Hogwarts' Invitation

"Please let me speak with this child alone, Ms. Rose," the tall, white-bearded old man requested of Ms. Rose beside him.

"Of course, Mr. Dumbledore." Ms. Rose did not question him. For some reason, she seemed to trust that this white-bearded old man was a good person, despite being dressed as though he had just stepped out of the Middle Ages.

As Ms. Rose left the room, she reminded the astonished Roy.

"Be polite to this gentleman, Roy."

"Of course, Ms. Rose. I'll have a proper talk with him." Bee Doctor showed a friendly smile.

Ms. Rose left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The instant the door shut, Roy immediately dropped his kindly facade and revealed the vicious stinger of a Killer Bee. He drew the dagger he always carried and threatened Dumbledore fiercely.

"Don't try anything, old man. You drugged Ms. Rose, didn't you? I can sense that ability you used—I have it too. Tell me what you want with me. Are you planning to capture me for research, or are you recruiting for some mysterious organization?"

Faced with Roy's threat, Dumbledore did not get angry. He merely watched Roy with great interest and spoke calmly.

"You are very talented, Mr. Smee. Wizards your age rarely manage what you can, especially without anyone to teach them."

Dumbledore gave a light wave of his hand, turning a pile of junk Roy had scavenged and piled in the corner of the room into a chair. He then sat down and gestured for Roy to sit as well.

"You are a wizard, Mr. Smee. I imagine you can sense that you are different. I have come to invite you to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts."

After hearing Dumbledore's words, even Roy—who had once faced Demulan and dozens of Havoc soldiers alone at a space base without changing expression—could not help showing disbelief.

Still, Roy decided to talk things through properly and spare the old man a demonstration of his military medic combat skills for now.

Roy extended a hand and gave it a light wave. A huge cloud of smoke surged forth.

"So this is magic, and I'm a wizard?"

Dumbledore watched the smoke Roy had created with his bare hands with great interest.

"Correct. If you come to Hogwarts to study, we will teach you more about magic. Then you will understand that I merely cast a small Confundus Charm on Ms. Rose earlier. Every young wizard in Britain with magical ability comes to Hogwarts to study."

"Sounds good. Tell me how much it costs to study at your school."

Hearing that Roy agreed to enroll, Dumbledore stood and turned the chair back into a pile of junk.

"The Wizarding World has no use for Muggle currency. Hogwarts will also provide a grant for someone in your circumstances."

Dumbledore pulled an envelope from somewhere and handed it to Roy.

Roy took the envelope. Its front bore a large design: a gilded red letter H surrounded by four animals.

He opened the envelope. Written on the yellowed parchment was:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (President of the International Confederation of Wizards, First Class Order of Merlin, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot)

Dear Mr. Smee:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of required books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl-borne reply by July 31.

Deputy Headmistress

Minerva McGonagall

The second page listed all kinds of required equipment and textbooks.

"So where am I supposed to get all this stuff?"

"Don't worry, Roy. Tomorrow morning, I'll personally take you to Diagon Alley to buy everything."

He did not have to pay out of pocket, and they provided food and lodging too. It sounded like a genuinely decent school, and Roy could not help beaming. Back when GTI sent him to Azshara, they had not given him a single cent. He had even had to scavenge things and spend his own money. Though Bee Doctor was very good at making money, Hogwarts was practically a saintly institution by comparison.

"Then thank you very much, Professor Dumbledore."

Roy instantly changed his expression and thanked Dumbledore with a cheeky grin.

Roy even took the initiative to shake Dumbledore's hand. Then he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a horn ornament, offering it to Dumbledore.

"As this is our first meeting, this is a gift for you. I picked it up. No reason not to take something nobody wanted anyway. It isn't very valuable, but it could still sell for quite a bit."

Dumbledore had not expected Bee Doctor to feed him a gift and froze for a moment. Then he recovered, smiled at Roy, and accepted the gift Roy offered him.

"Thank you for your gift, Roy. I will treasure it. But I must remind you that at Hogwarts, you cannot take other people's things or the school's things without permission, even if no one wants them anymore."

Roy gave a perfunctory response. How could he possibly stop scavenging? That would be harder than killing him. After chatting briefly, Dumbledore said goodbye to Roy and vanished from the house in an instant.

After Dumbledore left, Roy stood silently where he was, constantly turning over everything that had just happened in his mind.

Well, Hogwarts' invitation had now disrupted all of Roy's plans.

"Forget it. I'll take things one step at a time."

Roy threw himself onto the bed and kept thinking about everything that had just happened until he fell asleep without realizing it.

The next day

In his daze, Roy felt someone pushing him.

When he opened his eyes, sunlight had already streamed into the room. Looking again, he found Mia's adorable face directly in front of him.

"Roy, the white-bearded professor is here to pick you up. Get up already."

Roy sat up in bed, still a little muddled.

"I know, Mia. I'll go down right away."

Mia looked at Roy with her large green eyes, pitiful and pleading.

"Roy, I heard you're going somewhere far away for school. Can I go with you?"

Seeing Mia look so pitiful, Roy felt his heart melt. Mia was two years younger than him and suffered from a severe lung disease. At least in this era, it was not easy to treat. Fortunately, it was not too difficult for a top medical expert who had saved countless lives—GTI's genius youth, Roy Smith.

Roy prescribed Mia many medicines. Under his careful care, Mia's condition gradually improved. Whenever he saw Mia, Roy always thought of his daughter from his previous life. He had died in battle, leaving his daughter without a father. Roy poured all the guilt in his heart into Mia, who resembled his daughter so much.

Rubbing Mia's golden hair, Roy comforted her.

"Come on, it's not like I'll never come back. When you're two years older, maybe you can attend school there with me too. Don't worry, I'll write back regularly. You'll all still be working with me in the future. I couldn't bear to leave you behind."

After hearing Roy's words, Mia, who had not been very happy, finally showed a small smile. Roy put on his coat and green trousers, then ran downstairs.

In the hallway, Ms. Rose was discussing something with Dumbledore. A group of children crowded around them, curiously asking where Roy was going.

Seeing Roy arrive, Dumbledore said goodbye to Ms. Rose.

"I do not have much time, so I will take Roy to purchase his school supplies first."

Roy followed Dumbledore out of the orphanage. Dumbledore sighed.

"You should know that it has been many years since I personally received a young wizard for enrollment. The last young wizard I personally welcomed also came from this orphanage."

Roy did not understand what Dumbledore meant, merely urging him on.

"So how are we getting there? By subway or by car?"

"No. We'll use a wizarding method. Hold on to me."

Roy placed his hand on Dumbledore's arm, then felt the world spin as though he had been shoved into a rubber tube. In an instant, the two appeared outside the Leaky Cauldron.

After Apparition, Roy spun around in place a few times, still savoring the sensation.

Seeing that Roy had gone through Apparition and was calmly looking around as if nothing had happened, Dumbledore could not help feeling curious.

"Almost everyone finds it difficult to adjust to the sensation of Apparition at first. Even when I was your age, I could not remain as calm as you. You are very talented, Roy."

What was the big deal? Back in Azshara, he had constantly ridden Rockets into outer space. This little discomfort was about the same as jumping from a helicopter. Back then, both Havoc and Azshara people had called him GTI Superman.

"Maybe I'm just in pretty good shape," Roy replied casually.

Watching all kinds of strangely dressed people enter and leave the bar before him, Roy raised his head to look at the shabby signboard and could not help muttering.

"So this is the Wizarding World."

"That's right. Welcome to the Wizarding World, Roy."

At the end of July 1989, the Wizarding World welcomed an Ultimate Magic Pill.