"Merlin's whiskers, it's Harry Potter!"
"The Boy Who Lived."
"Look at his forehead, that lightning-shaped scar."
The chatter around him made Harry a little uncomfortable. It had been the same at the Leaky Cauldron. Before that, he had always tried to shrink into corners so Vernon and Dudley wouldn't notice him.
Standing in the middle of a crowd being talked about like this was no different from being roasted over a fire.
Besides, he didn't like the title "The Chosen One." Honestly, it hadn't brought him anything, even though his parents had paid for it with their lives.
He pushed his trolley over to the table. "Director Lorne, thank you for your letter. I've had a good month."
"You're welcome." Lorne handed Harry a new student gift pack. "You look much healthier."
Harry looked puzzled. "What's this?"
"A new student gift pack. Every new student gets one."
Lorne deliberately stressed the words "new student," drawing a chorus of sighs from the older students around him.
Harry was delighted that this wasn't a special gift made for him because of his scar. He thanked Lorne again and unwrapped the gift box in front of him.
As the wrapping paper tore with a crisp sound, several exquisite items lay quietly on a velvet lining.
On top was a silver new student badge, its edges engraved with intricate ivy leaves. At its center, the Hogwarts crest gleamed softly under the station's dim yellow lights. On the back, a line of small, ornate lettering read, "May wisdom and courage be with you."
"Wow..." Harry couldn't help letting out a soft murmur. He carefully picked up the badge, the coolness of the metal seeping through his fingertips. It was weighty, carrying an indescribable sense of ceremony.
He looked farther down and discovered a greeting card with a gold-stamped seal, along with a sachet embroidered with mysterious runes in dark blue silk thread. The sachet seemed to contain herbs, giving off a faint, fresh fragrance like a mixture of mint and sunshine. A single breath of it left him feeling refreshed.
"This is..." Harry looked up, undisguised delight and emotion shining in his green eyes.
"The new student badge means you're officially a member of Hogwarts." Lorne looked at him and explained with a smile, "When you open the card, it shows an image of Hogwarts, which can help keep you from getting lost. As for the sachet, it contains herbs that refresh the mind. Just the thing for a long train ride."
"That's not fair. I get travel sickness too," an older student complained for the umpteenth time.
After speaking, Lorne took the badge from Harry's hand and pinned it to his clothes.
"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is right beside me. You just need to push your trolley straight at it." Lorne pointed toward the platform, and the crowd parted on its own to clear a path. "If you're nervous, close your eyes and take a few running steps."
Harry nodded, trusting Lorne's words completely.
He backed up two steps to give himself room to build up speed, then pushed his trolley toward the platform under everyone's gaze.
A flash of white light passed.
A different clamor filled his ears.
Harry opened his eyes to a completely different scene. The red steam train bore the words "5972 Hogwarts Express," like a giant serpent lying dormant on the tracks.
Owls hooted and cats meowed all around, while young wizards stood in twos and threes beside the train, chatting and laughing.
Following the staff's directions, Harry brought his trolley to the rearmost luggage carriage. Dedicated house-elves and older students there would help deliver the young wizards' luggage directly beneath their assigned dormitory beds.
Harry boarded the train. Its seats were soft sleeper berths, and his body sank into one.
Outside stretched an endless green grassland, but Harry wasn't in the mood to admire the scenery. Everything he had experienced today was too new to him: walls he could pass through, a train that seemed to exist in another world... He needed to calm down.
He had kept only the essentials with him: the greeting card and sachet he had just received, his wand, his wizard robes, and some Galleons.
He opened the card. Just as Director Lorne had said, Hogwarts Castle seemed to rise from the paper. Looking at the imposing building, he was filled with anticipation for the end of his journey.
"Oh, you've got one too."
The speaker had a head of golden-red hair. He asked Harry, "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
"Of course."
Lorne had boarded the express too.
He sat at the very back of the train, mostly surrounded by older students.
He had come into contact with an especially large number of wizards today. Surely the young wizards who were still too young to control their emotions would provide him with more power of emotion.
[Progress: 16/10] [Task completion requirements met. Settle rewards?]
Lorne immediately said silently, Settle.
[Task rewards settled successfully. Congratulations on receiving the "Beginner Gift Pack," containing: half-step Ron realm, one 2026 latest-model Magic Mobile Phone, and shopping access to the Beginner Shop.] [New task issued: collect power of emotion from your own kind.] [Progress: 16/100] [Reward: random improved spell ×1]
Lorne's eyes widened despite himself.
Never mind that the new task was still about collecting emotions-he had waited a month, and this was all the beginner gift pack contained?
Ron, and only half a step at that? Right now, Ron was just a young wizard who used "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow" to change a rat's color, and he had even failed at that.
That reward was as good as nothing.
As for the final item, shopping access, Lorne almost laughed in anger. All he got as a quest reward was access? You damned system, if you're giving me a gift pack, at least put something good in it!
In other words, his only quest reward was a phone.
Lorne was so angry he nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
What he held was a completely black, incredibly lightweight slab. If it hadn't felt like jade in his hand, he would have suspected it was just a piece of plastic.
It was simply too light.
Just holding it, Lorne felt the pitiful amount of magic in his body begin trickling into the slab.
A gleam flashed across its screen.
Immediately afterward, white light abruptly filled the entire screen, without a logo or a sound.
Lorne held it like a flashlight.
There was nothing on the screen, but Lorne could clearly sense the rate at which the magic in his body was draining. It was very slow. At this rate, he estimated he could last another few hours.
It seemed the Magic Mobile Phone was suitable for all wizards. Even the magic of the half-step Ron realm was enough to keep it running normally.
Lorne could even reduce his magical output a little further, which merely dimmed the Magic Mobile Phone's screen.
There weren't any apps on the phone. Lorne studied it for ages but couldn't find a single function beyond lighting up.
Oh, he could throw it like a snap pop too.
Great. Now not a single one of his rewards was useful.
Clinging to one last shred of hope, Lorne opened the Beginner Shop.
The dazzling array of goods reassured Lorne a little, and the labels offering ninety and seventy percent off made his face light up.
"A Magic Mobile Phone, ninety percent off, for just one point of power of emotion?"
So the total value of the system's beginner gift pack was only about one point of power of emotion.
"Why are there so many books? The Ingenious Combination of Magic and Gears, Deconstructing Topology, A Hundred Explanations of Magic Painting Techniques, A List of Famous Magical Music, 2026 Latest Edition Transfiguration Textbook... Do I look that much like a scholar?"
All these books were marked seventy percent off and sold for three points of power of emotion. With Lorne's current assets, he could only afford five.
"Wait, what's this? Magic Mobile Phone Instructions? You're even selling the manual separately?"
Lorne's face darkened. If there hadn't been so many students around him, he would have jumped up and started cursing.