Lorne was woken by a knock at the door.
Waking up in a bed at Hogwarts still felt a little unfamiliar to Lorne. Even the air here seemed to carry the scent of magic.
When he opened the door, Lorne froze on the spot.
The man was practically a small mountain. His dusty clothes and shaggy beard proclaimed their owner's carefree, unrestrained nature. Lorne thought he could fold up those clothes and use them as a quilt.
Hagrid, who had been waiting at the door, was looking around in boredom. Only when he heard the door open did he turn back and hold out a hand as large as a palm-leaf fan.
"Hey, I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. You can call me Hagrid."
"Oh... hello, Hagrid. I'm Lorne Miles, the new director of the General Affairs Office. Just call me Lorne."
The two looked at each other in silence. The atmosphere was rather awkward.
"Well, how about we take a walk outside, or you let me come in and sit down?" Hagrid spread his hands. "Better than standing here like a pair of fools, one inside and one outside."
Lorne snapped out of his daze and hurriedly invited Hagrid inside, thoughtfully pouring him a cup of tea, though Hagrid's features scrunched together after he drank it.
"Lorne, Dumbledore told me to take you to Diagon Alley to buy some supplies for starting school."
Hagrid took some toffee he had received from Dumbledore out of his pocket and popped it into his mouth, not forgetting to thoughtfully offer Lorne a piece.
Lorne's eyes lit up.
"That would be wonderful, but could you come with me to a Muggle bank to withdraw some cash first? I also need to make a list of what I need."
Lorne took out a pen and paper, bent over the desk, and began writing.
Hagrid leaned over curiously. Seeing this, Lorne shifted to the side so the big man could see what he had written.
"Buy some magical snacks..." Hagrid read aloud without realizing it. "I'd remember that even if you didn't write it down. Every time I go to Diagon Alley, I buy a big cup of ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour."
"Buy some miscellaneous books? But we have to get the required first-year textbooks first."
"Some decorations and furniture? What do you need those for?"
"To furnish my office," Lorne answered, looking up. "It's so empty here it's downright frightening."
Hagrid, however, was quite happy with the surroundings. "I thought this was your decorating style."
"Wait, Hagrid, don't we still have over a month before school starts?"
"That's right. Term doesn't start until September first. I'm also delivering a letter to a new student while I'm out this time."
"Delivering a letter? Isn't that an owl's job?"
Lorne asked in confusion, folding the completed list twice and stuffing it into his pocket.
"Because some stupid Muggle took his family off to an island to get away from the owl post. He thought Dumbledore wouldn't be able to find them there."
An island? Didn't that mean Harry Potter?
Just as he had guessed, Harry would start school this September. Today was July thirtieth, and tomorrow was Harry's birthday.
Tonight, Hagrid would launch a night raid on the isolated island and storm the Dursleys' beachhead.
"That's awful. If every young wizard's parents were like that, you must get very tired."
"You're very considerate, Lorne." Hagrid patted Lorne on the shoulder. "But hardly anyone's ever turned Hogwarts down before, and making this trip is no trouble. It's Harry Potter, after all."
"Harry Potter?" Lorne had finally gotten the name he wanted.
Hagrid covered his mouth, seemingly realizing that he had accidentally let something slip again.
"Who's that?" Lorne pressed.
Hagrid swung a fist in frustration and said dejectedly, "Well, Dumbledore didn't say I had to keep it from you. Harry is James and Lily's child. He defeated You-Know-Who when he was still a baby."
Anyone else would probably have been bewildered by Hagrid's words. If he did not even know Harry, he was even less likely to know James, Lily, or that You-Know-Who who did not even have a name.
Fortunately, Lorne only wanted an opening to ask questions. As for who Harry was, he might know that better than Harry himself did at this point.
Hagrid took Lorne to withdraw some cash, then they entered a shabby pub.
"This is the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley from the Muggle world."
Hagrid took out a small umbrella and tapped the bricks in the pub's back courtyard. The bricks seemed to come alive, opening a passage for the two of them.
The sight before him filled Lorne with wonder.
Not.
It was like an extremely busy pedestrian shopping street. Apart from the passersby in wizard robes, the owls that occasionally flashed past, and the bizarre shops, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
Hagrid noticed Lorne's reaction. "Dumbledore said you knew nothing about the wizarding world before, but I get the feeling magic doesn't look all that strange to you."
More than that, I know it like the back of my hand-though only what's in the films.
"I'm very adaptable." Lorne puffed out his chest.
Lorne followed Hagrid to Gringotts first to exchange some money for Galleons. The goblins there looked like underage goblins, with sharp fangs and teeth and shrewdness plain in their eyes.
The goblin who served Lorne was extremely unfriendly and seemed to hate seeing Galleons taken out of Gringotts.
"You cannot exchange too many Galleons. Excessively large sums of pounds would attract attention in the Muggle world."
The goblin did not even look up.
Lorne was displeased. Sooner or later, he would set up an institution to replace Gringotts and send all these goblins off to grow potatoes.
Lorne exchanged his money for two hundred Galleons and treated Hagrid to an ice cream.
"Heavens, this is delicious." Hagrid swept up more than half his ice cream with one lick. "Dumbledore also wanted me to ask if you needed financial assistance for poor students. Looks like you don't."
Lorne was immersed in the delicious ice cream. There seemed to be moving flowers mixed into it. Once he learned magic, he would definitely have to recreate it.
Lorne visited Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, and the apothecary in turn to buy the necessities for a new student, though of course he replaced the student robes with formal robes.
He also made a point of checking the current bestsellers: "Travels with Trolls," "Voyages with Vampires"... Lorne bought them all. He needed to study wizards' reading preferences. If he could write a book that made everyone either sigh with regret or cry out in praise, he would never have to worry about Galleons again.
At last, they reached Ollivander's Wand Shop.
Lorne could not help getting excited. This was the wizarding world's MBTI, and the kind that did not require answering a single question, at that.
Wasn't this more useful than the Divination elective?
Let's see what I can pick out. Elder wood representing wisdom with a thestral tail feather representing mystery, or fir representing an independent mind with unicorn tail hair representing loyalty?
"The wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around."
Ollivander spoke suddenly, startling Lorne.
He poked his head out from behind a pile of long, narrow boxes and stared at Lorne for quite a while before slowly asking, "Have you had a wand before?"
Lorne answered honestly, "No."