A Certain Magical Hogwarts

After finishing a combined breakfast and lunch, the three of them played a round of wizard chess.

Hermione and Annie were the ones battling it out, while William observed from the side.

He alternated between being Hermione's advisor and Annie's strategist, only to be accused of giving conflicting advice and subsequently kicked out by both of them.

The trio fooled around until well past 1 p.m. before settling down to study in the garden.

A small wooden table was set up with snacks and treats, each person occupying a side, with Boba Tea completing the quartet.

Hermione was focused on second-year Transfiguration, and after William explained some concepts to her, he turned his attention to Annie's homework.

Hermione had assigned the homework, and naturally, it was full of tricky and unconventional questions, the difficulty of which was self-evident.

William tapped Annie lightly on the head with his wand.

"You wrote to me during Easter saying you'd gone through all your textbooks. This is what you meant? You treated them like comic books, didn't you?"

Annie pouted, looking aggrieved. "I filled in all the blanks."

"Filling them in doesn't make them correct, does it?" William asked back, putting on his big brother authority face.

Annie glanced pitifully at Hermione for help.

"'Mixing powdered daffodil roots with wormwood results in… daffodil-wormwood solution?'" William read one of the marked incorrect answers aloud.

"Annie, you're a genius! You've discovered a completely useless and nonsensical result!"

Hermione burst into laughter.

William shot her a look, and she quickly straightened up, sitting upright and composed.

"Tell her, Hermione."

Raising her chin smugly, Hermione said, "The proper answer is that it produces a strong sleeping potion, commonly referred to as Draught of Living Death."

Annie obediently jotted it down in her corrections notebook.

William continued, reading another question aloud: "'Bezoar: a stone taken from the stomach of a goat. Its chemical composition includes 5%–11% cholic acid, 2% deoxycholic acid, 0.6%–1.7% chenodeoxycholic acid, and their salts… Annie, what was the question?'"

"The question was about the uses of bezoar."

"And your answer?"

"I wrote down its chemical composition."

"What did I tell you?"

"That biochemistry is one of the Four Great Pits…"

"Then why did you memorize it so thoroughly?"

Annie protested, "It's from a science book my mom got me. She said the 21st century is the age of biology!"

"She's not wrong," William conceded, "but that's more likely true post-2080, when you're an old lady. Do you think you'll be able to climb out of that pit by then?"

"…"

"Annie," Hermione interjected helpfully, "a bezoar has strong antidotal properties. You can find references to it on page 76 of Magical Drafts and Potions and page 25 of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi."

"Enough, Hermione. Don't show off," William interrupted, stopping her from further demolishing Annie's confidence.

He sighed.

Some kids were just naturally better prepared. Hermione had memorized One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi the summer before she even started Hogwarts.

William glanced at the next error on Annie's homework and felt a headache coming on.

"Annie, this level won't cut it. If you don't start putting in the effort now, forget about topping the class at the end of the term. You'll get singled out by Professor Snape on day one."

"He would embarrass even girls?" Annie asked, blinking her emerald-green eyes with confusion, as if she couldn't fathom such a cruel professor existing.

William sighed deeply, adopting a solemn tone. "Professor Snape despises girls. He has a special fondness for boys, especially Harry Potter.

"In fact, Harry is his favorite student. Every lesson, the professor pays close attention to Harry, meticulously 'checking' his progress."

Hermione, unsure whether William was joking, looked at him blankly. Her observations suggested otherwise.

"Well then, if Professor Snape doesn't like girls, he won't call on me, right?" Annie reasoned brightly.

"Wrong. He knows you're my sister. He'll make it a point to call on you during the very first lesson.

"If you can't answer, he'll call on you every class just to deduct points."

Annie let out a long sigh. Hogwarts wasn't shaping up to be as wonderful as she had imagined.

"Will I be sorted into Ravenclaw?" Annie asked, tilting her head, "Will we be in the same house?"

"Nope," Hermione chimed in with a grin, "You'll probably be sorted into the fifth house."

"The fifth house?" Annie blinked, confused, "Where's that?"

"Azkaban."

"…"

Annie, clearly outmatched in knowledge, couldn't find a suitable retort. Instead, she accused Hermione of writing too far over the dividing line of their shared notebook, puffing her cheeks indignantly.

Hermione glared back without an ounce of fear.

Big eyes stared down smaller ones.

Even William and Boba Tea found themselves drawn into this silent standoff.

Just then, a breeze stirred, and a magical wind chime hanging from the eaves jingled softly.

This was William's version of a doorbell, enchanted to sound whenever someone approached the property.

He was also planning to install tracking spells and create a map of the area, enabling him to identify any nearby wizards in advance.

William looked up at a mirror in the yard, enchanted to function like a surveillance camera.

A girl stood at the entrance.

She had long, waist-length blonde hair that was messy and unkempt, paired with slightly bulging gray eyes that gave her a dreamy expression.

Her outfit was… unique.

She wore a necklace made of butterbeer corks, earrings shaped like dirigible plums, and a light blue dress. In one hand, she held a massive lotus leaf, using it as a parasol to shield herself from the sun.

What surprised William most was that the girl was riding a unicorn.

The unicorn was clearly young, likely only a few years old, and hesitant to cross the stream that encircled the property.

The girl seemed frustrated with the unicorn's fear of water. She tossed a carrot-shaped charm into the stream to entice it.

The unicorn ignored the bait, but the koi William was raising for dinner eagerly swarmed the carrot, nibbling on it with gusto.

The girl spoke to the unicorn, coaxing it to step into the water.

But the poor creature, clearly terrified, shook its head pitifully.

Eventually, the girl tied a small knot in her skirt, gathered her resolve, and leapt into the water.

Before she could land, the unicorn, reacting faster than expected, dove in ahead of her, creating a massive splash and catching her neatly on its back.

Moments later, the once water-shy unicorn seemed to have a revelation. Its hooves skimmed lightly over the water as it frolicked joyfully.

By then, William, Hermione, and Annie had all walked out of the yard.

The three of them crouched by the bank, watching the girl and her unicorn in fascination.

William couldn't help but wonder: there's a perfectly good bridge just a few meters away. Why not use it?

Why indeed!

Ah, human behavior could be so baffling at times!

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