章 127: 0127 I Know
The kitchen, which had been meticulously cleaned and organized by the diligent Aunt Petunia, was now enveloped in a peculiar atmosphere. This atmosphere seemed to have a stifling effect on the Dursleys, who were the rightful owners of the house at Number Four, Privet Drive. They sat rigidly on one side of the dining table, like wax figures in a museum, not daring to look at Harry, who was anxiously narrating the events that had led to this situation, but at Bryan, who was casually enjoying a fried egg with toast and bacon.
When Harry mentioned that he was baffled by the possibility of wizards having cancer, a disease that he had only heard of in muggle terms, Bryan put down his knife and fork and looked up at him with a serious expression.
"No, Potter, wizards don't get that kind of disease–"
"Why, Professor Watson?"
Harry interrupted him, still using the title that he had given him when he was the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even though he knew that Mr. Watson was no longer teaching there, Harry still felt a sense of respect towards him. Harry was curious about the reason behind Bryan's statement, as he thought that cancer should not discriminate between wizards and muggles. So Facing Professor Watson's explanation, he showed a puzzled look,
"This disease, I don't know much about it, Professor, but I think it shouldn't matter whether we are wizards or not."
"It's because of the magic."
Bryan swallowed the food in his mouth and calmly said, "This involves the fundamental difference between wizards and muggles, Potter. You see, we and muggles alike, the cells in our bodies are constantly mutating, but our bodies contain a high concentration of magic that muggles do not have.
Magic is a very amazing force, it is like a unique immune system that only exists in the bodies of wizards. When it detects the diseases that exist naturally, such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites, magic will spontaneously annihilate those sources of disease–"
Looking at Potter, who was unconsciously sitting upright, as if he was in class, Bryan smiled. To be honest, apart from Dumbledore's unpleasant 'trick', he had a lot of fun in the few months he returned to Hogwarts in the first half of the year.
"–Most of the sources of disease that do not involve abnormal magic cannot cause wizards to get sick. In addition, magic also has a weak effect of strengthening the physical quality, so you will find that, as long as they are not sick or disaster-prone, most of the wizards with high magic power will basically live a long life."
"Just like Dumbledore!"
Harry, who had been a little confused, reacted immediately.
'You're almost competing with Rubeus Hagrid for the position of Dumbledore's number one fan, Potter.'
Bryan secretly rolled his eyes, but smiled and nodded.
Aunt Petunia, who was sitting opposite the two of them, showed a trace of hard-to-detect envy in her fearful eyes when she heard this, and as the topic evolved, Uncle Vernon, who almost occupied half of the other side of the dining table, unconsciously clenched his fists under the table, deliberately suppressing his breathing also slowly increased, it seemed that he had reached the limit of tolerance.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that this young man with a very special temperament had almost the same appearance as Mr. Watson when he was young, he might have already 'politely' asked him to leave.
But since it came to this, Uncle Vernon was puzzled again.
This man should be Mr. Watson's son–without much intelligence, Uncle Vernon figured it out himself. His eyes might have inherited his mother, but his features and that soft gray hair were almost identical to Mr. Watson when he was young. If they weren't father and son, that would be puzzling!
But Mr. Watson had no children, which was confirmed by Mr. Watson's loyal old butler, Mr. Lawrence!
Uncle Vernon had been in that drilling company for most of his life, and he knew the family situation of every old employee in the company, let alone their boss, Claude Watson.
Could it be that Mr. Watson had a bastard son that even his faithful old butler Lawrence didn't know about?! Uncle Vernon blinked his piggy eyes and felt that he had discovered the explosive truth.
Then, since Mr. Watson had no other children except this bastard son, why didn't he try to find him back when he was so sick, after all, he had such a huge family business with no one to inherit? Looking at the young man who was enjoying Petunia's breakfast and chatting with Petunia's annoying nephew, Uncle Vernon struggled to turn his head, quietly thinking about this question.
Suddenly, Uncle Vernon opened his eyes wide and held his breath, thinking of a shocking possibility! From the conversation, it could be heard that this man had been a professor at that school that, which means that he must be one of those weird and freaky people they hated! Those who could do unnatural things with a flick of a stick, those who had ruined his peaceful and normal life by sending his nephew to that place!
And Mr. Watson must have known this, no doubt, Mr. Watson was a decent person, so he never wanted to admit or reveal that he had such a shameful bastard son, he didn't want to have anything to do with him! He must have abandoned him as soon as he found out his true nature, and never looked back!
Bryan, who seemed to have noticed something, casually glanced at Uncle Vernon, who had changed his expression from confusion and fear to contempt and superiority. He wondered what had made the fat man who had shown him such hostility and suspicion suddenly feel so smug and proud. He also noticed that the kid who was almost a miniature version of him had been covering his butt with his hands since he saw him. What was wrong with that? Could it be that he had been persecuted by someone and had some misunderstanding of him?
"–I saw a picture in that drawing room, it was."
Harry hesitated for a moment, as if he was reluctant to admit his relationship with the Dursleys in front of Professor Watson, just like the Dursleys always thought that having a relationship with him was a disgrace.
"–It was a group photo of all the employees of Uncle Vernon's company many years ago, and it also had the boss of this company"
"And then you found out that the boss of that drilling company looked almost exactly like me?"
Bryan, who had eaten seven or eight points full, elegantly wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth with a napkin, and nodded gratefully at Aunt Petunia,
"Your cooking is great, Mrs. Petunia, I haven't had such a delicious breakfast for a long time."
Aunt Petunia, who received the compliment, did not show any emotion related to happiness. She pursed her lips and lowered her head to look at those plates. Although she was eager to get this man out of her house, even if he might have a close relationship with Vernon's company boss, she didn't dare to say a word. She was afraid of what he might do if he got angry, or worse, if he used his magic.
"So, how is he doing now, I mean, Claude Watson."
Harry was not surprised that Professor Watson would care about the health of Uncle Vernon's company boss, he was surprised by the tone of Professor Watson when he mentioned this name, that was a kind of casual, not very caring tone, as if he was discussing a stranger who had little to do with him!
"Very bad, Professor, he could die at any time"
Harry didn't go on, but he believed that Professor Watson would understand what he meant. He wondered why Professor Watson didn't seem to care about his father's condition, or didn't try to contact him or visit him.
Looking at Professor Watson, whose deep eyes were hard to see, Harry hesitated for a while and asked,
"Do you know, I mean, did you know this Mr. Claude Watson very early, Professor. Because, you don't seem very surprised?"
Bryan sighed, he leaned back on the chair and looked up at the spotless ceiling, his fingers tapping on the dining table one by one, making a dull and depressing knocking sound. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, recalling some memories that were not pleasant or happy.
"Yes, I know."
After a while, Bryan nodded and answered the question, "I knew about the existence of this Mr. Claude Watson very early."
"But I heard Hagrid say that you grew up in an orphanage?"
Harry opened his mouth and asked blankly.
"That's right, Potter."
Bryan lowered his head and looked at Harry, showing a deep smile that was hard to understand, "I did grow up in an orphanage, these two things are not contradictory, are they?"
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