Chapter 1. An Unusual Reunion
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, would readily say that they were perfectly normal, but they were not particularly proud of it. Moreover, they believed that certain events of a mysterious, or even strange nature, could add a certain liveliness to their mundane lives. And that very night, on Christmas Eve, something unusual was about to happen: Something you might even describe as peculiar.
Dudley Dursley's big, beefy body moved back and forth with the rocking chair in front of the fireplace. Dudley, now middle-aged, worked for a drill company called Grunnings, following in his late father's footsteps, and he also had a thick mustache like Vernon Dursley. Dudley helped the chair by adding momentum with his large frame every time it slowed down. The fire that roared and licked the dark red coals in the fireplace was a fake one displayed on the monitor screen. Nevertheless, his cheeks were red as if they had been heated, and his mouth, hidden behind his mustache, smiled warmly.
"What's so funny, Dad?" Dudley's daughter, Sherry, asked as she sat across from him on the sofa. Sherry was an eight-year-old chubby girl with blond hair that was neatly braided today because she wanted to look mature for the guests. She also held a broken yo-yo with the string dangling for some reasons.
"I just remembered something, dear. . . . Harry's friends once came out of there," Dudley laughed as he pointed to the fireplace where the back of the monitor screen was blocked by the wooden boards. "I have no idea what made us so afraid then . . . but back then, my family was terrified of anything remotely related to magic."
Sherry opened her eyes wide and looked back and forth between her father and the fireplace, but soon frowned. She used to believe everything her father had told her about the magical world, but not anymore.
"That fireplace is boarded up," she said suspiciously. "How did they get in?"
"You have no idea what these people are capable of." Dudley winked at his daughter. "But it feels like they're coming in the normal way tonight . . ."
"Dad — Sherry! You're talking about magic, aren't you?"
This time Jim, Dudley's son, ran down the stairs and waddled toward them as fast as his overweight body would allow. He spent most of his free time watching YouTube and playing video games in his room upstairs, but whenever his father brought up a magic-related story, he somehow noticed and ran downstairs. When Dudley and Sherry just smiled and said nothing more, Jim sat down next to his sister and asked.
"What was Dad talking about, Sherry?"
To avoid her brother's persistent gaze, Sherry fiddled with her yo-yo, but then Jim caught her staring at the fireplace. She blushed and pointed to the screen displaying the virtual fire.
"Daddy said that Uncle Harry's friends once came out of there, but I don't know if that's true," Sherry said, adding when Jim wasn't satisfied, "Daddy also said that our grandparents didn't like magic when they were alive."
"Ah, it's not enough to say they didn't like magic — they loathed it, and so did I." Dudley laughed again as he lost himself in the rhythm of the rocking chair. For some reason, he ran his hand over his backside to see if anything abnormal was stuck there. "Harry and I were bitter enemies in those days."
"But magic is so wonderful!" Sherry protested, tightening the grip on the hand that held the yo-yo. The magical yo-yo that Sherry had stolen from Harry's daughter Lily at the last family reunion had once flown all by itself, screaming for her amusement, but it had long since stopped working and was now hanging helplessly in the palm of her hand.
"Sherry, don't say that to Lily," said Jim sternly, "she'll make fun of us again. . . . Don't forget our plans."
"Plans? What plans?" asked Dudley suspiciously.
"Not that it matters, Dad. Then how did you end up getting close — I mean, making peace with Uncle Harry?" Jim asked, hastily changing the subject. The two families had been on a Christmas card exchange, but this was the first time in years that they had been together. So strictly speaking, it was a bit of an exaggeration to say that the two cousins were close.
"To tell you the story, I have to go back to the end of the last century. I was a senior at Smeltings; I was probably three or four years older than you, Jim." Having failed several times at the private school, Dudley was evasive about his exact age. "Harry and I had a big fight that day. I was the one always picking fights, but I think Harry provoked me first that night. Anyway, as we entered an alley a few blocks from this house, Harry pulled out his wand and I clenched my fists in anger. I was confident that I could bounce off a spell or two with my boxing skills. . . ."
Dudley clenched his fists and pretended to punch. Although Jim shook his head slightly as if he couldn't believe it, Sherry, the more innocent of the two, brightened her eyes and nodded in agreement. Seeing his daughter's enthusiastic response, Dudley grinned and continued his story.
"Then everything went dark — I couldn't see the moon, the clouds, or Harry's face in front of me. And that cold! It was a hot summer day, but my skin was frozen and my legs suddenly felt stiff."
"Did that happen by magic?" Sherry couldn't help but ask when Dudley paused.
"That's what I thought, but it wasn't. . . . The most evil creatures that would make even the greatest wizards cringe were walking toward us, blocking the alley on both sides. No, they were actually flying toward us, for their feet were off the ground . . ."
Dudley pulled his sweater up over his head, made a nasty grimace, and stretched his arms out. He continued in a creepy voice, thinking it would fit Harry's description of them.
"These horrible creatures wore black robes and had rotting bodies. They were dementors — the guards of Azkaban, where evil wizards are imprisoned. I was instantly drained of strength and filled with despair by their mere presence. Even Harry, who'd been through so much, broke down and dropped his wand in horror. . . ."
The children both took a deep breath this time and became more engaged in the story. They were aware of some of Harry Potter's accomplishments through their father, such as defeating the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time and winning the Triwizard Tournament. On the Potters' last visit, they had seen the scars on Uncle Harry's hand and face and had been in awe of him. To strike fear into such a great hero, those dementors must have been terrifying monsters, the likes of which Jim and Sherry would have feared to see in their worst nightmares.
"Floating dementors blocked the alley with no way out; everything seemed hopeless. Harry had already fallen and my legs were shaking, but I didn't want to die without a fight. . . . So I clenched both my fists and ran to the nearest monster!"
The startled children pressed themselves against the couch as Dudley jumped from his seat. But when Dudley began punching the air wildly with his fists, they began to cheer with joy instead.
"Once I knocked down the first dementor, I ran straight to the second. I knocked down five in a row, but they kept coming. I sat down, exhausted, and then I felt something long and thin on my hand. Its surface was smooth and warm, and it turned out to be Harry's wand. I looked around and saw a dementor holding Harry. . . . It was about to eat him alive!"
For dramatic effect, Dudley moved in front of the fake fireplace. As he cast his shadow over the children, Sherry shivered with tension and Jim frowned a little.
"I called Harry and threw his wand into the air. He caught it just in time and burned the dementor with a blue flame. Back to back, I hit the close targets with my fists and Harry attacked the distant ones with his magic," Dudley said, jabbing in all directions. Now it was hard to tell whether the father or the children were enjoying the story more. "When the last of the dementors had finally disappeared, and the night sky had returned to normal, Harry and I faced each other, both sweating. The dementors weren't the only ones who had met their end. The hostility that had existed between Harry and I since we were born was gone, and we were no longer enemies. The end!"
Sherry and Jim applauded as Dudley bowed to thank his young audience. He was imitating a magician, waving a virtual hat, when Mrs. Dursley called from the kitchen. "Dessert is ready! Come and see!"
"Lady and gentleman, let's go," Dudley said as he herded the children into the kitchen.
On the fridge in the kitchen was a huge pudding, one of Mrs. Dursley's specialties: A mound of whipped cream topped with sugared violets to make it more appetizing. Mary Dursley, Dudley's wife, who had short blond hair and a plump body, stood beside her masterpiece, swelling with pride.
"Wow, that's incredible!"
Dudley clapped and tapped the children, signaling them to follow suit. Seizing the opportunity, Jim reached out his finger and tried to dip it into the whipped cream, only to be slapped on the back of the hand by his mother.
"Jim, the guests are on their way!"
"But Uncle Harry can always refill it with magic!" Jim protested.
"Yes, but he might turn you into a pig afterward," Dudley said with a meaningful smile that made Jim look extremely worried. "I think we should run through the schedule again. . . . Let's practice at the entrance."
There was a strange scratching sound on the door as Dudley led his family out of the kitchen.
"Have the guests arrived?" Jim asked, puzzled.
"No, that's Caroline!" Sherry ran over to grab Caroline, their family cat who was scratching at the front door with her claws. Taking the cat in her arms, Sherry said softly, "Caroline, it's cold outside. You shouldn't leave!"
Caroline, a black cat with white stripes, meowed grumpily. As soon as Sherry had left Caroline in front of the fireplace and had returned, Dudley lined up the children at the front door, while he and Mary stood at the entrance to the living room.
"Well, everyone seems to be in place . . . Mary, what are you going to do when I open the door for them?"
"I'll be in the lounge for the reception of our guests."
"Very well! What about Jim and Sherry?"
"May I take your coat, Uncle Harry?"
"May I take your coat, Aunt Ginny?"
Dudley smiled contentedly as his son and daughter responded almost simultaneously.
"Great. Now, Mary, you should get them some drinks after I take the guests into the living room." Dudley added, after measuring the width of one of the couches, "Harry's kids must have grown up, so it might be a bit cramped for everyone. . . . I suppose they can always magically make it bigger, though."
"Is it my turn now?" Jim asked hastily, and Dudley shook his head.
"No, it's your mother's turn to tell the guests that dinner is ready."
"Then we'll take them to the restaurant!" exclaimed Sherry.
"That's right, dear. And what shall my young gentleman and lady say at our supper? Should they whine again about wanting to go to Hogwarts like the last time?"
"Dad! We're past that stage," said Jim grumpily.
"Really? Then what will my little gentleman say?" Mary asked, pinching her son's chubby cheek. He grumbled and pulled his mother's hand away.
"The school made me write an essay about our hero, and I'd say I wrote about Uncle Harry!"
"That's my boy! You remember the model answer I gave you, don't you?" laughed Dudley, then straightened his face and asked, "You didn't really write about Harry, did you? I mean, about him and his lot . . ."
Mary replied on his behalf, "Of course not — he was too busy playing video games to write that essay."
The revelation of Jim's secret caught Jim off guard, and he bit his tongue and made a nervous face. However, Jim laughed along with Dudley when his father winked at him and grabbed his shoulder.
"You're just like me, son. . . . We're almost there. We'll relax in the living room after dinner and go to bed when it's late."
"It's a perfect plan, but only if Jim and Sherry promise me one thing," Mary said, looking sternly at her children. "Let me ask you one last time — you won't bother Uncle Harry about getting into Hogwarts, will you?"
Jim and Sherry exchanged glances with meaningful smiles on their faces.
"I promise we won't, Mum," Jim assured her.
"He's right. Anyway, the two of us have a plan —" She caught herself and covered her mouth, but couldn't stop her brother from elbowing her in the ribs.
"What plan?" Mary asked suspiciously, but Dudley intervened before their daughter got into any more trouble.
"I think I just saw something," Dudley said, looking into a steamy window. After wiping it clean with his sleeve, he looked outside again. "Oh, my, the Potters will be here any minute. . . . Hurry up, Jim — let's get our dinner jackets."
While the Dursleys were bustling around to accommodate their special guests who did not visit very often, a new family suddenly but silently appeared at the far corner of Privet Drive, as if they had just popped out of the ground. A thin, tall man in a gray overcoat was carrying a pretty girl with flaming red hair on her shoulders, and a woman with similar red hair was holding the hand of a boy who was a little taller than she was. Between them stood another boy, as tall as his father, with disheveled jet-black hair. With their footprints scattered across the snowy pavement, the once quiet street became crowded in an instant.
Harry Potter scanned the familiar but unfriendly area with the sharp eyes of an experienced Auror; he knew only too well that this part of the town was not at all welcoming to his kind of people. Harry's disheveled hair now had a few grays mixed in with the black, and he had a second faint scar on his cheek, in addition to the famous lightning scar on his forehead. Harry motioned to his family to move on when he saw no threat behind his round glasses. Then he lifted his daughter from his shoulder and gently set her on the street.
"Lily, you've gotten too heavy for me to carry," Harry grumbled, exaggeratedly massaging his shoulder.
"It's just that you're getting older, Dad! Uncle Ron still puts Hugo on his shoulder whenever he wants!" protested Lily.
"He must have several thestrals supporting him from underneath," Harry said with a smile. Lily tried to protest again, but then she spun around and grabbed her father's cloak as if she were dizzy.
"Oh, I'll never get used to this Apparition thing. . . . Why couldn't we just use the Floo Network?"
"Lily, that would have destroyed their living room," said Ginny. "For the second time, that is."
James, Harry's eldest son, shook snowflakes from his coat and grinned teasingly at his sister. "Once you get licensed like me, Lily, you'll get used to it."
"Mum, James is saying that again! When he only passed the test on his second try!"
Albus, Harry's second son, watched his brother and sister bicker from behind and walked slowly with his father, as if he had already outgrown being part of their small talk. Albus, the only Potter in the family who belonged to Slytherin House, had once suffered a period of estrangement from his famous father, but now they were close after an incident last year. Last year, Albus had traveled to the past to save Cedric Diggory, using an illegal time-turner with Scorpius Malfoy, his best friend and Draco Malfoy's only child. As a result of the time travel, the two had created several crises that could have completely ruined their world, but with the help of their fathers and Harry's two best friends, Ron and Hermione, they had eventually gotten everything back to normal.
Lily, who seemed a little jealous to see her father, who she thought loved her the most, walking side by side with Albus, stepped between them. "Dad, why didn't we go to the Burrow like every other Christmas Eve?"
Lily's whining made Harry sigh.
"Lily, I've said it a few times. Since we've been doing that for ten years, wouldn't it be nice if we could make a difference? Besides, all the Weasleys we know are spending this year's holidays in France. I heard Fleur's parents invited them."
"What about Granny Tonks? I haven't seen Teddy in ages!"
"We just had dinner with him last weekend, Lily," Albus pointed out.
"I mean, it's been a while since we've seen him on Christmas Eve!" Lily glared at her brother, obviously annoyed by his intervention.
"We'll see him tomorrow night when we visit the Tonks," said Harry. "I invited him to the Burrow on Christmas Eve last year, but he said he had an important meeting . . ."
"Yeah, and Victoire didn't show up either," said Albus. "Maybe she and Teddy were too busy snogging each other."
"Urrrgh," Lily said, blushing a little. Harry thought there might be a boy she liked and secretly smiled.
"Anyway, Teddy must be very busy right now. I gave him an important job," said Harry.
"He has to work on Christmas Eve? That's too harsh!" said Lily. "Did you make him do something dangerous again?"
Harry grinned as he thought of Teddy Lupin dozing off listening to the boring speech that was supposed to start at midnight.
"No, it would be more of a bore than a danger. Besides, it's not always easy for an Auror to enjoy all the holidays."
"Poor Teddy! If his boss is his godfather, he deserves some perks, not overtime," said Lily indignantly. "And poor me! It's Christmas Eve, and I have to waste time hearing about the drills."
"I told Dudley in my last letter that you weren't that interested in the drilling business. And you can always play with your second cousins without joining in our conversations."
"Playing with Jim and Sherry is no fun at all. They are such crybabies, gluttons, and thieves."
"While I agree with the first two points, calling them thieves seems a bit harsh," Albus said with a grin.
"If they're not, then how do you explain my missing yo-yo the last time we visited?" said Lily, clutching her large pink bag tightly in her hands.
"That's because you brag too much to these poor kids, Lily. Haven't you spent all your savings on toys again?" Harry teased, tapping Lily's bulging bag.
"Dad's right; don't just show off your stuff and let them play with it. I'm sure they won't steal anything," Albus said reassuringly.
"As long as they behave this time," Lily said sarcastically, hugging her bag even tighter.
Seeing her like that reminded Harry of the time he had been proud of himself at Hogwarts when he had received the legendary broom, Firebolt, from his own godfather. The broom, however, had gone missing during a dangerous escape from here, from Privet Drive, and had never been found again. The last time Harry had been here, he had secretly cast the spell "Accio Firebolt," motivated by a childish impulse, but unfortunately he had received no response from his beloved old broom.
By this time, the Potters had almost reached the entrance to the Dursleys' house. Harry did not show it to any of his family members, but as he stood at the door, he felt a complex and subtle emotion that even he could not fully explain. This house that he had so desperately wanted to escape from as a child was now the only place where his closest living relative lived. The last time Harry had left, he had never imagined that he would one day return of his own free will. But here he stood, raising his hand and knocking on the front door of number four, Privet Drive.
In a split second, the door opened to reveal Harry's cousin, Dudley Dursley. Fat as ever, he wore a black tailcoat and a black bow tie, giving him the appearance of a giant penguin, and he had a large moustache, unlike before.
"Welcome back, Harry!"
"It's been a while, Big D."
After a light hug with his cousin, Harry entered the house with Ginny, and Dudley's son and daughter stepped forward on either side.
"May I take your coat, Uncle Harry?"
" Er — okay. Thanks, Jim."
Harry took off his coat and handed it to Jim. Sherry, however, stopped awkwardly with her arms in the air as she tried to make a similar suggestion to Ginny, who was looking at her feet and not at her.
"What is it, dear?" asked Harry.
"I felt something brush by my feet," Ginny said, looking up at her husband. She turned her attention to Sherry, who was on the verge of crying when Harry nodded. "Oh thank you, Sherry! You've grown up a lot!"
When Harry's children had finished greeting the Dursleys, they were led into the living room. Dudley looked worried as he said, "Isn't the sofa too small for all of you? It's unusual for us to have so many guests in our house."
"No problem," Harry said, pulling his wand out of his pocket. "Engorgio!"
As soon as the spell hit the sofa, it expanded to fit all five of them.
"Fantastic, Uncle Harry!"
"Amazing!"
Jim and Sherry exclaimed in unison. Lily, who was in her third year at Hogwarts, sat on the sofa flipping her red hair over her shoulder as if a spell taught to second years could not impress her at all. It brought a smile to Harry's face when he realized that Lily and her second cousins had already begun their battle of nerves. Except for Mary Dursley, who went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, the other three Dursleys sat across from them on a smaller sofa once Harry and his family had sat down.
Mary returned to the kitchen after serving tea to the adults and orange juice to the children and said, "Please wait here for a moment — dinner's almost ready!"
There was an awkward silence in the living room as Harry stirred his tea with a teaspoon. Harry finally brought it up, "Dudley, your new mustache looks terrific."
"Thanks, cousin. Did I tell you both my parents died in the epidemic last year?"
"Yes, you mentioned it in your letter. By the way, thank you for sending me my old blanket," said Harry. Last year, when Aunt Petunia had died, Harry had received a blanket from Dudley. It was the same blanket that had wrapped Harry as a baby when he had been placed in front of number four, Privet Drive, shortly after he had been orphaned. When Harry remembered how immature Dudley had been as a child, he could never have imagined that his cousin would grow up to be such a considerate person.
"You're welcome. Anyway, about my moustache — my father had to wear a respirator at the last minute because of lung damage. He had to shave off his beloved mustache and looked so lost and empty without it. That's why I promised to grow one in his place. Unfortunately, he died before I could do it properly."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," said Ginny sympathetically.
Harry was grateful that she had offered her condolences. Harry, who had only bad memories of his late aunt and uncle, found it difficult to grieve for them, no matter how hard he tried.
"So how was your world last year?" said Dudley. "Like I said, we went crazy with that pandemic . . ."
Harry remembered seeing Muggles wearing masks in the streets. However, Harry had paid little attention to the epidemic sweeping the Muggle world as he had been busy correcting the mistakes Albus had made in time travel.
"I think we were all right," said Harry simply.
"It wasn't without effect; the Quidditch World Cup was postponed for a year because of the disease, because it would look weird to have so many people in one place," sighed James.
Sherry opened her eyes wide and asked, "What's Quidditch?"
"It's like playing soccer on broomsticks," Albus replied, explaining the general rules of the game.
As they sat in uncomfortable silence after a brief conversation about Quidditch, Lily wiggled her fingers on the pink bag in her arms. She seemed to be considering whether it was appropriate to take out a new magical toy and brag about it.
Then Mary called from the kitchen, "Everyone — dinner is ready! Please come into the restaurant."
Harry had recognized Aunt Petunia's cooking skills as her only virtue, and Mary Dursley seemed to have inherited them. There were pies, salads, beef and chicken dishes, all centered around a roast pork loin — it almost looked like the finest of the Hogwarts feast had gathered there.
"Uncle Harry! I have something to tell you," Jim said as he hurriedly arranged two pies, pork ribs and chicken legs on his plate. "My teacher once had me write an essay . . ."
With his mouth full, Jim mentioned the word "hero" several times, but Harry barely understood what was being said and just nodded politely. Albus and James, the two big eaters in Harry's family, were also busy eating pig's legs and pieces of pie.
"Boys, eat some vegetables."
As Ginny pushed them a bowl of salad, James brought a piece of cabbage and Albus a small piece of lettuce and placed them on the edge of their plates. As for appetites, even the three boys were no match for Dudley, who devoured a large steak and a chicken leg on his plate like he had not eaten in days. Mary stood up as the entire pig on the plate quickly disappeared, leaving only the bones after some rattling and clattering of the dishes.
"Let me get the dessert."
An enormous mound of whipped cream sat on the wide tray she had brought, decorated with sugared violets. The pudding looked remarkably like the one Harry had been pelted with on his twelfth birthday when Dobby the house-elf had threatened him not to return to Hogwarts.
"This is my husband's favorite dessert. I learned the secret recipe before my mother-in-law died," said Mary proudly.
When the boys and Dudley, who were resting on chairs with their bellies full, found something more to eat, they straightened up and their eyes brightened. While her parents sipped coffee served with the pudding and her brothers ate, Lily prepared to wage a silent war with her second cousins.
Harry pretended to be absorbed in stirring his coffee and glanced sideways at what Lily, sitting next to him, had prepared for today's event. The first thing she pulled out of her pink bag was a picture of her favorite band, the Weird Sisters, singing and dancing. Harry remembered himself from many years ago, when he had been shocked to see Albus Dumbledore moving out of his picture for the first time aboard the Hogwarts Express. He watched with interest as Lily tried to take the lead in the competition with her magical picture. She leaned the moving picture against a nearby bread basket so that Jim and Sherry, sitting across from her, could see it clearly and waited for them to be impressed.
Harry remembered having dinner with the Dursleys a few years ago. Aside from playing with the Screaming Yo-yo in the living room, Lily had asked her second cousins why their family pictures on the mantelpiece didn't move, much to Jim and Sherry's embarrassment. Today, however, things were different. When Jim and Sherry saw the band members singing and playing their guitars in Lily's picture, they exchanged furtive glances and smiled leisurely.
"Is this your favorite band?" asked Sherry.
"They're called the Weird Sisters; they're the most talented female band I've ever met," said Lily proudly.
"Really? Then let me hear some of their songs," Jim demanded.
"Huh? You mean, now?"
Despite his calm face, Jim looked like he was enjoying Lily's embarrassment. "Yes, right now! Is there any reason why we can't?"
"I didn't bring a radio, and besides, it's past time for the music channels. . . ."
Lily's answer seemed to be just what her second cousins were waiting for. Sherry and Jim smiled conspiratorially at each other before placing a small object on the table. Nowadays, most Muggles would spend all day looking at these devices, and Harry knew it was called a smartphone. Jim turned on his smartphone and tapped the red square among the small icons on the screen. The screen darkened briefly as Jim manipulated it, then played an exciting song performed on a stage with colorful lights.
"This is my favorite hip hop group. This app is called YouTube, where you can listen to all the songs in the world," Jim explained gently, as if he were talking to a younger child.
Lily stared at the handsome men dancing energetically on the screen with a stunned expression for a moment, but then she pulled away and changed her expression to one of stern disapproval. Everyone's attention was already focused on the children's confrontation, except for Dudley, who was busy scooping up the whipped cream on his plate with a large spoon.
"That's not bad," Lily said reluctantly after struggling to find the right words.
"Not bad? It's great!"
Jim excitedly played several more videos on his smartphone. From a cartoon for children, to epic movies with many heroes and villains fighting, to a realistic game with soldiers shooting at each other, everything was played one after the other with loud sound. Having played only crude computer games on a black and white monitor when he was young, Harry was also shocked by the vivid screen and high-quality sound coming from such a small machine. Lilly pretended to ignore it, but occasionally glanced sideways at the smartphone to see what was going on.
Mary finally intervened when Ginny looked worriedly at her daughter, whose face was growing darker and darker. "Jim, how many times have I told you? Put that thing away when you eat!"
"Okay, Mum," Jim slowly shoved his phone under the table, not forgetting to tease Lily. "I just thought it would amaze her."
Lily quickly retrieved the moving photo of the Weird Sisters, which had obviously become a symbol of her grim defeat, and tucked it back into her bag. Harry thought he had seen enough of the political world to nominate his best friend, Hermione Granger, for Minister of Magic. But the children's politics around the table seemed even more intense than the adults', as they constantly tried to humiliate each other.
Dudley, who had just finished his pudding, raised his head as the rest of the Potters nibbled on their food and looked at Lily with concern, since she had just been fooled by her second cousins.
"What's wrong?" asked Dudley.
Lily quickly replied, "Nothing at all, Uncle Dudley. Everything is just fine."
"It was very delicious. Thank you, Mrs. Dursley," Albus said politely.
"My pleasure," Mary said, looking around the table. "Everyone must be full by now. Shall we go into the living room?"
Lily stood up, holding her bag with a determined look on her face, and Jim and Sherry followed her out, clutching their smartphones. Harry had a sinking feeling that the second battle between them would continue in the living room. Instead of sitting on the cramped sofas, Dudley had chosen an armchair near the fireplace. On his way, he had fiddled with a stereo in the corner of the living room, and a warm song began playing.
"Nice song! What's the title?" asked Ginny.
Dudley sat in his squeaky chair, humming the tune, and replied, "It's called 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips,' my late father's favorite."
Harry hoped the warm song would lead to a Christmas truce among the children. Nevertheless, Lily opened her bag before the two families had finished sitting down on the sofa and began searching for materials for the counterattack. It seemed to be full of items she had received from the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, her generous sponsor. When Harry sat down next to Lily, she smiled as if she had found what she was looking for. The small victory at dinner must have inspired Jim and Sherry, because they sat in front of Lily and carefully examined what she would brag about this time. Instead of pulling out what she had in her hand, Lily smoothed her hair and increased her second cousins' impatience to the maximum.
Lily muttered a little loudly, "Oh, my hair looks messy . . ."
She finally took the weapon out of her bag: On the wrapper of the new product was a picture of a witch wearing a pointy hat and holding a large comb. Her second cousins focused on the magical comb as she took it out of the box and began to brush her hair. In the area where the comb had touched, her red hair turned pink and curly, and as she moved her hands a few more times, the entire style of her hair became that of the witch depicted on the box.
Sherry opened her mouth wide to admire Lily, but Jim grabbed her arm and stopped his sister, saying, "Lily, your new hair looks great!"
"Thanks," Lily said as if she agreed with his praise a hundred times over.
"But is that the only style you can do with that comb?" asked Jim, a corner of his mouth twisting as he forced a smile.
"Well, you can change it if you buy another comb," Lily replied, a little embarrassed.
"In that case, you'd better carry a lot of combs if you want to change styles and post them on Instagram."
"What's Instagram?"
Just as the question was asked, Lily's face showed a hint of regret. As if waiting for this moment, Jim gave Sherry a signal. She pulled out her smartphone and turned it around so that Lily could see it. In contrast to her actual appearance as a blond, Sherry was depicted in the small display with bushy pink hair.
"With this app, you can change your appearance at any time and take pictures however you like."
Jim deftly touched the screen from side to side, and Sherry's face appeared on the screen, first with a cat-like beard, then with rabbit ears; her looks changed every time Jim moved his fingers on the screen.
After staring dumbfounded at the phone for a minute, Lily protested, "But you only change yourself in that little device!"
"True, but what my friends see is no different than what's displayed here," said Jim plainly.
Using a smartphone, Sherry took some pictures of herself, pressed something on the screen, and showed it to Lily. "This is Instagram, which Jim mentioned earlier. You can take pictures, edit them however you want, and show them to your friends all over the world!"
"With this little thing? I don't believe it. How can you send a picture without an owl?"
Lily's comment elicited a loud laugh from Jim, and Sherry, infected by her brother, joined in. The pink in Lily's hair faded and began to turn red, and the color of her face became almost the same. A small ringing sound came from the cell phone then, and Jim and Sherry checked the screen together.
"Oi, you've got feedback already! Read it," said Jim.
Sherry read aloud what appeared on the screen: "Sherry, you look wonderful in the picture. I wish you a Merry Christmas!" Sherry didn't forget to show Lily the comment under the picture. "It's from an American pen pal I met on Facebook!"
Lily didn't make the mistake of asking what Facebook was this time and said coldly, "All your friends are fake. Real friends should exchange handwritten letters!"
"Friends you keep in touch with through owl posts every few days? If your owl gets sick, that friendship is doomed, right?"
Jim laughed mockingly, and Sherry followed suit. When Harry heard this, he remembered how he had been disappointed with Ron and Hermione in this very house when Dobby had intercepted their letters.
Jim took out his smartphone and shook it in front of Lily this time. "This way I can always keep in touch with my friends! They came to visit me in ten minutes the last time I was sick."
"Stop bragging, Jim. What's the big deal about phones — everybody's got one." Dudley, who had dozed off in his rocking chair, woke up and intervened as the children's voices grew louder.
"I thought so too, Dad — until today, that is," Jim said with a sneer.
Lily's face was now almost redder than her hair and she was on the verge of crying. Worried, Harry grabbed her arm, but Lily shook him off; it looked like she didn't want to appear weak. To change the subject, Mary started talking about Ginny's beautiful green dress, and then she went on to talk about the weather, saying that it had been unusually cold this winter. Liliy, taking the opportunity to calm herself down, occasionally glanced at Jim and Sherry as they laughed aloud while looking at their smartphones.
Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she said, "Sherry, I have more of these things at home. Would you like this comb?"
Lily waved the magic comb from side to side on her fingertips like a lure on a fishing line. Sherry's eyes trembled in a struggle between longing and pride. In response, Sherry looked back at her brother as if asking him to make a decision for her. Jim shook his head, almost invisibly, and Sherry made up her mind and turned back to Lily.
"No, Lily. This will do," Sherry said as she picked up her smartphone.
"Didn't you say you had something for Lily?" Jim tapped his sister's elbow.
"Oh, yeah," she replied, pulling an object out of her bag: A battered yo-yo with the string hanging out. "You left it here during your last visit, Lily."
Lily seemed to be fighting back tears. The Screaming Yo-yo had stood out among all the wonderful wizarding wheezes that had made her second cousins weep with unbearable longing for magic at their last meeting. Lily might have deliberately lost it, placing the yo-yo in a prominent position so that Jim and Sherry could feel Lily's superiority even without her presence. However, the same yo-yo now stood as a symbol of Lily's defeat, worn and faded.
"Tell me if you want another one. I have one in my bag," Lily said, her voice shaking.
After an agonizing moment, Sherry finally picked up her smartphone instead. "I don't need it. This is more fun."
That was the last blow for Lily; tears welled up in her hazel eyes, and she jumped out of her seat.
"Lily, are you all right?" asked Harry worriedly.
"Yeah, just going to the bathroom," Lily said, almost running out of the living room, and Harry and Ginny looked at each other gravely.
Noticing this, Mary made a stern face at her son and daughter. "Jim — Sherry! Put that away at the family reunion!"
"Okay, Mum," Jim grumbled, putting the phone back in his pocket, but already looking victorious, having achieved his primary goal.
Mary and Ginny began to talk loudly about knitting, trying to drive away the awkwardness of the situation. James and Albus began a heated discussion about where the upcoming Quidditch World Cup would be held. Harry remained silent, but after twenty minutes he began to feel uneasy.
"Why isn't Lily coming back?" asked Mary worriedly.
"Oh, leave her alone," Dudley said, waving his hand, "anyone could use the toilet for a while."
"You say that because you sit there all day staring at your phone," Mary said, turning to Harry. "Shall we look for her together?"
"Thanks, that would be nice."
Everyone came out of the living room and started looking for Lily. Sherry and Jim went up to the second floor with Ginny and James while the rest of the group searched the first floor. Harry opened the bathroom door with little expectation, but his heart sank when he realized that the sink had been left dry with no sign of recent use.
"Dad, come to think of it, Lily got up with her bag," Albus said with concern in his voice. "Do you reckon she might've left the house?"
"I'll check the back door for any sign of her. You check the garden once you check the front door."
As Harry walked past the kitchen, he noticed Lily's pink backpack leaning against the door. Harry opened the door and looked out into the backyard, where a large tree stood on a lawn, but no one was there. Deciding to use some spells if the others failed to find Lily, he returned to the house. Just in time, Dudley, who had been checking the dining room, appeared in the hall, sucking on the whipped cream on his thumb.
"Let's say we've finished the first floor," said Dudley. "Shall we go back to the living room in case she's back?"
"Sure," Harry replied, walking back to the living room with his cousin. But as he passed through the hallway with the stairs on one side, he suddenly remembered something. "You go on — let me check the cupboard."
"I've already checked — it's empty."
"Just in case."
When Dudley's footsteps faded into the living room, Harry slowly approached the cupboard, opened the small door under the stairs and peered inside. There was no one in the cupboard, as Dudley had said, but its contents were very different from what Harry had expected — instead of a pile of junk, such as old shoes and umbrellas, there was now a blanket and pillow on a narrow bed. It seemed that the cupboard had returned to what it looked like when Harry had slept in it as a child, unaware of the Wizarding world. Harry sat on the bed in the cupboard, lost in his memories. Then he felt something warm and soft under him and heard a shrill scream.
"Arrrrrgh, that hurts!"
On the seemingly empty bed, Harry felt a light, fluid fiber on his fingers; he grabbed its end and pulled it off. Lily emerged from under the Cloak, which had faint constellation patterns on a silvery gray fabric. She looked sleepy and was rubbing her calves, which Harry had just sat on.
"I found Lily!" Harry shouted as he poked his head out of the cupboard; others replied in agreement.
"How did you know I was here, Dad?" asked Lily, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"I didn't — otherwise I wouldn't have sat on you," Harry said with a smile. "I remember giving James the Cloak of Invisibility . . ."
"Don't tell James — I secretly borrowed it from him. It's warmer than it looks," Lily said with a shrug. Her lower body, covered by the Cloak, was still invisible, and her upper body seemed to float without it.
"James seems to be making a lot of trouble with that Cloak at Hogwarts, but he must not have considered using it as a blanket . . ."
She covered her mouth with her hand and yawned. "Why is there even a bed in here? It's hard to imagine anyone living here."
"You're right; but I did live here when I was very young."
Harry felt bitter as he remembered the spiders that had landed on his face when he had slept in this cupboard as a child. He reached his hand over his head and touched the dusty ceiling, gently sloping down along the stairs above.
"You're kidding me, right? How can anyone live here?" said Lily, laughing out loud. But she became serious when Harry kept a straight face. "Did you really?"
Harry nodded and said, "My aunt and uncle were not so kind to me, mainly because they hated magic. That's why Dudley's quite remarkable — it must've been very difficult for him to escape his parents' influence."
Harry sat on the bed with Lily in silence. Even though the cupboard felt even more cramped with two of them, he hardly noticed it as he was deeply moved by the fact that he had finally returned to sit here with his daughter. At last, Harry had shaken off all the unhappiness that had plagued him since he was an infant.
"Dad — you know what day tomorrow is, right?"
"Of course. Did you make a wish to Santa?"
"Come on, Dad! I'm way too old for that. I believe you've already told Kreacher to leave our presents at home," Lily said, looking down at her laced fingers. She tended to do that whenever she was about to bring up a serious subject. "Can you get me a smartphone for a present, Dad?"
"Well, Lily, I get it, that device could come in handy. But there's too much magic in the air at home or at Hogwarts, so it wouldn't last long —"
"Times have changed, Dad; you can use it at Hogwarts now!" Lily interrupted. "For some time now, students have been flocking to a certain place to use their phones!"
"Really?" said Harry in shock. "But . . . but how?"
"I haven't seen it in person, so I don't know the details — but it looks like they've modified the Room of Requirement for the purpose. I'm sure everyone from a Muggle family has one, since Professor McGonagall officially allowed us to bring them last term."
Lily, who had been shy at first, spoke more confidently now. As Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry was convinced that he would not let anything significant go unnoticed within the Wizarding community. But after listening to Lily, it sounded as if the tide of change had already begun to swell, soaking Harry's ankles without him knowing it.
"Okay, Lily. But I'll buy you one around Easter, not tomorrow."
"Really? Thanks a lot, Dad!" Lily held out her hands and cheered, but then she smacked one of them on the underside of the ceiling and cried out in pain. "I still can't believe you used to live here."
"Neither can I."
Father and daughter had returned to the living room, where Ginny and Mary were talking about knitting and Dudley was looking at his smartphone in a rocking chair.
"Where's everyone else?" asked Lily.
"Oh, Lily, are you okay? They're upstairs playing games," Mary said, taking her eyes off the wool scarf she was knitting. "We bought Jim a brand-new PlayStation."
After thinking for a moment, Lily left the living room and ran up the stairs to find her brothers and second cousins. She seemed to have gained confidence from Harry's promise to buy her a smartphone.
As Harry sat on the sofa across from him, Dudley grumbled, "Where was she? She couldn't have been in the cupboard. . . ."
"Of course you couldn't find her; she was asleep, wearing the Cloak of Invisibility."
Dudley laughed and said, "I see — I'd like to use one of those at work. . . . I've been so busy, sometimes I wish I could just disappear from this world."
"By the way, Big D, why did you put the bed in the cupboard?" Harry asked hastily before the conversation turned to the drilling industry, and Dudley stared up at him.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you; we've been renting that room since this summer. A waitress who used to live there moved out only recently."
"Renting it? You mean — that cupboard?"
Getting up from his chair, Dudley collapsed on the sofa next to Harry and said, "Let me show you."
He took out his cell phone and fiddled with it for a while before showing it to Harry. On the left side of the screen were pictures of various houses, and on the right side were the respective rental fees.
"This app is called Airbnb. Anyone can use it to rent out a room in their home." Dudley pressed a button and a picture of number four, Privet Drive, appeared. A series of pictures of the cupboard under the stairs, taken from different angles, popped up as he moved his fingers. Although it looked slightly larger and cleaner than it actually was, the pictures were certainly the cupboard Harry was well aware of.
"One hundred and thirty pounds per week," Harry read out the weekly rent for the cupboard written below the pictures. Having been away from the Muggle world for the past thirty years, he had lost much of his understanding of its monetary value and asked his wife, "Ginny, can you tell me how much one hundred and thirty pounds is for us?"
Ginny, who was learning to knit from Mary without the use of magic, raised her head. Harry had a feeling that his wife, the sports reporter for the Daily Prophet, would have a better idea of the exchange rate for Muggle money than he did, and he was right.
"Well, their five pounds is about a Galleon to us, so . . ." Ginny replied after bending and unbending her fingers a few times and finished with, "about twenty-six Galleons."
Now it was Harry's turn to be shocked. "Twenty-six Galleons! For one week's rent of this tiny cupboard?"
Perhaps it was because Harry had said it too loudly that Dudley blushed a little. "Yes, I know it's a bit expensive. But that's the current market price — tenants keep coming in at that rent."
It occurred to Harry what he could do with twenty-six Galleons. A long time ago, he had bought the phoenix feather wand — his dear, lifelong companion now in his pocket — from Ollivanders for only seven Galleons, which meant that three such wands could be bought for the same amount. Moreover, a glass of butterbeer cost only two sickles at the Three Brumsticks, and since one Galleon was seventeen Sickles, that gold could buy more than fourty butterbeers.
"This neighborhood isn't the only one experiencing skyrocketing rents; in fact, the housing market nationwide seems to be a mess," Dudley went on to explain. "After all, it wasn't unreasonable for my father to move the family back here."
Harry remembered his constant urging to get the Dursleys out of their home when Voldemort's threat was at its height. Uncle Vernon had then believed it was Harry's plan to take over the house, whose value had increased rapidly. As Harry considered the amount of Galleons he would have to pay for the time he had spent in the cupboard, he had a bitter taste in his mouth. Perhaps his late aunt and uncle had shown him great kindness without ever knowing it.
"Some Londoners are living in boats now because the rents have gone up so much," said Mary.
"Right, I've heard that too," Dudley said, turning the smartphone he was holding upside down. "As you can see from toys like this, our technology is getting better every day, but oddly enough, life has gotten harder for a lot of people. . . ."
A sad smile spread across Mary's face as she added, "Some call it poverty in the midst of plenty. Maybe it's that our world needs some magic as well."
"Yes, we could really use some magic," said Dudley.
While they were lost in silence and thought, Albus rubbed his tired eyes and descended the stairs.
"Everyone's feeling sleepy now, Mum."
"All right, Albus. I'll make you a bed."
Rolling up their sleeves, the Potters climbed the stairs. It took several wand swings and spoken spells for them to create an extra comfortable bed in the smallest bedroom that had once been Harry's and was now occupied by Sherry. After clearing Jim's room of all the clutter, Harry then magically summoned a bunk bed for James and Albus, and it was decided that Harry and Ginny would stay in a spare bedroom for visitors.
When Harry was satisfied that everything had gone smoothly in the end, Sherry appeared from downstairs. "Mum, I can't find Caroline anywhere!"
"Who's Caroline?" asked Harry.
Dudley looked worried as he said, "Our family cat. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her for the last few hours . . ."
The two families searched the house for about an hour, looking in every nook and cranny. But unlike Lily, Caroline really seemed to have left the house.
"Now I remember — I felt something brush against my leg when I came in here, and it must have been that cat," said Ginny thoughtfully.
Sherry cried out, worried and grieving, "Poor Caroline, it's so cold outside! And how hungry would she be?"
"Don't worry too much, dear — she's done it before," said Mary reassuringly.
"But then she came back before sunset!" Sherry began to sniffle. "All the houses in this town look so alike! How would she spot ours in the dark?"
"Maybe we should leave the door open for Caroline to come in," said Jim, who had just returned from searching the front yard.
"Absolutely not. The burglar alarm won't work if the door is left open," said Dudley sternly.
"But we have Uncle Harry!" said Jim.
"Yes, burglars have no chance against him!" Sherry said in agreement.
With all eyes on him, Harry knew he didn't have a choice. "Okay, I'll take some security measures."
Sherry, excited by his assurance, ran forward to open the front door just enough for the cat to enter. Harry took out his wand and began casting all the defensive spells he knew at the entrance. Having done most of the work, Harry poked his head through the open door and looked around. The nearby streetlights lit up the snowy street, and it seemed as if a golden net had been woven over it.
"Are you sure about this, Harry?" whispered Ginny.
"Don't worry — I know just the right spell for the occasion. . . ."
Harry stepped back and cast a final spell on the door, wrapping a silvery oval around it, almost transparent. At the same time, the cold wind stopped blowing through the crack.
"Minerva taught me this new spell — she had modified the one once used by the Death Eaters to suit her needs . . . When cast in an open passage, this spell allows only those with certain qualifications to pass. In this case, you have to be a cat to enter the house."
"No wonder. I'm sure Professor McGonagall found it very useful," said Albus grumpily.
"It's done!" When Harry turned and announced it, Jim and Sherry rejoiced.
"Magic is so amazing!" Sherry exclaimed, causing a small smile to spread across Lily's face.
Finally, the rest of the family had gone up to their bedrooms. Harry, left alone on the first floor, took one last look around the hallway. The scenery inside the house, which he had once found painfully familiar, seemed somehow strange to him in the dark. Harry stared at the quiet street beyond the open door, which showed no strange signs, as he absentmindedly touched the lightning scar on his forehead. Not a whit of pain was felt from it. . . . All was well. Harry climbed the stairs, reassured that nothing could possibly go wrong, at least for tonight.
How very wrong he was.
The birds on the wires made loud chirps when dawn broke. From the outside, number four, Privet Drive looked like it was having an uneventful morning. Harry, awakened by the birds, went down to the first floor where Jim was happily opening his presents under the Christmas tree. Sherry was stroking the cat with a smile on her face while Caroline was licking milk from the bowl next to the front door, which was still slightly ajar.
"Thank you so much, Uncle Harry!" said Sherry happily, "Caroline's back!"
Harry replied with a grin. He undid his defensive spells one by one after making sure they were intact, so as not to accidentally hurt any Muggles. Harry politely declined Dudley's invitation to join his family for lunch, seeing his children's impatience. With their presents already piled under their own Christmas tree at the Potters', they would be anxious to get home and open them. Besides, they were scheduled to dine with Andromeda Tonks and Teddy Lupin that evening.
The Potters were about to leave when they encountered an unexpected problem. While Harry and the rest of the family sat in the living room, they organized the clothes they had brought and placed them in Ginny's bag, the inside of which had magically grown larger. At that moment, Lily rushed into the living room and spilled the contents of her bag on the sofa.
"Lily, you must be confused," James said importantly. "You should be packing, not unpacking."
Ignoring this, Lily rifled through her various toys and accessories on the sofa, desperately trying to find something. After turning her bag upside down a few more times, she looked back at Harry with an alarmed expression on her face.
"Dad, I can't find it — I don't see the Invisibility Cloak anywhere!"
"Why are you looking for the Cloak here?" said James. "I surely left it at home."
"Sorry — I brought it without your permission. . . . I'm pretty sure I left it in the cupboard, but I can't find it!"
Harry went straight to the cupboard under the stairs, leaving James, who was furious that Lily had carelessly touched his things. He brushed his hands over the small space inside the cupboard, with the dim light on, until dust flew everywhere. Even though the Cloak would have been visible had someone not been wearing it, there was no trace of it when he lifted the bedclothes and blankets several times. He even used his wand to shine a light into the darkness under the bed. Once Harry was convinced that it could not possibly be in the cupboard, he informed Dudley and got everyone to search for the missing Cloak.
After a series of unsuccessful searches throughout the morning, and after Harry had even used magic to see if anyone could remember seeing the Cloak, Harry had no choice but to admit what he had never wanted to admit. The best of all the Invisibility Cloaks, the only thing Harry had inherited from his father, the most useful artifact that had saved him and his friends from countless dangers, had indeed been lost.
