A Busy Summer Vacation
The group found Percy Weasley in a secondhand shop crammed with battered old wands, rickety brass scales, and old cloaks stained with potions.
He was absorbed in a thick book.
"Dad, what happened to you?" Percy asked in alarm.
He had been so engrossed in his reading that he still had no idea what had happened outside.
Fred spoke first. "We robbed Gringotts."
George followed up. "And we fought the dragon guarding the private vaults. That Ukrainian Ironbelly nearly killed us."
"Don't listen to them!" Mrs. Weasley glared at the brothers and said gently, "Dear Percy, have you chosen your textbooks?"
"Mm." Percy nodded, reluctantly set down the book he was holding, and went over to the shop assistant.
William noticed that the book he had been reading was called How to Become a Prefect.
A row of books also stood on the shelf, including How a Prefect Gains Power, How to Become Head Boy or Head Girl, How to Enter the Ministry of Magic, and How to Become Minister for Magic...
The covers bore large gilded lettering: Want to succeed? Want power? Then come on! I'll teach you how to reach the pinnacle of life and marry a pure-hearted, rich beauty.
-Enthusiastically recommended by the new Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge!
Below that was a line of small print listing the names of several important Ministry officials, including Ludo Bagman and Dolores Umbridge...
These were books that taught wizards how to succeed, and they were part of a series.
Most importantly, they weren't cheap, selling for a full thirty Galleons. By comparison, a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them cost only two Galleons.
William had reason to suspect that certain people in the Ministry of Magic were using these books to rake in money or launder it!
Seeing William staring at the books on the shelf, Fred whispered, "Percy's ambitious. He's got it all planned out. Next year, he's going to be a Prefect."
"Then head boy," George said, making faces.
"And finally, Minister for Magic."
George clutched his head with an exaggerated expression. "Merlin's beard! What are we going to do? Our family's going to have a Minister for Magic."
Charlie rapped the twins on their heads. "All right, if Percy hears you, he'll be upset again.
"You two had better practice hard this summer. Quidditch tryouts start in your second year. This is my last year at school, and we have to win!
"We were crushed by Slytherin last term. You know, in the days before the holidays, I didn't even dare speak to Professor McGonagall alone."
Charlie was the Quidditch captain of Gryffindor House. He had displayed an extraordinary talent for Quidditch when he was very young, and Professor McGonagall had selected him for the team.
Cedric told William privately that Charlie would likely join the Scotland National Quidditch Team after graduating.
It seemed that Cedric was also very fond of Quidditch.
After everyone had finished their shopping, they headed for the Leaky Cauldron.
On the way, Fred took Cedric by the hand and asked him for his homework.
Cedric looked wary. "You two should have finished your homework ages ago, shouldn't you?"
"Hey, brother, finishing it and getting the answers right are two different things," Fred explained. "You have no idea how much your answers could sell for. Lee's willing to pay ten Sickles."
Cedric was astonished. He had gone to great lengths to sell a repair kit and earned a commission of only ten Sickles.
But he still politely refused.
The twins were a little disappointed, but it didn't matter. They still had a top student in Ravenclaw as a backup; at worst, they would have to sell the answers a little cheaper.
They returned to the Leaky Cauldron, where the Weasley family would use the pub's fireplace and Floo Powder to return to The Burrow.
Cedric would go with them and then return home from The Burrow.
As they parted, Cedric arranged a time to meet William again, and Fred and the others invited William to visit The Burrow.
Mr. Weasley had intended to ask Roy about cars, but the moment he saw the look on Mrs. Weasley's face, he abandoned the idea.
As the Floo Powder was scattered, they gradually vanished into the fireplace.
Hagrid did not leave. He was going to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a while, until he had finished bringing in the new students.
In the end, William never did see the furry three-headed dog. The Greek had demanded a higher price at the last minute, which made Hagrid furious.
But judging by the look of him, he would probably buy it no matter how much it cost.
For Hagrid, something like that was a necessity!
Roy's face was flushed. Alcohol in the Wizarding World had plenty of potions added to it, giving it a mellower flavor than Muggle alcohol.
Persuaded by Tom, he bought a large quantity of alcohol and took William and Bobocha home.
A tawny owl went with them too.
The owl was blackish-brown all over. The outer webs of its outer wing coverts were brown and white, forming conspicuous brown-and-white patches on its wings. Its breast bore fine stripes and wormlike markings, giving it an extremely majestic appearance.
William did not intend to take it to Hogwarts.
The acceptance letter made it clear that a young wizard could bring only one pet.
William was taking Bobocha to school, and he had no intention of breaking the school rules as soon as he arrived.
Besides, according to Hagrid, there were plenty of owls at school that could be used for free, such as Milia, who liked to play sick and steal dried fish.
William still found it rather inconvenient, though.
The means of communication in this era were already very backward, and technology couldn't be used at Hogwarts.
This owl would stay at home for William's parents to use to contact him.
Anne, however, planned to commandeer the owl.
That very evening, the little girl began writing to Dumbledore to ask about admission.
How could she do without an owl!
She also gave the tawny owl an incredibly domineering name: Drogon!
Bobocha didn't like Drogon. Or rather, Bobocha hated all owls and was always thinking about catching and eating them.
This made Drogon extremely uneasy. Drogon would unexpectedly catch sight of the orange cat crouching in a corner with paws tucked under, staring at Drogon!
William had no choice but to let Drogon out.
This summer was destined to be long and fulfilling.
As a child about to enter the magical world, William studied the Hogwarts curriculum and all sorts of other things like mad.
Magic was an extremely precise and complete system, with a whole set of ways in which it operated. It was completely different from the subjects William had known in his previous life.
With standard pronunciation and precise movements, anyone possessing magical power could produce a spell's effect through a wand.
Newton's coffin lid certainly couldn't have held him down.
In just one month, William memorized a great many spells and also tried many ways of casting them.
(A friendly reminder from the Ministry of Magic to all Muggles: young wizards can cast spells before starting school. See Minister Hermione, who tried several spells at home, to put it very modestly.
The ban on casting spells at home is imposed only at the end of term. Don't make up decrees as you please, or an Auror might invite you in for tea.)
Precise movements, clear enunciation, and endless repetitive, mechanical practice... all this enabled him to learn many spells that younger wizards could learn.
The only other time William had been this obsessed was during his final year of high school in his previous life.
William enjoyed this pace of life.
If he came across something he didn't understand, he would also write to Cedric to ask.
Cedric was a genius and the best young wizard in his year, so he could answer many of William's questions.
But Cedric had only been at school for one year, and there were many things even he couldn't answer.
At times like these, William would turn to Dumbledore.
It sounded crazy. As headmaster, Dumbledore was so busy; how could he have time to pay attention to a young wizard who hadn't even started school?
Yet this impossibility happened.
That was thanks to Anne. Whenever she wrote to Dumbledore, the old man would reply very quickly.
So William would often attach a sheet of blank paper to the back of Anne's letter and write his questions on it.
When Dumbledore replied to Anne, he would also give his own views in passing.
Finally, August 31 arrived. The next day, William would board the train to Hogwarts.
That night, after going a long time without dreaming, he had another dream.
This time, he didn't dream of that scratch-off ticket. Instead, he dreamed of Diagon Alley, Ollivander, Cedric, the twins, and the boy from the Malfoy family.
At the end of the dream, William was holding Hagrid's three-headed dog.
The three-headed dog had the heads of a husky, a dragon, and Bobocha. The husky held a renovation plan for two hundred thousand in its mouth and tore William's room apart.