"Would you like to open a vault for your own wealth? Affordable rates."
"Very well. Gringotts awaits your visit at any time."
After leaving Gringotts, Mu En studied the little bag dangling from his hand with great interest.
The bag bore Gringotts's emblem and was made of fine cloth. It looked decent enough. Mu En could sense two kinds of magic on it.
One was used to expand the space inside the bag, while the other stabilized the first and ensured it remained effective.
It would probably last a year or two, and the expanded space was roughly two cubic meters.
Mu En slipped the bag into his sleeve. After a while, he handed the now-empty bag to Harry.
"Here. Use it to carry things later," Mu En said.
Harry hurriedly took it and weighed it in his hand. A jingling clatter sounded from within.
"You can keep the extra change." Mu En walked ahead without looking back.
Harry nodded quickly, somewhat flustered. "Thank you, Uncle Mu En."
Mu En paid Harry no mind. He was watching the wizards passing by, and everything felt strangely out of place.
Why were these people dressed like this...
Wasn't it almost no different from the seventeenth century he had seen in Pirates of the Caribbean?
Or perhaps it fit the ordinary person's stereotypical image of wizards: worn robes that covered them from head to toe, carrying the scent of herbs.
Had these wizards already become disconnected from the normal world?
How strange...
"Uncle Mu En, where are we going first?" Harry stepped forward and asked.
"The bookstore," Mu En said. On the way here, he had spotted a bookstore called Flourish and Blotts. It seemed fairly large.
He was very interested in this world's magical system, its magical history, and the structure of the modern Wizarding World.
There were not many people in the bookstore. At a glance, Mu En noticed that aside from all kinds of magic books, this world actually had plenty of magical periodicals as well. And the pictures in them moved.
That was rather interesting.
"Sir, are you here to buy Hogwarts textbooks for your child? We currently offer bundled sets at a discount."
Mu En nodded. After thinking for a moment, he decided to take a look.
Led by the clerk, Mu En saw all the required books for Hogwarts, from First Year to seventh year.
"One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi," "Beginner Transfiguration," "A History of Modern Magic," and so on.
"I'll take all of them, from First Year through seventh year."
"Huh?" The clerk looked at him, then asked uncertainly, "Do you have seven children?"
Mu En did not quite understand the man's train of thought. He froze for a while before saying, "I want to read them."
"Uh... all right." The clerk nodded awkwardly.
Afterward, Mu En continued searching through the bookstore. For most books, he only needed to glance at the table of contents before deciding whether to buy them. Unfortunately, nearly everything here was published material, which meant the knowledge recorded within was not particularly advanced.
Still, it was not without leads. From books such as Dark Wizards: Past and Present and The Origins of Alchemy, he believed he could find clues leading to more advanced knowledge.
There was a saying Mu En strongly agreed with:
"The more books you read, the more you realize how little you know—and the clearer you become about what books you should read next."
But so far, the book that satisfied him most was—Complete Book of Household Charms.
It actually recorded all sorts of magic for washing dishes, doing laundry, drying clothes quickly, and cleaning dust.
It was simply absurdly useful.
And the spells in it were simple and easy to learn. Even young wizards could master them quickly, making it an ideal introductory book.
Harry would definitely want to learn a trick or two from it.
Definitely!
About half an hour later, Harry walked out of Flourish and Blotts with the little bag stuffed full in his hand.
Inside were all the books Mu En wanted to buy.
They had cost more than three hundred Galleons.
It had even startled the owner of Flourish and Blotts into coming out.
By the time they left the bookstore, it was about noon. After casually eating something by the roadside, Mu En sat outside a coffee shop to rest.
Harry, meanwhile, had been sent to the sweetshop. Whenever they had passed it earlier, Harry's gaze had lingered there several times.
So Mu En chose to rest and leave Harry some time to himself.
More than ten minutes later, Harry ran up to Mu En excitedly, smiling. "Uncle Mu En, hold out your hand."
Somewhat puzzled, Mu En held out his hand and felt Harry place something wriggling in it.
Was it a caterpillar? Or something else strange?
But as an old wizard who had been through countless battles—and a cat—he would not be frightened by something like that.
The moment he opened his hand, a dark blob suddenly leaped toward his face.
He caught it between his hands and immediately saw that it was a chocolate frog.
"To be honest, you startled me," Mu En said, doing his best to sound sincere.
"Not at all. Your expression didn't change even a little, Uncle." Harry sounded somewhat disappointed.
Mu En did not argue. He rose to his feet, straightened his coat, and smiled. "Not letting others see your emotional changes is a basic requirement for a mature wizard. In fact, my heart is still pounding right now."
"M-Maybe." Harry still did not believe Mu En had been scared, but he changed the subject. "So where are we going now?"
"Knockturn Alley."
It was a place Mu En had overheard people mentioning earlier. Apparently, it was a little different from Diagon Alley.
Perhaps it would be more interesting.
He was quite curious.
Knockturn Alley was right behind and to the side of Gringotts. They reached its entrance in just a few steps.
Unlike outside, the moment they entered the alley, Harry caught a faint but unpleasant stench. The ground was covered in filthy water, blackish-green moss grew in the corners, and the plaster had peeled away from many walls.
Beneath their feet lay a disorderly set of bluestone steps, some long and some short. First-time visitors could barely tell where to step and could only watch their footing as they descended one step at a time.
After walking barely ten meters, grimy blackened windows began appearing in the walls on both sides. The view was no longer confined to a narrow path but opened into a broader space.
After finishing those chaotic stairs, Harry finally raised his head. The moment he did, he came face-to-face with a shriveled human head and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"This is tribal magic passed down from the Americas during the Age of Exploration," Mu En explained at just the right moment, as though he had eyes in the back of his head.
"The Jivarro people of the Americas would cut off their enemies' heads and turn them into such heads, then use magic to give them special power, making the tribal warriors who carried them stronger.
"Besides Jivarro Heads, there are also Maori Heads, which are similar magical objects.
"It is primitive and bloody magic, but... very powerful."
Mu En spoke neither too quickly nor too slowly, gradually easing Harry's fear—though it only made him follow more closely.
He felt... this place was worlds apart from Diagon Alley.
At that moment, several raggedly dressed wizards watched them enter. They whispered among themselves and openly cast malicious, mocking looks in their direction.
The Wizarding World was a small circle. Most people who came to Knockturn Alley were already familiar faces. They could tell at a glance that Mu En was new.
Before long, several of them walked over and formed a loose semicircle around them.
One of them was the first to draw his wand and point it at Mu En. "You withdrew such a large sum of money, and you still dared to come to Knockturn Alley. Kid, hand over every last coin you withdrew earlier."
Mu En seemed surprised. "You saw me withdraw money?"
The man grinned wickedly. "Sorry, I witnessed it personally." With that, a spell suddenly shot toward him.
"Stupefy!"
A swift red bolt burst from the tip of the man's wand and flew toward Mu En at a speed ordinary people could not react to.
"Uncle Mu En!!" Harry suddenly rushed forward, trying to shield Mu En.
Mu En casually slapped the spell aside as if swatting a mosquito, then looked at the man. "So why don't you ask yourself why I dared come here and face trash like you?"
"Kid, up until now, I'm the only wizard you've ever known, right?" Mu En suddenly asked Harry.
"W-What?!" Harry had yet to recover from the shock of what he had just seen.
"Don't lump me together with trash." Mu En rubbed Harry's head.
Harry looked up and saw that same familiar, faint smile.
At that moment, ten-year-old Harry vaguely understood the meaning behind that smile.
It was absolute arrogance.
"Kid, what do you think the Wizarding World is like?" Mu En suddenly asked again.
"Damn it, what are you babbling about?!" The wizard's face twisted with rage, feeling deeply slighted. He fired another spell.
"Crucio!!"
At the same time, the others drew their wands as well and fired spells of various colors. Without exception, every spell was released in the form of a bolt of light.
"Magic still expressed purely in the form of waves? How disappointing." Mu En muttered to himself, then raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap—
A blue shockwave suddenly radiated outward from Mu En's hand, moving so fast that it directly scattered every incoming spell.
"Let me tell you," Mu En said calmly, "no matter how beautiful things may be, once power beyond the ordinary can be privately possessed—"
"Then the entire system will absolutely be ruled by strength."
He looked at everyone and swept his hand outward. Seven radiant golden spears suddenly appeared, each one aimed at a person surrounding them.
Harry looked at Mu En with only half an understanding and swallowed.
"Avada Kedavra!!"
Just then, a green light suddenly bloomed before Harry's eyes.
Mu En's tall figure began to tear apart and shatter before him, like scraps of cloth ripped to pieces by a violent gale.
The scar hidden beneath his fringe suddenly throbbed with pain. Before Harry's eyes, another figure vanishing into green light seemed to overlap with reality.
Tears welled uncontrollably in his eyes as he reached out, trying to grasp Mu En's fading figure.
"Don't!!"
Before you continue