August 31, 1993, evening.
The carpet in the second-floor sitting room of Rowle Manor was almost covered with packages of every size.
On the last night before school started, the sitting room looked like an alchemy workshop that had just been ransacked. Hardwood boxes lined with velvet were stacked along the edge of the coffee table, and torn parchment wrappers lay scattered beside the armchair. Mr. Rowle crouched before two large, open suitcases, solemnly stuffing things inside.
They were protective items he had scoured the market for throughout August—
Amulets inlaid with mercury runes, a copper Sneakoscope that could sense hostile scrutiny, and even two pairs of dragon-hide gloves supposedly capable of warding off rebounding curses.
Every time he put something into a suitcase, he turned its packaging over to read the instructions again, muttering under his breath.
After Cordelia's brush with danger last time, he wanted to pack every defensive item on the market into his daughter's suitcase.
Cordelia sat cross-legged in another corner of the carpet, expressionlessly taking things back out.
"I already have this."
She held up a silver anti-curse badge.
"That one's a spare," Mr. Rowle said without looking up.
Cordelia dug two identical badges out of a compartment in the suitcase, laid them side by side in her palm, and silently looked at her father.
Mr. Rowle paused. He took the badges and cleared his throat. "...I may have remembered wrong."
Two seconds later, while Cordelia bent to straighten the hem of her robes, Mr. Rowle flicked his wrist and slipped both badges back into the suitcase's side pocket.
In the armchair, Gu Jianguo sipped hot tea from a porcelain cup, smiling as he watched father and daughter move things back and forth.
Lin Wanyin stood by the window with a newly bought DSLR camera,