Green Plum

The breeze outside carried the scent of sunlight and wild grass.

Under the sycamore tree stood a girl with a wild mane of dark golden-brown hair that reached her waist. Her eyebrows and eyes were very pale in color. She wore earrings made from Airship Plums and a necklace strung with Butterbeer corks.

"How did you know I was in the study? The front door and my room are both in the other direction." Matthew was curious about why the girl had called out to him from under the study window.

"I saw Distraction Fleas flying into that room, so I guessed you'd be there." The girl's voice drifted ethereally, as if she were singing.

"Distraction Fleas?"

Luna said dreamily, "Distraction Fleas... they're invisible. They fly into your ears and mess up your brain."

"Matthew, the Thunderbird egg you gave me is about to hatch a Thunderbird baby."

Luna suddenly remembered her purpose. She opened the cardboard box in her arms, inside which lay a pure gold Thunderbird egg.

By now, the golden egg had many cracks. Through the cracks, some feathers could faintly be seen.

Matthew examined the golden egg carefully and said with some surprise, "That's really not easy."

He had picked up this Thunderbird egg from a Dark Wizard and given it to Luna as a birthday present. Six months had passed since then. Matthew and Luna had tried many methods but failed to hatch the egg.

Luna said cheerfully, "I wrote a letter to Grandpa Newt. He told me to rub sunflower pollen on the egg every day for three weeks, and then it would hatch."

Matthew asked in surprise, "Newt Scamander? The Magizoologist who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?"

Luna nodded. "Grandpa Newt used to submit articles to The Quibbler. I asked Father for his contact info and sent him Airship Plum earrings."

That was so like her...

Just then, movement came from the cardboard box. The cracks on the golden egg rapidly widened. Through the cracks, a tiny life could be seen struggling fiercely inside the shell, and even its faint cries could be heard.

After a while, a beak shaped like an eagle's cracked through the golden egg, and a tiny Thunderbird squeezed out.

Seeing the little Thunderbird successfully break its shell, Luna was overjoyed. She pointed at the sycamore tree by the wall and said:

"We should build a home for it up there."

Matthew hesitated. "Why build a nest here? I'm starting school next week, so I won't be able to take care of the little guy."

Luna tilted her head and looked at Matthew with a smile. "I think it'll like it here. I can come see it every day."

Matthew looked into those pale eyes hidden in crescent-shaped arcs and said gently, "Okay."

The next morning, London, Charing Cross Road, Westminster.

After a sound of air churning, Matthew appeared at the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

A person had materialized out of thin air, yet the passersby nearby acted as if they hadn't seen a thing.

Entering the pub, the bar was straight ahead. It was stuffy, noisy, dim, and shabby.

The moment Matthew stepped inside, the clamor in the room paused for an instant.

Old Tom was wiping a wine cup behind the bar. He waved at Matthew. "Hey! Black! You're here! Want a drink?"

Matthew nodded and said with a smile, "A Butterbeer."

Butterbeer in the wizarding world was a non-alcoholic drink, suitable for all ages, more like a beverage.

Old Tom poured a Butterbeer for Matthew and said, "This one's on me. Thanks for the Itch-Cure Potion."

Then Old Tom cautiously glanced around and whispered to Matthew, "Someone's got their eye on you."

After that, Old Tom went back to wiping his cup. Matthew looked at him with a puzzled expression, but Old Tom continued wiping the cup as if he'd never said anything.

Matthew silently took a sip of his Butterbeer.

Someone had their eye on him? He carefully thought back to everyone he'd offended.

That was a long list...

Although he was a descendant of the Black family, his grandfather had been disowned from the family tree.

After he was sorted into Slytherin House, trouble started piling up. Many students in Slytherin were descendants of Death Eaters, and his parents had been killed by Death Eaters. The result was a revolving door of school bullying—extortion, isolation, oppression, and the like.

Fortunately, Matthew had some talent in magic. While his peers could only manage a few prank spells, he had already mastered a number of offensive and defensive spells with ease.

Thus, in his first year, he took down the students in his year who came looking for trouble. By his second year, no student in his year dared to provoke him anymore.

But Slytherin admired strength. After he'd established himself, he even gained some followers.

He downed the rest of his Butterbeer in one gulp and went to the small courtyard behind the pub.

There was only a trash can and some weeds. After confirming no one was around, Matthew took out a bottle of Dark Green Potion and poured it into his mouth. A slightly irritating sensation lingered in his mouth and esophagus, eventually fermenting into a nauseating taste—absolutely foul.

In an instant, his entire face scrunched up. Something seemed to writhe beneath his skin. His eyes, nose, mouth, and ears all began to melt, his whole face twisting and deforming.

Then his bones started to change as well, a series of strange sounds coming from his body.

After a moment, Matthew had transformed into a red-haired man with a gaunt face and sinister eyes.

He tried a few expressions and movements to get used to his new body.

Matthew took out his wand, cast a Transfiguration Spell on his clothes to turn them into a well-fitted black wizard robe, then tapped a brick on top of the trash can twice with his wand.

The brick he'd tapped began to tremble, and the surrounding bricks shifted along with it. Soon, the wall formed a wide archway leading to a winding, cobblestone street that stretched out of sight.

The streets of Diagon Alley were bustling, with every shop window displaying all sorts of wondrous items—strange and peculiar Alchemical Products, limbs from unknown creatures, brightly colored fur, and even eyeballs the size of a human head.

Matthew first took a stroll through Diagon Alley, then turned into Tumbledown Alley; he needed to offload a batch of potions.

It was a poorly lit street, its entrance near Gringotts. Though adjacent to Diagon Alley, the atmosphere here was entirely different. The moment he stepped into the alley, he could smell a faint sour, rancid odor. Moss grew thick on the walls, and many patches of plaster had already peeled away, with visible sewage on the ground.

The street was dim and chaotic, and every wizard he saw here exuded a hint of danger.

In the corner on the Right Side of the street, a stubbly Short Fat Wizard crouched there. When he saw Matthew, his Face Lit Up With Joy. He stood up, shaking his two short, bowed legs.

First, he furtively glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention to this spot, he muttered, "Been waiting a long time—thought you weren't coming! Did you bring all the goods?"