It took Wang Yong a while to recover from the overwhelming impact of this unprecedented experience.
After a moment, Wang Yong shook his head, then looked up at the woman and finally remembered: this was his Aunt Amelia Bones, a legal officer in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic.
"Susan, are you here to play again today?"
The little girl, still frowning, glared at Wang Yong and said, "I'm not here to play with you."
This was Susan Bones, Amelia's niece. She was also eleven years old and would be starting school at Hogwarts this year, just like Wang Yong. They were about to be classmates.
Amelia had been friends and colleagues with Wang Yong's parents, and since they lived near each other, their families were also neighbors. Amelia often brought Susan over to play. Even though Susan's parents lived on the other side of London, witch families weren't common anywhere, and among the large city of London, Wang Yong was probably the only child around Susan's age she knew well.
Amelia came in, walked around the house, tidied up, and brought over some groceries, placing them in Wang Yong's refrigerator.
Meanwhile, Wang Yong chatted casually with Susan, playing around in the yard.
When the little girl wasn't being so stubborn, she was actually quite fun to hang out with.
Susan said, "Next time, come to my house. I have a toy wand and a toy flying broom."
She looked at him earnestly, her nose slightly red. Wang Yong smiled and ruffled her hair.
In a teasing tone, he said, "We're going to be adults in just a few days when we start at Hogwarts. We shouldn't still be playing with toys."
Susan's face immediately flushed bright red. "You... you think I'm childish? Wasn't it you who said you wanted to play with a toy wand a couple of days ago?"
Wang Yong slapped his forehead. "Alright, alright." There was nothing he could say. This was the version of him that Susan remembered. He couldn't exactly tell her that he had only just arrived in this world today and that everything she was seeing was an illusion.
Amelia smiled and stood at the doorway, watching the two children play. Without children of her own, she considered these two kids as her own.
Wang Yong said to Susan, "In a couple of days, let's go to Diagon Alley. I need to pick up some books."
Susan eyed him suspiciously. "Really? You're not going to buy storybooks, are you?"
Wang Yong realized he was being teased. He sighed. "Alright, so are you going or not?"
"Of course!" Susan tightly grabbed Wang Yong's hand.
"Alright then."
"Well, Aunt Amelia's working tomorrow."
"We can go by ourselves; I know the way."
Wang Yong glanced at Amelia with a pleading look.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Alright, just be careful."
"See you tomorrow. Bye!" Susan waved and walked out with Amelia.
Wang Yong smiled as he watched them leave.
By now, it was getting late in London, and the streetlights were slowly coming on.
Wang Yong returned to his room, lying in the darkness and thinking.
"Amelia Bones... that name seems so familiar." Suddenly, he realized—wasn't she the witch Voldemort killed at the start of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? This was really problematic.
Honestly, Wang Yong didn't plan on getting involved in the war between wizards. His original plan was to finish school up to the sixth year, drop out in seventh year, and just show up for the final battle to watch the action.
Unless something extraordinary happened, he didn't want to get caught up in the mess. He didn't think he'd have the strength to face Voldemort by seventh year anyway. Voldemort had spent decades refining dark magic, and only with the power of the Deathly Hallows and the mysterious "room of love" at the Ministry of Magic had Harry Potter managed to defeat him. JK Rowling had definitely helped Harry along, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy.
Wang Yong suddenly felt a bit uneasy. He touched the wall, examining the texture, then pinched himself. It hurt.
"Mm, no doubt about it, this is real. I'm not dreaming." He silently confirmed. Entrusting his fate to Harry's final burst of power seemed almost absurd.
But as they say, where there's a will, there's a way. Worst case, if he couldn't defeat Voldemort, he could always just take Aunt Amelia back to his world.
"Xiao Yi, I can take other people to my world, right?"
"Yes, you can," Xiao Yi said after thinking for a moment. "But you should consider it carefully."
"Mm." Wang Yong thought for a moment. Normally, he wouldn't want to do something like that. His own world—let's call it the "home world"—was relatively unaffected by the supernatural, so it would be better to let things unfold normally there.
At least, that was his thought for now.
As Wang Yong's mind began to fade and he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly remembered, "Xiao Yi, I'm eleven in this world now. Will my lifespan change?"
Xiao Yi responded, "Ah, I'm glad you asked. Your overall lifespan is still the same as before. Going back to eleven doesn't extend your life."
But Wang Yong didn't look too concerned. He simply tapped his forehead. "What a hassle~"
"Why aren't you afraid?"
Wang Yong meditated quietly, focusing on the soft light in his heart.
He replied, "Since meeting you, my life has already changed with the many worlds I've traveled through. I'm already content. Besides, I believe the issue with lifespan should be solvable."
"Mm."
Wang Yong soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Wang Yong went to Amelia's house to wait for her.
"Yong, you're up early," Amelia said, preparing to leave for work. "Can't wait to see Susan, huh?" She winked playfully.
Wang Yong helplessly scratched his head. "Uh~"
"Alright, Susan's still sleeping. You can go wake her up."
"Okay."
Wang Yong walked in, heading straight to Susan's room, apparently unaware of how mischievous he was being.
The little girl was sound asleep, a faint smile on her face as if she was dreaming.
Wang Yong quietly leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Susan, Susan~"
"Mm~" Susan frowned and buried her face deeper in her blanket.
"Susan, we're going to Diagon Alley!"
"No way!" Susan mumbled sleepily.
"Well, I'm leaving then." Wang Yong pretended to walk out.
"Ah, no!" Susan immediately threw off her blanket, revealing her cute pink bear underwear.
"Uh~" Wang Yong was speechless. The little girl wasn't even embarrassed. They had definitely become quite comfortable with each other.
"Come on, hurry up. I'll be waiting in the living room."
"Okay." Susan smiled sleepily.