Vede Grey leaned against the window, seeing a grey owl perched on the fence outside. It stared at him sternly with its yellowish-brown eyes, then suddenly lowered its head, spread its wings, and hooted.
Vede's face held a peculiar expression.
If he hadn't seen wrong, that owl seemed to have dropped a letter into his mailbox?
But...
The Harry Potter series of novels wasn't out yet, was it?
Eleven years had passed since he was reborn into this world. He had grown from a babbling infant to an eleven-year-old, always believing he had merely been reborn into Britain in his original world. For this, he had even planned out his life's development...
He had never thought...
He would actually receive a letter from an owl.
Wasn't this a materialistic world?
But... since people could be reborn, then if magic existed... it seemed... quite reasonable...
— Right?
— Or maybe it was just a nasty prank.
With some uncertainty, Vede pushed open the door and walked out. He subconsciously looked at the owl, and the owl's gaze followed him, its head slightly turning.
Whether it was psychological effect or not, Vede felt its eyes were full of spirit.
He held his breath, opened the mailbox, and took out the mysterious letter. When he saw the envelope clearly, his pupils sharply contracted, and his heart leaped.
On the envelope, his detailed address and "Mr. Vede Grey" were clearly written. The parchment felt unusually thick, and the emerald green ink was not a commonly used color.
Turning the envelope over, the back had a deep red wax seal and a shield crest, with a capital "H" surrounded by four animals: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.
No stamp.
— Oh! An owl as a messenger! Of course, no stamp was needed.
Vede took a deep breath and, with slightly trembling fingers, tore open the envelope.
[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Principal: Albus Dumbledore]
Vede eagerly skipped over the long list of titles that followed and looked directly at the next part: [Dear Mr. Grey: We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Principal (Female)]
Vede read the letter over and over several times, still finding it hard to believe — this was actually the world of Harry Potter?
He unconsciously murmured, "Is this real? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
The owl stared at him with intelligent eyes, waited for a moment, then lowered its head to preen its feathers, tucked one leg, and turned its head one hundred and eighty degrees to look at the scenery behind it.
Vede was stunned for a moment, then turned and quickly went back inside, rushing into his father's study. He found the best envelope, embossed and gold-dusted stationery, and with a classical quill and fragrant ink, he solemnly wrote:
"Dear Ms. Minerva McGonagall: I am honored to receive your letter. If this is not a prank, then I would be delighted to attend your esteemed school. However, I am unsure how to purchase the school supplies mentioned in the letter, and I look forward to your guidance...
With my sincerest regards and best wishes,
Vede Grey"
The ink soaked into the paper and dried quickly. Vede folded it and slipped it into the envelope, writing "Deputy Principal Minerva McGonagall (Recipient)" on the cover.
When he went outside, he saw the owl still patiently waiting on the fence.
Vede approached, holding up the letter: "Um... this is my reply. Please give it to Deputy Principal Minerva McGonagall."
The owl extended a claw, grasped the letter, then tilted its head, looking at him with an expectant gaze.
"Is there anything else... Oh, please wait!"
A light bulb went off in Vede's head. He went back inside and grabbed a handful of nuts. However, when he offered them to the owl, it merely looked down at them, then disdainfully swept them away with a wing and flew off.
Vede: "..."
It won't eat them?
Fortunately, it didn't drop the letter.
Back inside, Vede sat at the table, unfolding the acceptance letter and reading it again and again, his heart pounding.
Only then did he feel a sense of reality about being accepted into Hogwarts.
But...
In the eleven years since he was reborn into this world, he had never discovered any extraordinary abilities in himself—
He never inexplicably flew into a tree, nor did he bend spoons with his mind or make pens float in the air.
Did his body truly contain the energy of magic?
Or was it—because an adult's thoughts were too rational and objective, unconsciously suppressing the innate power within his body?
Vede clenched his fist, then opened it, still not feeling anything like "invisible magic flowing through my body."
He stared intently at a teacup in front of him, concentrating fully on imagining.
"Clang!"
The teacup suddenly wobbled in mid-air without any external force, then fell over, rolled once on the table, and slowly swayed to a stop.
magic... it was actually real...
Vede stared at his palms, stunned.
Once his emotions gradually calmed, he dialed a phone number he knew by heart.
"Mom... do you believe... that magic exists?"
...
In less than half an hour, a car screeched to a halt outside the door. The Greys forgot to even pull out the car keys, rushing out of the car in a hurry.
Vede stepped out to greet them, but before he could say hello, he was almost suffocated by an overwhelming hug.
"Oh my! Oh, my goodness! Vede, dear, you actually got accepted into Hogwarts—I'm so happy! Really... I've waited for this day for too long—I thought—I thought you were like us, without—without that opportunity—"
His mother, Fiona, cried tearfully, not even bothering that her makeup was ruined. Vede's father, Ferdinand, embraced them, and though he didn't speak, his eyes were also moist.
The more Vede listened, the more something felt off: "Wait, what do you mean? You—" He broke free from his parents' suffocating embrace: "You all know about Hogwarts?"
"Of course!" Fiona said, wiping her tears with a handkerchief, "My mother, and your grandparents, were all Wizards. I always hoped to go to Hogwarts when I was little. It's just..."
Ferdinand put his arms around his wife and son's shoulders, ushering them into the house: "Let's go inside and talk—lest we be seen by Muggles."
After some explanation, Vede understood the whole story.
It turned out that his grandparents and maternal grandmother were all Wizards, and the two families had a good relationship. But due to war, Fiona and Ferdinand, born amidst the turmoil, were both Squibs—meaning they carried magical genes but lacked the ability to perform magic.
During the war, Wizards themselves struggled to survive, let alone two Squibs? After confirming they had no magical ability, both were sent to be raised by Muggle families.
Years passed, and they had completely adapted to Muggle life, but they always harbored a longing for the magical world in their hearts.
However, since Vede's birth, he had never shown any magical abilities. They thought he was also a Squib, and to spare him the pain of expectation followed by disappointment, like themselves, they concealed the existence of magic.
"I never thought—I never thought you were actually a Wizard... I mean—I've actually been waiting all this time, but it's July 30th, and you still haven't received a letter... I thought..."
Fiona cried and laughed, and it took a lot of effort for the father and son to calm her down so she could go to the bathroom to wash up.
Once it was quiet, Ferdinand looked at his eleven-year-old son, his eyes holding an undisguised worry:
"Hogwarts... sigh, Vede... I truly don't know, given your identity, going to that school... whether it's a good thing or not..."