Jack Smith looked to be in his sixties and bore some resemblance to Sean Connery. When he had run for Parliament, nearly all the female voters in his constituency over forty-five had cast their ballots for him.
When he entered the living room, he saw Dumbledore dressed in robes with a long beard. He was not surprised and asked, "Which theater company are you with, sir?"
Dumbledore had long since grown used to questions like that. He replied amiably, "Hello, Mr. Smith. I'm Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I've come to invite Charles Smith to attend Hogwarts."
"You may not know this, but Charles is a wizard. Not the sort of stage magician who performs tricks, but a real wizard capable of wielding magic."
Jack sat down beside Charles and said without changing his expression, "Charles is a clever boy. He's always been top of his class at Dragon Primary School in Oxfordshire. I think he could attend Eton College, Harrow School, or Westminster School instead of becoming an actor."
"There are many crossroads in life. Just because we old people think one road is the right one doesn't mean it suits the young."
"If Charles wants to pursue a career in the performing arts, I'll support his choice."
Seeing that Jack still believed he was an actor, Dumbledore took out his wand and said with a smile, "Would you like a cup of tea?"
With a wave of his wand, a clean teacup and saucer flew from the cupboard onto the table. The teapot flew over and poured tea into the cup, then the saucer carried the teacup to Jack.
Jack stared at the teacup for a long while. He then reached out and felt around it, discovering that there were no strings attached. Astonished, he said, "Could there really be magic in this world?"
At that moment, Charles shouted, "This gentleman just said there was a Dark Lord named Voldemort... or something like that. Apparently, he killed Mrs. Dursley's sister, who was Harry's mother."
Old Man Jack's brows knit tightly at once, and he fired off a string of questions. "Is that true? Could The Dursleys also be... wizards? Will that African dark lord come seeking revenge? Should we call the police?"
Dumbledore had plenty of experience with questions like these. He patiently explained everything in terms a Muggle could understand. The Dursleys were not wizards, but Petunia's sister and nephew were; the Dark Lord was not Black—his ancestors had all been British for eighteen generations. "Dark Lord" meant a lord who used Dark Magic, and he had been finished off ten years ago; calling the police would be useless, since wizards had their own Aurors, whose role was roughly equivalent to that of the police.
He then explained what Hogwarts was all about, and with a wave of his wand, he transformed the teacup Petunia had used earlier into a pigeon that darted all over the living room.
After listening, Jack took a sip of tea and asked Old Man Dumbledore, "How many people did that Dark Lord kill?"
Dumbledore replied, "More than a hundred."
Jack continued, "In one morning?"
Dumbledore hurriedly shook his head. "No, that was the total."
"That's all?" Jack asked finally, "How much is the tuition?"
Dumbledore froze for a moment before answering, "Hogwarts is funded by the Board of Directors, so students don't have to pay tuition. They only need to buy their own robes, textbooks, and some equipment for class."
Jack was silent for a moment, then turned to Charles. "What do you think?"
Charles hesitated. He had no grand ambitions and had already planned out his future. After graduating from university here, he would return home and become a foreign teacher, while buying a house—then buying another house, and another house. Wouldn't that make for a wonderful life?
But that was Hogwarts. It would be a shame not to go and see it.
In the end, Charles said, "All right. I'll go."
Dumbledore smiled and extended his right hand toward Charles. "On behalf of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I welcome you. I believe you'll have a wonderful time at Hogwarts."
Charles extended his hand and shook Dumbledore's, but released it half a second later. He looked as though he were very wary of him.
Dumbledore left. He still had to explain things to the next Muggle-born student's family, but he ignored The Dursleys across the hall.
After confirming that Old Man Dumbledore had left, Charles sat on the sofa and said to the smiling Jack, "You could definitely win an Oscar if you went into movies."
Jack snapped his fingers and said, "Go shut off the water and electricity properly. We're leaving soon."
As he spoke, several suitcases floated down the stairs and stopped by themselves behind the front door.
Charles asked curiously, "Where are we going?"
"Seaside Villa." Jack spoke seriously. "The real Hogwarts is dangerous. You could lose your life if you're not careful. The first time I went to school, the carriage I was riding in was attacked by a dragon, and on the way to class, you had to take down at least eight people."
"While we still have time, I'm going to teach you some defensive magic."
Charles's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "You're willing to buy me a wand?"
Jack's answer left him deeply frustrated. "Use mine for now."
Charles still wanted to argue, so he said, "Wouldn't it be inconvenient for you if you didn't have a wand?"
Jack stood up and waved his hand. The tea set, watermelon, and watermelon knife on the table all vanished. Calm and composed, he said, "A wand is hardly such an inconvenient object."
Charles had nothing to say.
Old Man Jack had lived for more than a century but had no experience raising children. When he first picked Charles up, he had actually used Legilimency on him just to figure out whether he was hungry or needed to relieve himself. As a result, he saw part of Charles's memories, and later somehow even learned to make memes.
Charles had been angry about it for a long time, but finally calmed down after Old Man Jack agreed to teach him magic.
The two of them pretended to carry the suitcases to the Rolls-Royce, after which Jack drove.
Halfway there, Charles realized that the car's destination seemed wrong. He asked in confusion, "Aren't we going to Seaside Villa? Why are we entering London City?"
Jack asked in return, "Have you forgotten what day it is today?"
Charles was full of question marks and couldn't figure it out. When they had gone to France some time ago, Old Man Jack seemed to have arranged the itinerary around something that was supposed to happen today.
"You forgot?" Jack said calmly. "Today is the day you're seeing the dentist."
Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Charles's forehead. He hurriedly said, "I brush my teeth properly every day. I don't need to see a dentist!"
Jack said to him solemnly, "I heard several ladies say that drinking Happy Water too often damages your teeth. You drink so much of it that you need a proper checkup."
"Besides, your classmate is very happy to see you. Surely you're just as happy to see her?"
"By the way, do you have a thing for her?"
Charles spoke with a dark expression. "Don't joke around. Saying things like that can make a girl uncomfortable. We're just innocent classmates. You should know that I like women with particularly good figures."
Jack said indifferently, "So what if her figure isn't good? That's just one Human Transfiguration spell."
"All right, I'll buy you a new computer. You can use it when you come back from the holidays. Don't you always say that being a wizard is inferior to enjoying the benefits of modern society?"
"Who would have thought that Jack from the West Lake would grow up to accomplish such great things?"
"Sigh... Wizards have fallen behind."
By the end, he looked somewhat dejected.
It was the first time Charles had seen him like this, so he asked, "You... when did you start thinking that wizards were behind the times?"
"July 21, 1969," Jack answered quietly. "The day Muggles first landed on the moon. In the blink of an eye, it's been twenty-two years."
Charles asked him again, "It wouldn't be difficult for you to use Apparition or a Portkey to go to the moon, would it?"
Jack did not answer. He only said, "You'll know once you learn."
"If you can master the few spells I teach you before going to Hogwarts, I'll show you my memories from when I was at Hogwarts. Then we'll be even."
Seeing that Jack had changed the subject, Charles stopped dwelling on the matter of using magic to reach the moon. He pouted and said, "I'd rather see your memories of traveling around the world."
Jack said, "The world is a big place. If you want to see it, go see it yourself."
As they spoke, the two arrived outside the dental clinic.
The good news was that the clinic was closed, with a sign hanging outside that read: "Temporarily closed due to an emergency."
Before you continue