I opened my eyes and rolled right out of bed. Before jumping up from the actual feeling of slapping into the floor, it wasn't painful, but I actually felt it. That was when I realized I was in a roughly human body for once, instead of my normal surface-deep gimmick.

The last day had rushed back to me, and I remembered the thoughts I had fallen asleep to. Maybe I was just thinking too negatively and didn't understand their good reasons for it all. So I got up to have some breakfast.

I had to gather up the things I'd collected on my journey so far, I was trying hard not to just use my Imaginary Space, since I didn't want it to be so easy. If I used that, I could take the whole world around in my pocket, after all.

So, after arranging things in the various pockets I had, I turned to walk out of the room and turn in the room key. I only had paid for one night, and didn't want to be a burden by staying too long. I was glad it came with breakfast though, I really wanted to try British food, I'd never had anything of theirs aside from Apple Pie.

So when I finally got down the stairs into the main dining area of the pub, I sat at a table and waited. It took me a few minutes to realize that kind of service wasn't really a thing here.

So I got up, and strode over to the counter, feeling embarrassed.

The nice innkeeper greeted me, I think I remember him being named Tom. "So, a fancy lass like yourself finally realized we don't serve people that way here, hm?"

"Sorry sir, I am not familiar with the way things work here yet." I could feel I would've flushed if I could've, or maybe I was and was ignoring it. "How do I order?"

"Bar is right over there, just talk to one of the tenders, they'll give ya a menu." The man looked close to tears as he let out a little chuckle. "Try not to lose your things here, the bar has lots of strange patrons."

I nodded and tiptoed my way over to the bar feeling a bit anxious for once. Will they be angry that I sat here without ordering something for so long?

I stopped at the bar and surprisingly just pushed the menu without a second glance. I guessed they just already knew I'd been waiting to order, but had just been dumb. So I sat up on one of the oversized stools and read through the menu. I accidentally engaged Thought Acceleration to read the entire thing at once, like I normally do.

I decided, out of the limited menu they had, the only thing I could really sink my teeth into would be the Roast hog. Plus, I didn't know what a Leaky Soup was, but I didn't really wanna find out. The Roast was a whole of their more expensive coins, but I had no limit of those, so it wasn't any issue.

The bartender did give me a bit of a raised eyebrow when I pulled one out so nonchalantly though.

The food was honestly not that good by my standards, the meat was stringy, and didn't tear well on the teeth. Plus it was too greasy. It left me a bit disappointed as I downed it with some weird drink they'd given me alongside it. I still ate the entire roast, to what I was glad was not much of a stir in the bar.

After that, it was back out onto Diagon Alley.

I ended up walking right into something I think is called a grease cart, but I didn't exactly know what they were serving. It didn't look very appetizing. So I tried to ignore that, and decided to check in on the old man at the wand shop. I needed to make sure he was okay with my handiwork on those materials, and that exposure to them didn't kill him or anything.

I was almost certain that wouldn't happen, but you can never be too careful, can you?

So I found another grease cart that was serving food that smelled sweeter and grabbed two of their main paper-wrapped things. It kinda looked like a sweet roll, but different. Regardless, having this as an offering to the old stick man seemed like a good idea.

And after walking down that long confusing street again, I was presented with a dense crowd of people outside of Ollivander's shop. Oh no, did I actually kill him?

I quickly scanned the inside of the building with Universal Detection, only to find that he was still alive and just as healthy as he'd been the day before. Which, admittedly, wasn't one hundred percent considering he was an old man, but it was very healthy for his age.

So, I quickly pushed through the crowd, being very careful to not let them ruin my pastries, and popped out right in front of the stoop of the store.

I heard some mutterings of things like, "His shop has been closed all morning," "He must be losing a lot of money this close to the beginning of the school year..." "What is that kooky old man working on now? I remember when he was trying to find the best wand cores as a boy..."

I didn't have context for any of it, but it was interesting nonetheless.

First, I tried the door because why not and found that it was locked. Makes sense, considering the large closed sign hung on it.

Next, I gave the door a knock, not really expecting much, but surprisingly, I heard the click of the lock soon after. My next shot at turning the handle of the door was successful, so I let myself inside.

The door made the same clicking sound again, indicating that it locked behind me, presumably to stop others from entering.

I could tell that old man Ollivander was in the back past a door that was seated between high shelves holding hundreds if not thousands of wands. And, not wanting to wait for him to come out, I gave that door a try as well.

The room I walked into looked like a wood carver's workshop, as I'd come to see them, but with a lot of extra magical-looking instruments. The old man was slumped over at one of the tables carefully casting spells onto a new stick, one forty centimeters long, with a swirl of a grey-stained cherry wood partially encasing the wood-like material I'd provided.

The part that went uncovered wrapped around the wand as a carefully engraved dragon with a funnily familiar-looking pair of whiskers. I felt a small flashback to Velzard pressuring me into something.

The really interesting part though was the small golden gems embedded where the eyes of the dragon would be.

This was far too nice for me, I couldn't complain though.

I could sense Null String inside, it wasn't pulsing with power, but it did act as a vortex that sucked in every spell the old man cast, he seemed to be struggling.

"Damn… It just won't take to the finishing touch, but I need the wood to mend, or it might break. I can't have that." He grumbled softly.

Might as well give him a little hand…I don't think he'll be able to manage this without it.

So, from a distance, I exercised some control over the absorbing effect of the string, preventing it from greedily eating up Ollivander's magic spell. With my assistance, the old man's next attempt at it went off without a hitch, leaving one solid (much too fancy) wand lying on the workbench in front of him.

"Blimey…glad it's done…"

Finally, he seemed to notice me and stood up from his chair.

"I'd cast an incantation on the lock to only let you in. Not too many get to see their wand come to life for the first time, but you got that honor, miss. I think that's only fair considering you're the first to ever bring their own materials to Ollivander's."

He gently picked up the wand and held it out to me.

"Now for the moment of truth. Take it and give it a wave."

Being careful not to drop it, I took what looked like it might be Ollivander's magnum opus of a wand in my hands and did as he said, letting a few magicules flow into its core. I was pretty confident it wouldn't disintegrate like the last one, considering the caliber of materials it was made with, but I still had a small lingering worry that I might just break the thing right in front of the old man and probably break his heart in the process. He looked so damn excited, but also a bit apprehensive, to see me give it a try; the pressure was on.

Immediately, a black swirl that I knew well formed around me, extending from the tip of the wand. Without missing a beat, I put a stop to what I clearly recognized as Turn Null energy. I'd gotten used to harnessing it, so this was no problem, but if I hadn't, the devastation would have been…global, maybe. It's hard to say, but I know it'd be extensive.

"Oh my, that was a curious reaction, but not a negative one. Quite ominous, but not negative."

"Ahaha... I get that a lot." I didn't really know how to respond, so I kinda just waved it off. "Thank you, sir. This is really impressive. I don't think I could ever make something like this."

[[You could easily recreate this.]]

Wait, but as far as I know, this is the most powerful pair of materials in the multiverse?

[[...]]

Come on, I can't be that op… I sighed and looked up at the old man with the brightest smile I could muster. "I brought this for you." I presented him with the pastry I brought and then started creating coins in my Imaginary space and putting them into a bag.

"Thank you miss, these are my favorites. You have good taste." The old man carefully took the pastry and guided me back to his counter at the front of the shop.

I pulled the bag of coins I'd been making out of my coat. "I can't pay you enough, you've been the only person I think that could've done this with these materials. I presented the bag, it was more than I'd paid for the first wand since this one was just so cool.

"Miss, you overpaid for the first wand. That payment covers this one as well, you gave me almost 40 galleons." The old man chuckled as he sat on his stool. "You can be on your way, but please turn the sign around when you leave. Be careful with that instrument too, wands can be dangerous, and in that one, I sense a power absent in any other."

"I uh... I am really grateful, sir. I'll see you around." I hid the wand partially in my coat and walked back to the door to do as he said.

The crowd that had previously gathered outside was abuzz with gossip, their eyes trained on me as if I was some sort of spectacle. They were commenting things like "Look at her wand!" and "Who is she? Why was she let inside Ollivander's while they are closed?" "Look at her clothes, is she foreign?" among some other things. What mattered was that I'd grabbed people's attention, yet again; a seeming inevitability when it comes to me.

Why does it always end up like this? I just can't avoid the spotlight, can I?

[[It's what you do, dear.]]

Just then, as I internally debated with Ciel about why I have to deal with this troublesome stuff all the time, I felt something touch the top of my head. Looking up, I saw an owl passing overhead which had dropped an envelope right onto me.

What was in it? An invitation to attend a place called Hogwarts, which is the school that I'm meant to go to, apparently. What kind of name even is that, though? Even I'm better at coming up with names than whoever cooked up the term 'Hogwarts'. It's just unappealing and gross-sounding.

Along with it came a list of things I'll need, so I decided to go do a bit of shopping.

Again, people's eyes were on me, commenting on my wand and clothing or whatever; I just tried to ignore it and get what I needed to get. I have to say, some of the shopkeepers were total weirdos, but given the setting here, I suppose I should've expected that.

I did come across this one dude in the bookstore with the most punchable face I'd ever seen, and a horrible personality to go alongside it.

Lockeroy Guildheart, or something close to that, was what he called himself as he flaunted around the place, talking like he was hot shit. I just rolled my eyes and left, knowing that his 'type' are people I want to avoid at all costs. He vaguely reminded me of how Vesta was before he got humbled, to be honest, so maybe he's not all bad, but I wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out.

After the next few days, I managed to buy a small apartment in London with a fake credit card, I'd make sure to sell it for less later. Today was the day though, I'd be going to this place it described, a platform nine and three quarters. So, I got up to go to the underground, and when I did eventually arrive, it didn't take me long to figure out where exactly to go.

There was a particular brick pillar between platforms 9 and 10 which very obviously was not all it would seem at first glance to most people.

I'd already witnessed some wizarding folks pass right through it and could see that there was some magic involved. There are multiple layers to this magic… I made note of after placing my hand on the wall out of curiosity.

First, a visual disguising of the reality of it. Pretty much warping the light to change the perception of the fake wall.

Second, a sort of spatial distortion that most likely brings the person passing through to the appropriate platform.

Third, a selective part that reads the nature of the person attempting to pass through. Probably to make sure no non-magical people accidentally discover it by leaning against the pillar or something similar.

And lastly…another selective layer? Sounds kinda redundant. Also, rather than being tailored to allow certain people through like the other layer, this one seems aimed toward blocking a certain person. Or, more specifically, it turns completely solid if that person is close to it.

Haphazard, flimsy, and temporary too. It should wear off by the end of the day, actually, as opposed to the long-term effects underneath it.

This can't be anything professionally done. I bet it's someone's idea of a prank or something.

"Do you know how to use it? You look a bit lost." While I was debating with myself about whether to do something about it, I heard a concerned voice from behind.

I turned around and saw a girl a tiny bit older than the appearance I'd taken. She had frizzy brown hair and a load of luggage behind her that I knew was supplies for school, meaning that she was definitely a witch. I could tell that by just looking at her too, of course, but the other clues made it more obvious.

"You just have to step through as if it's not there. I know it's a bit tricky your first time with as solid as it appears, but I promise you won't hit the wall," she explained in a lecture-like tone before I could even give her a response.

"Oh, yeah, I got that. I was just taking a closer look since I'm curious about it and I know I'm a bit early."

Really, I was more curious about the origin of that extra layer of magic than the base spell itself, but I didn't need to clarify that for her.

"Well, I understand your curiosity, but I think it would be better to do that from the other side. Making someone else late because you are blocking the way isn't acceptable."

A little pushy, but she has a point.

So I just shrugged, removed the strange additional spell, and stepped through the wall. The girl followed right behind me, looking a bit too self-satisfied for my liking.

"By the way, my name's Hermione Granger. You're a first-year, aren't you? This will be my second year at Hogwarts, so maybe I could answer any questions you have. I remember how new everything was to me when I first arrived. It probably didn't help that I'm muggle-born as well, so the wizarding world was all new to me too. Can I have your name, maybe? It would be silly for us to talk without me knowing it."

Oh my god this girl won't stop talking!

She was now trailing behind me, talking incessantly without any input from me. I guess I should say something or she might never cut it out.

"Rimuru Tempest. Yes, I'm a first-year, and no, I don't have any questions, but thanks."

"Rimuru? What an interesting name! You're not from Britain, are you?"

"Nope."

"Where are you from then?"

"Japan."

"Oh, so that explains your clothing then. I've never met anyone from Japan before. Did you come here by yourself? You were all alone back before we entered the platform."

"Yes, I'm alone. Shouldn't we board the train?"

"I have some friends I'm waiting for first, but maybe you should if you want to pick your seat. That's why you came early too, isn't it? So you could pick your seat."

"More or less."

More like I had nothing better to do, really.

"Well, I wish you luck at Hogwarts! If you end up in Gryffindor, we might see more of each other."

"Ah, okay."

I answered, not knowing what Gryffindor meant, but I wasn't going to ask. That surely would've started a lecture from this girl; I could just feel it.

So, I boarded the train clearly labeled 'Hogwarts Express'. Just a normal-looking train, as far as I could tell, which was disappointing.

I was kinda hoping to see another type of magitrain from this magic-based society, but my expectations were dashed by reality.

Have these wizards seriously not made any advances in technology? This train is just a primitive steam engine, much worse than the 'muggle' ones I saw on my way here!

[The wizards of this world rarely adapt technology, generally, they appear to simply take items crafted by these 'no-maj' and enchant them with magical elements of their own creation.]

That's not just lame, that's idiotic.

This was just another thing that could be better, but because of this dumb separation between magical and non-magical people, it's left in this obnoxiously undeveloped state.

I found a cabin that was empty, which wasn't too hard of a task since I'd shown up early. I slid the door open, stepped inside, shut it behind me, and flopped onto the seat. Leaning against the window, resting my chin on my palm, I sighed.

I hope the school itself isn't as stupid and disappointing as this train…

I heard a soft knock on the door and turned to slide it back open. "Yeah? Who is it?"

I was met with a ginger girl that was around the age I appeared to be. "Is this cabin open? The rest are full, so a few of us have been looking for one with only one or two people to ask if we could sit with them."

I took a moment to respond, thinking it over, but in the end, having someone else to talk to would be nice, so long as they weren't overbearing. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Thank you!" She excitedly walked in and sat across from me, while two other girls sat in their own seats next to and diagonally from me.

"Mhm." I looked back out the window, it seemed a few minutes passed faster than I thought they would. That was more than likely Ciel's doing if I was to take a guess... It wouldn't be the first time she messed with the flow of time for my personal comfort. I wish she had done that while I was waiting in line a few days ago though!

Ignoring my personal issues with my partner, I focused on the conversation the girls were having while the train roared forth, or well, inched forth with a loud chirping toot.

"What house do you think you'll end up in? I really wanna be in Gryffindor like my family! Every member of my family since my great-grandfather has been sorted into that house." It was the redhead who explained that. It was an odd idea.

Sorted into a house? Like a fraternity house? I heard that some colleges in the US were like that, but usually, you chose the one you went into. I hummed along as I heard out their talking.

Another girl spoke up next. "I heard a hat is what sorts you by reading your mind and picking the house that would be best for you."

Okay, never mind, it was creepier than I was expecting. I stopped my humming to turn and ask. "So… What houses are there?"

"Oh, you don't know?"

"Who doesn't know the four houses of Hogwarts!?"

"Hey, don't be mean. Maybe she's muggle-born and hasn't had it explained yet."

"No, I'm not…um, 'muggle-born'. I'm just not from this country, so I don't really know how everything works around here."

"Where are you from, then?"

"I'm Japanese."

The redhead got a little sparkle in her eyes. "What's it like there? Do they have different types of spells? Why didn't you go to school there? I know there is a wizarding school in Japan... But don't remember what it is called." She seemed disappointed to have forgotten.

"Well, I guess I just wanted to see other places. Anyway… You could say we know some different spells." I didn't wanna elaborate, but I liked the excuse I could use later. It was perfect.

"Have you ever used any? I know underage magic is illegal in most places, but usually using a few accidentally is pretty unavoidable." The girl paused for a moment and set her eyes on me. "I forgot to mention! My name is Ginny Weasely, by the way."

"Uh… Sometimes. I've used a few spells by complete accident." I thought up something to do and decided to pull the tip of my wand from my robe to keep up appearances, then I had a little black flame dance across the tip before disappearing.

"You can cast that spell without any incantation!?" Ginny's eyes went wide and she mumbled on a little bit unintelligibly before saying. "They say that kind of thing takes years of practice. Have you really only used magic a few times?"

"Yea, of course. I'm just a kid." I had to blatantly lie for the first time there, but none of them would be able to tell.

"Huh… That is really impressive… I bet Harry Potter could do that, he is my stupid brother's best friend, but he's great! He survived as a baby against a dark wizard, and all the adults know his name."

"'The Boy Who Lived!' That's what everyone calls him!"

What's so special about that? I survived a bunch of attacks as a 'baby' too, considering I became a demon lord at age 2.

"The Boy Who Lived? The boy who lived through what exactly?" I raised an eyebrow.

"He survived the killing curse of He Who Shall Not Be Named! No one has ever survived the killing curse before!" Another girl yelled it out, looking shocked I didn't know.

First The Boy Who Lived and now He Who Shall Not Be Named?! These titles are so lengthy and dumb! Why can't they keep it to something simple and eloquent like 'Chaos Creator' or 'The Destroyer'?

"Don't talk about him! One of his followers might be listening!"

"S-sorry!"

Huh, guess he is kinda like Luminous or Guy then? I thought it over for a little while, and how they were wording it made that sound about right. An intimidating figure from the shadows that terrifies the masses; I didn't know that there was someone like that in this world. It made me wonder how powerful this person might be, but then I remembered that they just said an infant survived his attack, so I won't set my expectations that high. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm pretty confident Guy or Luminous could kill a baby if they tried. I guess they still consider me a 'baby' and they can't kill me, but that's a different story.

Ginny drooped a bit, looking disappointed to drop the subject. With the way her eyes sparkled when she was talking about that Harry guy, I could guess she had some sort of crush or obsession with him. I knew that look well; many Tempestians looked like that when talking about me.

"What house do you want to get sorted into? I want to be in Gryffindor; all Weaslys have been put in Gryffindor for a long time. Harry Potter is in Gryffindor too!"

"I wouldn't mind being sorted into there too, but I'd also be okay with Ravenclaw. That's where all the smart kids go and I've always been a good student."

"Oh, I feel the same! But I'm kind of scared I might get put in Hufflepuff…that house is lame…"

"It's not as bad as Slytherin, though! I was told that all dark wizards come from that house!"

Wait…all the 'dark wizards' come from that house? That doesn't sound right…

I couldn't help but think there must be something going on in there, because there's no way every wizard that goes bad would come from there otherwise. Every person has the capability to do evil, and their environment can influence the odds of that happening. This is a school too, which means that this is a bunch of children getting pressured down a bad road if that is true.

I didn't particularly like that idea, but it did make me curious about what exactly the curriculum of that house entailed. I wanted to look into it now. I could always just try to get into it myself, maybe I could help out in some way.

I would at least be here a few years based on what Ciel was doing, and that meant that I really needed to think of something productive to do with my time, or well, as productive as you can be while playing schoolchild.

The three girls kept chattering away about more stuff to do with the houses, but I didn't say much further. I just did some more staring out the window while I waited for the time to pass.

But, something did grab my attention, snapping me out of my thoughts: a snack cart wheeling down the hallway outside of the cabin.

The lady at the trolley stopped at every door and peeked inside to shout at them before moving on to the next door. I guessed she just wasn't that patient. Quickly enough she got to our door and opened it up to give us a yelling at too.

The girls in the cabin with me all focused on the cart, and did look like they wanted something, but also refused to say a word.

So, instead, I said something. "I'd like something, please."

"What would you like, dear?"

Honestly, I had no idea. There was a massive assortment of different things that I had no clue about the taste of. Maybe these kids know what's good and what's not? Offering to buy them some snacks in exchange for their expertise should work.

"Alright, can you three pick some stuff out for all of us? I'll pay."

"Wait, you're going to buy for all four of us?"

"Isn't that what I just said? I'm not familiar with the food around here, so I'm letting you pick some good things out for me to try."

The lady seemed irritated to be waiting so long. "Get on with it, I have to visit the rest of the cars as well."

After some excited squeals and eager picking out of sweets and snacks, I settled in and started trying some of the different things those kids got from the cart with my money.

"Here. Eat these."

"Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans…?"

Every flavor? I hope Shion's cooking isn't included in that.

They're just jellybeans, so there's no way they could be as harmful as that. It probably just means there are a ton of flavors and nothing else.

"Yeah, yeah! You should try them!" one of the others urged more.

So I shrugged, tore open the package, and popped a random bean in my mouth.

Hm. Tastes like a cinnamon roll.

Not your typical jellybean flavor, but pretty good.

Smiling, I tried another.

Uh…eggrolls? Why would someone flavor a jellybean like this?

The strangest part was how close the taste was to something that had no right to be in a jellybean. Did they use some sort of reality-warping magic to make this possible? That's how Shion makes things taste however she wants without logic needing to be involved.

Now I was a little apprehensive, both from the strange flavor and the anticipatory stares of these three kids. They're watching me as if waiting to see my reaction.

I kept trying and trying, the flavors being all foods, some of them a bit weird, but not terrible. But then I got a bad one…

Why does it taste like the end of space and time? That is just a bad memory to bring up man… How did they even get this flavor?

I decided to hesitantly try just one more of these jellybeans.

Oh, this one is a bit sweet, bit refreshing, and kind of watery. Tastes like magicules actually, magicules mixed with wate- This tastes like slime!

Why does this taste so good!

I immediately spit the jellybean out and tried frantically to rub the flavor off my tongue.

"What's wrong, Rimuru? Why don't you tell us what that one tasted like?"

All three were giggling at my reaction, probably thinking I got a nasty one.

"I…don't want to talk about it," I muttered, still disturbed after feeling like I just committed cannibalism in some form or another. I know that in nature slimes eat slimes, but it's been something I'd refused to do from the start.

But there's no way that was made of an actual slime, right?

[That is not the case. These jellybeans operate off of the memories, knowledge, and experiences of the person who is eating them, dear. You did not commit cannibalism.]

A little relieved, but still a bit disturbed, I again returned to looking out the window, not really feeling like trying even another bite of anything.

That was until I got hit in the face with something.

Yeah, my guard was down and I had a frog jump right at my face. A frog made of chocolate, mind you.

"It slipped out of my hands, can you give it back, Rimuru?"

"Nope. It's mine now." I said, taking a bite out of the enchanted chocolate. I could use some chocolate right then, and I was sure this was just chocolate. No weird flavors could come from it.

The girl pouted a little but just picked up one of the multiple other chocolate frogs I bought instead.

…

It took a little less than an hour for the train to get the rest of the way to its location, which was honestly kinda weird considering how far it was traveling. We were somewhere in Scotland at the moment, where we stopped.

At that, it seemed like we were supposed to get off the station to take a boat along a large lake to get to the large stone castle.

It probably would've been imposing to me seventy years ago, but now it looked kinda small.

Although, I was having a bigger problem. These robes were stuffy. They didn't feel like a part of my being like all my other clothes, so I'd need to very very carefully release a bit of my aura to mold these clothes to my being.

I couldn't accept it any other way. I wouldn't.

Oh look, we're here.

Now that my clothing isn't a burden, I can just relax a little and enjoy this.

Hopping off of the boat, I and the other first-year students filed into the castle-like school.

After a little exposition speech (that I didn't bother listening to) from one of the teachers, I assume, we finally entered the big hall where I could tell everyone else was.

We're going to get 'sorted' into the houses by some weird hat they pulled out. It almost looks like it has a face.

And I soon figured out that was a face, not just some folds that kinda looked like one because it started talking after being placed on the first kid's head.

It seemed like they were going through us alphabetically by last name, which means I had to wait a bit for my turn. This wasn't nearly as agonizing as standing for hours in that queue was, though.

The kids around me were squirming with anticipation, though, unable to stand still with how nervous and excited they were. Some seemed worried they would get stuck in the wrong house, others were confident they would be somewhere specific, and a few didn't seem like they minded where they would end up. Either way, they all seemed to care a lot more about this than I did.

"Rimuru Tempest."

Finally, my name was called out and I stepped up to have my mind read by a kooky old hat thing.