"Godfather, you'll never guess what happened to us at the station. There was this horrible house-elf who didn't want us to board the Hogwarts Express. If Phil hadn't taken me there, Harry, Ron, and I would all have missed the train."
Hermione chattered away to Karn about what had happened at the station that afternoon, turning her little head as she spoke to look around her godfather's office.
"It's better than last year, isn't it? That garlic smell choked me when I first arrived, too. It took quite a while to clean it out."
Karn smiled and brought Hermione a glass of milk, then controlled the Extremis Virus to warm it a little.
"What happened to the house-elf who stopped you from entering the station?"
"He ran away. Phil frightened him, and he disappeared. Phil was worried about my safety, so he didn't chase him."
Hermione's brows knitted together after she finished speaking. She really didn't like warm milk, but since her godfather had handed it to her, she took it anyway. She would just wait a long time before slowly sipping it, so she wouldn't have drunk too much by the time she left.
"Then don't worry about him. If that house-elf appears at Hogwarts, come and tell me or another professor. This is specially made milk. Give it a try."
Hearing Karn's words, Hermione hesitated, but still took a sip. Smooth, faintly sweet milk instantly flowed down her throat, without any of the smells she disliked. Her eyes lit up, and she began drinking slowly.
Before long, Hermione had finished the milk. She took the tissue Karn offered, wiped her mouth, and hopped down from the tall stool. "Godfather, I should go back."
"Come on, I'll walk you back. I need to go to the library anyway."
Karn