Harry didn't answer right away, and really he had only just come out of the shock of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia mentioning magic so matter-of-factly. But there was confusion in Harry's eyes, and to Uncle Vernon it seemed like a snide comment or a deliberate insult, which further stretched his nerves to breaking point.
Answer my question, kid—
Uncle Vernon finally couldn't hold back any longer, he yelled at Harry loudly, and to Harry's surprise, hearing this familiar yelling sound made it a bit more bearable.
"If you're referring to minor issues, such as pimples on the face, insomnia, or minor injuries, perhaps I can handle it," Harry said quickly.
No one likes the feeling of being hungry, and that goes for everyone; Harry would try his best to avoid angering the Dursleys, even if they didn't get along with each other... Although he didn't know why they were interested in it, he still answered the question truthfully.
"Can you only handle these?"
In Dudley's snide laughter, Aunt Petunia interrupted and scrutinized him suspiciously, "What if it's more serious?"
To be honest, Aunt Petunia's skepticism rankled Harry a bit. He was only a second-year wizard who had just graduated, and what could he possibly be expected to do? Besides, when it comes to healing, one can't avoid the subject of Potions, which was exactly the subject in all the magical disciplines where Harry was the least proficient!
"—More serious issues, if you mean poisoning..."
According to my impression, in the first year's potion class, Snape mentioned that there was something with extremely strong detoxification effect.
Harry frowned and thought hard, the reason why he tried so hard to think was not because Harry couldn't wait to show off in front of the Dursleys, but because Harry didn't want to let the Dursleys have a chance to ridicule magic just because his magical skills were not refined enough.
In that moment, Harry suddenly missed Hermione, and he was confident that if Hermione were facing the Dursleys' questions, her answers would undoubtedly leave them astounded.
"Not poisoning, kid!"
Furious and purple-faced Uncle Vernon shouted, "Seems like all that nonsense hasn't made you any smarter, has it!"
With spit from Uncle Vernon splattering his face, Harry's expression instantly cooled. He stared back at Uncle Vernon's eyes without flinching, speaking in a barely civil tone,
"There are plenty of ailments that wizards can handle, I don't know what you people want to ask for!"
"I'll say it, Vernon."
Aunt Petunia stood up immediately and anxiously after Harry finished speaking, and before Uncle Vernon could lose his temper, she sent him and the reluctant Dudley to the living room. She then turned back to the kitchen, gave Harry an angry stare, and said sharply,
"You should show respect to every member of this family. If it weren't for us showing mercy and taking you in, your best outcome would be to become a homeless tramp sleeping under bridges!"
In the face of Aunt Petunia's scolding, Harry remained silent, his face set in a solemn expression. Because similar words, he has heard too many times in recent years.
Whenever Harry showed a questioning attitude in front of them, they would say such things without mercy, as if not for their taking him in, he would inevitably end up being locked up in a Muggle prison.
For the next ten minutes, the scolding voices came at Harry like a storm, of course, they were all familiar complaints. Even Dudley, who enjoyed seeing Harry get scolded, yawned and dragged himself to the living room to switch on another TV.
Taking advantage of Aunt Petunia's tired and panting, barely holding on to her senses, Harry persisted in not turning around and leaving directly, with a dark face, he asked quietly,
"What exactly do you want?"
In response to Harry's question, Aunt Petunia didn't answer immediately, instead, she maintained a strange silence. Harry could see that discussing this issue might require a lot of courage for them.
"I used to hear..."
Just as Harry couldn't help but want to press on for an answer again, Aunt Petunia finally spoke up. She spoke in a slow and hesitant tone, and as she did, the already long expression on her face pulled even longer.
“You have a hospital there, dedicated to treating all kinds of... complex diseases or something...”
Hospital for treating rare and difficult conditions?
Harry's eyes showed confusion. Did wizarding world have hospitals? Harry wondered in his heart.
But soon Harry realized that his confusion was quite foolish. Of course there should be hospitals in the wizarding world, he just hadn't heard of them before, much like last year when he learned from Malfoy that there was a prison named Azkaban in the wizarding world that sounded terrifying to mention.
In fact, these things are just the most basic common knowledge for children growing up in wizarding families. Harry believes that Ron must definitely know what the name of the wizarding world's hospitals is, but for little wizards like him who have grown up in the muggle world, it may still be considered something new.
"If I remember correctly, it should be called St. Mungo's--"
Aunt Petunia tried to say it in a light, offhand manner to hide the pain and shame of bringing up those unpleasant past memories.
"How did you...?"
Just as Harry was about to ask in surprise, but quick-witted Harry immediately stopped himself, because he realized that the person in front of him was his mother's sister. If his mother hadn't grown up in a terrible family environment like he did, she must have talked about the wonderful wizarding world many times in front of her family.
"Oh, um... You're right, that's the name."
Harry hesitated slightly, "Well... You're right, that's the name."
Without a doubt, he lied. Because he didn't know the name of that hospital at all. And the reason why he told a lie was simple: firstly, he wanted to figure out why the Dursleys had unexpectedly talked to him about magical things; secondly, it was his strange sense of pride that drove him to lie...
He was the one receiving formal magical education at Hogwarts, but Aunt Petunia knew something he didn't know, which made Harry a bit hard to accept.
H cough cough
In the living room, Uncle Vernon, who was watching TV with Dudley, coughed heavily twice. Aunt Petunia knew immediately in the kitchen that she should hurry up. She took a deep breath and looked down at Harry's green eyes, which always made her very uncomfortable. She spoke in a calm and level tone, "There is something that we need to tell you."
"I think you'll remember the company your uncle works for, won't you?"
"Granger & Co., manufacturers of drilling machines."
Harry glanced at the living room quickly and said.
Aunt Petunia nodded slightly with her chin, looking somewhat satisfied.
"Then you should also remember who the boss of this company is, right? When we talked about your uncle's work at home, he mentioned it many times--"
This time, Harry didn't answer as quickly. He furrowed his brow for a moment and said slowly, "Um... I think he was called... Thomas Granger or something?"
"Craddock Brian... What's wrong with him?"
"He has cancer."
Aunt Petunia said heavily.
