Capítulo 2: Chapter 2 - Opening the Chests!
"That's not anything valuable, so don't ask about it anymore!" Hermione said, waving it off. "Now, let's talk about you. What happened?"
"The doctor said you fainted from malnutrition and hunger. Why would you starve yourself like that? Are you a picky eater? You should eat a balanced diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables," Hermione continued, her brown eyes filled with curiosity. In her world, the idea of not having enough to eat simply didn't exist—she assumed everyone had choices.
Crow was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head, pretending to be downcast. "I... I'm an orphan. The orphanage that took me in went bankrupt three days ago. They couldn't keep supporting so many kids, and since I'm ten and can fend for myself, I had to leave. I figured if I let the others have my share of food, they'd have a bit more to eat. But once I left, I couldn't find any work, and I ended up on the street until I met you."
[Detected intense sympathy!]
Hermione looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something so sad. Are you hungry now? My mom made these snacks—please, help yourself while I let my parents know you're awake."
She quickly placed a plate of treats beside him and dashed out, softly closing the door behind her. Crow picked up a snack, chuckling to himself. "As expected, Hermione really is the heart of the Golden Trio. Kind-hearted and generous—she's even given me three chests already!"
"Alright, system, let's open those chests!" Crow set down the treat, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
[You currently have one Bronze Chest, two Silver Chests, and one Gold Chest. Which would you like to open?]
"Start with Bronze, then Silver, and finally the Gold. Open them all!" Crow said eagerly.
[Congratulations! You opened the Bronze Chest and received the spell: Levitation Charm!]
[Levitation Charm lv1: Allows objects to float. The size of the object depends on the spell level.]
Crow felt a thrill as the spell's information flooded his mind. Though it was a basic spell, it was still real magic! "Let's keep going—open the Silver Chests next!"
[Congratulations! You opened a Silver Chest and received the talent: Photographic Memory!]
[Congratulations! You opened a Silver Chest and received: 500 Galleons!]
[Photographic Memory: Greatly enhances memory, allowing you to remember anything you see with perfect clarity.]
[500 Galleons: The standard currency of the wizarding world, exchangeable for pounds at a rate of 1 to 5.]
"Photographic Memory? I can feel my mind clearing up; even my older memories are sharper!" Crow closed his eyes, savoring the new ability, then looked at the pile of Galleons in his inventory. "Five hundred Galleons—could be worse, I suppose. Solves my money problems for now."
He sighed, moving on to the final chest. "Alright, last one! Let's see what the Gold Chest holds!"
[Congratulations! You opened the Gold Chest and received the class: Wizard!]
[Wizard lv1: Awaken the source of magic, allowing you to wield spells and officially become a wizard!]
A surge of energy flowed through him, and Crow's eyes widened in disbelief. "The Gold Chest just gave me… this? So, I wasn't a wizard to begin with—no magic, no magical core?" He realized he'd either been a Squib or a Muggle before this, as he hadn't experienced any magical outbursts.
Crow's lips twitched with frustration, then broke into a grin as he laughed at his newfound reality. "Well, I guess there's no going back now. I'm officially a wizard!"
"Never mind, I assumed too quickly. Just because I got a spell, I thought I was a wizard," Crow sighed. "Good thing I unlocked the 'Wizard' class, or else I wouldn't even be able to enroll at Hogwarts."
Crow shook his head in relief.
"System, open my character panel!"
[Host: Crow Wells]
[Class: Wizard Lv1]
[Talent: Photographic Memory]
[Spell: Levitation Charm Lv1]
[System Inventory: 500 Galleons]
"Seems like I've taken my first real step!" Crow nodded in satisfaction.
[Detected two strong feelings of sympathy!]
[Reward: Two Bronze Chests!]
The system's prompt caught Crow off guard for a second before he realized these Bronze Chests must have come from Hermione's parents. Hermione had likely told them about his situation, and that was why he'd been awarded these chests.
Unexpectedly, not only could Hermione provide chests herself, but she could also get others to do it for him! Excellent!
"Hurry up, Mom and Dad! Crow's been waiting a long time," Hermione's voice echoed from the hallway. Crow quickly shifted back into his role of the downcast, starving orphan. After all, his current persona was of a homeless, hungry child, which—truthfully—he was.
The door opened, and Hermione entered with her parents, two middle-aged individuals. Hermione rushed to Crow's bedside, her cheerful voice introducing them.
"Crow, these are my parents! They're both amazing dentists, which is why my teeth are in great shape. Though my front teeth are a bit big, I've never had a cavity, mostly because I don't get to eat sweets very often. That's also why I bought a bun instead of cake," she said, her tone gradually becoming less enthusiastic.
Like any other kid, Hermione longed for sweets, but with two dentist parents, she could only dream of dessert freedom. Her excitement faded, and Crow, seeing this, struggled to sit up from the bed.
Hermione quickly set aside her disappointment and rushed to help him. Her parents exchanged surprised glances, marveling at how attentive their daughter was being to this boy. Feeling how light Crow was as he leaned on her, Hermione's eyes once again filled with pity. While she was daydreaming about sweets, Crow was thinking about giving his food to his younger siblings. The difference between them deepened her sympathy for him.
Suddenly, an idea lit up in Hermione's mind—Crow was an orphan with no home, which meant…
Meanwhile, in a dim office at Hogwarts, candlelight flickered as Professor McGonagall worked diligently at her desk. Despite it being the summer holiday, she hadn't taken any time off. With Dumbledore being so hands-off, most of the work fell to her. She needed to prepare everything before the students returned and send out acceptance letters to the new ones.
"The acceptance letters are finally ready. I can't wait to see the children's faces when they receive their letters by owl—must be thrilling!" McGonagall mused. "And that little one will be coming back to where he belongs this year. I still can't understand why Dumbledore left him with those people. He must have suffered a lot."
She sighed softly, flicking her wand to conjure a steaming cup of coffee, but just as she reached for it, the quill in her pen holder floated into the air.
"Hm? The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance detected another magical surge?" McGonagall put down her coffee and watched as the quill wrote a new name on a sheet full of names. Once the name was written, the quill returned to the pen holder.
Puzzled, McGonagall picked up the list, her eyes scanning the fresh ink.
"Crow Wells? He's just awakened his magic, then? Lucky boy—it's the last day for sending out acceptance letters."
McGonagall smiled as she set the list aside, readying another acceptance letter for Crow. Writing a few more letters wasn't troublesome; in fact, she was quite happy that another young witch or wizard had awakened. The Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance only responded when a child experienced a magical outburst, so Crow must have been a fortunate one.
[Detected strong feelings of relief!]
[Reward: Silver Chest!]
Crow heard the system's prompt and paused for a moment. This chest obviously didn't come from Hermione's parents—Hermione had already reached her daily limit. So, who had just gifted him a Silver Chest? Was it falling from the sky now?
Crow shook off his confusion and bowed slightly to Hermione's parents.
"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I'm really sorry for causing you so much trouble. I didn't expect to faint like that. Thank you for saving me. If I ever get the chance, I'll repay your kindness."
His words were sincere. Even in his past life, as someone raised with the principle of repaying kindness tenfold, Crow deeply believed in this value. No matter that he was in a new world; this belief had not diminished.
Without Hermione's help, he might have been picked up by some wealthy widow by now… and then...
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder