Chapter 4

Alex looked at the large pile of books and then Toffy and only then did his gaze land on the letter. He opened the letter and saw familiar content on it which was undoubtedly written by the Deputy Headmistress along with the list of things that he had to buy as a first year.

He sighed as he opened a small pouch filled with coins and cursed his lack of self control, 'I messed up…. I should've managed my finances well but sitting her doing nothing for just a few hours is something I just wasn't able to do. Haa… these books were so interesting that I splurged almost all my money on it. Oh well, what's done is done so all I can do is go for the plan B.'

He took out a piece of parchment from the drawer and wrote a letter addressing to professor McGonagall telling her about his situation of having no money and promptly walked out of his current home and rented an owl from an old lady who had a shop that sold different kinds of ink and writing material.

After living in Knockturn alley by turning his shop into a home, he met different people and what he learnt from the interactions was that not all people were shady or bad. Most of them were muggle-borns who hoped to earn some money by doing business as they were people who weren't able to get a proper job.

They also didn't have any inheritance so they couldn't afford the rents in Diagon Ally. It was a dark reality that no one seemed to consider or care about.

The owl cost him two knuts but he got his job done. He walked back inside after sending the owl away and looked at the house elf.

"Toffy, clean up everything for me please."

The elf nodded and got to work while Alex plopped himself onto a soft bed that was enchanted with the cushioning charm. He took out a wand from under the mattress and stared at it.

He wasn't able to cast magic at the start as he had no knowledge but after trying out all the wands that his father had, he chose one that had the highest compatibility with him.

He didn't know what it was made of and he was too broke to buy a new one for himself as a single wand cost seven galleons. He could obviously buy one with the money left by his late father but since he could totally cast magic using one of the wands he already had, he deemed books to be a better investment.

He had practiced a few spells with the wand and although he could feel a few blockages, he was satisfied as it worked pretty smoothly unlike the other wands he had. He looked at his father's wand in disgust as he felt absolutely nothing when he tried to use it.

'Unicorn hair core… very loyal to the original owners and has a high probability of the core dying if it isn't maintained properly. In short… you died when my father died huh…'

Alex put the wand back into its place and slowly drifted off to sleep.

*********

A week had passed and there was a large box that was delivered to Alex by two large owls. He opened it carefully and saw a bunch of books, robes and the other stuff that was listed in the letter.

He opened the envelope that was inside the box and read it. It was from professor McGonagall.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Jordan,

We would like to reassure you that we will take care of your expenses by sending you everything you need except your wand and the fresh potion ingredients.

We do not have a lot of funds to support you perfectly so everything you have been provided had already been used by the previous students but we will provide you the money needed to buy the said ingredients for potion making.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress.

Alex felt relieved as he read the letter and looked at all the things that had been sent to him.

"Guess I'll go buy the ingredients then…" he said as he happily walked out with a slight smile on his face.

In the shop, he spotted the Weasleys twins but he avoided them and bought everything he needed before walking out hastily, only to bump into Ron who was taller than him by a full inch.

"Oww… Sorry bout that." Ron said as he rubbed his nose before sneezing loudly.

"It's fine…" Alex muttered and walked out hastily, bumping Ron's shoulder.

As he walked out of the shop, he clicked his tongue.

"Tch… to think I'd meet him this early…. On a side note though, why did I have the sudden urge to avoid him? Maybe I've been spending too much time alone…."

Alex walked to a different store and bought a large trunk to carry everything to Hogwarts and then walked back home along with the potion ingredients.

He finished packing everything except the books and after everything was done, he sat down on the working bench and started reading his first year textbooks which weren't as interesting as the books he had read throughout the year.

It took him a week to finish everything and the fact that he could read so fast never ceased to amaze him even after a year. The theory was less in the books as there was a lot of practical wand waving and practice involved.

Alex didn't care about all that as he knew that he would have plenty of time to practice at Hogwarts.

He placed all the books inside the trunk and closed it before looking at the calendar and muttering, "So… two more weeks huh… I guess I'll just pass some time working on that broom.