Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Archmage

"Don't worry, Harry! There are still almost two months until school starts. Maybe there will be a turning point!"

Dudley grabbed the owl, gave a confident smile, and chased away Harry's disappointed mood with his words.

Harry became happy again. "I know. You said, cousin, that anything can happen until the last moment, right?"

"That's right!" Dudley stopped smiling, spared one hand, took the letter from Harry, and glanced through it. "However, before seeking a future turning point, we first need to have a stable base.

Are you ready to handle those stubborn and ignorant grown-ups, Harry!"

Hearing this, Harry realized something. He looked at Dudley with a pair of emerald green eyes, his gaze filled with shock and admiration.

"Cousin, are you going to..."

"Shh! Grab my Smelting stick and that bag of beef jerky and go open the door!" Dudley's voice remained steady and powerful.

"Yes, cousin!"

Harry felt a bit excited, but mostly uneasy. But no matter what, he would firmly support whatever his cousin had decided to do.

Picking up the Smelting stick and the bag of beef jerky that had fallen on the ground, and taking somewhat heavy paces, Harry turned the handle of the white wooden door and unlocked it. He stood to the side, holding the door for his cousin.

Dudley, with an owl in his left hand and an acceptance letter in his right, stepped into the house steadily. Harry immediately followed.

...

"Oh~ My dear Dudley, you're finally back! Are you hungry? Aunt Petunia made you some pan-fried bacon, but it's a bit cold now. We need to heat it up first!"

"Ahahaha! My baby is so awesome! Look! He caught an owl!"

"Darling Dudley, are you going to fry it or roast it? My suggestion is to roast it. That way, it'll have a more appealing color and a more delicious aroma!"

As soon as Dudley entered the house, he was warmly welcomed by his parents in this life, the the Dursleys.

Aunt Petunia put on an apron, and Uncle Vernon Dursley put down the newspaper. They showered Dudley with sincere greetings, admiration, and praise, giving him a ton of emotional support.

They just habitually ignored Harry behind Dudley. There was no sarcasm, nor any extra concern.

Surrounded by all that spoiling, Dudley, who was living his second life, knew this wasn't entirely right, but he still couldn't help getting a bit carried away.

However, he had something important to do today. He still had to say what had to be said.

"Mom, Harry and I ate beef jerky on the way. Don't hurry to fry the bacon. Dad, this owl wasn't caught for eating. It's used to deliver letters, letters to the wizards at Hogwarts!"

"Clang——"

The spatula dropped to the ground.

The the Dursleys' house, which rarely had awkward silences, was rarely left in silence.

Aunt Petunia Dursley and Uncle Vernon Dursley stared wide-eyed and, with great tacit understanding, both looked at Dudley in shock, then at the owl in Dudley's hand, and finally at Harry, who was a bit nervous beside Dudley.

"No——"

A shrill scream rang through the house.

"No, my dear Dudley, quickly throw that strange bird out! There are no wizards, no magic, and no letter-delivering owls in this world!"

Aunt Petunia recalled the past that was too painful to look back on and let out a scream.

Her voice was shrill. Rarely did she speak so harshly to Dudley. Her eyes became glistening and moist, filled with extremely complicated grief.

And Uncle Vernon, who had been sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, now directed his blame at Harry, who had remained silent throughout.

He propped up his rotund body, stood up, and walked quickly towards Dudley and Harry. As he walked, he shouted viciously at Harry:

"You must have brought those strange things here, Harry! I've told you before, don't bring these weird things to disrupt our lives!"

"Uncle Vernon, I... I..." Harry was frightened and shrank behind Dudley's thick frame, seeking shelter.

"Don't be afraid, Harry!" Dudley said firmly. "There's no time left. We can't let them keep living muddleheadedly and deceiving themselves! Go and calm them down!"

As Dudley said this, without hesitation, he used his right hand holding the letter to block Uncle Vernon's pudgy hand that was reaching for Harry. And under Uncle Vernon's surprised gaze, he took advantage of the situation and used a close-body push, bursting out with a dexterous force and bumping into him.

In the next second, Uncle Vernon Dursley felt his nearly spherical body being surrounded by an irresistible and ingenious force. Immediately, he staggered and spun back onto the sofa in a spiral.

"Sure enough, my son, Dudley..."

Uncle Vernon Dursley, who had landed on the sofa, instinctively praised his son.

At this moment, Harry, who had received his cousin's order, also overcame his fear of his elders. With a determined look in his eyes, he stood beside Dudley and stretched out his hands, aiming them remotely at the Dursleys.

"Harry, what are you going to do?!!"

"Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, calm down... calm down..."

The scene is repeating!

A surge of magic, along with Harry's muttering, carrying his eager and excited expectations, transformed into a miraculous force that soothed the heart and quickly spread out.

The angry expressions on the Dursleys' faces dissipated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Mom, Dad, let's sit down and have a good talk!" Dudley appealed, his emotions extremely sincere.

"Alright..."

After a while, the owl messenger moved into the large birdcage that Harry had found in the utility room under the stairs. Everyone gathered around the coffee table in the first-floor living room.

And that Hogwarts admission letter, after being read by the Dursleys, was crumpled and placed on the middle coffee table.

"Mom, Dad, first of all, I have to make clear to you something that you already know very well."

Dudley took the lead to break the silence. "That is, magic and wizards are real! What Harry just did is a living example!"

"Dudley, so what if these strange things exist? Our lives shouldn't be involved with those damned wizards! Just stay away from them, stay away from them! Maybe we should move to a new place if they come looking for us..."

Even now, Uncle Vernon Dursley still wanted to be as timid as a quail and take his family away from the strange things he couldn't understand.

"When we encounter things that are closely related to us but difficult to understand, what we should do is not to avoid or resist them, but to understand and accept them, and ultimately master them, so that they can be transformed into our own strength!

Dudley patiently explained things to his beloved family. "Uncle Vernon//, let me ask you. If the Grunnings where you work runs into a competitor with new drill technology and machines and they want to steal your company's orders, what would you do as the manager?"

Uncle Vernon immediately started racking his big brain. Although he was glad that his son was better than him, he also hoped to prove his own capabilities and earn his son's admiring glances.

"Maybe we can launch a price war and first keep our old customers, and at the same time upgrade our technology and machines, or simply acquire that competitor with the new technology!"

"You're a qualified manager, Uncle Vernon!" Dudley gave Uncle Vernon an approving look. "But since you know the importance of embracing new things, why do you resist magic?"