#63 - Depot
June 22, 1991, Saturday.
Little Whinging, Surrey, London, Number 4 Privet Drive.
This two-story house is neat and ordinary, surrounded by trimmed lawns and flower beds.
The Dursleys, who live here, are a typical middle-class family.
Vernon Dursley is the master of the house.
He is a burly man with a ruddy face and a thick mustache, always wearing a suit and tie, and he loves to scold and boss people around.
His wife, Petunia Dursley, is a thin woman who always wears impeccable clothes and likes to boast about her family's perfection in front of the neighbors.
Dudley Dursley is their only son, a fat and rude boy, a typical spoiled child.
Oh, and they also have a nephew, Harry Potter.
Unlike the tall and fat Dudley, his thin figure looks particularly weak.
He has a head of messy, unkempt black hair, which always makes his uncle Vernon angry and yell at him.
The most striking thing on his face is a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, and his bright green eyes, hidden behind a pair of worn round glasses, often reveal melancholy and longing.
Harry wasn't very happy today, because from early in the morning, Uncle Vernon had dragged the whole family to clean the house.
The family barely ate lunch, and only stopped after cleaning the house inside and out.
After dinner, Vernon cleared his throat and solemnly announced to the whole family.
"Today is an important day, very, very important!"
"As you all know, after I received the title of Excellent Supervisor, a member of the company's board of directors decided to visit our home with his wife."
Harry lowered his head and continued to wash the dishes, his heart full of resentment.
How could he not know!
Uncle Vernon had been emphasizing this matter all week. The visit of the board member was an unparalleled honor for him.
From the conversation between Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, it could be learned that he had been trying to find out the specific information of this mysterious board member.
Unfortunately, he didn't find out much information, only that this board member basically never showed up in the company and was very mysterious.
However, according to rumors, this board member owns the largest shares in the entire company.
This made Uncle Vernon extremely excited, and he kept clamoring to seize this opportunity to perform well in front of this board member.
Harry's spirits were a little low, he had worked hard cleaning all day, and his whole body was about to fall apart.
"This is a very precious opportunity!"
Vernon's voice rose a few degrees, appearing unusually serious.
"Whether I can get a promotion and a raise, become a general manager, become a CEO, and reach the peak of my life depends on tonight!"
"We must rehearse again," Vernon stood up and directed everyone to get into character.
"Later, when the time comes, Petunia?"
"Just thinking about it makes me excited!" Petunia had a look of longing on her face, and after Vernon glared at her, she quickly put on a kind smile.
"I will stand in the living room and welcome them with the warmest smile!"
"Smile a little more naturally, a little more enthusiastically," under Vernon's direction, Petunia finally showed the most perfect smile in his mind.
"Dudley, my little darling, you will follow behind me later, greet the guests first, and then go back to your room to play games!"
"Harry!"
"Listen, boy!" Vernon stepped forward, bent down and stared fiercely at Harry.
"Since I was 5 years old, I have moved you out of the storage room under the stairs and into the room upstairs."
"You have never lacked food, clothing, or anything else."
"You should know how to be grateful!"
"You better stay in your room obediently," he pointed to the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, "You need to know that your scar will always cause people to dislike you!"
"If you ruin my good deeds because of you, I swear, you won't even think about going out for the whole summer!"
"Moreover, you will have to move out of the room upstairs and roll back into the storage room under the stairs."
After arranging everything, the Dursley family began a long wait.
Vernon kept looking at the clock on the wall, he felt that time was particularly slow today, he even once suspected that this damn clock was broken.
Finally, the hands on the clock steadily pointed to eight o'clock.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang, and the Dursley family quickly moved according to the pre-rehearsed procedure.
Opening the door, standing outside was a well-dressed, tall gentleman, and a delicately made-up, beautiful woman was holding his arm.
So young!
This was Vernon's first impression, he originally thought it would be an old man with white hair.
He was stunned for a moment, then put on a smile and said enthusiastically.
"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Swann!"
Sebastian smiled and nodded.
"Mr. Dursley, it's nice to meet you for the first time, please give me your advice!"
This was the first time Sebastian had seen Vernon Dursley, his real-life image was almost the same as on the screen in his previous life, still that bloated figure.
Vernon's face was full of smiles, he quickly stepped aside and welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Swann in!
When passing by the storage room under the stairs, Sebastian muttered with some emotion.
"What a classic storage room, really exactly the same!"
"What?" Vernon behind him didn't hear clearly, he only vaguely heard the word storage room.
He glanced suspiciously at the storage room, his heart full of doubts.
Is there anything special about this?
"Never mind!"
Sebastian walked into the living room, greeted Petunia, and then sat on the sofa with Mia.
Petunia smiled, but behind the smile, she felt a little puzzled.
Strange!
Why does this lady look a little familiar?
Just after sitting down, before Vernon could say anything, Sebastian opened his mouth and asked.
"Mr. Dursley, according to the company's information, there should be another member in your family, call him out and say hello together!"
Dursley opened his mouth, swallowed the words he was about to say, he never thought that the conversation would start in this way.
This is not the same as rehearsing!
"I do have a nephew," Dursley's face was a little hesitant, "He is a little shy, or, let's not call him!"
Sebastian reached out and pressed down on the somewhat excited Mia, and emphasized to Dursley.
"Let's call him out, this is the most basic courtesy, isn't it?"
Dursley had no choice but to leave his seat to call Harry.
He was going to personally explain some precautions to Harry again.
And that scar, it's best to cover it with hair.
Petunia stayed in the living room and exchanged greetings with Sebastian and Mia.
The more she looked, the more familiar Mrs. Swann felt, just when the doubts in her heart reached their peak, Vernon appeared with Harry.
Harry's heart was full of doubts, he was doing well upstairs.
As a result, Uncle Vernon came up and insisted that he come down to greet the guests, and also emphasized various precautions to him.
What angle to smile, how much to wave his arms, what words to say, and what voice to speak in, etc., etc.
The complicated rules made Harry's head dizzy, and after seeing the guests, he had forgotten most of the rules.
Just as he was trying to recall Uncle Vernon's instructions and preparing to act according to the plan, he saw the man sitting on the sofa waving his arm and greeting him.
"Hello!"
"Harry Potter!"
......
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