Red Item

"My parents were already taken off for drinks by Mr. Weasley before I came looking for you," Hermione said. She had only gone looking for Aya and the others after seeing her parents drawn into conversation.

"That's how my dad is," Ron said, munching on the last of his ice cream cone. "He's fascinated by everything Muggle, including Muggles-"

"That sounds a bit like looking at magical creatures," Harry remarked. "But there are far more Muggles than wizards. Maybe wizards are the magical creatures."

"Never mind. It's about time. Is there anything else you want to buy?" Hermione glanced at the two boys, then looked at Aya, who was holding an armful of toys. "Want me to carry some for you?"

"No." Aya refused. When she usually swept through Diagon Alley, she rarely visited any shops other than restaurants, so she hadn't noticed how many little things the wizarding toy shop had put on its shelves over the summer holidays. Now she had a toy monkey massaging her head, a flashing necklace around her neck, a chocolate egg in her arms that would contain little toys when opened, and two bedtime dolls that soothed her to sleep.

"Then shall we go to Flourish and Blotts?" Hermione suggested, anticipation on her face. "Lockhart is holding a book signing there today. That's why I chose to come today."

"Oh—that explains it!" Ron wrinkled his nose. "That must be why Mum chose today too!"

Hermione led the way, with Aya and the two boys following her. When they reached Flourish and Blotts, they found a huge crowd gathered outside, everyone jostling and trying their hardest to squeeze in.

A large banner stretched across the second floor of Flourish and Blotts: Gilderoy Lockhart signing copies of his autobiography, "Magical Me," today from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"We're finally here!" Hermione jumped up excitedly, but most of the people ahead were witches around Mrs. Weasley's age, and she couldn't squeeze past them at all. "We can meet him in person! Almost all the books on this term's list were written by him!"

"Oh, yes, yes-" Ron answered sarcastically. He had heard the name far too many times over the summer, and though he hadn't met the man yet, he was already starting to dislike this Lockhart.

"Ladies, quiet—no pushing, mind the books-" A tired-looking wizard, apparently a bookshop employee, was trying to get everyone into an orderly queue.

The four children used their small size to squeeze through gaps in the crowd. Aya reached the place where the Weasley family and Hermione's family were queuing first. Duoduo had bought her books long ago, so she was only here to join in the fun today.

Hermione and the others each took a copy of "Break with a Banshee" from the shelves, then hurried back and squeezed in front of the adults.

"There you are at last!" Mrs. Weasley held Ginny's hand and smoothed her red curls. "We'll get to see him soon..."

The twins curiously squeezed the monkey on Aya's head, while the bedtime dolls in her arms caught Hermione's mother's attention. Aya was munching on a small bread roll she had taken out while waiting in the queue, and generously let them play with her toys.

As the queue grew shorter, they caught sight of Lockhart.

"...What a strange sight," Aya muttered. "It looks a bit like a television shop."

Lockhart sat behind a table, surrounded by large photographs of himself. Wizarding photographs could move, and the large ones behind him were all winking and smiling at the crowd, showing off his dazzling white teeth.

"There are too many of them—I think I'm going blind," Ron muttered, earning a disapproving smack from Mrs. Weasley.

Aya stared at the man signing books with a beaming smile. For some reason, she felt her claws itching.

When Aya's group was nearly at the front, Lockhart suddenly recognized Harry and rushed over excitedly, pulling him out for a photograph. "Lovely smile, Harry. We'll make the front page together."

By the time Harry returned, he looked as though he had been ravaged.

"You look like you've died of embarrassment," Aya said.

"No 'look like' about it," Ron said firmly.

Amid the cheers as Lockhart happily announced that he would be Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor for the coming year, Harry silently put the full set of books Lockhart had given him into Ginny's cauldron.

"I knew it—you still love the spotlight, don't you, Potter?" Draco appeared in the bookshop with a mocking smile. "The famous Harry Potter, making the front page just by walking into a bookshop?"

"Don't talk rubbish!" Ginny spoke up of her own accord for once, glaring at Draco. "He didn't want that!"

Whenever Aya saw her, she always felt that the switch for Ginny's voice was on Harry. Hearing her speak up like this for once, Aya couldn't help looking at her a few more times.

"Potter, you got yourself a girlfriend?" Draco drawled. Ginny blushed, and Hermione and Ron squeezed over too.

Aya curiously asked Hermione beside her, "Can you get a girlfriend when you're this young?" She remembered her player saying that even fifteen or sixteen was considered too young to date.

But their world was different from Aya's. In Aya's world, characters were born in adult form, so it didn't matter what relationships the players had; sometimes the characters themselves developed feelings for one another.

"Nothing of the sort!" Hermione hurriedly corrected Aya. "At our age, it's all just playing house. Don't go believing that!"

"Then why did Malfoy say Harry had a girlfriend?" Aya asked curiously.

"Hmm... Maybe those Pure-blood families arrange engagements from childhood?" Hermione guessed. Her family was just an ordinary wealthy family, and she didn't know much about those rich families. She could only catch glimpses of their lives and rules from books.

"Oh, arranged marriages. I know about those." Aya nodded. She had heard her player talk about them before too-loudly demanding to know why the government didn't assign her a boyfriend, and pointing at photos of handsome men with her friends, saying she wanted one like that.

Although Aya had never been in a relationship, her player had. During that time, all she talked about was her boyfriend, until Aya's ears were practically worn out.

In the space of those few exchanges, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy Senior confronted each other.

Malfoy Senior's sharp tongue and cutting mockery made Ginny, that unsuspected little firecracker, hurl her stuffed-full cauldron straight at him. Mr. Weasley also lunged at Malfoy Senior, knocking him into a bookcase. Dozens of thick spellbooks fell on their heads, but neither man let go of the other.

"Weren't adult wizards allowed to use spells outside school?" Aya's mouth formed a surprised O as she watched the fierce brawl. As a mage, she had Xiaohua do all her hand-to-hand fighting.

"Stop being surprised!" Hermione screamed. "Quick, Xiaohua, send your Xiaohua to help!"

"Oh, of course! You said it-" Aya agreed excitedly.

Xiaohua charged over, deftly leaping onto several tables to gain height before making a final flying leap between the two men, who were gripping each other's collars. Then he grew larger without ceremony. Mr. Weasley was squeezed aside and fell onto the book-covered floor, hurting his back, while Malfoy Senior ended up under Xiaohua's backside.

"Go, Xiaohua!" The twins had been cheering for Mr. Weasley, but at the sight, they immediately switched sides, jumping up and down and cheering Xiaohua on.

"Hawthorne!!" Draco had sensed trouble when he saw the cat charge out, and screamed when he saw his father buried beneath the giant cat. "You can't sit on my dad like that! Get your damned cat off him!"

"I've sat on one Malfoy already, so why can't my cat sit on another?" Aya shouted back. Xiaohua was much heavier than she was; there was no way he would be overturned this time!

A few more books fell from the shelves, and the crowd backed away to watch the farce. The wizard who had just been taking pictures for the Daily Prophet aimed his camera this way, while Lockhart excitedly told him that people had started fighting at his meet-and-greet, and that this was sure to take his popularity to new heights.

Draco ran down the stairs and tried to push Xiaohua off to save his dad. He knew Xiaohua wouldn't bite, so he grabbed the cat's tail and pulled hard, trying to drag him away. His determination to move a mountain moved Aya deeply.

Then Xiaohua lifted his elegant backside slightly-Draco stumbled and quickly let go of the tail, which was thicker than he was, and went to pull Mr. Malfoy Senior out.

"Merlin-" Mrs. Weasley covered her face, the scream that had risen when she saw the two adults fighting stuck in her throat. "I'll never worry about Aya living alone being unsafe again."

"We told you ages ago, Aya's Xiaohua is a super kitty!" As Xiaohua's loyal supporters, Fred and George had complete faith in his abilities-especially after hiring him several times to take them to the Forbidden Forest.

"Hmph-" Malfoy Senior truly was Draco's father. Though he had been sat on, he remained haughty. His handsome long hair was dishevelled, and the skin around one eye was red where a book had struck it. He tried hard to brush the dust off himself, but the damned cat hair clung stubbornly to his black coat.

He forcefully hurled Ginny's old textbook, which he had picked up, at Aya. "Such a good girl, rushing to help," he said coldly. "I do wish you would stay away from them, but it's already too late. You're covered in the stink of Weasley poverty!"

"You look a real mess," Aya said sincerely, catching the book with ease.

That single sentence broke both Malfoys present.

Covered in cat hair that a single Scourgify couldn't deal with, Malfoy Senior shot another vicious glare at Ginny, who had thrown the cauldron first. "Little girl, take good care of your books. They're the best your father can give you. If you throw them and damage them next time, there won't be a second set!" Only then did the two Malfoys leave under Xiaohua's watch, their blond hair dishevelled and their coats no longer pure black.

Aya's group made it out of the bookshop without anyone stopping them—not with such a huge cat following behind. Even the shop assistant didn't dare approach. Once they reached the street, Mrs. Weasley shrilly cursed Malfoy and went on to say that Mr. Weasley had paid no regard to the children's presence and hadn't set them a good example...

"Is this your textbook?" As Aya handed Ginny the books Malfoy Senior had thrown at her, she noticed an old black-covered notebook among them.

"I don't think so?" Ginny took it and looked it over, then shook her head. Mrs. Weasley had only bought her secondhand textbooks; her notebooks and things were new.

"Okay, it's mine." Aya put it straight into her backpack. She had already taken it out of the shop, so whoever it belonged to, it was hers now.

Then Aya looked at the icon in her backpack in pleasant surprise. This notebook was actually a red item!

This was her own long-lost notebook!!

Aya's delight became visible at once. Even Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who knew her least of anyone there, noticed how happy she was-mainly because her tail was raised high and swaying from side to side. Ginny, standing right beside her, was struck several times by its tip.

Although there had been a small mishap, the day's outing had gone fairly smoothly. Harry was going back to the Burrow with the Weasley family, while Hermione was returning to the Muggle streets with her parents. Aya said goodbye to them at the Leaky Cauldron and went home with her toys in her arms.

Soon, another week was over.

It was only when Duoduo reminded her that Aya realized her holiday was about to run out. But she-she hadn't touched her homework at all!

Aya promptly decided to spend a few more days at the Burrow. Mainly because, when she had visited earlier, Percy had barely come out of his room, and Aya had completely forgotten about her dear study aid.

When Aya arrived at the Burrow with her homework, Harry and Ron were also scratching their heads over their essays. Aya gave them a look of sympathy for fellow sufferers, then haughtily went upstairs to find Percy's room-Mrs. Weasley had kindly told her where it was.

"Why can't Percy be a little more patient with his brother too?" Ron grumbled. "Even with essays like Aya's, which are worse than mine, he can put up with tutoring her."

"Maybe he's trying to win followers," Harry said nonsensically. "You know, he wants to be Minister for Magic."

Aya reached Percy's door and banged on it. There was the sound of a chair moving inside, followed by footsteps approaching the door. It was pulled open at once. "I told you, don't bother me-Aya?"

Percy was startled for a moment to see Aya when he opened the door, then noticed the stack of homework papers in her arms. "...You must be here to have me check your homework, right?" he asked, refusing to give up hope. Then he saw the junior who had already plagued him twice wearing that look again—the look she gave a saviour. No, the look she gave him when she wanted homework help.

"...I-" Percy's expression had only relaxed for a second when Aya tried to barge in. "Wait, wait, you can't come in, I've got—no, let's go to the living room!" Percy hurriedly braced a hand against Aya's shoulder to stop her. The letter he was going to send his dear girlfriend was still on his desk; he couldn't let this girl who couldn't keep her mouth shut see it!

Satisfied, Aya brought Percy downstairs. Ron was a little surprised to see him. "What, aren't you studying how to get power anymore? You actually have time to sit with us?"

"Being kind to fellow students is a Prefect's duty," Percy said expressionlessly.

"Tch, how fake," Ron muttered. Percy had passed twelve subjects in his fifth-year O.W.L.s Examination, and Mrs. Weasley had practically spoiled him rotten this summer, saying outright that he was her most accomplished son. Ron had already felt rather overlooked at home, and now he was even more twisted with jealousy.

"Then don't listen," Percy said impatiently, pressing his lips together.

"No. My ears are attached to me!" Ron huffed.