Hogwarts: Please, Just Graduate Already!

The Boy Who Lived was about to arrive at Hogwarts. As if drawn by fate, Voldemort, who had been silent for ten years, had also reappeared and set his sights on the Philosopher's Stone.

The Philosopher's Stone was something he had deliberately borrowed from Nicolas Flamel, and he had also released the information himself. It was bait.

It could not only be used to test Harry, but also attract Voldemort's attention and observe his condition.

To ensure nothing went wrong, more thorough preparations had to be made.

With a sigh, Dumbledore took out a copy of The Daily Prophet. The top headline on the front page was the Gringotts theft from a few days ago.

"Accio Cup!"

Wayne lay comfortably on the sofa and picked up his wand, chanting the spell. A teacup filled with black tea flew steadily out of the kitchen and landed in his hand.

Not a single drop of tea spilled throughout the entire process.

He drained the tea in one go, then set down his wand and tapped the teacup twice. Water surged into existence, and the teacup was filled again.

According to the first of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, food could not be conjured out of thin air. Wayne had not conjured the black tea from nothing just now. Instead, he had used the Suffusing Charm to 'summon' the black tea from the teapot in the kitchen into the cup.

"The Silencing Charm and Wandless Casting can be considered introductory now, but I can only use them on some simple spells.

The Perpetual Filling Charm was a very simple spell, so he could cast it wandlessly, and he did not even need to say the incantation.

The Summoning Charm, however, was much more difficult. It was a spell that could only be learned in fifth year, and even Wayne could not cast it wandlessly yet.

Wayne's magical level had long since surpassed the standard of a first-year student. In other words, he had surpassed most of the young wizards at Hogwarts.

But the deeper one delved into magic, the more one could appreciate its profoundness.

The magic of the Harry Potter world was far too subjective. Calling it the power of "I reckon" would not be an exaggeration. It was all about making one's wishes come true.

A wizard's level did not depend on how many spells he had mastered.

It depended on how deeply he understood magic and how much he understood his own mind.

At least for now, Wayne felt that he was about on par with Hermione in the original story. He knew many spells, but simply was not strong enough—broadly knowledgeable, but not specialized.

"Forget it. Why am I pushing myself so hard?" Wayne shook his head with a laugh, realizing that he had been getting somewhat impatient these past few days, eager to fully realize his talents immediately.

But in reality, he could not even be considered a first-year student yet. At best, he was a prospective young wizard.

After draining the black tea in his cup, Wayne got up and entered the kitchen, casually preparing dinner.

The servants and chef in the house had already been reassigned to other posts. Although he had gained much more freedom, having to prepare his own three meals a day was somewhat troublesome. Today was the tenth day since he had obtained the Pokémon Egg. Judging by the time, it would probably hatch soon.

So after cooking, Wayne did not finish eating in the dining room. Instead, he carried the plate back to the bedroom and kept watch, lest the little fellow be born and fail to find its mother.

No, its father.

After he finished eating, the little fellow still showed no sign of coming out.

Wayne simply stayed where he was, lying over the desk in a daze as he considered which House would suit him best.

Slytherin was definitely out of the question. Even if the Sorting Hat recommended it, he would not go. A Muggle-born young wizard entering Slytherin would only attract hatred. If he wanted to live an easier life, he would probably have to defeat all the little snakes and make them submit, just as Voldemort had done back then.

His points would certainly explode in that case, but it would be too troublesome. It would also be very easy for Old Dumbledore to notice him. Gryffindor was not a good choice either.

First, it was too close to Harry, which was basically equivalent to living under Old Dumbledore's surveillance. There would be no freedom.

Second, Wayne himself did not care for Gryffindor's whole philosophy.

It sounded nice to call it courage and adventure, but they were purely a noisy bunch of reckless idiots who were extremely hostile toward anyone who did not fit in. Hermione at the beginning was a good example.

"We're all happily fooling around and making mischief, showing off. What's with you studying so hard over there?"

Besides, Gryffindor placed tremendous importance on collective honor. Even Harry would be criticized and subjected to silent treatment if he lost points for the House.

On one hand, they were the school's largest group of troublemakers. On the other, they craved collective honors like the House Cup more than anyone.

What the hell kind of ultimate contradiction was that? Wayne did not want to go there and suffer.

That left only Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Which one would be better? Crack!

Crack!

The crisp sound of an eggshell breaking reached his ears, pulling the thoughtful Wayne back to reality. He hurriedly raised his head.

Carefully lifting out the Pokémon Egg, he placed it on a soft velvet cushion. Wayne's eyes were filled with anticipation.

What he wanted most, of course, were cute Pokémon like Gardevoir, Sylveon, or Meloetta.

Of course, he would not mind Rayquaza or Ice Dragon Kyurem either. Crack!

The upper half of the eggshell separated completely, revealing the little fellow's true form. Wayne leaned forward, then widened his eyes. "This is... Fearow?" "Cheep!"

Ho-Oh!

"Cheep! Cheep-cheep!"

The newly born little fellow heard its owner's name for it and cried out angrily, not even bothering to eat the eggshell.

It staggered out and pecked at Wayne's finger.

Because it had just been born, its attacks felt more like tickles. Wayne scratched his head in confusion, not understanding why it was so angry.

"No, that can't be right. How could something hatch in its final evolved form? I should call you Spearow."

The "Spearow" stopped pecking at his finger. Its entire body trembled, and then it pecked even faster.

Even the system was rendered speechless and, unusually, jumped out on its own.

Host, this is Ho-Oh.

"Holy crap!" A curse escaped him as Wayne stared at the little fellow in shock. "This is Ho-Oh?"

Looking carefully, it really did resemble Ho-Oh to some extent. It was just featherless, making it look more like Fearow.

The little fellow proudly raised its head, as if saying, Master, you finally recognized me.

It turned around, presented its rear to Wayne, and began gnawing on the eggshell. Watching Ho-Oh devour it enthusiastically, Wayne was overcome with elation.

This was Ho-Oh, after all—a legendary Pokémon with all kinds of wondrous abilities, even capable of reviving the dead.

Although its combat power was not considered particularly strong, that was only in comparison with other Legendary Pokémon. Compared with ordinary Pokémon, or even pseudo-legendaries, it was absolutely no weakling.

Compared with the phoenixes of this world, Ho-Oh was certain to be far superior.

The system's two gift packs had truly been packed with sincerity. One S-rank Template Card had sent Wayne's talent soaring to the historical level.

And the other pet was actually Ho-Oh. The sheer prestige was off the charts. "System, how can I level up Ho-Oh?" Wayne asked.

By absorbing food containing energy, Ho-Oh can grow on its own over time. Defeating other magical creatures can also grant battle experience and accelerate its level-up.

Wayne nodded. The requirements were quite simple.

Watching the little fellow nearly finish eating the eggshell, Wayne smiled as well.

"I'll call you Ho-Oh from now on. King of the Phoenixes. Once I get to Hogwarts, I'll take you to the Forbidden Forest to level up and help you reach your peak as soon as possible."

Hearing its master's words, Ho-Oh let out a cry and patted its chest with its little wings, as if making a guarantee.

In the days that followed, Wayne transformed into a full-time dad, taking care of Ho-Oh at home every day. He bought a large amount of pet food from the Magical Creatures Shop and let Ho-Oh choose its favorite flavors. He also paid a high price for several bottles of Graphorn milk, which Ho-Oh liked very much.

After a week, Hermione returned the books to Wayne.

When Wayne asked whether she wanted to read any other books, Hermione refused. She was going to start previewing her first-year textbooks so that she would not fall behind once she got to school.

Wayne was left somewhat speechless. Other people previewed their lessons the night before class. Who started preparing during summer vacation?

As expected of a Hogwarts try-hard.

After returning home, Wayne did not continue studying spells apart from playing with Ho-Oh. Instead, he shifted his focus to Herbology and Potions.

If he wanted to empty young wizards' wallets, the most effective methods were selling prank products or interesting potions, just like the twins.

Wayne had to improve his Potions skills as quickly as possible, develop distinctive products, open up a new track, avoid homogeneous competition, and overtake everyone on the bend.

With the Memory Palace talent, his learning progress was astonishing. Even when he occasionally tried brewing potions himself, he had never made any major mistakes.

But Wayne was still somewhat dissatisfied.

Compared with other talents that were casually S+ or S-rank, his A-rank Potions talent was indeed a little low.

But there was nothing he could do about it. He was penniless at the moment, with only a few dozen points to his name. He could not even draw a lottery.

For a time, Wayne was practically desperate for school to start. Finally, August thirty-first arrived.

After Uncle Humphrey finished work that evening, he came directly to Wayne's house. He would be staying there tonight so he could take Wayne to King's Cross Station first thing tomorrow morning.

Looking at his sister's only son, Uncle Humphrey could not help nagging him a little.

"You must be careful in the magical world. According to the information I have, it seems they only ended a period of turmoil ten years ago.

"If you run into danger, you can go directly to the Minister for Magic, or come straight to me. As long as it happens somewhere in the British Isles, I can sort it out for you."

By the end, Uncle Humphrey could not help straightening his suit, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably.

Wayne saw through him and asked tentatively, "Uncle Humphrey, are you about to... get promoted?"

"It hasn't been confirmed yet." Uncle Humphrey waved his hand modestly, but his smile had already betrayed him.

"Sir Arnold has decided to retire. He thinks I've done a good job."

Arnold was what Wayne called the Great Demon King, and he should also have been the most powerful man in the British Isles.

The country's prime minister was merely a politician pushed onto the stage. The people who truly controlled the power and moved the pieces were those civil-service secretaries.

"Then congratulations in advance, Uncle." Wayne raised his glass and drained the milk inside. Uncle Humphrey also finished his red wine, set down his glass, and sighed.

"I can finally get rid of Hark, that third-rate minister."

Wayne looked at him meaningfully. "I think giving him a proper push wouldn't be a bad thing."

"You mean pushing Hark up?" Uncle Humphrey wore an incredulous expression. "You aren't joking, are you, Wayne? He... he's only a third-rate politician who graduated from the School of Politics and Economics. How could he possibly..."

"None of that matters. What matters is that you and Uncle Hark have worked together for three years, so you know each other well.

"Rather than switching to a partner you're not familiar with, you might as well continue working together. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

At this, Uncle Humphrey fell into deep thought.

Wayne was right. If Hark became prime minister, he would indeed be able to work with him smoothly without having to put in too much effort.

Although Hark had nothing in his head except votes and approval ratings, his killer instinct occasionally surfaced, and even Humphrey would suffer from it.

But essentially, he was still a good-natured politician, so there was no need to worry too much. "I'll consider what you said. All right, let's not talk about this anymore..."

The next day, at ten-thirty.

Wayne arrived at King's Cross Station on time.

King's Cross Station: A Panorama of All Living Beings

In 1785, Watt improved the steam engine, and industrial production entered an entirely new era.

In 1814, the Englishman Stephenson invented the first train and named it The Traveller.

Over the following century, trains became an indispensable means of transportation for people in England.

Many people even took the train to London for work, then transferred to another bus or the subway to reach their offices.

From that perspective, the Ministry of Magic was actually quite in step with the times.

Since the 1950s, the Hogwarts Express had taken on the task of transporting young wizards between the school and London.

Before that, students could choose any interesting way they liked to travel to school, which resulted in no shortage of jokes.

There had even been casualties.

It was not until Ottoline Gambol, the Minister for Magic at the time, overcame all opposition and launched the largest secret operation in the history of the British Ministry of Magic that this railway was built.

The operation involved no fewer than 176 Memory Charms, as well as records of a large number of Concealment Charms being cast.

Most of the Muggles responsible for building the railway felt that they had forgotten something important, but they could never remember what it was. This trouble lasted for an entire year before finally ending.

So when you find yourself unable to remember something, do not doubt yourself. Your brain has definitely been hit with a Memory Charm.

September first.

For students in England, it was a special day.

It marked the end of a summer vacation lasting more than two months. Countless students, some happy and some dejected, embarked on their journey back to school. If it was a boarding school, that meant they would not be able to return home again until Christmas at the earliest.

King's Cross Station was the terminus of London's railway system. On this day, the station also reached its own climax—or rather, its peak.