Basil Granger

"Fuck! That bastard Fenrir! Why is he still chasing me?!"

Basil panted heavily as he collapsed behind the heavy cast-iron door.

This house, built in a winding tunnel carved into the hills, gave him an immense sense of security.

The piercing sound of fingernails scraping across a blackboard rang out incessantly.

Clearly, Fenrir Greyback was still clawing at the door.

It was accompanied by his utterly disgusting trash talk.

"Knock, knock. It's Fenrir, my little lamb."

"Open the door and let Daddy have a proper taste of you. Prprpr."

Basil forced himself to remain calm and took a deep breath of cold air.

"Fuck your mother! Your daddy doesn't have time for you!"

Today, a figure from the horror stories young wizards across Britain had grown up hearing had appeared before him in the flesh.

A devil who loved attacking children, Voldemort's hound, a man-eating demon, leader of the wolf pack.

He was only two doors away.

Yes, two doors.

Beyond the cast-iron door Basil leaned against was another door.

It was the cave's only physical entrance and exit,

a circular gate permanently enchanted with the Disillusionment Charm, blending into its surroundings like a chameleon.

The door itself had been forged by goblins,

and possessed traits unique to goblin craftsmanship: indestructibility, the ability to repel dust, and the ability to absorb only things that could strengthen it.

It was also the core of the protective enchantments covering the entire mountain.

As long as it remained intact, outsiders could never bypass it by digging through the mountain.

Well, there was no need to worry about someone setting the mountain on fire, either.

It could be said that it was the most expensive thing the Granger family owned.

Its existence put Basil especially at ease.

It also gave him time to sort through his memories.

He was a transmigrator.

A privileged native of Youzhou.

And an orphan on top of that.

After his parents died, the demolition compensation for their home had swiftly made him a first-generation pseudo-rich kid.

Then he had dropped out during his freshman year and begun living a life of debauchery.

At the end of 2020,

he had finally managed to hook up with a pair of twin sisters from out of town through a game.

After the great harmony of life,

he woke up, swallowed a Sea Dog Pill, and was just about to go for an encore.

Then his vision went black, he lost consciousness, and transmigrated.

He arrived in this magical world of Hogwarts, Voldemort, and Harry Potter.

He became the descendant of a wizard from old London, a pureblood who had entered England alongside William the Conqueror.

He was also a very distant relative of Hartog Dagworth Granger, founder of the Extraordinary Apothecary Association.

But the transmigrator's cursed fate of solitude still shone upon him.

His parents had died in the First Wizarding War.

Raised by his grandmother, he had officially become an orphan a month ago.

Damn it!

He had been an orphan before transmigrating, and he was still an orphan afterward.

Hadn't he fucking transmigrated for nothing?

Even more absurdly, before today, his memories had not awakened at all.

Every day, without the slightest vigilance, he had only known to wear a little red hood, skip around outside, and pick mushrooms.

To wild wizards lacking any inheritance, as well as evil races like werewolves, vampires, and giants, he was a tender, juicy piece of meat.

He had not known to lie low around the underground dwelling.

Within the range of the protective enchantments sustained by home and bloodline, he had nothing to fear.

Yet he had repeatedly wandered beyond that range.

He had even attracted the infamous werewolf Fenrir Greyback.

If not for the Hogwarts acceptance letter he had received today,

which had triggered the Golden Finger that had transmigrated with him,

Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, seventh-year student, Ryan Smith. Data missing; unable to fully load. Load anyway? No response. Defaulting to yes.

his memories of his Previous Life would not have awakened either.

Otherwise, he would have been finished.

"Huh? I have a Golden Finger too?" Basil suddenly came back to his senses.

He coughed and stood up proudly.

"Fenrir, you bastard! I'm going to rest first! Hehehe!"

"Just wait. I'll deal with you properly in a moment! I'll show you what a real Hogwarts student looks like!"

"Control you with the Killing Curse, mark you with the Cruciatus Curse, then hit you with the Killing Curse—one melon, many uses!"

Fenrir wore a baffled expression. Did he think he was Voldemort?

Without waiting for Fenrir to reply, Basil headed down the tunnel.

Before long, he arrived in a living room—tubular in shape and more like another tunnel.

The living room was incredibly comfortable.

Its soundproofing was excellent as well.

The walls were carefully decorated, while the floors were covered with carpets and tiles.

Plush sofas and chairs with yellow-and-black patterns and polished brass trim stood around the room.

Fenrir's disgusting voice could no longer be heard here.

He needed a quiet space to think and explore the most important thing before him—the Golden Finger.

Basil dropped onto the sofa, his eyelids covering his azure eyes.

"What a scam!"

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Basil opened his eyes, utterly devastated.

"For the first time, I became a transmigrator; for the first time, I gained a Golden Finger after transmigrating. These two happy events intertwined. And these two joys should have brought me countless more joys. I should have had a dreamlike time of happiness like this. But why... why did it turn out like this?"

Just now, as Basil concentrated his thoughts,

an aerial view of Hogwarts Castle had appeared clearly in his mind.

However, he could neither zoom in on the view nor move its perspective.

Everything was gray-white.

Only the Grimoire in the lower-right corner had any color.

But after opening it,

there were no cards inside at all.

How was he supposed to play a card game without cards?!

And the Grimoire, originally level one hundred, had been reduced to level one.

The wizard attribute bonuses below it were even more miserable.

Health +1400

Attack +12

Exploration Attribute +0%

Open My Deck

It was still completely empty.

The Echo slot on the left was blank as well.

The wand slot was no different.

Only the Grimoire remained of the game.

One had to know that this game came from NetEase.

Tencent's games: pay money, and you're my dad!

Some smaller studios: pay money, and you're my grandpa!

NetEase: pay money plus grind like hell, and you get Schrödinger's dad. If you have bad luck, you're my dad; if I have bad luck, I'm your dad.

Hogwarts: Magic Awakening was one of the most outstanding examples.

The player's identity was that of a transmigrator who enrolled in the same year as Harry Potter.

The game itself was his Golden Finger.

NetEase publicly advertised it as an open-world dress-up, pay-to-win, casual, social, character-development game.

There was no main storyline, and its freedom was extremely high. Players could choose any path they wanted.

Whether running for Minister for Magic or becoming Voldemort the Second, a village-level terrorist, was entirely possible.

However, accomplishing any of that required grinding, money, and luck. None could be absent.

But now, without assignments for spending money, or storylines, classes, and the Forbidden Forest to grind through,

wasn't this Golden Finger useless?

"Still, it's not all bad." Basil rubbed his golden hair.

While checking the Golden Finger just now, he had received another piece of information.

The Grimoire in his mind could not function fully.

Unless he manifested it—took it out of his mind and made it real.

It only took a single thought.

And once manifested, it would change according to the rules of the world he was in.

"Now... is the moment to witness a miracle!"

Basil spread his hands, and dazzling blue light burst forth.

A vast, boundless power descended.

A black leather-bound book appeared in his hands.

At the same time, another piece of information flooded into his mind.