The Leaky Cauldron

"Kids, get up. We've got lots to buy today." Hagrid's rough roar traveled from beside the cupboard on the first floor, through two thick floors, and into Tierra and Harry's ears.

Harry sat up groggily. Perhaps it was the excitement of finally entering the Magical World, or perhaps it was the joy of gaining a good friend like Tierra, but Harry had tossed and turned until two or three in the morning last night.

So when Hagrid's incredibly penetrating voice woke him, it all still felt a little unreal.

As if everything that had happened yesterday had been a dream. In that dream, his parents were no longer failures who had achieved nothing, but heroes of the Wizarding World who had fought evil. On his eleventh birthday, his parents' friend had appeared—not only bringing him the first sweet birthday cake of his life, but also taking him away from the Dursleys and helping him make the first friend he had ever had.

God, if this is a dream, please don't let me wake up.

Harry prayed silently and opened his eyes.

Morning sunlight streamed in through the attic skylight. The black-haired, black-eyed boy sat at the old wooden desk, writing and drawing.

As though sensing Harry's gaze, Tierra raised his head from the huge pile of mathematical formulas on the desk.

"You're up?" Tierra smiled at Harry, revealing two sharp little canine teeth. They reminded Harry of the Little Fox he had seen at the zoo on Dudley Dursley's birthday. It had smiled at him the same way, with a sly yet adorable grin.

"Get dressed and wash up," Tierra said. "We're going to Diagon Alley today!"

It was only after Tierra tossed him some clothes that Harry realized they were not the hole-ridden, dust-covered clothes he had arrived in, but a clean outfit he had never seen before.

"I got up early today and had nothing to do, so I washed your clothes for you." Tierra smiled. "That set hasn't dried yet. Wear mine for now."

Tierra and Harry were both eleven. Since Tierra worked at a Chinese restaurant, he never lacked food or drink compared to Harry. With the landlady's special care, Tierra was even a little overnourished. He was half a head taller than Harry and a bit sturdier as well, so Harry could wear his clothes without any problem.

Harry squeezed Tierra's clean clothes, which still carried a faint fresh scent of soap, then quickly pulled them over his head.

Today was an important day for Harry.

If he had a choice, he did not want to enter the Magical World wearing clothes full of holes.

Once they were dressed, Hagrid took Harry and Tierra to the Leaky Cauldron.

It was a filthy, cramped pub squeezed between a huge bookstore and a record shop. It was only two streets away from the attic where Tierra lived. If Hagrid had not pointed it out, no one would have noticed such a shabby little pub at all.

In fact, Tierra had passed by this pub countless times. Every day, when he walked back from the Chinese restaurant where he worked to his attic in the old district, he had to pass through this street.

Every time, Tierra had only noticed the bookstore and record shop on either side. He had never noticed the Leaky Cauldron between them.

"Ordinary people have a hard time noticing it." Hagrid winked at Tierra. "First-time young wizards and Muggles can't see the Leaky Cauldron unless someone brings them here, let alone get inside."

Before Harry and Tierra could say anything, Hagrid pushed them into the Leaky Cauldron.

For a place so famous both in the Wizarding World and in Tierra's previous life, it was far too dark and filthy. It was much dirtier than it had looked in the movies. Tierra felt that any third-rate restaurant in a third-tier city in China would be cleaner than this.

Several old women sat in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron, drinking sherry from small glasses. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was chatting with the pub owner, who was nearly bald and looked like a shriveled walnut.

The moment they entered, the chatter stopped abruptly. Everyone here seemed to know Hagrid. They smiled, waved, and whistled at him.

"The usual, Hagrid?" A hunchbacked man behind the counter looked at Hagrid as he polished a glass.

"Oh, no, Tom. I'd love a drink, but I'm on Hogwarts business." Hagrid patted the pub owner's shoulder with his massive hand, nearly flattening him.

"You know, I never drink when I'm on the job. That's why Dumbledore trusts me." Hagrid said proudly.

"My goodness," the pub owner said. After Hagrid refused, he turned his attention to the two little boys behind him. When he saw Harry's almost emerald-green eyes and the lightning-shaped scar hidden beneath his messy hair, he shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Oh, Merlin above, this is—could this be—"

The Leaky Cauldron fell completely silent.

"Oh!" The pub owner seemed to realize he had lost his composure and quickly lowered his voice. "Harry Potter. Oh, Merlin's Beard, it's Harry Potter—what an honor."

The pub owner hurried out from behind the bar, ran over to Harry, and seized his hand, tears filling his eyes.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter. Welcome back." Harry did not know what to say. Everyone was staring at him. The old woman smoking the long pipe kept puffing away, completely unaware that her pipe had gone out.

Hagrid began to chuckle. Chairs scraped and clattered over as every wizard in the pub crowded around Harry. Young and old, men and women, all kinds of strange people surrounded him. If Tierra had not kept holding onto Hagrid's coat sleeve, he probably would have been squeezed out of the circle by now.

Harry had never seen anything like it. By the time he came back to himself, he found that he was shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron one by one.

"I'm Codori, Mr. Potter. I can hardly believe it—I've finally met you."

"What an honor, Mr. Potter. What an honor."

"I've been looking forward to shaking your hand—my heart's pounding."

"I'm so happy, Mr. Potter. I can't even describe how I feel. My name is Digo."

"I've seen you before," Harry shouted when Digo became so excited that his top hat fell off. "Once in a shop, you bowed to me."

"He remembers!" Digo shouted excitedly to everyone present. "Did you hear that? He, Harry Potter, remembers me!"

And so Harry shook hands over and over again.

Codori, the wizard who had been the first to shake Harry's hand, kept running back to ask for another handshake.

A pale young man approached. He looked extremely nervous, and one of his eyes kept twitching.

"Professor Quirrell." Hagrid gave a slight nod in greeting.

"Harry, Tierra, let me introduce you. This is Professor Quirrell, your teacher."

"Po... Po... Potter," Professor Quirrell stammered, grabbing Harry's hand. "It is, is, is an indescribable pleasure to meet you."

Standing beside Hagrid, Tierra noticed that Quirrell was wearing a pair of black gloves.

A strange thought suddenly flashed through Tierra's mind.

If Professor Quirrell took off his gloves and shook Harry's hand right now, would the first Harry Potter book end ahead of schedule?

"What kind of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"

"De... De... Defense Against the Dark Arts," Professor Quirrell mumbled, as though he felt it was better not to mention it. "You probably don't... don't... don't need to learn that anymore, do you, Po... Po... Potter?"

Quirrell suddenly burst into a nervous fit of laughter. "You're ge... getting ready to buy what you need, right? Well, I, I, I also... need to buy a book about va... vampires."

But the others would not let Professor Quirrell keep talking to Harry. It took Harry around ten minutes to finally shake them off. Amid the nonstop chatter, Hagrid took Tierra by the hand and raised his voice to call to Harry, "Time to go! We've still got lots to buy. Come on, Harry, don't keep Tierra waiting."

After Codori shook Harry's hand one last time, Hagrid led him through the bar to a small walled courtyard. There was nothing there except a rubbish bin and some weeds.

"Sorry, Harry, Tierra. I was going to bring you to the Leaky Cauldron for breakfast. Their mashed potato sandwiches are brilliant—even the House-elves at Hogwarts can't match that skill." Hagrid grinned at Harry and Tierra. "But now we can only grab something in Diagon Alley. Hmm... those delicious grilled sausages probably haven't sold out yet."

As he spoke, Hagrid pulled out his pink umbrella.