In "Hogwarts' Game World," Chen Yu felt as if he blinked, and the day broke.
Waking up, he felt refreshed and invigorated.
It had been a long time since Chen Yu experienced such a clear-headed state after waking up.
It felt as if the game character had truly slept during sleep mode.
As Chen Yu got out of bed, he heard a roar.
"Children! Wake up! Children! Wake up! If you don't get up soon, the sun will be shining on your bottoms!"
The one roaring was the Fat Aunt, a caregiver at the orphanage whom Old Director Lisa had hired to look after the orphans.
She was a plump, middle-aged woman.
Her name was not in the memories provided by the system; he only knew that besides one or two orphans she had picked up who were very close to her and called her 'Fat Mom,' other orphans called her 'Fat Teacher,' 'Fat Auntie,' or 'Fat Aunt.'
Every day, she would wake the children and provide them with a simple breakfast.
There weren't many orphans in the orphanage, only a dozen or so.
The orphanage would house these orphans until they were sixteen or seventeen, at the latest, if they weren't adopted by eighteen, unless they had physical disabilities or mental issues, they would need to leave the orphanage and live on their own.
This was unavoidable, as the orphanage's main income came from social relief, and its funds were already tight. To raise the orphans to adulthood and allow them to live independently, Old Director Lisa could already be said to be incredibly benevolent and dedicated.
One must know that in some orphanages, let alone raising you, it would be considered good if they didn't harvest your kidneys or covet your body parts.
Especially those orphanages with private connections to churches or hospitals; it's better not to delve into details.
After a quick morning wash, Chen Yu refused the Fat Aunt's offer to wipe his face with her rough towel, choosing instead to let the wind dry it.
Chen Yu had personally seen several little kids in front of him wipe snot onto the towel while washing their faces.
He certainly didn't want his face to come into contact with someone else's snot.
After a quick wash, it was time to queue for breakfast.
The orphanage's breakfast was very simple: a bowl of plain porridge, a small piece of pumpkin cake, and a fried egg for each child.
He wondered if Old Director Lisa had said something to the caregiver aunt last night, as the Fat Aunt wasn't surprised to see his injuries healed; she simply gave him an extra egg at breakfast compared to the other children.
This made many of the Little Wizards at the orphanage envious, and one burly little boy even glared fiercely.
Jealousy disfigured him.
Chen Yu couldn't be bothered to argue with these little kids.
He pulled up a stool and sat by the orphanage entrance, eating while waiting for McGonagall to arrive.
Chen Yu ate very seriously.
Porridge, pumpkin cake, and eggs—Chen Yu didn't know how many times he had eaten these three breakfast items in reality, but it was his first time experiencing them in the dream game.
"Besides needing to eat and sleep, the game character's body even needs to excrete. What's the difference from the real world?"
Chen Yu felt a bit urgent to urinate and stared blankly at the logout button on the game panel settings.
"Touch, feeling, sight, smell, hearing—if it weren't for this system interface, I would truly feel like I had transmigrated."
When a world's sights are no different from the real world, its sounds are no different from the real world, and one can smell various scents and experience various tastes in this world, then can this world be considered real?
After all, the way humans observe the world is through feeling, sight, touch, smell, and hearing. Once a person loses all five senses, it can essentially be said that the world does not exist for him.
Chen Yu thought of the 'brain in a vat' experiment, which hypothesizes that a human brain is removed and preserved in nutrient fluid through some means.
The nerve endings of the brain are connected to a computer, and this computer sends information to the brain according to a program to maintain the illusion that everything is completely normal.
For him, it seems that people, objects, and the sky still exist, and his own movements and bodily sensations can all be input.
This brain can also be input or have memories intercepted, such as the memory of the brain surgery being removed, and then various environments and daily life experiences can be input.
He could even be given code to 'feel' that he is reading an interesting and absurd text here.
At that moment, it was incredibly similar.
Chen Yu ate his simple breakfast while pondering life philosophy.
If he didn't clearly remember how he entered this game world, and if the 'exit' button on the panel in front of him didn't constantly remind him that this was just a game...
Chen Yu, in a trance, felt as if he had truly transmigrated into the world of "Harry Potter."
After placing his finished utensils on the communal collection table, he immediately headed to the orphanage's restroom to take care of business.
The little kid with the fierce gaze saw Chen Yu go to the restroom and secretly followed him, his eyes full of ill intent, wanting to teach Chen Yu a lesson.
The world of a little kid is truly simple: he was annoyed that Chen Yu got two eggs, and Chen Yu's scrawny appearance made him seem easy to bully.
As for why Chen Yu, who was seriously injured yesterday, could appear before him lively and well today, that wasn't something he needed to consider.
However, after just two steps, he was grabbed by the Fat Aunt nearby, who then dragged him to a corner and gave the little kid a good scolding.
The orphanage's restroom wasn't cleaned often, and the smell made Chen Yu's eyes sting.
The Fat Aunt's voice was a bit hoarse, and vaguely, Chen Yu, who was relieving himself in the restroom, heard words like "Old Director," "highly values," and "punished with dishwashing."
When Chen Yu emerged from the restroom, washed his hands, and glanced at the little kid being reprimanded, he found a stone by the orphanage gate, sat down, and stared blankly at the sky, waiting for McGonagall to arrive.
"Good morning, Mr. Chen Yu."
McGonagall didn't make Chen Yu wait long. She was still wearing her dark green robes and square spectacles.
"Good morning, McGonagall. Yesterday you said you'd take me to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies today. How should we go? Do we need to take a car?"
Chen Yu asked, tilting his head up.
McGonagall was too tall, and Chen Yu couldn't make eye contact with her without looking up.
Chen Yu remembered that Diagon Alley seemed to be somewhere in central London, and the orphanage where he lived was not close to central London.
McGonagall knew that Chen Yu had always lived in the orphanage and was unfamiliar with the magical world of wizards, so she patiently explained, "Diagon Alley is in central London, a shopping street specifically for wizards. Little Wizards go to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies before enrolling at Hogwarts."
McGonagall led Chen Yu away from the orphanage, and after confirming no one was around, she told Chen Yu,
"Hold onto my arm. It might be a little uncomfortable for a moment, you'll need to bear with it!"
McGonagall didn't explain how to get to Diagon Alley; instead, she extended her arm for Chen Yu to grab.
Chen Yu's heart stirred, remembering the spell McGonagall used to disappear last night. He grabbed McGonagall's arm, curiously watching her cast the spell.
McGonagall took out her wand and whispered, "Side-Along Apparition!"
Apparition is a form of magical travel.
It allows the user to arrive at their desired destination.
After the user focuses on their destination, they disappear from their current location and appear at the place they envisioned.
There is a limit to the distance of Apparition.
As the distance of Apparition increases, its difficulty also increases.
However, learning Apparition is not an easy feat; many adult wizards cannot perfectly perform Apparition, and if done incorrectly, it can lead to catastrophic consequences.
If lucky, one might only lose some hair or eyebrows, which is not a big deal; if unlucky, the body could be torn to pieces by spatial forces.
In Britain, performing Apparition requires first taking a test from the Department of Magical Transportation; only after passing the test and obtaining a license can one legally Apparate.
Apparition that transports multiple people is called Side-Along Apparition.
This method allows an adult wizard to take underage wizards, or wizards who cannot Apparate themselves, to a destination with them.
When performing Side-Along Apparition, the follower only needs to hold the arm of the person performing Apparition to reach the destination with the caster.
However, this instantaneous travel experience is not very pleasant.
Chen Yu felt McGonagall's arm seem to try to break free from his grasp, so he immediately held on tighter.
Chen Yu absolutely did not want to experience what would happen if he let go.
Immediately, he found his surroundings turn pitch black, and pressure came from all directions, making it hard to breathe.
He felt his eyeballs being pushed back into his head, his eardrums pressed deep into his skull, and his body stretched, compressed, and distorted.
Chen Yu felt as if he was being squeezed into a very thin, narrow tube, and being forcefully pushed around.
He didn't know how long it lasted, perhaps a long time, or perhaps just an instant, but Chen Yu was squeezed out of that narrow tube.
Chen Yu opened his tear-filled eyes, a natural bodily reaction.
He took a deep breath to relieve the dizziness deep in his brain.
"Are you alright?"
McGonagall asked with concern.
Chen Yu wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve, smiled, and waved his hand, saying, "McGonagall, I'm fine, just feeling a little dizzy."
Seeing Chen Yu recover quickly, McGonagall continued to explain, "This is Charing Cross Road in London. Do you see that pub? That's the entrance to Diagon Alley from the Muggle street."
Following the direction McGonagall pointed, Chen Yu saw a dilapidated and small pub.
The pub was situated between a bookstore and a record shop.
For a famous place, the Leaky Cauldron was truly too small and old, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as dirty and cramped.
Especially when compared to the clean and tidy bookstore and record shop next door, it looked even more unsightly.
Chen Yu saw a yellowish-brown sign hanging on the wooden door of the pub, with the words "The Leaky Cauldron" written crookedly on it.
"The Leaky Cauldron has many powerful concealment spells placed on it by wizards; Muggles generally won't discover this pub."
McGonagall explained as she pulled Chen Yu into the Leaky Cauldron.
The Leaky Cauldron had a Muggle-Repelling Charm cast on it, a spell used to shield Muggles. When Muggles approach a place enchanted with this spell, they suddenly recall urgent matters and instinctively want to stay away from the area.
Pushing open the wooden pub door, he saw the layout of the pub.
Dirty, messy, and dark—this was Chen Yu's first impression upon entering the pub.
The entire pub was dim and simple, with only a bar counter and a few tables placed in shadowy corners.
Even though it was broad daylight outside, white candles were still lit on the tables for illumination.
Sunlight streamed through the windows into the pub, but instead of making the interior brighter, it made it appear even darker.
"The lighting here isn't good," Chen Yu thought.
The pub was mostly filled with older people; about a dozen wizards in robes were drinking and chatting, wearing top hats that would look quite comical to Muggles.
Seeing someone push the door open, all the wizards tacitly stopped their conversations and turned their gaze.
When they recognized McGonagall, they nodded in greeting and resumed their discussions.
As the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and the Head of Gryffindor, McGonagall was quite famous throughout the wizarding world.
An old wizard, almost bald and resembling a shriveled walnut, smiled and greeted McGonagall warmly: "McGonagall, would you like something to drink?"
This was the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, who shared a name with Lord Voldemort; everyone called him Old Tom.
McGonagall waved her hand, declining Old Tom, and said, "No, Tom, I still need to take a new student to Diagon Alley to get supplies."