At last, the morning of September 1 arrived.
Today was the day I was finally going to Hogwarts.
The sun was shining brilliantly, as if blessing my future.
English sunshine is precious, you know.
"Leonard, did you forget anything?"
"No, Matron. I checked everything several times last night and again this morning."
"Are you sure you don’t need me to take you?"
"Of course. I can manage on my own. Do you know how expensive a round trip to London is?"
Spinner's End is near the southwestern coast of England. Which meant I had to get up damn early.
The British mainland is about the same size as the Korean peninsula. And Spinner's End is all the way out on the western edge, while London is in the east.
In Korean terms, it was like having to go from somewhere around Buan, Gimje, Gochang, or Yeonggwang County all the way to near Daegu.
If I wanted to reach King's Cross Station by 11 a.m., I had to catch the first train and move as fast as possible.
We couldn’t exactly afford to go to London the day before and stay overnight.
We’d be better off using that money to buy the kids another set of clothes.
If I was late, well... I could always ask Professor Snape for help.
*
10:50 a.m., London King's Cross Station.
I had barely made it to London in time.
So this is Platform Nine, and that’s Platform Ten. Looks like I’m in the right place.
Then if I count the pillars, that one must be the one.
But I had no intention of going in right away.
Because I had to find those two first.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
I hadn’t wanted to live like this, but once I found out I’d fallen into the Harry Potter universe, my goal in this life changed to: live as long and as quietly as possible.
And if I knew the Harry Potter universe, then my choice was obvious.
Get close to the main trio, but stay out of Dumbledore’s clutches.
Those three would definitely be kept alive by the original author. But who was guaranteeing my life?
Harry Potter, inheriting a massive family fortune passed down through generations and becoming a central figure in the wizarding world.
Ron Weasley, whose entire family held major positions in the wizarding world, and whose wife would become Minister of Magic.
Hermione Granger, who rose above the limits of being Muggle-born and eventually became Minister of Magic.
If I could just pick up the crumbs falling from under them, my life would be smooth sailing.
But to do that, I had to stop that senile old schemer Dumbledore...
"Percy first, then you, Fred."
"I’m not Fred, I’m George! Mum, are you really our mum? How can you not even recognize your own son’s face?"
Looks like they were here. Time for me to go too.
"Oh, sorry, George."
"I’m kidding, I’m Fred."
Fred darted toward the pillar, and George followed right after him.
And beside them, a small boy who looked like Harry Potter approached the Weasley family and spoke.
"Excuse me, how do you do that? I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do."
"Oh, dear, don’t worry."
Now.
"Hello, ma’am? I think I’m in the same situation. I’d appreciate it if you could show me too."
"Oh, you must be a first-year too. Nice to meet you. I’m Molly Weasley. You can listen in as well."
Mrs. Weasley’s face brightened considerably. Right, this lady was pretty much a sucker for this sort of thing too.
"Ron? Show these children how it’s done."
"Yes, Mum."
Ron pushed his cart and ran straight through the pillar.
"Wow, magic is amazing. Thank you, ma’am. That was a huge help."
"Oh, it was nothing. Wizards should help one another. You two should hurry along too; it’s almost time."
Harry looked at me.
"Then I’ll go first."
I took my luggage and passed through the pillar.
The air changed, and in front of me was an old steam locomotive.
Harry came through after me. Ron was waiting for us ahead.
The three of us silently reached an understanding and quickly boarded the train.
Yes, if everything is new and you don’t know anything, it’s better to have a couple of other clueless kids beside you.
Now then, should I take the lead?
"Guys, I think we should find an empty compartment quickly. Let’s go forward."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
As we moved toward the back of the train, we found an empty compartment.
We took our seats inside.
Hm... this awkward atmosphere really is hard to get used to.
"Um... should we introduce ourselves? Who knows, maybe we’ll end up in the same house. I’m Leonard Oppenbach."
"Hi, I’m Ronald Weasley. Just call me Ron."
"Um... hi, I’m Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."
"What? You’re Harry Potter? Then is it true that you really have... that?"
"That? Oh, the scar?"
Harry brushed his fringe back and showed the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.
"Do you remember anything?"
Ron asked.
Hm... as rude as ever. What an impolite little brat. But Harry himself didn’t seem to mind much.
"Um... I don’t remember anything except seeing a green flash."
Ron seemed to realize his mistake belatedly and, blushing a little, changed the subject.
"I heard you lived with Muggles. What are they like? Horrible?"
"Not all Muggles are horrible, but my aunt and uncle’s family is. So I wish I had about three wizard brothers."
When Harry brought up wizard brothers, Ron said with a dark expression,
"There are seven of us siblings. I’m the sixth.
I have five older brothers. My eldest brother Bill and second brother Charlie already graduated, and they were both excellent students. My third brother, Percy, is also very good at school. He’s the prefect too.
Fred and George are troublemakers, but their grades aren’t bad.
Mum expects good grades from me too, but honestly, I’m not confident... If I do well, it’ll just be breaking even. If I do badly, I’ll get yelled at a lot...
And because I have five older brothers, I’ve never gotten anything new. It’s all hand-me-downs. Bill’s cloak, Percy’s Scabbers, even Charlie’s wand..."
Seeing Ron’s family situation firsthand, it really was pitiful. At the very least, they should have bought him a new wand.
For a wizard, not being able to choose your own wand is a terrible thing.
The overwhelming feeling of finding the wand that matches you is something nothing else can replace.
At least Ginny could buy new clothes, I suppose.
But the innocent Ron quickly brightened up again.
"Guys, want to see me do a spell?"
"A spell?!"
Harry was startled by Ron’s words.
"Yeah. Fred and George taught me one. Now that I’ve got my own wand, I should be able to try it."
"Show us!"
When Harry reacted enthusiastically, Ron cleared his throat, straightened up, and drew out his wand.
Then he pulled Scabbers, his pet rat, out of his robe pocket, pointed the wand at the rat, and recited the spell.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!"
But there was no way a sloppy incantation like that would actually turn Scabbers yellow.
Still not realizing Fred and George had tricked him, Ron was too embarrassed to stop wiping his face over and over.
"Ugh... sorry, it worked when Fred and George did it... I guess I’m stupid..."
I didn’t like seeing this poor boy looking so down for so long.
"Ron, don’t be discouraged. I’m sure you can do it too. I know it. I can see a future where you do it well. Want to see it?"
As I started spouting nonsense, Ron’s face lit up at once.
"Really?! Are you a prophet?"
As if.
Well... I could probably just wave my wand around, mutter some ridiculous incantation like Ron had just done, and say I’d seen it in a book or something.
It’d be a little embarrassing, but so what? All close friends have at least one piece of black history between them, don’t they?
It was better for me to make a fool of myself once than let Ron stay depressed like that.
Ah! A tearful sacrifice!
"Hold on, I need to take out my wand."
I spread my robe open and pulled out my wand. It was too big to draw quickly... I’d have to find a better way.
"Now, watch closely. Magic wand! Show me Ron Weasley’s future!"
As I spoke the spell, I made a rough circle with my wand.
Then a faint light appeared along the line I’d drawn, and before long it became a perfect ring.
???
Harry and Ron were staring in awe.
"Wow! Leonard, how did you do that?"
I don’t know, damn it... what is this... I’m scared...
In any case, the circle that had formed began to ripple on its own.
Inside it, I saw Ron as a Quidditch Keeper, brilliantly blocking a Quaffle.
"Look! I became Gryffindor’s Quidditch Keeper!"
What the hell is this... how did I do that... do I really have a talent for prophecy...?
I didn’t ask for a reincarnation bonus this overpowered...
By the way, when does this disappear? Can I just tell it to go away? Oh, it disappears when I think that. Good.
Anyway, I had to shut these guys up for sure.
If Dumbledore found out, I’d be locked in the dungeons at Hogwarts and turned into a prophecy-sucking machine...
They weren’t exactly trustworthy, but I had to tell them at least once.
"Ron, Harry. You must never tell anyone that I can make prophecies. You know this is a very rare and special talent, right? If this gets out, bad people could capture me and torture me. If you really think of me as a friend, then you must never tell anyone. I’ll know if you do."
"Yeah. I’ll never tell."
"Right, I’ll never tell either."
Sure, you won’t tell.
By the way, when was Hermione going to show up? She’d probably be wandering around helping Neville find his toad, right?
Knock, knock, knock-
Ah, as they say, speak of the tiger and it comes.
With a knock, the compartment door opened.
Thick, bushy brown hair. It could only be Hermione.
But the moment I saw the girl I assumed was Hermione, I lost my voice.
Wow... why is she so pretty?
"Hi, I’m Hermione Granger. I’m helping Neville because he lost his toad. Have you seen it?"
"Hi, Hermione. You’re really pretty. I want to be friends with you. Oh, can I call you Hermione? I’m Leonard Oppenbach. Nice to meet you."
Words I hadn’t intended just spilled out of my mouth.
"Um... hi, thanks... but we’ve only just met, so isn’t it a little soon to call each other by our first names...?"
"Ah, sorry... I just wanted to be friends with you... Anyway, both of you, come in. There’s still plenty of room here."
At my sudden outburst, Hermione seemed a little flustered and her face went red.
"Thanks, but we still haven’t found the toad."
"If I find the toad for you, will you come in?"
"Neville, what do you think? They’re saying they’ll help us find the toad if we go in."
Neville timidly nodded from behind her.
Nice, Neville!
Neville and Hermione busied themselves putting their things away and sat down.
"Hermione, come over here. There’s more room here."
Ha... my heart feels like it’s about to burst.
I can feel my face getting hot. What the hell did I just say...?
My behavior was coming out completely unlike my usual self, and there was no way to clean this up now...
I think I’ve fallen for the cute girl in front of me.
Ron.
Sorry, but that’s how it is. No, actually, I’m not sorry at all.
We just met, so what’s there to be sorry about?
Who I’ll spend my future with matters a lot more than some boy I’ve only just gotten to know.
"Um, but if you say you’re helping us find the toad, how are you all just sitting here? Wouldn’t it be better to go out and look for it?"
Hermione said in a crisp voice.
"You followed my suggestion, so I’ll keep my promise and help find the toad too. Watch this."
Please.
If there is a God, please don’t let me embarrass myself in front of Hermione.
If you brought a dead man back to life and threw him into this dangerous world, and even dumped a heavy burden like the talent for prophecy on him, then surely you can help me find Neville’s toad, right?
Please, before my polite request turns into something much less polite, do me this one favor.
I took out my wand again and drew a circle while reciting the spell.
"Magic wand! Show me where Neville’s toad is!"
Magic flowed from the wand again, drawing a circle and showing the same kind of scene as before.
Neville’s toad was in the corridor at the very back of the train.
Whew. I’d already made a big show of myself in front of Hermione, so if I failed now, it would be a total humiliation...
Thank you, God!
"Wow! What? How did you do that? I read a few books before term started, but I’ve never heard of anything like this!"
"Um... I think that’s not the important part right now. You said your name was Neville, right? You should hurry and bring your toad back before it moves again."
"Oh, right, Neville. Go quickly and get your toad."
Neville left with an excited face to fetch his toad, and the rest of us stayed in the compartment.
Just as Neville left, the snack lady passed by.
Sure enough, Harry called her over and bought one of everything.
As expected of the most prestigious of prestigious families, the Potter fortune was incredible!
Ron, who had been watching all of this from the side, looked sour.
Harry still didn’t really understand prices, or how much a Galleon was worth. He was just curious about wizard snacks and happened to have money, so he bought them.
Still, he could afford to do that. The Potters had a ridiculous amount of money.
The vault Harry had withdrawn Galleons from at Gringotts wasn’t the Potter family’s entire fortune. It was just a trust vault Dumbledore had been given the task of managing until Harry came of age.
The real fortune was much deeper in Gringotts. Probably several vaults’ worth.
After the lady finished collecting payment and left, Neville returned, having found his toad.
"Since we’ve all ended up together like this, let’s be friends. We still don’t know much about one another, so how about we start with introductions? Like I said earlier, I’m Leonard Oppenbach. Nice to meet you all."
After I spoke first, the others introduced themselves one by one.
"I’m Ron Weasley. / I’m Hermione Granger. / I’m Neville Longbottom. / I’m Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."
As expected, the moment Harry gave his name, Hermione and Neville were shocked.
"You’re really Harry Potter? I read about you in a book. It said you were the hero who defeated ‘You-Know-Who.’"
"My parents are in St. Mungo’s Hospital after being tortured by Death Eaters, and neither of them recognizes me... The healers are doing their best, but they say there isn’t much hope... Thank you for avenging my parents, Harry."
"Um... I actually don’t remember anything. But am I really in books?"
"Of course, Harry. I bought some books to study wizarding basics before coming to school. One of them had information about you too."
At Hermione’s words that she’d studied during the holidays too, Ron shuddered as if he’d been chilled to the bone.
"What? You studied during the holidays? Ugh..."
Ron, who had reacted so strongly to Hermione’s words, spoke again.
"Oh, Neville, why don’t you ask Leonard to see whether your parents might wake up again? You saw what Leonard did earlier, right? Leonard can do prophecies. He even showed me my future before you guys came in!"
Has this idiot lost his mind...?
"Ronald Weasley! What the hell are you saying? Did you already forget what I told you not to say?"
"Gah! Sorry, Leonard, I forgot..."
Ha... what was I supposed to do with this kid...
Still, seeing Neville’s bright, hopeful eyes made me soften. Because of that stupid redhead, what a pain in the ass this had become...
"Leonard... could you maybe see my parents’ future? If it’s possible, I’ll ask my grandmother to give you a Galleon as thanks."
"Ha... no, I can’t take money for doing something for a friend’s parents. I don’t know whether it’ll work, but I’ll try. Just be aware the result might disappoint you."
In the Harry Potter I knew, there was no story about Neville’s parents recovering. The author never wrote it.
"It’s okay. Even if the result isn’t good, I don’t mind. Thank you, Leonard."
"Neville, think carefully. Right now, you’re hoping your parents will recover, right? If the result is good, that’s wonderful. But if it isn’t? Then you might lose even the hope you had."
"No, even if the result is bad, I won’t give up on my parents."
That was Neville Longbottom for you. He might look timid now, but Neville was also a Gryffindor chosen by the Sorting Hat.
"Good. Then clear the table a bit. I need some space."
The others hurriedly pushed the snacks aside.
I took out my wand again and cast the spell.
"Magic wand! Tell me whether Neville’s parents can recover!"
The magic from the wand drew a circle and showed Neville’s parents lying in bed. Neville was hugging them and crying. Surprisingly, Neville’s parents seemed to have regained their senses.
"Look, Neville! Your parents have woken up!"
Neville burst into tears. Ha... now I was getting emotional too.
"Stop! This is only a possibility. Neville, just because you saw this doesn’t mean your parents will definitely recover.
For example, Ron, you saw yourself becoming a Quidditch Keeper earlier, right? But what if you only believed in that future and stopped practicing? Then nothing would happen at all.
Let me make this clear: knowing the future is useless. More important than that kind of thing is the effort to take one more step forward."
"Sniff... thank you, Leonard. I’ll keep trying until my parents are fully recovered."
"Yeah, that’s the spirit, Neville."
Maybe Neville’s astonishing talent for herbology was the result of his efforts to heal his parents.
"And as I warned you before, the secret has already leaked, so I’m warning you seriously again. From now on, none of you here may tell anyone that I can make prophecies. If I could, I’d have made you swear an Unbreakable Vow. Ron, especially you, need to be extra careful."
"Yeah, I understand. I won’t tell anyone."
At that moment, with a loud blast from the horn, the train began to slow down.
Looks like we were almost at Hogwarts. Time must have passed a lot while we were chatting.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking that, because Ron spoke up.
"We’re probably almost there."
Squeak!
Scabbers poked his head out and seemed to agree with Ron, letting out a little cry—
Huh?
Scabbers...?
No, that meant this little bastard had figured out my ability too...
Well, damn. I’m screwed.
Looks like I had one more spell I needed to learn as soon as possible.
By the way, who was I supposed to learn memory modification magic from? Professor Snape?
Well...
I couldn’t just ask to be taught such a dangerous spell without any explanation.
If I asked him to teach me that kind of magic, he’d definitely ask why.
I’d have to think about this a little more.
*
The four of us changed into our school robes and stepped off the train.
The sky was already dark.
It really took forever. What century are we in, and they’re still using steam locomotives?
Up ahead, I heard a booming voice guiding the students.
That’s Hagrid if I’ve ever heard him.
"First-years this way! Second-years and up, that way for the carriages!"
The first-years followed Hagrid and boarded the small wooden boats moored by the lakeshore, beginning to cross the Black Lake.
While crossing the lake, Ron grumbled.
"All the other years get to go comfortably by carriage, so why do we have to suffer in these tiny boats?"
Hermione recited the knowledge she’d learned from books straight to Ron.
"It’s to honor the footsteps of the four wizards who founded Hogwarts. The professors want us to walk the same path they walked when they first came to Hogwarts, so we can feel something of what they felt."
Compared to the carriages, it was much slower, but in the end, us first-years reached the opposite dock.
We followed Hagrid up to the castle.
Even on the way up, Ron kept talking nonstop.
"My family has been Gryffindor for generations. Not a single person has ever gone to another house. If I don’t get into Gryffindor, they’ll kill me... Ah, the future Leonard showed me earlier had me in Gryffindor, right? Thank goodness."
I grabbed Ron by the ear and whispered a scolding into it.
"Ron, are you ever going to get a grip? I’ve already warned you twice today. Stop disappointing me."
"Ah! I’m really sorry, Leonard, I was just so amazed... By the way, Fred and George told me that during the Sorting, you have to face a terrifying monster. Will I be able to do it...?"
So everyone thinks they can’t be the only one getting hurt, huh.
When we opened the front door and climbed the stairs, an old professor who looked like McGonagall was standing there.
"Hagrid, are these this year’s new students?"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall. These are all of them."
"You’ve done well."
"It was nothing, really. Just my job."
"You may all follow me from here."
We followed Professor McGonagall into the center of the Great Hall.
Countless eyes on both sides watched us as we moved.
By the time we passed the long student tables, we were nearly at the staff table.
Professor Snape was there too. When I gave him a little nod, he snorted.
And in front of him was an old hat perched on a chair.
That must be the magical Sorting Hat.
We moved to one side, and Professor McGonagall stepped forward and said,
"Welcome to Hogwarts.
There are four houses at Hogwarts, and the hat before you is the Sorting Hat.
Once you are sorted into a house, you will belong to that house until you graduate.
You will earn points for bringing honor to your house, and lose points if you stain its honor or break school rules.
The total of those points, along with the points earned in Quidditch, will make up your house score.
At the end of the year, the house with the highest total will receive the honor of the House Cup.
I hope all of you will devote yourselves to your school life and raise the honor of the house you belong to."
When Professor McGonagall finished speaking, the hat began to sing.
It wasn’t easy to sing that badly. Apparently it wrote its own lyrics too, but its talent for music was truly hopeless.
I was lost in thought for a moment, and by the time I looked back, the hat had finished its song.
Now Professor McGonagall began calling names in alphabetical order.
"Hannah Abbott!"
Hannah Abbott was called first. The Abbott who always gets called first, wherever she goes.
If you wanted to be picked before Abbott, you’d have to be something like Atrox.
As soon as she put on the hat, it shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
Right, that family has always been famous for Hufflepuff.
As soon as the first student was sorted into Hufflepuff, cheers and applause erupted from the Hufflepuff table.
Starting with Abbott, the Sorting continued.
"Susan Bones!" / "Hufflepuff!"
"Terry Boot!" / "Ravenclaw!"
More first-years were called one after another.
Lavender Brown to Gryffindor, Millicent Bulstrode to Slytherin, Justin Finch-Fletchley to Hufflepuff.
"Hermione Granger! / Gryffindor!"
As expected, Hermione was Gryffindor. That matched what I remembered, more or less.
Not every first-year’s name appears in the book, but I remembered every name that did.
"Neville Longbottom! / Gryffindor!"
It took a while, but Neville was Gryffindor too.
"Draco Malfoy! / Slytherin!"
As expected, Malfoy was Slytherin to the bone. He didn’t even need to put on the hat to know the answer.
As Malfoy joined the Slytherin table with a satisfied expression, cheers broke out there too.
By now, quite a few people had already gone.
Less than half remained.
"Leonard Oppenbach!"
At last, my name was called.
I strode forward confidently. I could hear the girls at the student table whispering.
The moment I took the hat and put it on my head, it began speaking to me in my mind.
'Hmm... so there’s a child here who strongly wants to follow in the footsteps of the founders? I haven’t seen a will as strong as yours in a thousand years.
Such intense ambition! Slytherin would have taken you without question.
A dazzling thirst for knowledge, eager to absorb every scrap of learning there is—why, you practically sparkle. You’d do very well in Ravenclaw too.
This diligence, living one day as if it were two. Hufflepuff would have liked you very much.
You’re a little lacking compared to the other three houses, but you definitely have courage, hmm? Trying to fool Dumbledore... what remarkable courage! You’re quite an interesting fellow, aren’t you?
Where should I put you... this is difficult, very difficult. Slytherin? Yes, there’s certainly no child more suited to Slytherin than you.'
???
What the hell is this crazy hat talking about? More Slytherin than Malfoy?
Whether I wondered or not, the hat ignored me and kept talking to itself. No, you said you could talk to the hat...?
'Still, if I don’t send a child like this to Ravenclaw, who will go to Ravenclaw? Look at that thirst for knowledge! Anyone can see it’s Ravenclaw!'
Ha... enough nonsense, just send me to Gryffindor already. I want to hang around with Hermione.
'Hmm... and yet you’d also do very well in Hufflepuff... You’d become the greatest Hufflepuff graduate in history.
No, listen. Forget the greatest Hufflepuff in history or whatever, just send me to Gryffindor.
'What? Gryffindor? Ah... of course you’d do very well in Gryffindor too... but looking at your ambition, Slytherin suits you perfectly. I think Slytherin fits you better than Gryffindor.'
What ambition? I’m trying not to stand out, damn it. I just want to live a decent, long life.
'Pfft, hahaha... decent, hahaha... long, hahaha... little one, you can fool ghosts, but you can’t fool me. Do you really want to live a decent, long life?'
Gryffindor.
'Oh, you’re stubborn... Normally, for a child this difficult to sort, I’d just place them in the house they want. But with you, that’s hard to do.'
No, why are you doing this to me...?
'Because the remaining essence of Slytherin in me keeps screaming at me to send you to Slytherin.'
What kind of nonsense is that...?
I don’t care about any of that, just send me to Gryffindor.
'Ha... no matter how I look at it, Slytherin seems better...'
Gryffindor, absolutely Gryffindor, definitely Gryffindor, never again anything but Gryffindor! Gryffindor, the name I’ll cry out with all my might!!!
'Really? You really want Gryffindor? Wouldn’t Slytherin be better? By the judgment of this hat, which has a thousand years of sorting experience, Slytherin is the answer.'
"Oh, for heaven’s sake!!! I said I’m going to Gryffindor!!! Why do you keep going on about Slytherin?! I’m going to Gryffindor to see Hermione!!!"
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