take the initiative to harm innocent Muggles now."
Seeing Hermione's expression relax slightly, Adelaide took her hand and continued walking forward.
Before long, the two found a roadside convenience store. Adelaide casually picked out some bread, sausages, cheese, and other foods, paid, and hurriedly left to meet up with Mr. Weasley.
As they followed the winding path back to the river, they saw from a distance that Mr. Weasley had already found a secluded corner and nimbly set up a tent.
The thoughtful Mr. Weasley had also carefully set up a powerful Muggle-Repelling Charm around the tent to ensure their movements wouldn't be detected by ordinary humans without magical abilities.
"Wow! This... this is actually a tent?"
As soon as she stepped inside the tent, Hermione's mouth hung open in surprise, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Who would have thought that a medium-sized tent, looking no more than three square meters from the outside, would turn out to be a spacious and comfortable two-bedroom, one-living room layout inside—and it was even equipped with a separate bathroom and a fully functional kitchenette!
"Kettleburn lent this to me. That old fellow always enjoys sleeping out in the wild; the tents he prepares are always the most luxurious!"
Mr. Weasley explained to Hermione with a smile, while warmly inviting them to place the sausages and bread over the warm fireplace in the living room to toast, then carefully adding some delicious cheese on top.
That night, Adelaide slept exceptionally soundly. Before the sky was fully bright, she had already risen, dressed neatly, and quietly kept watch in front of the hotel where The Dursley Family was staying.
Today, Dumbledore had actually sent out a staggering 96 Owls at once—these Owls accounted for half of the total number of school Owls kept at Hogwarts!
Adelaide quickly gathered all 96 acceptance letters and dumped them all onto the service desk in the hotel lobby.
The hotel proprietress, busy at the front desk, was dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of this large pile of letters. After reacting, she hurriedly dropped her work and ran toward the dining room, shouting for Mr. Harry Potter to come handle the mail.
In a short while, Adelaide saw Vernon with a dark expression, walking briskly behind the panicked proprietress to the service desk.
Facing the mountain of letters, Vernon said nothing, directly picking up a large plastic bag and roughly stuffing all the letters inside.
He then carried the bag full of letters and walked straight toward the small river near the hotel without looking back. Upon reaching the river, Vernon raised a lighter and set the nearly hundred acceptance letters ablaze.
The roaring flames reflected his face, which was full of anger and dissatisfaction, as if expressing his deep resistance and loathing for the magical world.
Adelaide noted the situation with a Quick-Quotes Quill, summoned an Owl to take the letter to Dumbledore, and then jogged to inform Mr. Weasley that they needed to set off immediately.
Vernon now seemed to have completely lost his mind; his eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead were bulging.
He hurriedly ushered his family into the car, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and slammed his foot on the gas, not stopping until the car rushed into a lush, deep forest.
Perhaps out of excessive concern for safety, after a brief pause, Vernon felt that this forest was still not safe enough. He started the vehicle again and continued to speed forward.
Along the way, he ignored the golden waves of wheat in the fields; the ancient suspension bridge hanging high between the valleys swayed precariously under the car's violent vibrations; even the honeycomb-like multi-story parking garage in the city center failed to stop Vernon's hurried pace.
Time passed minute by minute, and before they knew it, the sun had gradually set, and night quietly descended.
Finally, Vernon slowly pulled the car over by the surging sea.
He then hurriedly got out of the car, his figure quickly disappearing into the vast night.
Before long, a fine drizzle began to fall from the sky, the raindrops gently tapping on the car window glass with a crisp, pleasant sound.
Vernon, carrying a slender package and a bag full of snacks, ran back into the car in a hurry.
After a bitter search, he decided to take his family to spend the night in the fisherman's shack on that reef not far away.
Adelaide, who had been closely following The Dursley Family's movements, couldn't help but let out a big yawn. She stretched and said to Arthur Weasley in the front seat, "It seems they don't plan to keep moving. Let's park the car in that open space over there."
"Mr. Weasley, please be sure to explain the current situation to Headmaster Dumbledore in detail as soon as possible. Mr. Dursley has somehow managed to obtain a firearm—from the current situation, he has clearly made up his mind that he will never agree to Harry Potter attending Hogwarts in a peaceful manner."
Arthur Weasley showed a look of bewilderment and asked in confusion, "What is a firearm?"
Adelaide hesitated slightly, then explained: "Well... let's put it this way, you can think of it as an extremely dangerous and lethal weapon in the Muggle World, just like the Unforgivable Curses in our magical world. Once used, the consequences are unimaginable."
Upon hearing this, Arthur Weasley couldn't help but widen his eyes, exclaiming in shock: "What! It's that serious! Then this matter is indeed not something an underage Wizard like you can interfere with—I understand."
Arthur Weasley hurriedly waved his wand, chanting under his breath, and successfully summoned a silver, lifelike Weasel Patronus.
The Patronus circled around them, then quickly turned into a stream of light and darted out of the car, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Adelaide leaned against the car window, gazing at the lonely shack on the reef amidst the waves, thinking to herself that although Mr. Dursley had been making things difficult for Harry Potter in every possible way, he still hadn't given up on Harry even at this stage—from that point alone, perhaps Vernon Dursley couldn't be simply defined as a bad person.
It was just that this man was truly too foolish and stubborn to see the truth or accept the existence of the magical world; they could only resort to some forceful measures.
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