Chapter 1: The One Who Must Not Be Named

London's weather changes as unpredictably as the mood of a newlywed bride, who has just fallen in love. One moment, the sky is clear, and the next moment, a light rain begins to fall, creating a unique scent as rain mixes with dust.

In the southwest of central London, in the county of Surrey, stands a long-standing primary school – St. George's Primary School.

On the inner side of the outer walls, three guys with oily hair and dirty faces, seemingly seniors, lazily leaning against the wall, their faces showing decadence, a stark contrast to the youthful and energetic campus atmosphere, highlighting their 'individual' characteristics.

Coincidentally, at this moment, a boy wearing oversized glasses and a much larger school uniform, with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, nicknamed 'Little Bean' hurries past them with a piece of bread in hand.

After the two of them looked at each other, the taller of the two quickly catches up.

He throws an arm around 'Little Bean's' shoulder and says in a very familiar tone, "Look, isn't this our Mr. Kate?"

"Last week, you owed me 50 pence. When are you planning to pay it back this week?"

'Little Bean,' who has never faced such a situation, is frightened, lowers his head, and dare not look at them. He weakly defends, "I'm sorry, sir, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm not called Kate."

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he receives a slap on his face. His glasses fly to the side, and his hair was messed up.

The tall guy says menacingly, "Are you saying am blind? If I say you're Kate, then you're Kate."

Maybe was the commotion is getting attention, as kids around start looking inquisitively. The other two leaning against the wall also stand up—one to drive away onlookers, and the remaining one pulls 'Little Bean' toward a a hidden spot on the school grounds.

Their actions are skillful and fluid, clearly not the first time they've done this.

Bullying is always present in schools, especially in schools like St. George's, and these guys taking 'Little Bean' away are no exception.

Kids around, unfamiliar with such scenes, are scared away.

"Give it here." The short and chubby guy snatches the bread from 'Little Bean's' hand. "I haven't had breakfast yet. Might as well taste this... pugh (spit in contempt) ... this rotten bread as hard as a rock. Who would like to eat this crap?"

Even though he tried hard, he can only leave a tooth mark on the bread, and it hurt his cheek.

"That's my brother's favorite baguette." 'Little Bean' quickly picks up the rejected bread, holds it close, afraid the others might take it again. Looking at the faint tooth mark, he says in a slightly teary voice, "Oh no, Dudley will be angry if he finds out someone touched his food."

His overly nervous attitude about the bread doesn't catch the attention of the three. Even though 'Little Bean' has just been slapped, he shows no reaction.

The short and chubby one, with disdain on his face, says, "Who is your brother??"

Who dares to provoke the Hobbit Trio of St. George's?

"Yeah, yeah, it's your brother's bread." The tall one rolls his eyes, bends down, and pats 'Little Bean's' cheek, speaking with a 'gentle' tone, "So now, your brother Moses also owes us 50 pence. Look, you two brothers together owe us a total of."

"My brother's not called Moses, and I'm not called Kate," 'Little Bean' tries to argue, trembling with fear.

He knows that if he compromises out of fear, something even more terrifying will happen.

"Don't you understand what I just said?" The tall one, hearing 'Little Bean' dare to contradict him, changes from the previous kindness to a fierce expression. "Then tell me your name now."

The speed of this change is astonishing.

"Harry. Harry Potter!"

"Smack!" Harry receives another slap.

The tall one scolds, "Haven't understood what I said? Your name is Kate. You and your brother owe us a pound."

Why is the tall one so persistent in changing the other's name? Because once the other admits it, even if reported to the teacher, they can say it's a case of mistaken identity.

After all, they were asking 'Kate' for the money owed, not extorting money from Harry.

As for the money? That was voluntarily given by Harry.

However, upon hearing the name from Little Bean, the one in the trio who hadn't spoken suddenly had a drastic change in expression and hastily stopped the tall guy, Jim: "Jim, stop. He says his name is Harry Potter."

"So what? Harvey." Jim, not understanding his companion's meaning, asks with a puzzled expression.

"Let's just go." Harvey quickly pulls the two to leave.

The chubby kid, influenced by the nervous atmosphere created by Harvey, quickly asks, "What do his parents do?"

He thinks they might have provoked someone they shouldn't have offended, like parents who are police officers or big thugs, whom they would genuinely fear.

"I heard his parents died in a car accident." Harvey blurts out, then urges his companions again, "Now is not the time for this. Let's go quickly."

Hearing Harvey's words, the chubby kid sighs in relief, and Jim scolds, "What are you scared of?"

He thinks his companion has gone crazy. In a while, they'll have a pound in their pocket—that's a whole pound!

On Harvey's side, he's nearly driven to tears by his two companions, "His brother is Dudley."

"Dudley? Which Dudley?" Jim is still bewildered, not fully recovered.

"How many Dudleys are there at St. George's School? Of course, it's that Dudley. Dudley Dursley!"

Harvey raises his voice slightly, but when it comes to the name, he noticeably lowers his volume. At the same time, he feels desperate that his companions still haven't caught on.

"Who's that?"

The chubby kid is still clueless and quite dissatisfied with his companion's cryptic behavior. Why can't he just say everything at once? Why play this guessing game?

Jim, on the other hand, still has some brains. He turns to Harry and asks, "Hey, Potter, how old is your brother?"

"Same as me, in the fourth grade." Harry is an honest kid and answers truthfully.

"What's there to be afraid of with a fourth-grade student?" Jim is completely reassured now. At the same time, he is puzzled by his companion's neurotic nervousness. "We're graduating after this year. What are you worried about, Harvey?"

"If you've heard this name before."

Seemingly determined, Harvey makes his companions come closer, lowering his voice as much as possible, as if afraid others might hear.

In an extremely slow and gentle tone, he utters a name.

" Dursley, the Food Keeper!"

His words seem to have uncovered a forbidden secret.

Everyone, including Harry, feels their breath was stagnated at mention of this name.

PS: Harry Potter's parents dying in a car accident is what Aunt Petunia told him.

PS2: Dudley is a month and a week older than Harry.

PS3: Dudley's actor is named Harry Melling.

(End of this chapter)