Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 5 Herris's Potion and the Letter of Admission

In May 1991, a mottled owl flew over London with a letter in its beak.

At the same time, in a dilapidated attic in London's old town, an eleven-year-old Chinese boy was taking notes with a serious expression.

The boy's left hand, gloved in black, gently pressed down on the old, yellowed parchment, while his other hand swiftly scribbled and drew some very complex geometric shapes on another blank sheet of parchment.

About thirty minutes later, the Chinese boy finished the last stroke of his drawing, leaned back gently in his chair, picked up a bottle of light blue liquid from the table, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Ugh..." The Chinese boy, or rather Tierra, almost vomited from the pungent smell of the light blue liquid, but fortunately he covered his mouth in time and forced himself to swallow it.

The moment the blue liquid went down, Tiera felt as if he had returned to the night of the laboratory explosion. The heavy, ultra-low temperature refrigerator was falling from the sky, and a huge shadow was pressing down on him. The short four seconds of death seemed to be stretched into eternity. The dull pain of the refrigerator hitting him and the excruciating pain of his skull being crushed inch by inch tormented him frame by frame.

After an unknown amount of time, Tiera awoke from the hellish torment, drenched in cold sweat, but his spirits were incredibly high, as if he had just woken from a long and comfortable sleep.

"The thought of having to keep drinking it makes me feel hopeless." Tierra sighed, straightened the chair he had kicked over while drinking the medicine, and went downstairs to take a hot shower.

The potion Tiera just drank is called the Heris Potion, one of the research findings in Merlin's journal. It can enhance mental strength, and its residual medicinal properties can build a temporary spiritual barrier for the user, lasting about a month. This can effectively reduce the probability of the user accidentally engaging in a mental confrontation with the Great Old Ones when learning forbidden spells.

Of course, the side effects are also quite obvious. Within ten minutes to half an hour after taking the medicine, the user will experience the most painful experience of their life again and again.

For Tierra, it was naturally the experience of being crushed to death by a freezer during the explosion.

Although he didn't feel anything at the time, the pain was still recorded by his subconscious and erupted in the hallucinations caused by the Heris potion.

After taking a bath, Tiera lay limply on the bed, preparing to rest for a while before learning her next spell.

He only has one day a week when he can study magic without any disruption, so he has to make the most of his time.

Five years have passed since he left the orphanage. Although he was carrying a large sum of ancient coins, Tiera cautiously only took out a few to pawn, exchanging them for enough money to live on for nearly one or two months. He planned to use the rest of the money to find a job.

It's not easy for a six-year-old to find a job. He was either rejected outright or targeted by people with ulterior motives who wanted to sell him into underground businesses.

Having been out of work for a long time, Tierra had no choice but to resort to petty theft, just like other homeless children on the streets of London.

However, this situation soon changed. During a theft, she was stopped by a Chinese woman who couldn't speak English. After discovering that Tierra's English was much better than her husband's gesturing-based English, the kind-hearted and beautiful Chinese woman offered Tierra a job as a cashier at her restaurant.

Room and board are provided. The job is 6 days on, 1 day off. The monthly salary is 20 pounds. The job usually involves sitting at the cashier and translating what customers want to order. When it's busy, you may go to the kitchen to help out.

The attic in the old town now belongs to one of her friends. Her friend went back to her country and temporarily entrusted it to her to manage. Since it was empty anyway, she arranged for Tiera to stay here.

Tiera saved most of her wages.

Even brewing the Heris potion didn't cost much. After all, this library is not just a library; it is located on a planet with an ecological environment similar to Earth. Merlin has cultivated more than ten acres of herb fields centered around the library entrance.

Although Merlin had been gone for nearly five or six hundred years, most of the herbs had grown wildly like weeds due to the suitable climate here. Tiera easily gathered most of the ingredients for brewing Heris potion by holding the "Complete Guide to Miraculous Herbs" that she found on the third shelf. The remaining small portion was also gathered from the Chinese medicine shops in Chinatown.

"Knock, knock, knock"

Just as Tiera was about to get up and learn another spell, he seemed to hear a tapping sound on the glass.

A few seconds later, he saw a mottled owl land in front of his skylight with a letter in its beak and tap the glass three times.

"Knock, knock, knock"

"Could it be..." Tiera thought of a possibility and excitedly jumped out of bed, hurriedly grabbing the iron rod to open the skylight.

After the mottled owl flew in and placed the letter on Tiera's desk, it stood alone on the back of the chair, preening its feathers.

Tiera picked up the thin envelope, white with a red stamp, his name and address written on the back in emerald green ink, and a wax seal on the front, a shield emblem, and a lion, a snake, an eagle, and a honey badger surrounding a capital H.

Tierra excitedly laid the envelope flat and carefully used a paper cutter to cut off the part where the sealing wax was separated from the letter paper, peeling off the entire piece of sealing wax completely.

Tierra took the letter, still smelling of pungent ink, out of the envelope and read it carefully, word by word.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore.

(President of the International Magic Federation, President of the Wizarding Association, First-Class Wizard of the Order of Merlin)
Dear Mr. Wu:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Attached is a list of required books and equipment.

The semester is scheduled to begin on September 1st. We will await your reply by July 31st. Vice Principal (Female)
Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
[uniform]
First-year students need:
1. Three sets of plain black work robes
2. A plain, black pointed hat for daytime wear.
3. A pair of protective gloves (made of dragon skin or similar material)
4. A winter cloak (black, with silver buttons)
Please note: All student uniforms must have name tags attached.

[textbook]
All students are required to prepare the following books:

Standard Spells, Beginner Level, by Miranda Gorshak

The History of Magic, by Bahita Bashat

The Theory of Magic, by Adberwolflin

"A Beginner's Guide to Metamorphosis" by Emery Sweech

"A Thousand Miraculous Herbs and Mushrooms", by Philidaspol

Magic Potions and Elixirs by Arsenijig

Monsters and Where They Are From, by Newt Scamander
Dark Powers: A Guide to Self-Defense, by Quentin Trinket
[Other Equipment]
a wand

A large pot (made of tin, standard size 2)
A set of glass or crystal medicine bottles

A telescope
A brass balance

Students may bring an owl, a cat, or a toad.

Parents are especially reminded that first-grade students are not allowed to bring their own flying brooms.

It's true, it's really true!

Tiera, somewhat dazed, ruffled the owl standing on the table, which annoyed the owl, causing it to flap its wings.

However, Tiera's daze only lasted for a short while.

He immediately pulled out a blank sheet of paper, picked up a pen, and wrote:

Dear Professor Dumbledore:
It is a great honor to be able to study magic at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

After writing this, Tiera thought for a moment, then continued writing:

But I don't know anyone around me who has studied magic, and although I am very fascinated by magic, I have never been exposed to it. Therefore, I have no idea how to prepare the items on the list or how to get to Hogwarts.

If I may, and I mean if it is convenient for you, could any faculty or staff member who happens to live in London or be in London on business, please take me into the magical world of magicians?
Student
Tierra·Wu
The reply was folded and handed to the owl.

But the owl didn't open its beak; instead, it flapped its wings and hooted once, then stared at Tiera with a very human-like gaze.

"Oh right, you must be hungry to have flown here." Tiera only realized this after seeing the owl's movements.

"Perfect timing, I have some of your favorite delicacies here." After saying that, Tiera opened the door to the second floor and ran downstairs. When she came back, she was carrying a plump gray squirrel with a slightly damaged tail.

This is the test rat that Tiera caught in the attic while practicing the Levitation Charm. Now that the Heris Potion has proven effective, it is no longer needed, so she simply gives it to the hardworking messenger as a snack.

"Squeak—squeak—" The gray rat squeaked wildly as it was caught in the hand, but unfortunately, Tiera held it by the scruff of its neck, so no matter how much it struggled, it couldn't bite Tiera.

Tierra handed the gray squirrel to the owl's beak.

The owl looked at the big rat, then at Tyella.

It pecked Tiera's hand, then picked up the reply and flew away without looking back.

"Owls don't like to eat mice?"

Tiera looked at the owl's retreating figure and said with some confusion.

"Do you mean we have to eat it cooked?"

(End of this chapter)