In that rundown shack by the sea, Harry spent the most wonderful night of his life.
The next morning, he was reluctant to wake up, as if he believed this was just an unreal dream.
In this dream, a giant owl delivered him an acceptance letter from Magic School, followed by a giant named Hagrid, who said he was a wizard and used amazing magic to punish his cousin Dudley, who had always bullied him.
He feared that when he opened his eyes, he would find himself still in that cramped storage cupboard at home.
If it were possible, he wished to stay in this dream forever, never to leave.
Until Hagrid woke him up.
"Wake up, Harry, now's not the time to be lazy."
Hagrid rubbed his sleepy eyes, opened the window, and let in an owl, purchasing the newspaper it carried with five knuts.
"What's that, Hagrid?" Harry asked curiously.
"The Daily Prophet, the newspaper of the Magic Realm, it's what wizards read."
Hagrid stretched and said, "We'd better get going early, Harry, there's a lot to do today. We need to go to London to buy all the things you need for school, plus two birthday gifts."
"Birthday gifts?"
"For you and Kael," Hagrid said. "By coincidence, his birthday is today as well."
He could actually get birthday gifts?
Harry's heart skipped a beat with immense joy, making him nearly jump up. However, he quickly noticed the other name Hagrid mentioned, and blinked as he asked, "Who is Kael?"
"Also a young wizard at Hogwarts, but he's a year ahead of you."
Hagrid was already dressed in his clothes and boots, "He's a kind-hearted kid and very friendly with his classmates. At school, both the professors and students really like him.
By the way, his academic performance is also exceptional. He's the only young wizard in nearly three hundred years at Hogwarts to receive the Special Contribution Award in his first year. If all goes well, he may also become the youngest recipient of the Merlin Order Medal.
If you encounter any trouble at school or have any doubts, you can find him, and he will definitely help you."
While speaking, the two had already reached the rocks outside.
Harry blinked, he could tell that Hagrid really liked the person named Kael, and indeed, the other seemed very outstanding.
Even though he didn't recognize any of those titles, it wasn't hard to deduce from Hagrid's tone that they must be significant accomplishments.
"Kael..." Harry murmured, imagining what the other looked like in his mind.
Since he hadn't encountered wizards before, Harry instinctively thought of some television programs about wizards, and combined with Hagrid's appearance... an image quickly formed in his mind.
It was a boy wearing a pointed hat, clad in a pure black... or perhaps red or blue cloak, holding a rough wooden stick inlaid with gemstones, not smiling, with a circle of dead marten wrapped around his waist...
"Achoo..."
In Ottery St Catchpole, Kael suddenly sneezed while having breakfast.
"Dear, did you catch a cold?" Chris asked concernedly.
"No, just felt a bit of a tickle in my nose suddenly." Kael rubbed his nose, not taking it seriously, assuming it was just from being around too many owls.
He didn't know who had leaked his birthday, but starting from dawn, owls continually flew to his room with beautifully wrapped boxes.
The gifts almost filled half of the room.
While he was thinking about it, another owl flew in through the open window, placing a large box nearby.
"Seems like you're quite popular at school," Diana said with a smile. "To receive so many gifts."
"Mom, did you forget which house I'm in?" Kael picked up a piece of bread and shrugged. "Hufflepuff is known for its good relations, having many friends is normal."
Diana just smiled without saying anything.
Kael looked at the parcel next to him, it was sent by Lee Jordan, and from the shape, it seemed to be a cake inside.
This was also one of the things he received the most, there were still more than a dozen upstairs in his room.
Unexpectedly, in the next few days, those cakes would become his daily food, as well as the kids from the Weasley family.
Ginny should be very happy.
Kael shook his head with a wry smile and took another sausage.
After breakfast, Chris called Kael aside and said, "We've thought about what you mentioned yesterday."
Kael was first stunned, then looked at Chris with some anticipation, "Did you agree to teach me?"
"Of course, there's no reason to oppose it." Chris said, "But... can you tell us why you want to learn Occlumency?
You know, this special kind of magic is extremely difficult to learn, even many adult wizards find it hard to master, let alone a first-year young wizard like you."
"Because of Oren, I think." Kael thought for a moment and said, "Previously in the Forbidden Forest, I felt like he could somehow sense what I was thinking, and it was awful."
Oren was merely an excuse.
Occlumency is currently the only known magic that can resist external mental intrusion, so Kael was bound to learn it.
Additionally, if he wanted to understand Horcruxes, interacting with the notebook and the diadem was inevitable, which also required mastering Occlumency.
Given Voldemort's prowess in soul magic, if Kael ventured to touch those Soul Artifacts without mastering Occlumency, he would likely be seen through in an instant.
In fact, Kael had already started trying to learn this magic last year, but progress was extremely slow.
Just as Chris mentioned, Occlumency isn't easy to learn, and if no one teaches it, self-study is incredibly difficult. It took Kael half a semester to barely reach entry-level proficiency.
And that level of Occlumency was clearly insufficient to defend against Voldemort's Soul Artifacts.
"Oren?"
Upon hearing that name, Chris felt a headache coming on.
In the past month, he had been thinking about this, but except for a rescue operation ten years ago, he really couldn't recall any other connections with the person.
Chris sighed and said, "If you're determined to learn, we can teach you."
"I'm sure." Kael nodded, "So when do we start, after you get off work?"
"No, you're not learning from us." Chris said mysteriously, "If it's Occlumency, we've found you the most suitable teacher, and they will definitely agree to teach you."
"A teacher?"