Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

“Vernon Dursley!”

The outcome was predictable. After Dudley fled, the helpless Petunia could only focus her anger on Vernon.

Gone was the usual gentleness she showed him; she even called him by his full name, indicating the severity of the situation.

“Why did you let my Dudley-darling eat those horrible things again!? Look at him now! His head was already turning into a pig's head, what if his body turns into a pig's body too!?”

At this point, Vernon naturally dared not argue or retort. For his son's happiness, he could only force a smile and softly soothe, trying to ease his wife's emotions.

“Honey, relax, it's not that bad… They were just a few ordinary candies. And you have to know, I haven't given up trying to help Dudley-darling. I have a solution now, believe me, it won't be long before our son returns to normal.”

Only when she heard about how her precious son could return to normal did Petunia's eyes widen. Forgetting her anger, she asked eagerly,

“Darling, are you serious? I mean… you've already thought of a way to turn our son back?”

Vernon secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but the expression on his face didn't change, remaining a confident smile.

He reached out, put his arm around his wife's waist, pulled her into his arms, gently patted her back, and continued,

“Don't worry… Petunia, I love our Dudley-darling as much as you do, and I hope he can return to normal. Believe me, I would never deceive you.”

Petunia was overwhelmed with emotion. She gently grasped Vernon's thick hand, and the anger that had been burning in her heart suddenly vanished without a trace…

Leaving only the usual tenderness. She closed her eyes and gently leaned her head on his reliable chest.

Neither of them said anything, simply enjoying the peaceful warmth. After a long while, Petunia finally spoke again,

“I'm sorry, dear… I yelled at you so loudly just now.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

At noon, after a hearty lunch, Vernon didn't continue to rest. He picked up the Floo Powder from the side and skillfully stepped into the fireplace. Finally, under Petunia's gaze, with a cry of “Candy Factory!”, the rising ghostly green flames engulfed him, and in the next second, he disappeared without a trace before her eyes.

… … …

On a Sunday in the factory, when Vernon arrived in the factory through the fireplace, it seemed particularly empty. Without the usual lively atmosphere of people and the constant roar of machines, Vernon felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Looking at the empty and quiet factory, he raised his eyebrows and casually patted the nearby machine. After looking around for a moment, just as he was about to walk away, a familiar voice suddenly came from the factory entrance.

“Why are you so late?”

Vernon was startled and quickly twisted his body to look in the direction of the voice. His gaze shifted, and he saw a tall figure wearing a thick cloak, with the hood pulled low, almost covering his entire face, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, in an impatient posture.

“You, you are… Pongpong?!”

Vernon squinted his eyes and, after about two or three seconds of confirmation, recognized the person in front of him as Pongpong, who had been his coworker for over ten days, based on the voice he had just heard.

Taking a deep breath, looking at the unfamiliar figure in front of him, Vernon seemed to feel a huge shock. Suppressing the shock in his heart, he stammered, gesturing as he asked,

“Wait… what are you?! I mean… aren't you a house-elf? How could you suddenly become a human?”

Under the shadow of the hood, Pongpong's mouth curled in disdain, and he casually replied.

“Don't be so alarmed, this is magic.”

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Vernon to say anything, he stood up, turned his head, and walked towards the outside of the factory on his own. As he walked, he continued,

“Let's go! It wasn't easy for me to get a day off today. The boss is out on business, and the other house-elves are busy with the miscellaneous tasks of putting the new candies on the shelves under Russell's command. It wasn't easy for me to get a day off… I hope that bar you mentioned is really worth me spending half a day and a bottle of Polyjuice Potion to go there.”

Staring blankly at the departing Pongpong, Vernon barely managed to accept the fact that the guy in front of him was Pongpong himself.

Taking a deep breath, desperately reminding himself in his mind, this is the magical world, this is the magical world… He finally recovered and quickly followed the other's footsteps, walking together towards the exit of the candy factory.

“Don't worry! You won't be disappointed, the Leaky Cauldron is a good place, the people there are all nice, you'll definitely like it there!”

“Hmph… I hope so.”

Pongpong grunted noncommittally, not taking Vernon's words. Instead, he raised his hand and tentatively touched his now angular cheeks, even the skin was more elastic than usual…

This bottle of Polyjuice Potion was made by him by taking advantage of Ryan coming to the factory to replace Charlie in managing, and specially collecting his fallen hairs.

Originally, it was intended as a way to retaliate if the candy factory was ever attacked in the future. However, he didn't expect that it would actually be used in this kind of place—going to a wizard-owned bar with a Muggle to have fun…

If it were the old him, when he heard of this action, he would have definitely gone crazy…

After all, as a house-elf with great distrust and even hostility towards humans, even his close companions such as Kobe probably couldn't believe that Pongpong could do this.

But despite how surprising it was, the fact was that, under Vernon's constant flattery and communication, Pongpong, who still inherently retained the kindness unique to house-elves, unexpectedly became friends with him, and was willing to risk stepping out of this idyllic candy factory and giving those wizards another chance.

In this way, chatting idly along the way, the two walked straight towards the exit of the candy factory.