Wade Grey was lying by the window when he noticed a Grey owl perched on the fence outside. The owl was staring at him intently with its amber eyes. Suddenly, it lowered its head, spread its wings, and let out a "hoot."
Wade had a puzzled expression on his face.
If I am not mistaken, it looks like the owl has just dropped a letter into my mailbox?
But…
This is 1991, and the "Harry Potter" series hasn't even been published yet, right?
He had been reborn into this world for eleven years, growing from a babbling baby to an eleven-year-old, and all this time, he had assumed he had simply been reborn into the original world's England. He had even planned out the course of his life accordingly...
He never thought... that he would actually receive a letter from an owl.
Isn't this supposed to be a materialistic world?
But then again... if people can be reborn, then if magic exists... it seems... somewhat reasonable…
— Right?
— Or it could just be a cruel joke.
Feeling a bit uncertain, Wade pushed open the door and walked outside. He instinctively looked at the owl, and the owl's gaze followed him and it slightly tilted its head.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but Wade felt that the owl's eyes were filled with a strange intelligence.
He held his breath, opened the mailbox, and took out the mysterious letter. When he saw the envelope, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart skipped a beat.
On the envelope, his full address was clearly written, along with "Mr. Wade Grey." The parchment was unusually thick, and the emerald green ink was not a commonly used color.
He turned the envelope over, revealing a deep red wax seal with a shield crest. Surrounding the large letter "H" were four animals: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.
There was no postage stamp.
— That's right! An owl delivering mail! Of course, it doesn't need a stamp.
Wade took a deep breath and, with slightly trembling fingers, opened the envelope.
[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore]
Wade eagerly skipped over the long list of titles that followed and went straight to the main text:
[Dear Mr. Grey, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
Deputy Headmistress,
Minerva McGonagall]
Wade read the letter over and over again, still finding it hard to believe—Is this really the world of "Harry Potter"?
He unconsciously muttered under his breath: "Is this real? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
The owl gazed at him with wise eyes, waited for a moment, then began preening its feathers, tucking one foot up as its head swiveled 180 degrees to look at the scenery behind it.
Wade stood there in a daze for a moment before quickly turning around and rushing back inside. He ran into his father's study, found the finest envelope, embossed and dusted with gold powder, and used a quill with a classic aesthetic and scented ink to carefully write:
[Dear Ms. Minerva McGonagall,
It is a great honor to receive your letter. If this is not a prank, I would be very pleased to attend your school. However, I am unsure how to purchase the supplies mentioned in the letter, and I would appreciate your guidance...
With the sincerest regards, I wish you all the best!
Wade Grey]
The ink soaked into the paper and dried quickly. Wade folded the letter, placed it in the envelope, and wrote on the cover: [To Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall].
After stepping outside, he saw that the owl was still patiently perched on the fence, waiting.
Wade approached and held up the letter. "Uh... this is my reply. Please take it to Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall."
The owl extended a claw to grasp the letter, then tilted its head, looking at him expectantly.
"Is there something else... oh, just a moment!"
A sudden thought struck Wade, and he went back inside, grabbed a handful of nuts, and offered them to the owl. The owl glanced down at the nuts, then disdainfully swept them away with a wing before taking off into the sky.
Wade: "..."
Not going to eat?
Thankfully, it didn't drop the letter.
Back inside, Wade sat at the table, unfolding the acceptance letter and reading it over and over again with his heart pounding.
Only now did he start to feel that being accepted into Hogwarts was real.
But...
In the eleven years since he was reborn into this world, he had never noticed any extraordinary abilities in himself—
He hadn't flown onto a tree for no reason, bent spoons with his mind, or made pens float in the air.
Does my body really contain magical energy?
Or—is it that my rational and objective adult mindset has somehow suppressed the innate power within me?
Wade clenched his fist, then opened it again, still not feeling anything like "invisible magic flowing through his body."
He stared intently at a teacup in front of him, focusing all his attention on it.
Clatter!
The teacup suddenly moved on its own, without any force acting on it, then toppled over, rolled in a circle on the table, and finally came to a slow, shaky stop.
Magic... it's real…
Wade stared at his hand, stunned.
After his emotions gradually calmed down, he dialed a number he knew by heart.
"Mom... do you believe... that magic exists?"
...
In less than half an hour, a car screeched to a stop outside. The Grey couple rushed out in such a hurry that they even forgot to take the keys out of the ignition.
Wade stepped outside to greet his parents, but before he could say a word, he was nearly suffocated by the tight embrace that enveloped him.
"Oh my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Wade, dear, you really got accepted to Hogwarts—I'm so happy!
Really... I've waited so long for this day—I thought—I thought you might be like us, that you wouldn't have—that you wouldn't get the chance—"
His mother, Fiona, sobbed as she spoke, not even noticing that her tears were smudging her makeup.
Wade's father, Fred, held them close with his eyes also brimming with tears despite his silence.
The more Wade listened, the more puzzled he became. "Wait, what do you mean? You—" He broke free from the suffocating embrace of his parents.
"You both know about Hogwarts?"
"Of course!" Fiona said, dabbing her tears with a handkerchief.
"My mother, and your grandparents, were all wizards. I grew up dreaming of going to Hogwarts. It's just..."
Fred wrapped his arms around his wife and son, steering them into the house. "Let's talk inside—we don't want the Muggles to see."
After some explanation, Wade finally understood.
It turned out that his grandparents on both sides were wizards, and the two families were very close. But due to the chaos of war, both Fiona and Fred, who were born during those turbulent times, turned out to be Squibs—people with magical ancestry but without the ability to perform magic.
In the midst of the war, even wizards struggled to survive, let alone two Squibs. Once it was confirmed that they had no magical abilities, they were sent to be raised by Muggle families.
Years passed, and they fully adapted to Muggle life, though they kept a secret longing for the magical world in their hearts.
Since Wade had never shown any signs of magical ability after he was born, they assumed he was a Squib as well. To spare him the pain of going from hope to disappointment, they hid the existence of magic from him.
"I never imagined—I didn't expect you to be a wizard... I mean—I've been waiting this whole time, but it's July 30th, and you haven't received your letter... So I thought..."
Fiona, laughing and crying, was finally calmed down by the father and son before she went to the bathroom to freshen up.
Once things quieted down, Fred looked at his eleven-year-old son, unable to hide the worry in his eyes:
"Hogwarts... Sigh, Wade... I really don't know if, given your background, going to that school... is truly a good thing..."