"Then, has anything unusual ever happened around Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall cut straight to the point.
"Unusual?" Harold did not immediately follow.
"Yes." Professor McGonagall nodded. "Objects suddenly moving, for example, or milk spilling for no reason... anything out of the ordinary."
Harold frowned.
He glanced at Morris, who stood beside him with his eyes obediently lowered, looking entirely peaceable.
"If I had to name anything unusual," Harold said after some thought, "Mr. Black is an exceptionally intelligent child. His studies have never given anyone cause for concern. In the entrance examinations that just ended, he came first in the surrounding area."
Although he rarely paid much attention to the children's home, he had heard about that.
After all, several good schools had already contacted him, hoping to admit the boy.
He had simply left all those matters to the care workers.
To be honest, he did not particularly care about the children's home itself-unless the government stopped giving him funding.
No, stopped giving his orphanage funding.
"Ah, that's right," Harold said, suddenly remembering something. "This child has been adopted twice before."
Professor McGonagall leaned forward slightly. "If it's convenient, could you tell me the details?"
Since he had been adopted twice, why was this child still here?
That was a serious question.
Had he been mistreated, or was there another reason?
Harold rubbed the bald back of his head awkwardly.
"That's rather difficult," he said, clearing his throat in embarrassment. "I don't remember the details very clearly. You see, it's been several years."
At that, Morris could not help pursing his lips.
Professor McGonagall keenly caught the little gesture and turned her gentle gaze toward him.
"Do you remember anything, Mr. Black?" she asked softly. "Of course, if you'd rather not explain, that's quite all right. It won't affect your admission."
Morris raised his head and met Professor McGonagall's kindly eyes.
Oh well, it wasn't something I had to keep secret anyway.
He explained briefly, "It wasn't anything terribly serious. When those two families adopted me, the bodies of all sorts of stray animals kept mysteriously appearing in their yards."
"My first adoptive mother was so frightened she fell ill, and my second adoptive father thought I was a child who brought bad luck. They both sent me back very quickly."
Morris sounded quite relaxed. "Thinking about it now, that must have been magic too."
Even now, he still felt a little sorry about that.
After all, it was most likely a problem he had brought with him.
Those two kind families had suffered an undeserved disaster for no reason.
Oh, right, it had not just been the bodies of stray animals that appeared at the second family's home. There had also been the bodies of two homeless men.
He had heard that even the price of their house in the city center had fallen.
That was all too real.
Morris silently apologized again.
Of course, he had not caused the deaths of those stray animals or homeless men.
The autopsy reports on the two homeless men had also confirmed that they had frozen to death.
He had probably only gathered those bodies together with magic.
After listening to Morris's account, Professor McGonagall considered it for a moment.
"Although its manifestation was somewhat unusual," she said, "this was very likely caused by accidental magic. When young witches and wizards experience intense emotional fluctuations or have a powerful desire, their magic can escape their control, causing all sorts of strange things."
Accidental magic.
Morris nodded.
Now everything made sense.
He had always thought he was simply rather unlucky, and that those bodies had appeared around him by coincidence.
Now it seemed those bodies had gathered because of his powerful desire.
Wait, that doesn't seem right either.
Why would I want to gather those bodies for no reason?
It's not as though I'm some kind of pervert.
Seeing the complicated expression on Morris's face, Professor McGonagall reassured him, "Don't worry, Mr. Black. Accidental magic generally stops occurring by your age."
"Once you arrive at Hogwarts, you'll learn how to control your magic. These uncontrollable phenomena will naturally disappear then."
Morris nodded thoughtfully. "I understand, Professor."
"Now, do you have any other questions?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Morris hesitated for a moment, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes. "Professor, could you show me some magic now?"
Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows in mild surprise, then gave a small, understanding smile.
Indeed, she had yet to demonstrate any magic to Morris.
If anything, Morris's ready acceptance of magic's existence was more unusual.
"That works out nicely. I'll be taking you to Diagon Alley next to buy some things you'll need for school. Have you brought your supplies list? It was attached to the back of your acceptance letter," Professor McGonagall said.
"Yes."
Morris nodded and took a somewhat crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket.
There were quite a few things on the list, including several items he could not understand.
A telescope, for instance.
No matter how he thought about it, that had nothing to do with magic.
"Then we can leave right away." Professor McGonagall smiled and turned to Harold, who stood there like a block of wood. "I'll be taking Mr. Black out for a while. We should be back before one this afternoon. Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Green."
Harold nodded hurriedly. "Of course, of course. That's no problem."
With his confirmation, Professor McGonagall turned to Morris and elegantly held out her right arm. "Please take my arm, Mr. Black. The journey may be a little unpleasant-the first Apparition always is. If you're nervous, you can take a few deep breaths first."
Morris took the professor's left arm as instructed.
Professor McGonagall drew her wand with her free right hand.
"Apparition!"
As the incantation ended, the space around them began to twist and distort.
Morris felt as though a pair of invisible hands had squeezed his internal organs tight, then released them.
Immediately afterward, a blur of light and shadow flashed before his eyes.
When he felt his feet touch the ground again, he found himself in a narrow alley.
"How do you feel?" Professor McGonagall patted Morris kindly on the back.
Morris froze for a moment.
Only after a while did he find his voice. "A little sick..."
So this is magic.
For ordinary people, abruptly moving from one place to another in an instant was simply the stuff of fantasy.
Yet magic could accomplish it easily-even if his stomach was now churning.
Morris could not help looking around.
He was a little afraid that all of this was a hallucination.
This was a miracle that human technology could not achieve.
How could anyone who had witnessed a miracle allow themselves to return to that mundane world?
If someone told him now that all of this was fake, he would probably shut down on the spot.
Meanwhile, in the orphanage's reception room.
Watching the two suddenly vanish, Harold dropped onto the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling.
His thoughts were rather muddled.
Everything that had happened today had been a little too much for him.
A wizard suddenly coming to visit, a child about to attend a school of magic, magic that made people disappear in an instant...
And the contract forbidding him from revealing the existence of magic, which now lay heavily in the inside pocket of his suit.
Damn it, what kind of world was he living in?