Luckily, Bruce’s worries didn’t come true.
He found himself back in London, in the Harry Potter world, standing in front of an office building.
Not an orphanage.
However—
Bruce looked around and realized the place looked increasingly familiar.
“Kathoom!!!”
He shouted, “This is the old Wool Orphanage! Don’t tell me this wasn’t your doing!”
He hadn’t even gone to a new world; there was no need to arrange a new identity!
Kathoom was already high in the sky, loudly defending himself. “Stop accusing me without proof! The first two times weren’t my doing!”
He did feel a bit disappointed, though. In hindsight, he’d miscalculated.
Who could have predicted that only a year later, Wool Orphanage would be torn down?
Not a perfect plan, after all.
Bruce remained furious, convinced that this was all part of Kathoom’s elaborate scheme.
But the owl’s next words left him little time to stay mad.
“Don’t just stand there.”
Kathoom suddenly spoke up. “You said you were bringing back souvenirs for those friends of yours, didn’t you?”
Bruce blinked in surprise and shot back, “Didn’t you grab enough stuff yourself?”
“Those are my treasures; there’s no way I’d let you give them away!”
The owl sighed, pointing a wing toward a nearby gift shop. “Go buy something from there. As long as you remember to remove the tags, no one will be the wiser.”
—
Bruce returned to his aunt’s home, arms full of shopping bags.
As he opened the door, Hermione rushed over with a delighted smile, pulling him into a warm hug.
“Welcome home!”
Meanwhile, Mrs. Granger looked on with a hint of disapproval as she took the bags from Bruce.
“Bringing home gifts? What a waste of money!”
Bruce waved her off with a smile. “It’s nothing! I just picked up some things in America; they weren’t expensive at all!”
He made sure to emphasize “in America.”
Kathoom snickered from the sidelines. If not for his reminder, Little Bat would’ve been in quite the pinch.
When it came to social niceties, Bruce still had a lot to learn from him!
—
Bruce’s trip had taken up nearly his entire summer vacation.
When he returned, it was nearly time for the new school year at Hogwarts.
With a new school year came new textbooks, and Hermione had already scheduled a date to go shopping in Diagon Alley with him.
Bruce had no objections.
The day came in no time.
Early in the morning, Bruce and Hermione headed out, with Mr. Granger already waiting in the car outside.
“Where’s Kathoom?” Hermione noticed the owl hadn’t come out with Bruce.
“Don’t worry; he’ll be right here.”
Bruce had barely finished speaking when the owl came swooping out of the window.
Kathoom was clearly in high spirits, calling out to Bruce from a distance, “Hey hey, your old man’s here!”
Bruce covered his face, pretending not to hear.
It all started when he’d called him godfather that one time.
Kathoom hadn’t thought much of it at first, but once he caught on, he’d been playing the part ever since.
No idea when he’d drop the act.
Once everyone was in the car, the kids took their usual spot in the backseat.
Hermione eagerly shared her latest Hogwarts findings with Bruce.
“I’ve been writing to some friends over the summer, like Harry and Ron. Oh, do you know them?”
Bruce nodded. “I know who they are.”
“Oh, great!”
Hermione continued, “Ron’s dad works at the Ministry of Magic, so he knows a bit of insider news. He told me that Dumbledore’s been visiting the Ministry a lot this summer, like he’s filing some sort of request.”
Bruce’s interest was piqued.
“What kind of request?”
“That part I don’t really know,” Hermione said, trying to recall. “It seems like he wants to add a few courses at Hogwarts.”
“What’s to request about that?”
Bruce shook his head. The Ministry of Magic had limited influence at Hogwarts. Dumbledore wouldn’t need their approval just to add classes.
There had to be something more.
He looked to the owl and asked, “Kathoom, what do you think?”
“Oh, that’s easy!”
Kathoom replied at once, “After last year’s mess, the Ministry’s probably ready to sack Dumbledore. Maybe he’s begging them to let him keep his job.”
Stop talking nonsense!
Bruce could tell immediately that Kathoom was making things up.
Though he wasn’t entirely on Dumbledore’s side, he knew Hogwarts wouldn’t be replacing its headmaster any time soon.
Whatever. With so little information, it was all just speculation.
They’d find out once term started.
—
It was the same route as always—through the Leaky Cauldron, straight into Diagon Alley.
Once they entered Diagon Alley, their first stop was Gringotts to exchange money.
As they exited Gringotts, Hermione’s face lit up, and she started waving.
“Harry! Harry! Over here!”
She’d spotted her friend and ran over to greet him, her bushy brown hair flying behind her.
It was Harry Potter, covered in soot, looking like he’d just climbed out of a fireplace. He must have had quite the adventure.
Beside him was the towering figure of Hagrid, who looked slightly annoyed.
He’d just been listening to Harry’s harrowing tales of his summer.
“Harry, let me introduce you!”
Hermione brought Harry over. “This is my cousin, Bruce Wayne. Bruce, this is Harry!”
“Hello!” Bruce shook Harry’s hand.
“Hi,” Harry replied shyly.
In truth, they both already knew of each other, though they hadn’t formally met.
Harry knew well that Wayne was an exceptional student—every professor spoke of him in glowing terms.
Just then, the Weasley family came running over from a distance.
Seeing Harry, they sighed in relief.
“Harry!” Mr. Weasley panted. “Molly was worried sick—she’ll be here any minute.”
Hearing the chatter around him, Bruce quickly pieced together what had happened.
Harry had mispronounced the destination while using Floo powder.
After some chaos, Bruce had finally met the Weasleys.
With everyone’s errands wrapped up, they decided to go to Flourish and Blotts together.
When they arrived, they were surprised to see a crowd gathered outside, all trying to get in.
A large banner hung from a window above:
Gilderoy Lockhart
Autograph Signing for His New Book, Magical Me
“Lockhart has something big to announce today!”
Hermione said excitedly, not hiding her admiration for the famous wizard.
It was hard to get inside, so Bruce had no choice but to wait in line outside.
At that moment, Kathoom suddenly spoke into his ear. “Bruce, look over there!”
Who?
Bruce turned and saw an old wizard standing near the bookstore’s entrance, looking impatient.
The man muttered to himself, as if he wanted to cast a spell to drive everyone away, but thought better of it.
The old wizard’s appearance was unforgettable—each of his eyes was a different color, as if two souls were sharing his body.
He carried a suitcase, the same kind used by Hogwarts professors.
Bruce caught sight of the name on the suitcase.
“Gael Greene.”
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