In a room with an open window, the radio on the table was broadcasting the wizarding wireless news. However, the young man sitting on the edge of the bed seemed utterly uninterested in the news, busy stuffing the practical items he had just selected into a backpack.
"Dean, are you packing?"
Someone knocked on the half-open door. A dark-skinned girl stood outside, peering into the room. Looking at Dean as he packed his things, she voiced her doubts. "Are you planning to leave?"
"I don't know, Annie, but I think I need to prepare to leave in advance."
Dean stuffed a thick cloak into his backpack. After zipping it up again, he placed it on the desk, gently hugged his half-sister, and said helplessly, "I'll explain it to Dad and Mum myself later."
"But where are you going? Aren't you going to Hogwarts School anymore?" Annie was even more confused.
"I want to, but..."
"Dean, has something happened?"
Mrs. Thomas appeared outside the room, looking at her son with a face full of worry.
Ever since Hogwarts had let out for the summer, her son Dean had seemed troubled all the time. He had even begun following newspapers and broadcasts from the magical world every day, and over the past few days, he seemed to have been writing letters to his magical friends.
This change gave her a bad feeling. That man had been the same back then, before leaving by himself and never appearing again.
At the time, Mrs. Thomas had felt that Dean's father might never return.
"Sorry, Mum. Some very bad things have happened. Anyway... let's talk in the living room."
Filled with guilt, Dean hugged his mother, picked up his backpack, and headed outside.
Thus began the Thomas family meeting.
Dean knew very well that he