Knockturn Alley

At breakfast, Mia and Harry received their school booklists along with Ron and the others. Dumbledore really did know everything; he even knew the siblings were at The Burrow.

Poor Errol accidentally flew into a window while delivering the letters. It sounded painful.

After getting dressed, Ginny stuck close to Mia and Harry, chattering away as she asked Mia about school. The admiration in Ginny's eyes really made it hard for Mia to turn her down.

"Mia, did you really defeat a dark wizard all by yourself?" Ginny looked at Mia curiously, her eyes wide.

"Yes, I did." Seeing the twins' gloating looks, Mia sighed helplessly and answered Ginny gently.

"I also heard you got full marks in every subject, and you even received a special contribution award! You're amazing!"

"Thank you. It really wasn't that much." Mia was a little embarrassed by the praise, but she continued to speak patiently with Ginny.

"Um, could I have your and Harry's autographs?" Ginny suddenly grew shy and awkwardly pulled out a notebook. When she opened it, Mia could see it was full of news about the siblings and words written in Ginny's childish handwriting.

Mia stared at it for a moment. She hadn't expected anyone to like and follow them so innocently.

"Of course." Mia took the notebook and wrote a blessing on the cover, wishing Ginny Weasley peace, happiness, and all the best in English.

Mia had beautiful handwriting, with strong, vigorous strokes and elegant cursive. In her previous life, she had been very good at writing in semi-cursive script. Someone had once remarked that her writing looked neat and graceful, yet somehow bristled with killing intent, sharp and cutting like a sword drawn from its sheath-nothing like her lazy demeanor.

"Thank you, Mia!" Ginny looked at her with rosy cheeks, her eyes curving into a smile.

Mia handed the notebook to Harry, who likewise wrote a blessing before returning it to Ginny. Ginny hugged the notebook to her chest, treasuring it.

Once everyone had changed into their robes, it was time to set off for Diagon Alley to buy textbooks. Every wizarding family had a connection to the Floo Network; all they had to do was grab a handful of Floo Powder and say the name of their destination to travel there directly.

But something went wrong. After Ron demonstrated, Harry accidentally said Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley. Mia immediately wanted to go after him. Harry didn't know what Knockturn Alley was, but she did! Mrs. Weasley stopped her just in time, though.

Knockturn Alley was a dark, dilapidated little alley, a stark contrast to the bustling, bright and glamorous Diagon Alley. It was known for its Dark Magic shops and items associated with Dark Magic, and was a place frequented by many dark wizards and Dark Magic enthusiasts.

Harry ended up at Borgin and Burkes, a shop that dealt in Dark Magic items.

The unlucky boy also happened to stumble upon Lucius Malfoy depositing Dark Magic items. Fortunately, Harry hid quickly, and Hagrid appeared in time to get him out.

"Harry! Hagrid?" Mia, who had been waiting anxiously outside Flourish and Blotts, hurried over with Hermione when she saw Harry. "Where did you go? Are you all right?"

"Sorry for worrying you. I'm fine, I just got lost. Luckily, Hagrid was there." Seeing how anxious his sister was, Harry hurried to reassure her.

"I'm glad you're all right. Thank you, Hagrid." Mia looked at Hagrid, who had helped them yet again, and gave him a grateful smile.

"No problem, but I should be going. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." After saying goodbye to Hagrid, Mia saw how filthy Harry was and cast Scourgify on him. Only when he was clean and fair again did she nod in satisfaction.

"Your glasses are broken again. Reparo!" Seeing that Harry's glasses looked just as they had when they first met in their first year, Hermione smiled and used Reparo.

"That's a handy spell. Looks like I need to remember it." Harry also recalled their first meeting, and the three of them couldn't help laughing.

"By the way, how come you two are together?" Harry asked, puzzled as he looked at the two of them acting so close.

"Hermione came to buy books with her parents too, and we happened to run into each other."

It was quite a coincidence. Although it wasn't Hermione's parents' first visit to the wizarding world, they inevitably still had trouble adjusting. Fortunately, the Weasley family and Mia had happened to run into Hermione's family, so they could shop together.

"Let's go inside first."

The three of them entered the bookshop together. Many witches were lining up.

"?" Harry was puzzled, but he went to find Mrs. Molly and let her know he was safe first.

"Harry, thank goodness. Luckily, you didn't go too far." Mrs. Weasley looked Harry over to make sure he wasn't hurt. Just then, a man's voice rang out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart!" A handsome wizard appeared.

The witches in the shop screamed loudly enough to bring down Flourish and Blotts. Even Hermione was jumping up and down with excitement.

"Mum's mad about him," Ron said helplessly to Harry, earning a smack from Mrs. Weasley.

"Make way, sir, madam, this is for the Daily Prophet..." A man carrying a camera squeezed through the crowd, and Gilderoy Lockhart gave the camera a practiced smile.

"Who's that?" Harry asked Mia in a low voice.

"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this term, and the author of that long list of books. I don't think we'll learn much this term either. You should practice with me again." Mia thought Hogwarts wasn't very good at choosing teachers.

"Surely it won't be that bad..." Harry was just about to discuss it further with Mia when Lockhart spotted him. The man with the camera pulled Harry over for a photo with Lockhart. Mia hurriedly covered her face to keep them from grabbing her too; she was no less famous than Harry.

Mia wasn't interested in watching Lockhart hold on to Harry and make a speech. When she looked up, her eyes met Draco's.

The young master wore a black Slytherin cloak and had his hair slicked back. He was leaning over the wooden railing with his arms folded, looking thoroughly displeased. Mia had to admit, he was really handsome.

Only when Mia finally looked his way did Draco raise his brows and smile. Mia blinked back at him.

Before Lockhart let Harry go, he kindly gave him a set of books. That was nice; it saved them some money.

Lockhart was holding a book signing there, but Mia wasn't interested, so she squeezed out with Harry, Ginny, and the Weasley brothers.

Draco came downstairs at just the right time, tearing off a page as he went.

"Long time no see. So someone still remembers me."

Draco had only just reached her when Mia heard the young master's resentful, sarcastic remark.

"No, you really can't blame me for that. My letters were intercepted. Didn't I write to explain?" To keep her friend from worrying, Mia had written back to explain as soon as she was rescued.

"Hmph! I worried about you all holiday, and you brushed me off with a few words?"

Honestly, Draco's letters were by far the thickest of anyone's. He shared every detail of his day, stopping just short of telling Mia when he went to the bathroom.

"I was wrong. It won't happen again." Mia knew she was in the wrong, so she apologized at once.

"Hmph, just this once!"