War May Be Coming

A notice had been posted in the Common Room about First Year students having Flying Class.

The class was scheduled for next Thursday afternoon, yet everyone was already discussing it heatedly that weekend.

Seamus said he had spent his entire childhood on a flying broomstick. Ron said he had nearly crashed Charlie's broken broom into a hang glider, while Malfoy claimed he had dodged a Muggle helicopter.

Luan suspected they were all boasting. When he had lived beneath the bridge, he had seen those huge iron birds called airplanes.

Those iron birds flew far faster than four-wheeled cars. How could Young Wizards possibly dodge them?

But Luan's doubts did nothing to dampen everyone's enthusiasm. After all, flying through the sky was something everyone dreamed of.

When the first weekend after the start of term arrived, nobody slept in as expected.

Everyone got up much earlier than usual. By the time Luan was preparing to get up and read, Ron and Harry were already too restless to sleep.

"You get up this early every day?"

Harry's bed was right beside Luan's. Seeing Luan already dressed and carrying a textbook as he headed out, Harry opened his eyes wide.

Luan merely nodded. Noticing that the injured Neville was sleeping soundly, he quietly made a shushing gesture at Harry.

Luan had plenty to do that day. Besides studying Wandmaking and Maintenance, he had to tend to the sapling and finish his Astronomy Moon Map Drawing assignment.

While the sun was out during the day, Luan also had to move the sapling outside to get some sunlight.

After observing it for an entire day, Luan found no sign whatsoever of the sapling withering, which greatly boosted his confidence.

The weather had also been excellent the past two nights, without even a trace of cloud. The moon could be observed clearly from the Astronomy Tower, so Luan had already completed more than half of his moon map assignment. He could finish it all that night.

The others in the dormitory all wanted to use his early-finished assignment as a reference, so they became supervisors of Luan's studies as well.

After lending his moon map assignment to his roommates early Sunday morning, Luan reviewed the materials used for wand shafts. He had already memorized the entire book; all he lacked now was practical experience.

When night fell, Luan chose to go to bed early. Tonight was the night he would return to Xilin.

Sleeping in the wooden cabin at York Farm was nowhere near as comfortable as sleeping in the Hogwarts dormitory.

The cabin stood in the middle of the Hazelnut Forest, where the air was extremely damp. Even though his bedding consisted of new wool blankets Aunt Daisy had sewn herself, they could not withstand the moisture here.

Still, this place had its advantages. The air was fresh, and there was no snoring or teeth-grinding.

Before dawn the next morning, Uncle Neil had already arrived with people. It was hazelnut season, so the first thing Luan did upon returning was join the autumn harvest.

"Little Luan, don't run so fast. Take a rest before you keep working."

Uncle Hoke sat beneath a hazelnut tree, took a gulp from his waterskin, and called out to Luan as he ran past.

"I'm not tired. I can pick some more."

"What a diligent child."

All the workers who came to help were veterans and their families whom Neil had recruited. After leaving the battlefield, they received very little in Federation subsidies and had no choice but to work to support their households.

Neil provided them with such an opportunity.

Fortunately, everyone here treated Luan well. No one mocked him for being a "half-baked Spirit Sensitive," and some of the older sergeants would even bring him homemade candies made with rustic methods.

As for why Luan was working harder than he had during the hazelnut harvests of the previous two years—

It was because he wanted to take a good look around this Hazelnut Forest while he had the chance. Perhaps there was some unusual magical wood hidden within it.

Luan had read in a book that hazel wood could also be used for wand shafts. This type of wood was especially suited to wizards with sensitive hearts.

The harvest from the hundred-acre Hazelnut Forest took a full five days, but Luan did not find a single hazel tree with magical properties.

Fortunately, he had not come away empty-handed. The three Hazel Grouse he had hunted with a slingshot should be enough for tonight's gathering.

Uncle Neil's home was north of Xilin Town. The people living nearby were all military families, so the area was very safe.

When Luan arrived at the small courtyard with only three stone houses in the middle of the afternoon, he heard Aunt Daisy shouting before he even entered.

"Sophia, get away from the table! That rye ale cost a whole silver coin!"

"Oh, Brother Luan!"

Sophia was Neil and Daisy's second child. She also had an older brother, Jay Scarlett.

When his brown-curled cousin ran over and hugged him, Luan hurriedly set the Hazel Grouse in his hands aside.

Once the little girl released him, Luan took a wooden penguin carving from his pocket and held it out to her.

"Is this an animal from the farm? It's so cute!"

Luan had guessed right. Girls simply could not resist such soft and adorable animals.

"Child, I heard everything from Neil. You worked hard during this hazelnut harvest."

Aunt Daisy came over, hugged Luan, and kissed his cheek.

"Now we can roast these three Hazel Grouse for dinner and save another expense." Daisy took the birds and examined them before turning back to him.

"Also, child, I made you two winter outfits. Go try them on later and see whether they fit."

Dinner was lavish. This was also the farm's annual celebration after the harvest.

Luan deliberately placed all the plump, tender chicken meat onto Sophia's plate. The little girl was shorter than others her age and needed to eat more.

"Luan, you should eat too." Neil took a sip of ale and looked over.

Luan said nothing. He wanted to share all the meat with the family, since the food at Hogwarts was already very good.

Daisy shot the slightly drunk Neil a glare, then turned toward Luan.

"Little Luan, I heard you're saving money? The family can afford to support your schooling. You don't need to work this hard."

Daisy was referring to Luan earning money with wood carvings, but he remembered telling Uncle Neil to keep that matter secret.

Yet Daisy had asked him outright. Most likely, Neil's hidden three silver coins had been discovered.

And Luan had unfortunately become Uncle Neil's excuse for fobbing off Aunt Daisy once again.

Sure enough, Neil, seated at the other end of the table, was now frantically signaling at Luan with his eyes.

"Aunt Daisy, I'm also planning to learn how to run a farm from Uncle Neil."

To Luan, Xilin's ordinary schools no longer held any appeal. All he wanted now was to study magic properly at Hogwarts.

Luan's words were not a very good excuse, and Aunt Daisy began her usual nagging again.

"At the very least, after finishing school, you can enter a government office as a clerk. But at a farm, you can only spend your entire life dealing with the land."

Whenever Daisy said such things, Luan had to keep smiling and listen. Even though he was certain he would not attend school, he still had to show respect to the mistress of the household.

Luan knew that Uncle Neil's family was not living particularly well.

Besides paying for Jay's military academy education and raising Sophia, they even had to support more than thirty military households nearby.

Especially now that he had solved his problem of learning magic, there was no need to burden this family with further debt.

After dinner, Neil smoked his pipe as he walked Luan back to the farm.

"Little Luan, are you sure you want to learn the farm trade?"

"That's right, Uncle. I want to start by learning about timber procurement."

Luan answered with complete certainty.

"Timber procurement?" Neil froze for a moment. He had not expected Luan to have already decided what he wanted to learn.

"True, now that this year's harvest is complete, we need to replant some trees. But this year's purchase will have to wait."

"Why?"

Luan asked curiously. He knew Neil was someone who paid close attention to crop seasons. New trees had to be planted before spring warmed up, as that was the guarantee of the farm's income next year.

In previous years, Neil would surely have already negotiated the price with timber merchants by this time.

"Ah... war may be coming. Timber has become a controlled commodity."