The Strange Packages

The main characters of this book were you.

It was an ordinary day at Hogwarts.

Harry had only started school that year, and it was now his second week. Yet on an otherwise perfectly ordinary Monday morning, some rather unusual packages arrived.

Harry went to the Great Hall for breakfast as usual. After a week, he no longer overslept, and could at least make it to the bustling Great Hall in time for breakfast.

Hermione was already sitting there, eating a fried egg while reading about what they might learn that day.

"You're very late. Class starts in forty-five minutes!" Hermione said to Harry and Ron, sounding a little displeased. Ron shrugged. "But there are still forty-five minutes, aren't there?"

Harry smiled a little sheepishly.

"Forget it, I'm not talking to you two." Hermione quickly swallowed the last bite of her buttered bread and gathered her things to leave.

Just then, a great many owls suddenly flew into the Great Hall.

And the packages clutched in their talons were all nearly identical in shape and size.

Harry spotted his Hedwig among them.

"?" Hermione looked puzzled. "I don't remember ordering anything apart from the Daily Prophet and a few other newspapers and magazines."

Those packages didn't look like newspapers or anything of the sort.

Ron blinked. His family's owl was struggling through the air with no fewer than three packages of the same size in its talons.

"Mum wouldn't normally have Errol deliver so many at once, would she?" Percy was puzzled too. "He's old."

Malfoy spotted his family's owl among the flock as well. Though a little puzzled, he reached out and caught the package it dropped. Perhaps it was some more sweets from his mother.

That was what he thought.

Narcissa often sent him sweets she had made herself, but she had only sent a batch yesterday.

"Thanks, Hedwig." Harry fed Hedwig a few biscuits, and she flapped her wings and flew away in high spirits. Harry weighed the package in his hand, then sat down to open it.

"I don't think anyone would send me a present. I don't think I ordered anything either?" Puzzled, Harry unwrapped the package, which was wound in tape.

To be honest, it was rather difficult to open, because the tape was so sticky.

Unexpectedly, even Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape received packages of the same size.

A rough count of those who received packages that morning included Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Draco, Cedric, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and others.

"What's this? A flat little square box?" Fred took an interest in the object inside the delivery box.

"I've never seen one before. What is it?" George found it novel too, since they had never even heard of anything like it.

"Looks like there are a few buttons on it?" Lee Jordan pointed to three raised bumps on the side of the square box.

"Cool."

With that, Fred began investigating what the little gadget could do.

Malfoy instinctively frowned when he saw it, because he noticed that those Weasleys seemed to have received the same thing as him.

He didn't like getting the same thing as those lot. It was really off-putting, so he put it aside without even examining it closely.

Blaise seemed more interested. He reached out and slipped the thing into his own pocket, smiling at Malfoy. "You don't mind, do you?"

Malfoy glanced at him and nodded. "I don't like having the same thing as that bunch of Weasleys."

"Hope you don't regret it," Theodore said with a faint smile.

"I definitely won't," Malfoy said, his head held high.

"Bloody hell!" Ron stared in surprise at the square object in his hand. "What is this thing?"

"Hey, the screen lights up too." Fred smiled as he played with the screen. "Slide to unlock? Let's try it."

His hand was faster than his brain. By the time Fred said that, his finger had already slid across the screen and unlocked the phone.

Yes, that was right. They had received mobile phones from the Muggle world of the future.

"Ced, what's that?"

Cedric was surrounded by students, all curious little badgers.

Cedric smiled a little helplessly. "Actually, I don't know either. I don't remember buying anything like this."

"I've never seen anything like it."

"Yeah, what is it?"

Over in Ravenclaw, Cho Chang held the phone and found that it felt a little strange in her hand. The other students had already begun discussing how to use it and who had sent it.

"Look, even Professor McGonagall got one!"

"Come on, never mind Professor McGonagall. Didn't Professor Snape get one too?"

"Didn't you see Headmaster Dumbledore holding one of those things too?"

"So what is it?"

The crowd gradually grew more and more excited.

In the library, Hermione studied what the little gadget could do. She knew it could be turned on using certain buttons, but by her judgment, it didn't contain any magic and was a Muggle electronic device.

But as everyone knew, electronic devices couldn't possibly work within Hogwarts.

"Who on earth sent this?" Hermione slid her finger back and forth across the screen, then suddenly tapped the only app on it.

Hermione blinked.

When the app opened, a little circle appeared as if by automatic detection and spun round and round. Then a message popped up:

[You have registered successfully. Welcome, (please enter name), log in.]

"Enter a name? Mine?" Hermione was still puzzled.

Hogwarts, A History hadn't mentioned this.

"Look, George, it says this is a gathering place for Hogwarts fans! How exciting!" Fred excitedly read the phone screen over and over.

"I saw. Have you gone in? They're welcoming us." George smiled as he swiped the screen. They seemed to be getting the hang of using the little gadget.

Meanwhile, in the group chat-

QQ Manager: Welcome [My Younger Brother Isn't as Handsome as Me] to the group chat.

QQ Manager: Welcome [My Older Brother Is Farting] to the group chat.

Bug Ming: Welcome!

Kerun: ? The newcomers' names match so well.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Proprietress: Is it possible? They're a pair of brothers too?

Red-Lipped, White-Toothed The Chosen One: Be confident. Take out the "possible."

[Admin] Yan: Welcome, newcomers! Check the group announcement to join the character fan groups! This is the main group, so no tearing each other down or fighting! Go rave about your husbands and wives in their respective fan groups! You can use the main group to discuss the plot, share some angst or fluff, and so on!

"What are they saying?" Fred was baffled.

George shrugged. "No idea. None of this is in English."

QQ Manager: Welcome [Knowledge Is Power] to the group chat!

QQ Manager: Welcome [What's Wrong with Eating More?] to the group chat!

QQ Manager: Welcome [Want to Make Friends] to the group chat!

If My Name Is Long Enough Someone Will Read It: ? So many newcomers today.

QQ Manager: Welcome [I Must Win This Year] to the group chat!

jop daddy Don't Go Easy on Me: And their names are really weird too.

Kerun: Mate, you're in no position to talk.

Kerun: Loving gaze.jpg

QQ Manager: Welcome [Zabini] to the group chat!

Red-Lipped, White-Toothed The Chosen One: Why aren't the newcomers saying anything?

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Proprietress: Come on! Join the twins' fan group! Let's rave about the best twins in the world together!

[Group owner] ?: Ah.

Bug Ming: ! Guys, am I seeing this right? The group owner actually showed up, holy shit!

[Group owner] ?: Just looking. Quite a few newcomers today. Nice.

My Younger Brother Isn't as Handsome as Me: Cool

Fred had discovered that the language could be switched to English.

QQ Manager: Welcome [Cedric] to the group chat!

Cedric hadn't given it much thought and had logged in with his real name. The group chat erupted for a moment.

Kerun: ! A Ced fan!!!

I Transmigrated into Cho on the Spot: Aaaaah, bro, quick, join the Cedric fan group!

Cedric and Cho Forever: Cedric, hehe.

Bug Ming: Damn it, there are so few people in the twins' fan group!

[Admin] Holy Crap: ? Ming, do you even hear yourself?

Red-Lipped, White-Toothed The Chosen One: Ha! There are lots of us Harry fans!

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Deputy Proprietress: What? How is a hundred-odd people a lot?!

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Proprietress: Exactly! Newcomers, join the group! There's lots of good stuff in there!

George and Fred fell into thought when they understood their group nicknames.

Want to Make Friends: Huh?

Ron fell into thought as he read through the messages in the group chat.

What's Wrong with Eating More?: Doesn't anyone like Ron anymore?

I Lure Ron Away with a Chicken Leg: Of course we do!!!!

[Admin] Yan: I love him! Ron, my little angel!! The whole Weasley family are charm kings!!

[Admin] Yan: Ron crying cat meme.jpg

The whole Weasley... family are charm kings?

What's a charm king?

Hermione was taken aback. There really were people who liked Ron?

Fred and George were taken aback too. Their family was perfectly normal, so how could anyone call them charm kings?

Fred thought for a moment, then resolutely decided to join his own fan group and find out.

But before he could find the entrance, another message suddenly popped up. It didn't seem to be from this group. He clicked on it instinctively and found himself in another group.

The group was called "Gathering Place for the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Proprietress."

"???"

The whole world knows we're going to open a joke shop, but we don't know it ourselves.

[Group owner] bug Ming: Yeahhhhhhhh! Welcome, newcomer!

At that very moment, Blaise was scrolling through the chat history, finding it all very novel.

There were nearly ten Mrs. Malfoys in the group.

"Draco, are you sure you don't want a look?" He called to Malfoy, who was sitting on the sofa with a smug look on his face. Malfoy turned his head away. "I'm not touching that Muggle thing."

"Really? But there seem to be lots of your fans here. They call themselves Mrs. Malfoy?" Blaise grinned mischievously and waved the phone.

Malfoy's expression froze. "What did you say?"

At that very moment, in the group chat:

I'll Always Like Draco: I've lost count of how many days I've liked the young master. I miss him.

Stepmother Fiction: Actually, I wouldn't say no to Lucius either, hehe.

Stepmother Fiction: Creepy grin.jpg

Malfoy immediately ran over, took the phone from Blaise, and started reading.

It was as though his whole worldview had been turned upside down.

"How do they know my name?! Why do they even know Little Dragon?!"

Draco and Harry Forever: Thanks, everyone, for liking my Harry's husband.

Stepmother Fiction: ? Fuck, there you go again.

I'll Always Like Draco: I really can't with you. Go post that in your Draco and Harry group, okay?

Kerun: Even the Ced and Cho people haven't been posting anything like that.

Cedric and Cho Forever: Did someone tag me?

Bug Ming: It's nothing, nothing.

Malfoy, on the other side of the screen: ???

What the hell is this nonsense????

QQ Manager: Welcome [Sherbet Lemon] to the group chat!

QQ Manager: Welcome [Five Points from Gryffindor] to the group chat!

QQ Manager: Welcome [Cho] to the group chat!

I Am Mrs. Malfoy Number One: Welcome, welcome!

I Am Mrs. Malfoy Number Two: Welcome, newcomers!

Mrs. Malfoy Number Five, No Arguments: The newcomer's name cracked me up, hahahaha!

James Brand Shampoo: Clearly a longtime fan of the head of Slytherin, lol. ```

On the other side of the screen, Snape himself frowned deeply and made a disgusted face.