Before coming to the world of Harry Potter, Alistair Rerick was a student studying in Britain, majoring in pharmacy, as well as a crazy fan of Harry Potter.
The person he admired most was not Professor Dumbledore, but Professor Snape.
Perhaps it was because J.K. Rowling gave him such a tragic life, perhaps because of Snape's courage as a double agent, or perhaps because of Snape's steadfast love for Lily and the fact that he was a Potions master.
In any case, Professor Snape had become Alistair's most admired figure.
Time is a magical thing, and so is magic.
On this day, after the Harry Potter merchandise that Alistair had ordered online at a high price finally arrived, he excitedly unpacked his birthday present in his dormitory!
Although he had paid for it himself, it was still a gift to him—a gift for his twenty-second year.
He opened the package, which contained a custom wand he had ordered, a beautiful diary, and a set of newly collaborated Harry Potter robes!
Oh, Alistair hurriedly unfolded the robe, admired it for a dozen seconds, and then put it down to open another parcel.
A timetable ornament, and... a Hogwarts acceptance letter?! He remembered not buying one... Could it be a free gift from the store? What a great seller.
Alistair glanced through the letter casually and began preparing his graduation thesis.
He had no idea at all that the acceptance letter had begun to glow with a white light...
—
"Thank goodness for Merlin! The child is finally waking up."
"Since he's fine, everyone can clear out." Alistair heard someone speaking beside him. The voices sounded like those of a middle-aged woman and an elderly person, with some chattering sounds coming from a bit further away.
What was going on with him?
Alistair's memory was still stuck on the moment he received those lovely packages.
Alistair opened his tired eyes and looked at the people surrounding him: a white-haired old man, a woman in a white robe, and a girl of about eleven or twelve?
"Child, you're finally awake. Drink this up." The middle-aged woman sat by the bed, holding a bottle of potion and handing it to Alistair. After watching him drink it, she said to the white-haired old man, "The child's memory seems a bit confused. But it should be temporary and will improve after a while."
"Child, is anywhere else uncomfortable?" The white-haired old man looked at him with concern. Alistair looked back at him, feeling that whenever he looked into those eyes, he would involuntarily sink into them. Alistair forced himself to look away.
"Um, I'm fine... I should be fine."
The white-haired old man blinked and said kindly, "As long as you're fine, get some rest. You'll need to lie here for a few days."
After Professor Dumbledore left, Xina lunged forward: "Alistair, are you alright? Does it hurt?"
Dizzily, Alistair remembered that he had come to this world before school started, transmigrating into a half-blood British-Chinese boy who had reddish-brown slightly curly hair and black eyes. His name was Alistair Rerick, which reminded Alistair of his original name—Li Si.
Alistair Rerick was a half-blood of wizard and Muggle descent, while Xina Rerick—a girl with long brown hair and black eyes—was his cousin, also a British-Chinese half-blood of wizard and Muggle parentage.
He and Xina's grandmother was the only daughter of an ancient oriental family.
Such a phenomenon was rare in the wizarding world. While families combining wizards and Muggles were not uncommon in the magical world, those mixed with people of eastern descent were extremely scarce.
Xina waved her hand in front of Alistair to bring him back to his senses.
At the same time, he recalled how, before all this, he had made a fool of himself by acting infatuated with Professor Snape at the Gryffindor table, and that the reason he was lying in the hospital wing was probably due to a potion he had presumptuously tried to brew.
Good heavens! He had actually made such a fool of himself!
He shook his head, quickly casting that humiliating incident out of his mind.
"Xina, are you alright?" Alistair asked with some concern; the Rerick family might send him a Howler to remind him that he hadn't taken proper care of his cousin.
"I'm fine, just a little scalded. It doesn't hurt after putting on the ointment." Xina raised her arm to let Alistair look at the injury on her hand. It was a patch of bright red skin, as if scorched by a blast of air, with a layer of transparent liquid on top. "Madam Pomfrey said it'll be another half minute before the medicine takes full effect."
"As long as you're fine. Grandpa might send me a Howler," Alistair muttered.
"He won't, Alistair. You should see what you look like right now," Xina said, unable to hold back a laugh upon hearing her cousin's muttering. "Trust me, Grandpa won't give you a hard time. In fact, Aunt Cali came to see you just a momet ago."
"Hmm? Aunt Cali... came? What did she come for?" Alistair asked with a puzzled look.
"I don't know. Aunt Cali said something to the Headmaster and then went back." Xina couldn't help laughing as she looked at Alistair's expression.
"What are you laughing at?" Alistair looked at Xina, whose expression was a mix of sympathy and amusement; something was definitely not right. Remembering he had a mirror in his pocket, he hoped it hadn't been blown to pieces. "Accio mirror!"
"Aah—" A shriek pierced through the doorway of the hospital wing and reached the ears of the students in the corridor. "Oh, Merlin! You bandaged-faced monster!"
Startled by the mirror's scream, Alistair loosened his grip. The mirror crashed to the floor and shattered into pieces, and the shouting abruptly stopped.
"What is going on here!" An angry voice accompanied its owner as she strode in. Madam Pomfrey looked at the broken glass all over the floor, then frowned tightly at Alistair.
Alistair stared at her blankly, then looked down at the floor, and asked with his mouth hanging open in a daze, "Have I been disfigured?"
"Nothing of the sort, child," Madam Pomfrey relaxed her frown, picked up another phial of potion for him, and comforted him, "You just need to lie here, take the potions I've prepared on time, and everything will be fine."
Seeing Alistair's dazed expression, Xina stopped smiling and pulled his hand: "Don't worry, if it's really serious, Professor Dumbledore will find a way. Madam Pomfrey said so too, you'll be fine."
Alistair opened his mouth, only to have a mouthful of bitter potion shoved in by Madam Pomfrey. He wept inwardly; back in his original world, this would probably be considered a severe burn requiring skin grafts.
Let's just hope the magical world could restore his face to its original state.
Just thinking about it made it hurt... hurt... Alistair touched his face, which was wrapped in gauze. Why didn't it hurt?
Alistair touched other parts of his body; there wasn't a shred of pain. Could it be the potion? Just like painkillers from his original world! He began to wonder about the ingredients of this painkiller.
Xina looked at Alistair with concern. "Alistair... you didn't get your brains fried by a cauldron, did you?"
Hearing his cousin's remark, Alistair glared at her: "Is that any way to talk to your cousin? Shoo, shoo, go back to class."
"Oh." Xina started to stand up, but then suddenly thought of something: "No! Alistair, I'm a patient, all right? I'm staying right here."
Alistair looked at Xina's arm, signaling her with his eyes.
Xina's arm had completely healed once the potion took effect, leaving not a trace of a scar.
Xina immediately hid her arm behind her back. "You saw wrong. Anyway, my injury isn't healed yet, I'll go to classes this afternoon."
Their first and second periods in the morning were both Potions class, and Xina really didn't want to see that fierce Potions master.
"Xina..."
"Cousin..."
After the two stared at each other for a moment, Alistair conceded defeat. "Fine, then bring me my books this afternoon."