Late 1993

In the Great Hall, Harry and Ron, dressed in their pajamas, sat at a long table, idly playing Wizard's Chess, watching the young wizards outside drag their suitcases away in the corridor, with one or two familiar faces occasionally coming in to say goodbye.

"Let's play a game of Exploding Snap," Harry said helplessly as he saw he was about to be checkmated again. "Or Gobstones, at least you'd find it a bit more interesting, Ron."

Ron's eyebrows drooped, and he looked lazy. "I choose the Exploding Snap."

"Hey! Harry, Ronnie!"

The two turned around and saw George and Fred walking towards them in the crowd of people dragging their luggage and queuing to leave the Castle.

"I've told you so many times! I'm a third-grader now, you're not allowed to call me Ronnie anymore!" Ron glared angrily at the two of them.

"Okay, Ronnie."

"No problem, Ronnie."

Harry suppressed a laugh and asked curiously, "Is something the matter? Why haven't you boarded the Hogwarts Express yet?"

"We've come to add a festive touch before we leave..." Fred said with a mysterious wink.

George and Fred moved closer to the Christmas, making sure the little wizards outside couldn't see them. George grinned and pulled a square piece of parchment from his pocket; it was badly worn.

"What's this?"

"This, Harry, is the secret to our success."

Loren carried a suitcase in his left hand and the Hānhan cage in his right, following Hermione downstairs.

He had originally intended to carry Crookshanks with him, but the little cat had learned bad habits from its owner and was not well-behaved. As soon as it stepped onto the stairs, it turned into a blur of movement under people's feet and ran downstairs to wait for them.

While waiting for the stairs to turn, Loren looked at Hermione and said meaningfully, "A naughty little kitten like this will howl in pain if someone steps on it."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Crookshanks has Niffler blood, so even if the whole school has Yule Ball on the stairs, it won't get stepped on."

Loren raised an eyebrow and asked in surprise, "Oh, the Niffler can dance?"

"..."

On the first floor, they met Crookshanks and arrived at the side door of the Great Hall. From there, Loren and Hermione saw Harry and Ron at the long table, engrossed in something interesting.

They dragged their suitcases inside.

Before they even entered, Harry and Ron seemed to have a premonition, looking up at them with an amused "I knew it" look.

"Oh, it's the Marauder's Map." Loren glanced at it and looked away. "George and Fred gave this to you guys?"

Harry was still immersed in the name "Prongs" on the map. Hearing this, he subconsciously nodded, then suddenly came to his senses and said in a resentful voice, "No wonder George and Fred said you knew all along. How come you didn't tell me?"

"Me too!" Ron chimed in. "That's so unfriendly!"

"Didn't I say that?" Loren scratched his head in confusion. "I thought I did. Sigh, it's all because of this weather. It's so cold that my brain isn't working properly."

"..." Harry paused for a moment, still looking at him with resentment, as if he were looking at a heartless person.

"Haha, it's getting late, we need to catch our train, so we'll have to go now," Loren said very naturally. "Merry Christmas, Harry, Ron, see you next term."

Hermione obediently replied, "Merry Christmas, see you next semester."

Harry squinted at the two of them. "Why do I have a feeling that Hermione, you know about this too, right?"

Hermione blinked. "The train is about to leave. We're in a hurry. Goodbye Harry, goodbye Ron."

Goodbye, goodbye!

Watching the two despicable people turn and walk away, Harry secretly resolved that he would continue to question them about this matter when he returned to school next semester.

Board the vehicle.

Find an empty cubicle.

The Hānhan was placed on the small table in the compartment, Crookshanks held it in his arms as Hand Warmer. As the train gradually started moving, Loren peered out the window and said, "Tsk, this seems to be the first time we've taken the train home from school."

Hermione carefully recalled the past two years... When he returned home at the end of his first year, he stayed at school, and Dumbledore brought him home; in his second year, they stayed at school together and Apparition back home.

The little Witch explained it to him earnestly, and concluded, "Only you, not us."

"Yes, yes, it's just me." Loren muttered, rubbed her shoulder, tilted his head and leaned against her, closing his eyes and vaguely instructing, "Wake me up when we get there, and remember to keep an eye on the luggage."

Hermione stiffened, pursed her lips, and looked down into Crookshanks' bright yellow eyes:

Meow~

What can we do about this kitten?

Fortunately, the sitting position was awkward. After resting her head on her shoulder for a short while, she felt her neck was sore and swollen. She muttered something and turned her head to relax her neck by changing the direction.

A few hours later, when the Hogwarts Express arrived in London, it was not yet completely dark.

Emerging from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the cacophony of King's Cross Station instantly filled my ears, a tidal wave of chatter, along with the station's less-than-pleasant smells.

Loren suddenly felt a sense of disorientation. Just this morning they were discussing storms and Human Transfiguration in an ancient Castle covered in snow, but now he found himself in the simple Muggle world.

The people coming and going in the station will never know that a magical train had entered just minutes before, and that the place the train was heading to was full of incredible wonders.

Loren didn't use magic, nor did he activate his Magic Sight, yet he felt fundamentally different from these people...

Loren didn't come to his senses until he heard Grandpa Bates ' voice.

"Loren! Hermione! Over here!" Grandpa Bates stood next to a black Ford, waving his hands excitedly.

"Grandpa Bates!" The two greeted him joyfully.

"Good children, good children, you've all grown taller, especially Hermione, you've become even more beautiful!"

Hermione smiled, her cheeks flushed. Children this age grow quickly; both of them had grown a size taller than when they first started third grade. Fortunately, their clothes were prepared in advance by their parents, leaving some room for them, so they didn't look too short.

Bates sat in the front driving, while Loren clung to the back seat. The two chatted excitedly, mainly Loren asking Bates where he had been for the past six months, how many fish Wendell had caught, and how much he had earned from his bank investments.

Hermione, sitting in the back, would occasionally chime in, asking about her parents' recent situation and how many times her father had been scolded by her mother.

By the time the car pulled into Granger house's garage, it was completely dark.

Monica and Wendell were waiting for them by the garage. Before the car was even completely turned off, Hermione jumped out and ran to her mother, throwing herself into her arms. In a sweet, pleading voice, she said, "Mommy, I missed you so much..."

"Where's Dad? Don't you miss Dad?" Wendell said in a hurt tone.

Hermione chuckled, shook Wendell's hand for a while, but didn't get out of her mother's arms.

"I think I'll stick with the boys..." Wendell shook his head in self-pity and walked towards Loren and Bates.

Hermione heard her father's excited voice coming from afar. "Loren! You have no idea how big a fish I caught last week, ice fishing!"

Hermione: "..."

Monica smiled gently and whispered something in Hermione's ear.

"Mom!" Hermione complained in a soft voice, her face turning even redder. She buried herself in her mother's arms, refusing to leave or answer.

Monica's smile widened. She glanced at Loren from afar and whispered, "Let's continue our conversation tonight after they leave. Let's have dinner first."

"Hmm..." Hermione buried her head in her mother's sweater and responded in a muffled voice.

Dinner was prepared by Monica in the afternoon. There were three kinds of fillings for the pies alone: apple and taro, potato and pork, and onion and beef. Loren's favorite was apple and taro.

There's also stewed meat soup, stewed mushrooms, roast meat, lamb chops... Christmas hasn't arrived yet, so there's no roast turkey.

After dinner.

Monica was cleaning up the dishes in the Kitchen, with Wendell helping her. Loren and Hermione were resting on the sofa when Grandpa Bates came over with a plate of washed wild berries. "I bought these when I went grocery shopping this afternoon. Try them, they're quite expensive."

Loren squinted and looked at it again and again. "These berries... why do they look so familiar?"

"Yes, I think so too." Grandpa Bates sat down. "Just like the berries we pick in the mountains."

It's the same as the one you picked up while fishing last year; it almost made my eyebrows fall off from the sourness.

Loren nodded thoughtfully, took a few and handed them to Hermione: "Try some, it's fruit after a meal, it helps with digestion."

Hermione paused for a moment, then finally decided to expose him. "Grandpa Bates also sent over a plate of wild berries last year."

"Really?" Loren exclaimed in surprise as if he had just realized something. "Then don't eat them yet. The wild berries from last year were very sour. Let me try them for you first!"

"..."

Hermione looked at him expressionlessly. "Such terrible acting. You just wanted me to try it out first, didn't you?"

"Mmm, this time it's sweet!"

"..."

Bates ' eye twitched a few times; his own son—

How embarrassing!

They chatted until late at night. After saying goodbye to the Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Loren followed Grandpa Bates out of the neighbor's house and headed home.

The roadsides were covered with a thick layer of snow, which looked soft and fluffy. The pale yellow lights were not bright, but they looked warm. The crystal-clear snowflakes fell slowly in the light, and in the quiet night, it seemed as if the snowflakes were blooming.

Perhaps because he had had a few drinks, Bates occasionally let out inexplicable laughter, seemingly exceptionally happy.

Loren felt a sense of peace and asked deliberately, "What, Grandpa Bates, you caught a big fish too?"

"You mean the big fish Wendell caught?" Bates laughed even louder. "That's because he dug his fishing hole too close to someone else's, and the two fishing lines got tangled together. When they were pulling each other's rods, the unlucky fish got hooked. Wendell gave that guy over ten Pound Sterling just to make the fish his."

"Hahahaha..."

With Christmas approaching, Bates has been bringing things home from the mall every day—decorations for his own home, food and drinks for his neighbors. He and Monica are reportedly preparing a big meal together. The hallway is adorned with colorful ribbons, and a Christmas with twinkling lights has even been erected in the living room.

On Christmas morning, Loren was awakened by the claws of Crookshanks.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Hermione, the habitual offender, sitting on the edge of the bed again. She was wearing a light pink fleece-lined sweater, her waist was slender, and her beautiful figure was faintly visible. She was wearing thick straight-leg pants with white cotton fleece showing at the hem, making her look much softer.

It didn't quite match the conspicuous red scarf around her neck, because it was a gift from herself.

"You'd better give me gifts that are enough to atone for your sins, or I'll have to judge you in the name of justice!" Loren muttered as he got out of bed, shuffling his shoes as he began to unpack the mountain of gifts piled up on the headboard.

Looking at his silly face as he excitedly unwrapped his gift, he had no idea that the two of them had given each other the same gift.

Hermione hummed happily twice, then got up to get the mail-order copy of the Daily Prophet Hānhan.

The largest and heaviest gift was the candy box Neville gave us. It was so full that it weighed about a quarter of Hermione's weight. The two boxes together weighed half of Hermione's weight.

"One is Christmas present, the other a thank-you gift... Neville is such an honest kid..."

Mrs. Weasley also sent a hand-knitted sweater, dark red, with Gryffindor lion pattern woven into the front, along with a dozen small round tarts baked at home, some Christmas pastries, and a box of nut brittle.

Professor Snape sent some general-purpose antidotes and healing potions. Based on the material analysis that Loren could identify, they would sell for at least several hundred Galleon, which was quite expensive.

Dumbledore then sent another book, * The Tales of Fungi *, by Atrex Broxham (1794–1910).

Loren initially thought it was a fable or fairy tale similar to "The Tales of Poet Beedle the Bard," but after flipping through a few pages, he discovered it was one of those poorly written, overly sweet fairy tales. The Jumping Cauldron in the book looked like this:

Then, Little Golden Cauldron jumped for joy—bouncing and bouncing!—on his rose-colored toes! Little Willyken healed all the dolls' tummy tummy, and Little Cauldron was overjoyed. The cauldron was full of candy, and Little Willyken and the dolls ate their fill!

"Don't forget to brush your little Fang!" Little Guo shouted.

Little Willyken hugged and kissed the Hoppy Pot, promising to always help the dolls and never be a grumpy old man again.

Loren felt a chill run down his spine from disgust and decided to study this masterpiece recommended by Dumbledore another time.

After clearing away the various odds and ends, Loren saw a square package lying underneath. There was a note on the cardboard box, signed Hermione Granger.