Chapter 1. Quest Reward—A Gilderoy Lockhart Book!
Near quitting time, the sun was sinking westward, hanging lazily over several rooftops and spilling a dim, yellow afterglow.
In New York's underground wizard market, the flagstone road, scoured by years and trodden by a constant stream of witches and wizards, was covered in web-fine cracks, and murky sewage kept seeping down only to jet up suddenly as a wizard passed, launching a sneak attack without any sense of honour.
A boy of eleven or twelve wore a dark-blue coat, and the shine on his boots was smeared with grimy stains.
He clutched a battered brown suitcase tightly in both arms and, with effort, forced his way through the crowd of wizards, his grey-blue eyes constantly taking stock of his surroundings as though looking for something.
The boy's name was Duncan Scamander, the grandson of the famed Magizoologist—Newt Scamander.
Besides that, he had a special identity: he was a rare sight in real life but common enough at the starting line in web novels—a transmigrator.
In his previous life, he had pulled an all-nighter playing Hogwarts Legacy, running everywhere to collect all kinds of magical beasts.
To his surprise, when he woke up, his dream had become reality.
He had truly crossed over into the world of Harry Potter, become one of Newt's family, and could meet face-to-face those magical beasts that had existed only in imagination or on a computer screen.
Childhood slipped by in happiness, and he soon reached school age, having, not long ago and unsurprisingly, received an acceptance letter from Hogwarts.
So today he had arranged with Newt to go to Diagon Alley together to buy a wand, books, and all the various supplies needed for school.
But just as they stepped out, Newt received a letter from New York in the United States, saying that someone here in the underground wizard market was going to sell, under the table, two rare magical beasts—Erumpents.
Newt barely paused to think and decided at once, dragging Duncan in a rush straight to New York.
He went alone into the place where the Erumpents were being sold, handed his case to Duncan, told Duncan to wait by the exit, and assigned him a task: before he rescued the Erumpents, Duncan was to clear the underground market of people as quickly as possible to avoid casualties.
Letting a not-yet-enrolled young wizard do something this dangerous—only my dear Grandad would do that...
Duncan sighed, bent and squeezed past two burly men hidden head to toe in robes, went by a stall selling odd magical contraptions, stopped by a stretch of wall at a corner where the foot traffic thinned, then craned his neck and carefully searched the slightly damp bricks, mottled with patches of green moss.
When he found a scrawled feather motif on a brick up near the top, a window only he could see floated before his eyes, with a few lines of small text upon it.
[Successfully found the clue left by Newt Scamander.
Secret exit discovered.
Optional task complete.]
[Task reward: Virtual Coins ×10, Leaping Toadstool ×1, Break with a Banshee (by Gilderoy Lockhart) ×1]
[Optional task: Find a way to drive away the nearby wizards.]
[Task reward: Virtual Coins ×50, Random ingredient ×2]
[Optional task: Wait by the exit and assist Newt Scamander in spiriting away the captured magical beasts.]
[Task reward: Virtual Coins ×100, Random magical item ×1]
[Virtual Coins on hand: 60]
Perhaps because of the game he had played in his previous life, he found that whenever he came into contact with matters to do with magical beasts, a window would pop up with various optional tasks on it.
Accepting and completing tasks would earn rewards, and once Virtual Coins reached 1,000 he could draw a lottery that contained magical skills, items, and potions.
This was also why he was willing to risk life and limb to follow Newt on adventures everywhere.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
"A Lockhart book—why is it this useless stuff again?
Is my luck really that bad?"
After accepting the task, Duncan raised an eyebrow at the screen and muttered under his breath, a bit helpless.
He would find it too stiff even to use as toilet paper.
"But there's a small upside.
If I can complete the set, I won't need to waste money in second year..."
Duncan could only comfort himself in silence, sizing up the passing witches and wizards and thinking about how to get them to leave.
"Child, are you lost?
Do you need my help?"
A hoarse voice suddenly came from the side, as grating and harsh as fingernails across a rough blackboard.
Duncan turned despite himself.
An old witch came into view, wearing a robe patched in several places, a low stool under her backside as she sat leaning against the wall.
She lifted her head towards Duncan; the skin on her face was as furrowed as a centuries-old tree, the wrinkles squeezing her eyes into narrow slits.
"No need."
Duncan refused coldly.
This was a shadowed corner of the wizarding world where meeting a good Samaritan was rarer than winning the lottery.
If he accepted the witch's "help," by morning he might find parts of himself on nearby stalls.
"Don't worry.
There's a pub not far from here.
Aurors often drink and rest there.
I can take you to them."
The old witch bared a mouthful of yellow-brown teeth with several gaps, forcing out what she thought was a friendly smile.
Her eyes greedily swept over the case in Duncan's arms as she slowly sat up, stretching out a hand as thin as dead twigs to take Duncan by the wrist.
But just as her filthy fingers were about to touch Duncan, a black-and-white owl stooped from high above like an arrow loosed from a bow and viciously pecked the back of the old woman's hand with its sharp beak several times.
With a pained gasp or two, the old woman jerked her hand back, rubbing the pecked spot with her other hand while glaring in anger at the owl flapping beside Duncan.
"Come back, Senier.
Any message?"
Duncan held his right arm out level, calling the owl back.
Senier swept past the old witch's face in a flash, vengefully tugging at her hair, then beat its wings and settled on Duncan's forearm, letting out two low hoots.
"Grandad has already succeeded?"
Duncan nodded slightly.
"Then I'd better pick up the pace as well..."
Thanks to a magical ability he had drawn before—"Animal Speech"—he could communicate with animals.
His voice had a calming effect on them, and he could issue commands to magical beasts whose affection for him reached 80 or higher.
This was also why Newt had dared let him come help.
The old witch stared at Duncan.
Seeing him bow his head to confer with the owl, she stopped pretending.
Her wand slid soundlessly from her sleeve into her grip, rose slowly, and the tip showed the faintest glimmer of light.
"I advise you not to do that," Duncan said, looking up at the old witch in a tone of warning.
"Do you really think a young wizard who came alone into an underground market would still be standing here, calm and unhurried to leave, if he had no countermeasures at all?"
At the same time, the corner of Duncan's mouth lifted slightly.
He had thought of a fun idea.
If the old witch in front of him refused to give up, he would give her a surprise she would never forget.
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