Enrollment

A crow.

Cedric had wondered whether Professor McGonagall might give him an owl or something, given her temperament. He just hadn't expected such a big difference. What she'd put in his hands wasn't an owl, but a crow.

The mention of crows brought back memories of the ones he'd encountered while roaming the wilderness—and tasted. The meat was sour. Awful stuff.

The crow in the cage seemed to catch a scent. It fixed Cedric with a wary stare, then flapped and darted around without a moment's peace.

"Settle down, settle down." McGonagall sighed inwardly at the sight of it.

She had wanted to give Cedric an owl. But when she pictured him grabbing one and getting ready to pluck its feathers, she changed her mind and chose this crow instead.

"You two must get along from now on. And whatever you do, don't eat it. Understood?" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"You're joking. It's a gift from you. No matter how hungry I get, I wouldn't eat it," Cedric replied with a smile.

That sounded reasonable enough. McGonagall nodded, satisfied—then realized something was off.

Did that mean he'd eat an animal if someone else gave it to him? Had he still not given up on eating an owl?

Professor McGonagall felt a headache coming on. She wanted to grab Cedric and drill it into his head that owls were a wizard's friends, not something to put in his mouth.

But she still had several Muggle families to visit. She couldn't linger here.

No matter. He had years ahead of him at Hogwarts. There would be plenty of time to set him straight.

Professor McGonagall comforted herself with that thought, entirely unaware of the changes this child would bring to Hogwarts.

After booking Cedric a room, Professor McGonagall treated him to a meal and left. Before going, she made a point of giving him several warnings.

She told him how to get in and out of Diagon Alley, warned him not to wander into Knockturn Alley, and forbade him from practicing offensive spells at random with his wand. She was especially firm about that last point. If he broke anything, he would have to pay for it. Those words carried so much weight that Cedric even considered giving up on learning spells early.

Of course, her most important warning was: do! Not! Eat! Owls!

Crow: ...Uh, what? Couldn't you have added "don't eat crows" while you were at it?

Beside the table in his room, Cedric reached out to bother the crow in its cage. "Professor McGonagall sure plays favorites. She specifically told me not to eat owls, but didn't say a word about you. Does she trust me that much?"

The crow batted his hand away with a wing, stretched its neck, and let out a muffled caw.

"All right, I'll stop teasing you. Relax. I'm not planning to eat you." Cedric opened the cage door as he spoke. "Let's give you a name. Once you have one, you won't have to worry about me taking a bite, right?"

The crow poked its head out doubtfully and eyed Cedric. Its little eyes darted about before it cautiously hopped out.

Cedric left it alone. After thinking for a moment, he glanced at the dazzling sheen of its feathers in the sunlight and smiled. "How about Xuanling?"

"Caw!" the crow cried, tilting its head at Cedric.

"All right, go sit over there. Don't run around or poop everywhere. Other than that, do what you like." Cedric waved the crow away.

Cedric wasn't worried that Xuanling would hold a grudge over being shooed off. A look with the Eye of Discernment showed him that Xuanling, like an owl, had a hunting level of five. This was no ordinary crow.

Crows were clever to begin with, and in the magical world they were sharper still. After all, the English name of Hogwarts' Ravenclaw House contained "raven."

This crow was a raven, and its intelligence had been recognized by a founder of Hogwarts. Understanding human speech was hardly difficult for a bird like that.

Sure enough, Xuanling didn't take offense at being sent away. Instead, he landed on Cedric's shoulder and watched curiously to see what Cedric would do next.

Cedric first took out the cauldron he'd bought. He tapped its outer wall. This beginner's cauldron was made of pewter to control heat transfer, and the tin alloys used for soldering in the Muggle world often contained lead.

The shop had also sold corrosion-resistant gold cauldrons, but those were reserved for Potions Masters. They wouldn't sell one to a beginner like Cedric, no matter how sweetly he asked.

"Lead, huh... Potions are one thing. They're made by mixing all sorts of strange ingredients anyway, and a little lead might even make them more effective. But cooking in it... no." Cedric set the cauldron down and scratched his head.

Cooking in a lead-bearing pewter pot was a bit too reckless. He decided to drop the idea.

"Maybe I should check whether the system's changed." Muttering words Xuanling couldn't understand, Cedric opened his status panel.

Cedric's information was largely unchanged, but he soon noticed something new on the panel.

A new node had appeared on his skill tree, ready to be unlocked. Cedric could swear it hadn't been there before.

"Universal Enhancement, Basic Magic Control?"