At dusk, the setting sun, which was slowly disappearing from the horizon, gave a faint golden tint to the mansion at 6 King’s Road, London.
It was a classic British villa, spacious, bright and stylish.
The three-story wall was covered with creeping ivy. The roof was covered with beautiful brown tiles. The grass and flower beds in the yard were all neatly organized. A luxurious Bentley car was parked outside the garage.
It was a gorgeous sunset picture, serene and tranquil.
Except for the balcony on the top floor of the villa, where a dark-haired boy was looking at an owl, in an unspeakable weirdness that went against the style of the painting.
Evan Mason stared at the owl in front of him, his eyes full of curiosity. Owls were not uncommon there. Those birds could be seen in any other home, but that one had, on its talons, a brown envelope composed of thick parchment.
Evan had a peculiar feeling that the letter was written to him.
But he wasn’t sure how to get it, because the owl seemed to want to get some reward for itself before handing in the letter.
“Hello there!” greeted Evan trying to communicate with it, although it made him look a bit silly.
“Hooo!”
The owl hooted softly, staring at the boy with a crooked head, and its brownish pupils full of alert.
“Don’t be nervous, I hold no ill will!”
Evan tried to soften his voice. He slowly extended his right hand, “Is the letter at your feet written to me? I want to…”
Before he had finished his words, he was interrupted by a loud shout from downstairs. “Honey, are you ready? We’re leaving!”
Then there was a sound of someone coming upstairs.
“Oh, no, it’s my mother; I can’t let her see you!”
Evan suddenly sobered up, unable to further communicate with the owl in front of him. He waved his right hand violently forward and tried to drive it away.
“Hooo!” The offended owl hurried aside.
“Sorry, Mom is allergic to birds. She is scared to death of all kinds of birds, big and small.” Evan waved his hand while hurriedly explaining, “You must get out of here!”
It seemed that Evan’s unreasonable action finally convinced the owl that the boy would not give it anything to eat. A second later, fluttering its wings, it flew up, pecked Evan hard and threw the letter at his feet.
“Ouch!” screamed Evan in pain, watching the owl fly out of the balcony like a whirlwind, disappearing from his eyes.
Before his mother came in, he bent down and picked up the envelope under his feet. It was clearly written in emerald green ink: Mr. Evan Mason, the first floor bedroom, 6 King’s road, Little Whinging, Surrey.
“This letter… and the owl just now…”
Evan narrowed his eyes. These obviously bizarre things made him have a familiar feeling of deja vu.
“Evan, we have to hurry, your father is waiting for us in the car.” A well-dressed middle-aged woman came in and said in a slightly serious tone, “It’s very disrespectful to be late for a first visit to someone else’s house.”
“Got it, Mom!”
Evan had no time to think about it. When his mother didn’t pay attention, he stuffed the envelope into his trousers pocket.
His family had a small family gathering tonight. The other party was his father’s business partner. To be precise, his father’s construction company was planning to purchase a large number of drills from the other side.
Normally, Evan did not have to attend this kind of dinner, but the other family had a child one year older than him, who happened to just be in Smeltings Academy.
Evan was 11 years old this year. In a month or so, he was going to enter Smeltings Academy. His parents felt it necessary to let their child get in touch with his future senior.
“Mom, you haven’t told me yet, what’s the senior’s name?”
Along the way, Evan felt that he had to do something to divert attention away from the letter in his pants pocket. Before he knew the contents of the letter, he was not sure if he would tell his parents about it.
Maybe it was just a bad joke made by someone and there was no need to make my mother worry about it.
“Honey, I told you last week that the child’s name is Dudley.” replied Mrs. Mason briskly.
“Dudley Dursley, I dare say, you will be good friends.” added Mr. Mason while driving.
“Dudley Dursley, this is really a good name!” Evan bowed his head and fell into thoughts.
In fact, he did know a person with that name.
If he remembered correctly, Dudley should be one of the characters in Harry Potter series, and he was born before him too. In the books, Dudley was a domineering, spoiled child who brought Harry a miserable childhood.
Evan was very impressed with this guy, but it was hard to say if it was a good impression.
However, after all, it was a character in the novel. Although he was also born in England in the 1980s, there was no evidence that he was the same one from the magical world of Harry Potter.
“Relax; it should just be the same name, just a coincidence.” Evan tried to convince himself, but he felt a little uneasy at the thought of seeing the owl just now.
When his parents were not paying attention, Evan secretly took the letter out of his trousers pocket. He quickly turned the envelope over and saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a capital letter H.
Evan’s eyes were wide open, his hands pressed tightly. Trembling, he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. He read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme
Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Mason,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
God!!! That was a letter from Hogwarts. He should have thought of it. Who else, other than the magic school, would send mail with an owl?
“Honey, you don’t have to be so nervous.” Noting Evan’s abnormality, Mrs. Mason turned and whispered comfortably. “I heard your father say that the Dursleys are very friendly and Dudley is also a very polite boy. You will love this new friend.”
“Yes, Mom!” Evan replied unconsciously. “I am not nervous, just a little excited.”
For the past eleven years, he had been preparing for the future in accordance with the familiar real world. Now he was suddenly told that this was a magical world that he was completely unfamiliar with. Wasn’t that a joke?
Fortunately, before Evan reincarnated, he was very fond of Harry Potter’s novels, and he was familiar with their contents. Even if he couldn’t remember all the plots, he was relieved that he recalled more or less the main events.
The question now was how to tell his parents about it.
Also, if he was not mistaken, he would probably see the famous Harry Potter besides Dudley Dursley.
As Evan pondered about this, his father slowly stopped the car and whispered, “Honey, here we are, 4 Privet Drive!”
