HP 2

I was jolted awake by a loud banging on the door, interrupting my uncomfortable slumber. My neck ached from the awkward position in which I had dozed off. It took me a moment to orient myself and remember that I had passed out in the armchair. The persistent pounding on the door only intensified my throbbing headache, which was anything but pleasant.

"Coming!" I shout out, with annoyance in my voice, and extract myself from the armchair.

Opening the door, I'm greeted by an unknown person, dressed in what seems to be a cheap uniform.

"Good morning sir." He greets me. "It's eleven o'clock, if you don't check out, we would require you to pay for another day of stay."

"Ugh." I massage the side of my head and slowly nodded at him. "Alright, I'm leaving." I give a quick glance at the room, spot my shirt on the floor, and with a swift motion I look downward, and I'm instantly calmed down as I notice the blue glow has completely vanished. I pick up the shirt and pull it on, give the keys to the guy, and leave the establishment.

The run-down place I'd just spent the night in, looked even worse in the morning, the healthy standards of this time weren't up to the level of the future. I sigh, as even with all the numbness I'm currently feeling, I have made a good choice not sleeping in that bed. Who knows what kind of bugs or other shit I would have been exposed to.

I wasn't in the best part of the town, and the filthy street and the homeless people in it reflected that. Not even cabs could be found on these streets, and that fucking annoyed me. I was a few kilometers away from the good part of the town, but there was no chance I could display my full superhuman speed in daylight, so running there wasn't an option. I give a quick glance at my status screen, to try to come up with another way to get out of here and into a better neighborhood, and I spot the skill that made me faint.

[Mana Manipulation LVL:1/100]

- Eases the ability to control mana by 1%/LVL.

That instant I spot the skill, it takes all my willpower not to straight up just try it. I've already noticed a faint new sensation traveling through my body this morning, but I didn't have the time to check it out. The instinctual knowledge gained together with the skill, allowed me to understand that what I was feeling, was mana traveling through my body.

My inquisitive nature wins over my willpower and soon I will a small amount of it to travel down my hand, right into my finger, and as soon as it does, the tip of my finger shines brightly. I chuckle to myself as I felt like E.T., but then I realize where I am and with a swift motion I hide my shining finger inside my pocket. That, however, didn't help a lot, as the bright blue light shone right through my pants.

Looking around I try to see if anyone spotted my idiotic attempt at magic, and I notice an unkempt older lady, with a shopping cart filled with all kinds of crap, looking my way. Her mouth and eyes were opened wide, and she was pointing at me while stuttering.

'Fuck, better get out of here.' I pick up the tempo and move to the other side of the street, trying to lose the homeless lady who was following and shouting at me. But as soon as I close up to the road, a loud bang could be heard, accompanied by a two-story red bus appearing before me.

Its doors suddenly open and a guy wearing thick glasses and a blue well ironed uniform asks. "Hey chap, you called?"

'How the fuck did I summon the Knight Bus.' Shaking my head and getting out of my perplexed state I answer the guy with a question. "Yes?" I clear my throat. "I mean, yes. To the Leaky Cauldron." The guy nods and pulls a lever and a ticket materializes before him.

"That will be eleven Sickles." He says handing it to me. I nod and convert one UC to galleons, and end up with nine in my pocket. I pull out one and play him the fare, he shakes his head and gives me back a change of eighteen Sickles, then he tilts his head to the side and ushers me in. "What are you waiting for? Get in, we're running late!"

Nodding, I step onto the bus and move to the closest seat, as soon as I sit down the front door closes with a loud click and the guy shouts back. "Buckle up!" I look to the side and see no seatbelts. 'Fuck! I forgot about this!' Just as the bus starts up, I look through the window and spot the old lady arguing with another guy, repeatedly pointing in the bus's direction with a disappointed expression, while the guy just shook and scratched the side of his head with an annoyed one.

My chuckle quickly turns into a scream as the G forces push me into the seat, the bus driver stepped on the gas pedal, and the bus suddenly sped up, like shot out of a cannon. In moments it reached its full speed, and after the forces caused by acceleration even out, I am allowed to catch my breath. I look through the windows only to see the scenery changing too fast even for my augmented perception.

I had no idea how the driver could actually steer at these speeds, but the heavily enchanted bus dodged the cars without any trouble. As the bus neared a tunnel, the driver shout out. "Grab onto something!", and so I did. I grab the side of my seat, which wasn't even bolted down to the bus, and watch in horror as the bus flips upside down and travels on top of the tunnel ceiling at full speed. I flip upside down, hanging from the seat, which to my utter surprise, didn't actually fall down, but the moment the bus reorients itself, I do. The seat, however, cushions my fall, and when the sudden deceleration forces hit me, as the driver stepped on the break, the seat before me deforms and then shoots me back.

"1st Stop! Leaky Cauldron!" Shouts out the driver, to the bus empty of anyone except for me.

With shaky legs, I stand up and get off the bus, and as soon as I do, the loud closing of the door and a crack could be heard, and the bus disappears leaving only an afterimage.

I give glance at the system map, and I'm shocked by what I see. A clear, almost straight line was drawn through London, from the bad part of town I was previously in, straight to the other side of town where I'm currently standing. The bus traveled almost fifty kilometers in barely a minute.

"These wizards are crazy." I mumble to myself while shaking my head, but a small smile appears on my face. This was the first time I experienced what was possible with magic, and it was amazing. Yes, it felt dangerous, but from what I could understand, the enchantments inside of the bus kept all of the travelers safe. Only my clothes and hair were in disarray, but I had not suffered a single injury.

"I'm pretty sure that even if I didn't hold on to anything, I would have just bounced off the inner side of the bus." I mumble and turn around, spotting an old-looking pub a few feet away from me.

The pub was located on a corner of two shops and looked pretty small from the outside. The black windows and door, made the place look unwelcoming. A large yellow sign to the left of the front door, depicted a cauldron, while over it with golden letters "Leaky Cauldron" was written.

I take a deep breath and reach the doorknob, opening it I'm transported to a whole new world. The place was larger on the inside than on the outside, and spatial expansion magic was clearly used. The walls were littered with magical paintings and posters. The main hall had two rows of sturdy-looking tables and a bar with an attendant at the end of it. The side of the hall had multiple archways separating and making room for additional tables. Three large circular chandeliers hung off the ceiling, lighting up the room with the help of the lamps mounted on the walls. All of them housed magical candles, that shone brighter than a light bulb. The establishment, however, was still a bit gloomy, but it did have its own charm.

As soon as I stepped into the pub, the chatter stopped and all eyes were on me. This wasn't a surprise, I was new in town and no one knew me, add the fact that I have barely visible Asian heritage in me and you could clearly understand the suspicion of these people. On top of all of that, I was wearing muggle clothes.

The wizarding world was racist in many ways, they didn't only look down on Muggleborn or Halfbloods, but they also looked down on wizards from other countries.

Ignoring the commotion, I just caused, I casually walked down the hall up to the bar and greeted the attendant.

"Hi, I'm looking for..." I try to remember the name of the guy and come up with what I think is the correct one "Umm... Tom?"

"You found him." He says, continuing to polish a glass.

"Fantastic!" I say excitedly. "I'm new in town, I need to get into the alley."

He nods and tilts his head to the side, before telling me to follow him. We exit the side of the building and enter a small, walled-off courtyard with a trashcan in the middle of it.

Before me stands the famous wall, separating Diagon Alley from the rest of the world. He takes out his wand and taps on a specific brick, and the wall, accompanied by a low rumble, unravels itself. An archway forms and through it the wonders of the magical world await me.

Tom clears his throat and pulls my attention. "From the rubbish bin, three up and two across, will open the way, remember it for next time." He says.

"Thank you." I say sincerely.

"I'll be seeing you again. Mr. Thompson." He says before leaving me alone in the courtyard.

Just as I was about to step through the archway, I freeze mid-motion. "Did I ever tell him my name?" The realization makes me grimace. "Whatever..." I shake my head and proceed through the arch.

As I enter the alley, I feel like I'm transported to another world. The crowded streets were filled with wizards and witches, wearing pointy hats and colorful robes. The place I was currently in was stranger than I thought it would be, but I felt at home. Plentitudes of shops and stalls littered the street. People shouting trying to sell their wares. Cages filled with magical creatures on one side of the street, while on the other, levitating buckets and brooms with other cleaning supplies. It was a strange experience but a welcome one.

In my mundane, so-called, muggle clothes, I looked out of place and I was pulling unwanted attention to myself, and as soon as I spotted the famous clothes shop. I smiled and entered.

"Greetings!" Greeted me the fairly young attendant behind the counter of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "What can I do for you?"

"Good morning. I'd like to purchase a few sets of robes." I say after greeting her.

"Oh, certainly!" She perks up and gives me a quick glance, then grimaces and says. "Certainly, you are in a dire need of new clothes. Follow me to the back, I'll get you measured, and we can get you out of those horrible things."

As I enter the back room and a measuring tape, all by itself, starts taking my measurements and my sizes magically appear on a paper in the attendant's hands. The cheeky little thing even tried to measure my manhood, before getting swatted away by the attendant. She looks away shyly and apologizes. "Sorry about that..." Before turning at the measuring tape and glaring. "That cheeky little thing will be replaced if it continues doing that." I couldn't help but chuckle as she scolded the animated object, which actually tilted itself forward and looked... Sad?

"Now, I do have a few robes, in your size, nothing special, but way better, and no offense, than the filth you're wearing." She says with a disapproving look while waving at my clothes.

"Pff... None taken, my lugged was lost in my travels and even if I didn't want to I had to buy some muggle clothes."

"Totally understandable, now get into the changing room, get out of them so we can get rid of them and I'll bring you a full set of robes." She pushes me into the changing room and but before pulling the curtains close, she asks. "Is black acceptable?" Astonished by her behavior, I could only nod. "Be back in a minute, I'll hand it over the curtains." She closes the curtains and I can hear her skipping away.

'The fucks wrong with this world...' I just shake my head and undress. Not a minute passes, and a hand holding black pants, a white shirt, and a black robe reaches into the changing room.

"There you go!" She excitedly announces.

"Umm... Thanks."

The clothes weren't magical as far as I could tell, but at the same time, they were perfect for not pulling attention to me. I tried them on and looked in the mirror, and I didn't hate how I looked. The robes had a hoodie and two pockets on the inside, perfect for holding a coin purse or hiding your wand. The black pants, made out of the same material as the robe, similarly to it, had only two pockets located on the front and were just the right length to cover the top of my ankles. Thankfully, the attendant understood my style from the muggle clothes she saw, as the white shirt she gave me didn't have any frilly bits hanging off of it. If we ignored the robe and my boots, I looked well dressed, even for the muggle standards of the world.

As soon as I exit the dressing room, the attendant claps. "Now you look like a proper wizard. Let me get rid of those ugly clothes for you." She waves her hand before I could voice my disagreement, and she vanishes the stuff I bought in the library. The deadpan glare I was giving her, must have made it clear that she just fucked up. A wry smile appears on her face and she asks. "Did you perchance need those for something?"

I sigh and shake my head. "It's alright..." 'Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, they barely cost anything, and you're going to be learning how to cast a spell today!' After a deep breath, I make a fake smile and ask. "Do you have this same thing in blue?"

"We do!" replies cheerfully and skips away the girl. Moments later she brings out another set, this one colored in a dark shade of blue, I nod and I don't even attempt to try it on.

"So how much do I owe you for these two sets?"

"Let's go to the register and I'll tally it all up. Do you want me to pack the other set?"

"Yes." She waves her wand and out of nowhere a brown packaging paper is summoned, and the clothes are wrapped up in moments. She starts counting up the price and cheerfully announces. "The total will be 36 galleons."

I reach into my pocket, realizing, that this was a new set of clothes I just bought here, and there shouldn't be a way I had money in them, but in the end, I just shrug and pull out 36 galleons converted from UC, and give it to her. She gives me a quizzical look, checking the gold coins' legitimacy, but ultimately shrugs and places it into the cash register. It accepts the money without an issue while making a "Caching" noise and with a bright smile, the attendant turns to me. "Thank you for your patronage."

I leave the store, holding the package under my armpit, and start walking down the street. As I walk around, gawking at the amazing things magic was capable of, I finally arrive at the shop I was dreaming to visit since I was a kid.

A large two-window shop, filled with shelves and a counter stand before me. Golden letters, contrasted by the silver-colored frame, display the following text. "Ollivanders Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."

The doorbell rings as I enter, and behind the desk, an older gentleman pops up. He gives me a quizzical look and greets me.

"Greetings. I must say that I'm proud of my memory, but I can't seem to place you anywhere, Mr.?"

"Good morning, Mr. Ollivander. Yes, I didn't have the pleasure to meet you before, my name is Andrew, Andrew Thompson."

"Ahh! The new Muggle Studies professor!" The old guy perks up.

"Oh? You heard about me?" I ask confused.

"Yes, yes, Marcella, the old Muggle Studies professor talked about you. She mentioned that a bright young wizard will be taking over her position in Hogwarts."

"Good to know I'm already famous." I say with a chuckle, while inwardly I was amazed by how far the background systems went, with implementing me into the story.

"So how can I help you, Mr. Thompson?" The old wandmaker finally asks.

"Well, it's a bit of an embarrassing story so I'll try to keep it to myself, but in short, I need a new wand."

His eyebrows perk up and he couldn't help but ask. "May I ask what happened with the old one?"

"All I'm willing to disclose is that a flight attendant's firm behind might have accidentally sat on it, while she in a compromised position." I say rubbing the side of my head.

"Totally understandable." He nods in understanding. "Happens to the best of us." He says before a chuckle leaves his throat. After he calms down he clears his throat and says. "However, I'm actually surprised by the fact you used a wand and not a focus ring, which is more popular in Japan."

"And I had a lot of hate directed toward me because of it. Part of my family is from England and I wanted to stay traditional." I say and he nods eagerly.

"Good to hear, that some of our traditions were not lost even to our brethren who moved to the far East." He says with a proud smile. "Let's get you a new wand."