Vasilisa's Doll

"Hmm... I remember Privet Drive is... in the direction of London," Harry said hesitantly, somewhat apprehensive that his identity as a non-wizard would be discovered.

The people in this house are very strange, and they live in a place shrouded in mist, which reminds Harry of the fairy tales he used to read.

In those stories, witches and wizards who possess magic are not good people.

But while they were chatting, Grandma Yaga first placed a plate in front of him, then poured in some stewed beef, freshly cut garlic bread, and a few freshly baked delicate cookies.

"Thank you," Harry said again, feeling guilty about his earlier thoughts.

Beside him, Victor's dark eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking somewhat confused.

"London? That Muggle enclave?"

"...I knew this child wasn't from the wizarding world," Granny Yaga put down the plate. "I told you before, he said his cousin would bully him with his fists. What wizard would use such a low-level method?"

"Tsk, that's troublesome." Victor shook his head. "I've never been there before. How do you find the way? I heard a wizard say... it's through an underground path?"

"The subway," Grandma Yaga corrected.

"Okay, the subway." Victor looked somewhat dissatisfied.

"But I've never been there. Oh well, let's take him to the Ministry of Magic and ask. Who knows what the magic schools here are thinking, letting a child who knows magic grow up and still not live in the wizarding community."

After he finished speaking, he moved his finger to the side, causing a soup spoon to float in front of Harry's eyes, float to the plate on the right, scoop up a large spoonful of soup, and then pour a little into each of the three people's plates.

Harry watched helplessly as the spoon did it.

"...You've got it wrong, I don't have magic," Harry said, somewhat frustrated.

"Impossible," Victor interrupted him casually, without explaining why.

After saying all that, he put his hands down, directed all the cutlery to float back to their proper places, and then picked up his own portion of rice.

"...Alright, let's eat."

At this moment, the three of them were positioned at three sides of a square dining table. Harry sat to Victor's left and to Grandma Yaga's right, with an exquisite ceramic plate and a corner of a square checkered tablecloth in front of him.

Harry's questions exploded in his head like fireworks, and he couldn't decide which to ask first, but he quickly decided not to ask any of them—because Victor didn't seem to be ready to answer him.

So he could only start eating.

After taking the first bite of the oatmeal with beef, Harry couldn't help but have a huge appetite, even wanting to eat his own fingers. The beef was tender and the broth was just right; he had never eaten anything so delicious.

When he was with the Dursleys, he was lucky to get a whole piece of bacon every day.

He had never even lived in such a nice house or slept in such a nice bed.

As Harry ate, he felt the place was so beautiful it was almost unreal, as if he were in a dream. But while he ate, he couldn't help but think about magic.

Magic? Can he even use magic?

Is it possible to make chicken feet grow at the base of a house?

He looked at Victor, who was even directing the bread-making process while eating, and then at the elderly Grandma Yaga, and realized that he was actually nothing like them.

But when he turned around to look at other things, he suddenly noticed a strange doll on the bookshelf next to him.

It was a doll with braided pigtails, sitting on a classic wooden shelf, among rows of thick books. It had delicate button eyes and wore a finely stitched little dress. But for some reason, when Harry saw it, he felt a prickling sensation on his back, a sudden, inexplicable fear gripping him.

It was at this moment that he realized that the doll's hair seemed to be made of human hair.

The hair is brown with slight split ends.

No wig can really make you look like that!

No, he shouldn't stare at other people's things; that's impolite.

Although he was very curious, Harry forced himself to look away from the doll and down at the breakfast on the plate in front of him.

He picked up the fork in his hand.

But before he could continue eating, he suddenly felt a tap on his ankle.

Harry immediately looked down and found that the bookshelf where it used to be was now empty—the doll had somehow appeared at his feet, looking up with human-like eyes, its two button eyes staring intently at him!

Harry: ! !

At this close range, he could almost clearly see the loose threads on the doll's button eyes. Although the doll looked quite old, with the edges of its white dress slightly yellowed, it was remarkably clean overall. This gave Harry the fleeting illusion of looking at a real little person.

That's even more terrifying.

Besides... a normal doll could never suddenly appear at his feet!

At that moment, he suddenly heard a high-pitched, eerie, low female voice—

"Jerry is really small;"

"Even rats could devour him, from his hat to his toes."

Her voice was not only thin and low, but also had a slight melody. After singing this eerie nursery rhyme, she shrieked.

"what!"

Harry couldn't help but shudder, leaning back sharply in his chair and jerking his foot back.

The table shook violently as he moved it, immediately attracting the puzzled gazes of the two adults nearby.

"What's wrong?"

Grandma Yaga looked up from her plate and asked Harry with concern.

Harry then noticed that she was eating a special food unique to her—a sticky, red, bone-in clump of mud. When he looked over, her face and mouth were completely stained red, and as she spoke, he could see the red and white gravy turning into minced meat inside her mouth…

"Crunch, crunch."

With each bite, a chilling sound of bones breaking came from Baba Yaga's mouth.

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and his hands involuntarily clenched tighter.

...What exactly did she eat? Was it raw meat?!

This instant triggered a flood of witch tales in his mind—including werewolves that eat children and sirens that trick people into drowning. Harry couldn't help but wonder, had he stumbled upon a real witch's house?

Has he discovered the witch's secret and is he going to be eaten?!

But Grandma Yaga looked at him, and her attitude didn't change much.

A few seconds later, she merely squinted her aged, wrinkled eyes, and after clearly seeing the conspicuous doll on the floor, she suddenly realized:

"Oh! It's Vasilisa's doll! Look at me, I almost forgot."

She struggled to her feet, walked over to the exquisite doll, and gently picked it up.

"Don't worry, this is another child's doll. It doesn't mean any harm and sometimes it will even grant you some small wishes, like taking you to the roof or changing your location. Because of the influence of Vasilisa's deceased mother's spirit, it always sings nursery rhymes and likes to stay close to children."

"As long as you don't spend too much time with it, you won't run into any trouble."

"Speaking of which, that child looks a lot like you."

She put the doll back on the bookshelf, making no attempt to elaborate on what the "trouble" was, but instead changed the subject to Vasilisa.

"...Her stepmother and stepsister always bullied her, so she came to me and begged me to help her deal with them. After I taught them a good lesson, she happily studied magic with me for many years."

"oh oh."

Harry stared at her blankly. The inexplicable fear that had engulfed him hadn't yet subsided, leaving him feeling both bewildered and intrigued.

Vasilisa's experience is indeed very similar to his.

However, although he disliked Dudley and his aunt and uncle, he had no intention of teaching them a lesson. After all, they were the ones who paid to raise him.

His focus was on the last sentence.

"...Can I learn magic too?"

Harry couldn't help but look at Grandma Yaga.

Victor then said, "Of course."

"Judging from your age, you should be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry soon, and then you will naturally begin to learn magic systematically."

"They should send you the acceptance letter in a few days, and they'll also send a teacher to explain the situation to you."