Aiven calmed himself and followed his parents into the house. The first thing he saw was Mr. Vernon Dursley, impeccably dressed in a suit and bow tie, and Dudley, who was as stout as a pig.
"Good evening!"
"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Mason." Dudley put on a sickeningly fake smile. "May I take your coats for you?"
"Thank you, dear!" Aiven's mother gently pulled Aiven, who was lingering behind her, forward and introduced him to Dudley, "This is our little Aiven. He's also starting Smelting Secondary School this year. Please do look after him at school."
"It's my pleasure, Madam!"
Seeing that Dudley seemed about to offer him a hug, Aiven quickly stepped back half a pace, deftly avoiding the embrace. He followed his parents into the sitting room, exchanging pleasantries while discreetly looking around. The room had clearly been meticulously tidied for that evening's gathering. A strong aroma wafted from the nearby kitchen; the pudding for dinner sat atop the refrigerator, the dining table was laden with whipped cream cakes and sugared violets, and a large roast sizzled in the oven.
However, these were not what Aiven was looking for. Just as described in the books, there was nothing related to Harry Potter in this house. Clearly, the Dursleys didn't want outsiders to know about their unusual nephew. Aiven's lips curved slightly. That poor child must be quietly hiding in the small room upstairs, making no sound, pretending he wasn't home. Thinking of this, he felt it was necessary to do something.
"Excuse me, Mr. Dursley." Aiven interrupted the rather boring joke about a Japanese golfer that the other man was telling. "You know, I don't visit other people's homes often, and I'm terribly curious about everything here. If you don't mind, I'd like Dudley to show me around before dinner."
"No problem at all, let Dudley take you to his room to see his new games console." Vernon Dursley readily agreed, seemingly concluding that Aiven's age wouldn't allow him to appreciate his jokes. "Go on and play, kids. Petunia will call you when dinner's ready."
Dudley reluctantly accompanied Aiven out of the sitting room. According to his plan, he should have stayed to continue complimenting Mr. and Mrs. Mason with those syrupy words, not wander around the house with a little kid. Especially since he had to control himself and leave a good impression on the visitors. This was truly an incredibly difficult task for Dudley.
The two walked up to the first floor. Aiven listened to Dudley introduce his new games console while curiously looking at a small room at the end of the corridor, its door tightly shut.
"What's in there?"
"Nothing, that's my cousin's room. He's not home right now." Dudley's expression was a bit unnatural. "Let's hurry to my room, I'll show you..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a loud knocking sound from the small room. The next second, before Dudley could stop him, he saw the boy beside him step forward and open the door.
Aiven opened the door, and in the dim light, he saw a boy about his age standing in front of the wardrobe. The boy was small and thin, with bright green eyes, messy black hair, and a thin, lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.
Harry Potter looked surprised. He had just hidden Dobby the house-elf when the door opened. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Uncle Vernon who entered, but a boy he had never seen before.
"Good evening, you must be Dudley's cousin. I'm Aiven Mason, nice to meet you!" Aiven extended his right hand, his heart filled with joy. Finally, he had met Harry Potter.
"H-hello, I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you too." Harry hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand and shook Aiven's. If he hadn't guessed wrong, the other person was probably the child of the wealthy builder who was visiting today. Harry wasn't sure if he should interact with him. According to Uncle Vernon's arrangements, he should stay in his room and remain quiet, pretending he wasn't there. Harry had heard Uncle Vernon talk about the importance of that evening's dinner for two whole weeks. If this was messed up, he couldn't even imagine how difficult his life would be afterwards.
Outside the door, Dudley was urging the boy named Aiven to leave quickly. Although it felt bad, Harry had to admit that this was the only thing he agreed with Dudley on that summer, especially since there was a house-elf in the wardrobe beside him that shouldn't be seen by Muggles.
Aiven seemed not to hear Dudley's urging. His attention was completely drawn to the birdcage by the window, which contained a pure white owl.
"A pure white owl, that's really cool!" Aiven turned and asked Harry, "What's its name?"
"Hedwig, she's my pet." Harry quietly closed the partially open wardrobe door.
"I want a pet like that too, but Mum's allergic to birds." Aiven turned back to look at Hedwig. "Can I feed her?"
"No problem, but I don't have any food." Harry sighed. Uncle Vernon wouldn't let him let Hedwig out to hunt. In fact, Harry had been saving a portion of his own dinner to feed her all summer.
"What does she eat? I saw a lot in the kitchen downstairs..."
"Aiven, Mum's calling us down for dinner!" Before Aiven could finish his sentence, he was abruptly interrupted by Dudley, who seemed to finally muster the courage to enter Harry's room and try to rescue Aiven.
"Alright, I guess I can come back after dinner."
Aiven walked two steps with Dudley, then, seeing that Harry didn't seem to be moving, he asked, somewhat strangely, "Harry, aren't you coming with us?"
"I-I'm not going, I've already had dinner!" Harry's stomach was empty, but he was sure Aunt Petunia wouldn't be happy to see him at the dinner table.
"Come on, even if you've eaten, you can have some pudding." Aiven walked over and pulled Harry's arm, continuing, "Then we can bring some stuff up together to feed Hedwig. She looks really hungry!"
"You can't do that, he can't come down to eat with us." Dudley quickly stopped Aiven.
"Why? Isn't he your cousin?"
"Yes, but..." Dudley struggled to find the words to explain to Aiven, "He's different from us, he's a freak."
"Freak?!" Aiven frowned. He saw Harry beside him was also very agitated, forgetting to continue closing the constantly opening wardrobe door.
The next second, a small green creature hopped out of the wardrobe. It had two large, bat-like ears and a pair of bulging green eyes as big as tennis balls.
Dobby the house-elf, Aiven immediately guessed who it was, but he hadn't expected a house-elf to be so ugly.
"How dare you insult the great Harry Potter in front of Dobby!" Dobby shrieked loudly as soon as he jumped out of the wardrobe. Before anyone could react, it pointed its right index finger fiercely at Dudley, who was standing stunned.
Suddenly, a pale green flash, a sound like a firecracker, a scream, and then Dudley clutched his fat bottom with both hands, hopping and yelping in pain. When he turned around, Aiven saw a curled pig's tail sticking out of a rip in his trousers.
Poor Dudley, after having a pig's tail conjured on him by Hagrid last year, he suffered the same fate this year.