"Isn't this Harry Potter?"
In front of Flourish and Blotts, the crowd formed a circle and made way, revealing the second protagonist in the bookstore today — and the "Savior" at this moment was looking bewilderedly at the man smiling and charging toward him —
The man in the blue and purple wizarding robes maintained his perfect smile showing eight teeth, and the pointed wizard hat slowly slid down with his movements, yet it still stubbornly clung to the edge of his golden wavy hair.
The man grabbed Harry's arm with one hand while tightly shaking hands with Harry with the other —
He quickly raised his brows at the bouncing photographer nearby, and the next moment, accompanied by the flash of purple smoke, the camera flashes started to ceaselessly twinkle.
...Is this the protagonist of the Harry Potter story?
Judging from appearance, it doesn't seem particularly special?
Standing on the edge of the crowd, William stuffed the entire ice cream cone into his mouth, then brushed the crumbs off his hands while observing the black-haired boy being forced to stand awkwardly in the center of the crowd — expressing the above opinion.
But this is a wizarding world, maybe he has great talent, who knows?
William never shied away from guessing others in the worst way, just like he had single-handedly defeated most of Rookwood's wizards, but in retrospect, he always attributed it to his good luck, as many spells had just grazed his scalp —
Thankfully, he cast the Killing Curse quickly.
"...This September, I shall become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
A sudden exclamation interrupted William's thoughts. He finally turned his gaze toward the adult wizard whose smile was so bright it was almost blinding — is this the guy who's making him buy seven or eight more books?
He calculated, and this was almost a third of his scholarship!
William's fingers twitched slightly on his wand; he really hated the feeling of someone snatching Galleons right out of his pocket.
But reason stopped him from casting an evil curse on this toothy professor. He turned his head to look at the poster on the wall — an internationally renowned author and personality, recipient of the third-class Merlin Order, honorary member of the Anti-Dark Magic Alliance, five-time winner of the "Wizard Weekly's" Most Charming Smile Award — honestly, he's never seen someone with so many titles — except for the Albus Dumbledore he saw on a Chocolate Frog card.
He is still the current headmaster of Hogwarts — hoping that white-bearded old man is a bit more approachable than Phineas Nigellus Black.
"...Don't, Arthur!" Just as William was about to make his way through the crowd to spend that third of his Galleons, a scream pierced the air, followed by an enormous figure pushing through the crowd, "Clear out, gentlemen, clear out —"
The nearly three-meter giant's height was imposing; William instinctively stopped and moved aside — meanwhile, at the other end of the crowd, the previously orderly-arranged bookshelves were now scattered on the ground. Two figures, struggling together, were pulled apart by the giant, one in each hand —
A man with long, light-golden hair tidied his messy locks — even though his right eye had become enormously swollen from being hit by a spellbook — he raised his hand and stuck an old textbook into the arms of a little red-haired girl.
"Here you go, little girl — hold your book — it's the best thing your dad can give you —"
Saying this, the man dragged a boy who looked only a few sizes smaller than him out of the crowd — but William didn't shift his gaze away just because it seemed to be over. He had been staring at the old Transfiguration technique textbook in the girl's hands —
In William's vision, that textbook was emitting a faint blue-gold light.
Ancient magic?
Seeing an "old friend" for the first time since crossing over, William raised an eyebrow in surprise and instinctively began to walk in that direction —
"...You... haven't bought your textbooks yet? Mr. Richard?"
A drawling voice suddenly sounded behind William, who, caught off guard by the ancient magic, subconsciously dodged the hand that followed closely, pressing on his shoulder. His right-hand wand directly pointed upwards — a pale red glow brewing at the tip.
"...It seems you've gotten along well with the new wand?"
Snape looked at the redwood wand pointing at his throat, speaking nonchalantly — but judging from his floating, immobile hand, he wasn't as calm as he appeared.
"Professor Snape?"
William seemed to have just realized, hurriedly withdrawing his wand — simultaneously cursing inwardly, doesn't the old bat make any noise when walking? If he hadn't reacted quickly, the wand would have flashed not red, but a different light.
"Stunning Spell?"
Snape raised an eyebrow, staring meaningfully at William, who was glancing around.
"It's something I read in a charm book, Professor — I was just trying it out."
Due to Snape's interruption, William lost his view of the previously seen ancient magic — but he didn't react much, considering the age of that red-haired little girl holding the book, she should also go to Hogwarts this year, so he planned to pay attention to it then.
He refocused his attention back onto Snape — he could tell this professor seemed to be suspicious of him.
No surprise, as it was supposedly his first time handling a wand today, and his performance had been a bit too practiced —
"Charm book — alright, Mr. Richard — just like Dumbledore said, maybe you really are — extraordinarily talented?" Snape's tone was utterly mocking. He looked down at William, his dark eyes seemingly able to penetrate one's soul —
"I learn things quickly, Professor."
William nodded confidently, a truth he wasn't lying about — he never required more than one try to learn a charm.
"Really? We'll have to… wait and see."
Snape said noncommittally, tilting his head slightly to hide his gaze — Legilimency found nothing unusual; Snape frowned slightly in confusion, wondering if he had misjudged?
"You should be buying your textbooks now, Mr. Richard —" Snape turned toward the entrance of Flourish and Blotts, where Gilderoy Lockhart was continuing his book signing, with not many textbooks left beside him. "Quickly now, maybe you'll snag a signed set." He finished this sentence with a sarcastic grin.
"...I'll settle for the original version."
Watching the queue clearly outnumbering the remaining books before Lockhart, William turned and walked in another direction.
...
"...Was that Snape?" Having walked to the other side of Diagon Alley with the Weasleys, Harry turned back, looking toward Flourish and Blotts. "Who's that with him?"
"Harry, you can't recognize everyone from Hogwarts —" Ron said, "he might not even be a Hogwarts student."
"No, my silly brother — that person is indeed part of Hogwarts." A skinny red-haired boy suddenly draped an arm over Ron's shoulders, speaking ruefully, "Dear little Ronnie, I thought you were just dense — didn't expect your memory not to fare any better."
As he spoke, the boy showed a sad expression, making Ron feel as though not recognizing the person by Snape's side was a grave sin.
"Stop teasing him, Fred." Another red-haired boy wearing a Prefect badge marked with a "P" leaned over, looking at Harry, "That person is a transfer student, a fifth-year transfer —"
"A fifth-year transfer? How's that even possible?" Harry opened his eyes wide, showing an expression of surprise.
"But it's true. Lee Jordan always brings credible news, and —" Fred switched the conversation to the Prefect, "I'm George, Percy!"
"Yes, I'm Fred!" A boy identical to George peeked over.
"Hagrid, is that person really a fifth-year transfer student?" Harry turned to Hagrid, even though he was just the gamekeeper — he should know some bits of information.
"If he's with Professor Snape —" Hagrid mumbled in a barely audible voice for Harry, "then he likely is, Professor McGonagall assigned Professor Snape to guide the transfer students."
Even though Hagrid had some grievances about the arrangement, as he heard Professor McGonagall didn't hesitate at all in deciding between him and Snape for guiding duties.
...But that's not surprising, is it?