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"Harry, that statue was modeled after my Aunt Lily, my Uncle James, and you... those two are your parents."
Dudley said it while giving Harry a light pat on the shoulder. Harry just stood there, staring blankly at the statue.
Before heading to the old Potter house, Dudley had brought the two of them to the graveyard beside the village's small church.
The dead of Godric's Hollow were buried there, whether they had been wizards or ordinary people. No matter how different their status had been in life, in the end, they all returned to dust and earth. Death treated everyone the same.
The three of them stopped in front of one of the gravestones.
A thought-provoking epitaph was carved into it:
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
This was where James and Lily Potter had been buried together.
There was already a bouquet of flowers placed before the stone, making it clear that someone had come before them to pay their respects. The arrangement was made up of carnations, hyacinths, and chrysanthemums, and every single one of those flowers carried the same meaning: apology and remorse.
But the placement of the flowers was strange.
They were not in the center of the gravestone, but off to one side.
And that was not the only strange thing.
The side where the flowers rested had been cleaned carefully. The other side was still covered in dust, as if the person who had come before had only wanted to pay respects to one of the two.
It was painfully obvious who had done it.
Dudley understood immediately.
Then he placed the white flowers he had prepared in the center of the gravestone.
"Aunt Lily really was extraordinary."
Dudley said it simply.
Lily had protected her own child at the cost of her life.
And in the process, she had even taken Voldemort down.
No matter how you looked at it, she had been a great mother.
If Aunt Lily had not sacrificed herself, Voldemort would not have died.
And if Voldemort had not died...
Maybe things would have been different elsewhere, but for the ordinary people living in England, it would have been a disaster.
Truthfully, Dudley had wanted to come here for a long time.
He believed Harry needed to visit his parents' grave.
It was the most basic duty a son owed his parents.
"Harry, every so often, let's come back here and visit them."
As he said that, Dudley rested a hand on Harry's shoulder.
Ever since they had arrived in Godric's Hollow, Harry had been dazed the entire time. He had not even noticed the details of the gravestone. Hermione, on the other hand, had noticed everything, but it was obvious that this was not the time to bring it up. She only stared at the bouquet with a thoughtful look.
It was only after they left the graveyard that Harry's expression improved a little.
After all, he was still just a boy about to turn twelve.
"Come on, Harry. Let's go take a look at your house."
"From now on, you're the head of the Potter family."
That was what Dudley said, but in his mind he was thinking about something else.
At the moment, Harry was the only legitimate and officially recognized heir of the Potter family. Rumor had it that the Potters had made their fortune in hair products, and that was exactly why Harry's father, James Potter, had still been rich even after graduating without ever working.
But when it came down to Harry, all that was left was a vault full of Galleons.
Which raised a question.
What about the rest of the Potter family business?
Those Galleons in the vault might have been enough to fool Harry.
But fool Dudley? No chance.
If he ever got the opportunity, he was definitely going to investigate it.
After all, they did not call him Big D for nothing.
The three of them crossed a stretch of grass and headed toward the outer edge of the village, where the old Potter house stood.
It was an old, ruined building covered in ivy.
And yes, ruined was the right word.
Although most of the structure was still standing, the upper right part of the house had been blown apart in the explosion. The place was badly damaged, and with all those years without maintenance, plus the disappearance of the Fidelius Charm's protection...
Overall, the house was not all that different from an ordinary haunted house.
Harry looked at the building with obvious disappointment.
It was big.
But it was far too wrecked.
You could not even think about living in it.
The fact that it had not collapsed yet was already a miracle.
Dudley stretched his body.
"Looks like we've got work to do."
Harry heard that and spun around.
"Big D... you're not thinking...?"
He already had a rough idea of what Dudley wanted to do.
And, deep down, he even felt a little excited.
"Exactly..."
Handyman skills, renovation skills...
Dudley did not hesitate for even a second to invest experience into practical skills.
"Fixing this house?" Hermione asked as soon as she understood what he had in mind. "Then can I stay too?"
Even though she was already a little witch, she had never truly lived in a wizard's house before.
She was full of curiosity.
"Of course. But before that, we need to let Mr. and Mrs. Granger know."
And so, over the following week, the three of them camped out in an open space near the old Potter house.
A tent, sleeping bags, even a pot for cooking...
Dudley's bag was practically a warehouse.
It had everything in it.
If the bag's capacity had not been limited, Hermione had even started to suspect that he would try stuffing an entire house inside it.
'Decided. For Dudley's next birthday, I'm giving him a bag with even more space.'
That bag had been made by Hermione herself using the Undetectable Extension Charm back when she was still learning it.
Now she could already make ones with a much larger capacity.
Truthfully, restoring an old house was not all that difficult for Dudley.
As long as he had enough time, it was only a matter of time.
Even so, they still ran into a few obstacles during the process.
Those obstacles did not come from other wizards.
They came from a group of small magical creatures.
They were the sort of pests that liked settling in wizarding homes.
Gnomes living in the grass outside.
And doxies occupying the rooms inside the house.
As for the gnomes, there was not much to say.
They liked digging holes near wizard homes.
In one sentence... they were a pain.
But the doxies were even worse.
Those creatures, also known as biting fairies, were classified as XXX magical creatures.
They had a humanoid shape, but they were very small. Their entire bodies were covered in thick black hair, and they also had an extra pair of arms and legs.
Worst of all, they had two rows of sharp venomous teeth, and the venom was no joke. On top of that, a single doxie could lay up to five hundred eggs, which would hatch in just two or three weeks.
Those disgusting creatures had apparently treated Dudley, Harry, and Hermione as intruders and kept attacking them nonstop, interfering with the restoration work.
Fortunately, neither the gnomes nor the doxies could actually injure Dudley.
Hermione went through a large amount of Gnome and Doxy spray, and Dudley even made a special container to keep them all in.
In truth, besides those two species, the old Potter house also sheltered a few Puffskeins.
But since they were much gentler creatures, liked eating scraps, were easy to raise, and looked far more lovable, they were not treated roughly.
They stayed.
After a week, Dudley had already restored a good part of the house.
There were still plenty of things left to improve, but for someone to live there normally, there was no real problem anymore.
Carrow arrived in Godric's Hollow as agreed and signed the contract with Dudley, settling the last detail of their partnership.
About two weeks later...
A phenomenal game burst onto the wizarding scene out of nowhere.
It exploded in popularity.
And instantly captured the hearts of men and women, young and old.
The name of that game was… Wizard Cards.
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