The Leaky Cauldron, established in the early sixteenth century, is a favorite gathering place for wizards. It serves as the gateway to Diagon Alley, the only wizard street in the British wizarding world.

When Diana led Kyle inside and opened the door, the previously noisy bar fell silent instantly, as if someone had pressed a pause button. The atmosphere was as quiet as a high school evening study session—you could hear a pin drop. This tense silence persisted until Chris entered, though even then, the room didn't return to its earlier state; the patrons seemed to be deliberately keeping their voices low.

However, there was an exception. Tom, the bar's owner, approached with a surprised expression. "Oh, Diana, long time no see! Would you like a drink? It's on the house."

"Next time, Tom," Diana replied with a smile. She patted Kyle on the shoulder and gestured towards the Weasley family, who were walking over. "We need to head to Diagon Alley for some shopping, so we don't have much time."

"Of course," Tom said, understandingly. "Time flies. Little Kyle is already eleven, so he's getting his supplies for Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Diana replied with a smile.

"That makes sense, then. Go ahead, you know the way," Tom said, stepping aside to clear a path. He then turned to Kyle and added, "Just remember, if you mess with the trash can again, I'll write a complaint to Hogwarts. Merlin's beard, do you know how anxious the new students were when they couldn't get into Diagon Alley last time? You can't keep giving extra work to an old man with weak legs."

Kyle felt embarrassed being called out for his previous mischief. This wasn't his first time in Diagon Alley, but as a time traveler, he thought it was practically a requirement to move the trash can when he arrived. But, of course, he couldn't admit that in front of his parents. So, Kyle simply smiled and said, "I promise I won't do it again."

Tom took this in stride, but Diana raised an eyebrow and looked thoughtfully at her son. Her intuition told her something was off with his response, but she didn't press further since the Weasleys had arrived.

"Oh, Kyle, dear!" Mrs. Molly Weasley greeted warmly, giving Kyle a big hug before taking Diana aside for a chat. Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley naturally struck up a conversation with Chris. The two families shared a close bond—Diana and Molly were best friends, and Chris and Arthur were just as close. In fact, after Kyle was born, the family moved nearby at the Weasleys' invitation.

Because of the close friendship between their parents, Kyle and the Weasley children had become friends as well. As soon as the adults were preoccupied, two arms draped over Kyle's shoulders—one on each side.

"Hey, Fred, look who's here," George said with a grin.

"Isn't this the new Hogwarts student?" Fred added, emphasizing "new" with a mischievous tone.

"Hogwarts can be a dangerous place, especially for first-years like you..."

"Of course, if you say something nice, we might just help you out."

Kyle ignored the twins and instead greeted the other red-headed Weasleys nearby: "It's been a while, Percy, Ron, and Ginny."

They all smiled and nodded in return. "Long time no see, Kyle," they replied in unison.

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The Weasley family originally had seven children, but Bill was in Egypt and Charlie had left a month earlier, so only five of them were present that day. As they talked, the group reached the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was located. Mr. Weasley, leading the way, quickly found the right brick and tapped it with his wand.

Meanwhile, at the back of the group, the twins exchanged a knowing look, eyebrows raised. Since they hadn't received any response from Kyle, they decided to teach their younger friend a little lesson using their latest invention: the Jumping Powder. A sprinkle on someone's hair would give them a truly "refreshing" experience, like not washing one's hair for ten days. If lucky, the victim might even end up looking prematurely like a middle-aged man.

As the twins prepared to unleash their prank, Chris's voice suddenly rang out from the front. "Hagrid? What are you doing in Diagon Alley?"

His tone, which had turned alert, immediately caught the twins' attention. They recognized this cautionary tone, having heard it many times before.

"N-No, nothing!" stammered Hagrid, the three-meter-tall, burly half-giant, visibly startled by Chris's presence. His expression grew uncertain, but he quickly relaxed and pulled a small package from his pocket. "Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts next year. I wanted to give him a birthday cake, so I came to buy some berry seeds for it."

"Is that so?" Chris asked skeptically, his expression still wary. "If I remember correctly, the Hogwarts kitchen has enough supplies to bake ten cakes."

To an outsider, Chris's tone might have seemed overly harsh, even villainous. But Kyle, the twins, and the rest of the Weasleys, who were on good terms with Hagrid, showed no surprise. To them, this interaction was completely normal.

As the Deputy Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and head of the Beast Office, Chris was very familiar with Hagrid. In fact, if Chris had to pick the person he least wanted to encounter, it would definitely be the key keeper of Hogwarts, the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid.

Dealing with the trouble Hagrid caused took up more than a tenth of Chris's workload each year—especially the hybrid magical creatures Hagrid was known to create, which drove Chris to frustration. Just recently, Hagrid had been meddling with a hybrid of a runespoor—a two-tailed snake that had Chris wondering where Hagrid had found so many magical creatures. They couldn't all have come from the Forbidden Forest, could they?

As a traditional magizoologist, Chris viewed such hybrids as heretical, a violation of the natural order. Yet, despite his repeated attempts to get a law passed to restrict this, he never received a response. When Cornelius Fudge became Minister, Chris even visited his office to discuss the matter, only to be met with evasions and delays.

In the end, Chris had no legal grounds to act against Hagrid, and those hybrid creatures, being new life forms, couldn't simply be discarded. So, Chris had to settle for monitoring, recording, and classifying them.

Over time, Chris's frustration with Hagrid had reached its peak. His restraint when they met today was purely out of consideration for the children present. Otherwise, he might have tried to rough Hagrid up, even in front of Dumbledore.

Hagrid, knowing he was in the wrong, opened the package to reveal a bunch of seeds. "By Dumbledore, I swear I'm just here to buy seeds."

Chris seemed satisfied and relaxed slightly, offering a few simple instructions before letting Hagrid go. Given Hagrid's respect for Dumbledore, it was unlikely he would lie about such a matter.

Kyle, on the other hand, watched Hagrid's retreating figure with a thoughtful expression. "Not this time," he mused. But what about other times?

Kyle remembered that Fluffy, the three-headed dog from the first story, was purchased by Hagrid from a Greek wizard in a bar. He couldn't recall if it was at the Hog's Head or the Leaky Cauldron.

Though the Leaky Cauldron seemed respectable, it harbored many gray-market dealings. Being the only inn that offered lodging without checking IDs, it attracted smugglers with small cargo and no criminal records.

The brokers knew well about the gamekeeper at Hogwarts with a particular fondness for magical creatures, and it wasn't hard for them to reach out to him.

"Tsk, who says Hagrid is simple-minded? He's got more tricks up his sleeve than you'd think," Kyle thought. He figured that his father probably had no idea about these dealings, but Kyle had no intention of revealing them either.

After all, who could resist a three-headed dog?

(End of this chapter)

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