Surname

"Term starts on September first. Here's your ticket. I assume you can find the station?" Snape left the ticket and those words behind, then vanished with a pop.

Aya breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized it when Snape brought her to Diagon Alley, but she now remembered that this map seemed to allow teleportation. She hadn't found a dragon vein in the forest over the past few days, and had thought she couldn't teleport anymore.

It wasn't time for dinner yet, and Aya still had a few dozen Galleons in her backpack. Following Snape's directions, she walked back to Diagon Alley, found a shop selling everyday goods, and went inside to stock up.

"A four-piece bedding set, toiletries, and changes of clothes. Those are the most important things," Aya muttered as she picked out several sets. Since they weren't magical items, they weren't expensive.

"Huh?" Aya stopped in front of an advertisement that read, "New home cleaning, your most loyal housekeeping team." Aya didn't know what housekeeping meant, but she knew what a new home and cleaning were.

Taking the flyer, she asked the shopkeeper about it. He cheerfully contacted the wizard named on the flyer for her, and Aya brought the witch, who promptly arrived, back to her little house.

"How much would it cost to clean this house?" Aya asked, a little worried she didn't have enough money.

"Not much. It's just a matter of a few spells." The witch looked around before naming a price. "Does the garden need cleaning too?"

"Yes," she answered, and the witch gave her a new price.

Aya found it acceptable, so the witch got straight to work. In less than half an hour, she had made the whole house look brand new.

Aya watched the magic, so different from what she used, her eyes shining.

"Thank you for hiring me. Have a lovely day!" The witch bowed, then took her bag of coins and left by Apparition.

Aya made the bed with the bedding she'd just bought, which the shopkeeper had helped her wash. It was a little difficult, but she enjoyed every moment.

By the time she lay down under the soft covers, Xiaohua was purring beside her. Her eyelids grew heavy, and before she could eat dinner, she fell fast asleep.

The warm bed kept Aya asleep until daylight filled the sky the next morning.

The room on the second floor had a simple little wooden balcony, only two square meters in size. Aya hadn't closed the balcony door when she fell asleep the night before, so she woke to find the room full of sunlight.

A soft pillow lay beneath her head, fragrant, soft bedding covered her, and Xiaohua's fluffy, warm body rose and fell in her arms. Aya felt as though she had come back to life.

Was this a life of her own?

On her first day waking up in her own home, Aya decided to go get some gold coins.

She put on the dress she'd bought yesterday, washed her face and rinsed her mouth in the bathroom, copying the NPCs she'd seen, then went to the front door on the first floor and put on her new shoes.

She'd spent so long following Snape around Diagon Alley yesterday, but had only seen glowing spots in a few corners and hadn't found any dungeons. So today, her goal was to search every inch of Diagon Alley from one end to the other!

Aya's house was in a corner of Diagon Alley—and that was no exaggeration. She had to turn off the main street onto a side street, turn off that into an alley, then squeeze through a gap between two houses at the end of the alley that was only wide enough for one person. Only after passing three abandoned homes would she reach her house.

Perhaps because it was so remote, Snape had kindly put a protective charm on it when he left yesterday. It would make people subconsciously believe it was still an abandoned old house and make them feel disinclined to go near it.

Aya liked corners like this, though. They made her feel as if she were hiding away.

Aya had put the pile of school supplies she'd bought yesterday into her system backpack. Apart from the wand, she wasn't very interested in any of them. Xiaohua, however, was quite interested in the cauldron. Whenever Aya took it out to look at it, Xiaohua would try to shrink and crawl inside.

Aya tucked her wand into her dress pocket and walked onto Diagon Alley's main street. She watched the people bustling back and forth, then entered a shop with a sign that read "Leaky Cauldron." It seemed to serve food. Aya tilted her head up and listened in confusion as the pub owner described the dishes; she didn't seem to understand a single one.

"...Perhaps you'd like the mixed fish soup. Of course, a sandwich is the easiest choice for breakfast. Or would cream of mushroom soup be a better fit? We also have some soft milk bread. Perhaps a young witch your age would prefer that?" Tom described the food between yawns as he polished a glass.

"Um... fish soup and a sandwich!" Aya had only caught "fish" and the word that came after it, so she promptly chose those two things.

"Right, just a moment-" Tom called to the kitchen, "One fish soup and one sandwich!"

Aya found a seat. The place wasn't particularly tidy, but it was better than some of the taverns she'd stayed in before.

There weren't many people in the pub so early in the morning. They all seemed to be adults hurrying through with yawns. They entered through the tavern's front door, then walked around the bar to the little courtyard at the back, where they could return to Diagon Alley. That was how Aya had just entered the shop.

Aya was more curious about the street outside, though. There seemed to be many people dressed differently there, hurrying to and fro, and things she didn't recognize sped along the street.

"Your breakfast-" A server brought Aya the meal she'd ordered. The aroma of the steaming fish soup was something a country bumpkin like Aya simply couldn't resist.

She stopped looking at the street and concentrated on savoring the sandwich's rich flavors, keeping her eyes on the fish soup as she waited for it to cool enough to eat.

"Ha, you suck! I win again!" a rough voice rang out excitedly. Chewing her sandwich, Aya looked up to see two men drinking and playing a game.

"How is that possible? Did you cheat?" The other man was incredulous. "Where's your wand? Let me see it! I don't believe you didn't secretly cast a spell just now!"

"With so many pairs of eyes watching on the board, how could I cheat?" The rough-voiced man took offense and slammed the table. Aya saw the pieces on their table all topple over.

"Could my luck really be this bad today? It's been a whole night!" Aya watched the two argue, her eyes wide. Everyone else seemed used to it.

The fish soup had cooled enough to eat. Aya used her utensils clumsily, drinking it one spoonful at a time. It smells so good! It tastes so good! It's even more delicious than yesterday's grilled fish!

Aya even repented in her heart: if she were allowed to return to her old world with its players, perhaps she would hesitate because of this bowl of fish soup.

After eating and drinking her fill, Aya was still curious about the street outside, but she was here to familiarize herself with every inch of Diagon Alley today. So she resolutely copied the others, walking around the bar to the little courtyard and tapping three times on the brick three up and two across from the dustbin, returning to Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley was crowded again today, with quite a few young witches and wizards running wildly through the street. Aya started with the nearest glowing spot and touched each one in turn.

"Five copper coins, seven silver coins, twenty-three copper coins, thirty-five copper coins..." Aya counted as she searched. Watching the numbers in her backpack slowly climb, she realized that her copper and silver coins hadn't automatically converted into higher denominations.

In Aya's original world, a hundred copper coins equaled one silver coin, and a hundred silver coins equaled one gold coin. Now, besides the few dozen gold coins left over from yesterday, she had more than five hundred silver coins and more than seven hundred copper coins in her backpack, none of which had automatically converted.

"That's strange," Aya muttered, crouching on the ground with Xiaohua sitting close beside her. She looked back along the entire street and saw that, apart from the humans wearing shiny accessories, there wasn't a single glowing spot left. Only then did she nod in satisfaction, her feet automatically carrying her toward a cold drinks shop she'd just passed.

"Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour." Aya looked up and entered with anticipation. This was another shop that looked absolutely delicious.

"Oh, welcome! What would you like?" Florean was washing dishes. Hearing the bell as she opened the door, he called out to her.

Aya looked at the rows upon rows of cold drinks and ice creams on the sign, torn. She didn't recognize a single one.

"This one, please." Aya pointed to a red-and-white ice cream on the menu.

"Coming right up-one strawberry milk ice cream!" Florean scooped two generous helpings onto a cone and handed it to Aya. "Careful, miss, they wobble!"

Aya looked at the ice cream, which had begun to wobble after being placed on the cone, and carefully took a lick. It was like partially frozen water, yet also like smooth, fine mud, with a sweet flavor and a hint of tartness. This is my favorite ice cream!

Eyes shining, Aya sat on a bench outside the parlour, basking in the warm sunshine as she ate her ice cream bite by bite. After reluctantly eating the last bite of the cone, she licked her fingers and considered going back in to buy another. Just then, a person suddenly appeared at the other end of the bench.

"Good afternoon, Miss Aya." The old man had white hair, a white beard, and white clothes. He wore half-moon glasses, his blue eyes curved as he smiled, and his nose was crooked. He greeted Aya in a kindly voice.

Aya looked him up and down. He was dressed all in white, but back where she came from, he could still have a red name.

She glared warily at the newcomer. "Who are you?"

"Oh, let me introduce myself. Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts." Dumbledore answered with a smile, paying no mind to Aya's wariness. He blinked. "Florean Fortescue's ice cream is still very popular after all these years, isn't it?"

"Headmaster? Sir?" Aya relaxed a little, and her tail immediately grew a size thinner. She paid no attention to what he said afterward.

"You may call me that. Welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said gently, looking at her.

"Is there something you wanted from me?" Aya asked.

"I wanted to ask about your name, Miss Aya. Why is the full name we received 'Friendly Aya'?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's my name," Aya answered. "It's been my name since I was born."

"Hmm... that presents a difficulty. I thought perhaps you might need a surname? Or something else?" Dumbledore looked at her searchingly.

"A surname?" Aya didn't seem particularly concerned.

"Most people have surnames. They connect you to your family and bloodline," Dumbledore said.

"Most people?" Aya shook her head. The NPCs she'd met before did all seem to have first and last names, though the customs here seemed a little different from theirs. "A connection to family..."

"Have you decided?" The main reason Dumbledore had made this trip was actually to see what the girl who had suddenly appeared in the Book of Admittance was like.

She was a little different from what he'd imagined. Ever since leaving home that morning, Aya had done nothing but eat breakfast and ice cream and wander all over the street, rummaging through piles of odds and ends in the corners. No matter how much dust, how many spiders or cobwebs were there, she ducked into corners at random, crouched in front of a pile for a while, then moved on to the next.

She got herself covered in dust, then happily went to buy an ice cream.

She looked just like any normal child, with a touch more innocence than most.

Apart from a possible lack of facial expression—which Severus had told him about when he returned to the school to report on his work yesterday—the new student they'd brought back from the forest, accompanied by a magical cat with considerable fighting ability, was adapting to life in town better than expected. At least, that proved she hadn't truly spent all her time living in the wilderness before.

And then there were her obvious beastkin features.

Although beastkin weren't particularly rare in the wizarding world, there wasn't a single student of mixed heritage like her at Hogwarts at present.

"Decided..." Aya muttered. "Hawthorne. I want to be called Hawthorne. Aya Hawthorne."

"Oh? The hawthorn tree, a symbol of resilience and longevity. A very good surname," Dumbledore praised her. "You have good taste."

"It's a surname the person who used to take care of me liked. My name is the same as hers, too," Aya said after thinking it over and embellishing it a little. The people in this world were a little more lively than those back where she came from; she thought every one of them was like a player.

"...Well, then I shall register that name in the school records. It will be with you forever." Dumbledore sighed and responded gently, but his mind was already racing through the families he knew, searching for any named Hawthorne.

Clearly, it wasn't a Pure-blood surname. It was more like an uncommon Muggle surname, taken from the hawthorn tree. Its predecessor had likely originally been Hawthorn, but that was a Muggle surname too, and Dumbledore couldn't remember anyone particularly well-known in the wizarding world who used either surname...

The names of young witches and wizards were recorded in the Book of Admittance by the Quill of Acceptance from the moment they were born. They didn't suddenly appear halfway through their lives, much less a few days before acceptance letters were to be sent out, as Aya's had. That was unheard of.

"Do you have any other questions?" Aya asked, tilting her head. Xiaohua, held in her arms, tilted their head and looked at him too.

Dumbledore lowered his eyes to look at the tabby cat named Xiaohua. He keenly sensed that there was no soul in the cat's body, and its bright-looking eyes held no awareness. Perhaps it was an alchemical creation? He looked up and asked Aya, "This... Xiaohua, is it? Is this the pet you intend to bring to school?"

"No, Xiaohua is a weapon," Aya answered.