Meanwhile, 4 Privet Drive.
"So, that, that guy got a job for himself?" Uncle Vernon asked with a wide eye.
"Yeah." Harry said dully, thinking that it is a good thing that Sirius is working at the Ministry of Magic, because as far as he knows, Sirius has never had a proper job in his life, except for a few months as an assistant teacher at a Muggle school.
In Harry's imagination, his godfather is going to be like Mr. Weasley, commuting to work at a regular time with a regular schedule. But he overlooked one thing, it is different now than it was before, completely different. He hadn't seen Sirius for several days in a row.
For the first few days of the holiday, Sirius had been happy to sit down with Harry and laugh at how he had tricked the Head Girl Amelia (even though it was quite uncalled-for) and how he had gotten the upper hand in a verbal fight, and it was obvious that Sirius took it as a serious fight, with both sides going back and forth, like a sparring match in a boxing ring.
But soon, almost as fast as the naked eye could see, his time with Harry decreased dramatically.
One day Harry stayed in Sirius's rented house until eleven o'clock at night and did not see Sirius return. This made Harry horrified, is something wrong? His heart was so tangled, as all sorts of terrible speculations rushed into his head, and Harry could only desperately convince himself that Sirius was temporarily caught up in something. It took a lot of willpower for him not to act impulsively, and return to the Dursleys' bunk to toss and turn for the rest of the night, as soon as the day dawned he got up and ran to Sirius's rented house without even bothering to eat breakfast, filling his stomach with the wind.
There was still no one inside.
Harry was so panicked that he tried to use the Apparition to go the Burrow or Diagon Alley ... he even drew out his wand, only to find a scribbled note on the table by accident. It was actually quite conspicuous, and when Harry thought back on it afterward, he thought that he was just concerned, but it was good that he didn't get into more trouble because of his impulsiveness.
The contents of the note made Harry sigh with relief. Sirius had come back late last night and had thought he could rest a little longer the next day, but he was called again before dawn. So Sirius left Harry a note explaining the situation.
From then on, Harry always wanted to find the opportunity to let Sirius bring the Two-way mirror so that he could always contact him. But every time he saw his godfather's tired face, he was simply too embarrassed to bring it up.
For the next week, Harry only saw Sirius twice, and each time he returned late. Sirius' two eyes were also swollen, and he began to doze off without saying a few words, and when Harry handed him chips, he shoved them up to his nose.
...
"What does he do for work now?" Uncle Vernon asked at the dinner table.
"Nothing major," Harry said in as calm a tone as he could manage, "He's now the assistant of the Minister of Magic."
The Dursleys showed a puzzled expression.
"The equivalent of the position of secretary to the Muggle Prime Minister." Harry changed his statement, he got satisfied to see them showing surprised expressions and tried not to let his smugness show too much, "It's nothing, his last job was a teaching assistant in a school, Dudley probably knows a lot about that, doesn't he?"
Dudley immediately choked on the dry salad and coughed audibly.
"Boy, what have you done!" Uncle Vernon stared viciously at Harry, while Aunt Petunia patted Dudley's back and cried under her breath carnally, "Dudley sweetheart, what's wrong with you? Did you choke on your food?" Dudley reddened, as used his fat arm with three layers of flesh stacked up to distance Aunt Petunia's thin arm, and his shoulders shrugged.
Although he wanted to watch a little longer, but Uncle Vernon's face had already changed to the colour of a pig's liver as if he is the one who is now choking on the salad. He kept flexing his fingers as if he would rush over and grab Harry by the throat in the next second.
"I didn't do anything," Harry said hurriedly, "I guess he just misses his assistant gym teacher who taught him for six months." He met Uncle Vernon's small eyes and said, "Yeah, Sirius was teaching at that, hmm... Smelling Academy for his last job."
"It's Smeltings Academy!" Uncle Vernon growled, it was his alma mater, and it made him very proud that Dudley managed to go to school there.
Dinner is getting restless. Uncle Vernon's reaction to Sirius' presence at his and Dudley's alma mater greatly surpassed Harry's expectations, he seemed to believe - the wizards ( freaks in his word) had finally set their evil intentions on his baby boy, "Are they going to spy on us on all fronts? "
Aunt Petunia also exclaimed and began to nag Harry endlessly. It was strange how she could wipe her tears while making her vicious words so precise and clear.
"It was a complete coincidence, Sirius went to Muggle school to gain experience, he is going to teach at Hogwarts the next year." Harry explained, "And he's resigned now."
"That hippie can be a professor?" Vernon said with a disdainful look on his face, at which point Dudley finally stopped coughing and began to have a hiccup. After some time, Uncle Vernon muttered disgruntledly, "Look at you people! I just can't believe you guys have a school, and a government - how many of you are there?" He asked, turning on the TV as he did so.
"Probably tens of thousands." Harry said dryly.
"No wonder." Uncle Vernon barked as if all his previous doubts had found a basis, and he wanted to say something else, but the evening news came on the TV - "The people need not worry! The slowing economy and soaring unemployment are temporary, and it won't be long before it gets better ..." The man on the TV was making a speech at the top of his lungs.
"Only an idiot would believe his words!" Uncle Vernon's attention was drawn to the TV sound, and he stared at the screen and said, "This Prime Minister is awful ..."
Harry glanced at it too, and the next second he got drawn to the man next to the prime minister, tall, dark-skinned, wearing a dark suit, which gave him a very dignified look. Harry looked twice more, and yes, it is Kingsley Shacklebolt.
What the hell is going on here? Harry could not believe his eyes, he stared at the TV screen for a moment, but the screen remained fixed on the Prime Minister's face, not even giving a single shot to the next person for a dozen seconds, Harry scratched his ears in anxiety.
When the prime minister finished babbling, wiping his bare forehead with a handkerchief, ready to get up and leave, the camera finally recorded the person next to him, Harry held his breath to double-check, finally sure he saw it right.
"You can also watch the news?" Uncle Vernon said maliciously to Harry, " Bloody hell, how can our news have something to do with people like you-"
"It's a shame," Harry said calmly, pointing to the TV, "I just saw someone I know." At Uncle Vernon's dumbfounded expression, he shrugged, "Yeah, looks like the wizard-Muggle connection runs a lot deeper than you think ..."
Before Uncle Vernon got mad again, Harry hurriedly slipped back into his room, where he slumped on his bed and stared at the ceiling in disbelief. Sirius should still be working at this hour, he could go over there in another hour ... but how to kill the time is a bit of a dilemma, Harry picked up a small purple booklet next to his pillow with the striking words printed on the cover.
A Handbook for Survival in Wartime - Published under the Licence of the Ministry of Magic: Protect Your Home and Family from the Dark Arts
Harry turned to the first page, which contained something like a table of contents -
The wizarding community is currently under threat from a group calling itself the Death Eaters. Obeying the following simple safety guidelines will help to protect yourself, your family, and your home from attack.
1. Do not leave your home alone.
2. Extra caution is needed at night. If possible, return from an outing before it gets dark.
3. Check the security wards around your house, and make sure the whole family knows some emergency magic, such as how to use Shield Charm, Disillusionment Charm, etc. The minor children in the family need to learn Side-Along Apparition.
4. Arrange a security code to identify Death Eaters who are using polyjuice potion to impersonate your friends and family ( refer to page 2).
5. If possible, Master the anti-dark magic spell-like Bright Fire-Making Spell.
...
At some point, the sound of tapping on the glass sounded outside from the window.
Harry sat up sharply from the bed and did not even notice that the booklet that covered his face fell to the floor. He looked over to where the sound was coming from, and a furry, squashed ginger-coloured head pressed right up against the window, startled, he flinched so hard that he almost fell out of bed.
"Crookshanks?" He shouted incredulously, taking three steps to the window and pulling it open in one fluid motion as the ginger cat jumped over the edge and into the room, whimpering at him.
"Crookshanks, what are you doing here, Hermione asked you to deliver a letter? But this is too far ..." Harry said, feeling a little overwhelmed.
Crookshanks licked his paws and pointed outside.
Harry mechanically twisted his head and looked out the window, and the next second his eyes abruptly widened.
Hermione is standing beside the flower bed of 4 Privet Drive with her suitcase in one hand and waving desperately at him with the other.
Harry scrambled down the stairs, followed by Crookshanks, causing his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia to shout out of their heads as he rushed out the door in one breath and ran to Hermione.
"You, what - Why are you-here?" Harry panted.
"I wrote to the professor, asking where I could cast a spell without any worries--" Hermione said happily, smoothing her hair.
"But I-I can't - cast spells here at will- either- " Harry gasped, gulping, "Sirius is not at home during the day."
"I know, and the place the professor was talking about isn't here either." Hermione said.
"So, uh, you're here to say goodbye to me?" Harry asked with some disappointment, he had thought he would have some extra company.
" No one informed you?" Hermione asked him in surprise, "We're leaving together."
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