Granger Family

That afternoon, Victor appeared on the streets of London on time, waiting in front of the thirteenth shop on Charing Cross Road.

He was still wearing that black cloak and a top hat pulled low, covering the upper half of his face, revealing only his pale chin. This made passersby glance at him a few more times, but fortunately it was a weekday, so there weren't many people around.

After waiting for about three to five minutes, Victor spotted Professor McGonagall in the crowd.

Minerva McGonagall is a serious witch, always with her hair neatly tied in a bun and wearing an elegant green robe. Victor had seen a small tidbit about her in the Hogwarts professors' introduction he read yesterday; it was said that she once fell in love with a Muggle, but chose to give up love because she couldn't give up her career as a transfiguration artist, and remains unmarried to this day.

There aren't many people left who are this ambitious.

However, what's even more eye-catching are the three people following behind Professor McGonagall.

It was a couple and a little girl. The little girl had fluffy hair and looked timid, but her features and attire exuded a strong scholarly air.

The group of people spotted Victor immediately.

Professor McGonagall immediately came over and greeted him with a gentle nod:

"Mr. Van der Bohm."

"Professor McGonagall."

Victor nodded in response.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. The subway was half an hour late because we're not allowed to use magic in Muggle areas after picking up the students, so we had to be a little late."

"It's okay."

"That's good. Speaking of which, I've already received the appointment confirmation that Albus brought you a couple of days ago. The approval process should be completed in the next couple of days."

Professor McGonagall gave a faint smile, her attitude noticeably better than when they last met.

"It's just a pity we didn't get to know each other better beforehand, Mr. Vanderbom. I guess we'll only see each other again when school starts. New students need to enroll, teaching materials need to be approved, and my time is getting increasingly tight. That's why I had to ask you to take them to buy school supplies."

"I forgot to introduce him—"

"These two are Mr. and Mrs. Granger; they run a dental clinic."

"This is Miss Hermione Granger, one of our freshmen this year."

As Professor McGonagall spoke, she shifted slightly to the side, allowing Victor to meet the gazes of the Grangers and Hermione.

Mr. Granger quickly reached out his hand:

Hello, hello.

"Hello there."

Victor shook hands with him.

But as they shook hands, Victor slightly raised the brim of his hat. Because he was a bit taller than Mr. Granger and his hat wasn't pulled down too low, his somewhat strange, predominantly black, hollow eyes were exposed to the Granger family, causing Mr. Granger's hand to tremble involuntarily.

"Ah!" Hermione, who was already on edge, couldn't help but let out a low, short cry.

After regaining her senses, a blush immediately spread across her face.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Professor."

"It's okay."

Victor calmly nodded to her and then released his hand from Mr. Granger's.

Professor McGonagall smiled and spoke up at the opportune moment: "Miss Granger may be too nervous, but she is a good girl."

"I've already explained a lot of basic magical knowledge to her. You won't need to repeat it all when you take them in later."

After saying that, she turned to the Grangers and introduced them: "This is Professor Victor Vanderbom, who is in charge of the divination class."

"Fortune telling?"

Mr. Granger was somewhat surprised. Could wizards really predict the future?

But then he thought, wizards and magic already exist, so divination isn't impossible.

Professor McGonagall nodded: "Yes, but divination is an elective course, only for students in their third year and above. Miss Granger will learn more about it later."

"In addition, the checklist for new students includes the teaching materials required for each subject, which can only be obtained by visiting multiple Diagon Alley stores."

"I personally recommend that you go to Gringotts first, then Madam Malkin's Robes Shop, Flourish and Blotts, Ollivanders Wand Shop, and finally the Cauldron Shop and Eeyore's Owl Shop. This way you can buy everything before sunset without having to run around repeatedly."

"Oh, okay, thank you very much."

Mr. Granger clearly didn't understand the meaning of each word, but he guessed that it wasn't being spoken to them, but rather to Professor Victor.

Hermione, however, was still reeling from the awkward moment.

What am I doing?

Her face, peeking out from her tousled hair, was filled with annoyance, and she couldn't help but twist her arms behind her back.

"The professor isn't that scary, so why did I react that way? Did I leave a bad impression?"

Hermione had always been a good student and couldn't stand not being liked by her professors. This feeling was especially strong when Hogwarts was still a magic school she knew nothing about.

Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall and Victor's small talk quickly came to an end.

Professor McGonagall then looked at Victor and said, "I still need to submit some application forms to the Ministry of Magic. I'll leave the rest to you, Mr. Vanderbom."

"Okay. Goodbye, Professor McGonagall."

Professor McGonagall then bid farewell to Victor, resuming her usual serious demeanor, and walked towards the corner of the alley. Victor guessed she was going to Apparate directly to the Ministry of Magic, a common method of movement for wizards.

After Professor McGonagall's figure completely disappeared, the remaining few people finally had time to examine each other.

The Grangers exchanged a glance, then secretly looked at Victor's somewhat sinister appearance, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly—the descriptions of wizards in literary works were indeed accurate.

"...Where do we go now?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron bar next door first."

"But we haven't seen any bars with this brand name?"

"Come with me."

Victor didn't explain much to them, but simply led the way to a small bar sandwiched between two tall shops. There was a sign on the top of the bar that read: Break the Cauldron.

From the store entrance alone, you would never guess that there is such a large space inside.

To Muggles, it was just a wall.

Victor was the first to disappear into the 'wall'.

The Grangers, full of doubt, were led by him to touch the area, and then Hermione pulled them into the Leaky Cauldron.

The inside and outside of the wall seem to be two extremes.

Upon entering the pub, the tranquil and aloof atmosphere of the London streets vanished, replaced by a bustling pub filled with the buzzing of wizards chatting.

"My goodness, this is... truly amazing," Mrs. Granger exclaimed.

"What's so amazing about it?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "The bar has always been here."

"It's normal that Mrs. Granger can't see," Victor said softly from the front.

"This place has been cursed with a Muggle banishment charm and a confusion charm. Only wizards with magical powers can see it; Muggles will think it's a wall."

"There are many types of Muggle banishment charms, as well as others that remind Muggles of urgent matters when they get close, which also achieve the same banishment effect. All of these are in service of the Secrets Act."

"What if someone still accidentally wanders in?" Mr. Granger asked curiously.

"That will be handled by the Ministry of Magic's Enforcement Division, usually using a Forgetfulness Charm."

After explaining all this, he led the Grangers toward the steps of the bar, preparing to enter Diagon Alley.

However, as Victor walked past the wizards drinking and chatting, he noticed that they were unusually restless today, as if something great had happened; almost everyone was talking about something with great interest. He then took a look at the conversation between two wizards at the bar.

They said excitedly:

"Have you heard? Harry Potter! The great savior! He was here yesterday!"

"Yes, right here where we're sitting. I even shook hands with him!"