The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

Just as bewildered as Harry was Red.

"This is fucking bizarre... What the hell is going on?"

Red opened his eyes and saw the familiar orphanage. If it weren't for the amber-encrusted diary he always carried with him, still quietly in his arms, he would have thought he was just having a beautiful dream before he starved to death.

"Luckily, I ate my fill before coming back, otherwise I would have lost out big time. You can't find such a cheap and filling meal for two pence anywhere else."

Having returned from another world, Red smacked his lips with a wistful reminiscence. He rarely ate so much, otherwise he wouldn't have had such a deep impression of that Stargazing Pie.

"Never mind, this dinner tonight can be divided among those little radishes so they can have a good meal and stop nagging in my ear."

Reid sighed, then pushed open the door and met the gaze of an old nun.

"Red, where have you been?"

"Old nun, I've found a family willing to feed me and work for them. You know, if I can eat out, they can eat more." Red looked at the old nun with a worried expression. Their orphanage's finances were never good. Even the cheapest meat was something they might not be able to eat every three days. Most of the time, their food consisted of baked bean bread that only filled them to half-full.

"Red..." The old nun wanted to say that Red didn't need to do this, but when she looked back, those expectant eyes made her unable to say the words.

"Rade, do what you can, and please don't let anything happen..."

"I understand, old nanny... I have to go back and feed the children, otherwise they won't feel at ease."

Red nodded seriously, then walked into the orphanage, calling out as he went.

"You little rascals, it's time for dinner. If you don't come out now, there won't be much food left for you tonight..."

"Brother Red... Sister Naya, she, she..." Red's eyes froze instantly. He had seen many crying little ones before; after all, children who are hungry always cry.

The problem is that, at least as far as Red knows, they have no spare money to buy the drugs.

"Damn it, take me there!!!"

Without saying a word, Red followed the little guy in front of him, looking back as he walked.

"You all divide up your dinner, leave a portion for Naya, don't leave any for me..."

As a mature leader of the children, and even the oldest child still in the orphanage who helps manage the orphans, Red deeply understands that the most likely time to die each year is not the cold winter. No matter how cold the winter is, the thin blankets and hot soup in the orphanage, along with the relatively sturdy walls, can barely keep these unwanted little ones alive.

The arrival of spring is the most silent yet deadly. The weather at the turn of winter and spring is enough to deceive many people, causing them to fall ill in a sudden cold snap, and then...

Red had seen those children with high fevers end up motionless. As a child who had once lived in the future, he deeply understood what suffering meant.

"How is Naya now?!"

Red rushed into the room, and the girl named Naya struggled to open her eyes, managing a weak smile at Red.

"Brother Red... I... I'm just a little cold, it's okay... I'll feel better soon, right?"

Chills, shivering, red skin...

These were all classic symptoms of high fever, but Red knew that the orphanage no longer had the money to buy a dose of medicine that could cure the fever.

"I... I'll get better, right?" the little girl asked repeatedly. Perhaps it was Red's silence that made her feel the deepest unease. Her voice was already trembling with tears, as if Red was about to abandon her.

"Yes...believe me...you will get better."

Red held Naya's hand, a slender, pale, rough, and weak little hand. Hunger had robbed them of so much of the beauty of their childhood. Even so, Red still remembered the small piece of bread that Naya had secretly slipped to him when he was starving.

"You can go out now, I'll keep Naya company..."

Red instructed the little guy behind him to go out and eat first. Although the other children would definitely leave him a portion after he gave the order, it was not a pleasant feeling to eat food that had gone cold.

After watching the child who had led the way close the door and leave, Red slowly sat down in front of the simple iron-framed bed and spoke to Naya, who was curled up in a thin blanket.

"Next, I'm going to cast a little spell... a spell that will make you better, Naya... please close your eyes, okay?"

Naya obediently closed her eyes. She believed in Red, who would always lead them out of their predicament, but she was also prepared to never wake up again. Orphans always have to be more mature.

"Brother Red... if I never wake up, just bury me by the river."

Red didn't speak. He felt his strength rapidly draining away, flowing into Naya's body in a more mysterious way.

[Naya Steele]: An ordinary orphan (1 heart) (Status: Sick)

Red was mobilizing his [Soul Essence], which is called the element that constitutes the soul in the Book of the Stars. The nine Soul Essences correspond to nine special powers, and what Red was now using was the most basic power.

[Soul Essence: Health]: The resting place of the soul. (1 Heart, 1 Scale, 1 Honey)

[Heart]: To protect the surface of the world we know, the heart beats endlessly.

[Scales]: Hard on the outside, solid on the inside; difficult to awaken, even harder to suppress. [This is the remnant of primal forces deep within the earth.]

Honey: An evergreen treasure in the world's veins; the pulsating pulse of the changing seasons. [Long ago, some called this principle "blood."]

Under Red's guidance, the power of the three principles worked just as it had with Harry, gradually calming Naya's rapid breathing. Naya's heart began to beat rhythmically again, and her small body displayed incredible power.

[Naya Steel]: The girl who received healing (2 hearts, 1 scale, 1 honey) (Status: In the process of healing) (Has been strengthened with soul essence today)

Reid breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair. This was the second way to strengthen an assistant: by infusing his own soul power into the target's body to enhance the power of the corresponding aspect that the target possessed.

Red never imagined that he would successfully save an important life today using this method.