Floo Powder

Oren was already lying on a recliner. He took off his sunglasses and said to Harry, "Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't know anything about this."

Harry asked in confusion, "Why are you so sure? And where did that recliner come from? I don't think that was here just now."

"Simple. Dumbledore didn't notify me. If he didn't notify me, then he doesn't know about it either."

Harry...

Fred said, "As for the recliner, Oren's four-dimensional pocket has almost everything."

George said, "To this day, we still don't know how big his pocket actually is."

"Heh heh." Oren rolled over on the recliner.

What a joke. From tables and chairs to pots and pans, there was nothing that trash system didn't provide. Those people selling household goods could forget about earning even a single copper from him.

"Let me go! Let me go!" shouted a long-legged potato.

"Harry, you have to do it like this." Ron lifted a gnome over his head, spun it around several times, then let go and threw it out of the garden.

"I'm starting to feel sorry for them," Harry said, only to have a gnome bite his finger. "I take back my sympathy."

Harry said, "Even if they don't look very smart, won't they just come back after being dealt with like this?"

Oren said, "That's right. Mr. Arthur is just too kindhearted. If it were me, I'd have wiped out the entire nine generations of these noisy little bastards."

Everyone...

"Children, are you clearing out the gnomes?" A somewhat exhausted Mr. Arthur came over to help.

"Mr. Arthur." Oren sat up from the recliner and said, "There was no helping it. Ron and the others drove the flying car across nearly half of Britain. Luckily, they managed to pick Harry up."

"Harry?" Mr. Arthur said in surprise. "Hello, Harry. Just call me Arthur."

"Hello, Mr. Arthur," Harry said somewhat stiffly.

"Um, Oren, did the car fly well?" Arthur did not care at all that another child was staying with them. To him, one more child was no big deal, and no matter what, Harry was far better than his own little troublemakers.

"It's not a question of whether it flew well. It's a question of whether you'll be in deep trouble if Muggles spot it. I think Mrs. Molly is getting ready to talk to you about that."

Mr. Arthur shrank his neck.

"If you ask me, the car should be modified some more." Oren began offering suggestions. "Just add something that makes it invisible. The two of us can definitely make it work together."

"Then we can dig through the rubbish bins in Diagon Alley and find a flying broomstick to install on the rear. Even if the Ministry of Magic finds out, we can say it's a flying broomstick, and the car on the outside is just a skin."

One man who specialized in exploiting Ministry of Magic loopholes and another who did not take the Ministry of Magic seriously hit it off immediately.

"They really get along well," Harry said to Ron.

Ron said, "Heh heh. I just hope Dad doesn't drink today."

"Why?"

Fred said, "It's a long story."

George said, "I'll keep it short."

"Oren almost became our uncle." x3

Harry said, "That's terrifying."

"Right?" Ron said with lingering fear. "Oren even said we could each call him whatever we wanted."

Harry...

After clearing out the gnomes, everyone dusted themselves off and headed back inside.

Ron said, "We'd better go straight to our room."

Oren said, "Exactly. I bet Mrs. Molly will definitely give Mr. Arthur an earful in a moment."

Harry asked, "Why?"

"What else could it be? Think about that flying car." Oren lowered his voice. "Mr. Arthur has plenty of enchanted items too. If he ever searched his own house, he'd have no choice but to arrest himself."

"We searched nine houses in one night, and that Mundungus even tried to ambush me!" The moment he entered, Mr. Arthur began complaining to Mrs. Molly.

"Run! Mrs. Molly is charging up!" Oren shouted.

The three of them dashed back to their room.

Ron said, "So? The room's big enough, right? That's all thanks to Oren's help. My room used to be tiny."

Harry looked at Oren in amazement. "I never thought you could build houses too!"

"Ahem." Oren said awkwardly, "More accurately, I made things worse. I accidentally used the Philosopher's Stone to turn a metal support beam into pure gold."

"Harry, you didn't see the scene. I honestly suspected Mr. Arthur could build a house in three seconds with magic."

Harry...

After enduring life at Uncle Vernon's house, where he and Hedwig had to split a rat in half, living at The Burrow was practically the best period of Harry's life. Not only did Mrs. Molly take meticulous care of him, but more importantly, he could finally eat his fill.

Early in the morning, Oren opened his eyes and said, "Ron, make that damned ghoul stop banging on those damned pipes. If it keeps at it, I'm going to smack its head hard with Mrs. Molly's rolling pin. I swear!"

Bang! An explosion jolted Harry awake as well. He asked in alarm, "What happened? Was that an earthquake?"

Ron rubbed his eyes and said calmly, "That ghoul bangs on the pipes whenever it thinks things are too quiet. See? It's stopped now."

"And Harry, there are no earthquakes here. It's just one of George and Fred's so-called experiments."

"That's right, Harry," Oren said. "It's just that this experiment was a little louder than usual. I estimate Mrs. Molly will reach the battlefield in thirty seconds."

"Sigh. Ever since their wallets got fatter, the commotion they make has only gotten bigger," Ron said with a sigh.

"Hmph hmph. They disturbed my sleep. In a while, I'll suggest to Mrs. Molly that she confiscate all their money and leave them without a single copper." Oren gave a sinister smile.

"I don't think you'll succeed." Ron shrugged. "They sponsored Mum with quite a bit of book money. At least Ginny will definitely be using new textbooks."

"Come downstairs already," Harry urged once he was fully awake. "Don't forget, we arranged to meet Hermione in Diagon Alley today."

They finally got through that chaotic morning, and Oren and Harry stood before the fireplace with the Weasley family.

"This is Floo Powder." Mrs. Molly handed Harry a bowl. "Throw the powder into the fireplace, say where you want to go, then step into the fireplace. Fred, you go first!"

The group traveled through the fireplace to Diagon Alley. Oren felt as though he had been locked inside a washing machine and spun around at least thirty times.

"Oh no, Harry is gone!" Mrs. Molly cried.

"Let's look around. Maybe Harry went into another shop," Oren said.

"Yes, let's look around." Mr. Arthur took the lead in searching everywhere.

Oren, meanwhile, went alone to Knockturn Alley. He happened to find Harry cornered in an alley by an old witch, so he opened with a powerful Expelliarmus that embedded the old witch into the wall.

"Is she all right?" Harry asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"She's fine. She's still breathing. Just some broken bones." Oren held up three fingers.

"Uh... three broken bones?"

"No, Harry, you guessed wrong. Thirty percent of her bones."

"Oh my God! Harry, Oren, how did you two end up here?" Hagrid hurried over.

"It was the Floo Powder. I said the address wrong, and Oren came looking for me," Harry explained hurriedly. "But Oren, how did you know I was here?"

"Heh heh, did I even need to guess? Everyone came through the fireplace together, but you were the only one who vanished. Other than Diagon Alley, there's only Knockturn Alley here." Oren complained, "After school starts, you'd better ask Madam Pomfrey to treat your tongue."

"This isn't a place young wizards should be. Hurry up and follow me. I'll get you out of here," Hagrid urged.

After the three of them left Knockturn Alley, Harry asked Oren, "Hagrid, what are you doing in Knockturn Alley?"

"I came to buy insect repellent. The cabbages I planted are nearly being eaten clean by pests."

"Hmph hmph. And certain ungrateful little people didn't send me even one letter all holiday."

"Haven't we been busy?" Oren pulled Hagrid and Harry into an empty corner, took a glass bottle from his pocket, and let his magic surge. A golden bottle appeared in his hand.

"Cool." x2

"Shh." Oren motioned for them to keep quiet.

"Hagrid, take this bottle and trade it for the insect repellent you need."

Hagrid hesitated for a while before agreeing. He had a rare clever moment and tore the entire bottle into fragments before stuffing them into his pocket.

"Oren, how did you do that?" Harry asked quietly.

"Don't ask, Harry." Hagrid cut him off. He puffed out his chest and looked at Oren, seemingly trying to prove that he was now capable of keeping secrets, making Oren's mouth twitch violently.

Oren...

"Let's go find Mrs. Molly. We shouldn't make her worry."

The three walked back to the alley entrance and saw Hermione running down the steps of Gringotts.

"Oren, Harry, Hagrid, are you going to Gringotts?"

Harry said, "I'm waiting for the Weasley family so I can go with them."

Hagrid patted Harry, nearly knocking him into the dragon-dung bin beside him. "They're here."

"Child, where did you run off to?" Mrs. Molly took out a brush and began cleaning the dust off Harry.

"He went to Knockturn Alley." x2

Oren and Hagrid decisively sold Harry out.

Amid Mrs. Molly's repeated thanks, Hagrid fled in embarrassment.

The group entered Gringotts, and Harry stopped discussing how he had seen Lucius and Draco selling things in Knockturn Alley.

Hermione said, "Let me introduce you to my parents."

Mr. Granger narrowed his eyes. He wanted to see exactly what kind of wild boar this Oren was, the one his precious little cabbage had talked about all holiday.

Once Hermione finished introducing them, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Not a wild boar after all—just another cabbage. That was fine, then.

"Hello, Mr. Granger," Oren greeted him politely.

Mr. Granger, who had only just exhaled, sucked the breath back in. That cunning wild boar had nearly fooled him with his disguise.

After exchanging a few pleasantries and agreeing to meet again at Flourish and Blotts in an hour, the Weasley family and Harry headed for the underground vaults.

"Oren, aren't you going to the vault to withdraw money?" Hermione asked.

"No need. Exchange this for Galleons." Oren walked to the counter and slammed a large gold ingot onto it. The immense weight of the ingot made the goblin working above it bounce up.

"Yes, sir." The goblin smiled so broadly that Oren could see his back teeth.