“Goodness!
I am so sorry!” Just as she wanted to observe further, Hagrid’s bearded face turned red, suddenly interrupting her train of thought, “Little girl, it’s all my fault for being too reckless—”
“It’s okay.” Vera could only hastily withdraw her gaze, answering softly while soothingly pressing down on the bristling Nox on her lap, “We’re fine.”
After all, he was a half-Giant, she couldn’t demand too much.
Until she finished answering, Harry’s hand was still belatedly resting on the wheelchair armrest.
Noticing Vera’s gaze, she seemed to realize her impoliteness only then, hurriedly letting go and taking a step back, almost stepping on Hagrid’s boots.
“I-I am Harry Potter.” She introduced herself stammeringly, “This is Rubeus Hagrid.”
Vera noticed that Harry’s gaze lingered on her sensationless legs for a fraction of a second, then quickly moved away, as if afraid of offending her.
She raised an eyebrow, in turn calmly sizing up the girl in front of her.
Up close, Harry was even thinner and smaller than she had imagined, the oversized old T-shirt hanging on her body like a sack.
The only thing striking was those fresh-green eyes, brighter than imagined, like two leaves penetrated by sunlight.
Vera’s eyelashes trembled, as if scalded by such pure eyes, lowering her gaze slightly and gently stroking Nox’s back.
The kitten gradually relaxed on her lap, but its amber eyes still stared warily at Hagrid.
Just unexpectedly, Harry suddenly squatted down, looking eye-to-eye with Vera: “Your cat is so pretty, what’s its name?”
This action surprised Vera a bit.
She looked at Harry… this child simply and naturally squatted down, treating her just like any peer, looking at her and her cat without any colored spectacles.
“Nox.” Vera answered softly, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing Nox’s ear tips, “It means ‘night’ in Latin.”
After finishing her addition, she noticed Harry’s eyes light up because of this explanation.
Nox pricked up its ears warily, but under Vera’s tacitly approved gentle petting, it sniffed Harry’s extended fingers.
When Harry’s finger touched its head, the kitten suddenly sneezed, spitting out tiny rippling magic patterns like water waves.
“Merlin’s beard!” Hagrid exclaimed, “This little fellow is extraordinary!”
Harry also smiled in surprise: “It can do magic!”
She looked up at Vera, pure joy shining in her eyes, “Just as cool as you!”
Vera was stunned.
In this world, she was described with this word for the first time.
Not “pitiful”, nor “what a pity”.
“…Are you also here to buy school supplies?” Vera changed the subject, pushing her wheelchair to gradually move.
The narrow shop forced Hagrid to turn sideways, following behind the two girls like a small mountain.
“Yeah!” Harry said excitedly, jogging to keep up with Vera’s wheelchair, “I just found out I’m a Witch! Hagrid brought me to buy a wand and textbooks—oh, we just went to Gringotts!”
She suddenly lowered her voice: “Actually at first, I didn’t even know what Gringotts was.”
Vera’s lips curved up slightly: “The Goblin bank, the Black Family’s vault is also in there.”
As soon as her voice fell, she saw Hagrid’s expression change abruptly, his lips moving beneath his beard: “Black? You mean… you are a child of the Black Family?”
“Yes, I am Vera.” Vera calmly reported her own name.
Immediately following, she saw the expression with which Hagrid looked at her become peculiar.
Vera was not surprised by Hagrid’s reaction—given the current reputation of the Black family, plus Sirius still locked up in Azkaban, as a loyal follower of Dumbledore, it was completely normal for Hagrid to mind her.
She raised her chin slightly, looking straight into Hagrid’s eyes: “Is there a problem? Mr. Rubeus Hagrid?”
Hagrid’s beard trembled, appearing somewhat nervous: “N-nothing, Harry, hurry up and pick out your birthday present.”
Clearly, for the moment, Hagrid didn’t know how to explain the secret to Harry that her deceased parents were found by Lord Voldemort precisely because of the betrayal of Sirius Black.
Harry keenly sensed the tension in the air, looking confusedly at Hagrid, and then turning to Vera: “Is there something wrong with the surname Black?”
For some reason, she didn’t want to leave any weird impression on this naive savior upon their first meeting.
“Every family has secrets.” Vera raised her head, showing a faint smile to Harry: “For example, the Potter family is also one of the ancient pure-blood families.”
Harry’s eyes widened: “Really? I had no idea about this! Uncle and Aunt never told me anything about my parents!”
Vera noticed that Hagrid’s expression became even more unsettled, his thick fingers twisting together: “Uh, Harry, let’s not chat idly for now, our time is very tight.”
“Oh, right!” Harry woke as if from a dream, but her gaze still lingered on Vera: “Do you want to come along? I mean, if you don’t have other arrangements—”
“No need, Miss Potter.” Vera took the initiative to speak, her voice calm without a ripple, “I’m used to acting alone. Have a pleasant shopping trip.”
Having spoken, she pushed her wheelchair and turned to leave without hesitation.
She could feel Harry’s gaze following her all the way until the pet shop door closed behind her, accompanied by Hagrid’s visibly relieved sigh.
The sunlight in Diagon Alley was still bright, but Vera’s mood inevitably grew a bit gloomy.
She should have expected this situation—at this point in time, being a Black, she was destined to face all kinds of suspicion and rejection.
However, this was no big deal.
She turned her wheelchair and came to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, where the windows displayed all sorts of exquisite school uniforms and dress robes.
“Need any help, dear?” a plump Witch stood smiling warmly before the steps and asked.
“Thanks, but I can manage myself.” Vera politely declined her kindness, and as she spoke, she gently touched the runes on the wheelchair’s armrest, an invisible magical force steadily lifting her up the steps.
Interestingly, during this process, she could also sense through the Magic Circuit the trajectory of the magic power flow when the Levitation Charm was cast—
Those silver-white threads wound around her wheelchair like living things, then quietly dissipated after she landed.
For some reason, Vera had a hunch that although she had only gotten her wand less than two hours ago and had never formally studied magic, if she actively tried, casting this Levitation Charm that she had already seen several times should not pose any problem.
Is this the auxiliary learning effect of the Magic Circuit…