Happry Potter: The New Player

Evan composed himself and followed his parents into the house.

The first thing he saw was Vernon Dursley dressed formally, with a bow tie, standing there strong and defiant like a lion.

"Good evening."

"Good evening, Mr. Mason and Mrs. Mason," he said with an unpleasant smile on his face. "May I take your coats?"

"Thank you, Evan!" Evan's mother pulled Evan from behind her and introduced him to Dudley. "This is Evan. You should look after him once he starts school later."

"It would be an honor, my lady."

Seeing Dudley wanting to embrace him, Evan quickly took a half step back, following his parents swiftly into the drawing-room while speaking politely and discreetly looking around.

To gather today, the room was seemingly carefully arranged.

Not far from the kitchen, the smell of today's pudding dinner lingered, the table was filled with cream cake, and the sounds of a big barbecue could be heard coming from the oven.

But that wasn't what Evan was hoping to find. As per the book, there was no sign of Harry in plain sight, making it clear that the Dursley couple does not want others to know about their peculiar nephew.

Evan furrowed his brow slightly, that unfortunate boy should be quietly hidden away in a small room upstairs, not making a single sound so no one is aware of his existence.

He feels it's necessary to do something.

"I apologize, Mr. Dursley," Evan interrupted the tedious joke about a Japanese golfer, "you know, I don't often visit other people. I'm curious about everything here. If you don't mind, I would like Dudley to show me around the house before dinner."

"No problem, let Dudley take you to his room and see his new console." Considering Evan's age, Vernon Dursley seemed very agreeable, realizing that he might not grasp the joke he was telling. "You can go play until dinner is ready, I'll have Petunia come up and fetch you when it's time."

Dudley reluctantly accompanied Evan and left the room, sticking to the plan to stay and continue using those repulsive words to flatter the Mason couple, rather than accompany a child around the house.

He refrained from saying something offensive, which is a challenging task for Dudley to achieve.

They walked to the second floor, while Evan listened to Dudley introducing his new console, he curiously glanced at a small room at the end of the hallway where the door was shut.

"What is that room?"

"That's my cousin's room, he's not home right now."

Dudley's face looked somewhat unnatural, "We still need to go to my room, hurry, it's this way..."

Before he had time to finish his words, they were interrupted by a loud thud from the small room. The next moment, before he could stop him, he saw the boy beside him walk to the door and open it.

Evan opened the door and in the dim light, he saw a boy standing in front of a cupboard.

The boy was thin, with a pair of bright green eyes, dark hair, and a thin lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

Harry Potter had a surprised expression, he had just seen Dobby, the house-elf, in the cupboard, and the door was ajar. Surprisingly, it wasn't Uncle Vernon, but rather a boy he had never seen before.

"Good evening, you must be Dudley's cousin, I'm Evan Mason, delighted to meet you!"

Evan extended his right hand, his heart brimming with joy at finally meeting Harry Potter.

"Hello, My name is Harry Potter, and it's a pleasure to meet you," said Harry hesitantly, extending his ha

If I had to guess, it should be the boy who visited the prosperous construction company today, but Harry wasn't sure if he should get in touch with the others. According to Uncle Vernon, he should stay quiet in his room and pretend he didn't exist.

Given the importance of tonight's dinner, Harry had heard Uncle Vernon mention it exactly two weeks ago. If the dinner turned out to be a disaster, he couldn't imagine how bad the next few days would be.

Outside the room, Dudley urged Evan to leave, and although he felt terrible about it, Harry had to admit it was the only thing he agreed with Dudley on during their summer vacation, especially because in the closet next to him, there was a house-elf unsuitable for Muggle eyes.

Evan seemed not to hear Dudley as his attention was completely drawn to the birdcage by the window containing a snow-white owl.

"It's a completely white owl!" Evan turned to Harry and asked, "What's its name?"

"Hedwig, she's my pet," Harry replied, quietly closing the partially open door.

"I also wanted a pet like that, but my mother is afraid of birds," Evan turned and continued to gaze at Hedwig. "Can I feed her?"

"No problem, but I don't have any food," sighed Harry as Uncle Vernon had forbidden him from feeding Hedwig, so Harry had been sharing part of his food with her since the beginning of summer.

"What does she eat, is there plenty of food downstairs in the kitchen?"

"Evan, my mother called us to come down for dinner!" Evan's words had not finished yet when they were abruptly interrupted; Dudley finally gathered the courage to enter Harry's room to fetch Evan.

"Well, I think I can finish dinner and come back."

Evan followed Dudley, but after two steps, he noticed Harry wasn't moving. Something strange, "Harry, aren't you coming with us?"

"I, I won't go, I've already eaten!"

A growl came from Harry's stomach, but he was sure Aunt Petunia wouldn't be happy to see him at the table.

"Come on, even if you've already eaten, you can still have dessert," Evan took a step forward and grabbed Harry's arm and continued, "Then we can get something to feed Hedwig, I think she looks hungry!"

"You can't do that, she can't eat with us," Dudley quickly stopped Evan.

"Why, isn't he your cousin?"

"Yes, but..." Dudley struggled to find the words, explaining to Evan. "He's not like us. He's eccentric."

"Eccentric?" Evan frowned at seeing Harry beside him, too excited to remember to close the door.

The next second, a green monster leaped out of the closet, with two large bat-like ears and a pair of prominent green eyes like tennis balls.

Evan immediately guessed who it was, but he didn't realize a house-elf could be so ugly.

"In the presence of Dobby, how dare you insult the great Harry Potter!" Dobby shouted as he jumped out of the closet.

Before anyone could react, he pointed his right index finger at Dudley.

Suddenly, a green light flashed and lit up the room, a whistle-like noise, a scream, and then Dudley grabbed his buttocks with both hands and jumped in pain and tears. Turning around, Evan saw a curly pigtail sticking out of the hole in his pants.

Poor Dudley, he suffered again this year following the pigtail incident by Hagrid last year.