A talking flame, a dragon, and tableware that floated through the air at the wave of a hand—none of those things seemed remotely normal to Harry.
Moreover, strange incidents had been happening around him for as long as he could remember.
As a result, he had always felt a quiet longing for something like magic, even if he had never been able to put that feeling into words.
Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia utterly despised any discussion of magic—or anything even slightly unusual, for that matter.
After hearing Harry’s question, Hermes placed his knife and fork on the table.
He casually picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and replied in an indifferent tone.
“To be precise, you may call me a wizard.”
Harry’s eyes immediately brightened.
“Is that one over there an elf?”
He turned his gaze toward the fireplace.
The creature squatting beside Mr.
Moriarty’s feet was unmistakably a dragon, or at least Harry believed it had to be.
Although it was clearly a recently hatched baby and still staggered whenever it tried to crawl, it was nevertheless a genuine dragon.
The talking flame was another matter entirely.
No matter how hard Harry racked his brain, he could not begin to guess what it might be.
“Haha…
Me?”
When Calcifer heard the question, the features within his flames instantly became menacing.
His fiery body surged upward until the tips nearly licked the ceiling.
“I am a demon!”
The sudden eruption made Harry tremble, and he became too nervous to speak.
“That’s enough, Calcifer.”
Hermes rose from his chair and walked toward the door.
“Stop frightening him.”
Hermes turned the dial above the handle.
As its pointer settled on the red section, thunder cracked outside the windows once again.
Harry froze as the scenery beyond the glass changed completely.
When Hermes opened the door, the familiar rows of houses along Privet Drive were gone.
In their place stood a warehouse cluttered with tools, containers, and all manner of miscellaneous objects.
“Come along.
Follow me.”
Hermes pointed toward a shovel hanging on the wall and a wheelbarrow parked nearby.
Before Harry could recover from his astonishment, the young dragon scampered after him.
“Oh—right!”
Harry hurriedly responded, then ran toward the wall Hermes had indicated.
He removed the shovel, which was almost taller than he was, placed it inside the wheelbarrow, and rushed after them.
The moment Harry pushed the wheelbarrow out of the warehouse, the sight before him left him speechless.
The warehouse stood upon a mountainside and was almost completely concealed by dense jungle.
Harry rubbed his eyes before looking back over his shoulder.
The neat detached houses of Privet Drive had vanished, replaced by a crude wooden shed.
It looked so small and unremarkable that no one would have guessed it connected to the interior of an enormous magical castle.
Because of the mountain’s elevation, Harry could see several distinct regions spread across the land below.
Each area was separated from the others by translucent barriers that resembled enormous hanging curtains.
One region contained a snow-covered tundra, while another was filled with dense jungle and towering bamboo.
Farther away lay a vast desert of sand and bare rock, beyond which stretched open grasslands and rolling hills.
Harry opened his mouth, but no sound emerged.
Near the warehouse entrance, a dark, platypus-like creature was scratching eagerly at a discarded tin can.
A chaotic collection of shiny objects hung around its neck, jingling whenever it moved.
Noticing Harry’s gaze, the creature lifted its round eyes and glanced at him.
It apparently found him uninteresting, because it immediately turned back to the tin and resumed scratching.
“Keep up,” Hermes called calmly from around a bend in the path ahead.
“Coming, sir!”
Harry swallowed and pushed the wheelbarrow forward, his eyes continuously sweeping across his surroundings.
Every strange plant and unfamiliar creature demanded his attention.
In the distance, a dense mass of clouds began gathering above the plains.
They did not resemble clouds forming naturally.
Instead, it appeared as though an enormous invisible hand had dragged them together and compressed them into one churning mass.
Golden flashes of lightning flickered within the dark clouds.
A low rumble rolled across the sky, resembling distant war drums, and an enormous silhouette suddenly swept out of the storm.
Harry was certain it was the largest bird he had ever seen.
Its tremendous wingspan seemed broad enough to cover half the sky, while brilliant arcs of electricity danced along the edges of every feather.
The enormous bird held its head proudly, and the crest rising from its skull resembled a crown against the flashing lightning, lending it an extraordinarily noble appearance.
As it emerged from the clouds, lightning flowed across the outline of its six feathered wings, surrounding its entire body with a dazzling silver-white radiance.
The strange bird circled several times above Hermes before releasing a long, piercing cry.
It sounded unlike any birdcall Harry had ever heard.
The cry resembled thunder mingled with the howl of a violent wind, carrying across the entire valley. This story is hosted at g.com.
Under Harry’s astonished gaze, the six-winged bird completed another circle before beating its wings and climbing higher into the sky.
The resulting gust tore leaves from the nearby trees and sent them spinning wildly through the air.
As its long tail feathers swept across the clouds, Harry’s jaw fell open completely.
His chest felt hot, but not from fear.
It was the burning excitement of someone who had suddenly discovered that the world was infinitely larger and more wondrous than he had ever imagined.
Hermes stood beside him and watched the bird’s receding silhouette.
“That is a Thunderbird,” he explained calmly.
“I rescued it from magical-creature traffickers in Egypt during one of my summer holidays as a student.”
“Where…
where are we?” Harry asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
“You may think of this place as a pocket dimension,” Hermes replied after considering how best to explain it.
“Its physical anchor lies within a secluded valley in the tropics.”
A trace of nostalgia entered his voice as he surveyed the surrounding landscape.
This sanctuary was perhaps the most painstaking creation of his student years.
He had built it to breed and shelter different magical creatures, as well as to cultivate rare magical plants.
In fact, a considerable portion of Hermes’s income came from the magical materials produced within this space.
Harry nodded despite only half understanding the explanation.
He tightened his grip on the wheelbarrow’s handles and looked up at Hermes.
“Sir, what do you need me to do?”
By now, Harry had completely forgotten his disappointment over not being able to play with Dudley’s toys.
All he wanted was to learn more about the magical world that had revealed only a tiny corner of itself to him.
“We’re almost there,” Hermes answered as he continued along the path.
The young dragon sprinted beside his feet with surprising enthusiasm.
It looks rather like a dog, Harry thought.
Before long, the two of them reached the entrance to a small valley.
At the same time, a faint but unpleasant stench drifted beneath Harry’s nose.
“Opal’s lair is inside,” Hermes said, pointing toward the beautiful young dragon at his feet.
“Your task is to collect the droppings.”
The dragon’s name was evidently Opal.
Despite her magnificent pale scales and iridescent eyes, the work she had created for Harry was far less glamorous.
Dragon dung was an exceptionally valuable magical material.
It could either be sold directly or retained for use in cultivating magical plants and brewing potions.
Unfortunately, its terrible smell had destroyed any desire Hermes might have possessed to collect it personally—even though he could easily have done so with magic.