[HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY]
[Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore]
(Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer)
[Dear Mr. Makiya]
[We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed, you will find a list of required books and equipment.]
[Term begins on September 1. We await your owl with your reply by July 31.]
[Deputy Headmistress]
[Minerva McGonagall]
While Professor McGonagall hesitated, Makiya finished reading the entire letter. He folded it neatly again, planning to put it away as a keepsake.
McGonagall misunderstood his movement and thought he simply didn't believe in any magic school, so she began to explain. "Mr. Makiya, I know this is difficult to believe, but you really are a young wizard, and magic truly exists."
As she spoke, she flicked her wand. The teacups on the table in front of them seemed to come alive, transforming into two tiny figures that began to dance on the tabletop.
Bringing young wizards raised among Muggles into the wizarding world, showing them the wonder of magic so they could accept it, was part of an escort professor's duty in the first place.
"So amazing!" Makiya put on a delighted face, his eyes bright with curiosity. "How did you do that? That's incredible."
Professor McGonagall's lips curved into a smile. Right in front of him, she performed a few more spells. Her masterful Transfiguration made the tea set seem alive; Makiya could even clearly see the joyful smiles on the little figures' faces.
Truly superb Transfiguration.
"As long as you enter Hogwarts and study, and listen to my lessons carefully. I mean very carefully. You'll be able to do this too."
"That's wonderful, Professor McGonagall. I want to learn this!"
"Believe me, Hogwarts won't disappoint you. What I demonstrated is Transfiguration. And there are many other astonishing branches of magic waiting for you to learn."
Seeing the timing was about right, Professor McGonagall waved her wand and returned the tea set to normal. "For your first year, I'll take you to purchase the necessities for the first term, the items listed after the letter. After that, you'll have to manage on your own."
She stood up, her expression returning to stern. "Mr. Makiya, I suggest you pack your belongings and take everything with you. After we buy your essentials, I'll find you a new place to stay temporarily. This place is no longer suitable for you."
"Uh… Professor McGonagall, can I ask why?" Makiya blinked his big eyes and tried to look cute, but he couldn't help recalling the two people he'd seen earlier.
Two strangers showing up out of nowhere to intercept an owl near the orphanage meant they were most likely here for him. But after he entered that mysterious space, he hadn't shown any abnormality at all. Why would someone suddenly have their eye on him?
After turning it over and over in his mind, it could only be connected to his bargain-bin parents in this life.
Makiya had been reborn as an infant, but the first person he saw when he opened his eyes wasn't his parents. It was some white-bearded old man.
Then he blinked, and suddenly he was at the orphanage gate. Before he met Harry Potter, he'd always believed his own grandpa had abandoned him. He'd even fantasized about the classic line, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west; don't look down on a poor youth." Once he made it big, he'd find the old man's grave and throw a dance party on it.
Professor McGonagall didn't answer him directly. She bent down and looked him in the eyes. "It's nothing, child. There are some things you're too young to know. But remember this: Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. Headmaster Dumbledore is the greatest light wizard of this century. As long as you stay at Hogwarts, no one can harm you."
"…All right, Professor McGonagall. I understand." Makiya nodded as if he half understood, while inside he rolled his eyes so hard it practically echoed.
There it was again: the attitude of 'I won't tell you because it's for your own good.' Back when Makiya watched horror films or disaster movies, he always mocked this exact thing. It was always something that could be explained clearly with a little time, but everyone insisted on acting like a riddle-speaker. By the time the truth finally came out, most of the cast was already dead, and it was too late for anything.
Still, he understood McGonagall's approach. In her eyes, he was just an eleven-year-old child, not someone capable of calm analysis and problem-solving. A child could be swayed by emotion and do something reckless.
Makiya wasn't going to argue with her. He had a better plan.
Hogwarts had someone just as senior, if not more: Rubeus Hagrid. He'd followed Dumbledore for ages and knew a little about everything. He looked tight-lipped, but in reality he was a wide-mouthed jar. With the right questions, Makiya could get what he wanted to know.
Makiya obediently returned to his small room to pack. There wasn't much to pack, really. A few clothes stuffed into a worn canvas bag; that was his entire worldly possession.
When he reached the orphanage entrance, Professor McGonagall had already settled things with the headmaster. The man smiled warmly and waved goodbye. Makiya waved back. Regardless of how good or bad the orphanage's food and lodging were, Makiya had grown up safe and healthy thanks to the headmaster and the matrons' careful care.
'If I get the chance, I should donate some money to the orphanage,' Makiya thought quietly.
A group of orphans clung to the doorframe and watched him, their expressions varied, though mostly envious. Every companion who left would begin a brand-new life, while they stayed behind, still waiting for their own chance.
After farewells, Makiya slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and walked beside Professor McGonagall as they headed down the street.
"Professor McGonagall, where are we going to buy things?"
"We're going to Diagon Alley, the busiest place in Britain's wizarding world. First we'll go to the Leaky Cauldron in London. Diagon Alley is entered from there." McGonagall explained patiently, giving Makiya a basic introduction to the wizarding world.
"Then how do we get there?"
Makiya was curious. In the original story, Hagrid brought Harry to the Leaky Cauldron. The film used a montage and never showed exactly how they traveled.
Based on how fanfics wrote it, could it be Apparition? From the way the original described it, the sensation probably wasn't pleasant. He might even throw up his breakfast.
Apparition, Portkeys, the Knight Bus, and Floo Powder: among these four long-distance wizarding methods, Floo Powder seemed like the most comfortable.
"Of course we take the bus," Professor McGonagall's voice came.
Makiya blinked, making sure he'd heard correctly. A bus. Not the Knight Bus.
Led by Professor McGonagall, the two of them walked to the town bus stop and waited quietly for a bus that went straight to London.
A perfectly normal bus, with nothing wizarding about it at all.
Makiya: "..."
Right. He'd forgotten. Little Whinging was in London's suburbs. Britain was tiny. You could get into the city quickly on public transport. There was no way Professor McGonagall would do a space-jump trick with a child.
The Leaky Cauldron was located in central London, squeezed between a Muggle bookshop and a record store. It had been bewitched on the outside; only wizards could see it, while ordinary people would unconsciously ignore the spot.
As Professor McGonagall brought Makiya closer, the sign hanging outside the pub gradually revealed its image: a battered cauldron drawn in a strange, crooked style.
She pushed open the old wooden door, and a hot gust hit them head-on, reeking of alcohol, butter, sweat, foot odor, and bad breath all mixed together. The stench instantly flooded Makiya's chest, dealing massive damage to his young respiratory system.
The smell dragged up a memory from his previous life: classrooms sealed up in winter. Every time he went to the bathroom during break and returned, he had to endure a brutal adjustment period before he could breathe normally again.
Professor McGonagall's face didn't change at all.
After taking a couple of breaths to steady himself, Makiya had barely stepped into the pub when he heard an excited shout.
"Makiya!!!"
Harry Potter wore a bright, happy grin as he bounced over to Makiya. In an instant, Makiya was forced into the center of attention.
At the same time, he saw the wide-mouthed jar he'd been longing for: Hagrid. And beside the half-giant, Professor Quirrell, who looked like he was trying to fumigate Voldemort to death with garlic.
Professor Quirrell's reaction was strange. The way he looked at Makiya was half like he wanted to cry, half like he wanted to smile.
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