Birthday Gifts

Listening to Hagrid and Li Mu, Harry's face flushed slightly. He stammered, "You... you don't have to..."

All his life, he had longed to have a wonderful birthday, but it had always been an impossible dream. At the Dursleys', he had never enjoyed so much as a single birthday celebration. As for birthday presents... last year, he seemed to have received a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.

But now, Harry felt that he was having the best birthday of his life. He had seen a magical world he had never imagined before, met such good friends as Hagrid and Li Mu, and was even about to receive the best birthday gift of his eleven years.

For the first time, the warmth of friendship surged into his heart like hot water.

"Haha, we're mates. How could we not give you a birthday present?" Li Mu shamelessly treated Harry, whom he had met only that morning, like an old brother. "Oh, right, this—I think you'll like it."

As he spoke, Li Mu reached into his robe and rummaged around, pulling out a silvery-white round mirror. It glittered brilliantly beneath the sun, dazzling to the eye.

"Heart Protecting Armor. It protects the vital channels around your heart from the inside out, keeping you safe from serious harm—this model is supposedly Shushan Taoist Academy's latest creation, and it works extremely well!"

Harry could only say thank you. He accepted the silver mirror and tucked it into the pocket of his undershirt, only to discover that the mirror seemed to possess a will of its own. It had already shifted into a suitable size and shape, clinging to his body like silver armor, yet he could not feel that he was wearing anything at all.

Harry could not help marveling at it, though a complicated, unreadable look crossed his face. Even though he had never set foot in the magical world before, he could tell how miraculous and precious this Heart Protecting Armor was.

"Harry, I think I ought to get you an owl." Hagrid smiled at Harry and Li Mu. "Toads haven't been fashionable for years, and I don't like cats... An owl's the best choice."

Without waiting for a reply, Hagrid practically picked up the still-dazed Harry and strode forward. Compared with Hagrid's hill-like bulk and strength, Harry Potter was simply too thin and small.

Li Mu smiled and followed them.

Before long, the three emerged from the Owl Emporium, and Harry was already carrying a birdcage. Inside, a beautiful snow-white owl slept peacefully. History was not so easily changed; Harry Potter had still chosen this unusual female owl.

Looking at her smooth feathers, Li Mu felt a little envious. Hogwarts allowed students to bring cats, toads, owls, or other creatures as pets, but they were not necessities, and many students did not have one.

Along the way, Harry stammered his thanks to Li Mu and Hagrid. Then the three of them enthusiastically discussed what name they should give the beautiful little bird.

"I still think she should be called Little White!" Li Mu grinned wickedly, deliberately leading history astray.

"Or... you could name her A Xue?" Hagrid joined in as well.

"Er, Hedwig is better. That settles it." Harry truly did not dare compliment his two companions' naming skills. Muttering this, they finally entered a wand shop.

"This is the place. Ollivander's wands are the best. Lots of important people come here specially to buy wands," Hagrid explained, turning his attention away from the owl's name.

His rough, booming voice made the entire dim shop hum and vibrate. If Li Mu had not understood Hagrid's personality, he might even have suspected the big fellow was deliberately talking up the place to make bargaining easier later.

Unfortunately, no one answered. The entire wand shop was deathly silent, as if it had been asleep for a very long time. Li Mu could not help looking around. He was deeply curious about the mysterious Ollivander family from history.

The shop was narrow and shabby. In the dim light, he could only vaguely make out countless boxes. They were neatly stacked on wooden shelves, nearly reaching the ceiling. When he stepped inside, Li Mu seemed to hear a crisp snap from somewhere in the shop, followed by silence once more.

Gradually, the atmosphere became rather eerie. Even Li Mu, who had lived two lives and trained his mind and will from childhood, could not help feeling an inexplicable and unsettling pressure.

Much less Harry Potter, whose experience was so limited.

"Good afternoon." After who knew how long, a gentle voice drifted over, startling Harry so badly that he nearly jumped. Fortunately, Li Mu patted his shoulder reassuringly, easing his panic.

The next moment, the two new students realized that Hagrid had jumped. The giant landed heavily on the wooden floor with a tremendous BANG, making the entire ground shudder several times. They even suspected the whole house had shaken.

When they came back to themselves, an old man was somehow standing before them.

"Hello," Harry said timidly. Li Mu, however, was still staring at the old man in surprise, wondering exactly how he had appeared in front of them.

Teleportation?

"Oh, yes." The old man stared with a pair of large, bluish eyes and began to ramble. "Yes, I had always thought I would see you soon, Harry Potter. Your eyes are exactly like your mother's. It feels like only yesterday that she came here to buy her wand. The wand she bought was ten and a quarter inches long, made of beautiful cypress. It was a very fine wand."

Though he was speaking to Harry Potter, those frightening eyes kept staring into some unknown emptiness, as though he were completely lost in memory.

Li Mu turned to look at Hagrid's expression and knew that this was probably Ollivander.

"And your father preferred a peachwood wand, eleven inches long, very flexible, but particularly powerful in Transfiguration..." Ollivander moved closer to Harry and suddenly pointed at the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead. "Oh, that is... I'm terribly sorry. It was a wand I sold that hurt you. Thirteen and a half inches, phoenix feather, a very powerful wand..."

"Cough, cough..." Li Mu was rendered rather speechless and could not help coughing dryly, interrupting Ollivander's endless monologue.

Why did I keep running into such chatterboxes today?

"Oh, right... You're here to buy wands, aren't you?" Startled awake by the coughing, Ollivander seemed to notice only then that there were two other living people besides Harry. Without the slightest apology, he turned and looked up at Hagrid with those bruised-looking eyes. "Hagrid! I'm truly delighted to see you again. Sixteen inches, very bendy, wasn't it?"

"Mm, that's right!" Hagrid replied gruffly, looking a little uncomfortable. "Though my wand was snapped in two when I was expelled... I did keep some of the pieces."

"Then why are you using it?" Ollivander suddenly grew angry, his voice sharp.

With a strange look on his face, Hagrid clutched the red umbrella he carried with him, letting out two nervous little grunts. Li Mu knew that the umbrella was merely a disguise. Its core was Hagrid's wand—the very wand that had turned Harry's cousin Dudley into a fat pig just the other day.

"Mr. Ollivander, what about me? What kind of wand would suit me?" Li Mu asked with a smile, indirectly defusing Hagrid's embarrassment.

End of Chapter

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