Ryze received his Hogwarts acceptance letter on the evening of July 24.
A week had passed since that day.
The following morning, he received another letter—this one from Professor Minerva McGonagall. In the letter, she explained that Hogwarts was currently verifying his identity. She also mentioned that she would personally visit the orphanage before the end of July. Her visit had two purposes: first, to check on the unusual magical creature Ryze had mentioned in his letter, and second, to accompany him to Diagon Alley to purchase his textbooks and school supplies.
Until then, he simply needed to wait.
On the morning of July 31, the sky was bright and clear.
A heavy rain had fallen the day before, washing the dust from the streets and leaving the air fresh and cool. Sunlight spilled across the orphanage yard, making the grass sparkle with droplets of water.
The children living in the orphanage eagerly ran outside to enjoy the warm sunshine. Their laughter echoed through the yard as they chased one another across the damp grass.
Ryze sat quietly behind the orphanage, choosing a clean patch of ground near the lawn. He leaned back slightly, watching the younger children play while lost in his own thoughts.
Around nine in the morning, a familiar voice suddenly called out to him.
"Little Ryze!"
It was one of the caregivers who had looked after him since he was small. The woman waved at him excitedly from the doorway.
"There's a professor here from some school," she shouted with a bright smile. "She said they've found your family. You should come take a look."
The moment those words left her mouth, the nearby children immediately swarmed around her like curious birds.
"What's happening?"
"Did Ryze really find his family?"
"Is he going to leave the orphanage?"
Their voices overlapped in a noisy chorus. Strangely enough, the children seemed even more excited than Ryze himself.
Ryze stood up slowly.
"Alright, alright. Go back to playing," he said with a small smile, trying to calm their curiosity. "I'll go see what's going on."
Although he appeared calm on the outside, he was actually quite puzzled.
Family?
He had grown up in the orphanage his entire life. No relatives had ever come looking for him before.
However…
Ryze did remember something from his knowledge of the wizarding world.
There were still a few female descendants of the House of Black alive.
For example, there was that infamous fanatic of Lord Voldemort—Bellatrix… something. She was currently imprisoned in Azkaban.
Draco Malfoy's mother, Narcissa, also came from the House of Black.
But those people were all extreme pure-blood supremacists.
Would they really come to meet an "illegitimate child" like him?
His confusion quickly found an answer.
When Ryze entered the meeting room of the orphanage, he saw three visitors waiting for him.
Standing at the front was an elderly witch wearing emerald-green robes and a pointed hat.
Ryze recognized her immediately.
Professor McGonagall.
The stern-looking witch stepped forward and introduced herself calmly.
"I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
She gestured toward the two people beside her.
"This is Andromeda Tonks, and this is her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks."
Then she looked directly at Ryze.
"You must be Mr. Reyes White Black."
Tonks?
The name sounded strangely familiar.
Ryze instinctively glanced at the young woman standing behind them.
She had bright pink hair that seemed almost unnatural in color and an energetic aura around her. She looked about eighteen years old.
Tonks…
Wasn't she supposed to become Lupin's wife in the future?
Ryze muttered silently to himself.
Although he remembered that she would eventually become a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he honestly didn't know how she was related to the House of Black.
"Hello, Professor McGonagall," Ryze said politely. "I'm Ryze—"
Before he could finish speaking, the middle-aged woman standing beside McGonagall suddenly stepped forward.
Her eyes were already glistening with tears.
"Oh, Merlin…" she whispered emotionally.
She grasped Ryze's hands tightly.
"You look exactly like Uncle Alphard!"
Her voice trembled with excitement.
"I haven't heard any news about him for eleven years. I never imagined he would leave behind a descendant before he disappeared."
She looked at Ryze carefully, her expression full of sympathy.
"You must have suffered a lot all these years."
Ryze blinked awkwardly.
Her sudden enthusiasm made him slightly uncomfortable.
Helplessly, he turned his gaze toward Professor McGonagall, silently asking for help.
Understanding the situation, Professor McGonagall stepped forward to explain.
The surname "Black" was not particularly rare in the wizarding world.
Because it had been widely known that the noble House of Black no longer had direct descendants for many years, no one had initially connected Ryze's name with that ancient family.
Therefore, when Hogwarts first sent him his acceptance letter, it had simply been done according to normal procedures.
However, after Ryze replied with his letter of inquiry, Hogwarts began investigating the identity of this newly discovered young wizard.
After several days of research, they discovered something surprising.
Ryze truly carried the blood of the House of Black.
His mother's identity was impossible to trace, as if it had been deliberately concealed by some unknown force.
But his father's identity had eventually been confirmed.
At first, Hogwarts suspected that Ryze might be Sirius Black's illegitimate son.
Another possibility was that he could be the posthumous child of Sirius's younger brother, Regulus Black.
But further investigation proved both assumptions incorrect.
His father was Alphard Black.
Alphard Black had been disowned by the Black family in 1977.
The reason was simple.
He had secretly provided financial support to two rebellious relatives who had defied the family's ideology.
After that incident, Alphard mysteriously disappeared around 1980.
Ryze immediately guessed the identities of those two relatives.
The nephew Alphard had supported was most likely Sirius Black—the man currently imprisoned in Azkaban.
And the niece he had helped…
Was standing right in front of him.
Andromeda Tonks.
Before her marriage, she had been known as Andromeda Black.
Like Sirius, she had also rebelled against the rigid traditions of her family.
She fell in love with a Muggle-born wizard and married him despite fierce opposition.
As a result, she was also disowned by the Black family.
According to Andromeda, after her marriage she and her husband had been frequently threatened by dark wizards who supported pure-blood supremacy.
During those difficult times, it was Alphard who secretly helped them.
He solved many of their problems behind the scenes and even gave Andromeda a generous sum of money as a dowry.
His only wish was that she could live freely and happily after escaping the suffocating chains of the Black family.
When Alphard disappeared years later, only two people continued searching for him.
One was Andromeda.
The other was Sirius Black.
Unfortunately, their search ultimately led nowhere.
Andromeda spent nearly half an hour explaining the history of the House of Black and Ryze's father.
Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall occasionally added explanations about certain terms in the wizarding world.
She also clarified some darker aspects of wizard society.
Over a decade ago, the wizarding world had lived under the shadow of a terrifying Dark Lord.
However, that Dark Lord had already fallen.
Peace had finally returned.
Ryze silently studied the photograph now resting in his hand.
It showed a young Alphard Black.
The resemblance between them was striking—perhaps seventy percent similar.
However, Ryze's thin frame and pale face made him look far weaker than the confident man smiling in the photograph.
Even so, looking at Andromeda—who was nearly thirty years older than him—Ryze found it extremely awkward to think of her as his "cousin."
Meanwhile, Andromeda continued speaking excitedly about the past.
She even suggested that Ryze move in with her family.
At one point she turned toward her daughter.
"Dora, you should call him Uncle."
Both Ryze and Nymphadora froze.
An awkward silence filled the room.
"Alright, Andromeda," Professor McGonagall interrupted gently. "You're moving a little too fast."
She looked at Ryze.
"I believe Mr. Black still needs time to process everything."
She paused before adding another piece of information.
"Additionally, his father left him some property."
Professor McGonagall turned to him.
"So, Mr. Black… do you have any further questions about your heritage?"
Ryze thought for a moment before answering calmly.
"Please call me White—or Ryze—Professor."
"To be honest, I don't feel any particular connection to the House of Black or to my missing father yet. I also don't feel any sense of identity with the surname 'Black.'"
He hesitated slightly before continuing.
"So what I want to know is this… would accepting or rejecting the Black name affect my life in any significant way?"
Then he added thoughtfully:
"From what I understand, the House of Black seems to be a rather… conservative and xenophobic family. They probably wouldn't acknowledge someone like me anyway."
Professor McGonagall exchanged a glance with Andromeda.
Andromeda sighed softly before nodding.
"That's true," she admitted.
"Although there are hardly any truly pure-blood wizards left today, those who still support the Black family's ideology would not want someone with an unknown maternal bloodline 'polluting' their so-called purity."
She paused before continuing.
"However… the Black family currently has no direct male descendants."
"And since your mother's identity cannot be confirmed, if you truly wished to return, negotiations might still be possible."
She looked at Ryze sincerely.
"But no matter what decision you make, I will support you."
"Blood ties are still blood ties."
"Even after I was disowned, Uncle Alphard never once treated me differently."
From her words, Ryze could easily understand the situation.
If he wanted to return to the House of Black, he would likely have to pay a heavy price.
And he would probably face endless harassment from pure-blood extremists.
With the rune system in his possession, however, he had no intention of bowing to such people.
Besides, his father still had personal assets that had never been reclaimed by the Black family.
Those assets legally belonged to him.
If necessary, he could even grow stronger in the future and rebuild the House of Black from scratch—perhaps even with Sirius.
Andromeda's visit today was not only about meeting him.
Later, when they went to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies, they would also visit Gringotts.
There, Andromeda would help confirm Ryze's identity so he could inherit Alphard Black's personal vault.
If Ryze could eventually help clear Sirius Black's name…
Then perhaps that imprisoned cousin might become a powerful ally in the future.
After thinking everything through, Ryze finally spoke.
"Professor McGonagall… Cousin…"
"I would like to enter Hogwarts as Reyes White for now."
"Can I decide later whether or not to accept the Black surname?"
"Of course," Andromeda said immediately.
Then her expression softened with sadness.
"I don't know why Uncle Alphard allowed you to grow up in such a place."
"But I'm certain it wasn't his true intention."
"There must have been a reason."
She looked at Ryze's thin figure and her eyes began filling with tears again.
Professor McGonagall quietly asked Nymphadora to guide her mother aside to rest for a moment.
Then she turned back to Ryze.
"Andromeda has always respected your father," she said gently.
"She never stopped investigating the truth behind his disappearance."
"When we told her about you, she volunteered immediately to come here."
Among all his surviving relatives, Professor McGonagall believed Andromeda was the one most worthy of his trust.
Ryze nodded slowly.
"I understand, Professor."
"I can feel her sincerity."
"I'm just… not used to it yet."
Professor McGonagall nodded in understanding.
After a moment, she shifted the conversation.
"Now then, Mr. White," she said.
"In your letter, you mentioned a special fairy that appeared beside you last year."
"Could you summon it for me?"
Ryze nodded.
"Of course, Professor McGonagall."
Feeling Nymphadora's curious gaze from the side, Ryze raised his hand slightly.
Then, with practiced ease—
He summoned Ailey.