"Wow, this is way more useful than Apparition!"
As light converged again, Tom found himself standing on a London street, and before him was the somewhat shabby-looking sign of the Leaky Cauldron.
'(￣▽￣*) 'Although I have no idea about the principle, as long as the skill works, that's what matters. As for how I did it and what skill this actually is—who cares~'
Most importantly, this ability's experience was much more comfortable than Apparition!
Eyes go dark, then light up, and you're at your destination—completely without that feeling of being squeezed through a narrow rubber tube like with Apparition.
Moreover, precisely because this wasn't Apparition, he most likely wasn't restricted by Hogwarts's Anti-Apparition Charm within the school grounds.
This meant he could theoretically go wherever he wanted, able to move freely between Hogwarts and other places at any time.
Although there might not be much need to use this skill, having a skill you don't use versus not having a skill to use were worlds apart.
'Luna and the others should be arriving soon, right?'
Thinking this, Tom pushed open the door of the Leaky Cauldron and walked in with elegant steps.
"Welcome... Hm? A cat?(ﾟДﾟ)"
Tom, the pub owner currently sitting behind the bar, habitually looked up to greet the newcomer, but when he saw Tom enter, his face showed a trace of surprise.
"Are you here to deliver a letter for someone?"
This was, after all, a place open to the public. Customers could easily enter using Floo Powder or Apparition. Therefore, aside from the owls that delivered newspapers and magazines, this was the first time he'd seen an animal enter alone without a wizard nearby.
"Tom!"
Just then, a clear and ethereal girl's voice came from the fireplace direction.
Old Tom instinctively looked toward the sound, seeing a ten-year-old girl with golden hair emerging from the fireplace.
"Meow(～￣▽￣)～~" (Don't worry, I'm fine!)
Seeing Luna, Tom immediately trotted over, enjoying the girl's concern.
"Oh, Tom! Although Luna said you came ahead, I really didn't expect you'd succeed!"
Pandora, who emerged from the fireplace next, saw the unharmed cat before her, her eyes full of wonder and inquiry.
"How exactly did you do it?"
For her, who loved researching and developing spells, the ability Tom used—being able to perform long-distance teleportation without his own wand was truly fascinating.
Before Tom could respond, the fireplace flared with green flames again, and Xenophilius followed his wife and daughter's footsteps and emerged from the fireplace.
He patted the ash off his robes, immediately spotting Old Tom standing behind the bar with a somewhat bewildered expression, and greeted him familiarly.
"Tom, it's been a while."
"Oh! Mr. Lovegood, it's been quite a while indeed!"
Tom finally snapped out of his daze and quickly responded.
"Can I get you anything? Beer? Brandy? ... Oh, look at my memory," he slapped his forehead. "You must be here to shop for school supplies with your child, right? Is it this young lady? She's quite a lovely child."
"No, actually," Xenophilius shook his head, and under Old Tom's confused gaze, he pointed toward Tom the cat, who was standing beside Luna whispering with her.
"I'm here to send Tom off to school. Yes, I mean that cat."
"???"
Old Tom's gaze moved back and forth between Xenophilius and the cat, feeling as though his brain couldn't quite process what he was hearing.
He had been running the Leaky Cauldron for so many years and had seen all sorts of situations. Well, actually, this particular situation he genuinely had never encountered before.
Two wizards bringing their daughter and their pet to Diagon Alley, with the purpose of buying school supplies for the pet?
Had Hogwarts's admission criteria now expanded to include pets?!
"Oh, wait, I remember..." Tom seemed to suddenly recall something and bent down to rummage behind the bar. Soon enough, he pulled out a copy of the latest issue of The Quibbler.
"'The Cat Accepted by Hogwarts'... This isn't actually a fictional story?!"
"Of course not!" Xenophilius puffed out his chest, his face was filled all over with pride.
"Everything published in The Quibbler is the result of my rigorous investigation—all true events!"
His words, combined with the presence of that particularly unusual cat beside Luna, set all the pub's customers whispering among themselves. One could easily predict that over the coming period; The Quibbler's circulation was about to experience an explosive surge in sales.
Watching Tom still wearing that expression of having his worldview shattered, Xenophilius waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright, we'll chat more later. We need to go shopping for Tom first."
"Mm, oh, yes..." Old Tom responded reflexively, and it wasn't until the group had nearly entered the back of the pub that he suddenly came to his senses and called out urgently.
"Mr. Lovegood! Please wait a moment!"
A short while later, Tom looked at the blonde little girl who had joined their group Hannah Abbott with a somewhat peculiar expression on his cat face.
According to Pub-owner Tom's explanation, he was usually too busy running the pub to spare much time taking Hannah to shop in Diagon Alley, so he was asking the Lovegood family, who happened to be going the same way, to help look after her for a bit.
Xenophilius, considering it was just bringing one more person along for shopping and didn't require him to pay for anything, readily agreed. Thus, Hannah Abbott joined their shopping party.
"Hey, hey, are you also a first-year student this year? My name is Hannah Abbott. Can we be friends?"
Hannah was a lively and cheerful girl who immediately linked arms with Luna enthusiastically.
"Is this cat your pet? I really love cats too! Oh, and did you read the latest issue of The Quibbler? It says a cat will be joining Hogwarts this year and becoming our classmate! I'm really curious what breed of cat it will be.
It would be wonderful if it were a Ragdoll—I absolutely love Ragdolls! But since it can become our classmate, it must be some kind of magical creature, right? Could it be a Kneazle? Of course, Kneazles are adorable too~"
She chattered on and on, and even after they entered the bustling Diagon Alley, her mouth never stopped moving.
Luna wasn't an antisocial child by nature, her thinking was simply somewhat peculiar and under Hannah's infectious enthusiasm, she also came to favor the other girl as her friend.
However, whether by coincidence or some other reason, whenever Luna tried to explain that Tom was her friend rather than her pet, and that the cat classmate Hannah kept mentioning was actually Tom himself, she would always be interrupted by Hannah's excited launch into a new topic.
According to Luna's own description, she felt as though she was being surrounded by Wrackspurts.
Fortunately, this minor issue was soon resolved, because at that moment they had arrived at their first destination: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
"Madam Malkin, hello!"
Upon entering the shop, Hannah's attention was immediately drawn to the dazzling array of fabrics and robes on display. She temporarily released Luna and excitedly called out to the kindly-smiling witch inside the store.
"I'd like to buy a set of Hogwarts school uniforms!"