Ted Epiphany used his pounds in the Muggle world to buy several essentials: underclothes, everyday toiletries, notebooks, fountain pens, and bottles of ink.
He also bought some snacks for Ansu—white mice, grasshoppers, and crickets.
At the beginning, Ansu could only eat mealworms. Now mealworms weren't even enough to fill the gaps between its beak.
The raven had already graduated to big insects and even small mice.
Its sharp beak could crack open a mouse's skull with a single strike. Then it would pin the prey down with its claws, tear it into pieces, and swallow them one by one.
Members of the corvid family were fearsome creatures.
Their combat power was impressive.
After finishing his shopping, Ted returned to Diagon Alley and headed to Gringotts with his cash.
"Sir, I'd like to exchange for gold Galleons," Ted said, craning his neck upward toward the tall counter where an elderly goblin sat.
The goblin pushed his glasses up with a cold expression and carefully examined Ted.
"Do you have your Hogwarts acceptance letter?"
Ted handed it over.
The goblin inspected it closely before returning it.
"Your yearly exchange quota is limited to fifty Galleons. How much would you like to exchange?"
"What's the exchange rate?" Ted asked.
"Five pounds for one Galleon."
Ted counted out two hundred and fifty pounds and handed it over.
The goblin looked slightly surprised. He likely hadn't expected this boy in second-hand robes to carry so much cash.
Still, the goblin had seen plenty in his lifetime. He said nothing and simply handed Ted a small pouch filled with golden Galleons.
After leaving Gringotts, Ted weighed the money pouch in his hand, a smile spreading across his face.
Looks like next year I won't need a student loan…
And maybe I can even pay off this year's loan too.
Nothing beats being debt-free.
The start of Hogwarts was drawing closer and closer.
Ted had never been so eager for school to begin.
The feeling was almost like being on a train rushing toward a long-distance lover—impatient, restless, unable to wait.
What? I don't have a girlfriend?
Right… forget I said that.
As the opening day approached, the crowds in Diagon Alley noticeably increased.
Many wizarding parents were bringing their children to buy school supplies.
Places like Flourish and Blotts Bookshop and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions were packed with customers all day long.
Naturally, Ted's workload increased as well.
A few days before the start of term, Ted was organizing books inside Flourish and Blotts when he suddenly heard a voice.
"Dad! It's him! That singing magician boy—and his raven!"
Ted looked toward the door.
A father and daughter had just walked into the bookshop.
And they were none other than his "regular customers" from the street performance.
Well…
Who would've thought London could feel this small?
Ted walked up and greeted them first.
"Hello. My name is Ted Epiphany. I'm a first-year student starting at Hogwarts this year. Thank you for enjoying my performance."
The man extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Chris Granger, a dentist. You know what a dentist does, right?"
Granger?!
So this really was one of the future Golden Trio.
Ted calmly shook Mr. Granger's hand.
"Oh, of course. Though I'd rather not know what dentists do. I'm terribly afraid of dentists."
He looked exactly like a small patient about to be placed in the dentist's chair.
Mr. Granger burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Sorry—haha—excuse me! I didn't expect a young wizard to have such a sense of humor."
He gestured to the girl beside him.
"This is my daughter, Hermione Granger. She'll also be starting Hogwarts this year. She insisted on coming back to buy a few more books."
Ted thought to himself: I guessed as much. Those buck teeth should've tipped me off—Miss Beaver.
Thankfully Hermione wasn't a dark-skinned reinterpretation or some strange alternate version. This world hadn't drifted into something unacceptable.
"Hello, Hermione. If you need any books, feel free to ask. I work here part-time, so I can help you find them," Ted said.
Hermione had already admired this boy who could sing, play guitar, perform magic tricks, and command an obedient raven.
But when she learned that Ted had spent the two months before school working in Diagon Alley while studying magic on his own, her admiration reached a new level entirely.
Her eyes widened with amazement.
Working in a magical shop in Diagon Alley!
She looked eagerly toward her father.
Mr. Granger quickly waved his hands.
"Oh no, absolutely not. Hermione, think about your mother—she would never agree to that."
He and Mrs. Granger were already reluctant about sending their daughter to a boarding magic school.
There was no way they would allow Hermione to spend the little time before school working instead of being with family.
He didn't say that directly, though.
He didn't want to offend Ted.
Unlike Hermione, Mr. Granger couldn't help focusing on the boy's orphan background.
Such independence and diligence probably had a lot to do with that.
Children like this…
They were both admirable and heartbreaking.
Ted informed the shop clerk that he'd be acting as a guide for his "friends" around Diagon Alley.
He showed the father and daughter various shops, explaining the merchandise and telling amusing stories about them.
Mr. Granger listened with great interest.
Hermione, on the other hand, bombarded Ted with questions about the magic he had studied on his own.
At last, she had found someone she could discuss magic with.
"This is Jiggs & Jiggs Apothecary," Ted explained. "The potion ingredients here are genuine and reliable. Mr. Jiggs is a good man—my first part-time job came from him."
"If you ever want a pet someday, the Magical Creature Pet Shop is the best place. The animals here are magical creatures. They're stronger and smarter than ordinary animals, and they make wonderful companions. I helped clean the cages and feed them when I worked here."
Eventually, Mr. Granger decided to buy Hermione an owl.
At first Hermione didn't want one.
She worried that caring for an owl would take time away from her studies.
But Ted explained that owls were actually very low-maintenance and didn't require much attention at all.
And besides…
If Hermione wanted to write letters to Ted so they could exchange magical knowledge after returning home, she would need an owl.
Mr. Granger also liked the idea of his daughter writing letters home regularly.
So in the end, they visited Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Hermione chose a long-eared owl with two distinctive "ears" and beautiful feather patterns.
She named it Magic, meaning—well—magic.
In Britain, dentists earned very good money.
In fact, often more than ordinary doctors.
Considering the British love of sweets, the demand for dentists was extremely high.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Granger were dentists and owned their own dental clinic.
Some of the declining pure-blood families in the wizarding world probably had less money than the Grangers.
In the end, Ted and the Granger father and daughter even shared a drink together at the Leaky Cauldron.
Ted and Hermione, of course, drank butterbeer.
Mr. Granger—who had to drive later—was curious about butterbeer as well, so he tried a cup of the "children's drink."
He praised it enthusiastically.
Time passed quickly.
Those last few days slipped through Ted's fingers before he even realized it.
During that time, Ted quit his part-time jobs and focused entirely on studying magic in the small storage room he rented at the Leaky Cauldron.
Not long after seeing the Grangers off, Ted made progress in his psychic research.
He had mastered a special mental ability.
Most people had experienced this before.
When doing something they truly loved, their concentration would become incredibly intense. Their minds would clear, distractions vanished, and time seemed to disappear.
They would forget hunger, forget fatigue, forget their worries, and immerse themselves completely in the activity.
Psychologists called this mental state "Flow."
Ted had learned to consciously enter this state.
By using Flow, he could fully immerse himself in study and magical research, creating a powerful positive feedback loop that dramatically increased his learning efficiency.
Of course, it consumed mental energy.
Ted limited himself to no more than four hours a day, just in case it harmed his mind.
Aside from studying, he also began corresponding regularly with Hermione.
Her owl Magic certainly wasn't lazy.
It flew back and forth almost every day.
Ted fully understood Hermione's excitement and curiosity about the magical world.
He told her stories about life in Diagon Alley—about wizarding habits that differed from Muggle culture—and shared his own theories about magic.
Soon it was the end of August.
Ansu could now fly high and far.
The raven had grown up.
In fact, it even tried to compete with Magic to deliver Hermione's letters.
"You can find Hermione's house?" Ted asked skeptically. "Are you sure? It's quite far."
Ansu puffed out its chest proudly, spreading its wings like it was thumping its own chest.
"Easy! Easy! Caw caw!"
It had already learned a few human words.
Ted tied the letter to its leg and watched as it flew into the distance.
In the letter, he had arranged to meet Hermione on the train tomorrow.
Tomorrow would be September 1st.
The day Hogwarts began.
At last—
It had arrived.