Early the next morning, Harry got ready and arrived at No. 13 Privet Drive.
Typically, the first floor of Moonlight Castle would be empty at this hour. Uncle Felix would either still be asleep or engaged in magical research in the basement.
As Harry approached the door, he expected the usual routine: a soft knock, followed by Mr. Lucifer, the guardian of the castle, opening the door for him.
However, today, as Harry stepped into the flower garden, he was greeted by the lively strains of music wafting through the air.
The door creaked open slowly, and the music grew louder. Harry recognized it immediately—it was the sound of a popular British band.
Uncle Vernon, who despised music, would always grumble and change the channel whenever a music program aired.
"Uncle Moon?" Harry called out in surprise as he spotted Felix bustling about in the kitchen.
Felix glanced over at Harry, nodding in acknowledgment before returning his attention to his cooking.
"Yeah," Felix replied casually.
Harry's ears buzzed with low music emanating from the gramophone he had fixed while practicing spells.
Mama, just killed a man…
Mama, life had just begun…
Listening to the familiar tune, Harry felt a sense of oddity pervade the atmosphere, but he couldn't quite place it.
Turning his gaze to Lucifer, Harry inquired, "Mr. Lucifer, what's going on?"
Lucifer, appearing nonchalant as ever, responded lazily, "He's lost."
"Lost?" Harry echoed, puzzled.
"Yeah," Lucifer replied shortly, retreating into the fire.
Meanwhile, Felix emerged from the kitchen with two plates of breakfast. After beckoning Harry to sit down, he remarked, "You should go to the second floor and find a room to use as a study."
"Really?" Harry perked up.
Felix nodded. Harry had been making do with the large stone table on the first floor for studying, which was rather shabby.
There were numerous vacant rooms in the castle, remnants of the sailors who once lodged there.
The reason Felix hadn't arranged a proper study for Harry earlier was... sheer laziness.
After breakfast, Felix headed to the basement, emerging with a stack of books.
"What are these?" Harry asked nervously, eyeing the pile.
"These are the books you'll need to read this year," Felix stated matter-of-factly.
Observing Harry's apprehensive expression, Felix glanced at the stack, which nearly matched Harry's height, with a hint of confusion. "One book per month shouldn't be too much."
Harry nodded stiffly. "It should be... manageable," he replied, though uncertainty flickered across his face.
Suppressing a laugh at Harry's expression, Felix turned and ascended the stairs, with Harry trailing behind.
On the second floor, Felix led Harry to a room of about twenty to thirty square meters, cluttered yet devoid of rubbish.
With a wave of his hand, Felix directed the debris towards the left wall, creating a sizable hole. In a matter of moments, the clutter vanished into the adjacent room, leaving behind only a desk, chair, and bookcase.
"If you need anything else, feel free to search other rooms," Felix said, pushing his hand forward to send the books flying onto the shelves.
"You've been cleaning for quite a while. You probably have a better idea than me of what might be useful in the junk pile."
Harry nodded eagerly, his eyes sparkling.
Stepping forward, he surveyed the room.
This was his own space!
Although the Dursleys had previously assigned him a room, it was cramped and filled with Dudley's discarded toys—a collection of broken remnants.
"That's right," Felix interjected suddenly, catching Harry's attention.
Harry turned to see Felix rolling up his left sleeve, revealing a series of rune formations on his arm.
It was during their first encounter that Harry had noticed the intricate designs, realizing that Felix utilized this arm to store and retrieve various items through concealed mechanisms.
Retracting his hand, Felix produced an ancient ring as if by magic.
"A birthday gift for you," Felix announced, tossing the ring to Harry.
Harry's heart raced as he caught the ring, examining its oxidized surface. The material seemed consistent with pewter, as described in books.
Unlike the ornate rings adorning Felix's fingers, this one was simpler, adorned only with mysterious runes discernible upon closer inspection.
"This is an amplifier I crafted long ago," Felix explained. "It enhances most spells by approximately 135%. However, its effectiveness diminishes to 80% when used for dark magic."
Felix rubbed the ring on his hand and suddenly changed the subject: "Harry, what are the advantages of the ring caster?"
Harry was playing with the ring. He didn't expect that one day he would also get a spellcaster.
He put the ring on the middle finger of his right hand, and the ring automatically shrank and clasped his finger tightly.
Just as he was happy, he didn't expect Uncle Felix to ask a question right away. He was so excited that he quickly started brainstorming, and after a moment he answered:
"The advantages of ring-based spellcasters are concealment, resistance to disarming, and the fact that we can use it to cast spells at any time.
And the ring basically has no requirements on the coordination between the person and the caster, because it is worn on our finger!"
Felix nodded, quite satisfied with the answer, and turned around: "Clean up the room. You can deal with him as you like. Clean it up exactly as you want. I'll give you one day..."
"Yes!" Harry said happily: "Thank you, Uncle Felix."
…
…
Time goes by very quickly. Today, the Dursleys turned on their lights early, before the sun came out. Even Dudley took the initiative to get up from his bed.
Harry looked at No. 13 Privet Drive diagonally across the street through the window and sighed slightly.
There is no other reason. Today is the first day of school.
He has to go to school.
Dong dong dong dong——
There was a violent banging on the door, and Uncle Vernon shouted angrily outside the door: "Get up, you bastard, do you want everyone to wait for you?!"
"I'm already up!" Harry said to the door, and then quickly started to get dressed.
His school uniform was Dudley's old uniform, which was given to Harry after Dudley fell down and accidentally tore his crotch.
After Dudley tore his clothes, he even knew that the clothes would fall on Harry. He deliberately wore the clothes and went to wallow in the mire. He led a group of his friends to paint on the clothes with watercolor pens. He even sticks his nose to his clothes...
"Clean up!"
Thinking of this, Harry reluctantly cast a spell on the school uniform again.
The movements are extremely skillful.
Then, he put on the clothes. As he walked downstairs, he was greeted with disgusted urgings as expected.
But no more insults.
This is the change Uncle Felix brought to this family.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Harry looked at the clothes he was wearing. During this holiday, thanks to Uncle Felix, Harry looked much stronger and could barely hold up the dress.
He adjusted his collar and looked at himself in the mirror, suddenly feeling that something was missing.
His hand unconsciously reached for the comb. Then, he combed the long and messy hair on his forehead.
The extremely conspicuous scar was just exposed.
Through this scar, Harry seemed to see the gestures of those in the school and the words they spoke.
A child with an ugly scar on his forehead is not a good thing.
Especially when this child is still the target of bullying.
This is why even if Harry's hair was cut short the day before, it would be long and messy again the next day.
Because he was afraid of showing this scar from the bottom of his heart, he needed long hair to block it!
Because of this scar, he will be discussed and even laughed at by his classmates.
Harry took a deep breath, no longer hesitated, and combed his hair up.