harleyscars Chapter 24 Who is he?
Chapter 24 Who is he?
The Leaky Cauldron bar was completely silent.
The wizards all looked up and stared at the boy Harry Potter had called out to.
"Who is he? Does Mr. Potter really value him so much?"
"I don't recognize him. Could he be a descendant of some pure-blooded family?"
"Wouldn't a pure-blood family live in the Leaky Cauldron? And he's hanging out with Muggle couples..."
The whispers surged like a tide, engulfing Orochimaru and his group in an instant.
Mr. Wendell Granger was displeased, yet also somewhat relieved. He had guessed that this would happen when his daughter insisted on attending Hogwarts.
Wizards discriminate against Muggles, so how could their daughters, born into a Muggle family, not be discriminated against?
He turned to look at his wife.
Lady Granger, who had noble blood, frowned in displeasure. She had heard the insulting word "Muggle" countless times in recent days.
She looked at her daughter with some concern, hoping that she wouldn't be affected by these discriminatory words.
As for Hermione...
She stubbornly turned her head away, as if to prove something, deliberately drawing a line between herself and Orochimaru.
She felt that with her talent, she would definitely be welcomed by everyone at Hogwarts!
The poor girl, she doesn't know the power of prejudice in this world.
Orochimaru sighed at her actions, but his expression remained calm, as if her comments were nothing more than a gentle breeze and not worth mentioning.
This comparison, however, surprised the wizards who were watching him.
Harry Potter, who had previously seemed to have wandered into a hunting ground, looked completely bewildered when surrounded by the crowd.
But this Mr. Slack seemed immune to suspicion and amazement, and he didn't even change the pace of his steps.
Mr. Slack possessed an elegance and composure completely out of character for his age.
This is very unusual.
As a result, speculation about Orochimaru's identity intensified.
As he approached Harry Potter, Orochimaru overheard wizards speculating that he belonged to one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans.
Orochimaru had never heard of the name and didn't care. He simply whispered something in Harry's ear.
"The car belongs to Mr. Granger."
Upon hearing this, Harry's eyes immediately lit up.
Although he is young, he is not stupid.
He could feel the wizarding world's reverence for him and was aware of his special status, so he was happy to reciprocate their kindness.
"Mr. Granger! I am Harry Potter. Thank you for your help!"
Harry waved to Wendell Granger, who was standing at the top of the stairs, and called out.
boom!
The savior of the magical world is actually thanking a Muggle couple?
The wizards looked up curiously, like moths drawn to a light, and turned their gaze to the flattered Granger couple and their daughter Hermione Granger.
They watched it again and again until a bold wizard stepped forward, raised his glass to congratulate them.
"Although I don't know what you did for Mr. Potter, thank you for everything you've done!"
As Wendell Granger looked at the wizard raising his glass in celebration, the name immediately came to mind.
Borns, a civil servant in the magical world.
With a smile, he bowed slightly to Mr. Burns, following the etiquette of upper-class social interactions.
"It is my honor, Mr. Burns."
Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Granger were both adept social butterflies. Under the astonished gaze of their daughter Hermione Granger, they quickly became friends with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
Wizards who had previously either ignored them or secretly despised them now changed their ways.
Although there is still some distance, I do treat them as human beings.
Was it all because of one sentence he said?
Hermione couldn't help but think this as she watched Harry Potter walking up the stairs shoulder to shoulder with Orochimaru.
"No, it's not him," her father Wendell Granger's voice suddenly rang out beside his daughter. "The person you should thank is Slack."
Is it him again?
Hermione looked at Orochimaru's back with a puzzled expression, instinctively wanting to refute him, but before she could speak, Wendell interrupted her.
Compared to his innocent daughter, he understood better the kindness Slack had shown in that brief moment.
Slack is definitely a person with a heart of gold.
Orochimaru wasn't sure if he truly possessed a heart of gold, but when he saw Harry Potter and Hagrid sitting in his room, a sense of curiosity arose within him.
"Hagrid, you said you came to apologize to Dumbledore?"
"Yes, Mr. Dumbledore asked me to apologize to you." Hagrid's beetle-like eyes glanced elsewhere. "He forgot to give this to you earlier."
As Hagrid spoke, he took a small brass key from a large bunch of keys.
"This is the key to the vault your mother left you. Tomorrow you can come with me to Gringotts and withdraw gold coins to pay for your future tuition."
After Hagrid finished speaking, he seemed to dislike Orochimaru very much. He always felt that the man's gaze was as slippery and cold as a snake.
"Alright, Harry, I've booked the room. Let's get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll go shopping in Diagon Alley."
Hagrid pointed behind him, forcefully interrupting the conversation.
"See you tomorrow, Slack!" Harry couldn't help but turn back and say as he reached the door.
See you tomorrow, Harry.
Orochimaru said calmly, put away the key, and lay back down on the bed.
He slept alone tonight.
The Granger family, who were originally supposed to stay another night, went home early.
The firewood crackled and popped in the fireplace, emitting a gentle, flowing warmth that filled the room.
Orochimaru, enjoying the warmth, gazed leisurely at the ceiling, reviewing the intelligence he had gathered, drawing on the habits of ninjas on missions.
First, we need to make one change.
Harry Potter is not only a Jinchūriki, but also the savior who once defeated Mysterio.
Unlike the infamous and universally disliked Jinchūriki in the village, he was well-liked and respected in the magical world.
Interesting discovery.
Orochimaru smiled sinisterly, then thought of his current situation.
Although his physical strength was steadily improving under the nourishment of chakra, his chakra capacity was still only at the genin level.
The root cause should lie in one's own soul.
The technique of reincarnation brought his soul to this world, but the original soul of his body did not dissipate. Instead, it attached itself to his broken soul, thus completing his damaged soul.
The soul seemed to have made some kind of pact with itself, constantly craving human emotions.
Family, friendship, and...
love.
This is why he keeps having those dregs of memories resurface, why his chakra reserves can never break through the genin limit, and why the Book of Abraham the Jew made that suggestion.
"Try falling in love!" the book suggested.
"But I still refuse." Orochimaru gently shook his head.
Obsessed with human experimentation and seeking immortality, he orchestrated the Konoha Collapse Plan and murdered his teacher...
The only way to become stronger now is to fall in love.
Orochimaru found this an incredibly humiliating mockery. Even though he knew he would never see the people of the other world again, he could still sense the tone in Jiraiya's voice.
"Orochimaru, if you want to fall in love, you absolutely must read my 'Make-Out Paradise'!"
Then I'd rather gouge out my own eyes, Jiraiya.
Orochimaru calmly closed his eyes, waiting for time to pass.
Having experienced his meeting with Dumbledore and the initial panic of arriving in this world, he now has a considerable understanding of the wizarding world.
In any case, unless he was truly desperate, Orochimaru would never have taken the advice of the Book of Abraham.
Tomorrow, I'll first get my own magic wand.
Then I'll wait for school to start and see if things will change. Maybe with a better understanding of magic, my chakra reserves will break through again.
Orochimaru thought this to himself and slowly closed his eyes.
He slept soundly that night, like a snake hibernating.