I Acknowledge You Now!

Wizet opened the letter and saw the admission notice with his name on it.

Having only just experienced the wonders of magic, he was filled with irrepressible excitement.

All this time, he had been looking forward to the arrival of his admission notice.

Besides the admission notice, there was another thick sheet of parchment listing the books and items required for enrollment.

Studying at Hogwarts required no admission fee; students only needed to purchase the necessary supplies themselves.

In his previous life, Wizet had lived in an orphanage. That unusual life experience had made him especially sensitive in certain areas—when money was involved, he became exceptionally cautious.

But he had an even more important question. "Professor McGonagall, Luna's admission notice... isn't it being delivered by you?"

McGonagall explained, "She has not yet reached school age. She can only enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a new student next year."

Wizet turned to look at Luna. "Then why did you make me call you big sister?"

"I've always wanted a little brother I could take care of." Luna's smile was bright, and there was a touch of playfulness in her voice. "I fulfilled my duty as an older sister, didn't I?"

McGonagall pointed her wand at the iron cage. The cage floated into the air and drifted unsteadily to her side.

"I need to investigate properly why this snake appeared here."

"Investigate?" Wizet thought of something. "Professor McGonagall, you mean... this was a deliberate attack?"

McGonagall gave a soft sigh. "Wizet, you are an Obscurial. Other wizards will look at you differently. You should understand that, shouldn't you?"

"When you put it that way, I understand..." Wizet thought of many things. "They think I'm an outsider, and they instinctively want to reject me."

"In their eyes, I must be a bomb that could explode at any moment. If I were a student's parent... I'd have to consider my child's safety too."

"You understand it exactly right!" McGonagall adjusted her glasses. Beneath the clear lenses, surprise and admiration showed in her eyes. "Like Headmaster Dumbledore, I have great confidence in you."

"You are absolutely a child of outstanding talent, and I look forward to seeing how you perform at Hogwarts. You need not worry about the rest. We will handle it for you."

"Oh, right! In some time, a letter will be delivered here. When the time comes, someone will take you to Diagon Alley to buy the items on that list."

After leaving him with that instruction, she and the iron cage disappeared into the vortex together.

Night fell. Just as Wizet was about to mend his clothes, there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Come in!"

The one who entered the room was Xenophilius, Luna's father, a middle-aged man with a rather unkempt appearance.

His long, pale-blond hair hung over his shoulders and looked sticky.

There were also deep dark circles around his eyes, making him look somewhat dispirited.

He pulled over a chair and sat opposite Wizet. "This seems to be our first time... speaking face-to-face? Are you mending clothes?"

"They got torn by accident." Wizet set down the needle and thread in his hands.

Just as Xenophilius had said, this was indeed their first face-to-face conversation.

Xenophilius was the editor-in-chief of The Quibbler and usually worked on the second floor.

He was also responsible for three meals a day and telling Luna bedtime stories, barely managing to juggle both work and life.

"Luna told me everything." Xenophilius's expression was solemn. "You protected her... I have to thank you."

"She protected me." Wizet waved his hand. "She pushed me away at the first moment. It was Professor McGonagall who saved us in the end."

Compared with the usually somewhat dispirited middle-aged man, this solemn Xenophilius felt a little unfamiliar to him.

"No, no, no!" Xenophilius shook his head repeatedly. "Because of work, I usually can't spend much time with her. Most of the time, she plays alone."

"Besides reading The Quibbler, she waters the garden. Ever since you came, she's been smiling more... even the Plimpies she catches have gotten much bigger!"

Wizet laughed. "I've learned a lot from Luna."

"In any case! Although I still don't understand why the Ministry of Magic shoved you into my house..." Xenophilius stood up.

He placed a hand on Wizet's shoulder, like a king in the middle of knighting someone. "But! I accept you now!"

Seeing Xenophilius like this, Wizet did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But he also understood one thing—

Today, he and Luna's family had truly accepted one another.

Late at night, the fireplace in the Hogwarts headmaster's office crackled. The burning flames turned emerald green, and McGonagall stepped out from within.

Dumbledore set down the document in his hand and stood up to ask, "Minerva, you actually came back so late? Did something happen?"

"There was indeed some trouble." McGonagall adjusted her glasses. "When I went to deliver the admission notice, I encountered a Runespoor."

Dumbledore frowned. "A Runespoor? Wizet wasn't harmed, was he?"

"He's fine!" McGonagall nodded. "I've already asked Kingsley to help investigate. I believe there will be results soon."

"That Runespoor was very old. By the time I brought it to Kingsley, it had already shown no signs of life. Anyone capable of keeping a Runespoor alive would not have a simple identity."

"I suspect that whoever released the Runespoor hoped to use this attack to make the Obscurus go berserk, thereby stirring up even more criticism."

"As expected!" Dumbledore sighed. "But I imagine Wizet must have done something rather unexpected, didn't he?"

"Yes, Wizet is a gifted child!" McGonagall smiled faintly. "Not only was he not attacked by the Runespoor, he also protected Luna Lovegood."

"Luna Lovegood? It seems the matter was even more complicated than I imagined!" Dumbledore walked over to a cabinet and took out an ancient-looking stone basin.

Countless profound runes were engraved around the mouth of the stone basin. It was filled with a silvery substance, dreamlike as smoke, giving off a dazzling, hazy feeling.

"A Pensieve?" McGonagall drew her wand, pressed its tip to her temple, and pulled out a thread shimmering with silver light.

The thread fell into the Pensieve and dissolved. Dumbledore bent down and buried his face deep in the basin.

Dumbledore put the Pensieve back, then sat in his chair with his fingers interlaced, his expression touched with emotion.

"Wandless magic... no! It's even older than that—the kind of spellcasting wizards used before wands became widespread. Truly outstanding!"

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement. "In that shield magic, I sensed an extremely pure obsession with protection! Would this count as him figuring it out on his own?"

"Perhaps guidance from others is important as well." Dumbledore smiled. "Cornelius stumbled into the right answer by sheer luck, actually finding the wizarding family best suited to Wizet."

Professor McGonagall's tone carried a trace of helplessness. "If it's only a matter of cultivating imagination, then The Quibbler certainly can be effective."

"Yes!" Dumbledore's smile gradually became more pronounced. "Minerva, which House do you think Wizet will be sorted into?"