[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]
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Once, Dudley looked at Harry's homework, but it appeared blurry, and he could only make out a few lines.
This was somewhat surprising to Harry.
Usually, magical objects are enchanted to appear blank to Muggles, which is one reason why books and other magical items are so expensive, as each one needs to be imbued with magic.
But Dudley was actually able to see some things, which was unusual. Harry soon realized that this might be due to Aunt Petunia.
Aunt Petunia is Harry's mother's sister. Since his mother managed to become a witch, it wasn't impossible for Aunt Petunia to have some magical potential that she passed on to Dudley.
Harry quietly used his magical senses to observe Dudley and discovered that, while there was no magical aura on Dudley's body, the small light orb between his eyebrows was slightly larger than that of ordinary people.
Perhaps Dudley's son, that is, his nephew, will become a wizard in the future, Harry thought with interest.
Another week passed in the blink of an eye, and Harry felt that something was wrong.
Because, during this week, not only did the twins fail to write to him, but no other Hogwarts students had sent him a single letter.
Before this, he would receive one or two letters from his classmates almost every day, mostly from girls. To respond to his peers, Harry had even felt like using his wand to control the quill. Of course, given his magical ability, even if he were allowed to use a wand, he wouldn't know how to use it to write letters.
Additionally, Hedwig had to find some helpers because she couldn't deliver a reply letter.
Yes, helpers. Recently, there had often been several owls of different colors perched outside Harry's window.
But lately, there hadn't been a single letter. This was very wrong!
Even if Fred and George, those two unreliable people, wanted to steal his device and, therefore, didn't respond to his letter, why hadn't any of the other classmates written? Could something have happened?
This had been bothering Harry a lot recently.
Living in the Muggle world, he had no access to the wizarding world. And since there were no adult wizards in his family, only three Muggles, and he was under fourteen, he wasn't allowed to subscribe to wizarding newspapers.
At this time, Harry, who couldn't leave Privet Drive due to his blood protection magic, was almost prevented from practicing magic with the wizarding world.
The turning point came one morning at the end of July.
Dudley didn't leave the house today because it was too hot outside. The two were sitting on the living room floor, playing a game of marbles while complaining about the Ministry's stupid rules.
"Why? Why can't you use magic when you're at home? If you don't use it for too long, your magical abilities will diminish?" Dudley complained furiously. "This Ministry of Magic is even dumber than the British Parliament."
"I think so too. They really are stupid," Harry nodded repeatedly, feeling that Dudley's words were very much in line with his own thoughts.
It was understandable that Harry was resentful about not being able to use magic. Especially since he hadn't received any information from the wizarding world lately.
But why did Dudley have such a strong reaction? The reason was simple, Harry couldn't use it.
It was around this time last year that Harry received his acceptance letter. He tried several magical tricks while waiting for school to begin, after buying the textbooks.
Dudley had experienced the wonder of magic and felt great. Especially when Harry used levitation to float in the air, almost as if swimming, worth mentioning here is that, since Dudley was a bit too heavy, he could never learn how to swim. Even a flotation device needed to be big enough to support him.
Dudley felt quite regretful for never experiencing the joy of being useful, and Harry compensated for that regret with his levitation.
"Have you ever tried swimming in the air?"
Dudley wanted to say this while listening to his other friends talk about swimming.
Of course, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon wouldn't let him mention magic in front of anyone, so he couldn't say anything. However, although there was less joy in showing off, secretly having fun was also a kind of joy.
But due to the Ministry of Magic's stupid rules, underage witches and wizards were not allowed to use magic at home.
Dudley's happiness quickly disappeared.
At the moment when the two were complaining about the Ministry of Magic's stupid rules, the phone rang at home.
Dudley loved answering the phone, so Harry didn't move.
Dudley wiggled his fat body, but with an agility that didn't match his size, he quickly jumped up and answered the phone. "Hello, this is the Dursleys... Oh? Oh! Yes, yes, you're looking for Harry, wait... cousin, it's for you."
"Looking for me?" Harry was a bit confused, wondering who would be calling him so early. He used to have some good friends, but he lost contact with them after finishing elementary school and hadn't heard from them since.
Then, there were his friends in the community, but if they came to see him, they'd probably come straight to his door.
Still unsure, Harry walked over and answered the phone. "Hello, this is Potter."
"Harry, you haven't responded to us in three weeks!" A somewhat familiar voice came from the other side of the line. Well, the voice was only a bit familiar, and there was some distortion in the phone line, but Harry recognized the accent immediately. It was Hermione Granger.
However, Hermione's words left Harry a bit confused. "What nonsense are you talking about? I wrote to you last week, and it was Hedwig who delivered it, but you still haven't replied."
"I've written to you no less than five times, the latest letter was sent the day before yesterday." Hermione on the other end of the line growled. "I thought it was inconvenient for you, but when I contacted Ron and the others today, I found out that you hadn't replied to anyone's letters."
"Wait, wait, you mean that many of you wrote to me, but I didn't reply to any of them?" Harry seemed incredulous. "But I didn't receive any letters, though I wrote and sent several."
Harry was telling the truth. He used to send a large number of letters every week, except this week, when he lost interest in writing because he hadn't received any letters for such a long time.
On the other side of the phone, Hermione seemed to be talking to someone next to her. "Harry said he wrote a lot of letters but didn't get ours..." Then Hermione returned to the microphone. "Ron and Neville are at my house right now. If you didn't get any letters, and we didn't get yours, it could be that the postal system there..."
"Do wizards call it a postal system? The Magical Transportation Department? Why 'Transportation Department'?" He said this to Ron and the others beside him, and then turned back. "I'm afraid there's an issue with the Magical Transportation Department's system at your house."
Is something wrong with the delivery system?
This was a possibility Harry hadn't considered before. But now, thinking about it, it seemed like a more likely outcome.
But how to solve this problem?
Harry felt a little lost for a moment. But then he remembered that Hermione and the others were on the other side of the line.
Hermione certainly couldn't help. Her entire family was Muggle. They were probably as clueless about the magical world as she was, so they couldn't think of any good solutions.
But Ron and Neville came from wizarding families, so maybe they could find a solution.
"Hermione, ask Ron to contact his dad and help me figure out what's going on. I haven't received a letter in over half a month. I'm really worried." Harry complained.
"Okay, Ron, write to your dad and ask him to help Harry check if there's something wrong. Harry, my home phone number is *******. We can communicate by phone during this time. Would it be convenient for you to call?"
"A phone call is no problem, or we can try sending a Muggle letter?" Harry thought for a moment and shook his head again.
As expected, Hermione immediately refused on the other end: "Forget it, Muggle mail is too slow. It takes two or three days for a letter to go back and forth before school starts."
Harry agreed with Hermione. He was used to wizarding letters that could be sent and received in a day, or even in half a day. If he had to rely on Muggle mail, which could take one or two weeks to arrive, he'd be fed up with it.
After hanging up the phone, Harry thought for a moment and decided that maybe he could ask Mrs. Figg. Perhaps she might have some good ideas.
Harry greeted Dudley and walked over to Mrs. Figg's house, which was two blocks away.
Mrs. Figg was knitting in the sun on her porch, as she often did. Of course, this was an exception during hot seasons, like the end of July. But she was still knitting when Harry knocked and entered.
Judging by how often he saw Mrs. Figg knitting, Harry figured she must have enough sweaters to clothe the entire neighborhood. He asked her about it, but Mrs. Figg's answer left him speechless.
"The only way I can think of to stay in one place and keep an eye on your family's behavior is by knitting. Merlin, I don't want to knit anymore."
Mrs. Figg's porch had a view of Harry's house.
Harry was left speechless by Mrs. Figg's response.
When Harry came to see Mrs. Figg this time, she said helplessly, "I can't help you with this problem. I'm a Squib. Although I can see magical things, I don't know magic. Also, don't come to me alone all the time. I'm a sentry. If you come here so blatantly, won't my identity be exposed?"
Harry: "..."
Well, at least Mrs. Figg didn't manage to help him much with this issue.
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