Early morning, September first.
Today was the day Hogwarts began its new term.
Morris had packed his luggage early and was now waiting quietly by the front door.
He had little to bring: just a suitcase and the undead cat in his arms.
"Stupid cat, your body seems to have gotten a little colder again." Morris gently stroked Guantou's head.
Guantou stretched lazily in his arms and rubbed its head against his chest.
In the morning light, Morris's shadow shifted.
It was Yanhua.
It seemed displeased once again by the affection between Morris and Guantou.
Morris could only give a helpless quirk of his lips.
Just then, a car pulled smoothly to a stop in front of him.
"Morning, Morris." Harold took off his sunglasses and greeted him cheerfully. "How are you feeling?"
"Sorry for the trouble, Harold." Morris nodded politely.
Harold waved it off, hopped briskly out of the car, and helped lift his suitcase into the trunk. "Get in. It'll take a while to get to King's Cross Station from here."
Morris settled into the back seat with Guantou in his arms and noticed a small paper bag beside him.
He opened it and found some rather irregularly shaped cookies inside, some already broken into several pieces.
"Oh, that's my daughter's handiwork for her craft class." Harold started the car, amusement in his voice. "Try some. They're edible."
"Thanks."
Morris picked up a relatively intact cookie and tasted it. It was very sweet, with a faint buttery aroma.
At least she didn't get the recipe wrong, he thought.
The car traveled smoothly along the increasingly busy roads, and Morris closed his eyes and entered a meditative state as usual.
This had all but become part of his daily routine.
He had to admit that meditation really did calm his mind.
With each steady breath, the noise of the outside world gradually faded, and he seemed to enter a tranquil world where only mana flowed.
For Morris, the sensation was extremely addictive.
Seeing this in the rearview mirror, Harold assumed Morris had fallen asleep and quietly turned down the car's music.
When Morris opened his eyes again, the car had entered central London.
"How much longer until we get there?" Morris asked, watching the increasingly heavy traffic outside.
"About half an hour..." Harold estimated. "Are you awake now?"
"No, I wasn't sleeping."
"Then what were you doing?"
"I was cultivating."
This answer left Harold rather puzzled. "Practicing magic?"
Morris nodded gently and continued watching the streets flash past outside.
Just what sort of place was Hogwarts?
He was looking forward to it more and more.
"Could I visit your school?" Harold suddenly asked.
"I don't know, but I can ask a professor for you." Morris glanced at Harold in the rearview mirror. "Though I don't think it's very likely."
Harold nodded in understanding. "True. A magic school must be different from an ordinary one."
There was a slight note of disappointment in his voice.
With another half hour to spare, Morris turned his attention to the Book of the Mage in his mind.
Over the past few days, it had unlocked new content.
"Wailing Curse"-a new curse-type spell.
This spell could create various wailing-like noises in its target's mind to disrupt their mental state.
With his first experience behind him, Morris had not needed to expend much effort learning this basic curse, and constructing its spell model had gone relatively smoothly.
Perhaps this was another benefit of meditation.
His success rate when casting the Weakening Curse was now close to one hundred percent.
Even with the new Wailing Curse, his success rate was over fifty percent.
"Wailing Curse!"
A nearly imperceptible wisp of black vapor seeped from his right palm and instantly burrowed into his own body.
Previously, he had only tested this curse on animals such as birds and cats.
This was his first time using it on a human.
Almost instantly, piercing howls exploded in his mind!
It was as though countless vengeful ghosts were screaming, weeping, and wailing all at once.
The sounds echoed endlessly inside his skull, unbearable.
Morris instinctively covered his ears, only to find that the noise had not diminished at all-the noise produced by the curse acted directly on the mind, so physically blocking it out did nothing.
He gritted his teeth, struggling to remain clearheaded.
This mental interference was even stronger than he had expected. No wonder the Book of the Mage classified this curse as a "disruption spell."
Only after about ten seconds did the noise gradually fade.
Morris let out a long breath, fine beads of sweat already covering his forehead.
Experiencing his own magic firsthand was quite necessary.
Although the process had been unpleasant, at least it proved that this spell truly was remarkable.
"What's wrong?" Harold turned to ask.
"Nothing." Morris wiped the sweat from his brow, his tone calm. "Just a little carsick."
He looked out the window and found that the car had already stopped.
"We're here. It's just up ahead." Harold pointed to a building not far away. "Do you need me to go in with you?"
"No." Morris shook his head. "Goodbye, then, Harold."
With his suitcase and cat in tow, Morris entered the station.
"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters..."
"It should be here."
Muttering to himself, he reached his destination-the midpoint between platforms nine and ten.
A very conspicuous dividing wall stood there.
Just then, a girl with thick, long brown hair flashed past and went straight into the wall. Morris only managed to catch a glimpse of her back as she disappeared.
Presumably, that was the entrance.
Besides her, an adult couple stood beside the dividing wall, staring blankly at the spot where the girl had disappeared.
Morris kept feeling that the couple looked familiar.
As he approached, the man gave him a friendly smile. "Ah, you're that child from Diagon Alley!"
Morris stopped warily. "I don't know you."
But after taking a closer look at him, a vague impression surfaced. "Oh, you're Gra... Gra... Gra... all right, I don't remember."
"Granger," the man supplied helplessly.
"Good morning, Mr. Granger." Morris nodded in a well-mannered greeting, then asked politely, "Could you move aside? I need to go in."
Only then did Mr. and Mrs. Granger realize they were standing in front of the dividing wall, and they hurriedly stepped aside.
Morris nodded and said nothing more, pulling his luggage straight toward the wall.
As he passed through it, he heard Mr. Granger's surprised murmur behind him. "Isn't that child a little odd?"
Morris had no time to listen to the rest of their conversation, for he was already in an entirely new place: Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
The view opened up before him. A scarlet steam locomotive stood beside the platform, billowing thick smoke, with a prominent sign on its front-the Hogwarts Express.
Hmm, a very classic image, Morris thought.
After looking around, he hesitated no longer and boarded the train with his luggage.