manynovel Chapter 238 Returning Home and a Letter
Chapter 238 Returning Home and a Letter
Chapter 238 Returning Home and a Letter
The door to the tool shed was pushed open, and Karen came out carrying a basket, just in time to see her younger sister Lily chasing a butterfly in the backyard.
Hearing the noise, Lily turned around abruptly, her large, gray-blue eyes instantly brightening like two dazzling stars.
"Brother Karen!" she screamed, rushing over and burying her face in Karen's arms.
Karen smiled and caught her, ruffling her soft brown hair. "Hey, Lily! Missed me?"
"I really want to!" Lily looked up, her face flushed with excitement. "Look, look!" She broke free from Karen's embrace, took two steps back, stretched out her little hand, and stared intently at a fallen leaf on the ground, her face turning bright red.
The fallen leaf trembled violently, wobbled off the ground, hovered about a meter above the ground for about ten seconds, and then fell down with a "plop".
"Wow! Lily, that's amazing!" Karen exclaimed sincerely, crouching down to look her in the eye. "You're a little genius!"
Lily jumped up and down with joy: "Mom said I practiced really hard! If Professor Flitwick knew, he would definitely give me extra points!" Her little face was filled with pure pride and happiness.
Hearing the noise, his mother, Emily, peeked out from the back kitchen door, her face immediately lighting up with a warm smile. "Karen! You're back! Come in quickly, just in time for dinner." She came over and gave Karen a tight hug, looking him over carefully. "How were things in France? How are Master Lemaître and Professor Castor?"
"Everything's fine, Mom." Karen hugged her mother back, feeling the warmth of home. "Studies are a bit intense, but very rewarding. Mrs. Perenel asked me to bring back some snacks and jam."
"Oh, she's too kind!" Emily took the basket, her smile widening as she looked at the exquisite magical treats inside. "Go wash your hands. Your father's in the garage; I'll go get him. Dinner's ready soon. Lily, stop bothering your brother and go set the table."
A cozy dinner always flies by. The table was laden with Mother's specialty dishes, and Father David ate heartily while chatting enthusiastically with Karen.
After dinner, Cullen returned to her tidy room. Sure enough, there was a small stack of letters on her desk; she'd guessed there would be quite a few when she received Edgar's letter. On top was a familiar pale yellow envelope from Hogwarts, containing the reading list for the new term.
He unfolded the parchment, his gaze quickly sweeping over the list; aside from the added textbook requirements for a few elective courses, everything else seemed fine. However,
When Karen's gaze fell upon the requirements of the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Breaking Up with the Ghost" by Gilderoy Lockhart, "Traveling with Ghouls" by Gilderoy Lockhart, "Vacation with a She-Devil" by Gilderoy Lockhart, "Walking with Trolls" by Gilderoy Lockhart, "Boat Trip with Vampires" by Gilderoy Lockhart, "Wandering with Werewolves" by Gilderoy Lockhart, and "A Year with the Yeti" by Gilderoy Lockhart—a total of seven books! The covers invariably feature Lockhart's signature exaggerated smile, gleaming with dazzling white teeth.
"Merlin's beard—" Karen sighed, rubbing his forehead. "He still came—is the plot just that predictable?" He felt a deep sense of helplessness and a touch of absurdity. He had thwarted Voldemort's plot to possess Quirrell, resolved the Basilisk crisis, and even forced Voldemort's main soul to flee in disarray. Yet, this "star professor," who relied on stealing others' adventures, was skilled in forgetting spells, and—well, one has to admit—possibly had considerable expertise in memory magic, still made his way onto the Hogwarts stage as scheduled.
"Hoping he can teach us anything of substance is like hoping a troll can learn ballet," Karen thought to herself, setting the book list aside.
Lockhart's only value might be that his flashy adventure stories could yield a few bits of real information about certain magical creatures or regions? Perhaps he could even learn some knowledge about memory magic, but he quickly dismissed this idea; the risk was too great, and it would easily expose his purpose.
He sighed, set the book list aside, and began sorting through the remaining letters. Most were Owl subscription catalogs and Quidditch magazine subscription confirmations. Suddenly, a letter with slightly messy handwriting and a sense of urgency caught his attention.
The envelope was plain parchment, without any fancy decorations, and the sender's address simply read "Devonshire, Ottley St. Catchpol Village, The Burrow, Harry Potter".
Karen's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately tore open the envelope. Harry's handwriting was even more forceful than usual.
Dear Karen:
I hope this letter reaches you safely! Merlin, my summer has been absolutely awful! A hundred times worse than any summer I've had at the Dursleys'!
I just got back from vacation, and because I accidentally let Aunt Maggie's beloved dog (that vicious dog bit me first!) step into the cement Uncle Vernon had just laid, I was locked in my cupboard for almost a month! I only got a little water and bread crusts every day! Dudley even deliberately rubbed ice cream cones on the cupboard door for me to smell! I dare say Hedwig ate better than me.
That's not the worst part. About a week ago, a little elf named Dobby suddenly appeared in my room! It really appeared out of nowhere! It had big, bat-like ears, green eyes the size of tennis balls, and was wearing a tattered old pillowcase.
It said it was a house-elf who had come to save me! It warned me I couldn't go back to Hogwarts this year! It said there were terrible dangers there, and I would die if I went back! It looked both sincere and frightened, and kept banging its head against my desk, saying it had revealed a secret and was a bad elf—
I told it I didn't believe me and that I had to go back to school. As a result, to stop me, it used magic to ruin the dinner Uncle Vernon was hosting for an important client! It made Aunt Penny's carefully prepared pudding float to the ceiling and land on the fat client's bald head! It also made a complete mess of the living room! Uncle Vernon was furious and thought I did it (although I had considered it).
But this time it really wasn't me! They locked me in the room and boarded up the windows!
Even worse, Dobby intercepted all my mail! Hedwig tried to fly out and deliver a letter, but Dobby's magic trapped her, preventing her from returning. Ron, Hermione, and you—I bet you wrote to me, but I haven't received a single letter! I felt completely abandoned by the world; even Hedwig seemed listless. I desperately tried to tell everyone what was happening outside, but to no avail. That Dobby—it seemed to sense my every move; whenever I tried to pry open a plank or steal Uncle Vernon's phone, it would appear to stop me.
Just when I thought I was going to be locked up in the Dursleys' house forever, last night, Ron, his twin brothers Fred and George, and their youngest sister Ginny (who's starting school soon), arrived in a flying Ford Anglia! They smashed the wooden planks in the window and rescued me from my room! We almost got caught by Uncle Vernon; George used some kind of "tooth-growing charm" (Fred said it was their new invention) to make Dudley grow a pig's tail! It was complete chaos, but we managed to escape! I'm at Ron's house now, at the Burrow, and this place—it's fantastic! It's a completely different world from the Dursleys'!
Karen, do you know what's going on with this house-elf? Dobby's acting so strange! It says it wants to save me.
But the way it did it almost killed me. It seemed bound by some powerful magic, unable to betray its master, yet desperately trying to warn me. It mentioned that the power of "that person whose name cannot even be mentioned" was increasing at Hogwarts—this made me very uneasy. Do you know what danger it was talking about? Why did it do this? To whom does it belong?
I have a feeling something big is going to happen at Hogwarts again, and this time it might be related to me? Dobby was hinting at that. I'm safe now, but I'm not at all relaxed.
I hope you can give me some advice. You are one of the most learned people I know (besides Professor Dumbledore).
Your anxious friend,
Harry Cullen put down the letter, his eyes instantly becoming as sharp as a hawk's.
"Dobby—" he murmured the name. The appearance of the name was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly shattering the tranquility of his brief return to family life.
Harry's experience clearly proves one point: although he changed Quirrell and the Basilisk's storyline, Lucius, the viper, has clearly not given up!
Cullen's mind raced, instantly locking onto her target. It seemed she would still arrange for the diary to enter Hogwarts, just like in the original story.
Although the greatest physical threat, the basilisk, has been eliminated, and the danger posed by the diary-themed Horcrux has lessened, it should not be underestimated. While this Horcrux is arguably the weakest of all Horcruxes in terms of power, its intelligence surpasses that of the others that followed.
After all, it was the first Horcrux, a product from before he went mad. If he were given the chance...
This could be troublesome!
It seems my first goal for the new semester is to find and get rid of Tom Riddle's diary! Before it causes irreparable damage!
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