HP : The Frail-Looking, Iron-Fisted Beauty of Harry Potter

Being stared at by both her father and daughter, a blush appeared on Petunia's face.

A small part was shyness, but most of it was pure emotion.

What parent doesn't hope their child sees them as a role model?

For doting parents like Vernon and Petunia, their child's gratitude was a treasure to be cherished.

"Thank you, my dear."

"But I still haven't done enough. For example, I didn't even realize you wanted to lose weight."

With that, Petunia removed half of the meat from Dolly's plate. "So, let's start by eating a little less from today, how about that?"

However, looking at the portion still on her plate—which was equivalent to a full day's worth of food from her previous life—Dolly still didn't want to eat it.

Her thoughts raced, and she continued, "But I don't want to waste the food you made, Mum. This is such a dilemma."

Vernon and Petunia exchanged a look. Then Vernon said, "Then let me help you finish the rest. That way it won't be wasted."

Dolly shook her head and looked intently at Vernon. "No, Dad. While I'm losing weight, you need to control your weight too. Otherwise, you'll get sick."

"I hope the three of us can live healthily forever. This is my birthday wish this year!"

Hearing this, Vernon was naturally moved for a few seconds, even feeling tears welling up.

Dolly had truly grown up, and changed so much.

On any other day, this would have definitely made the couple feel that something was amiss.

But today was Dolly's birthday. With such a special day as a cover, Dolly's actions seemed like a reasonable change.

Seeing that Vernon and Petunia had fallen silent, Dolly knew her preparations were complete.

She pushed the separated half of the food to the side and said, "By the way, don't we have another person in the house?"

Vernon and Petunia's faces changed instantly. They knew who Dolly was talking about.

But Vernon said with a dark expression, "Dolly, he is not a member of our family. He is merely a guest lodging here."

Petunia added, "Dolly, it's your birthday. Don't let him come out and bother you. We'll save him some cake."

Dolly was slightly taken aback.

In her memory, Harry's situation in the original story wasn't this miserable.

At least he could eat at the table and would later accompany Dudley to the zoo, which is when Harry had his first conversation with a snake, revealing his ability as a Parselmouth.

So where did the problem lie?

Glancing inadvertently at the fairy toy ring on her finger, Dolly instantly understood.

Dudley could bully Harry with impunity not only because of his temper but also because he was a boy.

Vernon and Petunia didn't restrict Dudley from doing so, but now they were consciously isolating Dolly from Harry.

This was a natural instinct to protect their daughter, but it had made Harry's situation even more difficult.

But Dolly knew this couldn't continue.

Even without the system's mission, Harry, as the Boy-Who-Lived, was destined to become Dumbledore's favorite.

Offending this group of wizards would not end well. After all, wizards lacked the common sense of Muggle society.

For example, Hagrid giving Dudley a pig's tail. It seemed like a small punishment to teach a lesson, but afterward, Dudley had to go to a Muggle hospital to have the tail removed.

If this incident caused a commotion in the Muggle world, like making the newspapers, how would the Ministry of Magic clean it up?

Use Memory Charms on everyone who bought a newspaper, break Hagrid's already-snapped wand again, and then throw him into Azkaban?

That would be a situation where everyone got hurt. Afterward, Harry would probably view the Dursleys as his parents' murderers.

Dolly would not allow such a disastrous outcome for everyone.

What's more, Dolly still wanted to enter the wizarding world herself.

If she, a Muggle, was branded a dark wizard for offending the savior, that would be truly tragic.

So Dolly used the same trick again. "Dad, you're right. Harry isn't a member of our family; he's a guest in our house."

"But he is my cousin, isn't he? I think that on my birthday, my little brother should be allowed to participate."

"Just like when you took him in all those years ago, I want to learn from your mercy and kindness!"

Dolly laid on the flattery thick, and sure enough, Vernon and Petunia's expressions softened considerably.

But it was clear that simple flattery wasn't enough this time. The secret of wizards weighed heavily on their minds, and they really didn't want Dolly to have much contact with Harry.

This wasn't because the two were dark-hearted, or because Petunia was jealous of her sister Lily and wanted revenge on Harry.

In fact, after Vernon and Petunia got engaged, they had tried to reconcile with her family.

At that time, Vernon and Petunia had met with Lily and James.

However, a Muggle and a pure-blood wizard were destined to be unable to understand each other.

Vernon asked James what kind of car he drove. James replied that they rode flying broomsticks.

This made Vernon worry about James's financial situation, to which James replied that his family used solid gold currency—Galleons.

After a few rounds of similar conversation, Vernon felt he was being mocked, and they parted on bad terms.

The next time they heard news of them, it was that James and Lily had been killed by Voldemort, leaving behind a child that they had to take care of.

And Vernon and Petunia couldn't refuse, because only under the protection of blood relatives could the blood ward on Harry protect him.

On one side was the Dark Lord, Voldemort. On the other was the leader of the Light, Dumbledore.

Vernon, a Muggle who understood nothing, was caught in the middle. It was naturally impossible for him to have any good feelings for Harry.

"My child, there are some things you may not understand."

Vernon rubbed his fingers together nervously.

Normally, his abuse of Harry was something the whole family was used to.

But now, Dolly's flattery made him ashamed to admit it, and he wanted to find an excuse to beautify his actions.

His daughter was calling him kind and merciful; he couldn't very well reply, "No, actually, I'm a villain who abuses children," could he?

But he couldn't mention magic either. Vernon suddenly felt a massive headache coming on.

It was Petunia who came up with an idea. "We didn't want to adopt Harry. Your father and Harry's father had a deep conflict."

"But someone forced us to do it. Harry could have lived a good life in an orphanage."

"If he were in an orphanage, we could even visit him every week... no, every quarter, and our relationship would be much more harmonious."

"You see, we never force you to do anything. The feeling of being forced is very difficult."

Petunia still didn't dare to mention Dumbledore's name, just as the wizarding world didn't dare to mention Voldemort's.

As if the pressure she had endured for all these years was finally released, Petunia burst into tears.

Vernon patted his wife's shoulder and wiped his own eyes.

In that instant, the emotions this couple had suppressed for 11 years finally had a chance to be released to a third party.

....

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