Becoming a Seeker

After dinner at Lily's house, Evita returned home and climbed into her suitcase. She made a couple of rounds, marked out a large Quidditch Pitch, and prepared to practice becoming a Seeker.

She made fairly good progress. The excellent eyesight she had inherited from her Veela blood gave her a strong start, and her sharp reflexes allowed her to catch the Golden Snitch quickly.

Evita was a half-blood, though, and she was a little disappointed that even when she tried to get especially angry, she couldn't grow a bird's head or wings, much less throw fireballs.

But she soon put that disappointment behind her and continued practicing. Her companion was a Golden Snidget, a bird that had once served as the Golden Snitch in Quidditch Matches. It was extraordinarily fast and could change direction in flight with incredible speed and skill. It had later come close to extinction, which was why it had disappeared from Quidditch Matches.

The Golden Snidget flew at high speed as Evita practiced again and again, only to be caught each time as the girl carefully closed her hands around it. It looked more like a game.

In fact, this really was the Golden Snidget's favorite game. It spread its wings again and again, disappearing and reappearing from time to time.

Evita soared high and low on her broom, quickly mastering dives and teaching herself quite a few feints. Only when night fell did she drag her exhausted body to bed, deciding to start exercising the next day.

Unfortunately, the soft blankets succeeded in sealing her in the next morning. When Evita struggled out of bed, she found that it was already twelve o'clock.

She collected the newspapers she subscribed to from the mailbox by the door and from an owl's leg, then looked through them one by one. First was the Daily Prophet, which carried some rather unremarkable news and an advertisement for Nimbus Series broomsticks.

Advertisements... After finishing the little puzzle in it, Evita decided to advertise her own shop someday too.

She then looked through Britain's three major newspapers: The Guardian, The Times, and The Daily Telegraph. She paid more attention to their literary content, skimming the articles and feeling an urge to submit something herself.

But Evita soon abandoned the impractical idea. There was an insurmountable gulf between the sciences and the humanities, and whatever she wrote came out sounding like an academic report. She could only keep working hard at Quidditch, occasionally asking James for advice.

James was very enthusiastic about it, but he was a Chaser, so the help he could give Evita was limited.

"I'm convinced the difference between Chasers and Seekers is as deep as the Mariana Trench," Evita mumbled, sprawled in Lily's arms.

Beside them, Harry nodded with a very earnest look, though he didn't understand what any of it meant.

Evita poked the child's round head and teased, "Oh, do you want to try flying on a broom too, Harry? Hmm... maybe you'll be a great Seeker someday."

Harry, who had ridden a broom only on his first birthday and had no memory of it, tilted his head in confusion. "What broom?"

Evita's face froze. Looking at little Harry, whose height was only three times the size of his head, she gave a dry laugh.

That afternoon, Harry rode a child's broom, flying around the living room and cheering with delight.

Evita, whom Lily had appointed as the obvious choice to watch the child, gripped two wands tightly and couldn't look away for a second. It even made her eyes better at tracking objects.

Lily, who had secretly cast protective charms on the living room, strolled away.

The summer holiday went on, and one morning Evita received a letter from Professor Slughorn, inviting her to join the club named after him.

In the letter, Professor Slughorn wrote that he was about to retire, but considered her a student with a genuine talent for Potions and was therefore inviting her. He also hoped she could send him a signed photograph.

Evita knew that Lily was also a member of the Slug Club. Though a little puzzled, she accepted without hesitation. Soon, she received a book from Professor Slughorn containing many novel and interesting recipes, along with a letter discreetly asking what her mother was researching.

...All right.

Over the next two months, Evita studied potions in the mornings and exchanged ideas with Lily and Professor Slughorn from time to time. She practiced Quidditch in the afternoons, and her days were full and exciting.

Of course, she didn't neglect fields outside Potions, either.

As for languages, she could now communicate with most animals without difficulty. Apart from readily recognizable languages like Parseltongue, most of the others had a wonderfully peculiar sound, a little like singing. To make a comparison, it was like a British person listening to a Chinese person speak a dialect, inspiring a sense of awe at something impressive but incomprehensible.

As for what to study next... Evita thought for a moment and opened Advanced Charms. She had progressed so quickly that she had already finished the material for the lower years.

But Advanced Charms was on a whole other level. There weren't as many of them, but they were all extremely obscure and profound, with substance comparable to calculus.

Refreshed after drinking a glass of juice, Evita buried herself in her studies. She had always loved difficult challenges, and now her enthusiasm was soaring.

She studied until the summer holiday was nearly over. When Evita looked up from her books, she realized she had made Lupin the only one among them with a job, which gave her a great sense of accomplishment.

Lily and James were full-time parents at home, taking care of Harry. They probably wouldn't consider working until Harry started school, and might not work even then. Sirius had no shortage of money and hadn't taken a job either. Meanwhile, young as she was, Evita had the honor of becoming the actual owner of a shop.

She named it the Nonexistent Shop and happily gave Lupin a silver badge identifying him as the shopkeeper, along with a new set of robes. Patting him on the shoulder, she encouraged him to work hard.

The adult took the child along on an "inspection." Evita surveyed the shop before her: it had two floors and an attic, was painted white, and bore a large sign. Its exterior was very conspicuous, and no matter how she looked at it, it was a far cry from "nonexistent."

Evita was satisfied, though. She thought the name had an air of mystery, making the shop seem like a transcendent place hidden in plain sight.

As for the layout, the first floor sold most of the potions, some interesting items, and food. The second floor sold some more expensive goods, while the attic served as a storeroom.

Once the potions had been arranged in rows, Evita went out to buy what she needed for her second year. She bought many more books as well; she was growing increasingly interested in books describing this magical world.