0130 Those Stories (Part-1)
0130 Those Stories (Part-1)
Boom - the deafening thunder roared across the land, and the torrential rain plunged the Watson Manor into a gloomy darkness. The manor, which had witnessed countless years seemed to shiver under the wrath of nature. The raindrops hit the windows like bullets, creating a rhythmic noise that echoed in the empty corridors.
Back in the private reception room, Bryan found Harry in a daze, and the exquisite snacks on the coffee table in front of him seemed untouched. The young wizard looked pale and restless, as if he had just seen a ghost. His green eyes were fixed on the door, where Bryan had disappeared for more than an hour.
"Professor Watson -"
Seeing Bryan enter the room, Harry came back from his sluggish state. He seemed curious about many things, but the solemn expression on Professor Watson's face made him realize that he might not want to pry into his secrets. Harry respected his privacy, but he also felt uneasy about the mysterious meeting that had taken place between Bryan and the owner of the manor.
"Shall we leave now?"
Forced by the pressure around Bryan, Harry resisted the urge to ask about the meeting situation, and looked a little uneasy.
Walking to the window, Bryan stared at the dense rain curtain outside and pondered for a moment, "The old butler Lawrence invited us to have lunch together. Well, this terrible weather, I think it's not a bad idea to have a midday meal here, at least, we don't have to brave the rain to find a car -"
This was a lie - Harry saw through it at a glance.
Professor Watson was a powerful wizard, and if he wanted, he had plenty of ways to keep himself from getting wet. He could use a simple charm, or even apparate to any place he desired. Of course, Harry was not stupid, he did not expose this lie, but just nodded hesitantly. He thought that Professor had some unfinished business here, and he did not want to interfere.
Bryan closed the window, brushed off the raindrops on his clothes, turned around and sat next to Harry, looking carefully at the interior decoration of the room - crystal chandeliers, velvet carpets, cedar coffee tables, and even the cups for tea, they were all precious porcelain from many countries. The room was filled with luxury and elegance, but also with a cold and distant atmosphere. It was obvious that this was not a place where people lived happily and comfortably.
"Tsk tsk, the luxury of rich -"
Bryan glanced over the furnishings in the room with an appreciative eye, and whispered in admiration. He thought that Potter would agree with him a little bit, but in fact he didn't. Potter didn't say a word, just peeked at him with a secret and restrained look. Harry felt a strange tension between them, as if they were both hiding something from each other.
Bryan thought for a while, he leaned back on the chair, chuckled and asked,
"I guess, you must be curious about my relationship with the owner of this manor?"
"I don't quite understand, professor," Harry hesitated and nodded, "You said you grew up in an orphanage, but you seem to have known for a long time that, well, you have something to do with this manor?"
"That's because -"
Bryan picked a piece of snack from the coffee table and threw it into his mouth, chewing it non-stop, and muttered,
"How can I explain it to you? Well, although I'm not like you, who defeated the dark lord Voldemort, who made the magical world tremble, when I was just born, I also have some unique abilities of my own."
"Unique abilities?"
Harry didn't have time to care about Professor Watson's teasing words, and blinked curiously.
"Yes -" Bryan nodded and said, "My memory is outstanding. Of course, this will make you confused, what kind of ability is outstanding memory, even among the Muggles there are many people with amazing memory, but those people are definitely not like me, since I opened my eyes in this world for the first time, I remember everything that happened to me -"
It took Harry a few seconds to understand what Professor Watson meant, and then he was shocked and widened his eyes, looking incredulous,
"You mean, you remember everything that happened to you after you were born, I've never heard of anyone who has this ability!"
"Ah, yes, this situation is indeed rare, but there must be some similar cases to mine."
Bryan was vague, he spread his hands at Harry, "So, it's not hard to understand why I'm an orphan, but I know the blood relationship between the owner of this manor and me -"
It took Harry some effort to digest the shocking news. Among all his friends, Hermione was undoubtedly the one with the best brain, she could memorize a textbook that made him desperate in the shortest time, and for a long time, she could recite the contents of that book backwards. But Harry believed that Hermione couldn't remember what she looked like when she was just born either! He wondered how Bryan felt, having such a perfect memory, and whether it was a blessing or a curse.
"So, that means, you know. know why they would -"
Harry showed a hesitant expression, as if he was afraid to touch a wound that had not healed.
"Abandon me?"
Bryan finished the sentence that Harry didn't finish, with a bitter smile on his face. He did not seem to be angry or resentful, but rather resigned and indifferent. He had accepted it, and he did not expect any sympathy or pity from anyone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, professor!" Harry stood up and hurriedly expressed his apology, "I didn't mean to pry into your privacy."
He felt guilty and embarrassed, as if he had violated a taboo. He knew how painful it was to lose one's parents, and he did not want to make Bryan feel worse. Bryan waved his hand and told Harry to sit down, indicating that he didn't need to be too nervous, and then, looking at the rain outside that didn't weaken at all, he frowned and said,
"Well, before lunch starts, maybe we need a topic to kill time. Actually, I don't think discussing my origin is a shameful thing, I just think it's boring and dull, but since we need a topic."
'This was another lie!'
Harry pursed his lips and thought to himself, he thought Professor Watson just wanted to find an excuse to confide.
He sensed that Bryan had a lot of things to say, and that he needed someone to listen. Harry felt a strange connection with him, as if they were both outsiders in this world, and that they had something in common. He was not an orphan, but that was almost the same. Sometimes, he also wanted to tell someone how hard his life was with the Dursleys, of course, he had told Ron and Hermione about these things, and they did show incredulity and anger, but Ron and Hermione couldn't empathize with him. They had never experienced the loneliness and neglect that he had endured for ten years, and they had never felt the fear and hatred that he had faced from his relatives.
Life is always lonely.
Harry suddenly remembered some similar words that Professor Watson had said to Hermione, maybe, Professor Watson wanted to say. some experiences bring pain that only oneself can bear?
"Your mother. oh, of course, and your father, they sacrificed themselves to resist the evil that corrupted the world, to fight against Voldemort, this fearless act made people admire, even after they have been dead for more than a decade, when people mention them, they still maintain enough respect -"
Bryan said in a soothing tone, trying to comfort Harry.
"Compared to them, my mother is not so noble, in fact, because of being too rebellious, she was quite unpopular."
Professor Watson's evaluation of his parents made Harry both happy and sad, he was not like Professor Watson who had such a unique talent, his recognition of his parents' appearance was still the album that Hagrid gave him at the end of the first year, and the mirror of Erised that he didn't know where it went.
"Rebellious might not be enough to describe my mother's actions in her youth, she learned to smoke at the age of ten with a few bad boys from the street, and had a tattoo on her back after she entered High School in the first year. She learned to steal, of course, her family situation didn't need her to do such a despicable thing, she did it probably just for fun, and then, hanging out with the boys, fighting and brawling, she spent less than a year or two, and she had a record in the Muggle police station that was probably thicker than your history of magic textbook -"
Harry was shocked and stared at Professor Watson, unable to imagine that someone like Professor Watson who was always polite and seemed to have nothing to anger him would have such a, well rebellious mother!
"You can imagine how much tears her parents shed for her actions, in order to discipline her better, they had to transfer her to a famous school that specialized in dealing with troubled teenagers. But that was also a waste of effort, or even worse, the chaotic environment of that school encouraged her rebellious nature, and after staying there for a few years, she was expelled from the school and detained for a while because she was the leader of a terrible gang fight. And that also made her parents completely disappointed in her, and when she came home, they threw her luggage out of the door and yelled that she was no longer their daughter."
As he said this, Bryan sighed heavily, as if he was also helpless for his mother's actions when she was young.
"Actually, speaking of it, my birth was entirely due to my mother's scheming."
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