"This is... my old clothes."
Aunt Petunia dried Harry... or rather, Harley's long, jet-black hair with a dry towel. As the two of them faced the mirror, Petunia spoke softly.
[In 2007, J.K. Rowling mentioned at a meet-and-greet in Edinburgh that if Harry had been a girl, she would have chosen "Holly" (meaning the holly tree, echoing Harry's holly wand) as her name. In the British accent, Holly sounds quite distinct, but in American pronunciation, it sounds more like Harley. We won't dwell on the details here.]
"Your mother had one just like it, exactly the same. Your grandmother bought them for us. It was always two identical sets, so we wouldn't fight over which one looked better."
"Although I'm not clear on why this happened, I want to tell you, Harley, you and your mother are truly alike. It's not just the eyes; the first moment I saw you, I thought she had returned."
"Your mother had dark red hair, a shade darker than mine. We used to argue about whose color was better. Although I wouldn't admit it back then, I also thought your mother's dark red hair was more beautiful. When the wind caught it and the sun shone down, it looked like the warm morning sun—a golden red."
"Except for the hair, you look as if you were carved from the same mold as her. Especially your eyes; they are as beautiful as hers, without any difference. They are the clearest emerald green, brighter and more dazzling than emerald gemstones."
Harley looked at herself in the mirror, a bit dazed. Although her vision was a bit blurry without glasses, at this close distance, she could still see clearly.
"Don't worry, and don't be afraid."
After combing Harley's hair, Petunia gently hugged her. "Auntie is here. No need to be afraid, Harley."
Harley, who had ten thousand words stifled in her heart at this moment, clenched her fists. Just as Lynn had told her, after eating that cookie, she indeed received immediate feedback. After paying the price—Aunt Petunia's attitude toward her had undergone a shocking one-hundred-eighty-degree reversal.
This gentle concern couldn't be faked, and that strong, warm embrace was physically real.
Her tightly clenched fists loosened slightly, but then clenched again.
She couldn't accept her current change—at least not right now!
She wanted to find Lynn immediately, but she didn't know where that guy was hiding. Her only choice now was to wait until tomorrow; tomorrow Lynn would return to the swings.
Petunia held Harley's hand as they left the bathroom. Only the two of them were in the living room. From the second floor came the huff-puff sounds of moving heavy objects; Vernon and Dudley were working hard. Dudley, who usually had a habit of slacking off, was surprisingly diligent today, likely scared by his mother. Boys always grow up after experiencing a setback.
"I had your uncle and cousin clear out a room for you. It's the room where Dudley used to keep his toys. I'll tidy it up for you in a bit, and you can sleep there tonight."
"It was Auntie's fault before, but Harley, don't blame Auntie. There was..." Petunia fell silent for a moment, then bit her lip, having made some sort of determination.
"Your mom and dad didn't die in a car crash."
As soon as this sentence came out, Harley instantly sat up straight. Her slightly reddened eyes stared motionlessly at Petunia. Her lips trembled slightly, then she bit down hard on them, almost drawing blood.
"Lily, she..." Petunia swallowed hard. "She was different from me."
After a brief pause, Petunia continued.
"When she was eleven, Lily received a letter, a letter delivered by an owl. The letter said that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry invited her to study there. That wasn't an ordinary school, but a..." Petunia took another deep breath to steady her emotions.
"That is a magic school. A school that trains wizards and teaches them magic."
"But only your mom could go. I couldn't. I didn't have the talent to perform magic. To be honest, I was very jealous of your mom at the time. I felt it was unfair."
"However, later on, I came to terms with it. Your mom graduated from that school, but I heard her say that world wasn't peaceful. There was a terrorist called... called... Lord Voldemort, killing people everywhere. Ten years ago, the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, came here. He handed you over to me, saying your mother died to protect you, and she left a protective magic on you. This magic only works if you are in the home of a blood relative. Your grandparents passed away from illness while Lily and I were in school, so I was the only one left."
"I was very scared at the time because that guy's accomplices were still around. Although I heard that Voldemort died, his followers were looking for you. According to Professor Dumbledore, because Voldemort died on your account, those people would naturally hunt you down to avenge that guy."
"I was very scared of you showing those abnormal abilities, because it's dangerous. What if you were discovered by those people, right?"
Petunia held Harley's hand, gripping it somewhat tightly, even trembling slightly.
"Don't blame Auntie for treating you badly before, and don't blame Auntie for losing her temper at you like that. Because once these things are discovered... the one threatened isn't just you..."
"I'm sorry..." Harley lowered her head and spoke in a somewhat dry voice. After Aunt Petunia told her all these things, Harley finally fully understood why Aunt Petunia had been so furious when she caused those incidents in the past.
She wasn't stupid, nor was she a fool. She could understand what lay behind this matter.
"But I didn't do it on purpose... I couldn't... I didn't want to..." Harley spoke awkwardly, "I don't know how I made those things happen either..."
"I'm really sorry..."
"It's all in the past, it's all in the past. Harley, you don't need to apologize. The one who should apologize is me."
Aunt Petunia gently hugged Harley, then cupped her face, looking at her carefully. As she looked, her eyes grew a bit red, but she held back her tears and suddenly smiled slightly.
"So alike. Before, you looked a bit more like your dad. To be honest, neither your uncle nor I liked your dad very much. He was a bit unreliable, a weirdo, and had no manners. I was very uneasy handing my sister over to him, but I couldn't stop her. But now, you are almost exactly the same as your mom."
Petunia gently stroked Harley's hair, murmuring, "Except for the hair. But black hair is also beautiful; it's like silk, feels like the finest satin. Tomorrow we'll go out, and Auntie will take you to buy new clothes. If you can't adapt right away, we can still choose boys' clothes. You look good in them too. Just like your mom, you look good in anything."
At the mention of this, the awkwardness on Harley's face increased. She bit her lip, not knowing how to answer.
"Lily was like that too when she couldn't make a decision. She always liked to bite her lip."
"Is... is that so?" Harley pursed her lips and lowered her head again.
After about half an hour, the noise upstairs finally died down. Petunia turned her head and saw two sneaky heads peeking out from the top of the stairs on the second floor. The moment she looked over, the two big heads quickly retracted.
"No matter what, this is something we have to face, Harley."
Petunia patted the back of Harley's hand, then called out, "Vernon, come down."
Uncle Vernon's rotund figure appeared at the top of the stairs. There was a trace of an awkward smile on his face as he walked down step by step.
"There is something I need to tell you, Vernon. Sit tight first."
Although he didn't know what it was, Uncle Vernon sat down obediently.
"Just now." Aunt Petunia pointed to the bathroom. "Harry has turned into a girl. I saw it with my own eyes. I am certain of this, and—"
"What! Did! You! Say!!!"
"Shut up!"
"Oh, right, right..." Uncle Vernon shrank his head back sharply, nervously stealing a glance at Harley, whose back was turned to him.
"And Harley looks exactly like Lily. Except for the hair, they are almost identical. The first moment I saw her, I thought Lily had returned."
"How is this possible... How is this possible..." Uncle Vernon muttered distractedly. "This must be some freakish trick, this is impossible, this..."
"But that is the truth. I saw it with my own eyes, Harley."
With Aunt Petunia's encouragement, Harley slowly raised her head and looked at Uncle Vernon.
She saw this large man, usually red-faced and thick-necked, now dumbfounded, his eyes dull and revealing a trace of shock.
After quite a while, Uncle Vernon recovered from the shock and spoke in a very small voice, "It is... she really does look like Lily... Petunia, you say she is Harry? Good heavens... simply exactly the same as Lily."
"There can be no mistake. I would absolutely never forget my sister."
Aunt Petunia spoke with absolute certainty.
"But how could a boy..."
"Maybe it's to protect Harley?"
Petunia speculated thoughtfully, "Those people all think Harry is a boy. But sooner or later, Harley has to return to their world. You should be clear about those incidents with Harley before, but if, after Harley must go to their world..."
"Lily received the letter when she was eleven, the letter sent by an owl. Harley is turning eleven this year too, right at the end of July."
"Oh! I understand!"
Uncle Vernon slapped his thigh vigorously. "If Harry isn't Harry, but Harley, then Harley can... right?"
The couple's speculation sounded plausible at first glance, but Harley, who knew the truth, knew clearly that wasn't the case at all. She really was a male; before this, she was absolutely an iron-forged, red-blooded male!
But the current change... Harley didn't know how to begin explaining. Eating a cookie and turning into a girl... this was even more unscientific than magic existing in the world!
The two of them, transforming into Sherlock Holmes-style detectives, began an in-depth analysis, feeling it made more sense the more they talked.
Consequently, the way Uncle Vernon looked at Harley gradually changed. To be honest, in his heart, if Harley had been a girl from the start, he really wouldn't have yelled and screamed like he did before. If this girl was as cute and pretty as the current Harley, he would have found it very difficult to say harsh words.
At any rate, in his younger, pre-obesity days, Uncle Vernon also considered himself an English gentleman. The previous Harry looked like his annoying father, so naturally, Vernon found him more of an eyesore the more he looked at him. But now, everything had changed.
Mainly, he already had a son. He was eager to have a "little cotton padded jacket"—a sweet daughter—to dote on. Even if this daughter wasn't his own, it wasn't impossible to treat her as his own. After all, he had worked hard to earn the money to raise her.
But the communication between the two Sherlock Holmes detectives didn't last too long, because a heavy, muffled sound came from the stairs. It was a Thud~ CRASH~~ followed by a cry of "Ouch!" Dudley, who had been peeking at the top of the stairs, accidentally fell and rolled down like a ball.
Subconsciously, several people turned to look. When Dudley opened his eyes, teary from the pain, he met Harley's gaze.
"AHHH!!!!"
It was a high-pitched scream of terror emitted by Dudley!
"Shut up!!!" x2
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia spoke in unison, stuffing Dudley's scream back down his throat.
"It's too troublesome to explain to you. Anyway, now you have a female cousin, Dudley."
Uncle Vernon spoke in a deep voice, stepping forward to grab Dudley's arm and haul him up from the floor.
"Harley is a girl. It's just that before, we all treated her as a boy. Do. You. Understand?"
"Understand... understand what?" Dudley's mouth hung wide open, his whole body trembling.
Smack!
Slapped on the back by Uncle Vernon, Dudley jumped in pain, his entire face twisting.
"Do you understand or not?"
"I understand! I understand! I completely understand!!!"
Dudley answered immediately without a second thought, "Harley was originally a girl, but I treated her as a boy before! I deserve to die! I shouldn't have bullied her before... is that right, Dad?"
At this moment, Dudley, whose brain had been overclocked by the slap, took a ninety-degree turn at one hundred and eighty miles per hour. His words, which almost burned out his brain cells, received a nod of approval from Uncle Vernon.
"That's it. But you don't need to tell others. Harley will go to a new school in a while. Just don't run your big mouth, and I'll arrange the rest."
Uncle Vernon displayed the authority of the head of the household at this moment. To be honest, he even wanted to move house a little, but the mortgage on this house wasn't paid off yet, so moving wasn't something that could be done immediately. He only hoped his sharp-eared, gossiping neighbors would find out later—preferably not until he earned enough money to swap for a new house.
"If anyone asks where the previous Harry went, we will unanimously say he was sent to boarding school. This is your distant cousin who came to play with you during the holidays. Harley, you use a fake name too. Don't let the neighbors get suspicious. Just call yourself Leah. Leah Evans."
Harley was silent for a moment, then nodded. After all, she didn't have any other choice right now.
Unless he immediately turned back, back into a boy.
But do I have that chance? Harley pondered in her heart. A faint sense of sorrow and despair rose again, only compared to before, this resentment seemed to have faded quite a bit.
"Tomorrow we'll take Har... Leah to the mall to buy her some new clothes, Vernon."
"I have absolutely no problem with that. Although Li... Leah looks good wearing this too, we should buy some. Buy several pieces. I can take a half-day off and drive you there."
Uncle Vernon didn't have a single complaint right now. That smiling face... Harley had never seen it directed at her before.
And right at this moment, Dudley, who suddenly felt he had lost something very important, stood dazed in his spot. But as he thought about it, he suddenly let out a hehe laugh. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up a few degrees, mumbling: "Leah? Leah! Hehe... I have a cousin, hehe~"
"What are you giggling at, you brat!"
Dudley, who suddenly took another slap from his old man, stood at attention.
"Go back to your room and sleep."
"Oh..." Dudley responded weakly.
"And another thing."
Aunt Petunia called out to stop Dudley.
"Starting tomorrow, Dudley, you are not allowed to eat snacks. Didn't you learn boxing for a few years before? Start training again now, do you understand?"
"Huh?" Dudley put on a depressed, pig-like face, his mind echoing with the word collapse. "Why, Mom?"
"You are a big brother now. Every day you just know how to eat, eat, eat. Your dad was much thinner than you when he was young. Will any girls like you this way? If you can't lose 20 pounds before school starts, your allowance for the entire semester is gone!"
"AHHH!!!"
"Shut up!" x2
Dudley, suddenly realizing what exactly he had lost, watched the vibrant light of life fade from his eyes. Like a Boomer zombie, he dragged his heavy footsteps, inching up the stairs bit by bit, the sound of heartbreak scattering across the floor with every step he took.
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