Another Hogwarts

4:40 PM, August 27, 1991.

The hottest part of the summer day had passed, and more pedestrians were beginning to appear on the streets. Southpse, a small town located between the major cities of London and Birmingham in central England, had a faint air of activity as the evening approached.

The once lush green lawn on Winton Road was now a patch of yellow. This was due to the severe drought and water shortage earlier in the season. After more than two months of discussions, the local council had finally devised a temporary solution by connecting a pipeline from the Severn River, located thirty miles away, to meet the town’s water needs during the drought period.

Although the lawn had lost its vibrant green color, it didn’t stop the boys from lounging on it. Just like Newton, who was lying on the now yellowed grass.

Newton Clem, aged only eleven, had dark hair and brown eyes, and a rather slender figure. A few months ago, he had graduated from a local preparatory school in Southpse and was about to enter middle school. At this moment, he lay on the grass, staring at the sky while muttering to himself, “I’ve already waited so long—three days, and three more... it’s almost the end of August… if Hogwarts doesn’t send me a letter soon, I might have to go to Eton!”

A light breeze blew through the neatly trimmed hedges, causing the leaves to rustle. The boy sighed deeply.

Newton was a time traveler.

When he first arrived in this world three months ago, he thought he had simply traveled back in time to the 1990s, thirty years earlier. However, as time passed, he began to notice more and more things that seemed off.

The first thing that caught his attention was the frequent appearance of owls. In just one month after his arrival, he had already seen three different owls fly across his field of vision. In his previous life, he had lived for nearly two or three decades, yet he hadn’t seen so many wild owls in total. One particular encounter stood out in his memory. One morning, as he sat at the dining table eating breakfast, he saw a beautiful, large bird with snow-white feathers and black spots briefly perch on the eaves of his house. Later, he visited the local library and discovered that the bird was a Snowy Owl, a species typically found in tundra and arctic regions like Siberia and Alaska, and in 1979, it had been listed as a Level I protected species under the Washington Convention (CITES). This meant that he should never have seen such a bird in central England.

Another odd encounter involved a group of mysterious individuals wearing cloaks. He had been at Charing Cross Road in London, a famous street full of bookstores, when he saw a few strangely dressed people sneaking around, ignoring the passersby. The moment Newton blinked, they vanished from the street.

Suspicious, Newton bought a detailed map of Surrey. He spent an entire night studying it, and eventually, he found a place called “Little Whinging” and a street named “Privet Drive.” However, no map of 1991 England should have these locations, as they were fictional places created by the author J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter.

These clues made it clear to Newton: he had somehow ended up in the world of Harry Potter. He had crossed over into the wizarding world. Newton was sure of this.

In the months following his arrival, he discovered that he had some “special abilities.” These powers were unstable and uncontrollable, but they were real. Once, during dinner, he accidentally shattered a glass cup with just a glance, when it had been several yards away. Watching the shards of glass scatter across the floor, Newton realized that this might be an unexpected benefit of his time travel.

Thus, starting in July, Newton had been waiting patiently for a letter from Hogwarts. He was confident that he was a wizard from the Harry Potter universe, with a Muggle background. He had originally planned to use his knowledge as a time traveler to lead a successful life in Britain, but now that he had arrived in the wizarding world, he thought he could attend Hogwarts, learn some magic, and then return to the Muggle world. With spells like the Confundus Charm, the Memory Charm, and the Disillusionment Charm, he would be able to have an easier life—avoiding the struggles that most people face.

But reality was harsh.

After waiting since early July, Newton still hadn’t received any letters by the end of August. At first, he thought it was just a delayed owl delivery, but as the days passed, he started to doubt himself. Maybe everything he had experienced was just a hallucination. Perhaps this wasn’t the magical world at all. The Snowy Owl might have just been a lost bird that happened to stray from Siberia to England. The strange people he had seen on Charing Cross Road could have just been eccentric hippies, not wizards. And the shattered glass cup? Maybe it was just caused by the heat—it had nothing to do with magic.

Even if this wasn’t a magical world, it wasn’t the end of the world. After all, he was a time traveler from thirty years in the future, and he could still use his advanced knowledge to work hard and live a successful life. Recently, Newton had been trying to comfort himself and adjust his mindset.

Just then, a red post van slowly stopped by the curb.

“Is Newton Clem here?” a postal worker called out, stepping out of the van. “I have a letter for you.”

Newton lazily got up from the lawn, walked over to the van, and took the letter. For a moment, he was stunned.

The envelope was made of thick parchment, with no postage stamp. The address was written in emerald green ink, in neat and elegant handwriting:

To Newton Clem, Winton Road 226, Upperton District, Southpse, England, who is lying on the lawn in the sun.

“Could it really be that the owl was late?” he thought, flipping the envelope over. There, he saw a wax seal, emblazoned with a coat of arms and the letter “H”, surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.

This letter, which he had waited for so long, was much thinner than he had imagined. Newton took a deep breath and tore open the envelope.

To his surprise, inside was only a thin sheet of paper, and the message was extremely brief:

“Dear Mr. Clem,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your term begins on September 1st.

Professor Vita Rozier, Deputy Headmistress.”

However, Newton Clem didn’t see the signature at the end of the letter. As soon as his fingers touched the paper, it felt as if an invisible hand suddenly grabbed him, pulling him forward with great force.

Before he knew it, his feet left the ground, and he was flying, the sound of the wind rushing in his ears.