No Room for Homework in the Summer Plans

After dinner, the moon shone bright amid sparse stars.

The young wizards, full and satisfied, gathered around the campfire and chatted.

Loren and Hermione sat on low stools, teasing Fang.

Hagrid came over carrying a handwoven wicker basket filled with freshly washed fruit. Lake water dripped from it in a steady trickle; it looked as though he had dunked the entire basket into the lake to rinse it. That was how a Half-Giant did things—simple and rough.

"Dessert fruit is here."

"Thanks, Hagrid."

Fang, lying on the ground, raised his head for a look. Realizing it was only fruit, he immediately lost interest and flopped back down, resting his chin on Loren's shoe while his bald tail wagged slowly.

The truly large fruits in the forest had either been picked clean by animals before ripening or pecked and gnawed full of holes by insects and birds. The basket held only small fruits from the forest: strawberries, mulberries, cherry tomatoes, and unknown wild berries. They varied in size and came in all sorts of strange shapes, but they had been washed spotless, their surfaces still cool with lake water. A few had been split by the wicker weave, letting out a fresh, fragrant scent.

Loren casually grabbed a handful, not bothering to sort them, and tossed two or three into his mouth at once. Then he was betrayed by one of the wild berries mixed in, and the sourness nearly made his eyebrows fall off.

It was always those wild berries. They all looked alike—some sweeter than strawberries, others more sour than lemons. They were like ginger assassins skilled at disguise; one unexpected bite could ruin a person's entire mood.

Hermione glanced at him, avoided the wild berries, and picked up a strawberry. She put it in her mouth and bit