Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

Having made his decision, Dursley took a deep breath, stepped forward, and took the envelope from Petunia's hand. It was plain and unremarkable, offering no hint of anything unusual.

The envelope was pure white, pristine and without any markings. It was also surprisingly thin, no different from an ordinary letter delivered by an ordinary postman.

However, just as Dursley reached out his round, thick fingers to gently pry it open, the unexpected suddenly occurred.

A 'hiss' sound was heard, and the originally thin envelope began to swell, becoming bulging like a startled pufferfish, as if it would explode in the next second.

"Vernon!!"

Petunia, who had been watching Dursley's movements, couldn't help but widen her eyes, her heart racing. She instinctively covered her mouth and called out her beloved's name.

Before Dursley could say anything, the next second arrived with a loud 'boom,' and the envelope burst open.

The sound was so loud that even Dudley, who was happily devouring his breakfast at the kitchen table, was startled and nearly knocked his food off the table.

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing?!"

He raised his head, his pig-like face displaying human-like terror and anger.

He abruptly turned his head, finally tearing his attention away from breakfast, and peered towards the direction of the sound, which was outside the hallway.

However, he didn't see Dursley and Petunia. Before Dudley's eyes, there was only a thick white fog, enveloping everything around.

The white mist poured out from the opened envelope, and in just a dozen seconds, it had covered everything around.

Even though Vernon knew that his wife was only two or three steps away from him, he couldn't see her. Only her panicked cries assured him that they were still in their home and hadn't been transported to some other bizarre place, as in those novels.

"Vernon!! What's happening!? Are you there?! Darling, I'm so scared!!"

Petunia's voice trembled violently, with a hint of a sob. It seemed that she had been terrified by the terrifying magic of the wizard.

"Don't panic! Darling, nothing's happening."

Compared to his wife, Dursley at this moment clearly showed the calmness and responsibility a man should have.

He took two steps forward, groping for Petunia's hand according to his memory of her approximate position, and said in a deep voice,

"Don't panic, I'm here. Nothing's happening, it's just fog."

He comforted his wife while observing the surrounding situation.

Gradually, Dursley began to notice that the originally thick white fog around them began to dissipate, and the visible range began to widen. The hallway and rooms that had disappeared reappeared before their eyes.

After about a minute, the fog completely disappeared, and in its place, a small elf appeared before them, wearing a smart waistcoat, a bow tie around his neck, a top hat on his head, and holding a cane in his hand, looking every bit like an old London gentleman.

"You're not..."

Looking at the sudden appearance of the little elf, Dursley's eyes widened. He seemed to remember something, that little monster he had seen in Harry Potter's room.

He couldn't help but open his mouth, exclaiming that he wanted to say something.

However, unfortunately, the figure standing in front of him was not a living person, but just an image left behind by magic. It wouldn't give him any feedback, and naturally wouldn't listen to him finish his words.

Invisibly, a cheerful and lively music sounded from an unknown location, interrupting Dursley's words. The sudden little elf seemed to have been triggered by a switch and immediately began to move quickly.

"Welcome to Charlie's Candy Factory ~ ~"

He picked up the cane, spun it in his hand, and began to tap dance skillfully to the rhythm of the drum beats.

While dancing, his slightly high-pitched voice used a musical style that was popular before 1980 to sing a self-composed song happily.

"The best candy factory in the world opens its doors to you ~ ~"

"We have gummy bears, chocolate, and countless toffees ~ ~"

Soon, Dudley, who had heard the movement, perked up his ears and curiously moved his chair away from the table and stood up. He walked to the door, wobbling, and looked at the little monster singing and dancing not far away, his eyes sparkling. He snorted twice, his mouth slightly upturned, revealing a smile.

You know, he hadn't seen anything so interesting in months of staying at home.

The elf's performance continued, and he went on to sing

… …

"Now Mr. Black's magical factory is recruiting ~ ~ I wonder who will be so lucky to become a member of it?"

"Our treatment is definitely better than your company ~ And the gold galleons every month are enough for you to drink two glasses of butterbeer every day ~ ~"

"Come and see ~ Come and sign up ~ ~ If you want to join us, please come to us at the following address — — —"

Suddenly, the music stopped abruptly, and the singing and dancing little elf stopped moving, and the cane pointed in Dursley's direction. His eyes blinked mischievously, as if there was some kind of unique understanding with the other party.

Then, with another "Boom!!" sound, the image of the exquisitely dressed little elf exploded, turning into white mist, and scattered around.

In the center of the dispersing mist, a job advertisement fluttered down from mid-air, finally falling quietly on the floor.

At the bottom of the job advertisement was a portrait of the little elf just now. At this moment, he was taking off his top hat, like an actor who had just finished a performance, with a bright smile on his face, bowing and thanking the audience, and finally stopped moving.

Long after the performance ended, Petunia and Dursley, their eyes glazed over, finally woke up from their trance.

They looked down again at the same time, carefully examining the job advertisement on the ground, and remained silent for a long time.

"What is this!?!?!?"

Compared to them, the carefree Dudley was obviously more concerned about the magical performance just now. So, after the little elf disappeared and turned into a piece of paper of unknown origin that fell on the ground, he became highly interested, dragging his huge body with all his limbs, like a little pig, rushing towards the direction where Dursley and Petunia were.

Then, he stopped in front of the job advertisement, and without hesitation, bent down to pick it up. While picking it up, he seemed worried that someone would snatch this magical thing from him, and shouted to assert his ownership.

"It's mine! I saw it first!!"

"Dudley! Put it down immediately!!"

Seeing her precious son's actions, Petunia, anxious for her child, was so frightened that she had no choice but to quickly squat down and snatch the "magical" thing into her hands, fearing that Dudley would be harmed by it.

"Give it to me! What is that? I haven't seen it yet!"

Dudley grunted, frowning as he glared at his mother.

This child, already almost ruined by excessive pampering, stubbornly stretched out his Michelin-tire-like arms, desperately trying to grab the job advertisement from Petunia's hand.

Although he didn't know what the thing was for, in his eyes, everything interesting and fun in this house should rightfully be given to him.

"No! Darling, this is evil magic, you can't touch it!!!"

Petunia screamed again, and the silence in the entire house was once again broken, becoming noisy and chaotic...

........................

In the end, unable to resist Dudley's stubbornness, the job advertisement still ended up in his hands...

However, after Dudley looked at the job advertisement up and down, confirming that it was just an ordinary piece of paper, devoid of any magic, he suddenly lost interest.

After handing it to his mother, he returned to the dining table to continue dealing with the remaining half of the soufflé, as well as the still-warm bacon burger and fries.

On the other hand, Petunia and Dursley had completely lost their appetite.

Without a word, they took the job advertisement and hurried back to their room.

With a "Bang!", the door was slammed shut. Petunia scurried over to the window.

She poked her head out of the window, looking around left and right. Seeing that there was no one on the empty street, she quickly drew the curtains, preventing anyone from seeing in.

When all the preparations were finally completed, she finally came to the bedside, looking at Dursley, who was sitting on the bed, head down, looking at the job advertisement, his face pale with lingering terror.

"What should we do!!! That demon, Charlie Black!! He hasn't let us go!! He's come again..."

Silently listening to his wife's words, Dursley still didn't react, staring at the job advertisement without a cough, over and over again, somewhat lost in thought.

"Darling!! Say something! What should we do? Maybe we should move away from here... to some other place, find a deserted island, or just change countries!!"

Suddenly, as if thinking of something, Petunia's eyes lit up.

"Yes!! We'll go to a country with * * * faith!! Dudley will be highly respected there!!"

However, just as she eagerly turned her gaze towards Dursley, hoping he would agree with her, Dursley, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

"You know, Petunia..."

He held up the job advertisement in his hand, pointed to the address marked in bold and large font, and said in a relaxed, almost joking tone,

"Look, the address written on it is very close to us. If I drive, it'll only take half a day to get there..."

Hearing his words, Petunia widened her eyes in disbelief and screamed,

"Dursley!!!!" Seemingly because she was too excited, Petunia directly called him by his last name. It should be known that this situation had never happened in their more than ten years of life together.

"What do you mean by saying that!?!?! Are you going? Are you going to apply!! Are you going to apply to Charlie Black's factory!??? Are you going to work for an evil wizard!?!?!"

As Petunia spoke, her voice grew louder and louder, she became more and more agitated, and more and more angry. In the end, her tone turned into a question.

"........"

Dursley didn't refute anything. He put the hand holding the job advertisement back on his knee, and his eyelids drooped down.

After quietly waiting for Petunia's anger to gradually dissipate a bit, he continued to speak in a deep, hoarse voice.

"Do you know what my opinion is? My dear, I think Charlie Black isn't not letting us go... but is planning to give us a chance."

Dursley paused, and seeing that Petunia pursed her lips, not intending to interrupt, he continued,

"We've looked for too many people... begging them to help Dudley. But you know the result, not a single one succeeded! Although I can't understand it, I also vaguely understand that Charlie Black is stronger than all of them!"

"I was a supervisor in my previous company! I have a lot of management experience. Putting aside everything else, I can definitely leave those wizards fifteen Privet Drives behind in this aspect."

Seeming to have spoken about his area of expertise, Dursley straightened his back a bit. He blew his mustache and continued,

"I can help him, help him make the factory better. When that time comes, I'll make a request, begging him to forgive my previous mistakes and remove the magic from Dudley. I believe he won't refuse me..."

"...But have you forgotten? Your last company, Grunnings, specializes in manufacturing water drills. It has nothing to do with candy..."

Petunia spoke again, but this time, her voice softened a lot, not as hysterical as before, seemingly regaining her reason.

"...Although the business is different, I can learn in advance. After all, the management experience is still there. I'm confident that I can become a qualified candy factory employee in a month."

Petunia's eyes flickered, listening to Dursley's earnest voice, she couldn't help but be moved.

"Darling, you've already given too much for this family... Actually, even if Dudley can't change back, we'll still love him. He'll grow up like other children, and I'm willing to raise him like this for the rest of my life."

"No..."

Dursley slowly shook his head, firmly saying,

"You can't make any decisions for him. Dudley should have a healthy and happy life like other children. We can't raise him for the rest of our lives. Even if we die in the end, leaving him enough property, it would ultimately harm him."