The terrible twelfth birthday is finally over.
For a few period of time, everything around 86 Eastleigh Road was calm and peaceful.
The dull and boring summer vacation passed ... Just like before, Jon spent most of his time preparing potions and exploring and memorizing spells.
Until one day in late July, Jon went to Mr. Robert Wilson's hardware store; then he picked up a batch of silver bullets that Mr. Wilson had helped him get for him.
There are only thirty silver bullets in total, but there will only be one "moderate" werewolf in the school, so they are enough.
Taking this opportunity, Jon secretly collected some hair "specimens".
He deliberately selected some hair from foreign tourists, so that while expanding his "transformation database", he could also effectively avoid a collision with his real body.
The Warrior Potion and Enhancement Potion have been prepared, and the preparation process of the Polyjuice Potion has entered the final stage.
After adding dried African brush snake skin into the crucible, looking at the full pot of potion emitting pungent black smoke, Jon knew that he had succeeded... and the effect of the potion this time would definitely be much better than before.
...
...
Jon carefully put the prepared potions into glass bottles, and then divided the bottles into two parts, each of which was put into a suitcase.
He had spent all the 100 galleons of medicinal materials in more than a month, and now he was left at 86 Eastleigh Road with nothing to do.
Fortunately, on the last day of July, a letter arrived from Hogwarts.
A yellow parchment envelope with green writing on it. The letter told him to take the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross Station on September 1st, and also listed the new books he would use this year.
The Standard Book of Spells, Level 2, by Miranda Goshawk;
"Defense Against the Dark Arts: Basics" by Quentin Trimble;
"One Thousand Wonderful Herbs and Fungi - Supplement", by Phyllida Spohr;
"A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration - Volume 2", by Emeric Swich.
"Quidditch: The Origins of Quidditch", by Kenilworth Whisp.
The second-year students needed far fewer textbooks than the first-year students... and the handwriting of the last book, "The Origins of Quidditch", was completely different from the previous ones. It was obviously added in later.
After receiving the letter from the school, Jon decided not to stay at home any longer.
After explaining the situation to Eric and Judy and saying goodbye, Jon picked up his suitcase and boarded the train to London.
…
Charing Cross Road is a very busy street in the center of London.
It is also a world-famous bookstore street... The setting of "84 Charing Cross Road", a novel by American female writer Helene Hanff, which is known as the "Bible for Book Lovers", is here.
A dirty and small bar that stands out on this clean street.
Although people rushing past don't even glance at it, their eyes are only on the surrounding bookstores.
Less than a hundred yards from this dirty and small bar, there is a Willow Hill Hotel on Charing Cross Road. A strange man in a black cloak walked out of it and walked towards the dirty and small bar.
The mysterious traveler, carrying his suitcase, did not stop at the Leaky Cauldron. Instead, he avoided the other travelers in the bar and walked straight into the back patio.
A few minutes later, the mysterious traveler entered Diagon Alley and finally entered a mysterious potion shop in Diagon Alley.
"Hello, sir!" As the mysterious traveler took off his hood, revealing his smooth blond hair and a young face, the female owner of the potion shop hurried over and asked, "What can I buy for you?"
"I need to sell some potions!" the blond young man said in a rough American accent as he looked at the various colorful bottles and jars on the shelf next to him.
"You're not British?" the female boss asked with some confusion.
"Yes, I'm from America!" The blond young man answered straightforwardly: "My name is Anduin Wrynn."
"Hello, Mr. Aduin, I'm Julia Spohr, the boss here!" The female boss said quickly, "So, Which potions are you selling?"
As he spoke, he took out a crystal bottle from his pocket and threw it over frivolously.
Ms. Spohr quickly caught it, sniffed it, and then observed it carefully before finally coming to the conclusion: "These are...polyjuice potions...seem to be of very good quality?"
"Of course!" Anduin said confidently.
"Polyjuice Potion is a controlled substance..." Ms. Spohr quickly lowered her voice.
"That's a stupid law of your British Ministry of Magic... In North America, the preparation and sale of potions enjoy absolute freedom." The blond young man said with disdain.
Ms. Spohr was not very familiar with American law, but she was somewhat tempted...
As a controlled product, Polyjuice Potion can be prepared by only a handful of pharmacists in the entire British wizarding world who understand the formula and can prepare it successfully; coupled with the cumbersome preparation steps, there are very few products on the market.
"How much can you give?" she asked softly.
"Five pints is still within reach," Anduin Wrynn said seriously.
"80 Galleons a pint, how about that?" Ms. Spohr asked tentatively.
"It's quite reasonable!" The blond man didn't seem to be willing to argue about the price.
He opened the suitcase and took out dozens of crystal bottles like the ones before, placing them one by one on the counter.
A small bag of gold coins was also handed over by Ms. Spohr.
…
Five minutes later, Anduin Wrynn reappeared on the main street of Diagon Alley with a bag full of gold coins.
When he saw many wizards crowding at the door of the Quidditch boutique store, he curiously went over to take a look at the excitement.
He saw a broom on a newly erected podium.
There is another line below:
"The Firebolt is a flying broom that represents the highest level of craftsmanship available today. Its handle is made of ash wood, is streamlined and exquisite, treated with a diamond-hard polish, and has a hand-engraved registration number.
Each broomstick at the end of this product has been selected to ensure its streamlined shape is perfect, so this product is unparalleled in balance and precision.
The Firebolt can accelerate to 150 miles per hour in less than ten seconds, and its braking system is amazing.
The pre-sale price is 800 Galleons."
"Eight hundred Galleons for a broken broom, isn't that crazy?" The blond young man shook his head helplessly, then walked away.
He first went to Flourish and Blotts Books, and under the astonished gaze of the clerk, he bought several textbooks needed for low-level wizards; then he went to a nearby shop to buy ink and parchment; finally, he went to a leather shop and bought a pair of dragon skin wand sheaths.
After stuffing all his stuff into his half-empty suitcase, he headed to a store called "Magical Zoo".
There wasn't much room inside, as cages covered every inch of the wall; the place was smelly and noisy because of the little creatures in the cages making all kinds of noises.
There were many strange animals in the shop: cats of various colors, a cage of noisy ravens, and a pair of purple toads with huge eyes... There was a large cage on the counter, filled with silky black mice, shaking their long bald tails.
"I need to buy some mice!" the blond young man shouted.
The witch behind the counter hurried over: "Welcome, dear... You can take a look here, they are Serbian mice, very smart, can help wizards find discarded things, 10 galleons each..."
As she spoke, the witch pointed enthusiastically to the large cage filled with black rats, which immediately began to jump up and down again.
The blond young man muttered softly, "This is too much of a rip-off. SPF-grade nude mice shouldn't be that expensive..."
"No, no, no... Just give me some ordinary house mice or garden mice..." he said quickly.
The enthusiastic expression on the witch's face quickly turned cold.
"No?" Anduin asked.
"Yes!" the witch said calmly, "Four Knuts each, how many do you want?"
"Twenty... no, thirty... and give me some kangaroo food aswell."
After throwing five silver Sickles to the witch, the blond swaggered out of the shop carrying two large cages of mice and a bag of kangaroo food.
…
Back at the Willow Hill Hotel on Charing Cross Road, it was almost time for the transformation.
Just a few minutes after entering the hotel room, the blond young man's body began to deform rapidly and turned back into Jon Hart's appearance.
In my previous life, I learned American English for more than ten years starting from the third grade of elementary school... I never expected that in this life in London, I could use it to pretend to be an American friend.
Seems to be quite effective?
Jon sat down on the bed. He had decided to stay in this hotel for the remaining half of his summer vacation.
Because here, he can use magic at will.
According to the Ministry of Magic's "Underage Wizard Protection Act", underage wizards are prohibited from casting spells outside of school...but there is a loophole in this law. The Ministry of Magic can only detect whether someone has used magic in a certain area, but it cannot be sure who it is.
When underage wizards use magic at home, they can only rely on parental supervision; the same applies to using magic in public places where there are large numbers of wizards.
Therefore, as an underage wizard, I would not be discovered if I used magic on Charing Cross Road, an ordinary street adjacent to Diagon Alley where wizards might pass by at any time.
Moreover, compared to the crowded and eye-catching Leaky Cauldron, the bar he was in now was obviously much safer.
After all, there wouldn't be wizards around at all times, so there was no need to take Polyjuice Potion all the time. Even if there were some minor problems when using magic, other wizards wouldn't discover it immediately... Even if you wanted to go to Diagon Alley, it would only be a matter of walking a few more steps.
Jon packed up the things he brought and prepared to start enjoying the remaining half of his summer vacation.