In a room with an open window, the radio on the table was broadcasting the wizarding news. However, the young man sitting busily on the edge of the bed seemed utterly uninterested in it, stuffing the practical items he had just selected into a backpack.
"Dean, are you packing?"
There was a knock on the half-closed door. A dark-skinned girl stood outside, peering in at Dean as he packed his things. "Are you planning to leave?"
"I don't know, Annie, but I think I need to be prepared to leave in advance."
Dean shoved a thick cloak into his backpack, zipped it up again, and set it on the desk. He 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 back to Hogwarts?" Annie was even more confused.
"I want to, but..."
"Dean, did something happen?"
Mrs. Thomas appeared outside the room, gazing at her son with a worried expression.
Ever since Hogwarts had broken up for the summer vacation, her son Dean had seemed anxious all the time. He had actually begun following newspapers and radio broadcasts from the magical world every day, and over the past few days, he seemed to have been writing letters to his wizarding friends.
The change gave her a bad feeling. That man had been the same way back then, before leaving on his own 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."
Dean gave his mother an apologetic hug, picked up his backpack, and headed out.
Thus began the Thomas family meeting.
Dean knew very well that there was an eighty percent chance