#308 - Chapter 308: Mouse, Lion, Dragon?

Life at the Dursleys' this year was even more pleasant than the last, Harry found.

Vernon had long been promoted to general manager of his company, riding a wave of success. Every day, he strutted about, heading to work in an exquisitely tailored suit.

This change in status only strengthened his resolve to latch onto Harry's coattails.

So, since Harry's return, while not quite waited on hand and foot, he didn't have to lift a finger around the house. Besides that, he had a mountain of snacks at his disposal, a privilege even Dudley couldn't get.

This made Dudley jealous for a long time, and he would sneak into Harry's room every day, asking him for snacks.

After being back for nearly a week, Harry had slowly adjusted to this lifestyle, even gaining a couple of pounds.

"Harry, come eat!"

Hearing Aunt Petunia's call, Harry walked downstairs.

Vernon was already sitting at the dining table, and when he saw Harry come down, he gave him an amiable smile.

Dudley was sitting in front of the TV, his eyes glued to the screen, while continuously stuffing cockroach clusters into his mouth.

"Dudley," Petunia shrieked, "stop eating that disgusting stuff and come eat dinner."

"Alright, alright." Dudley crunched another cockroach candy forcefully, then stood up and slowly came to the table.

"Why is it all vegetables? Not a single piece of meat!" Dudley complained unhappily. "I want to eat meat."

"I told you already, beef is off the menu these days." Petunia placed a plate of sliced fruit on the table and sat down next to Dudley.

Since the outbreak of mad cow disease in May, the British public had basically bid farewell to beef.

The government had racked its brains but couldn't find the cause of the outbreak. Now, the spread of mad cow disease was growing, with a faint trend of spreading to surrounding countries.

"The government probably already knows the cause of mad cow disease," Vernon muttered, "they're just afraid to say it."

"Then what about chicken, pork? Surely we can eat those meats." Dudley sulked, unwilling to eat. He glanced at Harry's plate and said discontentedly, "Why does Harry get to eat a chicken leg? I want one too!"

Vernon cleared his throat and advised Dudley, "Harry is too thin compared to you. He needs to eat more meat to grow."

"As for you, Mr. Swan said your figure is a bit out of shape, and you need to control it. Just eat your vegetables in peace. If you can lose ten pounds this summer, I'll reward you with a thousand pounds."

Thinking of Professor Swan telling Uncle Vernon that Dudley's weight needed to be controlled, Harry felt like laughing.

He lowered his head and chuckled secretly, then focused on eating his own meal.

I wonder how Sirius is doing now?

He bit into the chicken leg and recalled the last time he saw Sirius in Hogsmeade before boarding the Hogwarts Express.

To make a living, Sirius used the Ministry of Magic's compensation money to rent a stall in the new town, selling some of his own concocted prank gadgets.

Harry had tried to persuade him to find a more decent job, where at least the salary would be much higher and his life would be more secure.

Harry even had the idea of asking Sebastian for help, arranging a job for Sirius.

But Sirius refused without hesitation as soon as he heard this suggestion.

He said to Harry with conviction, "Working is out of the question, let alone working for that stinky swan. Only being your own boss can you live comfortably."

Harry had once wanted to take out some funds from Gringotts to help Sirius through the most difficult initial stage, at least to rent a shop in Hogsmeade instead of a mobile stall.

But Sirius was too embarrassed to use the money of a younger generation to develop his own business, so he firmly rejected Harry's kindness, even if Harry wanted to take the money as an investment.

Fortunately, he had a high aptitude for alchemy, and he also had the experience of making the Marauder's Map in his youth, so some of the prank gadgets he made were quite popular with the students.

Fred and George loved them so much that they immediately took out their wallets and bought a lot of gadgets.

Sirius also borrowed some money from Lupin to buy the basic materials for making the gadgets, and then he kept making gadgets non-stop every day.

In the past half month, with the help of news traffic and interesting products, he had gained a firm foothold in Hogsmeade New Town.

Now that the students were on vacation, his business hadn't declined too much.

After all, Hogsmeade New Town had a huge flow of people, and wizards from all over came to visit every day. The gadgets Sirius made were perfect as small gifts for their younger generations.

Moreover, more and more wizards were choosing to settle in Hogsmeade. As far as Harry knew, most of the graduated seniors had already chosen to buy houses there.

Sirius didn't lack customers at all, he just complained to Harry that his hand speed wasn't fast enough.

Harry took a sip of soup, then thought absentmindedly.

Perhaps he could make some gadgets while he was at his aunt's house to help Sirius share some of the burden.

Although he still had to go to Professor Snape's place to study during the day, he could still squeeze out some time in the evening.

By the way, the day after tomorrow is Peter Pettigrew's execution day. I wonder if Sirius will go to watch it in person.

Thinking of Peter Pettigrew, a sense of inexplicable worry rose in Harry's heart.

He remembered what Ron had said to him and Hermione after the Divination exam.

Ron said that after the exam, he returned the crystal ball on the ground to Professor Trelawney when he was leaving the classroom.

As a result, Professor Trelawney seemed to have gone mad, saying a series of inexplicable things with empty eyes and a hoarse voice.

"The rat escapes, the Dark Lord revives, and blood dyes the earth red. The lion glares, the dragon spreads its wings, and the millennium pattern changes!"

At that time, Ron repeated it in a joking tone, and coupled with Trelawney's reputation in the school, none of the three of them took that prophecy to heart.

After all, Professor Trelawney made several prophecies in the school every year, but no one had ever seen any of them come true.

Therefore, until now, Harry hadn't told any of the elders about the prophecy Ron heard.

It's just that, now that Peter's execution day was approaching, Harry always felt that something was wrong, like a breath was stuck in his chest.

Although Harry didn't think Professor Trelawney's prophecy would come true, he couldn't help but repeatedly think about that prophecy these two days.

Was the rat referring to Peter Pettigrew? Who were the lion and the dragon referring to?

Knowing that Peter was an Animagus, the Ministry of Magic couldn't possibly let him run away, right?

If that were the case, the Ministry of Magic would be too incompetent.

After thinking about it to no avail, Harry had to give up. He ate the food in front of him in a few bites, and then walked upstairs.

"I'm done eating. I'm going back to my room to study."

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