"...and in the end, he fell beneath your iron fist."
No, that's not how it happened.
"He probably wasn't defeated by my fist. It must've been some other power."
Harry remembered clearly: when he first arrived in this world, his strength was a measly zero-point-something.
With such pitiful strength, his fists couldn't kill anyone.
If anything, it was his innate one or two points of charm, intelligence, or magic that might've done the job—those golden and silver attributes were at least a bit rarer.
There was definitely something off here.
Regardless, he'd learned about as much as he could. Hagrid was a far better source of information than Aunt Petunia, but he probably didn't know much more than this.
"Are we going to Hogwarts now?" Harry asked.
"Oh, Harry, you've agreed to go to school? Of course, we'll head to Hogwarts, but not right now. There's still some time before term starts, and we need to buy books and supplies first."
"Right, let's go buy books then… on your flying motorbike?"
Harry's eyes lit up with excitement. That thing seemed more thrilling than riding a horse. He wondered how it compared to a dragon.
Sure, he didn't have so-called "true dragon's blood," but Harry had ridden a dragon before—his sheer, awe-inspiring strength had forced even a dragon to submit beneath him.
"Er, no," Hagrid said. "I—well, strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to use magic. I'm only permitted to use a bit when I'm fetching you or delivering letters. That's one reason I was so eager to take on this job."
"Why aren't you allowed to use magic?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's like this. I went to Hogwarts myself, but, to tell you the truth… I got expelled. I was in my third year. They snapped my wand in half and confiscated everything else."
Harry glanced at Hagrid's umbrella. A wand? Snapped in half?
Repaired, most likely.
He'd been so focused on close-quarters combat earlier that he hadn't seen the power of this world's spells in action.
"…But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. He's a truly great man, that Dumbledore."
Harry didn't ask why Hagrid had been expelled.
Hagrid's expression just now… it reminded Harry of the look he'd seen on the faces of many at the Wall in Westeros.
It was the look of someone who'd been convicted of a serious crime…
Robbery? Unlikely. Rape? Didn't seem like it—more likely a false accusation if anything.
Murder, perhaps?
That seemed plausible. With Hagrid's level of strength, if he didn't control it properly, killing a child would be all too easy.
Harry knew from experience. Back then, he hadn't meant to kill Joffrey outright—he'd planned a public execution. But Joffrey was so frail that a light touch had ended him.
Yet Hagrid was only expelled?
Hogwarts was a dangerous place, indeed.
That night, while everyone was still unconscious, Harry set Uncle Vernon's bones back in place.
Hagrid's arrival had only confirmed that this family of relatives was thoroughly unpleasant, but as Harry had said before, they'd fed him for ten years. He wouldn't truly harm them.
Harry Potter always repaid his debts.
If Dudley ever died, Harry might even be generous enough to provide for Vernon and Petunia in their old age.
After setting the bones, Harry used his chi-healing techniques on Vernon. The results were far better than they'd been with Hagrid.
This confirmed it wasn't his own skill at fault.
Harry noted the pattern: magic likely interfered with chi-based healing. Hagrid's recovery had mostly been his own natural healing at work…
The two didn't seem compatible. This probably affected both buffs and debuffs. Harry wondered how effective his self-developed chi-based long-range pressure technique would be… Perhaps only magic could truly counter magic.
The next morning, Harry rose early for his training, catching a large fish from the sea and roasting it for breakfast.
For a while, his appetite would be enormous.
This body was still too weak, even slightly malnourished. Fortunately, his innate chi hadn't diminished, and he could use it to gradually restore his physical strength.
Chi had many uses. Back when Harry's strength reached twenty points, ordinary exercise had stopped being effective.
With chi enhancement and mastery of breathing techniques, he could continue refining his body, making it ever more perfect.
It wasn't about quick results but persistence.
When Hagrid woke up, Harry stopped his training.
An owl swooped in, dropping a newspaper onto Hagrid.
Hagrid handed it five bronze coins.
Harry noticed the money wasn't British currency.
"Is this wizard money? Do wizards have their own currency?"
"Aye, that's right. These are Knuts."
"Knuts?"
"The little bronze ones. The gold ones are Galleons. Seventeen silver Sickles make a Galleon, and twenty-nine Knuts make a Sickle. Simple enough, yeah?"
Harry shook his head. He thought it was utterly ridiculous.
"By the way, I don't have any wizard money, and we need to buy books today. What do I do? Can I exchange British pounds?"
"Wizards from Muggle families get an exchange quota, but you don't need it. You think your parents left you nothing?"
"But if their house was completely destroyed—"
"They wouldn't keep gold at home, lad! Our first stop is Gringotts, the wizard bank."
"Wizards have a bank?"
"Just one, run by goblins."
Harry thought he should probably read up on the history of the wizarding world. Why was the wizard bank in the hands of goblins?
Had wizards once been defeated by goblins?
Surely not. Hagrid's tone didn't suggest that, and goblins didn't seem capable of stopping Voldemort, given that humanoid creatures and dark beings were either persecuted or ruled by him.
If wizards could defeat goblins, then why wouldn't Hogwarts' legendary leader, Dumbledore, just storm Gringotts and take it over?
Maybe they were just too dim to think of it.
Harry figured if no one else was going to do it, he might rob the place himself. Then he'd have endless money.
"Has anyone ever tried robbing Gringotts?" Harry asked Hagrid bluntly.
He figured Hagrid wasn't the sharpest, so he might as well ask directly.
"Everyone who's tried has failed," Hagrid said. "Listen, you'd have to be mad to try robbing Gringotts. You don't want to mess with goblins, Harry. If you're looking for a safe place to store something, I'd say Gringotts is the best bet, aside from Hogwarts."
Harry didn't show his skepticism, but an idea was already forming. Once he scoped out Gringotts' defenses, he'd…
"Actually, either way, I've got to stop by Gringotts. Got some Hogwarts business to handle for Dumbledore."
Hagrid puffed out his chest proudly. "Important jobs like fetching you or picking up things from Gringotts—he always trusts me with those. Understand?"
"Got it. You're clearly a wise and trustworthy man."
Harry threw in a bit of flattery, then set off with Hagrid by boat.
Hagrid couldn't use magic directly or fly them over, but he skirted the rules. He pulled out his pink umbrella, tapped the side of the boat twice, and it sped toward the shore.
That umbrella was definitely a wand.
"Why'd you say only a madman would rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.
"Because of their spells—goblin magic," Hagrid said, flipping open the newspaper. "They say the most secure vaults are guarded by dragons. And you'd have to find your way there first—Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, you see? Deeper than the Underground. Even if you managed to steal something, you'd probably starve before you found your way out."
Goblin magic, dragons, a maze.
Just those three things? Harry made a mental note.
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