Meeting and everyday life
Hailey was crouched beneath a park bench, using her homemade "magic detector"-a Muggle multimeter and a wand core wrapped together with copper wire-to measure fluctuations in magic as ants moved their colony. Suddenly, the needle spun wildly and the meter let out a piercing buzz, startling her so badly that she fell onto her bottom amid the plane-tree leaves covering the ground.
She looked up to see her family's House-elf, Nini, emerging from thin air, her wrinkled face flushed as red as a ripe plum.
"Miss! Madam found the quantum mechanics notes you hid under your bed!" Nini's shriek sent the sparrows in the treetops flying. "She's holding her wand right now, and she's going to turn every Muggle book in the study into a toad!"
Hailey's pupils contracted sharply. Those notes were full of her drafts for deriving the law of magical conservation using the Schrödinger equation. If they were discovered, the "innocent seven-year-old child" persona she had worked so hard to maintain would fall apart completely!
She hurriedly grabbed the detector and stuffed it into her canvas teddy-bear backpack, then raced home with her crooked bow headband underfoot. As she ran, she didn't forget to repeat to herself, I absolutely can't let Mom see that page of notes on the Transfiguration Spell annotated using On the Origin of Species!
But just as she reached the front door, she heard her mother's elegant voice drifting out of the living room. "Darling, don't you think our Hailey should go out and make some more friends? She's always muttering about 'Schrödinger's cat' over those Muggle toys. I'm really worried about her..." Hailey froze in her tracks, cold sweat seeping down her back. It seemed her mother had not only discovered her handwriting but also picked up on those strange "cross-dimensional" remarks of hers.
And so Hailey was forced to embark on the "park socialization plan." She sat beside a swing, clutching a copy of Unsolved Mysteries of the Muggle World, while secretly watching for fluctuations of magic around her. Suddenly, the emerald-green magic in her palm stirred without warning. The previously still swing chains twisted into spirals in an instant, and rust from the seat fluttered into the sky as though a Levitation Charm had been cast on it.
"Hey, Hailey, we meet again." A childish voice came from behind her. Hailey scrambled to suppress her magic, and the swing crashed to the ground with a clang, kicking up a cloud of dust. She turned to see Harry Potter, the boy with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, standing beneath a plane tree. His worn T-shirt was flecked with grass, but his eyes shone with curiosity.
Hailey's heart skipped a beat. Although she had long known she would meet Harry before starting school, she couldn't help feeling nervous when she actually faced him. After all, he was the magical world's "child of prophecy"; anything she said could change the course of the plot.
Forcing herself to stay calm, she pulled a sweet smile. "Hey, how have you been lately?" She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth-wasn't she asking a question she already knew the answer to? How good could Harry's life with the Dursley family possibly be?
Harry sighed and kicked away a pebble at his feet. "You know, same as ever..." His voice was as dispirited as a wand spark that had been snuffed out. Hailey bit her lip, suddenly remembering her father's research notes in the attic. Maybe she could combine science and magic to do something for this lonely boy?
She led Harry to the secret base behind the rockery—a few carefully modified pipes. The outside was concealed with a Disillusionment Charm, and the inside had been expanded with an Undetectable Extension Charm. A battery-powered book light cast a soft glow, and a magic circle drawn using Muggle geometric formulas was carved into the simple tabletop. "This is a... nest I made for stray cats," Hailey lied, blushing. "If you're feeling cooped up, you can come here to read."
Harry carefully crawled inside, his eyes shining like a star-filled night sky. "Hailey, this is..." He was so excited that he could barely get the words out. He reached out to touch the markings on the tabletop. "It's incredible!" Seeing his reaction, Hailey felt a little of her anxiety ease. But she immediately grew wary again—she didn't want to get caught up in the magical war to come. Helping Harry build a secret base was the biggest concession she could make to her "stay-alive plan."
As he was leaving, Harry suddenly grabbed her wrist. "Hailey, why are you so nice to me?" His eyes were so clear it made her heart ache, as though he had caught hold of the only light in the darkness. Hailey pulled her hand back and said, pretending not to care, "Let's just call it... a cross-dimensional friendship! I'll bring you a Chocolate Frog next time. Remember, don't tell anyone about this place!"
On the way home, Nini fretted aloud, "Miss, you shouldn't get too close to that boy. The book of prophecies says..." Hailey cut her off. "Don't worry. I'm just lending him a place to read. It's as simple as lending him a copy of One Hundred Thousand Whys." But she knew in her heart that the moment she used science to modify the pipes, the moment the starlight shone in Harry's eyes, the threads of fate had quietly become entwined.
Night fell, and Hailey leaned against the attic window, watching a flock of owls sweep over the lights of the Muggle neighborhood. The emerald-green magic in her palm began to pulse again, this time tracing the shape of a lightning bolt on the windowpane. She gazed at the starry sky in the distant direction of Hogwarts, a faint smile curling her lips. Perhaps, in this world where magic and science collided, she had long since ceased to be a bystander—and was instead writing her own one-of-a-kind transmigration story.