Diagon Alley

When Kyle took his seat at the staff table, a considerable commotion erupted in the Great Hall.

All the students were discussing and speculating about Kyle's identity.

What was his relationship with Professor Dumbledore?

Why had Professor Dumbledore brought him into the Great Hall?

And why was he dining with the professors?

As the person at the center of it all, Kyle paid no attention whatsoever to the students' discussions. He knew his appearance was indeed rather strange, but he had no time to worry about that right now.

After all, he had only just come over from New York, USA. According to his body clock, it should have been three in the morning.

Earlier, he had been in a warehouse having a group exercise session with a gang of drug dealers.

He had finally made it home without even having time to fix himself a late-night snack when Dumbledore informed him that he was a criminal's son, that a group of Magical World police were hunting him down, and then took him across the Atlantic to evade pursuit.

His nightlife had certainly been eventful.

He was so hungry now that he felt he could eat a full forty-six bowls of Ichiraku Ramen.

Like a starving ghost, Kyle ravaged the food on the table. Before long, the food on his plate had been devoured and replenished four or five times.

He was now Kyle Six Paths of Pain Preta Path Grindelwald.

The others at the staff table had all stopped eating and were watching Kyle curiously. It seemed they wanted to find out just how much this child could eat.

When the food on his plate was cleared for the eighth time, Kyle let out a satisfied burp and finally stopped.

However, his gaze remained fixed on the table, searching for something.

At that moment, a hand reached over from beside him and offered him a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Thank you." Kyle turned and saw that the hand belonged to a professor with medium-length black hair, a hooked nose, and waxy yellow skin. "How should I address you?"

"Professor Snape will do."

"Professor Snape." Kyle was extremely respectful.

Then he waited for quite a while, but received no response at all. Unable to help himself, he spoke again. "Just Snape? Like Adele... or Aristotle... Drake? Bono? Erm?"

Why was this brat so full of nonsense?

Snape's eternally impassive face twitched. After holding it in for a long moment, he finally squeezed out a name through clenched teeth. "Severus Snape."

At the other end of the staff table, Dumbledore watched Kyle and Snape "chatting happily," a smile appearing on his face.

"It seems he gets along quite well with Severus. That surprises me."

Hearing Dumbledore's words, a tall witch followed his gaze. Through the lenses of her square glasses, she saw Kyle's mismatched eyes, identical to those of Gellert Grindelwald.

The Vice-Principal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Minerva McGonagall, smiled. "It seems his Potions grades should be quite good."

"I think he will inherit his father's exceptional talent, and perhaps even surpass him."

Dumbledore silently added in his heart, His father certainly couldn't eat this much.

All the food on the table vanished, signaling the end of the meal.

Kyle stood up. His flat little stomach gave no indication that he had just eaten enough for at least five or six adults.

"Professor..."

Before he could ask his question, Dumbledore answered his doubts. "I think you should get some sleep first. Once you wake up, I'll take you to Diagon Alley to buy the supplies you'll need for studying at Hogwarts."

As a nocturnal ninja and the Dark Knight of New York, Kyle felt there was absolutely no need for him to catch up on sleep.

Besides, he had already slept in advance during the day for last night's operation. He couldn't exactly fight gangsters while yawning, could he?

"Professor, I'm not tired at all. Let's go straight to Diagon Alley."

Dumbledore studied Kyle carefully for a while. Once he confirmed that Kyle really was bright-eyed and full of energy, he nodded.

"Then let's go now."

A short while later, Kyle and Dumbledore arrived on the lawn outside the castle.

"Professor, can we go to Diagon Alley without using that 'Mentos' magic?" Kyle asked, looking up at him.

Not long ago, Dumbledore had used this magic, known as a Portkey, to take him across the Atlantic.

That horrifying feeling of having his navel violently yanked by a hook was something he would rather never experience a second time in his life.

Dumbledore looked at Kyle in confusion, unable to understand why he was so resistant to Portkeys as a means of transportation.

"Well... all right. Fawkes!"

At Dumbledore's call, a burst of fire appeared out of thin air.

A magnificent scarlet bird emerged from the flames. It was about the size of a swan, with a glittering golden tail, a long beak, and long golden claws—Scottish Long-tailed Fire Chicken?

For some reason, when Kyle saw the phoenix called Fawkes, he inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.

"This is Fawkes the phoenix. He will take us to Diagon Alley."

Hearing Dumbledore's words, Kyle eyed Fawkes suspiciously. Such a small bird—could it be ridden?

Could it be that he would grab one person in each claw and simply carry them dangling through the air to Diagon Alley?

Fawkes the phoenix stood on Dumbledore's shoulder, his large eyes fixed on Kyle with confusion. He felt that this human hatchling was thinking some rather unpleasant thoughts.

"Take my hand."

Kyle did as instructed. The next second, the two of them burst into a massive blaze and vanished from Hogwarts in an instant.

By the time Kyle came back to his senses, they were standing in a broad arcade that led to a winding cobblestone street whose end could not be seen.

"We're already in Diagon Alley?" Kyle had not even felt that he had undergone a long-distance spatial transfer.

Traveling with Fawkes the phoenix felt warm and comforting. It was leagues beyond a Portkey.

"Yes. Let's withdraw some money first."

As they walked out along the arcade, the closest shop to the exit was Potage's Cauldron Shop. The golden morning sunlight fell upon a stack of cauldrons by its entrance, making the letters on the sign above shine brilliantly.

Dumbledore noticed where Kyle was looking. "You won't need that for the time being."

No, I think I need it right now.

Kyle's gaze settled on a copper cauldron. He thought it would be perfect for cooking hot pot.

After all, he had been in this world for a full eleven years, yet he had not tasted a single bite of the delicacies produced by the Great Foodie Empire in his previous life.

At the thought of the numbing, spicy flavor of Sichuan Hot Pot, tears of longing immediately began streaming uncontrollably from the corners of Kyle's mouth.

After wiping away his "tears," Kyle followed Dumbledore to a towering white building that rose above all the surrounding shops.

A flight of white stone steps led up to two gleaming bronze doors. Beside them stood a... goblin? clad in a scarlet-and-gold uniform.

More precisely, a goblin.

The two passed through a second set of silver doors and entered a spacious marble hall.

Around a hundred goblins sat behind long counters, hastily making entries in large ledgers.

Some weighed coins with scales, while others inspected gems through eyepieces.

"Esteemed Mr. Dumbledore, welcome to Gringotts. How may we be of service?" The moment one goblin saw Dumbledore, he immediately came forward respectfully.

Dumbledore took a key from his robes. "Please take us to the underground vaults."

With impeccable poise, the goblin bowed to Dumbledore and led the pair toward a door.

"Your father left you a considerable fortune," Dumbledore explained to Kyle.