First Arrival in the Magical World

They arrived at the back street of the pub.

Before them was a wall full of the marks of time.

Looking down, there was a trash bin piled high with odds and ends.

In front of a relatively clean and empty section of the wall, Iris stopped.

"Miss Dumbledore? What's the next step?"

Having been reborn for several years, Cypher's memory was a bit fuzzy; he only remembered that this place led to Diagon Alley.

But as for how to get there? The only exit here was the door they'd come through.

Seeing that Iris hadn't moved for a long time, Cypher spoke up to ask.

However, Iris, lost in thought, didn't react.

Not until Cypher raised his voice and called again.

"Ah!"

Iris seemed to suddenly realize Cypher was addressing her.

Facing his concerned gaze, she stuck out her tongue and replied.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking about which brick is the one."

"The trash bin here was moved by Old Tom, so I'm a bit unsure."

Cypher looked at the bin by his feet; there were indeed fresh signs of it having been shifted.

He thought for a moment, then made a suggestion.

"Does this mechanism have a limit on how many times you can try?"

Seeing Iris's confusion, he added, "I mean, is it okay to just test them one by one?"

Iris's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Hey, that might actually work!"

With that, she turned around and pulled out her wand.

She pointed the tip at the wall, tapping here and there.

Finally, an unremarkable brick responded to Iris's wand, emitting a faint milky-white glow.

"Ahem, now, you're about to witness the wonderful world of magic. Don't blink!"

Iris said, putting on a serious face.

But the smile in her crescent-moon eyes was impossible to hide.

"I just found the last brick."

Seeing that she'd teased Cypher enough, Iris continued her demonstration.

"You start here, count three bricks up, then two bricks in, and finally tap three times. Remember, you have to channel magic into your wand the whole time."

As the silver-haired girl finished all this and lifted her wand, the wall visibly began to tremble and shift.

The girl spun half a turn to the side, her hair flowing like silk.

Finally, Iris stood gracefully still.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"

Iris's crisp greeting was quickly drowned out by the rumbling noise of stone grinding against stone.

The wall writhed like a living thing, bricks sliding in and out in constant motion.

It must have been the start of the school term, because not a speck of dust fell.

After a moment, the sound stopped.

The wall, after its writhing, had transformed into a wide archway, revealing behind it a winding, cobblestone street that stretched out of sight.

"Wait, Miss Dumbledore."

Reacting a beat too slow again, Iris seemed a little displeased as she cut off whatever Cypher was about to say.

"Cypher! We're about to be classmates at Hogwarts. I call you Cypher, you call me Iris. Calling me 'Miss Dumbledore' all the time makes it way too formal!"

"Uh, alright! Iris!"

Hesitating for a moment, but with Iris's glare, Cypher quickly corrected himself.

"Go on, what is it?"

Iris prepared herself to answer, expecting Cypher to ask about the principle behind it all.

Then she would have to properly explain to him what Transfiguration was, what Magic Runes were, Alchemy, and so on.

To whet Cypher's appetite.

Yet the moment Cypher opened his mouth, Iris regretted letting him call her Iris.

"You brought the subsidy for buying school supplies, textbooks, and the wand, right?"

The scene was so quiet you could hear a pin drop...

"I brought it~ I brought it! You can trust this young lady's work!"

Iris's outburst after her silence caught Cypher off guard, and he quickly apologized, flattering and soothing her.

"Hmph!"

In the end, Iris gave a light snort, indicating she had forgiven Cypher.

"Then next, let's go shopping in Diagon Alley, Classmate Cypher."

Hey hey, holding a grudge like that isn't really appropriate, is it?

Looking at the strange display items and the bustling crowds not far on either side.

Noise filled his ears.

Cypher stood frozen in place for a long while.

Iris reached out her hand, originally intending to mock Cypher for being captivated by such trivial things.

But from the side, she caught sight of Cypher's eyes.

She instinctively stopped her action.

She didn't tease Cypher.

After waiting a moment, Iris saw a flicker of movement return to Cypher's gaze.

Only then did she extend her slender finger and poke Cypher's arm.

"Don't just stand there in a daze! We still have a lot to buy!"

With that, she walked ahead without looking back.

Watching the silver ribbon bouncing ahead of him, Cypher's anxiety about the unknown world and the pressure of a dark future mostly dissipated.

Shifting his mindset, Cypher, filled with anticipation for wonderful experiences ahead, revealed the happiest smile he had worn since being born into this world.

"Heavens, you actually dared to let me touch supernatural power!"

On the street paved with stone slabs, Iris led the way swaying ahead.

And Cypher, despite having lived two lives, was still captivated by the dazzling array of magical products.

Several times, Iris, who had walked far ahead, had to stop and wait.

Finally, Iris couldn't take it anymore.

She reached out, grabbed Cypher's hand, and yanked him forward with force.

Although in the orphanage, Cypher often held his little sister's hand, being pulled by Iris's hand gave him an electric sensation.

Unfortunately, the outside world had enough distractions to divert Cypher's attention, preventing him from savoring the feeling.

Subconsciously, he let Iris drag him along.

While his eyes kept scanning left and right.

Unlike the hurried pace of the Muggle world outside, the wizarding world was still dominated by leisure and fun.

Various shop windows or counters displayed all kinds of magical products, such as moving wizard chess, miniature Fire Dragons, and Cypher was even lucky enough to see a small Fire Dragon spit a fist-sized fireball at him.

There were also street stalls with all sorts of bizarre materials, like a basket of feathers in various colors, eyeballs of different pupils, and strange leather goods flowing with colorful fluorescence.

Many shop signs also hung uniquely shaped wind chimes.

As a gentle breeze passed, the wind chimes emitted melodious songs in an unknown language.

"Even if Iris isn't Dumbledore's adopted daughter, her background can't be too poor,"

Cypher thought to himself.

"These tunes are pleasant but hard to vocalize, yet Iris can hum them effortlessly."

Cypher's renewed suspicion naturally stemmed from Iris's lack of sensitivity to the name Dumbledore.

But Iris was indeed her name.

It was clear that although Iris was dragging Cypher along like dead weight, she was enjoying this walk.

After who knows how long, when Cypher's vision was once again filled with walls, his forward steps were blocked by a soft body.

Iris, with a face white tinged with red, saw Cypher's expression of lingering desire.

It seemed he hadn't noticed they had reached the end of Diagon Alley.

Iris's reproachful words died in her mouth.

"Cypher, what do you want to buy first?"

A girl's thoughts are hard to guess—sometimes she'll deliberately provoke you, hoping to catch your attention, and other times, she'll suddenly turn a smile your way.

And so, having satisfied her urge to shop, Iris smiled and asked Cypher about his next plan.

"A wand, of course!"

Cypher answered without hesitation.

Though this was the main street of Diagon Alley, the wand shop clearly wasn't here.

Otherwise, given how Cypher had taken in everything on both sides, he would have stopped in front of the wand shop long ago.

Iris wasn't surprised by his answer.

After a bit of wandering, Iris smoothly led Cypher to their destination.