He looked at Petunia, expecting her to say something more, but her lips were tightly sealed. So, Harry shrugged, went upstairs to pack his things, and soon came back down with a box containing traces of his life in that house. He gave the Dursleys one last look; they watched him with odd expressions. "Goodbye," Harry said softly and headed for the door.
His hand on the doorknob, the sunlight streaming through the window was a bit blinding. Suddenly, the sound of the couch creaking as if a giant beast was waking from its slumber followed by footsteps. Harry slowly turned around to see Dudley standing before him, hesitantly extending a hand.
"Did those magic books really make that much of a difference?" Harry asked in surprise.
"I don't know," Dudley said quietly. "Goodbye, Harry." Read complete version only at NoveI[F]ire.net
"Alright." Harry shook Dudley's hand. "Goodbye, Dudley."
Seeing Dudley try to squeeze out a smile, Harry suddenly had a thought that was too tempting to resist. He knew it would provoke a strong reaction from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, but he couldn't help but say, half in jest and half seriously, "Hey, Big D, if you ever can't find a job you like, consider selling magic products aimed at Muggles. What if your kids end up being wizards? We share some of the same blood, so it's not impossible..."
"Shut it, boy!" Uncle Vernon bellowed irately. "How dare you—" Aunt Petunia's voice chimed in. With a background of pleasant chaos, Harry opened the door of number four, Privet Drive, and the sunlight washed over him. He turned back and shouted, "Oh, and Dudley, I left some stuff in our usual spot, you might like it!"
The house erupted into chaos again as Harry closed the door behind him and walked towards Sirius, who was waiting at the corner with a smile.
"Is this your way of saying goodbye?" Fred and George asked, leaning against the fence, not offering to help in the slightest. In their words, they had just completed their assigned tasks and now it was time to rest. They happened to pass by, drawn by the sight of two oddly shaped bottoms through the fence, and decided to investigate.
"Be careful," Mrs. Weasley approached, hearing Ron's words. She scolded, "Let me hear that kind of talk again, and I'll seal your mouths—And you two!" She turned to the twins, hands on her hips. "Are the chairs cleaned?"
"Done," Fred said, waving his duster.
Mrs. Weasley backed away, covering her nose, eyeing them skeptically. "You managed without magic? What about the flowers?"
"Ready too. We scoured the nearby woods for them," George sighed, watching Mrs. Weasley leave. He whispered, "We really did search the woods, until we found a florist in town."
Harry looked up, astonished. "How did you convince the shopkeeper to sell you the flowers? You had money?" He was, of course, referring to Muggle money.
"Oh, the shop was run by a pretty young girl, easily persuaded. So, we decided to charm our way through—" Fred began.
"In the end, we traded a bag of joke shop goodies for enough flowers," George finished.
"What?" Ron's eyes widened.
"There's no danger, right?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Don't worry, they're all items temporarily approved," Fred assured. "You should trust our judgement—"
"Or Percy's," George added.
"In short, we claimed to have found a wizard's lost package containing all sorts of harmless, friendship-enhancing goodies: Fizzing Whizzbees, Levitating Lemondrops, Fudge Flies, Daydream Charms, Vampire Bites, Canary Creams, Gluey Gumdrops…" Fred counted off on his fingers.
"In a nutshell, items that are benign and promote friendship," George concluded.
After the twins left, Harry turned to Ron, "What's a Fudge Fly?" He wasn't fond of the name.
"It's the most Muggle-like treat they've invented, supposedly inspired by Voldemort himself," Ron explained. "A bean that alternates between sweet and bitter flavors. Imagine, one second it's all sweet, and the next, unbearably bitter... wrapped in thirteen layers."
Harry imagined it and shuddered.
On the morning of the wedding. In the orchard behind The Burrow, Felix and Bill were nominally tasked with inspecting the wedding venue, but they were actually taking a stroll around the perimeter. They saw Hagrid carrying two logs, followed by the even more massive figure
of the giant Grawp, like some grotesque summoned creature.
"The wedding is in the afternoon, Fleur is checking the guest list in the house," Bill said. "She decided to do it herself, adding a few invitations we missed, to hand them out personally..." Noticing Felix's look, he added, "Not just Hagrid's brother, Sirius also brought a list of important figures. We didn't dare tell Mum; she's on edge. You know, because of Fred and George's suggestion."
Felix's gaze flickered with amusement—ah, at Harry's birthday party the night before, Fred and George had suggested letting Grawp kidnap Fleur, forcing Bill to play the hero and rescue his bride, demonstrating his bravery.
Just like ancient wizards who captured malevolent dragons themselves.
Naturally, Mrs. Weasley ruthlessly rejected the idea, threatening with her gaze that if the brothers dared speak another word on the topic, she'd turn them into welcoming statues at the entrance.
The visiting Delacours were quite taken with the imagined heroic spectacle, but their shock was palpable when Ginny pointed out Grawp, temporarily residing in the orchard, through the window.
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