When the director saw Herman return, a caring smile instantly bloomed on her face. Rather than first asking why he had suddenly come back, she asked with warm concern:
"How's your new school? Are you comfortable there? Term hasn't started yet, so you probably haven't met your classmates, but I'm sure that with your personality, you'll get along wonderfully with them."
Herman thought quickly and casually began making things up. "The school's fantastic. It's a prestigious old school with a hundred years of history, and there's even an ancient, mysterious castle on the grounds, like something straight out of a fantasy story. The accommodation is impeccable, too. It's just that the school is so enormous, it's like a gigantic maze. It's a long way from the dormitories to the classrooms. Sometimes, once you get deep into the grounds, it really leaves you dizzy and completely lost."
As Herman described it in a torrent of words, he did his best to picture Hogwarts in his mind. Through his vivid account, those imagined scenes seemed to appear right before their eyes.
Director Margery listened intently, her eyes full of relief, as though she were watching her own child find an ideal place to call home. She replied:
"It really does sound like a very good school. I'm happy for you from the bottom of my heart." Undisguised, sincere joy filled her voice.
"Thank you, Director." After thanking her sincerely, Herman's expression gradually grew serious. He took a deep breath and said:
"Director, there's something else I wanted to ask you about today."
"What is it?" Director Margery asked curiously.
As she remembered it, throughout Herman's years at the orphanage, he had always shown an unusual degree of maturity and composure. He hardly ever asked the staff questions or sought their help.
Had she not watched Herman grow up every step of the way, she might sometimes have found herself thinking that the boy before her was an adult who had weathered the hardships of the world.
Herman slowly took out the silver coin he always carried close to his body. Under the gentle touch of sunlight, it flickered with a faint, barely perceptible gleam. He gazed at the coin, then raised his eyes to Director Margery and asked earnestly:
"I want to know how I came to the orphanage back then. Did I only have this silver coin on me? Was there anything else that could prove my identity? Or any clues about my origins?"
Director Margery froze briefly, a puzzled look appearing on her face. "Didn't Hogwarts say your parents were alumni? Shouldn't they have investigated everything already?"
At those words, Herman's heart lurched. He groaned inwardly, unable to stop himself from complaining, This is all Dumbledore's fault for making things up! Now look, the plot's logic is a complete mess!
But Herman reacted with remarkable speed. He instantly regained his composure and came up with an explanation in the blink of an eye. "Well, Hogwarts only knows the basic information about my parents, and that I was sent to an orphanage. They didn't look into the specific details. I'm just really curious. When I arrived at the orphanage, did I have anything besides this silver coin?"
Out of her complete trust in the child, Director Margery did not probe the holes in Herman's words any further. She nodded gently and said, "It really is time to tell you. Under the rules, we were originally supposed to wait until you came of age and left the orphanage before telling you these things."
Hearing Director Margery say this, Herman could not help wondering why it sounded as though some secret lay behind it. He asked curiously, "Is there some big secret about my origins? A family feud, or some bizarre, melodramatic story?"
Director Margery rolled her eyes at Herman. "Life isn't full of bizarre stories like that. I mean that under the rules, you're not supposed to see your file until you come of age. But since you're leaving the orphanage now, there's no harm in letting you see it. Your file is perfectly straightforward anyway. You weren't abandoned, and you weren't trafficked here."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Herman felt somewhat disappointed. He had thought there might be a dramatic backstory full of twists and turns, but now it seemed there was no hope of a side quest.
"Come with me. I'll take you to the records room." Mrs. Margery stood and led Herman out of the office, heading straight up the stairs to a records room on the third floor. Once inside, Mrs. Margery muttered to herself as she spoke:
"You came to the orphanage in '83, brought here by the civil affairs department. Your file is in this folder for '83. Found it."
As she spoke, she pulled a sheet of paper from a stack of file folders, gave it a quick glance, and handed it to Herman.
Herman hurriedly took the document and began reading it eagerly.
Name: Herman Horace (determined from the aircraft's passenger list. However, because the infant's registration was incomplete, Herman is presumed to be the infant's given name, while Horace was entered based on the surname of the father who accompanied him aboard.)
The moment he finished reading the note, an ominous feeling rose in Herman's heart. What do they mean, inferring my name solely from an aircraft's passenger list? This doesn't look good.
Sure enough, as he read on, more information about himself came into view.
Flight K682, traveling from New York in the United States to London, suffered a sudden explosion for unknown reasons while passing over the waters near Cokeworth and crashed into the English Channel. Following an all-out rescue effort by teams from Cokeworth and nearby cities, seven passengers were successfully rescued. Among them, a child just three years old was unfortunately left orphaned.
"I was that three-year-old child, wasn't I?" Herman asked Director Margery for confirmation.
"That's right. I remember this especially clearly. My husband was working for the city government at the time and took part in the rescue. You were the only child who survived at the scene. Later, they contacted New York and obtained the ticket purchase records, which allowed them to establish your identity. I imagine Hogwarts might have obtained your information from the United States."
"Uh, so I'm actually American? Don't I have any relatives in the United States?" Herman asked, full of curiosity.
Director Margery shook her head helplessly. "The government did try to look for them at the time. Unfortunately, population registration requirements weren't as strict in the United States, and the information recorded when the tickets were purchased was extremely basic. There was simply no way to find any more leads. They even ran notices in the newspapers for quite a while, but no one came to claim you."
Damn capitalism. They hadn't put their all into it at all. They could have tried harder and thought of something.
"All right, so am I British or American?" Herman suddenly realized there was an interesting question.
Director Margery was quite knowledgeable and quickly provided an answer. "As an orphan, you've already acquired British citizenship. If you need to, when you go to the United States, you would only have to spend some time proving that the plane crash left you stranded in Britain. In theory, you could obtain American citizenship as well. Both countries recognize dual citizenship."
Not bad, getting two citizenships at once. Wouldn't that make those people desperate to move abroad green with envy? Unfortunately, I'd have to give all this up sooner or later. One identity card would be enough.
After grumbling to himself inwardly, Herman thought of another question. "Come to think of it, if the plane crashed, how did I survive?"
This really did seem a little at odds with common sense.
Director Margery also said with feeling, "It really was quite miraculous, but it makes sense if you think it through. The plane made an emergency landing on the water. Although it was going too fast, fortunately it didn't cause an explosion. The fuselage merely broke apart, and the passengers were swept into the Channel. In the end, a recovery operation was carried out at sea, and you and the other six passengers were rescued."