Professor McGonagall didn't even touch the door of the Leaky Cauldron. She grabbed Cedric and used Apparition to land right in the street of Diagon Alley.
"This is Diagon Alley, the biggest gathering place for wizards in Britain. There's no livelier street in all of Europe." Professor McGonagall turned and saw Cedric's face scrunched up. "Oh, I forgot to warn you. First time using Apparition, was it? How do you feel?"
"Urgh... I'll live." Cedric gagged, then took two deep breaths to settle his churning stomach. "Could you give me a heads-up next time?"
"My fault." Professor McGonagall looked apologetic. She smoothed his short, pale blond hair, took a small potion bottle from her pocket, and handed it to him. "Draught of Euphoria. A tiny sip should help."
Cedric glanced at the pale golden liquid and took a tiny sip from the bottle.
An indescribable excitement welled up inside him, and the nausea vanished in an instant.
"Don't drink too much of that." Seeing that his color had returned, Professor McGonagall put the bottle away and grew serious. "Come along. We have a lot to do today. I'll explain as we walk—your situation is different from the other students', and you need to know what to watch out for."
By "different," she meant that Cedric was an orphan.
The Ministry of Magic provided a grant for young wizards without parents, but it wasn't much. It might not even cover tuition.
So students like Cedric also had to visit Gringotts to arrange a loan.
Hogwarts was involved in the loan: the school acted as guarantor for an interest-free loan from the Ministry of Magic.
He would have seven years after graduation to pay it back.
Professor McGonagall lowered her voice. "It's a fairly generous amount. As long as you don't waste it, you should have enough to live on for seven years after covering the rest of your tuition."
Cedric watched her intently through the whole explanation, not missing a word.
This was about how he would survive from here on out. He couldn't afford to be careless.
Once he understood all the ins and outs of the loan, his mind began to wander as Professor McGonagall moved on to the magical world.
He didn't need anyone to explain that stuff. When he'd read Harry Potter, he'd dug up everything he could about this world.
He would rather see it with his own eyes than listen to a dry explanation.
The two of them walked along Diagon Alley's cobbled street. Professor McGonagall held his hand and patiently explained the basics of the magical world, occasionally pointing out sights that would have looked utterly bizarre to Muggles.
Wizards in colorful robes streamed past. House-elves hawked goods from boxes on street corners. Sweets outside the shops bounced around as if they had legs, trying to lure in customers, while flyers occasionally thrust themselves into passersby's hands.
The riot of color unfurled before him like a painted scroll, showing off the magical world at its finest.
Cedric wasn't looking at any of it. He had secretly pulled up his system screen.
Host: Cedric Gray Hunting Level: 1 Enhancement Points: 7 General Enhancements: [Physical Enhancement E-], [Neural Reflex Enhancement E-] Special Enhancements: Not unlocked Exclusive Skills: Eye of Insight, Craftsman's Hand, Gluttonous Stomach
That was his entire system.
Hunting level was essentially a measure of combat strength. Level 1 was the bottom rung, where most ordinary people stood.
He earned enhancement points by eating dishes he had cooked himself, and the number of points depended on the prey's hunting level.
The rabbits, stray dogs, and other creatures he'd caught before were worth less than a point at best. Despite countless trips into the woods over the years, he still hadn't reached ten points.
General enhancements sat at the bottom of the system's built-in skill tree. Those two had installed themselves the moment the system activated, giving his skinny body an adult's strength and reaction speed.
Improving them further cost points. The system had told him it would take ten points to raise an enhancement from E- to E.
He knew all too well how hard it was to save ten points. He still hadn't had a chance to find out what an upgrade felt like.
According to the system, special enhancements were rewards for eating special creatures. He hadn't seen so much as a hair from one, so he had no idea what those enhancements did.
The three exclusive skills, though, were genuinely good. All of them were passive abilities.
Eye of Insight let him locate hidden prey in the wild with ease and revealed its hunting level. The higher the level, the more dangerous the fight.
Craftsman's Hand made his fingers unnaturally deft. He could bring out every bit of flavor when preparing ingredients, and it gave him an even bigger boost when he cooked. Even a roast rabbit with no salt could become something mouthwatering in his hands.
Gluttonous Stomach was more formidable still. Whatever he swallowed, he could digest it completely and turn it into nutrients. He never had to fear dying from something poisonous he'd eaten.
But of the three skills, Eye of Insight was the one he treasured most.
It wasn't limited to prey. It worked on living people too, ordinary people and wizards alike.
Take Professor McGonagall, for instance. She was holding his hand, her face stern as iron despite the gentleness of her voice.
When Cedric used Eye of Insight on her, the hunting level he saw was 89.
What did eighty-nine even mean?
The number was so huge he had nothing to compare it to. It was why he'd frozen in the hospital when he first saw it. It had scared the hell out of him.
He'd later assumed all wizards were monsters on her level. But after scanning them one by one as they walked through Diagon Alley, he discovered that most hovered around levels twenty or thirty.
Now he understood. Wizards weren't the terrifying ones. Professor McGonagall was.