Chapter 347 Harry and Dudley

After setting things up and putting some dried meat in Hedwig's bowl, Harry skillfully found the cleaning tools from his former bedroom in the stairwell.

Thanks to Topenny and Vernon, they learned to clean from an early age.

It's just that he used to do it with anger and resentment, but now Harry found that he actually did it willingly.

First, he put the garbage in large black plastic bags. He endured nausea while picking up the wine bottles and carpets with traces of vomiting.

Driving while driving - it would be great if I could use magic, Hermione taught me, it just needs to be cleaned up.

But then he thought of Aunt Petunia's state. In the past, this place was always spotless, as clean as a mirror.

Harry had not known how much Vernon's departure had affected Petunia.

But when he saw the mysophobic Petunia making a mess of her life, he realized what that chubby, bearded, and bad-tempered man meant to Petunia.

It was so messy here that even though Harry was sweating profusely from working, he could only clean up the living room and kitchen.

When he wiped his sweat and rubbed his arms, he realized that Penny had been standing at the door carrying a large bag of things.

She looked at the living room, which had become tidy again, and unnaturally stretched out her hand to smooth the hair hanging around her ears.

Putting the things in his hands aside.

“Pretty clean.”

Penny put on her slippers, picked up the mop at hand, and walked upstairs.

"Can you please take care of those dishes?"

She paused, as if she was explaining something:

"I mean, it's a mess upstairs, and I-I'm afraid I don't have time-"

"Okay." Harry agreed simply. In fact, he was more surprised than Petunia because this was the first time in more than ten years that he heard the word "please" from Aunt Petunia's mouth.

The cooking skills he had developed since childhood came in handy once again, and Harry cut carrots skillfully.

"Hedwig - I have actually done these things many times, but today is different."

Hedwig tilted her head and watched her master doing something she had never seen before, her eyes full of curiosity.

Harry put the carrots on the plate and picked up the onions and ribs.

"Do do do do do" the rhythmic chopping sound sounded in the kitchen.

"I used to feel like a servant when I did this kind of thing, but today I feel weird."

Harry's movements stopped, he raised his head and frowned, and suddenly sighed softly:

"I feel like Aunt Petunia treats me as a family member for the first time, but she doesn't know how to show it. She can only use this attitude, as if she can't speak."

Um? Harry suddenly reached out and picked up the food in the bag, looking at the labels on it carefully.

Food for the holidays?

No, although Aunt Petunia is fussy, petty, and mean, she never buys last-minute things.

Because she feels that the food on the last day of the holiday is ‘bad’ and only people who can’t afford good food will buy it.

Petunia was even more worried that this kind of food would stunt the growth of her 'Baby Dada' - even though the school nurse had long warned them that Dudley was over-nourished.

Why buy food on expiration date?

Harry's heart suddenly jumped out to Ron, because Ron used to complain that he used second-hand cheap goods. It wasn't that Mrs. Weasley didn't love him, but they did have no money.

He also remembered visiting the Weasley family's vault, where there were only some Nats and Sickles.

Could it be that my aunt has no money? The more Harry thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

He thought again of the several job applications he had found while clearing away the trash. They were crumpled and had random scribbles on them.

Young Harry was lost in thought.

At this moment, there was a noise at the door. Harry put down what he was holding, wiped his hands on his apron, and prepared to go over and open the door.

Before he could reach the door, he saw Dudley standing at the door dragging a large bag of things. Harry suddenly discovered that Dudley's cheeks, which were originally rounder than Vernon, were gone.

Instead, there was a face that was moderately fat and thin, and actually looked a bit heroic.

"Cousin?"

Dudley looked at him blankly, and Harry wiped his hands unconsciously, not knowing how to communicate with Dudley.

He would rather Dudley and Petunia still face him as fiercely as before, so that he can ridicule and ridicule them without any psychological burden.

Rather than like now.

"Um - hello - I mean - Smelting's life is so poor? Oh no - I mean, thin."

Dudley was wearing an unusually baggy-looking T-shirt and trousers that actually had fit him perfectly just a few months ago.

The exposed arms are no longer white, but darker in color, as if they have been painted with melanin.

There was a smooth line that Harry was familiar with because he had spent so much time in the Hogwarts gym that his own arms had the same line.

That's muscle and strength.

"Alright?" Dudley replied hesitantly, looking at Harry with a strange look, as if he was seeing himself for the first time.

Harry felt a little uncomfortable being looked at, because the look contained a kind of curiosity and scrutiny, but it was not malicious, he could feel it.

He simply pointed at the kitchen with his thumb:

"The kitchen - there's still some work in the kitchen, Auntie went upstairs - it's a bit messy."

"OK."

Harry heaved a sigh of relief and returned to the kitchen to continue his work, but he kept looking at Dudley from the corner of his eyes, watching him drag a large bag of things in easily, and put it in a place where it would not get in the way.

Then he came to the large photo of Vernon and Petunia, stared at it for a while, and carefully wiped the tiny dust on it with his hands.

Dudley seemed to have changed a lot.

Harry thought thoughtfully, shook his head, and drove away the messy thoughts. The next step was to fry the ribs, which could not be distracted.

But he didn't notice that after Dudley put the photo back in place, he sat on the sofa, didn't watch his favorite TV, didn't shout and look for snacks, but continued to look at himself with that strange look.

Dinner was still a strange atmosphere that made people uncomfortable, and everyone seemed to have lost the interest and ability to talk.

In the past, Aunt Petunia would always broadcast the latest gossip in a tone similar to that of a news anchor.

But this time, she just lowered her head and fiddled with her plate.

Harry just wanted to finish his meal quickly and escape from this suffocating table, but he heard Dudley whispering:

"Mom?"

"Hmm? What's wrong, dear?" It seemed that only when facing Dudley, Penny seemed to come alive again.

"Mom, school--the school has activities during the summer vacation, and I may still have to go to school every day."

"Activities? But I--I didn't receive any notice from the teacher." Penny was a little surprised.

"Oh, the teacher will notify you soon." Dudley wanted to stay with his mother, but Edward said that now was the most critical time and he couldn't leave.

With Dudley's efforts, he got the opportunity to come back every night, but the price was that the daily training volume was increased to a higher level.

"Okay, how much does it cost?" Aunt Penny's voice suddenly dropped, with a kind of cautiousness.

Harry's heart suddenly lifted. Sure enough, he really had no money. Aunt Penny would never ask the price for such activities before.

"No money, but I might be back a little late."

Dudley answered cautiously. He remembered Vernon's words before he died. He wanted to be his mother's new pillar.

Harry saw that Petunia seemed relieved. He felt uncomfortable and didn't know how to deal with it.

Reason told him that it had nothing to do with him, but emotion made him remember the scene of Petunia holding a knife in front of him and yelling at him to run.

This suffocating dinner was finally over. Dudley asked to wash the dishes for the first time.

Just this small action made Petunia cover her face and sob softly.

Harry felt that his hands and feet seemed to have nowhere to go, so he simply came to the kitchen and helped wash the dishes.

Dishes were floating in the sink, and they were covered with a thick layer of white foam.

Harry picked up a square plate, rinsed it, and handed it to Dudley, and he was responsible for drying the plate.

There was only the sound of water splashing in the kitchen, and Petunia's sobs drifted in from time to time, which was particularly heavy.

"Cousin, let's-let's reconcile!"

Harry's hand paused, he looked up in astonishment, and looked at Dudley, whose face was flushed, as if he didn't hear clearly what he said.

Dudley took a deep breath and said seriously:

"Like real men, let's fight and then reconcile!"

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