That Was... a Dragon??

"Mm..."

Mu En groggily pushed himself up, shook his head, and noticed Harry staring wide-eyed beside him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Uncle Mu En... you... you..." Harry pointed at Mu En, stammering so badly he could barely speak.

Mu En touched his face, feeling the fur on his cheeks, and sighed.

"This is my curse," he said helplessly.

"A curse?" Harry suddenly remembered that Uncle Mu En had mentioned something about Moonpetal Flowers being related to his curse.

"That's right, exactly the kind you're thinking of. This curse turned my face into that of a cat and made me very weak." Mu En stood up, checked the time, and found that it was only a little past seven in the morning.

Grrr...

Harry's stomach suddenly growled, making him feel rather embarrassed.

"Can you cook?" Mu En turned and asked.

Harry hurriedly nodded. "A little."

Mu En nodded and headed upstairs. "Make something simple, then. I'm going to wash up. Lucifer, run me some hot water."

Harry quickly nodded. Once Mu En had gone upstairs, he headed to the kitchen and began preparing breakfast.

"Give me the eggshells, thank you." Lucifer suddenly poked out from the stove.

"Of course, Mr. Lucifer."

The sound of running water came from upstairs. Half an hour later, just as Harry set a classic English breakfast on the table, Mu En's footsteps sounded.

He wore neatly pressed khaki trousers and an avocado-green knitted sweater. The fur on his cat face was still slightly damp.

"What do you want to do today?" Mu En asked.

"Let's wash the curtains, sofa covers, cushions, and things like that first," Harry said after thinking for a moment. Then he looked at Mu En. "Do you have any plans, Uncle Mu En?"

Mu En shook his head, having no objections. As long as the boy had a rough standard for cleanliness in mind, that was enough.

Ordinary people could hardly imagine how much stuff had piled up in a messy castle. Even though Harry had worked from noon until evening yesterday, he had only barely made the living room look somewhat presentable.

Perhaps for a long, long time to come, he would still be busy cleaning this place.

Just get to work. Once you started, you wouldn't have time to complain.

"Come over after breakfast." Mu En finished eating first, dumped all the leftovers to Lucifer, then went into the basement. Before long, he carried out a set of glass equipment and placed it in the kitchen.

Seeing this, Harry hurriedly wolfed down his meal, finished in no time, cleaned up his plate, and entered the kitchen.

"Uncle Mu En, what is this?"

"A siphon pot," Mu En explained. Then he dug several jars out from beneath the cupboard.

Mu En had Harry place his plate in the sink. He picked up a white jar and opened it, revealing short lengths of roots inside. "These are Mandrake Root fibers. Mandrake Root has many remarkable effects and is used in many potions, including potions concerning physical attributes, mental attributes, and sex. It's considered an all-purpose herb."

As he spoke, Mu En filled the kettle with water, dropped the Mandrake Root into it, and placed it on the stove.

"Put the Mandrake Root fibers into cold water. One root is enough for a kettle."

Harry watched Mu En's movements closely, not daring to look away for even a moment. Mu En explained as he worked, discussing the theory as well.

The other jars contained Sage Stem and Lemon Balm.

After a few minutes, the Mandrake Root water in the kettle came to a boil. At a glance, Harry had never expected water brewed from grayish roots to turn purple.

Then, under Harry's watchful gaze, Mu En poured the water into the siphon pot and began the extraction. The purple Mandrake Root water boiled and siphoned upward. After mingling with the Sage Stem, it gradually turned green.

After pouring out the siphoned green liquid, Mu En added the Lemon Balm.

"Uncle Mu En, what is this?"

"An Energy Potion. A potion."

Mu En stirred it. By then, the two cups of liquid had turned a vivid green, reminding Harry of tender grass sprouting at the beginning of spring, green with a touch of pale white.

"This is a potion? Why does it feel like making tea..."

"Obviously. I processed the ingredients beforehand, and this is only the most basic kind of potion. What else did you expect?" Mu En shook his head and handed Harry a cup.

Harry took a small sip. A faintly bitter flavor immediately burst across his tongue.

Uh...

He instantly frowned, but what followed was a fresh scent like grass after a gentle rain. At the same time, it felt as if a cool breeze had swept through his mind.

He felt as though he had slept until he woke naturally, then stretched beneath the morning sun.

"Potions aren't as difficult as you think. More accurately, the entire magic system isn't that difficult." Mu En took a sip of the Energy Potion and continued.

"It simply relies on reality, using magic as a medium to alter the world."

As Harry watched intently, Mu En leaned against the counter and stretched out his hand. All kinds of shifting forces surged in his palm: blazing flames, flowing spheres of water, and green energy like the wind.

"Whether it's water, fire, life, potions, alchemy, arrays, or spells, none of it escapes this fundamental logic.

Magic is like a master key. The laws of the world are countless threads intertwined into an intricate maze.

As long as we find the correct path, we can use magic to pry at the laws and alter them, making them serve wizards."

Harry listened carefully, not daring to let his attention wander for even a moment.

Mu En closed his hand, and every change vanished. He stood up and said lazily, "That's enough for now. From now on, I want a cup of Energy Potion every morning with breakfast. You'll prepare it."

Then he fell silent for a moment before adding, "You won't need to make breakfast, unless you learn some more cuisines someday."

English breakfast?

Absolutely not.

Harry smiled and nodded repeatedly. "Okay, Uncle Mu En."

After Mu En returned to the basement, Harry turned to look at Lucifer on the stove.

"Mr. Lucifer, does Uncle Mu En mean I can come here for breakfast every day?"

Harry's question stumped Lucifer as well. His mouth opened and closed, but he could not understand why that was the point Harry had focused on...

Shouldn't he be happy about learning a potion recipe? Even if it was a very basic potion, it meant he could officially come into contact with magic.

That already counted as the work of a magical apprentice. In the old world, countless people had wanted to pay magicians to take their children as apprentices, yet never got the chance.

And this boy only cared whether meals were included??

After a long while, Lucifer finally nodded stiffly and said weakly, "Uh... yes. Your breakfast is covered."

With that, he darted back into the fireplace. Looking at Harry's back in the kitchen, he sighed softly.

People who had never been loved were like this.

Even if you put a cake in front of them on their birthday, they would not think it was theirs.

Life...

After sighing, Lucifer sank into the flames, stirring up a cloud of ash that drifted slowly into the sky through the chimney.

Meanwhile, Harry had no idea what Lucifer was thinking. After washing the dishes, he took down all the curtains, pillowcases, sofa covers, and the like, stuffing them into the washing machine.

Then he left the castle and set up a long clothesline by the cliff.

Once the washing was done, he carried the fabrics outside. The curtains were huge, but fortunately the flying broomstick came over to help. One person and one stick managed to hang them on the line.

The sun was lovely today. This place did not have London's endlessly gloomy rain. After hanging everything out, Harry looked up at the sky and felt his mood brighten.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared at the edge of his vision. At first, he thought it was a bird, but as the dark shadow grew larger, he realized something was wrong.

A long, thick neck, a massive body, and bat-like wings. What trailed behind it was not feathers, but a long tail...

"That was... a dragon??"