A Halloween Rendezvous

Ryan had recently discovered another boring new feature of the system: writing a diary.

For Ryan, who had a photographic memory, it was undoubtedly rather useless. Still, he could write down things he could not say to anyone else, which was somewhat interesting.

September 1st, sunny. Penelope had started school. Would she still go to Ravenclaw? According to the original course of fate, she would not get together with Percy until her fourth year, and they would only make it public after becoming prefects in their fifth year.

Morning. Breakfast was beef noodles. I finally got to eat noodles. Jack was truly amazing. I was sick of spaghetti.

Exercise, thought about Penelope, wrote a letter. Noon. Lunch was beef stew with potatoes and tomatoes. Mm, it was more appetizing than braised beef. The beef was tender and falling apart. Read, thought about Penelope, took a nap, waited for a letter.

Evening. Dinner was shredded potatoes and winter melon meatball soup. Mm, dinner should be lighter. Read, waited for a letter.

September 2nd, rainy. Why had Penelope not written back yet? She must have been too excited after just arriving at school.

Morning. Breakfast was zhajiang noodles. Sure enough, mornings were meant for noodles. Exercise, thought about Penelope, waited for a letter.

Noon. Today's lunch was escargot gratin with steak. Wasn't this just a larger river snail? Delicious.

Penelope finally wrote back. She had gone to Ravenclaw and was very excited. She asked whether I could see the future. Ravenclaw actually had its own library, with notes left behind by many upperclassmen.

Their first day had been Charms Class, taught by their Head of House, Professor Flitwick. He had not taught them any actual spells at first, only explained the spells they would learn that year and the precautions they needed to take. First-years were not allowed to use magic privately, and so on.

In the evening, they also had to observe the night sky through telescopes, learn the names of different stars and the paths of the planets. Apparently, they did this every Wednesday.

Tonight, dinner was grilled steak, with Yorkshire pudding and my favorite Black Tea. Wrote a letter, read.

September 3rd, overcast. Waited for a letter. I wanted Hogwarts even more now. It was not the sort of anticipation I had felt for the movies and novels in my previous life. It was like finding out I was marrying the person I loved most tomorrow, or winning the lottery jackpot tomorrow.

Morning. Breakfast was spaghetti bolognese, commonly known as tomato zhajiang noodles. Delicious. Exercise, waited for a letter.

Noon. Lunch was eggplant casserole, salty and savory, soft and tender, perfect with rice. Delicious.

Penelope wrote back. She briefly described her excitement, the strange question at the entrance, and their prefect, Tiger, a rather rugged-looking wizard who was tall and brawny. He handed every new student a timetable. My earlier guess had been right: every Wednesday night, they had Astronomy class.

Three times a week, they were led by a short, plump witch named Sprout, Hufflepuff's Head of House, to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, learning how to cultivate those strange plants and fungi and understand their uses. There was also Transfiguration; by convention, their first lesson should involve turning wood into needles.

September 4th, sunny. Waited for a letter. Recently, I discovered that the insights I gained from raising spell proficiency through the system differed somewhat from what was written in books. Was it more suitable for me, or were the books simply wrong—or rather, only relatively true?

Morning. Breakfast was dumplings with shrimp filling. I was so excited. In my previous life, because we lived inland, my Parents had always considered shrimp precious. Even after our financial situation improved and shrimp could be bought everywhere, whenever they cooked it, they simply boiled it plain without even removing the vein. Shrimp dumplings were undoubtedly a rare treat to me.

Unfortunately, I transmigrated before I went to university and became independent. Otherwise, I could have eaten more shrimp dishes. I had written a bit too much today. Rarely, I missed my previous life a little. Still, I was not an only child. My older brother was there to take care of our Parents, so it should be fine. Exercise, read.

Noon. I had no appetite and casually ate a steak.

The letter arrived. Penelope said Ravenclaw had its downsides too. Aside from Kate, her dormmate, she hardly had any friends. The others merely admired her recent performance and did not interact with her any further.

Every day was spent reading. Though reading was interesting too, Penelope said she regretted it a little. The Sorting Hat had originally wanted to place her in Hufflepuff, but because of certain prejudices—or perhaps concerns—she had ultimately chosen Ravenclaw. She said she could never become a Hufflepuff now.

Penelope had said rather a lot today too. Was this telepathy? We happened to both be at low points emotionally. Unfortunately, some things I could only write in my diary.

So, I introduced Penelope to Hogwarts' secret passages and the magical Room of Requirement, hoping it would distract her and make her daily life more interesting.

In the evening, I only ate a few bites of bread. Only Chinese food, the dishes in my memories, could keep me company.

Almost two months passed without anyone noticing. Ryan wrote to Penelope nearly every day and decided to focus his energy on alchemy and a few practical spells, such as Protego. His Detection skill was already sufficient, while Thinking and Body Modification steadily improved alongside reading and exercise.

November 1st, 1987, happened to be Halloween. It had been two months since Hogwarts started.

Race: Wizard

Strength: 15 (the limit for ordinary people is 10)

Constitution: 29 (the limit for ordinary people is 10)

Magic Power: 21 (the limit for ordinary people is 10)

Skills: Thinking lv.3 (15%) Body Modification lv.3 (57%) Alchemy lv.2 (47%) Charmcraft lv.2 (22%) Potion-Making lv.2 (11%) Transfiguration lv.2 (63%) Gun Kata lv.2 (23%) Martial Arts lv.2 (14%) Detection lv.1 (78%)

Hogsmeade Village, also known simply as Hogsmeade, was Britain's only village inhabited entirely by wizards. It was located in Scotland.

It was founded by Hengist of Woodcroft. Hogwarts students could visit it on weekends, but only Third Year students and above with permission from their Parents or other guardians were allowed to go. It had many shops, such as Britain's most famous Honeydukes, whose full name was Honeydukes Sweetshop.

He had previously told Penelope in a letter about the secret passage from Hogwarts to Honeydukes. It was behind the One-Eyed Witch Statue on Hogwarts' fourth floor. Tap it with a wand and say the incantation, Dissendium, and the statue's hump would immediately open into a passage large enough for a somewhat slender person to enter. According to the description in the original Harry Potter, the journey took around an hour.

He and Penelope had arranged to meet on Halloween, which was today. Both of them would dress up as monsters and meet at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade Village at two in the afternoon.

He was finally going to see Penelope and Hogwarts. Going to the wizarding village of Hogsmeade would not only allow him to get closer to a real wizarding settlement—something entirely different from merely reading about one in books—but also let him gaze at the outline of Hogwarts from afar.

But he would not dress up as a monster then. He would arrive at Honeydukes early and give Penelope a surprise. Suddenly appearing behind her would definitely be fun.