August 7th, Charlie's birthday.
The morning sun streamed through the gaps in the curtains, but Charlie was still lounging in bed.
The constant +1+1 foolish monarch points reminders had forced Charlie to block them out completely, otherwise he couldn't even sleep soundly.
[...]
"Charlie, you have mail downstairs!" Grandma White's voice called from below.
Charlie slowly got out of bed, put on his clothes, and yawned as he went downstairs.
A stack of letters was piled on the dining table, various colored envelopes mixed together, looking quite impressive.
"Happy birthday, Charlie," Grandma White said with a smile.
"It seems you've made quite a few friends at school."
Charlie picked up the letters to check them; most were greeting cards from friends wishing him a happy birthday, and even a few Professors had written letters.
Charlie replied to each one.
He picked up the last letter.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Second-Year Booklist."
Charlie opened the envelope, which contained a long piece of parchment.
"Dear Mr. White, please purchase the following books before September 1st..."
The booklist was densely covered with various textbooks, among which a series of books stood out particularly.
The Complete Works of Gilderoy Lockhart.
Charlie narrowed his eyes. So many books? Lockhart must have gotten a kickback.
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Thump, thump, thump."
A knock sounded, and the entire door panel vibrated.
"I'll get it."
Charlie said to Grandma White.
Opening the Orphanage door, Hagrid's enormous figure appeared in the doorway.
"Happy birthday, Charlie!"
Hagrid grinned, holding a package and a small box.
"Hagrid, why are you here?" Charlie was a little surprised.
"Of course, I'm here to celebrate your birthday," Hagrid squeezed through the door.
"Also, Norbert's food is almost gone, so I brought it some fresh stuff."
Charlie understood; delivering food was the real reason, his birthday was just a bonus.
Grandma White's eyes flashed with surprise when she saw Hagrid.
This man was too tall.
"Grandma, this is my friend Hagrid," Charlie introduced.
"Hello, Mrs. White," Hagrid nodded politely.
"Charlie is a good child."
Grandma White smiled.
"You two chat, I'll go prepare lunch in the kitchen."
Hagrid handed the package and box to Charlie.
"This is the birthday cake I made for you, and Norbert's food."
Charlie took the package, feeling its weight; it seemed to be a cake.
And the box, of course, contained Norbert's rations.
Although Hagrid was only the Hogwarts gamekeeper, getting a small undetectable extension trunk was very easy for him.
Raising a dragon was definitely not allowed, but transporting dragon rations was perfectly fine.
"Thank you, Hagrid."
The two went to Charlie's room, and Hagrid looked around curiously.
"Your room is really nice," Hagrid said, "Much tidier than my Hut."
Charlie opened the undetectable extension trunk and led Hagrid inside.
Norbert heard the movement and immediately flew over from the hills.
Seeing the two, Norbert excitedly roared.
"Norbert!" Hagrid spread his arms, a wide smile on his face.
"You've grown so much!"
"Come give your mama a hug."
Norbert also flew over excitedly, then mercilessly bypassed Hagrid and lay down in front of Charlie.
Hagrid was petrified on the spot.
Charlie said awkwardly:
"Don't overthink it, Norbert just hasn't seen you in a long time."
Hagrid watched Norbert affectionately rub his head against Charlie, covering his face and weeping.
"I understand, I get it..."
Charlie pulled out a large piece of fresh beef from the box.
Norbert's eyes lit up, and it immediately grabbed the meat and flew to the side to enjoy it.
Hagrid was helpless; Norbert wasn't close to him, and he had no recourse.
He turned and said to Charlie:
"Charlie, I have something else."
"Do you know of any Potion that can repel carnivorous slugs? My pumpkin patch is full of those annoying bugs."
"I thought you, as a Potions Master, would be very familiar with these Potions."
Charlie was stunned for a moment.
"Hagrid, that's not a Potion, that's a pesticide."
Hagrid awkwardly scratched his head.
"Oh, is that so? I wasn't good at Potion Class when I was at school."
"It seems I'll have to go to Knockturn Alley to look."
"Knockturn Alley?" Charlie caught the keyword.
Hagrid realized he had let something slip again and quickly tried to cover it up.
But then he thought, Charlie's strength couldn't be measured by that of an ordinary Young Wizard.
So he told Charlie everything.
"Knockturn Alley is next to Diagon Alley," Hagrid whispered.
"It's an underground black market with all sorts of things you can't normally buy."
"But it's very dangerous there, with quite a few Dark Wizard lurking."
Charlie's eyes lit up.
"Does Knockturn Alley have any Potions for sterilizing animals?"
Hagrid looked puzzled.
"Sterilization? Who needs to be sterilized? Why sterilize?"
Charlie pointed to Storm on the windowsill.
"Storm has been too noisy lately, full of energy with nowhere to vent."
"I want to sterilize it to make it quieter."
Storm, who had been sleeping, heard Charlie call it and looked at the two in confusion.
Hagrid scratched his head.
"I don't know if Knockturn Alley has such a Potion, but we can go look."
"How about we go together?"
Charlie had exactly that in mind.
After buying the Potion, he could also go to Diagon Alley to buy books for next semester.
"Sure, when should we go?"
"Let's go now," Hagrid said.
The two climbed out of the box, and Charlie changed his clothes.
"Grandma, Hagrid and I are going out for a bit," Charlie called downstairs.
"Be careful!" Grandma White's voice came from the kitchen.
The two took the subway to the Leaky Cauldron.
Walking to the pub's backyard, Hagrid tapped the brick wall with his wand, and the wall slowly opened, revealing the bustling streets of Diagon Alley.
"Follow me," Hagrid reminded.
"Knockturn Alley isn't on the main street."
The two passed through the crowd and came to the entrance of a dark alley.
A dilapidated sign stood at the alley's mouth: Knockturn Alley.
[Your Majesty has entered a den of iniquity, losing royal dignity, foolish monarch points +5]
The air in Knockturn Alley was filled with a musty smell and the pungent odor of unknown Potions.
Charlie followed behind Hagrid, surveying the dark alley.
The shops on both sides looked dilapidated, the writing on their signs was blurry, and their display windows held various strange items.
Charlie strongly suspected that Hagrid should be going to a farmers' market for medicine.
The two walked around the alley; most shops were selling Dark Arts items, such as turtle shell restraint necklaces, forgetting Potions, invisibility Potions, and the like.
Just as he was about to suggest to Hagrid that they try somewhere else, two familiar figures emerged from a shop called Borgin and Burkes ahead.
Their platinum blonde hair was particularly striking in the dim alley.
Lucius Malfoy leaned on his snake-head cane, with Draco following closely behind him.
The father and son had just come out of the shop, and Draco's face looked somewhat pale.
Lucius spotted Charlie at a glance, and an elegant smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Mr. White, what a coincidence," Lucius walked over, nodding politely in greeting.
"I didn't expect to meet you here."
Charlie also responded politely:
"Mr. Malfoy, good afternoon."
Draco stood behind his father, and his body visibly stiffened the moment he saw Charlie.
Remembering his father's instructions, he forced out a smile:
"Long time no see, Charlie, the weather is really nice today."
Charlie looked at the dark clouds overhead with a puzzled expression.
My friend, are you of sound mind?
-------------------------------
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