England.
After spending a week settling the young wizards relocated to England, Hermione finally returned to Hogwarts, exhausted.
But when she reached the covered bridge connecting the two mountains outside the castle, she stopped short in disbelief.
A week had passed since they had repelled Voldemort's attack, yet the bridge was still in ruins.
Hermione had been about to take a detour and enter Hogwarts from the Black Lake side when she spotted the twins at the other end of the bridge, sitting on the ground and idly playing wizard's chess.
She called out loudly.
"George, Fred!"
The twins looked up and saw Hermione across from them. Their eyes lit up as though they had spotted treasure, and they immediately sprang to their feet with grins, both Apparating to her side.
"Ha! Hermione, long time no see. Clever as you are, I bet you still can't Apparate."
"So hurry up and tell us how handsome we are, and we'll take you across safe and sound."
Without their faces twisted into silly expressions, Hermione couldn't tell George and Fred apart. She didn't bother trying, either, and launched straight into a barrage of questions.
"Yes, long time no see. Why aren't you in class? Why hasn't this bridge been repaired? And how can you Apparate at Hogwarts?"
The twins were no slouches when it came to talking, either. They began explaining, each picking up where the other left off.
"As for your questions, allow me to explain in detail..."
It wasn't that no one had tried to repair the bridge. Ordinary wizards simply couldn't properly repair the lingering damage from such advanced dark magic.
They could only wait for the headmaster, who was run off his feet, or the chief, who was nowhere to be found, to return to school.
As for