Chapter 1:

The weather in London shifts as rapidly as the emotions of a lovestruck young bride; one moment it's bright and sunny, and the next it begins to rain. The rain combines with dust, producing a distinctive aroma.

In the southwest of London, within Surrey County, there exists an old primary school known as St. George's School.

On the inner side of the outer wall, three scruffy older boys lazily lean against it, their faces reflecting signs of gloom, sharply contrasting with the youthful and lively atmosphere of the campus, highlighting their 'individual' traits.

At that moment, a small boy with large black-framed glasses, dressed in an oversized uniform and sporting a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, hurriedly walked past the three boys while clutching a piece of bread.

After exchanging glances, the taller boy quickly pursued him.

He threw his arm around the 'little boy' and said in a very familiar tone, "Look, isn't this our Mr. Kate?"

"When are you going to repay the 50 pence you owe me from last week?"

The 'little boy' had never faced such a situation; terrified, he lowered his head and dared not meet their gaze, weakly defending himself, "Sorry, sir, you must have mistaken me for someone else. My name is not Kate."

As soon as he finished speaking, he received a slap to the face, causing his glasses to fly off and his hair to become disheveled.

The tall boy said angrily, "Are you implying my eyesight is poor? I say you're Kate, so you are Kate."

Perhaps the noise was a bit too loud, and the nearby children cast curious looks. At that moment, the other two boys who had been leaning against the wall also stood up—one to chase away and the other to keep watch, while the remaining one dragged the little boy towards a secluded part of the school.

Their actions were very practiced and smooth, clearly not their first time engaging in such behavior.

There are always those who take pleasure in bullying and intimidating others in schools, especially in a place like St. George's School, where such conduct is even more common, like the few boys who took the 'little boy' away.

The surrounding children, having never witnessed such a scene, fled in fear.

"Give it here." The short, chubby boy snatched the bread from the 'little boy's' hands. "I haven't had breakfast yet; let me have a taste. Ugh, this terrible bread is as hard as a rock. Who would want to eat this rubbish?"

Even though he pulled hard, he could only leave a tooth mark on the bread, which made his jaw ache.

"That's my brother's favorite baguette." The 'little boy' quickly picked up the rejected bread, clutching it to his chest, fearful that the other boy would take it again. Looking at the shallow tooth mark on the bread, he said in a slightly tearful voice, "Oh no, if Dudley finds out someone has touched his food, he will be furious."

The 'little boy's' excessively anxious demeanor did not draw the attention of the three boys; after all, even after being slapped, he showed no reaction.

The chubby boy scoffed, "What's your brother in front of us?"

Who would dare to mess with our Hobbit trio at St. George's?

"Right, right, it's your brother's bread." The tall boy rolled his eyes, bent down, and patted the 'little boy's' face, saying in a 'friendly' tone, "So your brother Moses also owes us 50 pence. You see, now you two brothers owe us a total of 1 pound."

"My brother's name is not Moses, and I'm not Kate." The 'little boy', trembling in fear, still attempted to argue.

He understood that if he yielded out of fear, even more frightening things would occur.

"Didn't you grasp what I just said?" Hearing the 'little boy' dare to retort, the tall boy shifted from his previous friendly demeanor, his expression instantly turning fierce: "Now please tell me, what is your name?"

The speed of his change in expression was astonishing.

"Harry. Harry Potter!"

"Slap!" Harry received another slap to the face.

The tall boy cursed, "Still don't understand what I'm saying? Your name is Kate, and you and your brother owe us a total of 1 pound."

The tall boy was fixated on altering the other's name because once the other party admitted it, even if they reported it to the teacher, they could claim it was a case of mistaken identity.

After all, they were looking for 'Kate' to collect the debt, not Harry to extort money from.

As for the money? That was something Harry willingly gave them.

However, upon hearing the name from the little boy's mouth, the silent boy in the trio suddenly changed his expression and quickly stopped the tall boy: "Jim, stop! He said he's Harry Potter."

"So what? Harvey." Jim didn't understand his companion's meaning and questioned in confusion.

"Let's hurry and leave." Harvey quickly pulled the other two to go.

The short, chubby boy was affected by Harvey's tense atmosphere, and he thought he had provoked someone he shouldn't have, like parents who are police officers or big gangsters, and they were quite scared of that.

"I heard his parents died in a car accident," Harvey blurted out, then urged his companions again, "This isn't the time to talk about that, let's go."

Hearing Harvey's words, the short, chubby boy breathed a sigh of relief, and Jim said irritably, "Then what are you afraid of?"

He thought his companion was crazy; in a little while, they would have 1 pound coming in, which was a whole pound!

And Harvey was almost in tears from his two companions' stupidity: "His brother is Dudley."

"Dudley? Which Dudley?" Jim was still in a daze, not coming to his senses.

"How many Dudleys are there at St. George's Primary School? Of course, it is that, Dudley Dursley!"

Harvey raised his voice but noticeably lowered the volume when mentioning the other person's name, feeling desperate that his companions still hadn't reacted.

"Who is that?"

The short, chubby boy still didn't understand and was very dissatisfied with his companion's cryptic behavior. Why couldn't he just say it all at once?

Poking and prodding, are you squeezing toothpaste? 

Jim, however, still had some sense and turned to Harry, saying, "Hey, that Potter, how old is your brother?"

"Just like me, in fourth grade," Harry, being an honest child, answered truthfully.

"What's there to be afraid of a fourth grader?" Jim was now completely at ease and felt puzzled by his companion's neurotic tension: "After this year, we'll graduate, what are you worried about, Harvey?"

"Then you should have heard this name."

Seemingly having made a big decision, Harvey leaned in closer to his companions, trying to lower his voice, as if afraid others would hear.

In an extremely slow and gentle voice, he spoke a name.

"The Food Protector, Dursley!"

His words seemed to unlock some taboo.

Everyone who heard that name, including Harry, held their breath momentarily.