"Ron, over here!"
Among the crowd, Adrian saw someone beckoning to them. It was a middle-aged red-haired man with a cheerful appearance. Adrian also saw him nod kindly toward him.
Next to the red-haired middle-aged man stood a slightly plump woman. She had her hands on her hips and was angrily scolding George and Fred. The two had faces like wilted flowers, not daring to say a word.
Adrian immediately understood they must be the Weasleys, and George and Fred were being scolded probably because their History of Magic failure had been exposed.
"My dad's calling me. I'm going over first. You can come to my house when you have time. I'll send you a letter during the holidays." Ron turned his head to speak, then pushed his suitcase into the crowd.
Because it was too crowded here, Adrian didn't plan to go over and meet them. Besides, he didn't know whether they knew he was the child of a dark wizard and couldn't wait to see him.
Then Harry was quickly pulled away by his Uncle Dursley. The man didn't even want to stay a moment longer. He wore a sour face and ignored Adrian and the others.
Hermione's father, Mr. Granger, was very friendly, and Adrian politely chatted with him for a few words.
Most of the young wizards were picked up, and the crowd became sparse. Adrian tried to find the figure of his mother, Irene, in the crowd and suddenly noticed someone holding his shoulder.
Adrian's wand hidden in his sleeve was already in his hand, but before he could do anything, he was hugged from behind.
A scent of lavender came from behind, and Adrian relaxed his guard. In his memory, this was the perfume his mother used.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, Irene's unique and cheerful voice rang in his ears.
"We haven't seen each other for a year. You seem to have grown much taller and become even more handsome. Have you missed your mother these days?"
"Of course... I have!" Adrian told a lie helplessly.
Turning to look, there was a beautiful witch behind him, wearing a dark green wizard robe that seemed to have been carefully tailored. It retained the original vintage style while also highlighting her figure. She appeared to be in her early thirties.
Adrian was very uncomfortable being in such close contact with a beautiful and unfamiliar woman, even if she was nominally his own mother.
"Really? Then why didn't I see you send even a single letter back?" The smile at the corner of Irene's mouth closed, and she stretched out her index finger to flick Adrian's forehead with great dissatisfaction.
Adrian hesitated to find a reason. His eyes swept across the snow-white owl in the cage, and he had an idea and said with conviction.
"I sent them! Maybe Echo got lost halfway!"
"You know, I just bought him at the beginning of school, so Echo might not even recognize the way home..." Adrian quickly threw the blame on Echo, who was safely staying in the cage looking at him innocently.
"Really?" Irene didn't argue but looked at him with a smile on her face.
Adrian swallowed, feeling the air pressure around him grow a little cold.
Aisia didn't expose Adrian's lies but looked at the owl in the cage and smiled softly.
"I happened to learn a new dish yesterday, stewed owl soup. Maybe we'll have that tonight."
'Stewed owl soup?'
The corners of Adrian's mouth twitched.
'Do you need to be so cruel?'
"But I heard from Professor McGonagall that an owl is a wizard's best friend, and no wizard should harm their owl..." Adrian tried to persuade her.
"Really? The Ministry of Magic doesn't have a prohibition on cooking owls..." Irene said without comment, then pulled Adrian's wrist and walked out of the station.
'Even if there were regulations, would you still listen to the Ministry of Magic?'
Adrian thought helplessly but still tried his best to say good things for Echo. Finally, he managed to change Irenes mind.
The reason was very simple. It would cost a lot of money to replace a pet.
The two of them went all the way. Adrian had already changed out of his wizard robe at the station. Now he wore blue casual clothes like the Muggle pedestrians around him, blending well into the crowd.
But Irene was the opposite. Her unique temperament, beautiful face, and distinctive wizard robes attracted the attention of pedestrians, but she didn't care at all and walked ahead confidently.
After leaving the station, there were more and more pedestrians. All the way to a commercial street, Adrian looked up and saw a dirty and small pub. It looked dark and shabby compared with the gorgeously decorated clothing stores and record stores nearby. It seemed somewhat out of place.
In fact, the same was true. There seemed to be some invisible obstacle here. Adrian saw a lady trying to move forward but took a large detour without even noticing it.
'Is this the Muggle-Repelling Charm?'
Adrian looked at this magical scene. He wanted to explore how it worked, but it obviously wasn't the time now.
Aisia had already taken him into the Leaky Cauldron at this point.
As one of the important intersections between the magical world and the Muggle world, the Leaky Cauldron had hot business at all times. On the vintage bar counter, the old bartender Tom was chatting leisurely with an odd-looking elderly witch.
Two wizards sat at a side table and whispered something. A few idle drunks drank Butterbeer and even whistled at Irene, but they didn't come up to speak presumptuously.
"I need to use Floo Powder and the fireplace!" Irene completely ignored the drunks. Her face looked very stern, without the gentle manner she'd shown in front of Adrian. She threw a copper Knut on the counter, her tone firm.
This kind of performance was very unpleasant, but sometimes it could reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble.
"Of course, you're free to..." The bar owner was a very agreeable person. After receiving the money, he reminded them the Floo Powder was placed in the box above the fireplace.
"You go first. Don't move around when you get there. Remember, Knockturn Alley!" Irene grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and handed it to Adrian.
Adrian was a little surprised why she didn't send them directly to their house, but he still took the Floo Powder. The small particles were ignited by magic in the fireplace.
"Knockturn Alley!" Adrian said.
Faint green flames rose up, and Adrian felt a little warmth in his body, but it wasn't like a flame burning.
Then there was a sensation of space displacement. His body seemed to be drawn into a spinning drum, rotating quickly. It made Adrian dizzy for a while, and he couldn't even open his eyes to see the entire transmission process clearly.