From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 586 Diagon Alley Encounters in the New World (Part 1)

"Uncle Doom."

Setting down the Grimoire of Destruction, Ivy looked up and saw little Cassandra coming down the stairs.

Poppy truly lives up to her reputation as the most interested in studying dresses among all of Ivy's employees. Perhaps due to her innate nature, after being freed from the confines of house-elves, cook Poppy's fashion sense is far superior to that of her compatriots who only wear work clothes.

Perhaps to match Ivy's navy blue coat, Bubble dressed Cassandra in a long dress with Slytherin green as the main color. The shirt-style false collar on the upper body was a light green like grass, and a dark green ribbon was tied into a small bow at the chest. The main body of the dress was made of expensive dark green wool, and the off-shoulder design was neither too conservative nor too frivolous.

Gold buttons and decorative stitching, accented with a series of green accents, complemented Cassandra's blonde hair, adding an air of regal elegance to her outfit.

“Very good.” Ivy nodded slightly, expressing her appreciation for Bubble’s aesthetic sense. “Come on, I’ll use Apparition to take you to the Leaky Cauldron, along the classic entrance route. We can also see how this new world differs from my understanding.”

Cassandra nodded obediently, walked down the stairs, and took Ivy's arm.

"Safeguarding peace and security."

"Disappeared without a trace."

Ivy didn't Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron entrance immediately. Instead, she took out her Silver Linden Wand and added some protective magic to her foothold in this world.

He waited a long time yesterday, but the dark wizard Peter and his accomplices didn't come, greatly increasing the possibility that he was a lone wolf. However, out of caution, he still chose to conceal his presence at Worley Manor, after all, no one wants to sleep in ruins.

"Keep an eye on the house, Bean, Bubble." Before Ivy could hear the two Bobbies' reply, she vanished into the hall of Worley Manor in a distorted phantom.

London's air quality has never been great, but the continuous rain has at least reduced the dust and haze in this international metropolis. Coupled with the rare sunny days, the air at the end of summer seems to have a deliberately created sweetness.

The Leaky Cauldron still looked dilapidated and deserted; after all, the entrance to this magical world in the heart of the city couldn't be seen by Muggles. However, compared to the one Ivy had visited in another timeline, the Leaky Cauldron's exterior was at least cleaner; the brick walls still showed their original brownish-red color, instead of being covered in grease and grime.

The bar's interior was also much more spacious, and Ivy could tell it was due to the Invisible Extension Spell at work. Many oil lamps hung on the newly painted walls, illuminating the originally dim hall.

However, incongruous with the spacious and bright hall, there were very few guests, and they all hunched over with their heads down, their voices barely audible.

"Hello." A female voice came from behind the bar, stopping Ivy and her companion who did not intend to stay.

She was a woman with short, brown-gold hair. Her gentle voice betrayed her exhaustion, and even her features looked haggard from worry.

Despite her drastically changed appearance, Ivy still recognized her classmate from this other world—Hannah Abbott. Ivy didn't know where she had read that Hannah had married Neville Longbottom after graduation, so perhaps she should be called Mrs. Longbottom now.

However, in this timeline, Ivy is well aware that the short-haired woman in front of her does not recognize her.

"What's wrong?" Ivy asked, her eyes questioning. "I didn't mean to cause trouble."

“That’s great.” Bar owner Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. “Nobody wants to concern themselves with other people’s troubles unless it affects our peaceful lives.”

She took a booklet from under the bar. The leather cover was covered in grease, clearly indicating that it was frequently used. Two metal clips were attached to the spine of the booklet, seemingly to prevent the frequently flipped booklet from falling apart. In addition to securing the pages, the metal clips also served to hold a quill pen.

After the bar owner, Hannah, opened the booklet, the quill pen, which had been tethered, flew up listlessly, shook itself twice, and left a trail of ink dots on the white wall behind Hannah.

“Due to the Auror Office’s regulations, we need to register your name and purpose of visit,” Hannah said, pointing to the blank squares. “Just answer truthfully, and it will distinguish between true and false information.”

“Victor Worre,” Ivy said, using a pseudonym, “is here to accompany my niece to buy items on her school admission list.”

To lend credibility to the claim, Ivy even pulled out Cassandra's college acceptance letter from her pocket.

However, Hannah didn't seem to care at all what Ivy had said; she just stared intently at the quill pen floating in front of her, as if afraid it would shout "Liar!"

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long before the quill pen, capable of detecting lies, smoothly completed the registration form required by the Auror office.

After closing the booklet with satisfaction, Hannah looked at the acceptance letter on the bar, her face showing a mixture of reminiscence and barely concealed fear: "Hogwarts... there are only three days left before school starts, shopping at this time is indeed unusual."

“The family hasn’t decided which school to send her to yet, so there’s been some delay,” Ivy said, trying to get information out of her. “But Hogwarts is the best; we have the famous Harry Potter.”

“Harry Potter.” Hannah said as if she were chewing on wax, not her classmate’s name, “the greatest wizard of the 20th century.”

"Please, you know how to get there, right?" The bar owner, Hannah, didn't want to talk any more. She had only stopped Ivy and her companion to fulfill the Auror office's request.

"Hannah!"

Others were calling the landlady's name, but Hannah didn't turn around. Instead, she waved her hand, signaling the two to hurry up and leave.

"Mrs. Longbottom?" The voice grew closer.

Ivy turned around and saw another recognizable face: Colin Crevey, Harry's little fanboy.

Hannah sighed almost imperceptibly, then turned back with a smile: "It's been a while since I've seen you, Colin. Still busy fighting crime?"

“Of course! I’m a resident Auror assigned by the Auror Office to the Daily Prophet!” Colin seemed very proud of his position. He pulled a few pieces of parchment from his jacket pocket and plopped down at the bar.

Seemingly noticing that Ivy was watching the commotion, Hannah gave her a subtle look, signaling that they could leave.

Ivy, of course, ignored this.

“But you’re wrong about one thing,” Colin said, pointing to a string of words on the parchment, which should have been the title of a newsletter or report, “It’s ‘Fighting Crime Under the Leadership of Director Neville Longbottom’!” The Auror Office is a subordinate agency of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If there haven’t been any major reforms to the official agencies in this timeline, then Neville Longbottom, who leads the Aurors, is clearly one of the most powerful people in the Ministry of Magic.

Mrs. Longbottom, also known as Hannah, did not seem to appreciate Colin's obvious compliment. She gestured for Ivy to take little Cassandra away again, which finally caught the attention of the Aurors on the other side.

“Oh! I just realized you have guests.” Colin scrutinized Ivy and her companion from head to toe, then asked in an almost interrogative tone, “Going to Diagon Alley?”

“A new student at Hogwarts,” Hannah quickly explained for Ivy, “Go there to buy some necessities.”

"This time? Isn't it a bit too late?" Auror Colin raised an eyebrow sharply. "Have they registered?"

“Of course!” Hannah hurriedly pulled the register from under the bar, flipped it open, and pointed to the standard handwriting left by the quill pen. “Look! It’s very clear.”

“Okay.” Colin still seemed to have some doubts, but for a moment he didn’t know where to start.

“We are really hesitant,” Ivy explained, “but Hogwarts has Harry Potter, which is something other magic schools can hardly match…”

“You should say Mr. Harry Potter, the greatest wizard of the twentieth century!” Colin raised his hand forcefully, revealing a badge hidden on his shirt cuff—a lion with its jaws wide open, swallowing the head of a twisted serpent.

"But since you've seen the error of your ways, go quickly." Auror Corin waved his hand, the insignia on his sleeve reflecting a golden-red mixed with a ghostly green light.

Ivy seemed to finally understand the warning in Hannah's eyes, and turned to walk towards the back door of the bar.

The trash cans in the courtyard have also changed their appearance, displaying a lifeless neatness in conjunction with the weed-free ground.

Fortunately, the method to enter Diagon Alley remains the same.

Ivy counted the bricks, then tapped the wall three times with her wand. The shaking wall gradually transformed into a wide passageway leading to Diagon Alley, the largest commercial street in the British wizarding world.

According to Ivy, the place has completely changed.

The crooked little buildings forcibly constructed with magic disappeared, the winding cobblestone paths were gone, and the hawkers' cries and the laughter of pedestrians that filled the street fell silent.

Instead, there are bright and orderly multi-story buildings, straight streets paved with marble, and pedestrians hurrying along and talking in hushed tones.

The somewhat outdated Diagon Alley, in Ivy's view, has disappeared, replaced by a well-organized and bright model commercial street filled with civilized customers and vendors.

A large portrait of Harry Potter was displayed behind a bright shop window. The background of the portrait should be the Hogwarts Headmaster's office, except that everything Ivy knew that once belonged to Dumbledore was gone. Only Fawkes the Phoenix with a gold chain around his ankle still looked arrogantly at the passers-by in front of the bookstore.

Young Harry's face appeared to have been specially groomed; his hair was perfectly styled, his expression was cold and resolute, and even the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead was openly displayed.

Ivy shifted her gaze to the signboard, where the gilded words that made up Flourish and Blotts Bookstore were gleaming.

This century-old shop has completely changed. Although the shop window used to be full of best-selling books, you can always find some magic books you like in the narrow aisles of the shop, or collections of papers by some magic researchers, or ancient magic books covered in dust, or even crumpled, wordless books that the shopkeeper probably found somewhere.

On that bookshelf that almost reached the ceiling, Ivy had come across many of the most popular works in the magical world.

Therefore, when he saw the spacious bookstore with its bright and clean windows and neatly arranged books, he still felt a strange emotion. It was like an old toy that he wasn't particularly fond of but was very familiar with had suddenly been refurbished.

After briefly explaining their purpose, the shop assistant led the two to the textbook section with a suspicious look. According to the shop assistant, all they needed to do was take a stack of pre-packaged textbooks for all grades of Hogwarts.

Ivy opened Cassandra's first-grade textbook, wanting to compare the titles with what she remembered.

However, after seeing the word "standard edition" following every book title, I quickly lost the desire to read it.

Whoever is sitting in the principal's office, he could never be Harry Potter, whose mind is only filled with adventure and friends. He could never have come up with such a top-notch political tactic as using textbooks to imprison thought.

However, one textbook in the standard curriculum did catch Ivy's interest: "Elementary Black Magic - Standard Edition?"

He never imagined that anyone would set standards for black magic.

It looked like a textbook on Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ivy decided to take a selective look. If the ideas were worth learning from, he might as well make a dedicated textbook on Defense Against the Dark Arts for his students in Streihaven.

Regardless of who wrote "Elementary Black Magic: Standard Edition," he did a thorough study of the basic theories of black magic. Although he could not cover all the origins of black magic, he was far better than those black wizards who only knew how to lead the way to horror and bloodshed.

Ivy was very familiar with this line of thought and recognized it almost instantly. It belonged to Voldemort, and Ivy could swear on Voldemort's own head that he knew all too well the dark magic knowledge hidden beneath that skull.

The person sitting in the Hogwarts Headmaster's office couldn't possibly be Harry Potter, but rather Voldemort who usurped Harry's body, or at the very least, a fusion of the two. The possibility of Harry being the dominant one is almost nonexistent.

Ivy was even more certain when she saw Harry's name as the author.

Ivy had considered this possibility—the fusion of two souls crammed into the same body—but suitable candidates for this experiment were extremely rare, and it was uncertain whether the conclusions drawn would apply to all beings with souls.

Therefore, Ivy has not yet been involved in such experiments that are so sinister just to talk about them.

However, there might be a natural sample right in front of him, and Ivy's curiosity was almost uncontrollable.

Feeling a tug on his cuff, Ivy turned around and saw Cassandra. She handed Ivy a book, the cover of which featured what appeared to be Ron and Hermione, the wizard and witch respectively. The title of the book was "The Sacrifice of Glory."

(End of this chapter)