The next morning, Professor McGonagall arrived at the school infirmary looking worried. Kevin's last remaining wound had completely disappeared, which astonished Madam Pomfrey even more, leading her to believe that Kevin's parents must have cast some ultimate protective charm on him—such as love.
"So," Kevin said cheerfully, "how will we get there? Through a special door? Teleportation? Riding the wind? A phantom steed? Or something else?"
"We walk to the border of Hogwarts and then directly Apparate from there," McGonagall explained.
"Apparition? What's that?" Kevin asked. He was a little worried about how often he'd been failing his Knowledge (Arcana) checks lately. Maybe this isn't the world of D&D? Impossible—this castle is so magical. Even Candlekeep isn't this magical.
"We move directly to Diagon Alley, in London," she said. "To everyone else, we simply disappear."
"Oh, so it is teleportation?"
"You could say that."
"Then why not just teleport from here?" Kevin gestured around the school clinic.
"You cannot Apparate or disappear inside Hogwarts grounds," McGonagall replied.
"It must be a fixed dimensional anchor," Kevin mused. "Very reasonable—keeps enemies from suddenly invading the school. Shall we go? I got up an hour early to prepare today's spells."
Preparing spells was one of the oddest habits of mages. It required studying every detail of a spell while simultaneously casting almost the entire thing—completing about 95% of the casting during preparation, leaving only the final triggering step.
Thus, a mage carried several to dozens of nearly completed spells for the day, depending on level. Each one was like a sentence missing its final word—or a loaded pistol with the hammer cocked.
"Wait," Kevin muttered, suddenly remembering something. "We're going straight to Diagon Alley in London… London… London—"This is ridiculous! I'm still on Earth.It seemed he wasn't in the Forgotten Realms at all. But it wasn't the original Earth either. The previous world clearly had no magic.Unfortunately, he had arrived in an unknown but strangely familiar magical world.And Hogwarts… he had a sinking suspicion about exactly which world this was.(Even more unfortunately, Kevin's only knowledge of Hogwarts came from Witch Trainer.)
"Professor McGonagall, may I— Oh my God, there's a ghost! Undead! Attack!" Kevin shouted, unleashing the only spell he knew that could affect ghosts. It fizzled harmlessly.
"Mr. Goldsmith!" McGonagall roared. "You may not cast spells at teachers at Hogwarts! Fortunately, your imaginary spell did nothing. I'm terribly sorry, Professor Binns."
"Hm? Oh… quite alright," Professor Binns murmured absently, drifting past.
"Professor Binns is… a bit special," McGonagall explained calmly. "He is very old but insists on staying at his post. One year he fell asleep in front of the staffroom fireplace and simply forgot to bring his body with him to class the next morning."
Making the dead work was an idea any capitalist would admire. But Kevin politely refrained from asking, "Do you still pay ghosts?"
As they stepped out through the castle's great doors, Kevin surveyed the grounds: grey, rolling mountains; rustic green meadows; and a deep, twisted forest. A moving tree—McGonagall explained—was not a treant but a Whomping Willow. (Was the school testing students' resilience?)A tranquil, jewel-like lake shimmered nearby—though beneath the surface lurked sharp-toothed merfolk.
"This place is amazing," Kevin said. He was gaining absurd amounts of imaginary experience just from random encounters around the school.It struck him that this school might actually be a powerful training ground.
This place was obviously, dangerously magical. The adventures and monster battles between classes, plus the inevitable conflicts among 11-year-olds wielding magic, would make students level up incredibly fast.
Kevin smiled, thinking about the experience points he would gain—and the level-three spells he would soon master.
McGonagall smiled as well, thinking how happy the child must be to have finally found a home.
"This should be far enough," McGonagall said. "Hold my hand; your first Apparition will be… a little uncomfortable."
Calling it "a little uncomfortable" was a grave understatement. It felt as though someone had boosted Kevin's Escape Artist skill over 70 and then shoved him through a very long, very tight rubber tube, squeezing him out at the far end.
"I think I failed my Fortitude check just now," Kevin groaned inwardly. "My rat's +2 Fortitude bonus has never helped in situations like this. I really shouldn't have put Constitution points into Charisma while I was in the car."
Kevin looked around and found himself in front of a dirty, cramped, slightly dilapidated tavern. It felt exactly like the starting point of every role-playing game—adventurers always met in taverns. Passersby nodded respectfully to McGonagall. Kevin immediately concluded that McGonagall must be a retired adventurer. It made perfect sense. In all the novels he'd read, who else would teach at a magic academy?
"My goodness," the bartender said, staring at Kevin, "this is—this could be—"The Leaky Cauldron fell dead silent."Oh!" the bartender whispered. "Harry Potter—it's an honour."He rushed out from behind the bar, seized Kevin's hand, and burst into tears. "Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back!"
"Tom, I believe I told you to stop doing this to every boy who walks by?" McGonagall snapped.
"Sorry, Professor," the owner muttered timidly.
"I remember when you were this tall," McGonagall said, pointing to her waist. "The wide-eyed little Hufflepuff from my Transfiguration class."(Oh—so she was a Transfiguration mage. No wonder everyone revered her. A master of Transfiguration could turn a person into a fish—even on land.)
"So promising, so full of potential." She slowly shook her head. "And what did you do with your gifts? You fooled every boy into believing he was the Boy Who Lived. Honestly, I sometimes wonder how you sleep at night."
"I'm sorry, Professor…"
"It is Hufflepuff's good fortune that you graduated," she said coldly.(Kevin glanced at Tom's greying hair. Just how old is McGonagall…?)
"Otherwise, your antics would constantly rob honest students of their House Cup chances. If I ever hear you do this to the realHarry Potter, I will—well, I won't tell you what I'll do. I'd rather not spoil the surprise."
She led Kevin away, clicking her tongue.
The tavern fell silent. Everyone looked terrified.Kevin was stunned. He had never seen a mage use Intimidation cross-class—with such terrifying success.
McGonagall lifted her wand and tapped a brick wall three times—
A hole appeared, widening and stretching until it formed a towering archway. Beyond it lay a long row of shops, the sunlight gleaming off a stack of cauldrons in front of the nearest storefront. Above them hung a sign:
Bronze – Brass – Tin-Plated – SilverAll Sizes AvailableAutomatic Stirring – Foldable
Then the two of them stepped forward together—
—and entered the wizarding world.