After bypassing several street corners, Julian skillfully took a shortcut and quickly returned to the orphanage where he lived.
This orphanage was run by the kind Mrs.
Hazel, who adopted several children with no relatives or family.
Mrs.
Hazel was a devout believer who had been doing charity work since her youth, and in her later years, she took out her own savings to open this orphanage.
Due to its age, the paint on the orphanage walls was peeling off a bit.
“Oh, Prewett, you’re back.
Hungry, aren’t you?”
Mrs.
Hazel greeted Julian, turned around, and brought out half a bread roll from the room, which had a thin layer of pork floss on top.
This could be considered a rare food in the orphanage.
After all, Mrs.
Hazel was old, coupled with limited savings and too many children, so the material conditions had always been poor.
Usually, the pork floss on the bread would be scraped off and distributed to all the children.
“This is for you, eat up quickly.”
Mrs.
Hazel blinked at him, with a hint of favoritism on her face.
Although she had always been fair to all the children, she held a special favoritism solely for Julian.
It was not only because this child always went out early and returned late to make money to subsidize the orphanage, but also because he was sensible and polite, always helping her take care of the other children.
Julian did not refuse her kindness.
After taking the bread, he said, “Thank you, Mrs.
Hazel.”
“This is 10 pounds and 17 pence, which I earned from divination.” Julian took out half of the money in his pocket, walked a few steps, turned back, and took out a sandwich.
“This is the sandwich given by Miss Granger.
Remember to eat it.”
“Where are James and Gini and the others?”
“They are all waiting for you in the dormitory.”
Watching Julian’s departing back, Mrs.
Hazel felt a bit heartbroken.
This child was still so young, his thin shoulders could not yet support the old clothes on his body, but his heart shone like gold, always able to consider others.
Thinking of Mr.
Prewett who ruthlessly abandoned him, Mrs.
Hazel felt angry.
How could anyone bear to abandon such a good child?
Julian approached the dormitory door, and before he could push it open, the door opened automatically.
The tall and fat James shouted aloud, “Julian is back!”
The seven or eight children in the dormitory immediately swarmed from the room to the door, yet stood very orderly on both sides so as not to block Julian’s path.
“This is the sandwich given by Miss Granger.
You guys share and eat it.”
Julian put down the sandwich in his hand.
The children all looked at the sandwich in his hand, which was a rare delicacy for them.
But none of them dared to scramble; they only swallowed their saliva while looking at the sandwich in Julian’s hand, their gazes as if glued to these sandwiches.
The tallest and fattest James picked up those sandwiches and carefully broke them apart, distributing a piece to everyone.
He always did this kind of thing.
Of course, the largest piece with the most fillings was left for Julian.
The thin and small but bright-eyed Gini did not rush to eat the sandwich, but instead poured a cup of water and handed it to Julian.
“You’ve worked hard setting up the stall, Julian.”
“Thank you, Gini, thank you, James.
Eat up.”
Hearing Julian’s words, the other children began to gobble up their food voraciously.
James swallowed the sandwich in two bites, then used his tongue to scrape the residue in his teeth.
Most children were like him.
Gini only ate half, saving the rest to eat with the orphanage’s stale bread tomorrow.
That way it was easier to swallow.
“We did a good job this time.
We earned a lot of money.
You guys split this money and buy whatever you want.”
Seeing them finish the sandwiches, Julian took out another 5 pounds from his pocket and handed it to James to distribute.
“Mrs.
Hazel doesn’t know, right?”
“Rest assured, Julian, we are all experienced at this now.”
“That’s good.
Tell me about what happened on the street today.”
After eating the sandwich and getting the money, the other children instantly became much more energetic, reporting to Julian one by one about various news they had heard today.
This was their daily fixed activity.
It was a rule established by Julian.
They were a team.
Perhaps…
could also be said to be a gang?
The other children were responsible for running errands and sniffing out news, while Julian was responsible for making plans and dealing directly with the targets.
The man today was their recent target.
One day, Julian heard from the other children about his wife’s infidelity, and using this as the core, lured the man to his divination stall, revealed the news to him in the name of divination, and gave him the idea to catch them in the act.
Today the task was successful, which led to progress.
After getting the money for the first time, these children all clamored to pull off a big job, but Julian held them down.
Making a little money through small hassles was understandable, but if one lost their head over it and wanted to get rich overnight, they would probably drop dead first.
After listening to today’s news, Julian went to bed.
…
A few days later, while Julian was still running his stall, he was called back by Gini.
“I don’t know what it is either, but Mrs.
Hazel looked very anxious and made sure I brought you back,” Gini said.
This gave Julian some vague guesses in his heart.
Returning to the orphanage, from far away Julian saw Mrs.
Hazel standing on tiptoe looking around with an anxious expression.
“Oh, you’re finally back.” Mrs.
Hazel grabbed Julian’s hand.
“There is a guest who wants to see you.
Oh, a very important guest, Julian.
You might have to go to school somewhere else.”
Go to school somewhere else?
Hogwarts?
While he was thinking, Mrs.
Hazel had already pulled him into the house.
“Respected Professor McGonagall.
This is Prewett.
He is a good boy, really, especially good.”
Mrs.
Hazel, perhaps due to excitement, appeared somewhat incoherent.
“He is a pitiful good boy.
His mother was also a good person who used to come here to help, but she passed away from a serious illness a few years ago.
That’s why I adopted him.”
“His father is?”
“His father?
Don’t even mention that bastard!
I used to think he was a good man, but I didn’t expect him to be a heartless scoundrel.
After abandoning this mother and son, he never came back.
Oh, I still can’t forget his name.”
The usually gentle Mrs.
Hazel trembled so much with anger that the white hair on her head shook, and she said in a terrifying tone, “Fabian Prewett!”
Hearing this name, Professor McGonagall was visibly stunned for a moment.
Her gaze fell on Julian, and then she pulled it away as if touching a red-hot branding iron.
“You mean…
this child’s father is named Fabian Prewett?”
“Yes, yes.
I remember he left ten years ago, saying he had important things to attend to.
And then he never came back!”
Ten years ago?
1981!
Professor McGonagall clearly felt her heartbeat accelerate quite a bit, and a surging wave of emotions made her head feel somewhat swollen.
She would never forget that year.
Too many things happened that year, but she still deeply remembered one thing: the Prewett brothers sacrificed their lives that very year.
Could this be a coincidence?
“Mrs.
Hazel, could you please allow me to speak with this child alone?”
Professor McGonagall spoke with difficulty, trying hard to make her voice sound calmer, but even she herself could hear that her voice was somewhat hoarse.
“Of course, Professor.
This child is very smart, and I think he will make progress in his studies.
You must accept him.
Please.”
“I will, Mrs.
Hazel.”
There were only the two of them left in the room, which instantly became quiet.
Julian Prewett.
Professor McGonagall muttered this name to herself in her heart.
Ever since she saw this child at the Granger Family’s home, she had been a bit concerned.
After all, this child indeed resembled the Prewett brothers somewhat.
In addition, she was surprised to find that on this year’s enrollment list, there indeed was a child surnamed Prewett.
But was he really Fabian Prewett’s child?
Why had she never heard of it before?
The cluttered thoughts made Professor McGonagall dizzy, but all sorts of incredible coincidences had already made her believe it by fifty or sixty percent in her heart.
“Have some black tea, Professor McGonagall.
I hope you don’t mind, this is already the best black tea here.” Julian poured a cup of tea and handed it to Professor McGonagall.
Taking the “black tea”, Professor McGonagall only saw murky tea soup.
One could imagine that this so-called “black tea” was actually brewed from some rotten tea leaf crumbs.
“Thank you, child.” Professor McGonagall took a sip of the black tea.
“Child, listen to me.
The school you are going to is Hogwarts, which is a magic school, and you are a Wizard.”
After introducing Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall showed him a little magic.
Julian’s face timely revealed an expression of astonishment.
For him, this was something he had long expected, but he still had to put on an act.
“So, if you are willing, you can go to Hogwarts to learn magic.”
Julian frowned slightly, as if pondering something.
“What’s wrong, child?” Professor McGonagall asked.
“But Professor, I don’t have money.” Julian’s words made Professor McGonagall’s heart ache.
Professor McGonagall glanced at the dilapidated scene around her, and her heart ached even more.
The Prewett brothers back then had donated almost all of their family property to the Order of the Phoenix to resist Voldemort.
This child should have grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, but now…
Professor McGonagall suppressed the emotions in her heart and continued.
“Of course, Mr.
Prewett, you don’t have to worry, Hogwarts has an education fund that can allow you to complete your studies.”
After finishing, she added another sentence, “This money does not need to be repaid.”
“Thank you, Professor McGonagall.”
“So you agree?”
“Mhm!” Julian showed a gentle smile and nodded.
Professor McGonagall finally set her mind at ease, and her originally serious face unexpectedly revealed a trace of a smile.
She shoved a letter into Julian’s hand.
“This is your admission invitation.
Originally it was supposed to be delivered a few days later, but I was too anxious, so I brought it to you…
Tomorrow, today is already a bit late.
Tomorrow I will take you to Diagon Alley to buy the things you need for school.”