The Anderson Family's Past

No one moved. Everyone stood frozen in place for at least half an hour... well, in reality, probably only ten seconds.

Albert bent down and picked up the pale yellow envelope. It had no stamp, and a line of emerald-green ink was written across it. He read it aloud softly:

Mr. Albert Anderson, at the door, No. 19 Tibby Avenue.

As Albert read those words, he discovered that he had somehow triggered a quest:

The Path of the Wizard

You have the potential to become a wizard, but you are not yet qualified. You have now gained a precious opportunity: attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student.

Reward: 10,000 experience points, 2 skill points, Wizard Bloodline +1.

Wizard Bloodline?

Albert froze.

What the hell was that?

The two skill points were certainly tempting. Becoming a student at Eton College had only earned him one point, while Albert had accumulated only three skill points over all these years—and he had been too reluctant to use them.

But even more absurdly, this was apparently a novel world.

The Wizarding World from the Harry Potter novel story?

Albert turned the envelope over and, sure enough, saw Hogwarts' Shield Crest: a large letter "H," surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.

"Mom, do zoos train owls to be mailmen now?" Nia stared curiously at the Owl lingering nearby.

"Nia, I don't think anyone sends letters by Owl. At least, no normal person would. Maybe this is just a prank." Daisy looked at her husband. Seeing Herb's tightly furrowed brow, she asked, "What's wrong, dear? Shouldn't we be leaving?"

"It's nothing. Albert, let me see the letter." Herb spoke softly.

"Oh, here." Albert handed the envelope to his father.

"Dear!" Daisy looked somewhat displeased.

Herb failed to notice the displeasure on his wife's face. He quickly opened the envelope, pulled out the Parchment inside, and scanned it before saying, "Children, it seems our plans will have to be postponed."

"Dear Herb, what happened? What does the letter say?" Daisy thought her husband was acting strangely, and her tone involuntarily grew sharper.

"Dad, what does the letter say?" Nia could not help asking either. Albert, the recipient of the letter, was instead remarkably calm.

"Let's go back to the sitting room first, Daisy." Herb slammed the car door shut and led his family back inside.

After the front door closed, the delivery Owl still did not leave.

"Dear Herb, you'd better give me a proper explanation." Daisy looked furious. She had already been eagerly looking forward to seeing her son in an Eton College uniform.

"Dad, what does the letter say? Read it out for everyone. I want to know too—just who could have predicted where I would be." Albert's expression barely changed. Of course he knew what the letter was about. If he had not already gone through transmigration and the panel incident, he might have looked shocked upon seeing it.

But with those two earlier shocks as preparation, discovering that he lived in the world of a novel did not seem all that strange when he thought about it. Besides, he had read the bestselling Harry Potter series and had even written fanfiction for it.

Back then, he had looked up quite a lot of material, so he had some understanding of the novel's worldbuilding.

"Then I'll read it." Herb glanced at his son, who was as calm as ever, and read the contents of the Parchment aloud:

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Albus Dumbledore (President of the International Confederation of Wizards, President of the Wizards' Association, First Class Wizard of the Order of Merlin)

"Hogwarts... School!" Daisy's eyes widened in astonishment, because she had already guessed what this was... an admission letter?

"Magic? Does magic really exist in this world?" Nia's face was filled with barely concealed excitement. "I want to learn magic too. I want to go to magic school."

"Albert, you're awful! Let go of me!" Nia glared at her brother in dissatisfaction. She had been about to lean over and look at the letter when Albert grabbed her.

"Nia, let Dad finish reading the letter." Albert gestured for his father to continue, while also pulling his furious mother down to sit.

"Son, I absolutely won't let you go to some Hogwarts..." Daisy was furious. She felt that her husband might know something.

Herb cleared his throat and continued reading:

Dear Mr. Anderson:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of required books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your Owl no later than July 21.

Yours sincerely,

Deputy Headmistress Минерва McGonagall.

Herb finished reading the letter, then handed it to his son.

Albert gave it a quick glance before passing it to his curious sister. Holding the letter, Nia ran over to her mother, Daisy.

After studying the letter's contents line by line, Daisy said each word slowly and distinctly:

"I absolutely will not agree to let Albert attend a school like this. No, someone must be playing a joke on us. Perhaps we should call the police immediately and catch that disgusting troublemaker."

"Mom, does 'we await your Owl' mean we should write them a reply?" Nia suddenly asked.

Daisy said nothing. Instead, she stared at her husband with an intensely oppressive gaze.

Albert asked, "Dad, do you know something?"

"Not exactly." Herb pressed a hand against his forehead, seeming to sink into a brief memory. "When I was around your age, my father—your grandfather—was disappointed that I hadn't received a letter from Hogwarts."

"I once asked my father what Hogwarts was. He only said it was a school."

"Later, one time when Father got drunk, I asked why he wanted me to go to Hogwarts."

"He only said that he was a Squib, but I didn't know what that word meant." Herb's voice was low. He still remembered that his father had cried that time.

"I think I know what Hogwarts is now. Father will surely be very happy to know that his grandson received a letter from Hogwarts."

Albert naturally knew what a Squib was, but he had never truly considered that he might have some connection to wizards.

Come to think of it, there was no similar skill in his skill list. Otherwise, he would have noticed long ago.

"Yes, I should write him a letter. No, call him. He'll definitely be happy!" Herb suddenly said, seemingly intending to telephone his father.

"Herb Anderson!" Daisy shouted. "Albert should go to Eton College. He'll achieve things beyond anything we can imagine, not attend some school we've never even heard of. Do you understand? This concerns his future. I absolutely will not allow you to—"

"Mom, we haven't confirmed whether magic exists yet." Albert reached out and caught his mother before she could explode, soothing her softly. "Doesn't the letter say they await our Owl? Maybe we should write them a letter and have that Hogwarts school send someone to prove whether magic exists. If they can't prove it, then it's a scam."

"All right, son, I agree with you. Let that damned school prove whether this letter is real." Daisy clenched her fist and swung it hard. "Just wait. I'll definitely call the police and catch those swindlers, then make them rot in prison for a few years."