Chosen Melon?!

"Yes." Professor Hicks smiled. "I already heard about what happened to you from Professor Dumbledore. All I want to say is that you are the bravest Young Wizards I have ever seen."

"Not every Young Wizard your age has the courage to do something like this. I think you will both be sorted into Gryffindor."

Li Weide could not help blinking. Tom Riddle being sorted into Gryffindor? What kind of dark joke was that?

Even Slytherin's coffin lid would not be able to hold it down!

"What is Gryffindor?" Tom asked stupidly.

Li Weide pulled a book from Tom's pile of luggage and tossed it into his hands.

"You'll know once you read this. Don't tell me you bought this book and still haven't read it?"

Tom looked at the title in his hand, Hogwarts: A History, and frowned again.

He really had not read it. All his attention had been drawn to those Spellbooks.

If he had not wanted to learn a little about Hogwarts, and if he had not happened to have enough money for the time being, he definitely would not have bought a historical book like this.

Professor Hicks smiled. "I'd actually be happy to tell you about Hogwarts's history, but I have a few things to do right now. Could you get into the carriage and wait for me?"

"Oh..." Li Weide nodded. He had already guessed what Professor Hicks needed to do.

It seemed Dumbledore had assigned Professor Hicks the task of erasing all traces of himself and Tom.

"All right, let's go." As Professor Hicks spoke, she placed her hands on Li Weide and Tom's shoulders.

The next second, the three of them appeared before the orphanage... beside the carriage!

"Urgh!" Tom retched uncomfortably.

Li Weide's face was somewhat pale as well.

"Your first Apparition can be a little hard to adjust to. Take a moment."

With that, Professor Hicks vanished again.

When she reappeared, she had already brought out all of Li Weide and Tom's luggage.

"Frank, could you keep an eye on them for me?" Professor Hicks asked the driver.

"Of course. Be quick about it. Dawn's almost here."

As he answered, the driver named Frank jumped down from the carriage and loaded Li Weide's luggage onto the rack at the back, securing it in place.

"Um... Professor Hicks, can I bring my House-elf with me?" Li Weide suddenly asked.

"You have a House-elf?" Professor Hicks looked at Li Weide in surprise.

"Yes. I found him in an alley over there just a few hours ago." Li Weide called out, "Toby, are you there?"

Crack!

Toby appeared directly in front of Li Weide.

"Young Master Weide, Toby is here. What are your orders?"

Toby looked far healthier than he had a few hours earlier. He had also followed Li Weide's orders strictly, cleaning himself until he was spotless.

Even the rag wrapped around him had been replaced with a clean, tidy piece of curtain cloth. Who knew where he had torn it from?

Li Weide turned to Professor Hicks with an inquiring look. "Professor Hicks?"

"Since he is your House-elf, of course you can bring him along."

Though Professor Hicks found this very surprising, she had no reason to stop Li Weide from bringing his own House-elf.

Besides, even if she had many questions, now was not the time to ask them.

"Thank you," Li Weide said.

Afterward, Li Weide and Tom climbed into the carriage, while Toby sat directly on the luggage rack at the back.

Through the carriage window, Li Weide and Tom silently watched Professor Hicks push open the door and enter the orphanage.

"Don't worry. Eulalie is an excellent witch. She won't hurt the people inside."

With a pipe between his teeth, Frank leaned against the carriage and muttered softly.

"Mr. Frank, is she going to erase their memories directly?" Tom suddenly asked.

Frank blew out a ring of smoke before saying, "My name is Frank Doyle. You can call me Mr. Doyle."

"Mm... Eulalie will remove the parts of their memories related to you, then alter some of the rest."

"Finally, she'll take away all the records about you at the orphanage. It may sound complicated, but it's nothing to Eulalie. She'll have it done soon enough."

"Oh, and she came to teach at Hogwarts this year too. She'll be teaching you Charms later on. Honestly, a lot of people never expected her to leave Ilvermorny and come teach at Hogwarts."

Before Frank could finish his rambling, the orphanage doors opened over there.

Professor Hicks walked out and gently shut the door behind her.

"All done. Let's get going." Professor Hicks came up to the carriage and called to Frank.

Frank nodded and jumped up into the driver's seat.

Professor Hicks opened the carriage door and climbed in as well.

She smiled at Li Weide and Tom. "Gentlemen, are you ready to begin your new lives?"

A moment later.

A carriage shot into the sky and vanished into the clouds.

The carriage flew through the air for a long time, and the sky had fully brightened.

Because the carriage was flying above the clouds, Li Weide finally saw blue skies and sunlight again after so long.

By then, the excitement of flying for the first time had gradually settled down.

Tom began holding up books and asking Professor Hicks about all kinds of spells.

After learning that Professor Hicks was the new Charms professor, Tom could no longer suppress his desire to grow stronger.

Professor Hicks did not refuse. Instead, she explained everything to Tom with great seriousness.

In truth, not many people could resist Tom's "charm." Otherwise, he would never have managed to make all the students and teachers in the school like him.

Li Weide did not join in. He looked at the blue sky and white clouds outside, then took out the disguised Complete Guide to Transfiguration from his pocket and continued reading.

Who knew how much time passed.

The jolt of the carriage landing pulled Li Weide's attention away from his book.

"Welcome to Godric's Hollow, children." Frank's voice came from the front of the carriage.

"Godric's Hollow is a half-wizard settlement. Many wizards live here, and so do quite a few Muggles who have no idea what is going on. But that only proves what a pleasant place this is to live."

As she spoke, Professor Hicks got out of the carriage. Li Weide and Tom followed her down.

The carriage was parked in front of a house.

The house looked quite new, yet many of the plants in its front garden had already withered.

It seemed the owner had not lived here for some time.

Professor Hicks smiled. "This is the British home of a Muggle friend of ours. His name is Jacob Kowalski."

"His family is planning to come over from the United States and stay in Britain for a while. They should arrive the day after tomorrow, and they will look after you for the time being."

"Don't worry. Jacob and Queenie are both very good people."

Jacob Kowalski? The legendary Chosen Melon?!

A sense of foreboding immediately rose in Li Weide's heart. He remembered Jacob's wife, Queenie Goldstein. She was a powerful master of Legilimency!

Unlike Dumbledore, her Legilimency was innate, passive, and beyond her control.

As long as you were near her, even if you did not look into her eyes or stand face-to-face with her, she could hear your thoughts...

In other words... if she were standing before Li Weide right now, none of Li Weide's secrets would be able to remain hidden!

Li Weide could not help frowning. Since transmigrating here, this was the first time he had truly felt a sense of danger...