Diagon Alley

The three of them exchanged blank looks.

"It's magical fire after all, put some muscle into it," Kayson added, covering for himself.

"OK... huff!" Harry blew hard.

Kayson moved quick as a flash, yanking the torch out and swapping it for a small stick.

The three of them exchanged another round of blank looks.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!

That was the sound of applause for Harry's birthday.

The cake was left for him to enjoy, while Kayson stood up and walked toward the Dursleys, who were trembling in the corner.

Another round of blank looks between the four of them...

"I heard you arguing with Hagrid earlier, saying Dumbledore didn't tell you anything when he handed Harry over—just handed him to you, nothing else?"

Mr. Dursley used his fat body to shield his son and his wife Petunia behind him, shaking his head hard.

"What about child support?"

"Nothing either."

"That really was Dumbledore's oversight..." He glanced back at Harry, who was crying while eating cake.

"I think this child support should be enough to cover the eleven years you raised Harry. After all, any more than this... I don't think you spent much on him materially, and emotionally, I don't think you did either. Forgive my words, but that's the truth." As Kayson spoke, a gold cube weighing nearly a kilogram appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

He set it on the ground. To be honest, he really didn't know the current price of gold—after all, to him, gold was pretty much useless.

"You're too merciful to them," Hagrid grumbled, watching the whole thing.

"What else? Kill the whole family here with one curse?"

"No, no, no, that's going too far."

"If you can't finish it, don't force it. Put on your clothes and let's leave this place." Kayson pulled his hood back on and spoke to Harry.

"This is all I've got. Just need to put on my shoes." Harry wiped the cream off his face.

"See? I told you that gold was too much," Hagrid said, still angry.

"Forget it, Hagrid... And you three—that gold is real. Don't worry about me tricking you with some illusion. This is your last chance. I won't take back extra, and I'll make up the difference if it's short. Once I'm gone, you won't get another shot." Kayson shrugged, addressing the family of three in the corner.

"...No, no... no need."

"Hmph. Let's go."

The three of them got on the motorcycle, with Hagrid and Kayson sandwiching Harry in the middle.

But Kayson looked at the thin boy sitting in front of him, only reaching his chest, and simply took off his raincoat and draped it over Harry.

[Favorability from Harry +10]

[Favorability from Harry +10]

Kayson didn't care much about favorability—he was genuinely worried the cold night air would make an eleven-year-old kid sick. Besides, without his raincoat, he still had a trench coat. If Hagrid up front lost his coat, he'd be bare-chested.

"Thanks," Harry whispered from the front.

"No problem. Hagrid, hurry it up."

By about the next morning, the three of them had taken the subway and then a taxi, arriving tired at the Leaky Cauldron.

It wasn't because of any other trouble—like being spotted by Muggles while flying on the motorcycle in the sky—it was purely that the motorcycle didn't have enough horsepower. Maybe a giant plus one adult was its limit.

Adding Harry was just too much for it.

If he hadn't been placing blocks across the sea surface all night last night, they'd probably still be soaking in the water right now.

After all, none of the three could Apparate, and the Ender Pearl's teleportation range was seriously limited. Fine for improving mobility in combat, but for long-distance travel? Tough.

The three walked into the Leaky Cauldron. While everyone inside stared curiously at Harry, Kayson was also sizing up the bar. Unfortunately, there was nothing particularly magical about it—after all, the most magical place in all of England and Scotland was Hogwarts.

After Hagrid exchanged pleasantries with the bar crowd for a while, he found he couldn't get away, so he shot Kayson a pleading look.

"How about taking Harry to Diagon Alley to buy some things? Everything he needs for school is on the supply list in his letter. Please—I'll have a few drinks and catch up with you."

Kayson shrugged at that. "What's the big deal? No problem."

He naturally led Harry toward the back door of the pub, stepping into a courtyard...

"Where's Diagon Alley?" he muttered, a bit confused.

"You don't know either?" Harry looked up curiously.

"Uh... no need for formal speech. I was pretty much like you before. Anyway, I've never been to Diagon Alley."

Harry nodded and pressed his ear to the wall.

"Is it behind the wall? I can hear a lot of noise back there."

"Maybe. Step back." Kayson pulled Harry away from the wall, then lightly knocked twice on the brickwork with his knuckles. With two thuds, a 1m x 2m passage was punched through.

"Quick, quick—before someone finds us for vandalism, get in here." Kayson hurriedly dragged Harry into Diagon Alley. Within two breaths, the two of them were looking around curiously like nothing had happened.

Then they both remembered what they were actually there for. Kayson took the acceptance letter and glanced at it.

"Wand, cauldron, robes... hmm... so many things. Let's start with the wand." He raised his head and swept his gaze across the signs of Diagon Alley, spotting the only shop related to wands.

"Follow me."

The two walked into Ollivanders Wand Shop. Harry looked curiously at the dazzling array of wands lining the walls. Kayson was equally curious, but he chose to reach out directly, comparing one against his own wand.

"That one... rosewood with phoenix tail feather. Whose work is that? It doesn't match any style from the three major wand shops in Europe."

An old man with silver hair appeared from behind a shelf, his eyes fixed on the wand in Kayson's hand.

"This one? Dumbledore gave me a feather, and I made the wand myself from rosewood." Kayson turned to see the man who seemed to be the shop owner, awkwardly put the wand that didn't belong to him back, and explained.

Ollivander looked at Kayson's young face and nodded. "Quite impressive talent in alchemy."

"Mm-hmm."

"Which family are you from? I haven't seen you before."

"Uh, I used to be a Muggle."

"Were you in Britain before?"

"Yes, but I didn't attend Hogwarts."

"Durmstrang? Or Beauxbatons?"

"Uh... self-taught."

"I see... Do you have a job?"

"Yes, Alchemy Professor at Hogwarts."

"I could offer you a— ah?" Ollivander had the words almost out of his mouth when he suddenly swallowed them back.

"Never mind. Mr. Potter, we finally meet." He put on a new smile and looked warmly at Harry, who was standing behind Kayson.

"Hello, sir."

"Go on, buy yourself a wand. I'll wait for you here."

Kayson patted Harry on the back and said.