"Uh." Though Herman was thinking, I already knew that, the little girl opposite him looked so cute and amusing that he still managed a smile and said, "No, I don't."
At Herman's answer, the little girl tilted her nose up slightly and said smugly, "Hmph, I had to beg Dad for ages before he would tell me. You're not allowed to tell anyone else, or else... I'll put a curse on you!"
"All right, go ahead." Herman was already prepared to hear all sorts of versions of the Sorting Ceremony meant to frighten children: fighting Acromantulas, facing Dementors, or taking on a Troll single-handedly.
The little girl raised her head, her chin practically pointing at the sky, and declared airily, "There's actually nothing scary about it at all. The other parents are just lying to their children! There'll be a magic hat, and all we have to do is put it on our heads. It'll sort us into houses according to our personalities."
"What?" This time, Herman was the one who was shocked. What kind of parent is that? So open-minded-or so indulgent-that they'd disregard a Hogwarts tradition passed down for centuries?
The little girl misinterpreted Herman's surprise and grew even smugger, chattering away. "Amazing, isn't it? They say the magic hat originally belonged to Gryffindor, one of the Founders. It even knows a little Legilimency. It can see everyone's personality traits and then decide which house to put them in."
Her words brought back scenes from the films Herman had watched, and he couldn't help asking curiously, "Does it only look at personality traits? It won't look through memories or anything, will it?"
Herman knew perfectly well that although he hadn't used magic to do anything he considered particularly terrible, he had indeed used it on ordinary people.
If that came to light, the Sorting Hat might just shout, "One for Azkaban!"
"Tch, of course not! The Ministry of Magic would never let Hogwarts do that. Besides, hardly any wizards can perform the kind of Legilimency that lets them read memories at will, except... except Dumbledore." As she spoke, the little girl tossed her hair, her face full of pride that said, "I know so much."
"That's good, then." Herman nodded in relief. The little girl tilted her head and stared at him curiously, refusing to let it go. "What's this? You seem awfully afraid the magic hat will find something out. Do you have some secret? Hmph, don't think you can hide it from me."
Herman hastily shook his head. "No, no. But even if you don't have any secrets, nobody would feel good about someone rummaging through their memories."
"That's true." The little girl nodded reluctantly, accepting his explanation, then added mysteriously, "There's another secret. If there's a house you really want to go to, but you're worried the magic hat won't put you there, just keep repeating it in your mind. The magic hat will listen to your suggestion. My father told me that in secret!"
"Really?" It seemed this little girl really did know quite a lot, if she could find out even that. Herman wanted to ask a few more questions, but just then a couple came through the door, and the woman called to the little girl:
"Draco, it's time to go. Guess what Mummy bought you?"
At the sound of her voice, Draco immediately turned around. Seeing her parents, she skipped over happily, though she didn't forget to turn back and call to Herman, "I'm off! Remember to come find me when you get to Hogwarts. I'll look after you, so don't embarrass me!"
The instant Herman heard the name "Draco," his mind went blank, as though he'd been hit with a Full Body-Bind Curse. This was his second crash since meeting the female Harry.
Draco had actually become a girl, and a fairly pretty one at that. Though she was still a bit tsundere and full of herself, somehow, with the improvement in her looks, Herman actually found her a little cute.
In the end, Herman walked out of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in a daze, still thinking, What other shenanigans is this Hogwarts going to throw at me? Don't tell me Voldemort will end up becoming a busty older woman too. The thing is, this isn't some Liu Bei "imperial uncle" erotica. Does it really need this many female characters?
He shook his head, trying to cast aside those jumbled thoughts, and headed for his next stop. This destination was an important one: Flourish and Blotts, where he would buy his magic books.
The start of each school year was Flourish and Blotts' busiest season, and the period when it sold the most stock. Given the size of the wizarding population, this was the only time business boomed. Normally, the place was practically deserted.
Precisely because of that, the regular staff at Flourish and Blotts couldn't possibly cope with the current rush, and everyone was scrambling.
Herman wandered around the bookshop for quite a while after entering, but not one shop assistant could spare the time to help him. With no other choice, he found an assistant who was moving books. The man was pale, as though he hadn't slept for several nights running.
"Hello, I'd like to buy these books." Herman showed the assistant his acceptance letter. The assistant glanced at it, checked which year's books he needed, and immediately said wearily, "Over there. All the Hogwarts textbooks are over there, with the first-year ones at the very end. Just help yourself."
Looking at the assistant, who seemed liable to collapse and drop dead at any moment, Herman felt bad about troubling him further. He went to the spot the assistant had indicated and collected all the books he needed for his first year.
But he soon discovered a problem. With such a huge stack of books in his arms, he couldn't possibly visit any other shops. Yet Harry had clearly bought everything in one trip in the original story, hadn't he? Right, Harry had been accompanied by Hagrid, so he'd had someone to carry his bags.
And what about the professor assigned to guide me through enrollment? It's Snape! Forget it, I'm better off on my own. I'm not Harry. I can't get Snape to carry my bags.
Herman recalled what had happened at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions earlier. His clothes were being made to order and would be delivered to the Leaky Cauldron.
Herman wasn't planning to return to the orphanage anytime soon. He had already used going to Hogwarts early as an excuse to take the opportunity to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, learn the basics of the wizarding world in advance, and find out more about this Hogwarts world where "one thing after another kept going wrong."
Come to think of it, Voldemort seemed to have done the same thing back then. So Herman said to the assistant, "Hello, I came on my own. Could you deliver these books to the Leaky Cauldron for me?"
Busy at the till, the assistant glanced at the books in Herman's arms and said as he rang up a customer, "We can, but you'll have to wait your turn. We probably won't have time to deliver them until this rush is over."
"How long would that take?"
"Just a few days. You'll have them before school starts," the assistant answered without looking up.
"That won't do. That's a little too late." Herman was planning to start reading that very night, so he pressed, "Could you rush the delivery?"
"Yes. We arrange deliveries according to the amount spent. There actually aren't many people asking for delivery. As long as you buy some more books, you can move up the queue."
"Perfect, I was just thinking of buying some books. Where would I find encyclopedias or something like that-books with a comprehensive introduction to the wizarding world?" Herman asked.
"A little boy asked the same question just now. The books you want are over there." The assistant pointed to a relatively quiet part of the shop. Clearly, not many wizards bought encyclopedias like these.
Herman looked over and saw a family of three standing there. All of them wore ordinary people's clothes and didn't look like wizards at all.
Looking again at the brown-haired little boy handing stacks of books to his parents, Herman remembered. They seemed to be the family of three who had stood ahead of him when he was queuing at Gringotts.