The following week turned out to be the happiest time Harry could remember.
Life in the wizarding world was still full of novelty for him. The entire Weasley family welcomed him warmly, he spent every day with his best friends, and two of his closest companions lived just next door. For the first time in his life, Harry even found himself wishing it could stay like this forever—never having to return to the Dursleys again.
As for Lewis, Harry's arrival didn't change his routine much.
Lately, he had become completely absorbed in the study of spatial magic.
After mastering Misty Step, Dimension Door, and Teleportation, his understanding of conjuration magic deepened rapidly. The more he studied, the more fascinated he became with the mysteries of space itself.
The existence of the Demiplane Seed made experimentation even easier.
At present, Lewis was researching the Extension Charm, determined to apply it to every room in the tower.
Objectively, this was an incredible benefit.
In the Muggle world, people worked themselves to exhaustion just to gain a few extra square meters of living space.
Here, with a flick of a wand, your house could become ten times larger.
And yet—
Hermione and Ciri were both suffering because of it.
Each of them now had rooms ten times bigger than before—and absolutely no idea how to fill them.
It became a surprisingly stressful problem.
Meanwhile, after learning Teleportation, Hermione no longer had to stay at Lewis's house all day.
Now, every morning, Lewis would pick her up from her home, and in the evening, he would send her back.
Occasionally, she stayed overnight at the tower.
Because of this, the Granger parents' attitude toward Lewis improved significantly.
At the very least, Mr. Granger stopped looking at him like "that brat trying to steal my daughter."
A week later, on a bright morning, Lewis received a letter from Hogwarts.
A yellow parchment envelope, addressed in green ink.
Inside was the book list for the new school year.
Second-year students required:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 — Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee — Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls — Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags — Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls — Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires — Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves — Gilderoy Lockhart
A Year with the Yeti — Gilderoy Lockhart
Lewis raised an eyebrow.
So Dumbledore had basically traded a teaching position in exchange for helping Lockhart sell books.
Hermione and Ciri received their letters as well. Though Ciri's fifth-year books differed, she still had the same ridiculous stack of Lockhart titles.
"This is outrageous…"
For Lewis, the cost meant nothing.
But for some families—
It was a disaster.
Like the Weasleys.
Five children attending school meant five full sets of Lockhart's books.
Seven books per set, nearly twenty Galleons each.
That added up to around one hundred Galleons.
For a family like theirs, that was a massive burden.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were probably turning green already.
"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor…" Hermione frowned. "Do you think he'll actually be good?"
After Quirrell, she had nearly lost all hope for the subject.
Thankfully, Lewis had been tutoring her over the summer.
Compared to her peers, she was already far ahead.
"I think I've heard of him," Ciri said, flipping through a stack of newspapers. "Didn't he receive a Third Class Order of Merlin?"
"Found it!"
She picked up an article and read aloud:
"…in recognition of his bravery in confronting dark creatures, and for documenting defensive techniques in his autobiographical works…"
Hermione tilted her head.
"Third Class… is that impressive?"
"…I suppose it's decent?" Lewis said uncertainly.
Hermione glanced at the two beside her and smiled.
"You say that, but one of you has a First Class Order—and is the youngest ever recipient. The other has a Second Class. Compared to you two… he doesn't seem that impressive."
Unlike before, Hermione had now seen the real elite of the wizarding world.
After attending the ceremony and watching Lewis casually interact with powerful figures, her standards had changed.
Lockhart no longer seemed particularly impressive.
Ciri, however, had a different view.
"I've read some of his books at Mrs. Tonks' place," she said. "At least his methods for dealing with monsters seem professional. Putting aside the marketing… he does appear to have real skill."
Each of Lockhart's books described him defeating various dark creatures:
Banshees, ghouls, hags, trolls, vampires, werewolves, yetis…
In Ciri's world, that was literally a witcher's job.
And since she had lived among witchers—
She instinctively viewed Lockhart as something like a colleague.
"You're not wrong," Lewis nodded. "But I wouldn't get your hopes up."
"Why?" Ciri asked.
"Because once you meet him in person… you'll understand."
He paused, then added:
"He actually invited me to his book signing in Diagon Alley. I declined, but I know the date—next Wednesday."
"We'll go that day to buy school supplies. You can see for yourself what kind of person he really is."
Wednesday arrived quickly.
Early in the morning, Lewis used Teleportation to bring the three of them straight to Diagon Alley.
Not a single Knut spent on Floo Powder.
Well—
Mostly because teleportation felt much better. Like stepping through a normal doorway, instead of being tossed through a fireplace.
In Diagon Alley, they quickly ran into the Weasley family.
A group of redheads that impossible to miss.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were heading to Gringotts, while Ron stayed behind to chat.
"Aren't you going to withdraw money?" Ron asked Lewis curiously.
Lewis shook his head.
"I don't trust goblins. I'd rather keep my money at home. It's safer than Gringotts."
Not just goblins—
He didn't trust banks in general.
"My money is with Lewis," Ciri said calmly.
"I don't need to exchange currency either," Hermione added. "Lewis trades Galleons directly with my dad."
She looked at him with quiet gratitude.
She knew he was the one taking the loss in that exchange.
"You guys are really close…" Ron said awkwardly.
Then his face twisted in annoyance.
"Honestly, I don't think our family will be saving any money anytime soon."
Even without meeting Lockhart—
He already disliked him.
"That's a lot of Galleons…"
Lewis thought for a moment, then said:
"If you really don't want to spend that money, I do have an idea. Most books have anti-duplication charms—but they can't stop manual copying. I created a spell called Copying Charm…"
Ron's eyes lit up instantly.
"Lewis…"
"But… that's piracy," Hermione said hesitantly. "Isn't that… wrong?"
Lewis smiled faintly.
"Maybe you should meet him first."
"Then decide."
He gestured ahead.
"Let's head to Flourish and Blotts. See it for yourselves."
If you want to read 60 chapters ahead of the public release, head over to: Patreon.com/RedString