Living at the Leaky Cauldron

Living at the Leaky Cauldron

The next day, Harry woke before dawn.

Today was officially his first day as a wizard. Harry was naturally excited. And he was all by himself. That feeling of freedom was truly wonderful!

Harry pulled back the worn curtains. The sky was dark blue. When he opened the wooden window, a cold gust blew in. Though it was summer, it was still early morning, so Harry could only close the window partway.

He pulled out a sweater from among his clothes and put it on. Only then did he feel much warmer.

Harry said regretfully, "Shouldn't there be a sweet, beautiful girl in bed whenever the male lead appears in a bed scene? Where's mine?"

A seductive voice answered him...

Harry looked toward the head of the bed and saw a delicate little white cat curled into a ball.

What misery...

Harry sat by the window, looking at the sky where dark blue mingled with black, at the still-bright stars and moon. He moved a small wooden table to the window, lit three candles, and opened the first page of History of Magic. It was required reading for History of Magic class.

The window, the night, the candles, the history book, the handsome young man... The scene was truly evocative.

The book recorded the development of the wizarding world and its major historical events from before the Common Era to the present. It was easy enough for first-year students to understand. At the end, Harry found himself mentioned, though the picture was of him as a baby.

"Where's my portrait fee? This is copyright infringement, all right?" Harry roared inwardly. But then he thought about how it did not really cost him anything and would even earn him a great deal of fame, so he gave up the idea of calling consumer protection.

After reading the table of contents and skimming through the book, dawn had arrived. It was still quiet, though. Looking down from the window, Diagon Alley was nowhere near as bustling as it had been the previous day. Only a scattered few shops had opened.

Harry stretched and rubbed his eyes. With one breath, he blew out all three candles, and three wisps of blue smoke rose into the air.

He took off his outer sweater, revealing the T-shirt underneath.

Harry threw himself onto the bed, sprawling spread-eagled. The sleeping cat was jolted into the air, clearly frightened. Once it realized there was no danger, it went back to chanting.

Harry pulled the cat tightly into his arms, rubbed his nose against its face, and could not help smiling.

"I still need to give you a name. What should I call you?" Harry pondered.

"Wangcai?"

The cat's fur instantly stood on end.

"Haha, that was such a strong reaction. Looks like you really like that name! Ah... Why did you bite me..." Harry rubbed his palm.

"Elizabeth, Alice... No, too troublesome. What a headache... Ah, Tom, then. But..." Harry looked at the little cat in his arms and lifted its hind legs.

He said in disappointment, "It's a girl!"

In the end, Harry finally settled on a name. "Mm, Little Cutie."

Harry was sure he truly hated naming things, because there were simply too many choices.

Still, it was actually a pretty good name, Harry comforted himself.

An eagle's cry tore through the silence. A black shadow flashed past like lightning, and a majestic eagle landed by Harry's window. It spread its left wing and used its sharp beak to preen its feathers.

"There's another one!" Harry's head began to ache again.

Naturally, when naming the eagle, Harry wisely kept far away from it. Getting pecked by an eagle was definitely not a good experience!

"How about Optimus Prime? It suits you perfectly!"

"Not satisfied? Do you prefer Decepticon? But that's the villain."

After a round of bargaining, Harry discovered that the eagle's favorite was actually "Hedwig."

"Honestly, no originality at all." Harry curled his lip.

He was not especially fond of the name, but his eagle had not reacted to any of his other wild, domineering, cool names.

Still, at least it had a name now.

Harry suddenly noticed a bloodstained feather in Hedwig's beak.

"Well, well, eating alone, are we?" (The eagle was innocent: You never fed me, and now you won't even let me find my own food?)

Harry thought of something terrifying. Owls seemed to eat mice, right? Good thing he had not bought an owl. Otherwise, if it kept carrying mice into the room, he really would have despaired.

Because of that thought, Harry decided to forgive Hedwig.

"Come on, let's try it." Harry smiled brightly.

"Little Cutie..."

"Meow..." Little Cutie replied.

"Little Cutie..."

"...Meow..."

"Little Cutie..."

"..." Little Cutie did not even raise its head.

Heh heh... Harry looked embarrassed.

He turned to Hedwig. "Hedwig..."

"Flap, flap..." Hedwig flew away at once.

Harry's face darkened. "None of you want to play with me, huh? Then I'll... turn my grief and indignation into appetite."

Harry went downstairs. Old Tom had not gotten up yet.

Harry shook his head speechlessly and had no choice but to go out. He stuffed himself in the Muggle world while thinking, What should I do today?

"Mm, I'll keep wandering around Diagon Alley this morning, then read in my room this afternoon—especially Potions and Elixirs. I need to memorize those three damned questions backward and forward! Snape, let's see whose magic is stronger."

"Then tomorrow..."

"The day after, I'll learn simple magic. I'll practice more every day until I'm proficient..."

"Best of all..."

"Grrr... This is so good! Waiter, another serving of these two dishes!"

And so Harry began a learning journey that lasted more than a month.

Every morning, Little Cutie woke him by licking him with its tongue. He fed it a fresh fish bought from a London supermarket, then went out for a run, with Buckingham Palace as his destination before returning.

By then, Old Tom had begun work. Harry bought a large piece of meat, returned to his room, called Hedwig back, and fed it to her.

He either practiced magic, read books, or carried Little Cutie to Diagon Alley.

As fewer and fewer new students came to buy supplies, Diagon Alley returned to its usual state. The streets were rarely packed with people anymore.

Recently, many shops in Diagon Alley had noticed a child appearing on the streets. He was very composed, with a silver mark like a pattern tattooed on his forehead. They guessed it might be some kind of magic.

He often appeared in Diagon Alley, going in and out of every shop. Occasionally, he carried a pure white cat that he called Little Cutie.

Even when people asked his name, he only smiled and shook his head. After several attempts, no one asked anymore.

More than a month slowly passed. Only Harry knew how much magic he had mastered.

But perhaps the fact that Harry himself was shocked by the speed at which he learned magic could tell us something!

Of course, there were also things Harry did not want to mention. For instance, at Flourish and Blotts, when Harry used Accio to search for a book, the pile of books stacked to the ceiling collapsed with a crash and buried him at the very bottom. Another time, while experimenting in his room, his face was blown black and his bed caught fire. Old Tom stared at him so resentfully that goosebumps rose all over his body...

Luo Bei: There was a deeper meaning behind Harry naming his owl "Hedwig." One meaning of Hedwig was "protector of orphans."