…What's this address?
"Hey, Leah, be more polite!"
Grabbing her sister's hand, the girl's voice was a bit tense. Noticing William looking back, she awkwardly smoothed her hair and skirt, confirming she looked presentable before finally raising her head shyly and waving at William, "Hi, long time no see..."
"…Oh, morning."
…What's her name again?
Ugh... Forgot again.
Seems I can't hold her sister accountable for not remembering my name.
But just forgetting names isn't too bad, like back in his previous life, even when not walking the dog, most people in the community only recognized his Ala, calling him things like "the owner of Wangcai".
After a brief greeting, Daphne, with her head feeling feverish, wanted to pull her sister away, but Astoria clearly didn't want to leave like that. Seeing the box in William's hand, she darted over briskly—
"Do you think I might let it out here?"
"No, we're just… also thinking of buying an owl for a pet, just coincidentally heading the same way as you."
"Wow, what a coincidence—"
William twitched the corner of his mouth, pulling the box to him, resetting the latch Kabuda had just opened, and casually stuffed a half-protruding duckbill back inside—he bet the girl saw that and wanted to secretly cooperate with this Niffler.
Astoria cheekily stuck out her tongue, but although she knew the "plan" was exposed, she didn't leave. Instead, she followed William, heading towards Diagon Alley's only Magical Creatures Shop, with Daphne reluctantly trailing behind—
Meanwhile, the Gryffindor trio walking beside didn't speak. Hermione was already struggling to carry her three large bags of books while Harry's thoughts lingered on that "Death Omen" book and the black dog he saw last night. As for Ron, he was still searching his pocket for Scabbers.
"…How do you have so many books?"
Seeing Hermione, who was looking strained, Astoria glanced at her own meager first-year textbooks, kindly stepping forward to help by sharing a bag. Unlike her sister, she didn't look down on a Muggle Wizard like Hermione—she didn't even know Hermione was a Muggle Wizard.
"Oh... I signed up for too many subjects."
Because the other person helped her, Hermione didn't continue to sulk but instead muttered an explanation.
"I mean, are you planning to eat and sleep this year, Hermione?"
Ron joined in, having just fished out the barely breathing Scabbers from his pocket at the back of his pants. Who knows how the rat survived earlier when the three were at the ice cream stand.
Scabbers was now limp in the boy's hand, its long tail drooped weakly.
Hermione didn't respond to him. She moved closer to Astoria to make room for the elderly wizard who had just exited the Magical Creatures Shop.
Hearing their conversation, William curiously glanced back, his hand subconsciously brushing against his chest—where a broken Time Turner was. Of course, he knew how to allocate time after signing up for all courses at Hogwarts. After all, though he was always lazy, he had seen pigs run even without eating pork.
Instead of sneaking into the Department of Mysteries, maybe stealing one from Hermione for research...
Forget it, William shook his head, immediately denying the idea. Time Turners are considered regulated tools, and time magic… is almost entirely unexplored in the Magic Realm. He wasn't ready to delve into it—after all, wasn't it due to time magic that he came to this point in time?
Until he was sure he could control it, he'd rather not meddle with it now—traveling a few more years into the future is fine—but what if he ended up in prehistoric society?
Forget it, forget it, he'd better live with some peace for now—
While William pondered, they had already entered the shop. After the Greengrass sisters interrupted earlier, he forgot to help Ron examine the rat, and now Ron, accompanied by Harry, had placed Scabbers on the counter, receiving an inspection from the witch behind it—
"Hm, how old is this rat?"
"I don't know, but it was my brother's before, so it should be very old."
"It doesn't look good. Ordinary garden rats usually only live around three years—if you want a longer-living one, you might want to choose from these…"
The witch pointed at a cage of black rats beside the counter. They were piled together, staring intensely at William while he stared at the cage in the window, which kept switching between a silk top hat and a plump white rabbit.
"Okay, they didn't behave like this before, um, if you don't want to substitute, you might try this Strengthening Potion."
The witch said, leaning down to retrieve a small red bottle from under the counter.
"Alright, how much—"
Ron nodded, reaching for his pocket, but before he could finish speaking, a frantic cat screech suddenly rang out. A big ginger creature leaped from the highest cage top, landing on the boy's head, then on the counter, standing menacingly and snarling at Scabbers.
"No, Crookshanks, no!"
The witch yelled, trying to shield the rat, but Scabbers wriggled out like soap from her hands, landing belly-up on the floor before springing up and fleeing, disappearing in a blink down Diagon Alley's stone-paved street.
"Scabbers!"
Ron shouted, chasing out of the shop, with Harry quickly following behind.
"…Runs so fast."
Recalling the blurry shadow that vanished instantly, William wondered as he rubbed his chin. That agile figure wasn't like the half-dead rat from a moment before.
Turns out a creature's potential needs to be squeezed out… In this case, he might need to load Kabuda with more homework.
Kabuda: ?
"Meow!"
Seeing Scabbers vanish from sight, the ginger cat named Crookshanks was unwillingly howling, still wanting to chase after it. But this time it wouldn't be easy. When Crookshanks rushed to the door, William swiftly grabbed it by the scruff, lifting it up.
"Meow~"
The voice this time was softer, almost coy—except the rough tone paired with the odd pudding-like face somehow felt abstract.
"Thank you—"
Watching as William returned with the big cat, the witch sighed in relief, putting away her magic wand.