HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

December 1992, 8.

It's the same August, yet it's a different August.

Tichy Carr put on a pair of silver-rimmed glasses and carried his luggage to Platform 9¾.

Teach's letter to Hogwarts stated that he was a Squib wizard, so this setting needs to be confirmed.

During the young wizards' holiday, Teach rushed to conduct magical research and finally used the black and green gemstones to develop a transmutation circle that could avoid the effects of the 'Muggle Dispel Charm'.

This training formation was then engraved by Teach on the silver-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Furthermore, after analysis, Teach was quite certain that the wall-penetrating effect of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was open to everyone; otherwise, how would those Muggle parents send off their little wizards?

Furthermore, if only wizards with magic can pass through, how do those non-magical items of luggage manage to pass through as well?

That's why Teach confidently lined up among the young wizards, waiting to pass through the wall.

The results proved that Teach's guess was correct. After traveling two meters through the darkness in the wall, a medieval steam train appeared before him, along with all sorts of wizards, big and small.

Teach didn't have a ticket, but after showing the ticket inspector the letter written by Dumbledore, he was allowed to pass.

On the train, Teach wandered through the carriages with his suitcase, hoping to bump into Harry Potter, but after a while, he couldn't find the savior. After some thought, Teach realized it was 1992, Harry Potter's second year of school.

In his second year, Harry Potter was unable to board the train because of Dobby, the house-elf.

So Teach Carr casually sat down in the last empty carriage of the train, and then took out a magic book with a disguised cover to study it.

Before he knew it, Teach was so engrossed in learning about magic that he didn't notice a quiet girl sitting opposite him.

No matter how many times you look at it, the contents of the magic book are always worth studying repeatedly.

It wasn't until Teach's eyes started to tire that he looked up and noticed a platinum-haired little wizard sitting opposite him.

After a brief eye contact, Teach extended his hand in greeting, "Teach Carl, it's nice to meet you."

The platinum-haired wizard opposite Teach politely extended her hand to shake his, saying, "Luna Lovegood, it's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Are you a seventh-grader?"

“No,” Teach shook her head with a smile, “I’m not a Hogwarts student. If we’re being very specific… a transfer student? An exchange student? But neither seems quite right.”

"Therefore, my identity will be arranged by Albus Dumbledore after I arrive at Hogwarts."

Although Luna Lovegood couldn't understand Teach Carl's words, she politely refrained from asking further questions and instead said with a smile, "Senior, you're really strange!"

"You're quite strange too. You give me such a fresh and refined feeling, like a fairy or elf who was given life by the gods."

"An elf...? A short, ugly goblin?"

“No, of course not, how can a goblin compare to you?” Teach said, taking out a piece of paper and drawing the image of the fairy elf in his mind on it. He then handed it to Luna and said, “It’s this kind of elf, the kind of elf in myths and legends who embodies the favor, love, beauty, eternity, and kindness of the gods.”

Luna looked at the fairies on the paper and smiled, a sweet smile, but her emotions didn't fluctuate much, as Teach could tell.

In his memory, Luna gave Teach Carr the impression of an ethereal girl, a girl whose emotions never fluctuated.

She is a girl who is immersed in her own world, untouched by any impurities.

After putting the image of the fairy into her bosom, Luna took out a newspaper from her luggage and said to Teach Carl, "Senior, do you know what it means to be a snob? Would you like a newspaper?"

In Luna's husky yet calm voice, Teach shook his head and said, "Sorry, I don't know, but I think I'm interested in finding out what this 'singing the opposite' is."

After saying that, Teach took the newspaper and, without asking the price, placed a Galleon in Luna's hand.

Luna looked at the Galleon in her hand with some surprise, but then put it away.

Tichy Carr smiled with satisfaction upon seeing this; he liked Luna's personality.

The steam train was rather slow, and it was estimated that it would be dark by the time they arrived at Hogwarts. During the long journey, Teach asked Luna many questions, using dissenting opinions from the newspapers as a starting point.

Luna had never met someone who didn't reject or dislike contradicting her before, so she unleashed her boundless imagination and had a lively conversation with Teach Carr.

And so, the steam train arrived at Hogwarts at nightfall.

After everyone had left the car, Teach led Luna out. As soon as they got out, the tall Rupert Hagrid approached and said, "My goodness, Mr. Teach Carl, this is quite a surprise!"

"I mean, I learned from Headmaster Dumbledore that you were coming to Hogwarts, and I really wanted to be there to fetch you, but unfortunately, my job is to guide the first-year wizards to the school."

"So... the person who came to pick you up is our administrator, Mr. Fulchi."

Hagrid then bent down and whispered in Teach Carl's ear, "Folch is very eager to come and pick you up."

After saying goodbye to Teach, Hagrid went to call the first-year students to assemble.

Teach said "See you at the academy" to Luna, waved goodbye, and walked toward Fulchi, who was waiting for him: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Fulch was somewhat flattered by Teach's apology. After quickly assuring Teach that he hadn't waited any longer, he led Teach Carl into the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Teach watched with great interest the two Thestrals pulling it, utterly bewildered that such wondrous creatures, creatures associated with death, would be used to pull a worthless carriage, serving as livestock like cattle.

Thestrals—Teach could naturally see them, knowing that he had killed quite a few people and wizards.

There's a saying about Thestrals: only those who have witnessed death can see them.

But what Teach Carr wants to say is that it is not those who have seen death who can see it, but those who have seen it and understand what death means.

For Teach, death meant nothingness, death was the end of everything.

[The beginning of all things, the end of all things, the root of all things]

This is a quote inscribed at the beginning of a magic book.

......

As Fulch looked at Teach Cal with a longing in his eyes, wanting to say something but not daring to, the carriage entered the gates of Hogwarts.

Fulchi didn't speak until he arrived at Dumbledore's office.

Watching him leave with his wife and cat in his arms, Teach knew what he wanted to say and what he longed for.

Magic, or rather, mysterious power.

Fulch, born into a Squib family of wizards, desperately longs to possess magic.

After learning from Dumbledore's letters that Teach Cal was a 'wizard' who was almost a Squib, yet had learned a power called 'magic' that was no less than magic, Fulch became eager for the magical knowledge that Teach possessed.

He wanted to learn, he really wanted to learn, but would Teach teach him...?

will not.

There's a saying in the alchemy of magic: equivalent exchange.

Teach Carr was very much looking forward to seeing what Fulch would offer in exchange for the magical knowledge in his mind when he couldn't resist his desire.