Somewhere in a small city in Japan.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, spreading across the empty street. An old-fashioned, Western-style carriage stood parked at the roadside, while an elderly silver-haired gentleman in a distinctly British style busied himself with luggage at the back.
He waved his wand gently, and the luggage lying on the ground rose gracefully into the air, floating neatly and stacking itself carefully atop the carriage.
At the front stood a black-haired boy of about fourteen or fifteen, gently stroking the neck of one of the Thestrals harnessed to the carriage. With his other hand, he occasionally teased the creature's snout with his wand. The Thestral tilted its head slightly, letting out soft, contented snorts.
"We'll need to wait just a bit longer. Once George arrives, we can set off," the elderly gentleman finished his task and walked towards the front, giving the boy an apologetic look.
"It's alright, Professor Fig. I don't mind waiting," the boy stopped petting the Thestral and smiled reassuringly at Professor Fig.
"Have you been practicing the spells I taught you earlier?"
"Of course, Professor," the boy waved his wand casually, eyes brimming with confidence.
"I must say, I've never seen a student adapt so well to someone else's wand. Once you get your own, I'm certain you'll be even more powerful," Professor Fig said appreciatively. "It's a pity we don't have enough time to practice more spells. You'll have to learn the rest at Hogwarts."
At that moment, a loud crack echoed through the air, and a plump-faced man wearing spectacles appeared out of thin air in front of them. He stood with his back to them, looking around carefully before turning and greeting Professor Fig cheerfully, "Aha! Eleazar!"
"George," Professor Fig stepped forward and shook his hand warmly. "I'm sorry for being so vague in my letter, but I'm glad you found us."
"No worries. It's not the first time I've used Apparition to go somewhere unusual," George shrugged lightly. "Though I must admit, I've never traveled this far before. Took me several tries to find this place. Hopefully, I didn't frighten the local Muggles too badly."
"To be honest, it's been quite a while. When I received your owl, I thought—"
"Eleazar," George raised a finger to his lips, interrupting Professor Fig, and glanced around warily, "Perhaps we shouldn't discuss this here."
"Ah, yes, of course. Let's continue our conversation on the road. We need to stop by Diagon Alley anyway to pick up a few things."
Professor Fig moved towards the carriage, calling George over. The carriage door swung open automatically.
"Good idea," George turned to the boy standing nearby, "as long as this young fellow doesn't mind."
"Ethan, sir. You can call me Ethan," the boy gestured politely. "Please, go ahead. I hope I won't disturb your discussion."
The three climbed into the carriage. As soon as they were seated, the driver atop the carriage flicked his reins. The Thestrals leapt into the air, pulling the carriage skyward, soon disappearing into the clouds.
——
The carriage soared gracefully above a sea of clouds. Ethan sat beside Professor Fig, gazing out the window at the clouds swiftly racing past.
"So, who exactly is this Mr. Ethan?" George, seated opposite, leaned forward curiously to study Ethan.
"A new student at Hogwarts," Professor Fig explained.
"A new student?" George raised an eyebrow. "At this age?"
"Yes, sir. I'll be starting in the fourth year," Ethan replied, turning to face George.
"Fourth year? You must be the student specially admitted by the Ministry and Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"Mm-hmm," Professor Fig nodded.
"Aha, pleased to meet you, Mr. Ethan," George extended his hand warmly. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I'm George Osric, also employed at the Ministry of Magic."
"It's an honor to meet you too, Mr. Osric," Ethan shook his hand politely.
"Just call me George," he released Ethan's hand. "I've heard about your situation. Though it was a small-scale ritual in the Far East, its sheer madness..." He sighed heavily, "It's truly remarkable you survived."
"George, that's enough," Professor Fig cleared his throat softly, ending the topic. "As the first-ever student admitted directly into fourth year, Albus Dumbledore personally requested that I, working nearby, introduce Ethan to the basics of the wizarding world and help him catch up academically before the term begins."
"Then you're in safe hands indeed. I bet you couldn't find a better tutor," George winked at Ethan. "Professor Fig is an excellent teacher and has a keen eye for talent."
"And George here is blessed with natural eloquence. It's honestly one of the reasons he's climbed the ranks at the Ministry so quickly," Professor Fig chuckled, glancing at Ethan.
"Oh, right, back to business," George said, pulling out a cylindrical box from behind him. It was bluish-green, metallic, and had distinct bulges at both ends, clearly designed to contain something important. "I received this a short while ago. It was delivered by your wife's owl, but there was no return address."
"Miriam?" Professor Fig exclaimed in shock. "Impossible. Miriam has been missing for a year now."
"The problem is, I couldn't open it. It's obviously protected by powerful magic," George handed the container to Professor Fig. "Likely meant to prevent certain parties from accessing it."
Professor Fig took the box, examining it carefully. Ethan leaned in curiously as well, studying the container closely.
"It looks like some kind of goblin-made metal," Professor Fig murmured, tapping his finger gently on the container. His eyes caught a symbol etched in the center. "And this symbol..."
The symbol was composed of three intertwined, twisting lines, emanating an ancient and mysterious aura. Suddenly, Ethan noticed a faint white glow emanating from the symbol.
"Am I imagining things?" Ethan wondered, rubbing his eyes and looking again. The glow was still there, softly pulsating and flowing along the carved lines like water.
"Professor, why is the box... glowing?" Ethan asked hesitantly, puzzled.
"Glowing?" Professor Fig turned the container around in his hands, inspecting every inch. "I don't see any glow."
"Neither do I," George echoed from across the carriage.
"Professor, may I...?"
"Of course," Professor Fig handed him the box immediately.
The moment Ethan touched it, the glowing intensified. Following an inexplicable instinct, Ethan traced his finger along the luminous lines of the symbol.
With a crisp "click," the box sprang open.
Inside lay a silver metallic key resting upon a soft bluish-green lining. Its handle bore the same symbol as on the container, with intricate markings engraved along its shaft.
"Merlin's beard! How did you do that?" George gaped in astonishment.
"I... I'm not sure," Ethan shook his head, reaching to pick up the key.
"Wait!" Professor Fig gripped Ethan's wrist firmly. "We don't yet know if it's safe."
He produced several pairs of white gloves from his side, handing one pair each to Ethan and George. "Wear these first. They have protective enchantments."
"Old archaeological habits die hard, don't they?" George raised an amused eyebrow, pulling on the gloves.
Ethan donned the gloves, carefully lifted the key, and studied it from every angle. As he rotated it, the engraved markings began to glow softly again, swiftly forming a shape.
"It's glowing again! Like before, it's forming a symbol!" Ethan exclaimed.
"A symbol? What does it look like?" Professor Fig urged eagerly.
"I'm not sure yet, it's still changing... Wait, it stopped," Ethan stared at the glowing characters, his expression turning strange. "...It looks like Japanese."
"Japanese?" Professor Fig and George exchanged incredulous looks. "What does it say?"
"Um... Gringotts... Twelve. Vault Twelve at Gringotts," Ethan deciphered carefully, certain of the translation.
"Vault Twelve at Gringotts?" Professor Fig and George shared another perplexed glance.
"What's wrong? Is this some nonexistent address or something?" Ethan lowered the key and passed it, along with the box, back to Professor Fig.
"Gringotts is a wizarding bank, located in Diagon Alley, where we're heading now," Professor Fig explained, carefully storing the box and key.
"Vault Twelve must refer to one of the earliest vaults," George added thoughtfully.
"Either way, we must visit Diagon Alley," Professor Fig looked outside. "Look, we've arrived."
The carriage descended through the clouds, offering Ethan a breathtaking aerial view of London: classical British streets, the Thames River, the Elizabeth Tower, Westminster Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge... all these iconic landmarks stood out vividly from above.
"So this is London?" Ethan pressed his forehead eagerly against the window, excitement bubbling within him, gazing out like a child on his first adventure.
Watching the boy's innocent curiosity, Professor Fig felt a pang of sadness, recalling everything Ethan had been through. He sighed inwardly.
"Yes, my boy. This is London," Professor Fig smiled gently, patting Ethan's shoulder. "Welcome to Britain."