"Harry, go and give him two slaps!"
"Okay, cousin!"
In a narrow alley corner stood an eleven-year-old boy named Harry Potter, with a head of tousled black hair, a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, wearing round glasses, and having a healthy and well-proportioned build.
A flash of pity and determination crossed his emerald eyes.
As he responded to his cousin's request, he quickly stepped forward. With one hand, he grabbed the collar of the adult male thief who had been forced into the corner, slumped on the ground, and was trembling. With the other hand, he swiftly and accurately slapped the man twice, delivering two crisp and forceful blows.
Then, in the pathetic sobbing of the young Mr. Thief, he silently retreated to his cousin's side.
Dudley Dursley, an eleven-year-old boy wearing a Smeltings school uniform, holding a bag of stolen beef jerky in his left hand and a Smelting stick in his right hand, nearly seven feet tall and extremely strong and muscular, with the outline of his muscles clearly visible through his clothes, watched this scene quietly.
After seeing that the other party had completely lost the will to resist and had no intention of counterattacking at all, he said to his cousin who was five weeks younger than him:
"Harry, you could have been even faster! Also, get rid of that pity in your eyes. Showing mercy to the enemy is being cruel to yourself and those around you!
This Mr. Thief is a major criminal who has stolen from and robbed five residents in our Privet Drive. He even doesn't spare the beef jerky snacks from students. He doesn't deserve your pity!"
Dudley's earnest words made Harry look a bit ashamed, but Harry still couldn't help but ask:
"But... but cousin, you've already punched him more than ten times and whipped him with the stick more than thirty times. And I... I think it should be almost enough, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it's almost enough!"
Saying this, Dudley threw the bag of beef jerky in his hand to Harry and, waving the Smelting stick, once again approached Mr. Thief, who was covered in bruises and suffering from minor injuries.
Feeling the overwhelming sense of oppression coming at him again, Mr. Thief even stopped sobbing out of fear.
"I... I was wrong! I was wrong! Please..."
"Stand up!"
Dudley roared sharply, raising the Smelting stick in his right hand high.
At the sight of this terrifying scene, Mr. Thief's weak legs were instantly "cured" by an invisible miracle doctor.
He jumped up from the ground with a start, hissing and gasping as he endured the pain all over his body. Standing in front of Dudley, he bent down fearfully, with a submissive look, for fear that the immense strength that didn't belong to an ordinary child would once again land on him through the hard Smelting stick.
Dudley sized up the submissive defeated opponent in front of him with satisfaction and slowly lowered the Smelting stick.
Just as Mr. Thief secretly let out a sigh of relief, Dudley quickly moved. In just a few breaths, he rummaged through all of Mr. Thief's pockets, both visible and hidden, and confiscated over a hundred pounds and more than thirty pence.
This agile and rapid technique was even more thievish than a thief's. Even Mr. Thief, who had a strong sense of thievery, couldn't help but be shocked, his jaw dropping.
Originally thinking he had encountered a powerful and just brat, it now seemed that this was clearly a senior colleague whose skills were several times better than his own!
"Close your surprised mouth!"
Dudley gave a contemptuous smile. "Considering you didn't target the poor, I'll spare you this time! If you come to our Dudley Gang's turf to cause trouble again next time, the consequences won't be so pleasant! Get out of here!"
Mr. Thief came to his senses, nodded and bowed submissively, admitting defeat and thanking them. Cautiously, he walked around Dudley and Harry and staggered towards the exit of the alley.
"Stop!"
Dudley suddenly shouted in an undeniable tone.
Mr. Thief's body trembled. He stopped with an extremely ugly expression on his face, forced a smile, and turned to look at Dudley.
"Here's a piece of advice for you. You're not smart and you don't have good luck. When trying to escape, you always run into dead ends. You're not cut out for this kind of job.
You'd better make good use of the money hidden in your shoes and take the right path to do some business!"
Mr. Thief was shocked. He looked down and found that the edges of his last bit of money were sticking out of his shoes. He mentally cursed his bad luck and quickly stretched out his finger to stuff the bills back.
After doing all this, he couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Maybe Senior Ghost Head was right. He really wasn't cut out for this kind of job.
Mending his ways earlier was his destiny.
After figuring this out, Mr. Thief looked at Dudley and Harry again. He wanted to say something, but found that the two had already walked past him to the alley entrance.
The words that were on the tip of his tongue got swallowed back.
...
Dudley didn't want the money with a strange smell.
Not to mention the little money hidden in his shoes, even the meager amount on Mr. Thief didn't interest Dudley, who was a wealthy Muggle second generation.
He intervened mainly to hone his skills, train his cousin, and win the loyalty of his underlings.
Dudley walked home with Harry. When they passed an intersection, he stuffed the money he had taken from the thief into the hands of Piers Polkiss, the third in command of the Dudley Gang who was loitering by the roadside and also his right-hand lackey - the skinny Piers Polkiss.
"Piers, arrange for someone to return the money to the owner. Divide the extra money among the brothers in the gang!
According to the old routine, if the owner wants to give a gratitude fee or a gift, ask them if they have any oddities whose origins and uses they're not sure about. If so, bring them to me.
If anyone accepts the help of our Dudley Gang with a clear conscience but doesn't show any gratitude, write their names down in the notebook. I'll make them make it up!"
Dudley arranged things clearly and logically. Piers nodded slightly and carefully took note.
After Dudley finished speaking, Piers tentatively asked, "What about the bag of beef jerky of our classmate..."
"Buy a new bag with money and return it! Harry and I will eat this bag. It tastes really good!"
Dudley said as he took the beef jerky from Harry and started tasting it with relish.
"Yes, boss!" Piers nodded in agreement, turned around, and left to handle the task Dudley had assigned to him.
In the early morning in Privet Drive, Surrey, there weren't many pedestrians on the road.
Completing a valuable social practice activity during the summer vacation with his cute cousin put Dudley Dursley in a great mood.
But his cousin, Harry Potter, who was well-known in the wizarding world, had some unusual misgivings.
"Cousin, will there really be wizards coming to pick me up and take me to some Hogwarts to learn magic?"
" Aunt Petunia wants me to go to Stonewall High School..."
On the way to Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry looked at Dudley's Smeltings school uniform. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked.
He needed his cousin, who seemed to know everything, be capable of everything, and find solutions to any problem in his eyes, to disperse the confusion in his heart.
Hearing this, Dudley didn't stop walking. He replied in an affirmative tone while walking:
"Harry, trust me, they'll come to tell you that you're enrolled!"