LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 736: Epilogue: Dursley
"Welcome to the midday news," a host with rimmed glasses appeared on the television screen, "A month ago I was thinking about the Quidditch World Cup as if it would happen in the next century, but in the blink of an eye the time has come."
"A lot has happened in the meantime, starting with the appearance of various national dignitaries on the island, and we're evidently short of reporters."
"The Queen of England lives in the British palace on the island, but a greater number of politicians and celebrities choose to experience the Wizard Hotel, Prince Charles and Camilla stayed in the ice town which has quite the opposite environment to the present in a low-key manner; it is worth mentioning that the former Princess Diana lives in a botanical garden at the other end of the island, she has spared no effort to promote magic farming over the past years, and has a personal friendship with Charity Burbage who got invited to go to the moon for research."
"François Crutoy, the renowned composer and pianist, has just finished his recital, in which he revealed in an interview that he would not stage any more performances for the next month and the 'a feast is close at hand.' He said. Crutoy has a deep emotional attachment to magic, and since his hands were healed and his masterpieces were created, there is no doubt that magic is his muse."
"The Ancient Rune Society has published a new almanac, which expanded the original Ancient Rune Laws to twenty-two;"
"There were concerns about an incoming storm, so our weather team went out three days ago and tilted the storm in a different direction, making it eventually pass us by;"
"The Selma Lake Monster Cub from Norway has suffered a bout of malaise, Magizoology Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander found the creature in a state of depression due to the lack of freshwater habitat available on the island and the refusal of the seawater purification department to give up one of its freshwater reservoirs, two days later a spokesman said the problem had been properly resolved, 'We kept it in a bathtub. The new problem is that it has now become a little afraid of living beings, in particular of flat-mouthed, black-furred creatures.'"
"... Red-haired Curupira from Brazil clashed with an Irish Leprechaun, then the American Ilvermorny Pukwudgie made their appearance wielding small axes, the only saving grace was that their bows and arrows were confiscated because they were reportedly poison-inflicted; apparently the island's acting governor quite busy focusing on the eight million or so visitors along with his own young daughter's birthday party, and someone suggested allowing Future World's house elves to supervise the restless bunch, which may be a good idea, but it might spark an even more disastrous consequence."
"Today during the first light of sunrise, a small boat approached the floating island, with a big burly man on board who knocked out more than half of the Fijian mascot Dakuwaqa (some kind of shape-shifting creature that can change between shark and humanoid forms) that was released in the surrounding waters, and his roar drew the attention of the island's patrol when the former claimed to be Hogwarts' Care of Magical Creatures and the gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds. He was accompanied by an elegantly dressed, unusually large woman; he claimed that they were supposed to have arrived a week ago, but got lost on the way, due to a sudden rainstorm ..."
After a bit of babbling, the host glanced up, "Let's switch our focus to the visitors to the island, Tus, can you hear me?"
The screen shifts to an outside shot and a middle-aged man appear on the screen, his bald head looked like it was waxed, glistening in the sunlight, giving the impression that he was energetic and loquacious.
"Hello, Reid."
"The place where I am now is one of the most visited attractions on the floating island the Memorial Hall, which records the documented history of magic from all over the world. The in-house collection of books and various visual materials is so rich that it takes two or three days to just skim through it, while there is a free canteen built in, but I don't think anyone would walk in for a free lunch; it's worth noting that things about just Mr. Hap, his colleagues and students alone occupy one floor of the gallery - this gentleman, can I have a little of your time? "
Dudley stared blankly at the reporter, the souvenir hat in his hand fell to the floor - "Pick me up off the floor! Boy." The hat shouted - he's not as fat as he was as a kid, and his boxing experience in high school didn't make him a great boxer, or rugby player, but at least it curbed the non-stop crazy weight gain.
"... Listen, I'm not going to spend a penny more than I already have ... What's the matter, Dudley?" Vernon and Petunia approached, Vernon's mouth was greasy, so he was wiping it with a tissue, and then he froze in place when he saw the reporter and the camera.
"You guys are together? A family?" The reporter averted his interested gaze from the hat that kept screaming on the ground, "Excellent, there is no doubt that you are all interested in magic-"
"What?" Vernon growled with wide eyes, "Oh, cough cough cough, yes ..." he said vaguely, pulling Petunia with one hand and tugging Dudley with the other as he prepared to leave, but the reporter had already passed the microphone to Dudley, who was closest to him, "Care to answer a few questions? It won't take up too much time."
Dudley stammered, and his eyes darted around, but the reporter said, "Great."
"Where are you from?"
Dudley froze for a few seconds and muttered, "England, I guess."
"England?" The reporter's eyes lit up, "I interviewed Andy Murray last week, who last year became the first Brit to win 14 titles in the Open Era, but went through a bit of a slump in the first half of the year, switching coaches and inviting a former St. Mungo's healer to join his crew, and he and his girlfriend are settled together on the floating island- -Not paying attention? Not interested in tennis? That's a shame because that coverage was my best work, which included his relationship with a controversial journalist."
He smacked his lips, a little disappointed by the Dursley family's reaction, but he quickly recovered, "Well, well, let's move on with ... Since you're from England, you must have gone to the third level of the Memorial Hall? That's the main attraction."
"Well ..."
"Which ones are you interested in? The two Archmages, or the current Headmistress, Ms. McGonagall, who promoted the exchange student program between the eleven magic schools? The mysterious and controversial Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Professor of Divination, or another pairing - the amazingly sized Professor of Charms and the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures? The gothic, long-sleeved Professor of Potions, and the Professor of Herbology who retired from Auror-"
Dudley racked his brain to think of something to say, but he was flat-out unable to interject.
"Of course, I think you might be more interested in another group of individuals who have made such a profound impact on our lives - the Weasley brothers, the most popular magic merchants who have spread the idea of mischief to over seventy countries; the Diggory couple who have made their mark in the medical and charity fields; Mr. Malfoy, the founder and head of the first Wizard-Muggle United Hospital; Clearwater, who is in charge of the 'Future World' Corporation's thousands of branches operations; Clammy Vera, who is in charge of two thousand R&D teams ..."
"Harry Potter." Dudley said.
"Harry Potter!" The reporter shouted dramatically, showing that he had intentionally kept the name just for this moment. "That's right, this name has been mentioned quite often lately, and the public watches him with scrutinizing eyes. He is also quite legendary and played an important role in the downfall of a certain Dark Lord, I think his name is Voldemort? Sorry, I'm not familiar with foreign names ... It is said that during his time of great terror even his name could not be mentioned, and he was called You-Know-Who instead ... he slaughtered many people, including Potter's parents - -"
Petunia's expression slightly became erratic, Vernon tightened his grasp on her hand.
"But all of this can be seen in Harry Potter films, haha, I remember some of the film footage being used in the Memorial Hall, because some people are not happy to disclose the photos." The reporter said with some emotion, "I wonder about the relationship between Mr. Potter and his Muggle relatives. You know, people generally think his aunt and uncle are irredeemable but expect something from the cousin who seems to be suffering from obesity ..."
The "irredeemable" Vernon's face turned a vivid purple, Aunt Petunia's lips were pursed tightly, and her eyes flashed a hint of panic.
"I think - uh well, their relationship would be pretty good," Dursley said at the first chance he got to speak, for the first time since the start of the interview. "Their kids would play around while they sat together having a beer and watching the games and stuff -- Boxing, football, Quidditch ... and talking about the Chocolate Frog cards of Felix Hap and Garrett Grindelwald's being the hardest to collect, which Ron Weasley having a flood of them....." he rattled on, Vernon who had been mumbling was stunned in place and Petunia looked as shocked as he was.
The reporter froze, then smiled and said, "That's not a bad one." He faced the camera and jokingly said, "Film crew, if you are planning to respond to fan requests for a sequel, you might want to take your paper and notes out." With that, he handed the microphone to Vernon, "This gentleman, I can tell you've been wanting to talk and can't seem to wait to--"
Vernon clenched his fist, so tightly it turned purple, and the reporter cowered and took a step back.
"Can't wait? That's right!" He yelled, spluttering, "I'm thrilled! I love magic, our whole family loves magic! Satisfied? ..."
The feed shifted from Memorial Hall to inside the studio. "Thank you Tus for bringing us this live coverage," the host said calmly as he held up the frames of his glasses, "Next we will have a short segment featuring a group of celebrities who have enthusiastically sent their best wishes for the opening ceremony of this World Cup."
In front of the TV, Ron asked Harry.
"You guys really drink beer and watch the game together? Also discussing chocolate frog cards?"
Harry shrugged.
"Well," Ron muttered, "I do have two Grindelwald cards, but don't expect me to trade them to him."
The two walked into the meeting hall and Harry took a deep breath, looking at the hundreds of familiar faces in the hall. It seemed like he was back in school, but now he is facing a much more complicated situation.
Fred and George squeezed their eyes at each other and took off their dark lord bowler hats, "Hail to the Honourable Lord of the Island." The two men looked quite cheerful in their brown suits with yellow stripes and a colourful polka dot tie.
"Oh, don't mess around." Percy said. But the interlude just now quickly calmed Harry's tense heart. His eyes moved slowly over Sirius, Ms. Bones, Lupin, Tonks, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, the Weasleys, Ginny, and especially Dobby ... They all gazed at Harry with soft, trusting eyes, and a warmth welled up in Harry's heart.
He reached out and knocked on the wall behind him, the crowd let out an audible gasp, as a giant map that seemed to have blended in with the wall slowly emerged, presenting the outline of the floating island and the thousand square kilometers around it to the crowd, with dense ink marks moving around on the wall.
"The situation is like this ..." Harry spoke.
"How come I can't find Hermione?" Percy's wife, Penelope, asked Luna quietly, who said briskly, "The Grangers are here."
Penelope was a little taken aback.
"As it turns out," Fred whispered, "even the greatest wizard can not escape the pressure brought by the in-laws, I wish I am there to take on the job of livening up the atmosphere ... I personally think Professor Hap is not good at telling jokes. "
"Felix has quite a good sense of humour." Luna said unbiasedly.
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