The next morning, when Wade was awakened by his father, he found it was an hour earlier than the alarm they had set.
"It snowed last night, Wade." Ferdinand still carried a chill from the cold as he urged, "Get up quickly. We need to leave early today."
Wade sat up beneath the covers, ran a hand through his messy hair, and pulled back the curtains. Snow lay nearly two inches thick on the windowsill, and the yard was a vast sheet of white. A circle of footprints surrounded the car, left by Ferdinand when he had cleared the snow that morning.
Wade quickly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, only to hear his parents arguing in the kitchen—
"Listen, darling, it's far too cold today. There's no need for all of us to go to the station. I can see Wade off by myself—"
"But I want to see Wade off too. Once he goes back to school, we won't see him for half a year—"
They argued for quite a while, but in the end, Ferdinand still insisted that Fiona stay home. He normally indulged Fiona in everything, but once he made up his mind, no one could sway him.
When they came out of the kitchen, Wade pretended he had not heard their argument. After breakfast, he asked, "Mom, could you look after Miss Eva for me first? Once the weather improves, let her fly to Hogwarts herself."
"Of course!" Fiona agreed happily and immediately began making plans. "I can make owl treats for her myself. General Bard's food is nearly gone too, and then there's Millie. I think she might need to lose weight. The running wheel we bought before has been chewed up as well—"
Millie was Fiona's pet hamster, a shy little thing