Early one morning, on the second floor of The Leaky Cauldron, a tawny owl dropped the Daily Prophet through a guest room window.
This particular guest room was the one Lei had reserved. He was already awake. Lately, he had been staying inside The Leaky Cauldron, trying to avoid Ryan Ewers.
Therefore, the Daily Prophet, which was updated daily, had become an important source of information for him.
Just a few days ago, he had seen a news story.
An Auror named Cabot Dorrick and his partner had been ambushed by ten Vampires on the east coast of Britain.
The Auror's partner was killed, and after a desperate struggle, Cabot Dorrick managed to kill seven Vampires before escaping.
"Why would Vampires, who generally avoid direct conflict with wizards, suddenly attack an Auror? To find out the specific reasons, please continue to follow the Daily Prophet."
After a detailed report, the news story ended, leaving a cliffhanger.
Vampires were swift, dark creatures. Although they feared sunlight and garlic, they posed a significant threat to wizards when they had the advantage in numbers. After all, vampires were physically stronger than wizards.
Lei was particularly sensitive to news about vampires, as he was facing Ryan Ewers, a high-ranking vampire.
That Auror, Cabot Dorrick, had managed to kill seven vampires while being surrounded by ten of them. His strength was truly remarkable. Lei couldn't help but imagine how great it would be if he could learn from him how to deal with vampires.
"Cleaning up." Just as Lei was searching for news about vampires, a female voice came from outside his door.
On the narrow corridor of the second floor of The Leaky Cauldron, a young witch wearing tattered clothes and with messy hair knocked on Lei's door. She was followed by a seemingly alive broom.
"Sister Julian, I'm troubling you again," Lei opened the door, letting Julian, who was there to clean, enter the room. He had been living there for over half a month, so they quickly became friends.
"Oh, Lei, the room is messy today, you've done well. Cleaning is my job, but if the room is tidy every day, Tom from the Mediterranean will find out, and I'll have my wages docked again."
The witch named Julian was very dissatisfied with Lei's habit of being clean, but she whispered the last part to Lei regarding the boss, Tom.
"Mr. Tom shouldn't be that kind of person, right?" Julian, who was cleaning, exaggeratedly said. Lei shrugged.
"Oh really? Then why did he charge you for the juice he poured for you on your first day at the bar?"
Julian blinked, and her words left Lei speechless. The key was that the nickname "Mediterranean" was given to Tom by Lei. Moreover, Tom charging Lei for that glass of juice was something Lei himself had brought up after he and Julian had become friendly.
"Sigh, Julian-jie, you were the one who said you'd teach me some simple magic and have me say something bad about Mr. Tom. I'm still a child; I can choose to forget what I said."
Lei was not at all shy about shirking responsibility. After all, his soul wasn't just eleven years old.
"Cut the act, you little goblin. Sometimes I really want to crack open your head to see how your soul was formed."
Julian changed the bedsheets for Lei, while the broom and the cloth, of their own accord, gathered the only dust in the room into the trash bag, sweeping and wiping.
Lei had inquired about these seemingly living brooms and cloths with Julian. Magical items like these could be purchased from magic shops, much like household cleaning robots in modern society, only much more intelligent.
"Kid, have you learned those basic spells I taught you?"
Julian quickly changed the bedsheets, then turned to ask Lei about his progress.
"Lumos and the Levitation Charm are okay, but Scourgify always makes the room a complete mess."
Lei was eager to learn magic. Last time, in Knockturn Alley, he was so passive precisely because he didn't know any spells.
So, after settling down, Lei wanted to get into magic as quickly as possible. Julian, who was cleaning the room, naturally became his first teacher.
Julian was an employee at The Leaky Cauldron, in charge of cleaning the rooms for the residents. These simple spells, Lei wanting to learn them, was naturally not a problem.
In the past ten days, Lei had mastered Lumos and the Levitation Charm, but Scourgify always caused problems.
Whenever he used this spell, the room would become extremely messy.
"You want to use the 'Scourgify' charm to tidy up everything in the room?"
Julian looked at Lei as if he were a monster, her face filled with disbelief.
"Is… is there a problem? Sister Julian?"
Lei was unnerved by her gaze, and asked anxiously.
"Of course it's a problem, you little brat. The 'Scourgify' charm can clean grime off clothes, and residue out of cauldrons. But, you actually want to use this charm to tidy up the room? I have to say, you have some nerve."
Julian was a warm-hearted person, and moreover, she was an authority on the 'Scourgify' charm. Lei asking her was definitely the right thing to do.
"Brat, you want to use the 'Scourgify' charm to put everything in the room back in its place, and keep it tidy. That would be strange if you could do it. The charm that can tidy up the whole room is 'Reparo'. Of course, the premise is that the room was clean and tidy at some point. And if you want to restore the whole room, the requirements are very high, both in terms of the amount of magic power and the degree of control."
Pulling on Lei's adorable face, Julian watched Lei's discomfort with a smile, and continued, "If you extend the 'Scourgify' charm, maybe it could even drive away living things, you know."
Lei's thoughts always intrigued Julian, so she often told him how magic could be used in this way or that. Making Lei run into dead ends had become her new source of amusement.
"Magic can also be used like this?"
Lei, forgetting the pain from his reddened face, wore an astonished expression. Though Julian's words were deliberately exaggerated, Lei found them somewhat reasonable.
Because magic, in the eyes of an outsider like him, sometimes had blurred boundaries between similar spells. Extending them could indeed lead to many logically feasible functions.
Julian was very satisfied with this expression and nodded, continuing, "Of course, many spells are actually extensions of how magic is used; they have similar commonalities. Magic is singular, but a person's thoughts are not."
"Sister, can you use the 'Scourgify' spell to repel living things?"
Lei asked excitedly after his initial surprise, this act completely satisfying the vanity of Julian, the great witch.
Moreover, Lei himself wanted to hear Julian's specific understanding of magic. Sometimes, what she said was so convincing that Lei couldn't help but wonder if the cleaning-obsessed witch Julian was actually a hidden master of the magical world.
"This, this. Is what your elder sister has learned from years of cleaning. As for the practical stage, it's still under development. As for you, start by cleaning the dirt off your clothes."
Julian chuckled awkwardly, then playfully messed up Lei's hair with her dusty hands before leaving the room.
Lei didn't mind the teasing at all; in fact, he found it quite endearing.
Julian was an ordinary witch, and Lei had asked her about dealing with Vampires. Her response was very serious: "If you encounter a Vampire in your current state, don't try to fight it, just run."
Lei could only manage an awkward smile in response. The problem wasn't that he wanted to deal with Vampires, but that Vampires were looking for him.
"Cleaning."
After Julian cleaned up Lei's room, she went to the adjacent room to continue her cleaning duties.
Lei closed the door and continued practicing his magic.
"Scourgify."
This spell was cast very smoothly. With a flick of the wand, the tea stain on the clothing quickly vanished.
He'd been practicing Scourgify for so many days, and the problem turned out to be the wrong direction.
In his previous life, when watching the Harry Potter film series, Lei vaguely remembered Dumbledore using a spell to restore a badly damaged house to its original state.
He had thought perhaps it was the Scourgify spell, but judging from Julian's surprised expression, that magic was not so simple.
Reparo, the key to this spell was the stage represented by the word "original". Small objects might be alright, but an entire room...
If Dumbledore really used this simple spell, then how astonishing must his magic control be?
Magic was a profound subject. Becoming a wizard like Dumbledore, capable of fighting Voldemort, was not something that could be achieved overnight.
Everything has to be done step by step; some things can't be rushed.
Having changed into clothes cleaned with magic, Lei repacked all of his belongings.
Today was September 1st, the day Hogwarts started its new term. He had to go to King's Cross Station to catch the only steam train.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Waving the black and purple wand in his hand, the luggage trolley floated up, guided by the wand.
The Levitation Charm was one of the most convenient spells in life. After Lei learned it, no one needed to help him carry his luggage downstairs.
Magic changes life.
Magic also changes the world, naturally.
"Lei, today's the first day of school. Study hard. This is your welcome gift."
Tom, with his Mediterranean hairstyle, walked over to Lei, who had just come downstairs, and put a small package into Lei's luggage without giving him any chance to refuse.
"Thank you, Uncle Tom. I'll definitely study hard."
After thanking him, Lei dragged his suitcase out of The Leaky Cauldron. With the help of the hunchbacked Gatling, he got into a taxi heading for King's Cross Station.
Two chapters today, I hope everyone enjoys them.
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