The Grey family was collectively stunned. Fiona and Wade exchanged a glance.
Fred's face tightened, and his grip on Landon's shoulder grew firmer.
After a few seconds of tense silence, Fred asked gravely, "What's going on? …Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
Landon sat on the sofa and clutched his head. After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Do you know why we sold everything last year and moved to the US?"
"I recall… you said it was because your wife's uncle in the US passed away… and left all his property to you..."
Fred trailed off. Now it was clear that the story Landon had told back then was an obvious lie.
"I'm sorry. I lied to you," Landon admitted dejectedly. "There was no inheritance… The reason we moved was because Caryll received a letter… an acceptance letter…"
"An acceptance letter!" Fiona exclaimed. As everyone turned to look at her, she hastily added, trying to cover up her reaction, "What kind of letter would make your whole family move from Britain?"
Landon let out a bitter laugh. "It was… an acceptance letter from a magic school… I think it was called Hogwarts or something like that..."
The expressions on Wade and his family members' faces changed to varying degrees, but Landon didn't seem to notice. He was engrossed in recounting his story—
About a year and a half ago, one morning, Caryll found a strange letter in the family's mailbox. It was an acceptance letter from a place called "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
The envelope had no postage, and no one could explain how the letter had been delivered. The obvious assumption was that someone had slipped it into the mailbox during the night.
To Landon, the letter seemed like an obvious scam or some bizarre publicity stunt meant to fool gullible people. The letter mentioned that a professor from the school would visit in two days to explain the admission details.
Landon dismissed it outright, telling his family to ignore it. But Caryll had a different reaction.
The eleven-year-old proudly showed the letter off to his friends, boasting that he was special and would soon become a powerful wizard.
Naturally, the other children mocked his wild imagination and paid him no mind.
But that night, a man in a black cloak knocked on the Johnson family's door.
"He told us that magic was real," Landon said with a shaking voice. "Right in front of us, he demonstrated extraordinary abilities… Without using any tools, he made us float in the air. He even turned our coffee table into a spider…"
Landon spoke in a dazed tone, as if still trapped in the shock of that moment.
"And then?" Fred prompted. "He claimed to be a professor from Hogwarts after proving the existence of magic?"
As soon as he said it, Fred realized his mistake.
If that were how things had unfolded, Landon's family wouldn't have fled Britain in such a hurry.
Sure enough, Landon shook his head.
"No… he said… he said magic is real, but Hogwarts isn't just a school… it's a base for training soldiers and brainwashing young wizards…"
Wade's expression turned strange.
Who was this guy? His reasoning was bizarrely similar to Cornelius Fudge's paranoia.
If the Minister of Magic had heard these words, he would've declared this man a kindred spirit.
"And then? What else did he say?" Fred pressed.
"He said…" Landon struggled to recall the words that had altered his family's life forever.
"Hogwarts isn't as wonderful as you imagine. It doesn't just teach magic—it's a base for training soldiers. Every child there undergoes brainwashing education."
"Hogwarts operates on a survival-of-the-fittest philosophy. If you're not strong enough, even if a classmate kills you, no one will care."
The man in the black cloak looked at Caryll with a gaze full of pity.
"I'm sure you understand. A child like yours, who has never had any exposure to magic, would have no advantage in such a place. He'd be surrounded by students from wizarding families who've been learning magic from a young age."
"In that school, children from non-magical families are called 'Mudbloods,' a term that means they're as lowly as dirt, free to be trampled upon."
"Muggle-born students are the ones everyone bullies. Typically, less than one-tenth of them survive to graduation."
"W-what should we do then?" Mrs. Johnson cried out in panic, clutching her son tightly. "We won't go! We won't send him to that school!"
The man in the black cloak shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't work. Hogwarts doesn't allow any child with magical talent to remain outside its grasp—not even Mudbloods. If you refuse, a professor will come to take Caryll by force and make you forget he ever existed."
Caught in a whirlwind of fear and confusion, Landon couldn't think clearly enough to question the inconsistencies in the man's claims. Desperately, as if grasping at straws, he pleaded:
"You're a wizard too! You must have a way to save us, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have come here to warn us about this!"
"Of course," the man in the black cloak said with a mysterious smile. "I will save you—that's precisely why I'm here."
"Remember this: the only thing that can make one magical school hesitate is another magical school!"
"All you need to do is reply to Hogwarts, saying your family is preparing to move to the US and that Caryll will be attending Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry there.
Hogwarts will naturally back off. They won't start a major conflict with Ilvermorny over a mere Mudblood."
"That… that's all we need to do?" Mrs. Johnson asked nervously.
"Of course not!" the man in the black cloak said. "If you say you're moving to the US, you actually have to move—and quickly! If you're still in Britain before the school term starts, Hogwarts will find out. By then, no one will be able to help you!"
"Then… does Caryll really have to attend… that Ilvermorny school?" Landon asked hesitantly.
The man in the cloak shook his head. "Ilvermorny isn't any different from Hogwarts… it would be best for you to go into hiding, never to be found by anyone. Caryll must suppress his talents and live as an ordinary person—that's the only way to stay safe."
"But I don't want to hide!" Caryll clenched his fists and shouted. "I have the talent of a wizard! Why should I have to live as a normal person? If I can't attend a magical school, then… can't I learn magic from you?"
"Caryll!" Landon tried to stop him.
But the man in the cloak said, "Of course you can… why not? I was once just like you… fortunate enough to have a mentor who showed mercy, allowing me to become who I am today."
"But, child, this path is not an easy one. It means being at odds with all the great magical schools. If you join us, you'll face countless powerful enemies in the future. Are you truly ready for that?"
No passionate young boy could resist such a challenge, nor the temptation of becoming "extraordinary."
Caryll was no exception.
"When we landed in the US, that black-robed man appeared again. This time, he was accompanied by an old witch. Together, they took Caryll away."
Landon covered his face in agony. "From that moment on, Caryll never came back—not even a single letter. I began to realize we had likely been deceived, but there was nothing we could do…"
"My wife and I went everywhere, trying to learn more about Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, magical schools… but no one could give us an answer. Then one day, Annie simply forgot everything…"
"The Memory magic is real… She forgot the magical schools, even forgot that we ever had a son…"
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