Harry raised an eyebrow, broke the wax seal, opened the envelope and started reading the letter that Aunt Petunia envied so very much:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Grand Sorcerer, Order of Merlin First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been granted admission to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A list of required books and equipment is enclosed.
Term begins on 1 September. Please send your reply by owl no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Harry studied the letter, thoughtful.
There was a lot of information between the lines: a school of magic, the International Confederation of Wizards, the Order of Merlin…
Clearly, the wizarding society in this world was already highly developed, with numerous independent wizarding organisations.
They even had a dedicated school for educating young witches and wizards. In that respect, it was obviously more advanced than Kamar-Taj.
Maybe when he someday became Sorcerer Supreme, he could reform Kamar-Taj based on the social structure of the wizarding world.
He then looked through the enclosed list.
The items on the list also told him quite a bit about the wizarding world.
What really surprised him was that even ordinary students at a magic school were allowed to use dragonhide.
Staring at the requirement for protective gloves made of dragonhide or similar materials, Harry fell silent.
In that other world, Earth had no dragons—but some other dimensions did.
Those dragons were not the sort of creatures you got along with easily. They were few in number and terrifyingly powerful; any one of them could wipe a city off the map with ease.
The strongest of their kind could even destroy planets.
Could it be that the wizarding world's magical standards had already surpassed Kamar-Taj?
If so, why had he never heard any rumours about the wizarding world before? Were the wizards of this world also protectors of Earth, fighting against immensely powerful dimensional demon gods?
The thought made Harry's impression of the wizarding world rise considerably.
Whether they discriminated against ordinary people or not, as long as they were secretly guarding the Earth from the shadows, there was a good chance they were basically on the side of justice.
Harry had once faced a dimensional demon god named Dormammu together with the Sorcerer Supreme, and he knew all too well how terrifying such beings were.
That meant this world probably had wizards whose power could rival the Sorcerer Supreme. Only people at that level could stand against dimensional demon gods.
Although Harry didn't yet have his own owl, he still managed to lure a hardworking post owl with some jerky and let it rest for a while.
While the owl cooed contentedly, Harry quickly finished writing his reply, tied it to the owl's leg, then stroked the grey bird's head and watched it disappear into the sky.
Wizarding world, Sorcerer Supreme Harry is on his way!
Maybe, in this world, he'd be able to learn even more powerful magic to confront even stronger enemies.
As one of the people closest to the Sorcerer Supreme, Harry could feel that the venerable old master was growing more and more weary.
He couldn't wait to grow stronger and share that burden.
Not long after he sent the reply to Hogwarts—by the very next afternoon, in fact—Harry received an answer from Hogwarts.
Thump, thump, thump!
The poor bedroom door rattled like a flimsy plank; under the pounding of whoever was outside, it looked ready to split at any moment.
"Who's there?!"
Dudley had now fully settled into his role as Harry's flunky. When he saw Harry glance toward the door, he understood at once and went to open it. Before casting his spell, he loudly shouted, "I'm an idiot!" to pay the cost of using magic.
But when he opened the door, he didn't even get the chance to cast anything. Two arms like stone pillars swept him up into a crushing hug.
The figure outside the door finally came into view: a giant, fully three and a half metres tall. He had to stoop to squeeze through the two-metre-high doorway.
Right now he was hugging Dudley, tears pouring down his face like a fountain and dripping all over Dudley's head.
"Boo-hoo—Harry, my dear Harry, last time I saw yeh yeh were just a baby, an' now look at yeh, all grown up.
"Oh, yeh've got proper fat too, just like a little pig—but that's all right, that's healthy, isn't it?"
Dudley struggled desperately in the giant's arms, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"No, I'm not Harry, he's Harry!"
The tears on the giant's face stopped instantly. He lifted Dudley up and peered at him carefully. Once he was sure this really wasn't Harry, he simply ignored Dudley and turned toward Harry instead.
Sensing nothing but goodwill from the man, Harry didn't dodge and let him pull him into a hug.
Though he had to admit, the smell rolling off this particular giant was a bit overwhelming.
With a hint of a sob in his voice, the giant said:
"Oh, Harry, my dear Harry, I finally get ter see yeh.
"Look at yeh—yeh're the spit o' yer dad Potter, but yeh've got Lily's eyes, just as gentle—like a pair o' green jewels.
"I held yeh when yeh were tiny, yeh remember that, don't yeh?"
If not for what had just happened with Dudley, this might have been a touching moment. But given the way the giant had just swooped in and grabbed Dudley without a word, the mood was more than a little odd.
Harry muttered inwardly: how could any normal kid remember anything from when they were a baby?
Unfortunately for that argument, thanks to his powerful magic and enhanced memory, he actually could remember the green spell that had struck at him not long after he was born—and, faintly, the shaggy, big-headed giant holding him.
Besides him, there had been a dignified old witch and a kindly old wizard.
Escaping the giant's somewhat pungent embrace, Harry politely asked:
"Hello, I'm Harry. You knew my parents?"
"Course I did. I knew James an' Lily well—I'm Hagrid. I was good friends with 'em, an' I was the one who brought yeh here in the first place.
"I'd heard the Dursleys treated yeh badly, so I was thinkin' I'd help yeh teach 'em a lesson, but it looks like that was just gossip. The Dursleys seem all right ter me."
Hagrid eyed Harry's brand-new clothes and the way the Dursleys were behaving so politely toward him and nodded to himself in secret satisfaction.
He gave the Dursleys a friendly grin, then turned back to Harry.
"Come on then, Harry. I know yeh've got a lot o' questions, but we can talk on the way.
"I still need ter take yeh down Diagon Alley ter get yer school things. Come on, let's go and we'll talk as we go."
They took a train into London, and along the way Harry noticed something odd.
By all rights, someone well over three metres tall should have drawn a lot of attention, but people on the street just glanced at Hagrid once and then looked away again, as if his presence was nothing remarkable at all.
At the same time, Harry could sense lingering traces of magic on Hagrid. It was probably some kind of spell.
What spell is this?
Harry was intrigued. Was it a form of soul magic?