Time passed quickly.
On September first, Jeral said goodbye to Grandpa Cora, picked up a suitcase, and set off carrying an owl cage.
After walking a few steps out the door, Jeral turned back and saw Grandpa Cora standing there, reluctant to part.
He could not help but sigh.
Grandpa Cora had been fortunate enough to escape Voldemort’s persecution, but he was getting on in years, with no family or children around, keeping watch over a general store all by himself—a very lonely life.
He had even thought the Prent family had all passed away, setting aside dividends each month only to keep a memory alive, pretending he still had someone to care for.
Grandpa Cora had mentioned that on that day in Diagon Alley, when he saw Jeral walk in behind Professor McGonagall, he had actually been thrilled.
But he had been afraid of scaring him, so he had not dared to say too much.
Over the past two months, except for going home to sleep and cultivate, Jeral spent all his time at the general store.
He brought his textbooks to the store, studying in advance while asking Grandpa Cora about the wizarding world.
Grandpa Cora was delighted and very knowledgeable.
The old man and the boy got along wonderfully; Jeral could even learn and cast spells under Grandpa Cora’s guidance.
Jeral was very satisfied with his progress over those two months.
His chakra extraction went smoothly, reaching the level of a high-tier genin.
Correspondingly, his control over magic was also solid, and he could proficiently cast all the spells required for a first-year student.
Seeing that Jeral was also interested in Potions, Grandpa Cora even dug out some potion ingredients from the store to let Jeral try brewing.
Noticing Jeral’s surprised expression, Grandpa Cora said with a touch of pride, “This is a general store, you know!
There’s nothing we don’t have.
Simple potion recipes use very common raw ingredients anyway.
With an old Ravenclaw like me around, my guidance is more than enough for you.”
To his pleasant surprise, Jeral discovered that his Byakugan could judge the quality of potion ingredients and the final brewed potion based on the brightness of their magical light.
Most of the time during the brewing process, the sphere of light glowed steadily.
But if something went wrong, it would flicker continuously.
The faster and more frantically it flickered, the greater the issue, which naturally reduced the final potion’s quality.
As for the finished potion, the brighter the light it emitted, the higher its quality.
At Jeral’s current skill level, Grandpa Cora only allowed him to brew the first-year Cure for Boils potion.
Jeral prepared the ingredients perfectly and brewed it smoothly.
In the end, the finished product gave off a faint glow, which made Jeral somewhat dissatisfied—he had thought he possessed a talent for Potions, but the potion’s quality was only barely passing.
However, Grandpa Cora was very satisfied.
Being able to pass on the first try upon encountering magic and brewing a potion already proved Jeral’s extraordinary talent.
Jeral did not grow proud from Grandpa Cora’s praise.
Preparing ingredients and brewing basic potions was pretty much like chopping vegetables and making soup.
Besides, two lifetimes ago, he had studied diligently in chemistry lab class at school.
Snapping back to reality, Jeral saw Grandpa Cora lowering his head to wipe away tears, feeling a bit reluctant to part himself.
But time waited for no one.
Jeral took a deep breath, turned, and left.
Regarding the portraits of Lawrence and Anne, Jeral had originally wanted to ask Professor McGonagall to duplicate them, but she had left in a hurry that day, and Jeral had forgotten to mention it.
Fortunately, Grandpa Cora’s magic skills were quite good, and he helped make a copy for Jeral to take to school.
“Oh, an old man like me only had Lawrence as a friend.
I want them to keep me company.”
Jeral arrived smoothly at King’s Cross Station.
Carrying his suitcase, he walked outside Platform Nine and Three-Quarters just like an ordinary Muggle.
Hidden by the platform’s Concealment Charm, he passed through the barrier effortlessly and stepped into the real magical world.
Ah, the wizarding world.
As expected, it was…
Well, as expected, an old-fashioned vintage train.
Coming from the twenty-first century, Jeral could not bring himself to call the train beautiful, but the surging magic around it excited him.
With magical fluctuations this intense, Hogwarts would undoubtedly be even richer in magic.
Over seven years of school, his strength would surely see a major boost.
Jeral had arrived fairly early, so he found an empty compartment and sat down.
He pulled out a copy of *Basic Potions*, a book Grandpa Cora had bought for him, which explained the principles behind potion-brewing and ingredient processing.
Jeral read with relish.
The familiar method of learning made him feel as though he had returned to his chemistry classes back in China.
Jeral always believed that the most important aspects of learning were laying a foundation and understanding principles.
Just as science had its own logical system, magic undoubtedly had its own logical system.
Science could not dismiss magic as illusory just because it could not explain it, because magic could explain itself.
He firmly believed that mastering the basic principles of magic would help him learn advanced knowledge better and allow him to troubleshoot systematically whenever he encountered problems.
As he read, more and more voices came from outside the compartment.
With a rattle, the door was pulled open.
“Hi, mind if we sit here?”
Two boys walked in.
One of them, a round-faced young wizard with brown hair, asked Jeral.
“Of course, go ahead,” Jeral nodded.
Once the two had stowed their luggage and sat down to rest, Jeral asked curiously, “Are you first-years too?”
The round-faced wizard exchanged a look with his companion and answered, “Yeah.
Me and Jamie—oh, I’m Thomas Ellis, and he’s Jim Hardwick.
We’re neighbors and best friends.
And yeah, we’re first-years too.
We were thrilled when we got our owl letters!
I mean, we thought Hogwarts was so badly damaged by You-Know-Who that it wouldn’t be able to open anytime soon.”
“Uh, when I say You-Know-Who, you know what I mean, right?”
Thomas Ellis seemed to be a chatterbox.
The moment Jeral asked, he blurted out a whole mouthful.
Finally, Thomas glanced at Jeral’s appearance—which did not look entirely like a native Brit—and especially at his abnormal pupils, offering a polite probe.
Jeral noticed Jim Hardwick subtly tugging at Thomas’s sleeve, a look of annoyance crossing Thomas’s face.
It was precisely because of persecution by You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters that my family moved to live in the Muggle area.
But my dad always believed Hogwarts was the safest place—that it has the greatest light wizard, our headmaster.”
“By the way, I’m Jeral Prent.
You can call me Jeral.”
Thomas and Jim breathed a collective sigh of relief, both flashing smiles.
Thomas continued, his tone much more relaxed this time.
“Right, yeah, exactly!
Hogwarts is the safest place.
Sorry about that, looking at your appearance, I thought you were…
well, a Muggle-born.”
Jeral did not mind.
The darkest times had passed, and being Muggle-born was no longer something to avoid speaking of.
“My dad was a pure-blood, and my mom was a Muggle-born with foreign ancestry, which is why I don’t look quite like typical British people.”
Jim did not say anything, but stole a peek at Jeral’s eyes, looking a bit frightened.
Jeral intentionally said with a bitter tone, “You look scared looking at them too, right?
When the Death Eater’s curse hit me, my dad’s protective spell hit me at the exact same moment.
I don’t know what kind of reaction happened, but in the end, my pupils turned out like this.
From a distance, it almost looks like I don’t have eyeballs at all.”
Jim and Thomas were shocked, mentally crying out in despair—they had poked right where their new classmate hurt!
Thomas quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!
We didn’t mean to.
Magical accidents can cause all sorts of strange things.
Have you ever been to St.
Mungo’s Hospital?
The patients in the Magical Accidents and Catastrophes ward have it way worse than you.”
“Besides, it was caused by your dad’s protective spell.
Maybe it’s a manifestation of your dad’s love for you!”
After saying this, Thomas exchanged a glance with Jim, both nodding in staunch agreement.
Jeral continued to feign sorrow.
“But my dad was gravely injured in battle and passed away.”
Thomas and Jim: “…”
Jim offered a dry comfort, “It’s okay…
you still have your mom.”
Jeral let out an even heavier sigh.
“My mom passed away too, just like my dad.”
Thomas and Jim: “…”
Merlin’s socks, they must have been hit with a bad luck jinx!