Welcome to Diagon Alley

The room fell silent for a full ten seconds.

Grandpa Henry turned his gaze to Gerald.

"So... you can split firewood with one hand? And carry a roof beam that would take several grown men to lift?"

Gerald rubbed his nose and did not deny it.

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows slightly and gave Gerald a thoughtful look.

Innate superhuman strength-is there such a magical talent?

"That explains it."

Grandpa Henry let out a long breath and sat up straight again.

"Well, Ms. McGonagall, this magic you mentioned... can Gerald really learn it? It won't be dangerous, will it?"

"Hogwarts has a thousand-year history of safe instruction. Our mission is to guide young wizards like your grandson and help them understand and control their gifts. As for danger..."

Professor McGonagall paused before continuing.

"Mr. Hall, an untrained wizard's magic may inadvertently run out of control, with unpredictable consequences. From that perspective, a proper magical education is precisely the best way to avoid danger."

Her argument left no room for objection, and Grandpa Henry was clearly convinced.

"What do you think, lad?"

Gerald met the old man's gaze.

"Grandpa, I want to go."

This is the magical world. Only an idiot would pass it up.

Although he had his panel, the spiritual energy here was thin, and he had no idea whether the path of immortal cultivation would be viable.

Now that another path had opened up, he certainly could not let it slip by.

Grandpa Henry nodded at his answer, then stood and held out his hand to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall, I'll leave him in your care, then. I'm entrusting this child to your school."

McGonagall shook his hand and gave a solemn nod.

"Hogwarts will take good care of every student, Mr. Hall. That much I can promise you."

And that settled it.

Over the next ten minutes or so, Professor McGonagall explained the various enrollment arrangements in detail.

"I can take you to Diagon Alley to purchase everything you need. That is one of the reasons for my visit."

Before they left, Grandpa Henry crouched down to straighten Gerald's collar.

He insisted on giving Gerald some money, but Gerald politely declined.

"Go on. See the world beyond this place."

Gerald smiled at him, then followed McGonagall out of the yard and onto the town's only main road.

"We need to leave the town first."

Professor McGonagall spoke as she walked, her steps steady and brisk.

"Areas crowded with Muggles are unsuitable for Apparition. There is a small clearing beyond those woods ahead. That should suffice."

Gerald followed close behind her, his heart involuntarily beating faster.

Apparition.

Of course he knew what that word meant.

The description he had read in his previous life surfaced in his mind: it was like being caught by a hook behind the navel and squeezed, whole body and all, into a very narrow rubber tube...

"Professor McGonagall, what is Apparition?"

He asked naturally, just as a child who had never encountered the magical world truly would.

McGonagall glanced sideways at him.

"A spell for moving through space. Those experiencing it for the first time may find it somewhat uncomfortable. But rest assured, I have held an Apparition license for over thirty years and have never had an accident."

She stopped beneath an old oak, turned, and held out her left arm to Gerald.

"Hold on to my arm, and do not let go no matter what happens. Do you understand?"

Gerald took a deep breath and gripped Professor McGonagall's forearm.

"Ready?"

Gerald nodded.

The next instant, he felt an enormous force squeeze him from every direction, as though a giant invisible hand had suddenly clenched around him.

The town's flagstone road, the old oak, and the distant church spire all twisted into blurred ribbons of color that swept past the edges of his vision.

The whole process lasted about two or three seconds.

Then everything stopped abruptly.

Gerald stumbled, his stomach churning as though he had just ridden the world's worst roller coaster.

He bent over with his hands braced on his knees, gulping down air and desperately suppressing the urge to vomit.

Reading about it and experiencing it really are two different things.

"It's always like this the first time."

Professor McGonagall's voice came from above him, her tone matter-of-fact.

Gerald looked up and found himself standing on a narrow street.

Old-fashioned buildings stood packed together on either side, their brick walls weathered and mottled.

The road was paved with cobblestones, with moss growing in the gaps.

In front of them stood a pub with a narrow, shabby frontage.

Wedged between a record shop and a secondhand bookshop, it looked as though the buildings on either side had squashed it flat.

The words "Leaky Cauldron" were crookedly painted on its sign, most of the paint already flaking away.

People passed back and forth along the street, but not one of them spared the pub a glance.

It was as though it did not exist.

"This is the Leaky Cauldron, one of the entrances connecting the Muggle and wizarding worlds. Only people with magic can see it. Muggles are ordinary people who cannot use magic. Even if they walked past its door a hundred times, they would never notice it."

"Magic? Professor McGonagall, I don't think I've ever shown any unusual abilities."

Professor McGonagall glanced at Gerald and headed toward the narrow door.

"Before receiving their acceptance letters, every young wizard has experienced some degree of uncontrolled magic. Making a teacup inexplicably disappear, setting their clothes alight, or falling off a roof without suffering a scratch. Cases with absolutely no signs... are quite rare."

She looked back at Gerald.

"But you need not worry at all, Mr. Green. Hogwarts never sends an acceptance letter to anyone without magic. This ancient magical school has its own way of judging. It knows who belongs here."

Gerald nodded, though he still had his doubts.

He was practicing an immortal cultivation method now and would eventually cultivate Primordial Qi, but Primordial Qi and this world's magic were two entirely different things.

Could this body have a magical gift of its own? But why has it never gone out of control in all these years?

"Let's go inside."

Professor McGonagall pushed open the door to the Leaky Cauldron. Inside, the pub was

far dimmer than Gerald had imagined.

Several robed wizards sat in a corner, talking quietly.

Behind the bar stood a bald, hunched man, wiping a glass with a rather dirty rag.

At the sight of Professor McGonagall, several wizards nodded in greeting before their eyes settled on Gerald behind her.

Gerald wore a white shirt Grandpa Henry had ironed and a pair of dark trousers, which made him look a little out of place among the robed wizards.

But he was not ill at ease.

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall!" the hunched man behind the bar greeted her warmly.

"Good morning, Tom." McGonagall nodded.

Tom grinned at Gerald, revealing a mouthful of uneven teeth. "Welcome, welcome, young man. Come back to old Tom for a Butterbeer once you've finished your shopping. Though, of course, you'll have to be a bit older first."

Professor McGonagall gave Tom an expressionless look.

He immediately fell silent and lowered his head to resume wiping the glass, though a smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Professor McGonagall walked straight past the bar, pushed open the back door, and stepped into a small courtyard enclosed by high walls.

Gerald hurried after her.

A few wooden barrels and a broken broom were piled in the courtyard. It looked like an ordinary storage area.

Professor McGonagall turned and drew her wand.

"Remember this place." Professor McGonagall walked over to the wall and took out her wand. "You'll be coming here often."

She lightly tapped several bricks in the wall three times in sequence with her wand.

The bricks she had tapped began to tremble, then retreated as though they had come alive. The bricks on either side moved with them.

Here it comes-the place where the dream began.

Gerald kept his eyes fixed on the ever-shifting wall before him, thinking to himself.

With a low rumble, the wall parted to either side as though pulled apart by invisible hands, revealing a broad archway.

Beyond the arch lay a winding cobblestone street, packed on both sides with all manner of peculiar shops.

The street bustled with people, wizards in robes of every color weaving through the crowds.

Gerald stood before the archway, gazing at the wondrous street.

Suddenly, a strange feeling came over him.

It was like finally seeing lights after a long, solitary journey through the dark.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley."