The moment he saw McGonagall, Merlin was surprised.
Although Hogwarts would send professors to guide Muggle-born young wizards into the magical world.
But that was usually after they received their acceptance letters.
He had never heard of a professor specifically coming to deliver an acceptance letter to a young wizard.
But after hearing her question, he seemed to understand.
There must have been an anomaly with his location. They thought there was a mistake, so she hurried over ahead of time.
"Sorry, Professor, for making you worry. Actually, I wandered in here by accident."
Merlin gave the same excuse he had told Tom earlier.
"When I was wandering around before, I didn't see this bar."
"I remember not seeing this bar when I was here previously. Two days ago, I was suddenly able to see it. The people going in and out looked strange, so I came in to take a look."
"Yes, Professor! I can testify to that. After Merlin came in, he had me put up that notice at the door to remind other Muggle-born young wizards."
"So that's how it is!"
McGonagall suddenly realized.
She had noticed that notice upon entering and had wondered why Tom would suddenly put up such an announcement.
Looking at it now, it was truly an oversight on her part. She hadn't considered the scenario of a young Muggle-born wizard spotting the bar all by himself.
"Mr. Merlin, thank you for your contribution to the magical world. Here is your acceptance letter. If you have any questions, you can ask me anytime."
After sincerely thanking him, McGonagall proceeded with the normal protocol, taking out the Hogwarts acceptance letter and handing it to Merlin.
Originally, she would have needed to demonstrate some magic to make Merlin believe the acceptance letter was real.
But given Merlin's situation, they could obviously skip this step.
"Thank you, Professor!"
Merlin took the wax seal stamped with the coat of arms featuring the four beasts.
Looking at the envelope with his recipient information written in emerald-green cursive English, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
His former dream had finally become a reality after his transmigration. How wonderful!
He couldn't wait to tear open the envelope.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
We are pleased to inform you..."
He could almost recite the contents from memory, but reading it again still made him feel thrilled.
He honestly read it from beginning to end.
After waiting for a few minutes, Merlin looked at McGonagall.
"Professor, I have a question, though I don't know if I should ask."
"It's fine, Mr. Merlin, go ahead."
McGonagall answered with a smile.
As an experienced guide for young wizards, she knew exactly what kind of questions Muggle-born children would ask.
The most common one was what to do if they didn't have enough money.
Next were various questions related to daily life, transportation, and magic.
She had a wealth of experience and could answer them all.
But after hearing Merlin's question, she felt her imagination was severely lacking.
"Professor McGonagall, I wanted to ask, does magic have elemental attributes or ability differences? For example, wind, fire, water, lightning..."
Merlin asked seriously.
Hearing the question, McGonagall was stunned for several full seconds before recovering, her face full of astonishment.
It was her first time encountering a young wizard asking this kind of question.
"Mr. Merlin, why this question?"
"That's how it's written in novels."
Merlin found a quick excuse.
Anyway, there were so many fantasy novels in Britain; you could casually pick up a few and find similar settings, so he wasn't worried about being exposed.
As a Muggle, it was perfectly normal to ask such a question.
"Mr. Merlin, I must tell you, magic is not a novel; it is a special power."
"This power does not have distinctions like wind, fire, water, or lightning. It only depends on a person's magical reserves and the emotions and beliefs generated when casting the spell."
"If we must divide it into a system, there is probably only a distinction between white magic and dark magic. You will learn these in detail after classes start at school. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Professor! Thank you for the answer. Once I buy the textbooks, I will definitely read them carefully!"
McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief.
She was really afraid that Merlin would insist on using Muggle knowledge to understand magic.
It seemed it was just temporary curiosity.
Once school started and he received a proper magical education, he would become normal.
"Let's go! Now it's time to go buy your things."
McGonagall led Merlin to the back door of the Leaky Cauldron.
She skillfully tapped the bricks on the wall, revealing the archway leading to Diagon Alley.
Merlin stood in place, suppressing the excitement in his heart.
Despite his transmigration experience.
But... who among those who have read Harry Potter hasn't fantasized about seeing this scene in person?
The real Diagon Alley!
The real magical world!
He was really here!
Professor McGonagall had been paying close attention to Merlin's expression.
Seeing the genuine excitement and happiness welling up from the bottom of his heart, she nodded in satisfaction.
She had more or less completed the task Dumbledore had given her.
"Albus, you can rest assured this time. Although Merlin is a child from the same orphanage as Tom, he is polite and has an inexplicable love and curiosity for the world."
"I can be certain that he will absolutely not turn into that kind of Dark Wizard. I will immediately take him to exchange money and buy school supplies. Everything is going smoothly."
When Merlin wasn't paying attention, McGonagall summoned her Patronus to send the message to Dumbledore.
Then she took Merlin toward Gringotts to handle the matter of a student loan.
"The Ministry of Magic has student loans and Muggle currency exchange services for young wizards from Muggle families. They are all handled at Gringotts. Just treat it as a bank; you can use gold or other Muggle currencies to..."
Halfway through her sentence, McGonagall realized her words seemed a bit inappropriate.
Merlin lived in an orphanage; how could he possibly have money to exchange?
Just as she was about to use another reason to explain, Merlin preempted her with a question.
"Professor, does Gringotts accept me exchanging other things for money?"
"Things? If they are Muggle items, probably not. However, I can introduce you to someone who quite likes Muggle items."
Merlin didn't ask who the person was.
It was definitely the one most curious about Muggle technology in the entire series, Arthur Weasley.
But right now, Merlin could only pretend not to know and shook his head.
"No need, Professor. I don't have any other Muggle items anyway."
"Then what will you use to exchange for money?"
McGonagall asked curiously.
"A piece of metal."
Merlin took out about an ounce of Mithril from his inventory and displayed it in his hand.
He hadn't figured out before why the system would reward him with Mithril.
But upon hearing that Gringotts could exchange gold for Galleons, he immediately understood.
This piece of Mithril was the Galleons provided by the system.
As a material that had never appeared in the magical world, yet possessed such excellent magical properties.
The goblins would definitely recognize its value.
The price would absolutely not be low.
But just to be safe, he decided to let McGonagall take a look first, to see if there would be any unexpected gains.
The bright silver metal lay dazzling in Merlin's palm.
McGonagall glanced over, and after seeing the Mithril, she couldn't move her eyes away.
Although she was a Transfiguration professor, she had excellent grades during her school years and had also taken Alchemy as an elective.
Therefore, she recognized that the metal in Merlin's hand was not a common metal in the Muggle world, but an extremely rare composite metal.
She leaned in, picked up the Mithril, tapped her wand on it, and cast a spell.
"Attribute Reveal!"
The metal block remained motionless. The silver light flickered for a few seconds before abruptly extinguishing.
"Merlin's beard!"
McGonagall exclaimed in shock, hurriedly grabbing Merlin to ask about the item.