Chapter 102: Colin's Adventure

Colin Creevey lived in Chelsea, London, was eleven years old this year, had just graduated from primary school, and had successfully passed the entrance exam for Eton College this year; the whole family was happy and proud for him, he himself was also very happy, and decided to bring his beloved camera when going to school to record every little detail of his life at Eton College...

But one morning, an unexpected letter broke the tranquility of his life; a school named Hogwarts actually invited him to enroll to learn something called magic, and even solemnly attached a list of required items.

"This must be a prank!" Mr. Creevey said confidently as he was pouring cereal into milk, "I have never heard of a school called Hogwarts in my whole life, let alone one that teaches magic."

Colin also thought his father was right; he had reached the age where he could distinguish right from wrong. Although he longed for those wonderful magics, reason told him they were all fake, all people's fantasies.

Although that letter looked very realistic, and he had read it over and over many times, he still decided to put this matter behind him.

But then a wonderful thing happened; letters with the same content kept appearing in the house, yet they could never find out how the letters were delivered inside.

"This prank is becoming more and more detestable! But there is a huge loophole in their letters; look at this sentence: 'Awaiting your reply brought by your owl!'" Mr. Creevey pointed to a line in the letter and read it aloud loudly, "Owls simply do not deliver letters! Besides, we don't have an owl!" Mr. Creevey said firmly.

The turning point of the matter occurred when a "giant" named Hagrid, who was dressed in a very rustic manner, came to visit.

He personally delivered a letter with the same content and introduced Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to them in detail; Mr. Creevey tried several times to refute Hagrid's words and expose the fraudster's true face, but looking at Hagrid's burly body, he still held back his anger.

Finally, Hagrid left a guide on how to purchase various magical artifacts and then departed.

"I think that big guy is just a fraud; look at his tattered clothes; I don't believe a single word he said!" Mr. Creevey said loudly; he did not like Hagrid.

Mrs. Creevey picked up the parchment Hagrid had left, examined it carefully, and said, "The Diagon Alley mentioned here doesn't seem very far from us; it's on Charing Cross Road in the Westminster district; we can get there by car in just over ten minutes."

Colin now vaguely believed everything in the letter was true; he spoke to Mr. Creevey in a pleading tone, "Dad, let us just go to that place called Diagon Alley and take a look!"

Mr. Creevey could not bear to refuse his son; he decided to drive his wife and son to the place mentioned on the parchment.

Colin was about to enter middle school, and it was time for him to recognize the dark side of society; besides, the cost was not high. Mr. Creevey thought silently in his heart.

But when they arrived at the location mentioned in the guide, Mr. and Mrs. Creevey could not find the Leaky Cauldron mentioned on the parchment at all, while Colin immediately found the pub entrance that Mr. and Mrs. Creevey had overlooked.

After entering the pub, they met many people dressed in very strange ways; their family, dressed formally, looked quite out of place inside.

They endured the strange glances and handed that letter to the pub owner; after seeing the letter, the pub owner led them to the pub's backyard.

After a series of magical operations, a door magically appeared before the family of three; passing through the door led to Diagon Alley.

Even if Mr. and Mrs. Creevey were dull, they now vaguely began to believe in the existence of magic; Colin became even more excited, holding his camera and taking photos continuously.

The pedestrians on the street wore very strange clothes, carried very strange pets, and cast very strange glances at them, making the family of three feel very strange inside.

The shops on the street sold things that only appeared in various fairy tales and legends, which opened the eyes of the family of three.

Mr. Creevey summoned the courage to ask a strange person wearing a wizard's robe for directions, but that strange person looked at him with a face full of contempt, with a very cold attitude, as if talking to him was an insult.

Mr. Creevey tactfully stopped asking for directions; he knew that strange person was discriminating against him.

I am dressed properly, have a healthy complexion, behave elegantly, and have a genuine London accent; I look like a decent person at first glance; why am I still being discriminated against here? Mr. Creevey suddenly felt very aggrieved.

Fortunately, Diagon Alley was not very large; they quickly found the wizarding bank according to the guide written on the parchment and exchanged for Jin Jin Jialong.

Mr. Creevey held these strange gold coins and played with them repeatedly; he keenly realized the business opportunity within, but unfortunately, he was later told that exchanging pounds for Jin Jin Jialong had certain limits, and only Colin had this quota; Mr. Creevey regretfully gave up this idea of making money.

Next, they proceeded to shop in Diagon Alley according to the contents of the acceptance letter; they also ate many strange magical snacks, which brought them great joy.

They also bought an owl for Colin, to reply to the acceptance letter and for future correspondence.

After arriving in Diagon Alley, Mr. and Mrs. Creevey no longer mentioned anything about pranks or frauds, nor did they say they would support Colin going to Hogwarts to learn magic, but they had already shown their attitude through their actions.

Finally, a checkmark was gradually placed after every item on the list, and their small cart was filled with all kinds of strange things. Colin felt this was the happiest day of his life; he kept pressing the shutter, and his film was almost used up.

"We are still short one wand!" Mrs. Creevey said carefully checking the list.

"I just seemed to see a small storefront over there that sells wands!" Mr. Creevey tried to recall.

Upon hearing the word "wand," Colin immediately forgot the fatigue of the day; after all, compared to those wonderful magical artifacts, actually casting magic himself was the truly fun thing.

They quickly arrived at this dilapidated small storefront; just as they were about to push the door open, they saw a family rushing out of the shop, rolling and crawling; they had expressions of terror on their faces and were screaming in terror; the child in the family even fell at the doorway; his parents immediately turned back and lifted him up; they ran away carrying the child whose feet did not touch the ground, and quickly disappeared from their sight.

The Creevey family looked blankly in the direction the family had just gone; they did not know what had happened, but judging by the behavior of that family just now, there seemed to be something terrifying inside the shop...

"That family just now was dressed very decently; they looked like upper-class people; yet they were so scared they lost all their dignity!" Mr. Creevey observed very carefully.

"Maybe it's just something disgusting but not dangerous, like the toad eyes we saw in other shops." Colin could not hide his desire for the wand.

This made the Creevey family of three hesitate a bit, but the wand was a necessity and had to be bought.

"How about we see if there are any other shops selling wands!" Mrs. Creevey suggested.

"No, this seems to be the only one, and this shop has nearly 2400 years of history; the wands from this shop must be the best!" Mr. Creevey said, pointing at the small shop's sign.

Colin heard this and immediately nodded vigorously; he wanted the best wand.

"Then how about we ask someone else; I just feel a bit uneasy." Mrs. Creevey suggested, looking at her son's eager eyes.

This suggestion received Mr. Creevey's approval; he politely stopped a strange person wearing a strange robe and asked his question.

This strange person was not as cold as the one last time.

"Mr. Ollivander! He is a kind wizard." The strange person happily introduced to the Creevey family, "His wands are the best in all of Britain; all wizards in Britain buy their wands from his shop!"

The strange person's words put the Creevey family's hearts at ease; they thanked the strange person and then stood again at the door of the dilapidated small shop.

Mr. Creevey looked into the shop from the window, found everything normal, but still felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

"Creak..." Mr. Creevey pushed the door open.

But he found no one inside the shop; they slowly walked into this dilapidated small shop...

"Bang!" The shop door closed behind them; they were startled; the shop became dim again; some scenes from horror movies Mr. Creevey had seen before instantly flooded his mind.

Just as their unease in their hearts was about to reach its peak, a crisp voice sounded in the shop!

"Welcome! Are you here to buy a wand?" Judging by the timbre of the voice, it should have been emitted by a teenager.

The Creevey family instantly relaxed upon hearing this voice.

But Mr. Creevey keenly noticed that the direction from which the voice came was a bit strange; it seemed to be coming from the roof, but this small shop clearly had only one floor! Colin couldn't figure it out.

Maybe it's just some kind of magic! Mr. Creevey thought silently in his heart.

"Yes, my son is enrolling in Hogwarts this year; he needs to buy a wand!" Mr. Creevey said calmly.

"Good! Please wait a moment; I need to take measurements for your son first!" The teenager's voice grew closer and closer.

Then the Creevey family saw a colorful bedsheet floating vertically one meter off the ground, with two holes at the very top of the bedsheet...

The Creevey family watched this eerie scene in surprise; however, they could see a teenager's legs through the gap between the bedsheet and the ground, which made them relax a bit.

Although they were quite curious about what lay behind the sheet, they all maintained their composure.

However, because the room was rather dim, they could not see what was behind the sheet through the hole at the very top of the sheet...

"Which hand are you accustomed to using?" the boy's voice sounded again.

"The right hand!" Colin Creevey said, somewhat nervously.

"Good! Please raise your right hand!"

Colin hurriedly complied.

Then a tape measure printed with silver markings automatically jumped out, first measuring from shoulder to fingertip, then from wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and finally the head circumference; it even measured the distance between his nostrils. Colin was so nervous he didn't dare take a deep breath.

"Every Ollivander wand possesses powerful magical substances; we use unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstring." The boy behind the sheet introduced this to Colin.

Colin was captivated by the boy's words, revealing an expression of longing.

Then he heard the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets behind the sheet, and a long box floated out from behind the sheet; Colin hurriedly caught it.

"Try this one: scotch pine wood wand, dragon heartstring, eleven and a quarter inches; the power is quite good!"

Colin took the wand out of the box, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Wave it!" the boy behind the sheet commanded.

Colin complied, feeling rather foolish.

"Put it back! Try this one: birch wood wand, ten and a half inches long, the core is phoenix tail feather."

Colin picked up this new wand and waved it vigorously, and as a result, a gust of wild wind suddenly appeared...

The sheet floating in mid-air, which was the first to be struck, was instantly blown away until it vanished...

The Creevey family finally saw the scene behind the sheet...

They tilted their necks back, staring blankly at the position of the ceiling...

"Ah—" The Creevey family finally let out a cry of terror...

"Click! Click! Click!" This was the sound of Colin's camera shutter; Colin didn't know why he pressed the shutter himself, accompanied by the flashing of the flash, but the scene behind the sheet appeared even more terrifying under the flash...

Mr. and Mrs. Creevey rushed toward the door in a frantic scramble, dragging along Colin, who was still dazed.

As a result, they discovered that the lock on this small shop's door happened to be broken, and no matter what they did, they could not open the door...

Mr. Creevey wanted to kick the door open, but the "monster" behind him seemed to discern his intention: "Do not damage the door!"

But Mr. Creevey would not listen to him; he immediately assumed a kicking stance, while the "monster" quietly muttered a phrase. Mr. Creevey then terrifiedly discovered that his two legs had been pressed together.

He hopped around, turned to look at the "monster" approaching step by step, and an expression of despair appeared on his face...

The "monster" had a long neck; strange patterns were on the neck; below the neck was a boy's body; at the very top of the neck was a boy's head. Because the neck was too long, the boy's head was pressed against the ceiling; this was why the boy's voice came from the direction of the ceiling, and this was why a hole was opened at the very top of the sheet...

Mr. Creevey finally could not endure such a strong shock; he clutched his chest and collapsed.

Mrs. Creevey screamed, urgently saying to Colin: "Quickly find medicine for your father!" Then she dragged Mr. Creevey toward the corner of the wall, wanting to get away from the approaching "monster"...

Allen watched this chaotic scene, wanting to reach out and cover his face, but he discovered that his hands could not reach his face now.

Yes, this "monster" was Allen; today Allen had randomly obtained a giraffe's neck... He had never imagined before that he could randomly obtain a neck...

So his neck today was one meter fifty long; when he raised his head, he bumped into the ceiling...

After seeing his appearance today, he originally wanted to ask Mr. Ollivander for leave, but after he got up, he discovered a note left by Ollivander.

The note read: Allen, my old ailment has struck today, so I have gone to St. Mangor Magic Hospital for treatment. Business in the shop is busiest these days, so you will need to work harder; I believe you can serve every customer well. Written by Ollivander.

Then Allen had no choice but to grit his teeth and take up his post.

However, the first to arrive were two wizard families; they were not particularly afraid of Allen's appearance. They had all known about this strange little wizard Allen before; they even conversed with Allen with great interest for quite a while. Ultimately, the transaction was reached smoothly, which greatly increased Allen's confidence...

But next, five Muggle families arrived; they were all terrified by Allen's terrifying appearance and ran away in a panic...

So Allen thought of using the Levitation Charm to control the sheet as a covering method, but he did not expect it still would not work.

Watching the Creevey family huddled together in the corner, with one person apparently suffering a heart attack, Allen's head hurt even more; how should this be resolved?