On Thursday, as dawn was just breaking, Harry crawled out of bed, yawned, and dragged himself to the bathroom. He exchanged a perfunctory greeting with Vernon, who was up early for work, and then entered the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, Harry walked out of Dursley Family.
As expected, it was drizzling today. Harry tied up his hair, warmed up on the garden path, and then began his morning run.
This had already become his daily routine; a healthy and strong body was one of the indicators of an excellent Wizard.
In Little Whinging, there were few people on the streets. As a middle-class residential area, the public order here was much better, with no unruly youths out all night and no drunkards in the middle of the night.
Only one or two bird calls made it seem quiet and peaceful.
However, today, as soon as Harry ran around the corner, he saw an unfamiliar figure that immediately caught his attention.
It was an old man dressed in multi-layered silver-grey robes. Although his face was aged, he looked hale and hearty, with a straight back and a height that seemed to be over 1.8 meters.
He wore a small purple hat, and his long silver hair and beard reached his waist, but they were not messy, appearing to be regularly groomed.
"Wizard!"
With just one glance, Harry recognized from his attire that this person was no ordinary human.
Sure enough, the old man, seeing him, nodded kindly.
Seeing this, Harry returned a smile.
"He must have noticed my scar," Harry thought, then continued running without stopping, adjusting his breathing, and slightly accelerating as he ran past this street.
"No, that's not right..."
His steps gradually slowed, and he looked back at the empty street, but the old man's appearance still lingered in his mind.
"That person... I've seen him before..."
"Albus Dumbledore?!"
Harry finally remembered where he had seen this person: on Chocolate Frog cards and in modern History of Magic, there were animated photos of this old man.
Immediately, information about Albus began to surface in his mind.
Hogwarts Principal, the greatest Wizard, who discovered dragon blood with Nicolas Flamel...
What was such an honored person doing here?!
On the other side, Dumbledore looked at Harry's disappearing back, deep in thought. He then turned and continued towards Privet Drive.
Before long, he arrived at Dursley Family. At this moment, at the Dursley Family's front door, a neatly dressed Vernon Dursley was outside the garage on the side of the mansion, about to start his beloved red car.
Clearly, he also saw Dumbledore, then quickly lowered his head, muttering irritably.
Apparently, for him, seeing "that kind of person" first thing in the morning was an unfortunate omen for the day.
Fortunately, the old fellow's destination was not his house.
Walking two more houses forward, Dumbledore quickly stopped at Number Six, Privet Drive.
Across the street was Number Thirteen, Privet Drive, as indicated on the envelope!
At the same time, a neatly dressed man opened the front door and walked out of the house.
He also noticed Dumbledore.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down. Both their brains began to pulsate at high speed, both showing a long-unseen vitality and restlessness!
Vernon started his small car, and on this misty morning, the round headlights shone towards them. Then, the small car drove between the two.
The rolling wheels splashed water.
A single water droplet reflected both of them, their figures intertwined—
In an instant, sharp blades carrying unparalleled power attacked Dumbledore from Howl's side.
Their speed was like lightning.
However, Dumbledore just stood there, the space beside him twisting, with no sign of movement, and those blades, their trajectories distorted, slashed behind him.
Houses shattered, rocks exploded, and a massive explosion echoed throughout Little Whinging like midday thunder.
Howl's wand appeared in his hand, and he gently tapped the ground twice.
The next moment, waves surged from beneath him, spreading out like a tsunami.
Dumbledore's arm dropped, then the elder wand landed in his hand. With a gentle wave, endless flames immediately swept around him, coiling into the shape of a Phoenix.
Cracking sounds continuously rang out as the tsunami swept over.
The rapidly surging raging waves and the fire Phoenix confronted each other, refusing to give way!
At this moment, the two were no longer on Privet Drive; they were clearly standing in a deep abyss at the bottom of the sea, engaged in an indescribable battle.
Then, a yellow shadow appeared in Dumbledore's hand. With a flick of his hand, the object flew straight towards Howl, unaffected by the raging waves.
Howl's eyebrows raised, and a look of delight appeared on his face.
Finally, he was going to attack...
Then, he watched as the shadow got closer to him, its speed becoming increasingly slow.
Until finally, it transformed into a letter, landing in front of Howl.
Howl gently raised his hand, and water formed into an arm, gently picking up the envelope. A moment later, disappointment appeared on his face—
With a snap.
The tiny, almost imperceptible water droplet that reflected them exploded like fireworks.
Vernon drove his rumbling red car away into the distance.
"Being the first for so long, have you lost the most basic respect for the world?" Howl looked at him with a half-smile.
Dumbledore looked apologetic, nodding with a smile: "I am truly sorry; I hope you can forgive an elderly man's embarrassment at gradually losing control of his own thoughts."
"Heh heh, you don't look like you're out of control at all. Moreover, casually invading others' minds doesn't seem like the action of the greatest Wizard of this century, as described in books," Howl sneered.
This old fellow had attempted to invade his mind in that instant.
He guessed it was the Legilimency spell mentioned in records.
Of course, his mind was not defenseless. He immediately counter-pressured mentally, engaging Dumbledore in a confrontation.
Dumbledore shook his head and said, "It was just a misunderstanding. You know, I'm just concerned about that child."
"If he could have heard that in the first ten years of his life, I'm sure he would have been jumping for joy," Howl scoffed with a smile.
Speaking of this, Dumbledore's face dimmed a little, and he shook his head heavily: "You know, there are many things in this world that are inherently contradictory and irreconcilable. If he weren't at Dursley Family, no one could protect him."
"Not even Hogwarts?" Howl was a little surprised, then said, "Of course, I don't mean you have this obligation, I'm just curious if Lord Voldemort has such great power?"
Dumbledore nodded somewhat forlornly: "When Lord Voldemort was still at school, he did many things behind my back. He is very clever and unscrupulous.
Even if this child had lived at Hogwarts since childhood, with my protection, he would not have been safe."
Saying that, he looked at Howl: "Thank you, you are one of the few people who don't overestimate me so much.
I'm not talking about magic, but about myself."
"I have the same pity for everyone the world calls 'great,' because they are not allowed any mistakes," Howl said casually.
"Yes, but who can truly understand old people like us, who are in their twilight years?" Dumbledore sighed in agreement.
Howl looked at Dumbledore coldly: "But don't pretend you care about him. If you really cared about him that much, you wouldn't have only just met me now!!"
Of course, he was even more angry about Dumbledore's last sentence.
"Who is an old person with one foot in the grave like you?"