The Black family manor at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
Sirius came out to see us off as we opened the door of the ancient house.
"...Goodbye, Sirius."
"Stay out of trouble if you don't want to get caught again. As for that rat Peter Pettigrew, I'll catch him if I see him."
Sirius grumbled at us but managed a smile.
"Damn it, I ran away because I hated this dump, and in the end, I'm stuck here again. Anyway, thank you."
No matter how much he hated the Black family manor, it was surely like heaven compared to the Dementor-infested Azkaban.
Sirius turned to look at Harry, and asked in a voice tinged with a slight regret.
"Harry, are you sure you don't want to live here?"
Sirius, having revealed that he was Harry's godfather, had asked Harry to come and live with him.
Perhaps the Harry who had lived with the Dursleys would have been overjoyed and accepted, but the Harry of today was different.
Harry already had a home that he was sure he could always return to, a place he could call 'family.'
A home where his master, a phoenix, and a house-elf would welcome him. A warm family that would celebrate his birthday every year.
And so, Harry had politely declined Sirius's offer.
Sirius also respected Harry's wishes.
It would have been a beautiful relationship if it had ended there.
Without meeting Sirius's eyes, Harry answered.
"...As I said before, I still have a lot to learn from my master. A lot."
Had someone once said that the heart of a child is as fickle as the weather?
Harry had been acting this way towards Sirius for a little while now.
Ever since Sirius had reprimanded Harry for using the Cruciatus Curse in Azkaban, he had been like this.
Slightly stung by Harry's reaction, Sirius said.
"Harry, no matter what, you shouldn't use dark magic! And an Unforgivable Curse, of all things!"
"Bellatrix, that woman, insulted my parents, your friends! How can you say something like that?"
Momentarily at a loss for words, Sirius paused, then shook his head and said.
"...Anyway. Come back whenever you want to. You're my godson, after all."
"...Yes. I'm sorry for shouting."
After a somewhat awkward farewell with Harry, Sirius said to me.
"Please teach Harry well. And... try to avoid teaching him dark magic, if you can."
He must have been wary of Harry, as he whispered the last part so quietly it was almost a breath.
It was, however, loud enough for Harry's ears to catch, and Harry's eyes narrowed.
"...Anyway, thank you, truly. I was able to get out of Azkaban thanks to you. If you're ever short on money while traveling, let me know. This house is overflowing with it, and it's not like I have much use for it."
Indeed, the generosity of a true heir of a noble house. I grinned and shook hands with Sirius to say goodbye.
I felt a gaze watching us from behind a window.
As I looked in that direction, a figure was startled, closed the curtains, and fled. It was Kreacher.
Well, I'll probably be visiting this house often in the future, so I can try to have a chat with him next time.
And so, after finishing our goodbyes, Harry and I left the Black family manor.
Standing around us were Number 11 and Number 13, Grimmauld Place. The residences of Muggles, with no connection to magic.
That they showed no surprise at our sudden appearance was a testament to the power of the Fidelius Charm.
As we left the manor, I said to Harry.
"Well then, Harry. Are you ready to start training hard again from tomorrow?"
"Of course, Master."
Harry's eyes, having learned the truth about his parents, were already overflowing with motivation for training.
I smiled at him and said.
"I'll train you relentlessly until you go to Hogwarts."
And so, three years passed.
The end of July, 1991.
The sunlight pouring down from the sky reflected beautifully on the grains of sand.
The emerald sea lapped at the shore.
This was a beach on the Mediterranean.
It was a sort of private beach, set up with magic to keep anyone from approaching.
There, Harry and I were spending our last vacation before enrolling Harry at Hogwarts.
Well. To be precise, it wasn't a vacation, but a final 'assessment.'
My own body, now eleven years old, had already grown quite a bit.
I had always been quite tall, but this time, perhaps because I had been perfectly nourished from a young age, I had an even more solid build.
Hmm, good. After sending Harry to Hogwarts, I planned to go into a cave somewhere and conduct some closed-door research on ancient magic again.
But all of that would have to wait until after this final 'assessment' was over.
Floating in the air without a broom, I shouted to Harry.
"Harry! You ready?"
"Of course!"
I raised the Elder Wand towards the confident Harry and gestured.
At that moment, living creatures burst out from the sandy beach.
They were scorpions, brandishing tails as long as a grown man is tall.
For the record, these teaching materials were donated from the Black family manor, which hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
I have no idea how the historic Black family manor ended up in such a state.
Kishaaaaak!
The scorpions flew towards Harry in an instant, but Harry, who had been trained repeatedly, did not panic.
He calmly waved his wand downwards towards the charging scorpions and shouted.
"Descendo!"
The scorpions were instantly slammed to the ground.
Faithfully using the fact that insects, no matter what, are weak to fire, he finished them off with Incendio.
The next scorpions to appear were even larger, but Harry responded with the same calm method.
He couldn't use non-verbal magic properly yet, but for an eleven-year-old, that was more than impressive enough.
But to call oneself my disciple, 'impressive enough' was not enough.
I grinned and shouted to Harry.
"Harry, I've brought something special just for you!"
Kee-roo-rook!
Ardeura, flapping her wings beside me, chirped in affirmation.
Ardeura's help had been crucial in capturing that thing without injury.
Hearing my words, Harry's face crumpled.
Rumble...
A vibration was felt in the ground where Harry was standing.
Clearly sensing that this was no ordinary event, Harry shouted in alarm.
"Master! What in the world did you bring!"
I took Ardeura's favorite snack out of my pocket, handed it to her, and shouted to Harry.
"Just hold on for ten minutes!"
And at my gesture, what appeared there was a giant snake, over seven meters long.
Its massive size was one thing, but the snake, surprisingly, had three heads.
Its name: the Runespoor. A serpentine magical creature with a danger rating of XXXX. In a word, a 1/3 Hydra.
[T/N: Runespoor (런에스푸어): A canonical three-headed snake native to Africa, classified as a Class XXXX beast by the Ministry of Magic, meaning "Dangerous / requires specialist knowledge / skilled wizard may handle."]
When it reaches adulthood, it grows to almost twenty meters, but I thought that would be too harsh for an eleven-year-old, so I caught a young one that was only seven meters long.
Not knowing the grace of his master, Harry cried out with a tearful face.
"Master! No matter how you look at it, isn't this a bit too much!"
I always think this, but Harry tends to be a bit of a crybaby.
The biggest of the scorpions he had just faced was nearly three meters long, and this Runespoor is seven meters, so it's only about twice the size.
He could definitely handle that much.
Most importantly, I never gave Harry an impossible task.
Look at that.
"Protego! Stupefy! Bombarda!"
He was somehow managing to dodge the continuous attacks from the three heads by combining various spells.
At this rate, even if he couldn't defeat it, holding on for ten minutes would be no problem at all. As expected of my disciple.
But Harry didn't stop there.
"Gaaah, Imperio!"
A yellow beam of light shot from Harry's wand and hit the Runespoor.
As a creature with a danger rating of XXXX, the Runespoor had a strong resistance to magic, so it was impossible for Harry to completely dominate its mind at his level.
But it was enough to create an opening for a moment.
Harry cast a paralysis spell at the momentarily dazed Runespoor.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
If once isn't enough, do it again.
No matter that it was a Runespoor, this one wasn't an adult either. It could not escape the effects of the rapidly layered paralysis spells.
"Phew..."
Harry let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the finally stopped Runespoor.
But it would be a bit of a shame if it ended just like this.
I snapped my fingers.
Flash!
In an instant, the Runespoor's body was engulfed in a red light.
The Runespoor's eyes turned red, and its movements became even more ferocious.
It sounds like I did something heinous, but it's merely a state where a lot of endorphins are being secreted.
It's just a difference of being a bit more energetic and bold than usual.
Ssssshaaaak!
Freed from the paralysis spell, the Runespoor roared at Harry.
Just as it was about to charge at him.
Harry hissed at the Runespoor in a strange, metallic sound.
[No, stop now!!]
And surprisingly, the Runespoor stopped in its tracks. Even though it had been made ferocious by the spell I had cast.
Harry, surprised that the Runespoor had suddenly stopped even though he was the one who did it, looked at me with a shocked expression.
"Did you stop it, Master?"
"No, Harry. You stopped it."
"No, how could I?"
That's what I'd like to know. How did you do it?
No, to be precise, it wasn't 'how' you did it, but 'why' are you using it, Harry? Of course, I knew very well what that phenomenon was.
"Harry, were you a Parselmouth?"
"What's a Parselmouth?"
"A wizard who can speak the language of snakes."
"Isn't that something all wizards can do?"
I was momentarily at a loss for words at my disciple, who was nonchalantly telling me that he could always talk to snakes at the zoo.
No, what am I to do with this disciple who still doesn't know the magical world very well?
Parseltongue was a very rare talent. At least, as far as I knew, it was a bloodline ability passed down through the Gaunt family, and that was it.
So why was Harry using it? Could it be that the blood of the Gaunt family was mixed in on Harry's father's side?
Seeing my contemplative attitude, Harry became cautious and asked.
"Is it... not okay to understand the language of snakes?"
"No, that's not it. It's just a very rare talent. I never imagined you'd be able to use it."
This was a rather serious matter. If this was the case...
"This ruins the whole point of bringing the Runespoor!"
"Ah, so that was the problem."
Harry grinned as he saw me speaking with my arms crossed in frustration. The rare situation of his master being troubled seemed to be quite amusing to him.
The Runespoor stood motionless beside the smiling Harry. Even I can't speak Parseltongue. For a moment, I even felt a sense of envy.
After watching this for a moment, Harry asked me.
"So, did I pass the final assessment?"
"Well, the Parseltongue is a bit dissatisfying. But it's your ability, so what can I say? Yes, you pass."
Harry clenched his fists in joy.
Hmm. I felt relieved that Harry seemed ready to be sent to Hogwarts.
At this rate, he wouldn't get beaten up at Hogwarts.
"Master, Deek has received a letter from Hogwarts!"
Just then, Deek, who was preparing snacks under the parasol, called out to us.
It seemed the acceptance letter from Hogwarts had finally arrived.
"Deek, really? It finally came!"
Harry ran towards Deek. I watched him with a smile, then paused.
Because there were two letters in Deek's hand. One was clearly for Harry, which meant the other was, naturally, a letter for me.
What is this?
Why did a letter come for me too? Do they normally send a separate letter to the parents? Or did Albus send it?
I opened the letter from Hogwarts without much thought and froze on the spot.
[Hogwarts Acceptance Letter]
Why did this come to me? Not to Harry. No, it came to Harry too. Then what in the world is this?
I can guarantee that this was the most bewildering moment of my life. If this was a prank, I could guarantee that it was a very successful one.
Unfortunately, this was no prank. I was only able to understand what was going on after reading the postscript at the end of the letter.
—P.S. You remember that favor you owe me, right?
That crazy bastard.
I turned to Ardeura with a stern face and said.
"Ardeura. Go and get Albus. Tell him to report to me."
It seems that old man has finally lost his mind.