Just as they were preparing to leave, Eli suddenly made a request.
"What? No, I will not agree to that!"
Mrs. Hall seemed rather agitated. Clearly, she strongly opposed Eli's request.
Mr. Hall, standing beside her, also frowned gravely, looking deeply conflicted.
"Eli, can you tell us why you want to stay here?"
After thinking for a while, Mr. Hall finally managed to compose words that sounded calm enough.
Eli's embarrassed gaze darted everywhere. He had known all along that the two elders would probably not agree.
He just had not expected his mother's reaction to be so intense.
It turned out that Eli had just suggested that he stay at the Leaky Cauldron until school began.
The suggestion had nearly made Mrs. Hall grab him by the ear.
Of course, Eli had not made the decision on a whim.
As a transmigrator, he knew roughly how the plot would unfold.
At the same time, he knew just how terrifying the dangers ahead would be.
In the original story, Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard of the century, had even perished in the upheaval caused by Voldemort.
Hogwarts students had suffered horrific casualties as well.
Even the Muggle world would be affected.
It could be said that as long as he was a wizard and remained in Britain, he would not be safe.
And he had an extremely special background—Harry Potter's younger twin brother.
He was a character who had never existed in the original story.
Perhaps the butterfly wings he had stirred as an outsider had changed part of the plot.
Because of that, he had no idea how greatly the events ahead would change.
If the changes were too drastic, he would lose the only advantage he had as a transmigrator.
Voldemort would not spare him, because he was part of the Potter Family. He was the brother of the child of prophecy!
Dumbledore would learn of his identity sooner or later. Before a wizard comparable to a legend, any lie would be futile.
He was bound to be drawn into this turmoil.
For the Hall couple who had raised him, for the second chance at life he had been given, for his brother Harry Potter, and for the little Potter who had helped him survive—
He had to live!
Before Voldemort could harm these people, he had to kill him!
Killing one of the most dangerous dark wizards in history would not be easy.
He had far too much to prepare.
Before Voldemort regained his power, he had to possess sufficiently formidable magical strength.
Beyond that, he needed enough magical resources. Those things would help him grow stronger.
They would also give him a certain degree of influence in the Wizarding World.
To some extent, that would weaken Voldemort's power as well.
After all, many of his Death Eaters came from old wizarding families.
He possessed unparalleled talent. He dared say that even Voldemort in his youth had not been his equal!
What he lacked was time!
He wanted to make good use of even the month before school began.
But according to Ministry of Magic regulations, underage wizards were not allowed to cast spells in the Muggle world.
That was effectively a restriction on Muggle-born wizards.
He was one of them.
If he stayed home, he would waste an entire month for nothing.
The loss of time made him uneasy.
So even though he knew the Hall couple would oppose it, he still had to try!
"Dad, Mom, please listen to me. I know this request is rather absurd, but I still hope you can support me. I want to make use of this month, but I cannot practice magic in the ordinary world. You know that. I do not want to fall behind, and I do not want the young wizards from wizarding families to leave me too far behind. So please!"
After hearing him out, Mrs. Hall turned her head away, unable to bear it.
Mr. Hall's brow furrowed even more deeply.
Eli rarely begged them so earnestly, but this request truly made it hard for them to set their minds at ease.
Of course, they also understood Eli's drive to improve. He had been like this since childhood.
The child had always behaved like a little adult, and they had never underestimated him.
As though he had gone through a difficult decision, Mr. Hall finally made up his mind.
He looked seriously into Eli's green eyes.
"Eli, I agree to your request. But I hope you can keep yourself safe!"
Mrs. Hall glanced at her husband. In the end, she did not stop him again, only clutched Eli and repeatedly reminded him of one thing after another.
Eli saw the two elders out of the pub and promised that he would report in safely every day.
Watching them get into the car, he headed back into the pub.
He rented a room from the owner, Tom, then followed him upstairs.
The upper floor was completely different from the lower one. It was remarkably clean and tidy.
A brass plaque hung on every door.
Mr. Tom led Eli to Room 12. This would be Eli's home for the next month.
The room was clean and bright, with oak furniture arranged in neat order.
Eli was very satisfied with it.
He let Dogdan out and allowed him to crawl all over the room.
The little fellow was rather eager to please. Ever since Eli had fed him, he had obeyed Eli's every word.
He took out the textbooks he would need for school from his bag and selected The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.
The memories he had inherited from Voldemort contained an enormous amount of spell knowledge.
But nearly ninety-nine percent of it was dark magic with considerable destructive power.
If he did not want to destroy the room and pay a massive sum in compensation, or suffer a spell backlash and die early, he had better not try them lightly.
How could it be easy to find one or two simple spells among those vast memories?
So he chose to read the textbook instead.
The simplest and most basic spell inside was Lumos.
The incantation was Lumos—Lumos.
Its effect was to use magical power to create light at the tip of the wand.
It was quite simple and straightforward.
"A little spell like this? Easy."
After clearing his throat, he solemnly waved his wand according to the gesture in the book.
"Lumos!"
Buzz!
A fierce burst of light suddenly exploded through the crack beneath the room's door.
"Ah!!! My poor eyes!"
The blinding light nearly flashed him blind.
Dogdan, who had been leisurely strolling about to digest his meal, darted into a corner and trembled.
The Chevrolet beside him was trapped in its cage with nowhere to run, and was now noisily cursing at Eli.
A rapid knock came from the door.
Rubbing his eyes, Eli went to open it. The one knocking was Tom, the proprietor.
Tom looked somewhat anxious, his bald crown gleaming beneath his ring of hair.
He nervously peered into the room. Fortunately, he found no damage.
"Merlin's beard, did a great battle just break out in your room?"
Eli gave Tom an embarrassed smile, though his eyes still could not see clearly.
"No, no. I was practicing a spell just now, treating it as a little pre-class preparation."
Tom's expression improved slightly. "Then what were you practicing?"
"Lumos!"
Tom suddenly looked at Eli with a strange expression, his eyes seeming to say, Are you trying to fool me?
What kind of Lumos could make such a commotion? If you had not told me, I would have thought the Muggles were attacking.
Seeing Tom's obvious skepticism, Eli helplessly shrugged. "If you do not believe me, I can demonstrate it for you."
Tom thought, How impressive could a Lumos spell possibly be? Fine, demonstrate it.
"Of course. If necessary, I can offer you a few pointers as well."
This time, Eli shut his eyes in advance and even covered them with one hand.
Tom gave a disdainful smile. How much of a scene could a child possibly make?
He watched Eli's performance with great interest.
The same familiar incantation, the same familiar effect.
"Lumos!"
Buzz!
"Ah!! My eyes!!"
Eli spread his fingers slightly and peeked through the gap.
Tom bent over in pain, covering both eyes.
Looking at Tom's shiny bald crown, Eli could not help thinking, The effect should be especially good this time...
Several waiters came upstairs and used healing spells to restore Mr. Tom's eyes.
Eli stood to one side with an awkward, apologetic smile.
Fortunately, Mr. Tom was fairly magnanimous and did not pursue the matter, merely giving him a few extra warnings.
Eli saw Mr. Tom off with an innocent expression.
Even after he had gone downstairs, Eli could still see his mouth moving as he cursed under his breath.
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