I Thought It Was Harry Potter

Even after a century, The Leaky Cauldron was still as filthy and cramped as Harry remembered.

The moment he pushed open the door, a heavy smell of alcohol hit him, mixed with the stench of secondhand smoke.

Everyone here seemed to know Hagrid. At the sight of his enormous figure, several patrons seated at the bar raised their glasses and loudly welcomed his arrival.

"The usual, Hagrid?" asked Tom, the proprietor behind the bar.

"Oh, no, Tom. I've got something important to do." Hagrid declined, casually patting Harry's thin shoulder as he boomed, "I'm taking Harry to Diagon Alley."

At the sound of Harry's name, the noisy chatter in the pub instantly died away. Everyone held their breath and looked at Hagrid—or, more precisely, at the small Harry beside him.

"My goodness, is that really you?" The glass Tom had been polishing slipped from his hand and smashed on the floor.

He hurried out from behind the bar and jogged over to Harry, gripping his hand with tears in his eyes.

"Harry Potter, what an honor—welcome, welcome back!"

Harry was both surprised and at a loss.

Could it be that, even a century later, people still remembered how he had wiped out The Ashwinder Party and suppressed the Goblin Rebellion?

If they could recognize him, did that mean—

He did not know what to say. Everyone was staring at him, crowding forward to shake his hand first.

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

"I've been hoping to shake your hand for ages—my heart's pounding."

Only after the wizards had expressed their admiration for Harry did Hagrid pull him away and say, "Sorry, everyone, but I still need to take Harry to Diagon Alley to buy some things."

With that, he rescued Harry from the crowd.

"See? I told you, you're famous," Hagrid said with a smile.

Harry smiled back at Hagrid and casually asked, "Why are they... acting like this?"

"Why are they acting like this?" Hagrid gave Harry an exaggerated pat on the back. "You defeated the most terrifying Dark Wizard of this century. You deserve this kind of respect!"

So that was it...

Harry nodded in understanding, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

It was good that they had not recognized him as that Harry Potter from a century ago.

Time was a forbidden thing. The very fact that he could travel through time and return to his childhood was enough to drive people mad.

What was more, the fact that "that Harry" was one of the inheritors of Ancient Magic had not been any great secret in the Magical World a century ago.

Dark Wizards coveting Ancient Magic had openly attacked students on their way to transfer schools. Harry did not believe the Dark Wizards of this era would be any kinder.

After returning to the age of eleven, his magical strength had also regressed to that of an eleven-year-old. Ordinary Dark Wizards would be one thing, but if another Runcorn-like creature appeared, he would not be able to handle it in his current state.

So... it would be best not to make this secret public.

Harry silently made up his mind.

Beside him, Hagrid was still explaining, "Three up—two across—right, stand back, Harry..."

He looked down and saw that Harry still seemed distracted. Assuming he was troubled by what had happened earlier, he smiled and said, "Harry, did you hear me?"

"Oh." Harry came back to himself and realized they were already at the wall of The Leaky Cauldron. He reached for Hagrid's umbrella, counted briefly, then lightly tapped the wall three times with its tip.

The brick he had tapped began to tremble and shift. A small hole appeared in the center, and its opening steadily widened.

Before long, a broad archway large enough for Hagrid to pass through appeared before them, leading to a winding cobblestone street that stretched out of sight.

"You've got a great memory, Harry," Hagrid said happily. "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Harry returned the umbrella to Hagrid, then hesitantly asked, "Um—Hagrid, I don't have any money..."

"Ha, you don't need to worry about that. Surely you don't think your parents left you no inheritance?" Hagrid explained. "Come on. Since you're worried about it, we'll go to Gringotts and withdraw some money now."

Gringotts was still exactly the same, unchanged in any way. Its entrance faced Diagon Alley, with a flight of white stone steps