Roger Williams,
By the time you read this letter, I imagine you will have once again taken hold of your own wand. Sandalwood, Qilin heartstring core, twelve inches, and remarkably durable. These qualities make the wand extraordinary, and they also suggest that its owner may achieve great things in the future.
During the time I spent with you in Diagon Alley, I could tell that you would become an exceptionally talented wizard. Your past misfortunes have not stained your noble wizarding soul, and you showed composure and independence beyond your years. Of course, there were also certain shortcomings, such as your inability to withstand Mr. Erwin's tireless sales pitch.
Perhaps you already know that the rules concerning wands for unenrolled young wizards are not enforced with absolute consistency. You may even have felt resentment toward me and wondered why only your wand was singled out for confiscation.
Forgive me, my child. The Qilin heartstring inside this wand is connected to something that happened sixty years ago, and I had to take it away to confirm certain details once more.
I apologise to you, and I hope you understand that patience is a rare virtue. I have asked a house-elf to deliver the notebook I used when I was first learning Transfiguration, and I hope it offers you a little help on your future magical journey.
Sincerely,Minerva McGonagall
After reading the letter, Roger's resentment toward Professor McGonagall vanished completely. However, it was already late, and he still needed to hurry and write a letter back home.
He picked up a quill and filled three whole pages for Jessica. Then, with practiced skill, he used magic to control the camera and took a moving photograph of himself.
Unfortunately, the wizarding world did not have instant cameras. The film needed to be treated with special potion before the figures inside could move, which made Roger feel that the magical world still had plenty of room for improvement.
If he could create a magical version inspired by future digital cameras and instant cameras, it would definitely become a huge success. Roger quickly jotted the idea into his notebook, wrapped up the negatives and letters, then grabbed his bag and hurried out.
"Excuse me!" Roger rushed into the common room and nearly bumped into a first-year coming from another direction. He stopped just in time, barely avoiding a collision.
"It's all right." Daphne smiled, and her long pale-blonde hair shimmered softly beneath the green lamps. Her clear blue eyes sparkled with curiosity, and she had obviously recognised him as the boy who had devoured half the feast.
"Who are you?" Roger looked at the young witch, who was slightly taller than him, and discovered that he had no memory of her at all.
"My name is Daphne Greengrass, and I'm a pure-blood like you." Daphne introduced herself naturally, as if this fact should make the conversation much easier.
"There's no time. Let's go." Roger nodded, then glanced at the clock in the common room. Curfew was in ten minutes.
He rushed through the corridors and into the courtyard before taking Sylph out of the carrier bag. "Sylph, do you see the West Tower? That's where the Owlery is."
Roger fed the owl some of the treats he carried with him, then tied the letter carefully to her leg. "Give this to Jessica. If there's a reply, you can find me in the Great Hall or deliver it to the Slytherin mail perch."
At Roger's call, Sylph shot into the night sky like a white arrow. In the blink of an eye, the snowy owl vanished into the darkness above the castle.
"Wow, that was fast." Daphne closed the carrier and looked curiously at Roger's handbag. "What is this?"
"A bag that can carry magical creatures. You can also call it a creature pouch." Roger raised his wrist to demonstrate something, then suddenly paused. "Huh, it's broken?"
"And this?" Daphne pointed at the thing on Roger's wrist that looked like a watch.
"How could a digital watch be broken?" Roger slapped the watch hard, but the screen gave no response.
"Muggle stuff?" Daphne frowned slightly. When Roger nodded, she kindly reminded him, "Hogwarts interferes with Muggle electronics. Most of them won't work here."
"What? There's magic like that?" Roger's mouth fell open. All the Muggle equipment he had brought was now useless. "Isn't that basically an EMP?"
"EMP?" Daphne looked puzzled. "Is that a Muggle word?"
"Ugh, electromagnetic pulse." Roger looked somewhat dejected, increasingly feeling that the magical world was not necessarily more advanced than the outside one. It simply advanced in a completely different and equally unreasonable direction.
"I think if we don't hurry, we'll be late." Daphne shook the silver pocket watch on her wrist. Curfew was approaching quickly.
The two exchanged a glance, then ran madly back toward the Slytherin common room. Neither of them wanted to be caught by the caretaker on the very first night of school.
"So close. So close." Filch sighed regretfully from the end of the corridor, watching helplessly as the two young wizards disappeared around the corner at the last possible second.
Roger and Daphne rushed into the common room out of breath, then laughed between gasps. "That was close. We almost got caught."
"They would've deducted points from us." Daphne clutched her heaving chest and had to admit that the chase had been thrilling and fun.
"See you tomorrow, Miss Daphne." Roger waved and turned toward the boys' dormitory.
"Mr. Roger, please remember my full name." Daphne suddenly spoke up, reminding him with a faint smile. "Greengrass."
"Yes, Miss Greengrass. Good night." Roger corrected himself at once.
"Good night." Daphne watched Roger leave, then hurried toward the girls' dormitory.
"Ah, a beautiful day begins with sleep." Roger jumped onto the bed and looked forward to the magical life that would begin tomorrow. The room was quiet, the lake light outside the window was dim, and for once, he fell asleep without a potion forcing him down.
The next morning, he woke unusually early. He patted the silent conch-shaped alarm clock beside his bed, but the large toy modelled after SpongeBob SquarePants was now completely useless.
"I want to live like myself, not like Merlin." Roger muttered a complaint as he climbed out of bed, though even he was not sure what that sentence was supposed to mean.
After washing up, he put on his school uniform and tied his tie properly. He checked his textbooks and wand, then left the dormitory and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Good morning, Hermione." Roger waved toward Hermione at the Gryffindor table, surprised that Miss Granger was the first one there.
"Hmph." Hermione snorted coldly and turned away. She still had not forgotten that because Roger had gone to Slytherin, she had lost the argument to Ron.
Roger watched Hermione pick up her plate and turn her head, wondering who had offended Miss Granger this time. Girls' minds were difficult to understand, even when they were only eleven years old.
Hermione grew even angrier when she saw Roger calmly sit down and begin eating. She quickly finished what remained on her plate, grabbed her textbook, and left the Great Hall without looking back, clearly disappearing somewhere to read.
Roger felt a little embarrassed, but given Hermione's studious nature, she might calm down after morning study and before Transfiguration class began. At least, that was what he hoped.
"Good morning, Roger." Elena looked at him with some surprise from the Ravenclaw table. "I didn't expect our Sleeping Beauty to wake up so early."
"Elena, good morning." Roger nodded, then looked at the groups of Ravenclaw students and could not help admiring their diligence. While the other houses were still half-asleep, the eagles had already gathered in the Great Hall.
"Elena, what classes do you have this morning?" Roger asked curiously while helping himself to breakfast.
"Professor Snape's Potions class." Elena's voice immediately became nervous. "The prefect said the Potions classroom is in the dungeons, and one wall is covered in glass jars full of animal specimens."
"Elena, don't be afraid." Roger comforted the young witch with complete seriousness. "Our Head of House is a good person, except for his favouritism."
Roger was not trying to flatter Snape. Looking at the entire Harry Potter story, aside from his somewhat excessive bias toward Harry, Snape was actually fairly decent to most other students.
"I'll tell you a secret." Roger lowered his head and whispered near Elena's ear. "I heard Snape's Patronus is related to Gryffindor."
"Huh? A lion?" Elena's eyes widened in curiosity. "That's amazing. The Patronus of Slytherin's Head of House is a lion?"
"No, no, no. I only said it was related to Gryffindor. I didn't say it was a lion." Roger grinned wickedly. If Elena ever learned about Snape's youth, she would probably be shocked.
Down in the dungeons, Snape was organising potion ingredients when he suddenly sneezed for no reason. He touched his nose, completely unaware that his little snake was digging up gossip about him behind his back.
"Good morning, Roger." Daphne walked over with a group of girls, saw Roger abandon his conversation partner, and sat down nearby. "You don't always sleep during the day, do you?"
Daphne studied his profile with interest. No one could forget the sleepy, gluttonous little wizard from the Sorting Ceremony and feast.
"She eats so little?" she thought, looking at Roger's breakfast in disbelief. Could she have seen wrongly yesterday?
"It really was because of the potion." Roger explained helplessly. "The effect of yesterday's dose has worn off. I only become sleepy and hungry after drinking the potion in the morning."
"Oh." Daphne looked at him with some concern. "Does that mean you'll have to sleep through Potions class?"
.....
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