Opening the envelope, the main text read:
[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards...)
Dear Mr. Harvey Ferguson,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September.
We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress]
Mr. Granger remained silent for a moment before casually tossing the envelope onto the dining table, saying dismissively:
"This must be a prank from some hidden-camera TV show. How could there possibly be a magic school in the world?"
Seeing that the envelope had picked up a grease stain from the table, Hermione quickly snatched it up in distress. As she wiped it clean with a napkin, she explained very seriously:
"Magic is real, Dad! I saw Harvey fall out of a portal with my own two eyes!"
Unable to contain his curiosity, Harvey picked up the other letter left on the table to take a look.
Sure enough, it was a Hogwarts acceptance letter.
However, this letter was addressed to Hermione, which meant his own letter was probably the one in her hands.
So he decisively swapped envelopes with Hermione, opened his letter, and began to read it carefully.
Seeing the two children clutching their letters and grinning foolishly as they read, Mrs. Granger felt utterly helpless.
"Kids, the truth might hurt, but magic only exists in fairy tales. None of this is real."
Mr. Granger put on his strict father face. "You two better finish your breakfast and go study. Eton College is the most suitable school for you both!"
Harvey leaned over to Hermione and muttered, "Hey, it looks like your parents don't believe in magic. Do you want to prove it to them?"
Hermione's delicate ears, covered in soft peach fuzz, felt a bit sensitive to Harvey's warm breath as he spoke. She quickly leaned away to create some distance.
"I can't even cast the simplest Lumos charm. How am I supposed to prove it?"
"Ding-dong!"
At that moment, the villa's doorbell rang.
Mrs. Granger told the two children to behave and finish their breakfast while she hurried out of the dining room to see who was visiting.
A short while later, Mrs. Granger, looking shocked and bewildered, led an elegant lady wearing emerald-green robes and square, gold-rimmed spectacles into the dining room.
The tall lady was the first to greet Harvey and Hermione.
"Hello there, you two young wizards. I am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor Minerva McGonagall."
Then, she turned to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "You two must be the parents of the young wizards. A pleasure to meet you."
"I have come to visit specifically to answer any questions Muggle families might have regarding the acceptance letters."
Mrs. Granger replied politely, "Hello, Professor McGonagall," before leaning in close to her husband's ear to whisper about the magical experience she had just witnessed.
"I just saw this woman, who claims to be a professor at a magic school, turn a stool into a bobtail cat with my own eyes!"
Mr. Granger looked back at his wife in sheer astonishment. "Are you sure you weren't seeing things?"
Mrs. Granger insisted adamantly that she absolutely had not misseen it.
Seeing the Grangers whispering to each other, Professor McGonagall stood calmly in place, observing the two young wizards, Harvey and Hermione.
However, the majority of her attention was focused on Harvey.
Normally, the enrollment of ordinary Muggle-born wizards would never require the personal involvement of a busy Deputy Headmistress like her.
Yet, here she was.
The reason was that the Book of Admittance had surprisingly displayed the name of a visitor from another world!
This anomalous phenomenon had caught the attention of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, which was why he specifically dispatched Professor McGonagall to escort these two young wizards for enrollment.
As everyone knows, the Book of Admittance is a magical tome kept in a small, locked tower at Hogwarts where no student has ever set foot.
It is made of parchment and bound in black dragon hide.
Whenever a young wizard shows signs of magic for the first time, the Quill of Acceptance, crafted from a phoenix tail feather, will automatically float up from its silver inkpot and attempt to write the child's name into the Book of Admittance.
But due to various complex factors such as geography, the child's magical talent, and family background.
Ultimately, only for those young wizards deemed suitable to attend Hogwarts will the Book of Admittance allow the Quill of Acceptance to finish writing.
And three weeks ago, a new young wizard's name had suddenly appeared in the Book of Admittance.
Logically speaking, this wasn't unusual; hundreds of students qualify to enter Hogwarts every year.
But the crucial point was that the origin prefix for this young wizard's name was a string of gibberish like "....."!
This anomaly was noticed by the portraits of past Hogwarts headmasters who guarded the wall next to the Book of Admittance year-round, and they immediately relayed the information to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Headmaster Dumbledore developed a deep curiosity about this abnormal string of gibberish. After confirming there was nothing wrong with the Book of Admittance.
He searched through the vast sea of books in the Hogwarts Library for three whole days before finally finding an explanation for this gibberish in one of Gilderoy Lockhart's adventure books.
In 1969, during America's first moon landing.
Gilderoy Lockhart, who was passionate about adventure and curious about outer space, secretly hid inside the heavy rocket launch module of Apollo 11 and flew out of Earth alongside the two astronauts.
This was the first time humans and wizards observed the wondrous sights of outer space with their own eyes.
But soon enough, Gilderoy Lockhart felt uncomfortable with the zero gravity and hurriedly used Apparition to return to Earth.
Although this outer space experience was extremely brief, upon returning to Earth, Gilderoy Lockhart still wrote about this adventure in his travel books.
Back then, the book "Space Travels" had earned the praise of many wizards who shared a similar love for adventure.
Even in "Hogwarts: A History," there was such a record:
"When Gilderoy Lockhart left Earth, the origin prefix for Percival Harris in the Book of Admittance also turned into a string of gibberish..."
The highly wise Headmaster Albus Dumbledore could easily draw a deduction.
First, Gilderoy Lockhart was likely a fraud, considering the name that changed belonged to another wizard.
Second, when a wizard leaves Earth, their origin prefix turns into gibberish.
This meant that this young wizard named Harvey Ferguson did not belong to Earth.
In other words, he came from beyond Earth.
He might even be from an alien planet, much like those in Muggle science fiction theories.
Regardless of the possibility, Albus Dumbledore was thrilled by this.
Because the moment the name of this visitor from another world appeared.
Hogwarts' Divination professor, Sybill Trelawney, had come to him, informing him that destiny had shifted.
Evidently, this boy, Harvey Ferguson, possessed a destiny comparable to that of the Boy Who Lived.
Therefore, Headmaster Dumbledore attached great importance to Harvey's enrollment, which was why he sent Deputy Headmistress Professor McGonagall to personally pick up these two young wizards.