Ivy Doom didn’t think he particularly needed sympathy from a child whose parents were dead and who had spent eleven years cramped inside his aunt’s house.
So he decided to change the subject.
“You know,” Ivy said casually, “I’m actually a wizard from more than a hundred years ago.”
Both Harry Potter and Ron Weasley widened their eyes immediately.
Then, just as quickly, both of them burst into laughter.
Apparently, they had mistaken the truth for a joke.
“That sounds brilliant!” Ron exclaimed enthusiastically.
“So why are you going back to school with us?
Are you trying to relive your student days or something?”
“There’s definitely some truth to that,” Ivy admitted with a nod.
“Then where’s your beard?” Harry asked suspiciously, clearly trying not to laugh.
“If you’re really over a hundred years old…”
“To be precise, one hundred and forty-four,” Ivy corrected him honestly.
He enjoyed telling the truth.
“After a terrible magical accident, I ended up sealed inside crystal for more than a century.
Instead of growing older, my body actually became younger.”
“Whoa!
That’s amazing!” Ron looked completely fascinated by the topic.
There was a very high chance he planned to reuse this story the next time he bragged to someone.
“So what about the magic?” Ron leaned forward eagerly, squirming around in his seat.
“What’s different about magic from over a hundred years ago?”
“For first-year textbooks?
Not much difference, honestly.” Ivy shrugged.
“But the magical accident that sealed me away involved Ancient Magic—a type of magic that’s almost completely lost now.”
“Ancient Magic!” Ron repeated excitedly.
“What exactly can it do?”
“Simply put?
It’s incredibly powerful and incredibly difficult to control.”
Ivy began describing it calmly.
“It can summon lightning.
Shake the earth.
Throw gigantic boulders around like feathers.”
“Show us!” Ron immediately cheered.
“Come on, Ivy!
Let us see this Ancient Magic!”
“That’s not exactly easy…” Ivy deliberately dragged out his words while a sly smile spread across his face.
“I woke up too early this morning, so I skipped breakfast.
And using Ancient Magic consumes a tremendous amount of energy, so naturally—”
“So if we help you fill your stomach,” Harry interrupted immediately, catching the implication at once, “you’ll show us some magic?”
Although Harry still wasn’t entirely convinced about the whole Ancient Magic story, he had personally watched Ivy’s luggage float into the compartment earlier. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
So he was definitely interested in seeing more.
“Exactly!” Ivy clapped his hands approvingly.
“But where are we supposed to get food?” Harry looked down at his stomach.
“I was too nervous about catching the train this morning, so I skipped breakfast too…
and now I’m starving.”
“I’ve got sandwiches!”
Ron immediately started digging through his luggage before pulling out a paper box containing four sandwiches.
“Mum made them.
Corned beef filling…” he explained awkwardly.
“Though she’s feeding five kids, so they might be a bit dry.
If you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.”
Ivy immediately grabbed one.
Harry did the same.
“Mmm…
these are actually really good,” Harry said honestly.
It was the first time someone had ever shared food with him.
Perhaps that unfamiliar warmth somehow made the sandwiches taste even better.
Sharing food always made it taste better.
And all three boys were currently at the age where appetites were enormous.
Well—
Except for the one-hundred-and-forty-four-year-old dark wizard pretending to be a child.
Still, because Ivy looked even shorter than Ron, both boys naturally treated him as their peer.
The four sandwiches disappeared very quickly.
Unfortunately, someone’s stomach was still growling afterward.
Perfect timing.
Around noon, the sound of wheels rattling along the corridor finally echoed outside the compartment.
A cheerful-looking woman pushed open the door.
“Anything from the trolley, dears?”
Harry instantly jumped to his feet.
At the moment, his pockets were overflowing with Galleons and Sickles withdrawn from his vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and he had been waiting eagerly for an excuse to spend them.
“This time, it’s my treat!” Harry declared excitedly.
Every snack on the trolley was something he had never seen before, so naturally he grabbed one of nearly everything before returning triumphantly to the compartment.
The pile of snacks nearly buried the table completely.
And despite buying all that food, Harry hadn’t even spent a single Galleon.
The total cost came to less than twelve Sickles.
“I’ve never tried wizard snacks before!” Harry admitted excitedly.
Truthfully, he hadn’t eaten many Muggle snacks either.
His cousin Dudley usually stole anything remotely enjoyable before Harry ever got the chance. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Since Ron had just shared his sandwiches earlier, he now felt absolutely zero guilt eating Harry’s snacks.
At the moment, Ron was shoving pumpkin pasties into his mouth with his left hand while simultaneously reaching for a cauldron cake with his right.
“What’s this?” Harry picked up a package labeled Chocolate Frog.
“They’re not real frogs, are they?”
“Chocolate Frogs,” Ivy explained.
“Be careful when you open them.
They sometimes jump away.”
Then he added thoughtfully:
“They don’t look much different from the ones sold a hundred years ago.
Though I wonder if Honeydukes added any new cards.”
“Oh!
It’s Dumbledore!”
Harry had already pulled out a Chocolate Frog card that definitely hadn’t existed over a century ago.
“You know who he is, right?” Ron asked while sounding slightly concerned about Harry’s magical ignorance.
“His name’s literally written on your acceptance letter.”
Then he added proudly:
“They say his card is the most common Chocolate Frog card because everyone calls him the greatest wizard of the twentieth century.”
“Well, that’s already one card I’ve never seen before.”
Ivy raised an eyebrow and took the card from Harry while continuing to maintain his “wizard from a century ago” persona.
“Hey!” Harry suddenly remembered something while stuffing snacks into his mouth.
“You said you’ve actually met Dumbledore before!”
Then he asked curiously:
“Does he really look like the picture?”
“More or less,” Ivy answered after examining the card.
“The real one might be a little older.”
The Dumbledore inside the card had already wandered away.
Ron stopped eating entirely and stared at Ivy in confusion.
“Wait…
why have you met Dumbledore?
Where?”
“At Hogwarts, obviously,” Ivy answered calmly.
“Where else would it be?”
“But they don’t let kids who aren’t school age into Hogwarts!” Ron protested.
“Remember?” Harry immediately answered for him.
“Ivy’s a hundred-and-forty-four-year-old wizard.”
“Right…” Ron nodded slowly.
“Actually, that makes sense.”
Apparently satisfied with that explanation, he resumed attacking the mountain of snacks from both sides at once.
(End of Chapter)