The Boundless Journey

"Looks like we have arrived. Off you go now," said Stanley, the conductor, pushing both Harry and Max off the bus.

A house-elf was waiting for them outside. They had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ah, Mr. Potter! I have been waiting for you. Let me carry your luggage. And who might you be?" the house-elf asked as soon as he noticed Max.

"I was told that Mr. Potter would be alone. I have no orders for a guest."

"This is Max. He's my friend; he came along with me," Harry said with a smile as he introduced Max.

"Oh, he is your friend? My apologies, sir, I didn't know. Any friend of yours is welcome. I will arrange a room for your guest while I take you to my master."

"Wait, my friend won't be coming with me?" Harry asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I was only instructed to bring you, not anyone else."

Understanding the situation, Max quickly replied, "Don't worry, Harry. You can go meet the master of this house-elf. I'll wait for you until then."

"Alright then, you can wait for me. I'll be back really soon. Come on, let's go," Harry said to the house-elf.

"Yes, sir. This way," the house-elf led the way in a very courteous manner.

---

Alright, now that I'm alone, I can brainstorm my next move. It won't take Harry long to meet with the Ministry of Magic. I need to hurry, Max thought.

Max quickly entered the Leaky Cauldron. The place was half-empty, with only a few people around the bar having drinks. He found an empty table and sat down with Echo.

"So, it seems you didn't ask me a single time what to do and just went with the flow," said Echo, clearly in a foul mood about being left out of the plan.

"I know, I'm really sorry about that," Max said, clapping his hands together in apology.

"But I didn't really have a choice in the matter. If I had hesitated for a moment about giving my backstory or waited to ask for advice, it wouldn't have worked."

"I get that you didn't mean for it to happen, but at least give me a heads-up before doing something like that," Echo said, calming down.

"Alright, you have my word on it. Now, let's discuss our next move. You might have guessed by now that I know what world this is."

"Yep, since you've already made a move. But do tell me what you know about this world."

Max then explained everything he knew about Harry Potter—the destined boy, the world they had arrived in, the books he had read, and the future events he was aware of.

"My god, who would have guessed that the first world we'd arrive in would be the same one you read about in your previous life?" Echo said, astonished.

"Alright, now that you know what we're dealing with, we can move on to more important things. I've been thinking that we should follow the storyline I know. That way, I can get stronger with proper information."

"Yeah, that might be the best choice for us right now. Since we know what artifacts to get, what people to form connections with, and how to deal with your enemies."

"Exactly!"

Max replied loudly, clearly excited to be in this world. After all the things he had read about, this might be the best place for him.

As they were talking, a boy approached their table—it was Harry. After finishing his meeting with the Minister, he had come down to the cafeteria to find Max. Turns out Max was also waiting for Harry.

"Hey Harry, done with your meeting?" Max asked.

"Yep, it was nothing big. Sorry, man, I dragged you into this mess."

"Don't worry about it. It's alright, not like I have anywhere else to be anyway," Max said.

"Really? You don't have any place like home? So where do you stay or eat and everything? Actually, I was going to ask you about yourself, but then this whole thing with the bus and the meeting came up all of a sudden. Tell me more about yourself."

I know that he has some suspicion about who I am. Well, that might be because of his past—growing up without a loving home, living with his uncle and aunt, who never gave him any attention, and constantly facing the looming danger of his arch-enemy.

"Sorry, I didn't tell you about myself. It all started when I was four years old. My parents were killed by something called a 'Death Eater.' But they hid me in a secret place, allowing me to survive. I was later adopted by this guy."

As he said this, he pointed toward Echo, showing that he was the one who had adopted him.

"Umm... umm... I don't understand what you mean by that," Harry said, flustered by what Max had just said.

"Well, he may look like a simple cat, but in fact, he is an Animagus. But he can't turn back to his original form yet due to a failed experiment. He's stuck in this form. His name is Echo."

"Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Echo."

"Ohh, you have the same ability as one of our teachers. Maybe they can help you with your situation in the future," Harry replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah, but for that to happen, we'd need to go to Hogwarts. I'm not even a student," Max said in a low tone.

"True, but maybe we can talk with them when we have our field trip to Hogsmeade. You could meet us there in the future."

"Y-Yeah, that could work," Max said with a weak smile.

Both of them talked for a few more minutes, discussing their next steps. For Max, there was only one priority—making sure he didn't starve to death the next day.

Since Max had no place to stay, he was about to leave the Leaky Cauldron. But Harry stopped him and gave him some money so he could stay there for a few days.

When Max asked why he would help him without expecting anything in return, Harry simply said, "Think of it as a gift from a friend, you know?"

After saying those words, Harry left for his room. It had been a long and eventful night.

Hearing Harry's words, Max stood there in a daze. He had never thought he would finally make real friends—true friends who would help him without asking for anything in return.

Wearing a big smile on his face, Max marched to the receptionist to get a room.