Change

The next morning, Harry was all packed and ready to go, arriving at Number 13, Privet Drive.

Normally, at this hour, the first floor of Moonlight Castle would be deserted. Uncle Mu En would either still be asleep or in the basement conducting magical research.

He would stand outside the door and knock gently, after which Mr. Lucifer, who controlled the entire castle, would open the door for him.

However, today, as soon as Harry stepped into the flower garden, he heard some passionate melodies.

The door slowly opened, and the music immediately grew louder. Harry instantly recognized the sound of a very popular British band.

Uncle Vernon disliked music. Every time music programs were broadcast on television, he would change the channel with an irritable expression.

He would always grumble things like, "So noisy, a bunch of ear-polluting guys..."

Afterward, Harry saw Uncle Mu En busy in the kitchen.

Hearing the door open, Mu En turned his head towards the entrance. Seeing it was Harry, he nodded at him before turning back to focus on cooking.

"Uncle Mu En?!" Harry greeted him with some surprise.

"Mm," Mu En replied indifferently.

A low melody played in Harry's ears, coming from the gramophone he had repaired while practicing spells earlier.

"Mama, just killed a man…

Mama, life had just begun…"

Listening to the singing in his ears, Harry felt that everything before him was very strange, but… he couldn't quite place it.

Then, he shifted his gaze to Lucifer and asked, "Mr. Lucifer, what happened?"

Lucifer, however, appeared very normal at the moment, responding to Harry with his usual lazy demeanor, "Him? He got lost!"

"Lost?" Harry was a bit confused.

"Mm." Lucifer didn't want to say more and sank back into the fireplace.

At this moment, Mu En also brought out two servings of breakfast. After telling Harry to sit down, he said, "From now on, you can go to the second floor yourself and find a room to use as your study."

"Really?" Harry looked up immediately.

"Mm." Mu En nodded. Harry had been studying at the large stone table on the first floor during this time, which was quite shabby.

There were plenty of empty rooms in the castle; sailors had stayed there before.

The reason Harry hadn't been given a study before was… laziness.

After breakfast, Mu En headed to the basement. While Harry was cleaning, he brought out many books from downstairs.

"What are these?" Harry looked at the books with some nervousness.

"These are the books you need to read this year," Mu En nodded calmly.

Seeing the expression on Harry's face, Mu En glanced at the books, which were about the same height as Harry, and asked with some confusion, "One book a month, that's not much, is it?"

Harry nodded stiffly, "It should… be fine."

Clearly, he wasn't entirely sure himself.

Seeing Harry's expression, Mu En felt like laughing. He then turned and walked upstairs first, with Harry following closely behind.

On the second floor, Mu En led Harry to a room about twenty to thirty square meters with a balcony. The room was a bit messy, but there was no trash.

With a wave of Mu En's hand, a large amount of clutter surged towards the left wall. Simultaneously, a large opening appeared in the wall, and in the blink of an eye, all the clutter was cleared into the adjacent room.

Only a desk, a chair, and a bookshelf remained.

"If you want to add anything, you can look for it in the other rooms," Mu En said, gently pushing his hand forward. The books then all flew onto the bookshelf.

"You've been cleaning for so long, you probably know better than I do what usable items are in the piles of clutter."

Harry nodded repeatedly, his eyes shining.

He couldn't help but walk forward, looking around the room.

This was his own room!!

Although he had been "gifted" a room by the Dursleys some time ago, it was far too small and also served as Dudley's junk room.

It was the room where Dudley's broken toys were piled up…

"Oh, right," Mu En suddenly remembered something and called out to Harry.

Harry turned around and saw Mu En placing his left hand on his right wrist.

The first time Harry saw Mu En, his sleeves were rolled up, and Harry had learned then that Mu En's arm was covered in various rune formations.

Afterward, Harry had seen Mu En retrieve many items from that hand through his sleeve.

Mu En slowly withdrew his hand, and an ancient ring appeared on his finger as if by magic.

"A birthday gift for you," Mu En said, tossing the ring to Harry.

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he fumbled to catch the ring.

Upon closer inspection, it was a somewhat oxidized ancient ring, its material fitting the description of white tin from the books.

The ring was not as large as the rings Uncle Mu En wore, nor did it have many embellishments. Only upon careful examination could one discover some profound runes.

"This is an Amplifier I discarded a long time ago," Mu En said. "It provides about a 135% amplification effect for most spells. However, if it's used to cast Dark Magic, its effectiveness is only 80%."

Mu En rubbed the ring on his hand, then suddenly changed the subject. "Harry, what's the advantage of a ring as a Casting Implement?"

Harry was fiddling with the ring, never expecting that he would one day receive a Casting Implement.

He put the ring on the middle finger of his right hand, and it automatically shrank, fitting snugly around his finger.

Just as he was feeling happy, Uncle Mu En suddenly asked a question. He jolted, quickly racking his brain, and after a moment, replied:

"The advantage of ring-type Casting Implements lies in their concealment, resistance to disarming, and the fact that we can cast spells with them at any time.

Furthermore, rings have virtually no requirements for compatibility between the user and the implement, as they are worn directly on our fingers!"

Mu En nodded, reasonably satisfied with the answer. He turned around, "Tidy up the room. You can handle him however you see fit, completely in the way you envisioned. You have one day..."

"Yes!" Harry said happily. "Thank you, Uncle Mu En."

Time passed quickly. Today, the Dursleys had lit up early, before the sun had even risen. Even Dudley had voluntarily gotten out of his bed.

Harry looked out the window at Number 13, Privet Drive, across the street, and sighed softly.

The reason was simple: today was the start of the school term.

He had to go to school.

Knock, knock, knock, knock—

A violent banging on the door echoed, and Uncle Vernon roared impatiently from outside, "Get up, you little brat! Are you going to make everyone wait for you?!"

"I'm already up!" Harry called back to the door, then quickly started getting dressed.

His school uniform was one Dudley had worn before. After Dudley fell and accidentally tore the crotch of his trousers, this uniform had been given to Harry.

After tearing the clothes, Dudley had even known that this set would end up with Harry. He had deliberately worn the clothes into a mud puddle, and with his friends, had drawn all over the clothes with watercolor pens, even sticking his nose...

"Scouring Charm!"

Thinking of this, Harry helplessly waved a charm at the school uniform again.

His movements were incredibly practiced.

Only then did he put on the clothes and go downstairs. As expected, he was met with impatient urgings.

However, there were no more insults.

This was the change Uncle Mu En had brought to the family.

Standing in front of the mirror in the washroom, Harry looked at the clothes he was wearing. Thanks to Uncle Mu En, Harry had become much more robust during this holiday, barely able to fill out the uniform.

He adjusted his collar and looked at himself in the mirror, suddenly feeling like something was missing.

His hand unconsciously reached for a comb. Then, he combed up his long, messy hair that grew over his forehead.

That incredibly conspicuous scar was now exposed.

Through this scar, Harry seemed to see the way people at school looked at him, and the words they spoke.

For a child, having an ugly scar on their forehead wasn't a good thing to begin with.

Especially when that child was also a target of bullying.

This was also why Harry's hair, even if cut short the day before, would become long and messy again the next day.

It was because, deep down, he was afraid of revealing the scar, and he needed his long hair to cover it!

Because of this scar, he would be talked about, even mocked, by his classmates.

Harry took a deep breath and, no longer hesitating, combed his hair up.