A Small Matter

Mafalda Hopkirk has worked for the Ministry of Magic since graduating from Hogwarts, and is currently the assistant to the Director of the Misuse of Magic Office Ministry of Magic.

Hopkirk's daily job involves sending a warning letter to the violator on behalf of the Director after receiving information about a violation, explaining the law that has been violated. If the situation is serious, the emergency response team will be notified to take action.

However, today, Hopkirk encountered something that made her extremely depressed.

Someone actually replied to her, telling her: Your Ministry of Magic has made a blunder.

The sender of the letter was Albert Anderson, who was studying at Hogwarts.

In the letter, Anderson clearly stated that he was on vacation in France with his family at the time, and did not carry a wand when he left the country, much less use the Summoning Charm. He believed that the Ministry of Magic must have made a mistake, and he hoped that the Ministry of Magic could clear up the misunderstanding between the two parties and send him a reply.

In fact, Hopkirk did not believe Anderson was lying, because the strongest evidence was that Anderson did not know how to use the Summoning Charm at all, and that he had just finished his first year at Hogwarts.

A first-year student using the Summoning Charm? Even Hopkirk himself didn't believe it.

Without knowing how to use the Summoning Charm, one cannot cast spells.

Therefore, the Misuse of Magic Office was undoubtedly mistaken, and this was not the first time such a thing had happened, so Hopkirk was not too surprised.

But... what does this have to do with me?

Hopkirk was only responsible for sending letters and notifications; she was not in charge of handling such matters, nor did she have that authority.

Oh, wait, this actually has something to do with her.

Hopkirk has the authority to decide whether to hand the letter over to the current Head of the Misuse of Magic Office, or simply toss it into a trash can.

Based on her understanding of her boss, he probably wouldn't care about such a thing!

After all, this is just a minor matter and there's no need to delve into it too much.

Mafalda Hopkirk was preparing to handle it privately.

Well, the so-called private handling is actually just destroying the letters or throwing them in some trash can, after all, she herself is just an assistant.

Although I have some understanding of the laws that reasonably restrain underage wizards, I am ultimately just an assistant whose job is to help write warning letters and the like.

As Hopkirk was about to throw the letter in the trash, she suddenly remembered something from last year. She remembered the misunderstanding caused by the silk Trace, which had caused quite a stir at the time.

Ultimately, the Daily Prophet exposed the matter, and Natley, who was in charge of handling it, got himself into a lot of trouble and almost got transferred to the Centaur Liaison Office.

"Throwing it away doesn't seem right. Let's hand it over to the Director!" Hopkirk hesitated for a moment, but still felt it was her duty. As for how her superior would handle it, that was none of her business.

Of course, Hopkirk could also guess what the outcome would be after the letter was sent.

As Hopkirk expected, his boss didn't even glance at the letter, simply tossing it aside on his desk.

When Hopkirk saw the letter again, it had already been thrown into the trash.

However, what Hopkirk didn't know was that this outcome was also within Albert's expectations.

However, Hopkirk was unaware that they had unknowingly found themselves standing in front of a large pit that someone had dug, and that someone behind them was ready to kick them into the pit.

After returning home, Albert began writing back to those who sent him letters.

The Weasley Twins were naturally included in Albert's list of mailings, along with a gift Albert had bought for the Twins —a Rubber Duck.

Well, the yellow Rubber Duck was actually a gift Albert bought at the grocery store near his house. He knew, of course, that Fred and George wouldn't like it, since it was for Mr. Weasley.

Albert wanted the Twins to ask Mr. Weasley how they would handle their situation.

In their reply, Fred and George expressed sympathy (and schadenfreude) for Albert's plight, writing. "... Dad thinks it's a minor matter and you shouldn't worry. He suggests you write to the Head of the Misuse of Magic Office and explain the situation..."

At the end of the letter, they also wrote, "By the way, Dad asked me to ask you what Rubber Duck are used for in the Muggle World."

"A small matter?" Albert muttered. "Yes, it is a trivial matter to those who are indifferent to it."

Albert set the Twins ' letters aside and continued opening the second letter.

Professor Broad's reply was somewhat unexpected for Albert; he also thought it was a minor matter and that Albert didn't need to worry about it.

In his reply, Professor Broad recounted some information about the Extraordinary Potion Makers Association, expressed his delight at the gift Albert had given him, and briefly mentioned McDougal's new book at the end.

"A trivial matter?" Albert put the letter aside, picked up the Gold Card, and muttered, "Now we'll see Hertok Dagworth's reaction. Let's see if he also thinks losing his Gold Card is a trivial matter?"

From Professor Broad's letter, Albert could easily deduce the value of the Gold Card in his hand.

He believed Hertok Dagworth would not remain indifferent.

There were several letters, and it was impossible to reply immediately.

The last letter was written by Rowena Smith. In addition to discussing some common interests, Rowena Smith also mentioned in the letter that she would give Albert an unexpected surprise in a while.

Albert could probably guess what the so-called unexpected surprise was: Rowena Smith was going to Hogwarts as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.

After reading all the letters, Albert put them in the box, got up and stretched, drank the now-cold milk tea, patted Tom lying on the cushion next to the table, and refocused his attention on the remaining summer homework.

This was the homework Albert had left before going on vacation to France. He didn't have the habit of doing homework while on vacation, so he temporarily put his summer homework aside when he went to France.

When Albert went on vacation to France, he only brought the few books about Ancient Runes that McDougal had given him.

By carefully studying these books, your experience in Runes skills will increase at a remarkable rate.

Now, we've taken another big step closer to level 3 Runes.

It's not that Albert dislikes using experience to level up directly, but rather that he prefers the feeling of researching magic.

Every breakthrough in Runes gave Albert a strange sense of accomplishment, and this was the kind of accomplishment Albert wanted.

There was a knock on the door. Nia pushed it open and poked her head in. She said to Albert, who was sitting at the table, "Dad told me to tell you to go to bed early tonight. We're going shopping in Diagon Alley tomorrow."

"I understand." Albert knew why Nia was so excited, because she would also be going to Diagon Alley in London.

"Tom, it's time to sleep!" Nia reached out and picked up Tom, who was lying on the cushion, and put him on the floor. "Walk by yourself. You've become so heavy that I can't carry you anymore."

"That's why I said Tom should lose weight," Albert said with a smile. "Go home and get some rest."

"Let's go, Tom, or your food rations will be halved tomorrow." Nia's threat was quite effective; Tom obediently got up and followed Nia away.

Albert looked at the door that had closed again and focused his attention on his homework.

These holiday assignments aren't actually difficult; they just require spending time writing the answers on parchment.

He was considering whether to stay up all night to finish all his holiday homework, but then he remembered Nia's anticipation of shopping at Diagon Alley the next day and decided against it.

Half an hour later, Albert closed the Ink, put the Quill back in the pen holder, and stood up lazily to cover a yawn.

Shera had just returned from hunting. Ever since Albert told her not to bring prey home, she hadn't brought any dead mice home.

"Goodnight!" Albert looked at his owl, then gazed at the night sky outside the window, covered his mouth to stifle a yawn, and lay back down on the bed to rest.