Chapter 3: The Escaped Convict

1993, August 2nd, early morning.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

A rhythmic knocking sound comes, waking John, who is still in his dreams.

"... What the hell is that sound?" John opens his eyes hazily and checks the time. It's only 7:30 AM, half an hour before his alarm clock is set to go off.

Following the source of the sound, John's gaze looks toward the window with the curtains tightly drawn.

He throws off the quilt, gets out of bed, and comes to the window. John pulls the curtains open abruptly, and the sunlight makes his eyes squint.

After his eyes adapt to the sunlight, he takes a closer look. The culprit making the noise is actually an owl?

What the hell, owls get up earlier than people?

This owl has a yellow envelope in its beak. After seeing John, it tilts its head and uses its beak to knock on his window glass again.

Seeing this owl suspected of delivering a letter, a question mark slowly appears on John's forehead.

Are there still "carrier pigeons" in England in this era?

Right, today is when Hogwarts sends letters. Could this be an owl from the wizarding world? That would make sense.

Thinking of this, John doesn't hesitate and pushes the window open. As a result, he forgets the owl is right outside the window, and the window directly swats the owl away.

The owl that was swatted away lets out two startled squawks. The letter in its mouth even falls, so it hurriedly flies to pick it back up, then flaps its wings and flies back in front of John.

"... I said I didn't mean it, do you believe me..."

John says to the owl with a hint of apology.

However, this owl seems unwilling to accept John's excuse. It flies onto John's head with dissatisfaction, drops the yellow letter, and fiercely pecks at John's forehead.

Pecked a few times on the forehead, John winces in pain: "Hiss, my mistake, my mistake. Stop pecking, Brother Eagle."

John pulls the owl down after a few tugs, but the owl still flaps its wings vigorously, controlling its balance while pecking at John's face.

Damn it! Still pecking!

John is getting a bit anxious from being pecked.

At this moment, hurried footsteps come from outside the bedroom door, and soon the door is pushed open by Mrs. Merick: "John, what happened? Why is your room so noisy..."

Mrs. Merick was originally preparing breakfast, but suddenly heard a lot of noise from her son's room, so she hurriedly ran over to check.

As a result, as soon as she pushed the door open, she saw her son grabbing an owl's neck with one hand and its feet with the other. The owl was flapping its wings vigorously, squawking and trying to break free from John's large hand.

"... What are you doing?"

8:00 AM.

John is in the living room looking at the yellow letter brought by the owl, while his mother sits beside him, helping her son simply treat the wound on his face pecked by the owl.

His father is on the side feeding the owl, playing happily with it.

This letter is the Hogwarts admission letter that Mr. David mentioned to them last year.

Opening it, the first thing he sees is the Hogwarts school crest, somewhat similar to a cross-shield style, with four animals—lion, snake, badger, and eagle—printed on the four corners, and a capital H in the center of the four animals.

【To John Merick...】

The content is roughly that he has been admitted to Hogwarts. If he is willing to enroll, please reply with a letter. A professor will visit in the evening to deliver the admission letter. If there are other concerns, he can also ask the professor directly.

After reading it, John shares the content of the letter with his parents. After getting his parents' consent, John writes a simple reply letter, indicating his willingness to enroll, and then hands it to the owl.

Mr. Owl sees the letter handed over by John, coos twice with dissatisfaction, but still obediently takes the envelope and flies out the window.

Seeing the owl fly away, his father is even a bit reluctant.

However, the next second he is pushed out the door by his mother, who says he is going to be late for work and urges him to come back early in the evening.

Watching the owl slowly disappear into the sky, John, who has waited for almost a year, cannot help but feel some anticipation.

Originally, living a second life was a huge gift to him. In this life, he actually transmigrated into this magical world full of fantasy colors, making him even more excited.

During the past period, he has been studying the "Basic Guide to Magical Families" that Mr. David gave him, which introduces many wizarding daily routines he has never heard of.

Although it only contains strategies for wizards on how to disguise themselves in Muggle society, through the words, he can understand some interesting content.

For example, Floo powder that can transport people over long distances, spells for automatic cleaning, and a flying broomstick that can be ridden.

Speaking of flying broomsticks, this setting seems to have been seen in quite a few film and television works in his previous life?

But he has no impression of where he saw it first. It should have been in the early 2000s, when the family was still using an old-fashioned color TV. At that time, he watched whatever the TV broadcasted; there was no choice.

Later, many film and television works adopted this setting of riding a flying broomstick.

So, could he have transmigrated into some film or television work?

John shakes his head and stops thinking about it. Whether it is or not is the same. Anyway, he doesn't know the plot, so he might as well look forward to the stories he will encounter in the future.

6:30 PM, the family is eating dinner at home, and the evening news is playing on the living room TV.

This is their family's habit of eating dinner. Although they aren't watching the TV, the TV always has to play something to have a sound.

"John, did the Hogwarts professor say what time they would come over tonight?" Mr. Merick specifically left work early today to accompany his son to meet the Hogwarts teacher.

"8:00 PM, still early."

After John finishes speaking, the dining table becomes quiet again, leaving only the crisp clinking of forks and plates.

Just as John's family is eating quietly, the news anchor's voice on the TV suddenly pauses, and then the anchor's voice rings out again, becoming nervous and impassioned.

【Breaking news: According to the Home Office, a criminal who has committed multiple vicious murders, Sirius Black, has escaped from an English prison. The police state that he is extremely dangerous and may be carrying weapons. If any citizen discovers the whereabouts of this criminal, please do not attempt to approach or pursue him, immediately hide in a safe place, and report to the police quickly.】

Hearing this news, John stops eating and turns his head to look at the TV in the living room.

At this time, besides the anchor on the TV, a wanted poster is also displayed on the side.

The person in the wanted poster is a man with a fierce face, with messy hair and a beard. The shot of this wanted poster freezes on the frame where he is opening his mouth and roaring, as if venting some kind of anger.

"My God, what is the government doing? They actually let such a dangerous criminal escape!"

Mrs. Merick, after seeing this news, feels a sense of worry. If this criminal is wandering around London, how dangerous that would be.

"Zoe, before this criminal is caught, I will pick you up and drop you off for work." Mr. Merick looks at his wife and says seriously.

"But sometimes I have to work the night shift, you..."

"It's precisely because of the night shift that it's dangerous. It's okay. My work just happens to be coming to an end, and there will be a period where I'm not busy. I believe there will be more news about that criminal during this time. If he leaves London, there won't be so much to worry about."

Mr. Merick's tone is still as firm as ever.

"Dear..." Mrs. Merick's eyes flicker, looking at her husband with deep affection.

"Dear." Mr. Merick hugs his wife's waist, also looking at her with deep affection.

And John has a dead-fish eye, eating his meal, watching his parents show affection, with no ripples in his heart.

John says nothing, just eating his meal.

After finishing dinner and cleaning up the dining room, the family sits in the hall and continues watching TV, waiting for the Hogwarts teacher to visit.

Until the bell at 8:00 rings, and a knocking sound rings out. ===== CHAPTER 4 =====