The Boy Who Lived!

"You can modify your own wand?"

Snape looked as though he'd just heard an utterly ridiculous joke.

It was so ridiculous

that it wasn't even funny.

"Yeah, I did. I used the textbook from Flourish and Blotts and a little inspiration of my own."

Devero nodded.

Snape couldn't believe Devero had said that so casually.

But after seeing him make an ultra-simple version of Polyjuice Potion with ingredients Snape himself couldn't have managed without,

Snape couldn't help beginning to believe him.

"How long have you been doing this?"

Snape asked hesitantly.

He knew that if Devero was lying, he'd almost certainly be expelled.

"Not long. Just two weeks. I've only cast the spell a few hundred times or so."

Snape couldn't help rubbing his forehead.

If the boy was telling the truth,

then the Ministry of Magic hadn't come knocking in two weeks.

That meant he'd definitely gone undiscovered.

But if that was the case,

could this kid be not only a Potion Prodigy,

but also an unparalleled genius at wand-making?

"Wait, then tell me in detail how you modified this wand... Damn it! We're running out of time!"

Before Devero could explain in detail how he'd modified his wand,

Snape cursed under his breath.

He said they were about to run out of time,

and told Devero to find him at school later so they could talk about it privately.

Then he grabbed Devero by the shoulder.

Bang!

Devero felt as if he'd been sucked into a toilet.

Dizzy and disoriented, he arrived somewhere new.

Although he could already use Apparition very skillfully,

being taken along by Snape

was still a bit much for him.

It just didn't feel as comfortable as casting the spell himself.

He turned around.

They were in a narrow alley.

There wasn't a wizard or Muggle in sight.

Snape shoved a train ticket into Devero's hand.

"Now go into the station and catch the train. The platform is Platform 9 3/4. The entrance is the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. Just charge straight through. Don't hesitate."

After giving his instructions,

Snape narrowed his eyes.

"And one more thing. I don't care where you learned it, but don't Apparate anywhere I can't see you!"

With that, he pushed Devero out of the alley.

Still a little dazed, Devero headed for the station.

Just before entering,

he glanced back.

Snape had already disappeared from the alley.

To be honest, an eleven-year-old Half-blood boy

carrying a toad on his shoulder in a train station

was bound to look a little strange.

It attracted the attention of quite a few adult Muggles.

But Devero paid them no mind,

heading straight for Platform Nine.

Before long, he reached his destination.

He easily found the barrier between the two platforms.

However,

he was supposed to run into a solid barrier without any protection.

He was still a little worried about that.

To be honest, he wasn't quite brave enough.

Just as Devero hesitated on the spot,

another boy, who looked about his age and was pushing a huge luggage trolley,

hurried onto the platform.

Devero saw that a station guard had just scolded him.

Green eyes, glasses,

and long hair covering his forehead.

There was no mistake!

This was the famous Boy Who Lived!

Harry Potter!

Devero immediately went over.

"Hey, are you a new Hogwarts student too?"

Devero held out his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Me too. I'm Devero, Devero Alexander. What about you?"

Harry was startled by the sudden appearance of someone his own age.

But when he heard the other boy was also a new Hogwarts student,

he smiled in relief.

"Hi, I'm Harry, Harry Potter. It's really great to meet you!"

As he spoke, Harry shook Devero's outstretched hand.

But when he looked at Devero again, for some reason,

Devero had suddenly gone still.

Devero figured he'd never forget the day he saw Harry Potter's entry.

[Name: Harry Potter]

[Age: 11]

[Spell Library: Love (Ancient Magic / active until age 17, currently active)]

[Traits: The Boy Who Lived (red), Protection of Love (gold), Horcrux (gold), Flight Prodigy (purple), Magical Talent (purple)]

[The Boy Who Lived (red): You were born with tremendous renown. You are destined to achieve extraordinary things in your final battle against your nemesis! But the path you take in the end depends on your choices.]

[Protection of Love (gold): Protection born of deep love. Until you come of age, as long as you spend some time with your blood relatives each year, no one can take your life!]

[Horcrux (gold): You were accidentally made into a Horcrux by a powerful Dark wizard, inheriting some of his talents, including extraordinary aptitude for Dark Magic and the ability to speak Parseltongue!]

[Flight Prodigy (purple): A born flier. You have an innate knack for flying equipment, especially Flying Brooms. Even years of training can't match the instinct you were born with!]

[Magical Talent (purple): You have greater magical talent than the average wizard. You learn spells faster than others and possess a certain degree of creativity.]

Oh my God!

Other than himself,

this was the first time Devero had seen someone with more than one gold trait!

It was also his first time seeing a red trait!

And all of Harry's traits were at least purple!

Wasn't that just what you'd expect from the Boy Who Lived?!

He really was the real deal!

Without a second thought, Devero added [The Boy Who Lived], [Protection of Love (gold)], [Flying Broom Prodigy (purple)], and [Magical Talent (purple)] to his plans.

He immediately loaded [The Boy Who Lived (red)], [Protection of Love], and [Magical Talent (purple)].

As for [Horcrux]...

Well, he didn't want to be sharing dreams with a bald old man with no nose while he slept.

Harry could enjoy that blessing himself.

Choosing to load two purple traits was perfectly normal.

And not choosing [Flying Broom Prodigy (purple)] at first had just been an oversight.

He could always load it at school later.

However, Devero had chosen to load [Protection of Love] for a reason.

He wanted to see

if he could find his blood relatives through this method.

After all, with this trait,

he would have the magic of "love."

That meant

he could tell who his blood relatives were

by checking whether the magic was active.

As for the [The Boy Who Lived] trait, Devero mainly wanted to see

how, at eleven years old,

he could have tremendous renown.

He wanted to see how the system would explain that.

[Ding!]

[Loading copied trait: The Boy Who Lived (red)...]

[Loading copied trait: Protection of Love (gold)...]

[Loading copied trait: Magical Talent (purple)...]

[Copy complete!]

At once,

the moment the trait copying was complete,

Devero didn't feel his body suddenly change the way it had when he copied [Potion Prodigy] and [Wand-making Prodigy].

Or rather, he did—but only a little.

What was different was

that Devero felt something shift deep within him.

It was impossible to describe.

It was as if he'd suddenly glimpsed his future,

only to forget it all in an instant.

It was a very strange feeling.

"Devero? Are you okay?"

Harry's concerned question suddenly snapped Devero out of it.

"Oh, yeah... I'm fine. Um, what were we talking about?"

Devero hadn't had time to make sense of that mysterious feeling.

He decided to think about it again on the train.

"Um, we were talking about getting to the train, but I'm not very good at finding... I mean, I actually don't know how to get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!"

Harry sounded a little embarrassed as he said this.

He probably didn't want his classmates to know that the Boy Who Lived was actually a clueless "idiot."

Devero understood perfectly.

He grinned,

then led Harry to the barrier.

"Come on, Harry. Don't think about it! Run into that barrier!"