Daily News: The Prophet of Hogwarts

Chapter 6 Harry Potter's Journey to Diagon Alley

Harry Potter was utterly shocked when a stranger called out his name.

He looked at the handsome young man in front of him, wondering why this person would recognize him.

This was unlike what had just happened at the Leaky Cauldron, where Hagrid introduced himself to the crowd, and many people greeted him.

Hagrid didn't introduce him this time!

The boy in front of him called out his name directly!

In Harry's eyes, the boy's black hair and black robes did not make him look gloomy; on the contrary, they accentuated his proud demeanor.

The boy's brown eyes were very light in color, and the look in his eyes gave Harry a gentle and dreamlike feeling.

The boy's amicable smile inexplicably reminded Harry of the expressions of extraordinary honor and excitement on the faces of countless wizards at the Leaky Cauldron.

Considering Hagrid's words and the fact that he had just called him by his name, Harry, with mixed feelings, shook Ryan's hand: "Hello, Mr. Ryan."

Hagrid, standing nearby, added, "Ryan Wales, the greatest prophet of this century, the most gifted prophet, and of course, your senior in fourth year."

"No, Hagrid, not fourth year. I'll be fifth year when Harry starts school."

Speaking of which, three days ago, I saw you talking to the eight-eyed giant spider. You said you were about to do something important.

I was wondering what was wrong and if you needed help. Turns out it was about picking up Harry.

Ryan recalled the intelligence he had gathered earlier.

"Yes, I did go to see Aragog before I left..." Hagrid was already used to being slightly surprised. Although he hadn't told anyone about it, Ryan knew that it hadn't really had a strong impact on Hagrid, and his surprised expression was just a conditioned reflex.

"Like I said, Lane is the most powerful prophet of this century, able to foresee many things." He said to Harry with a sigh, "Every time I see him, I feel it's just so unreasonable."

Harry nodded in agreement, then asked, "What is an eight-eyed giant spider?"

"It's just a docile magical creature," Hagrid said vaguely.

Upon hearing Hagrid's assessment, Harry suddenly remembered that on the road, Hagrid had mentioned that he wanted to keep a dragon.

Lane knew that Hagrid's views were not easily accepted by ordinary people, and seeing that Harry wanted to ask more questions, he took the initiative to change the subject: "You're here to get money for Harry?"

"Yes, Harry has a lot of necessities to buy, we... we're just here to collect the money," Hagrid quickly replied.

Ryan noticed that Hagrid's gaze was darting away when he said what he had just said.

It seemed Hagrid had other things to do, but he couldn't say anything... He didn't ask any more questions, bid farewell to the two, and headed to a shop in Diagon Alley to buy some amulets, materials, and potions.

And to purchase some gifts for several professors and other faculty and staff.

Building good relationships with faculty and staff is the real essential lesson in Hogwarts, but unfortunately many young wizards don't realize this. They simply keep their distance from the professors, and even the most outstanding students rarely manage to establish good relationships with all of them.

Ryan has always believed that the best faculty and staff and the Hogwarts Library are the greatest treasures that Hogwarts has accumulated over thousands of years.

After the long Diagon Alley purchasing ceremony, Ryan's Galon supply rapidly dwindled to just over four hundred.

"Hagrid? You've switched to raising owls now?"

He was about to leave Diagon Alley when he bumped into Hagrid, who was carrying an owl cage and was accompanied by Harry.

"Oh, of course not, this is a birthday present for little Harry."

"Ryan, you haven't seen the Muggles who adopted Harry. They were complete Muggles! Not only did they not believe in magic, but they also..."

Hagrid sniffed hard. "Those people even made Harry live in the cupboard! They didn't even tell him about Hogwarts! It's outrageous!"

"So Harry didn't receive a birthday present?" Lane asked.

"Yes. I saw that Harry really liked this owl on his way here, so I bought it for him as a birthday present," Hagrid replied.

Ryan could clearly see Harry blush, looking quite embarrassed, and deliberately said, "Speaking of which, I haven't prepared a birthday present for you yet, Harry."

"You don't need to..." Harry quickly said.

"I think it's necessary," Lane said with a smile, then asked Hagrid, "Hagrid, what's Harry missing now?"

"We've bought everything we need, now all we need is a wand. Ollivander has an agreement with Hogwarts that a young wizard's first wand only costs seven Galleons, and it's more appropriate for Harry to buy his own first wand."

“Indeed, the wand chooses the wizard. I shouldn’t have interfered.” Ryan nodded. “Any suggestions?”

"There is indeed a problem. Harry is afraid of being sorted into Slytherin. What do you think?" Hagrid asked after thinking for a moment.

Harry, standing nearby, also cast a hopeful glance at Lane. Clearly, during their trip to get money and go shopping, Hagrid had given him a detailed explanation of what it meant to be the strongest prophet of the century.

Still on this issue... Ryan was a little scratching his head. Although he really didn't have any relevant information, influenced by his many years as a charlatan, he still added some special effects to himself: making his eyes more unfocused and hazy, and adding a layer of faint light.

Beneath his smiling face, Ryan's brain raced, desperately trying to access his deepest memories, and he found the answer: the main characters were all from Gryffindor, and because of their various tricks to get extra points each semester, Gryffindor had become Gryffindor with "more points".

He slowly began to speak: "The confused young man is filled with trepidation about the future, but there is no need to worry. He is destined to be accompanied by courage and embark on an adventure worth recording."

As Ryan spoke, Hagrid patted Harry's shoulder heavily, and Ryan even felt that Harry had shrunk an inch for a moment.

"What does this mean?" Harry didn't understand.

"I can't tell you, I'll give you a surprise." Hagrid said mysteriously, "We should go to Ollivanders to buy wands."

Ollivanders Wand Shop.

Ollivander fondly recalled and greeted Harry's parents, then Hagrid, before finally turning his gaze to Ryan.

"Lane! Lane Welsh! Applewood, fourteen inches long, the heartstring of a dragon. Without a doubt, without a doubt, it is a powerful wand, fit for those with lofty ideals and aspirations."

"I had anticipated that the wand would choose the wizard and that you would achieve something. The only thing I didn't expect was that you possess such powerful prophetic abilities."

Ollivander's gentle tone shifted slightly: "However, lofty ideals do not necessarily have good endings, Mr. Lane."

"Master Ollivander, to give all regrets and injustices a deserved ending is the very meaning of my study of magic." Ryan spoke righteously, after all, he, Ryan Wales, truly wanted to bring about change in the magical world. However, in the process, he had to pretend to be a saint in front of others, and thus had to gain the respect and admiration of the wizarding world.

Harry unconsciously turned his gaze to Ryan, and Hagrid did the same, as if he saw the youthful spirit piercing his eyes, enough to make any person with a sense of justice and courage admire him, and to make those who plotted and schemed feel ashamed.

Ollivander chuckled. "Another characteristic of applewood wands is that the wielder possesses a strong personal charisma and can easily inspire others. But like Ryan, in the past hundred years... there have only been two."

He said no more and began measuring Harry's physical measurements and choosing a wand for him.

Ryan certainly knew what Ollivander meant, one of whom was the man who had captivated the greatest wizard of the century in Godric's Valley in a single summer.

The other one should refer to Voldemort before he underwent plastic surgery and before he became mentally unstable due to the creation of Horcruxes.

In other words, everyone who came before me had already explored all the paths, and they were all blocked. Now, the principal still has doubts about my feelings towards him... He sighed inwardly.

Seeing Harry receive the wand that was destined for him, and hearing Ollivander's assessment that Harry was destined for greatness, he suddenly wondered if Ollivander said the same thing to every young wizard who came to buy a wand.

When young wizards achieve true success, they all praise Ollivander's Wand Shop, while those who haven't accomplished much have no face to claim that Ollivander said the same thing to them...

Logically, it's a perfect closed loop!

Just as he was about to step out of the shop, Ryan turned back and said, "Master Ollivander, those two you mentioned aren't just incredibly charismatic. It's because we are wizards. A wizard's power lies in knowledge, and a wizard's charm comes from ability."