, wonderful and free of pop-ups! On the appointed day, Harry went out early and found Florin's cold drink shop.
But he seemed to have arrived too early - because when he finished eating an ice cream ball, it was still twenty minutes before the appointed time.
"Okay, then... I'll add some ice cream." The boy sighed into the almost empty bowl.
Although it was a cold autumn day, the cold drink shop was still very busy. Harry guessed that this was probably because there were so many people in Diagon Alley that he didn't feel the cold at all. On the contrary, the crowds of people rushing to buy made people nervous. Drenched in sweat.
When he went out today, he brought a scale given to him. It was very rare. It was said to be an old thing from the past. Harry gratefully wore it when he went out, and successfully used his aunt's ability to hide the scar on his head. So while waiting, he looked down at "Hogwarts:ry" (Hogwarts: A School History) with considerable peace of mind.
"Is there anyone here?"
When Harry realized that someone was talking to him, he raised his head.
I saw a handsome man wearing a black shirt and slightly long black hair standing in front of the table next to him, pointing to the empty seat, looking at him friendly and smiling, with a questioning look on his face.
"Oh, I don't think so." He replied quickly, "I don't occupy this seat, sir."
"Yes, it looks like that, thank you, little wizard." The man was very friendly. He pulled out a chair and sat down. His eyes glanced at the book in Harry's hand, and his smile deepened, "Oh, you are here Watching "Hogwarts:ry"? It's rare to see such a diligent student these days - let me guess, are you a freshman at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, sir," the man didn't seem to realize that he was the 'r'. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and answered openly, "I want to find out the information about Hogwarts' academy and the method of sorting it. Listen. Say there are four of them, and I don’t want to have to think about where to go when the time comes.”
"Smart boy." The man praised, "All the students heard about it before the school started, and they didn't realize they were deceived until they were sorted into different schools. Very few of them went to find out the answer on their own."
"Have you ever been a student at Hogwarts, sir?" Harry closed the book and placed it on his lap, feeling a little fond and curious about this talkative person who spoke to him in a friendly manner. "You seem to know him very well. ?”
"...an old friend of mine is a student at Hogwarts," after a moment of silence, the man raised his lips and said with a smile, "He entered the best college at Hogwarts, Gryffindor, which is the college where Principal Dumbledore was born."
"The best?" Harry flipped through the book in his hand, a little confused, "What is the best standard in the wizarding world?"
"..." The man was choked for a moment, but he quickly answered, "Dumbledore is the greatest white wizard currently living. My child - maybe you don't quite understand the differences between the colleges, huh?" He looked at Harry with smiling eyes and introduced enthusiastically, "The admission criteria for Gryffindors are to be brave, full of justice and vitality, and to have a spirit of adventure and chivalry. Are these not good enough?"
Harry was attracted by the fact that the college has its own characteristics and different admissions standards: "I thought it was just about assigning classes according to grades or randomly - the schools I went to before all did this!"
"No, no, no, boy," the man shook his finger at him rather proudly, and said to him in a mysterious tone, "Before you officially enter the school, there will be a sorting ceremony, where you will be sorted into your The most suitable place - I think you are great, there is absolutely no problem in entering Gryffindor, believe me."
With such a tone that was more sales than sales, this man was probably a Gryffindor fan, or a Dumbledore fan. Harry thought to himself.
But he didn't have a good impression of Dumbledore - not only because his father said to him, 'This old man is wise and cunning', but also because the old man made a fuss about his father's legs, which made Harry voluntarily enroll in school immediately. Only after some reflection did I realize that it was really a trap that was like coercion and inducement.
"What about the other colleges?" Harry lowered his head and turned the book along the catalog to the page of the college. "Are you willing to tell me about it? If you don't mind? I," he was a little embarrassed, "I used to I have been living in the United States and have no idea about this.”
"Oh, really?" The man admired sincerely, "Listening to your conversation, I thought you were talking to an authentic British boy."
"My dad once studied in the UK." Harry said, "And it's not like I don't have any British friends. My dad also has many British friends."
There was a look of relief on the man's face for a second or two, and then he said, "You have a great family, kid. So let's talk about other colleges -"
He knocked his hand on the table, revealing his extremely beautiful hand: the paper towels on the table moved on their own, they jumped, bent and folded, and sometimes even tore into two halves of their own accord, and finally remained on the table. On the table, there is a paper lion, a paper eagle, a paper badger, and at the end of the line is a scary-looking paper snake.
"The symbol of Gryffindor is the lion," the lion purred when the man said this. It was so cute, but it also showed its teeth and claws, which made Harry laugh. "The w stands for eagle. This academy often recruits those who are smarter." , a scholar who loves reading, but I have to admit that apart from being a bit nerdy, the people in this college are pretty good. Their recruitment criteria are: wise, fair, erudite, intelligent, far-sighted and curious, and have the ability to study Children of the heart." The paper eagle pecked the back of the man's hand when he said this.
"I like this academy!" Harry picked up the paper eagle on the table, his eyes sparkling, "If my father were a wizard, he would definitely be a student of this academy - this seems like the academy that was born to suit my dad. ! If only I could meet their admissions standards.”
The handsome man opposite him was suspiciously silent again. After wiping his face with his hand, he continued: "Well, then it will be the badger's academy, hufflepuff. The people in this academy are very stupid," the man said easily, "But they all have good hearts, are honest, honest and kind. This is their standard. However, no one is willing to join hufflepuff, because most of them are really ordinary in various aspects, and can even be said to be terrible."
"Why is there such a gap?" Harry thought about it carefully and felt that it was logically wrong. "Isn't this unfair? I mean, since the classes are not based on grades, the four colleges should be the same. , why is it being rated like this? It’s not conducive to unity.”
"This is not a bad thing, boy, don't get me wrong," the man laughed. "Everyone just talks about it. In fact, when you go in, you will find that the students at Hufflepuff are very popular because they are honest, honest and diligent. , and very loyal. They always live in the academy where they feel most comfortable - they don't care what others say, the competition is none of their business."
"But it feels good," Harry said, "It's also nice to spend the college life quietly."
I think of the bloody chaos in American elementary school classes, and the 'Duel of Ice and Fire' and 'Prank One, Two, Three' that are staged every day at Xavier College
'The war caused by cheating to gain skills' and a series of other things that made Hank go out with a headache and come back with a stomachache, Harry really felt that hufflepuff might be a good place.
"Maybe? But boy, I think you will be a gryffindor, and a very good gryffindor. You must be...oh, my God, I'm sorry, kid." The man stood up, took out his wand and waved it, and the air was full of... When the bright color emerged, his expression suddenly turned very bad, "I have to go find my long-winded sister. I'm sorry, I can't explain the rest to you -"
"It's okay. I'm very grateful for being able to say so much." Harry shook his head and gave this man who was probably a gryffindor salesman, but surprisingly objective, a smile thoughtfully. "Thank you for your explanation. Sir, go find your sister quickly, the rest of the academy... Well, I think my friend should be able to tell me."
"Anyway, my final opinion is - don't go into Slytherin, kid." The man simply picked up his coat and said with an expression of 'I'm doing it for your own good' before leaving, "That's not suitable for you. "
Harry: ...Well, sir, I just praised you for being objective, but now you are so quick to overturn my judgment.
After the man left, Harry added another strawberry ice cream ball to himself and read a book while eating. Based on what the man just introduced, he made a rough assessment of the first three colleges and jotted them down in a small notebook. It's a pity that the man's 'sales pitch' stopped at the last college. He really couldn't evaluate this thing just by looking at the text description.
Alas, his father would not choose a college for him, Harry thought, but he was really worried about this issue now!
Doing research but lacking research materials and samples is indeed a headache.
Harry felt that he understood Hank's bitterness at this moment.
"...Is Slytherin really not suitable for me?" The boy touched his head worriedly and muttered to himself in the notebook.
Then suddenly, a drink fell from the sky, followed by the boy's high-pitched shout.
"Are you kidding me? You must enter Slytherin!"
Harry was very confused by this shout. When he looked up, he saw a man wearing normal Muggle clothes looking down at him with a look of disbelief on his face. But after a few seconds, he seemed to realize what he had done in public. He closed his mouth tightly, and his face turned red bit by bit, obviously annoyed and ashamed.
"...Why? And good morning." Harry threw the book aside and asked curiously, "Why do I have to enter Slytherin?"
"Do you want to enter Gryffindor?" He retorted in a tone of 'If you dare to say so, you will be dead'.
"...no." Harry wisely chose to say no. He blinked, looking very innocent. "Actually, I haven't figured out the difference between the academy and the academy yet - let alone know which one is suitable for me. I just want to That’s all you know, don’t be so excited, why are you so surprised?”
I felt regret the moment I said those words - but I couldn't say that. In order to cover up his feelings, he took a deep breath and sat down, seemingly casually, searching for reasons quickly in his mind. When he finally caught a certain point in his mind, he showed a confident smile, "Because I was there that day. The bookstore saw the miscellaneous books you wanted to buy - spells, history of healing, potions - do you want to be a healer?"
"Exactly!" Harry was really surprised now, "You are so awesome, I just picked a few books!"
"Uh-huh," he accepted the compliment as a matter of course, and at the same time, he leaned closer to Harry and said with a mysterious expression and tone that Harry was very familiar with: "Did you know that if you want to get a therapist license, you must take classes in the fifth grade or above? Advanced Potions course, and got an e (s exceeded expectations) or above in seventh grade."
Harry didn't know where his focus was, so he blinked and asked, "So?"
He continued: "But my godfather, Professor Snape, said that he would not let students with outstanding grades go to his advanced potions class."
"...Well, this is a bit difficult." Harry roughly understood what he meant, "I think he...is Professor Snape, who is not an easy person to get along with."
In fact, he kind of disliked the professor, but that was definitely something he couldn't talk about.
He took a sip of the cold drink and said in an experienced tone: "But he is the dean of Slytherin, and he takes great care of Slytherin students. Harry, if you get into Slytherin, I guarantee that your potion performance will improve by leaps and bounds compared to other students." , my dad said he would take care of me at school, think about it, you are with me, and we can receive the special weekend tutoring he occasionally gives me!"
Staring at those burning blue-gray eyes, Harry found that he seemed to have no right to say no.
But he doesn't intend to just settle down like that. After all, this is a matter that will affect his life for seven years: "We can go together even if we are not in the same college. We are still friends even if we are not in the same college."
Look at him like an idiot: "Do you know how Professor Snape treats other students who come to ask him questions?"
"Um? I don't know, maybe you can tell me?"
"The questions have been answered, but a good scolding is inevitable, such as 'This is what I taught in class, have your ears flown to unknown places?'" There was an obvious expression on his face, A pity expression with a strong sense of superiority, "If it were a gryffindor, he would not hesitate to find 10,000 reasons to deduct points for them."
Harry opened his mouth in surprise. He never thought that a teacher could be so biased. Then, he thought of a question: "Do Slytherin and Gryffindor have a bad relationship?"
"It's like fire and water." He said simply and absolutely.
This... the above information, even if it was a sales pitch, Harry had to admit that the sales pitch, or eye drops, was really successful.
He can't fail to get a therapist's license, that's why he went to magic school! In order to get a license and become a real healer, he must have an O in Potions. And for his Potions score, he obviously cannot become the target of the Potions Professor's hostility on the first day of school. ……one.
"...For the sake of my potion, I think it's better not to enter Gryffindor."
Facing Harry's "It's a risk, it's a risk" expression, he nodded with great satisfaction.
now it's right! He didn't want to let his friend go into Gryffindor - Harry should be in Slytherin like him!
"Come on." He pushed the drink cup aside, stood up, and stretched out his hand to Harry, "Let us tell you everything you want to know as we go. I promise, a Malfoy will be your magician. You will be satisfied as a guide in the world."
Harry looked at his pretty little face with a reserved expression, but could not suppress his expectation and smile, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"OK."
…
In a blind corner of an alley not far from the boys, the man was being held against the woman with a wand - the cousin was being scolded severely by the cousin.
"I can't believe you dared to run out like that."
"I cast the Ignore Charm."
"You might get caught."
"I know."
"You might be awarded the Dementor's Kiss on the spot."
"I know."
"you will die."
"……I know."
The man turned his head, revealing his haggard but handsome face. He threw the spare wand to his cousin and looked at Harry not far away, looking at him greedily, unwilling to even blink, as if that was the most extravagant act in the world.
"I just want to see him," the man——Sirius Bck whispered, "He has a very good family now. I'm not worried that he won't be able to eat or wear new clothes-but he should have an elder around. Before he enters the school, tell him about Hogwarts Academy. This is the treatment that every little wizard born in a wizarding family should have."
"So," Narcissa looked calm, but suppressed the bitterness and pity in her heart, "you finally thought that you are still the godfather of a child?"
"James is gone," Sirius said, "no one will talk to him anymore - he will be enrolling in school soon, Narcissa."
He might never have this opportunity again - an opportunity as a wizard to tell his godson something about hogwarts.
"If I miss this, maybe I will regret it for the rest of my life."
That boy should have grown up like a prince under the doting care of his biological parents, and happily listened to his parents telling him everything about hogwarts before entering school, instead of sitting in a cold drink shop, holding a book like a little wizard from a Muggle family. Go find what he wants.
"I regret it, Sissi." He called his cousin's nickname, unwilling to take his eyes away from the boy for almost a moment. The pain in his voice almost condensed into substance, "If I hadn't been in jail, he would have been there now. I'll be with him, pick out the wand, buy the books, customize the uniform - I'll give him the best."
Narcissa quietly retracted her wand.
"Then give him the best, Sirius." The arrogant witch raised her chin, turned and left, stepping on the high heels of her shoes for strength, "Go find the traitor, clear your name, clean bck The reputation of your family, give it glory - then you can give your boy the best of everything, and you no longer have to hide in the corner to look at him secretly! Instead of having the strength to escape to see him, it is better to waste your time thinking , how can we find that villain..."
She spoke faster and faster, and finally dropped a shocking bomb in Sirius's ear.
"You have to hurry up, Sirius. As far as I know, there are some people who don't want 'harry·r' to live."
