"You've had strange things happen to you more than once... How can you still not accept reality?" The middle-aged man spoke cryptically as he vigorously rubbed his daughter's head.
"There must be some reason, maybe we need to..." The little girl tried to say something more. Suddenly, she looked up and spotted Catherine and Ian hiding behind the corner wall.
"It's him! It's him! That's him! Dad! Mom and I met him! After that, all sorts of weird things started happening to me!"
"He even shouted out my name right away! He must have put witchcraft on me!" The little girl instantly raised her hand and let out a sharp, explosive shriek.
It's hard to imagine a girl of ten-something could push her voice almost to a soprano's pitch.
"Hmm?"
The middle-aged man and Lady Yelena immediately turned to look. They saw Catherine, terrified, raising her hand as she stepped forward, her face bright red and completely flustered.
"I didn't... Today is the first time I've met this young lady."
She thought they were talking about her.
Ian laughed and shook his head, stepping out with her.
"She's talking about me, Catherine."
The Little Wizard gestured for Catherine to leave quickly.
Then he glanced at the familiar little girl not far away, feeling a touch sentimental inside. He'd thought he'd only meet the trio at the start of school.
"Miss Hermione Granger, someone as devoted to science as you, how come you're going on and on about witchcraft?" Ian sighed lightly, a bit helpless.
That's right.
The little girl dragged to the orphanage by her father for a donation, hoping some "mysterious force" would help solve her weird troubles, was the very Hermione Ian had met before heading off to Hogwarts.
Guess fate is just full of surprises sometimes.
"I... I..."
Hermione was left speechless by Ian's words.
She stammered for ages, her ears red as ever, but still couldn't make sense of it.
"You could just tell me, witchcraft is maybe just science that hasn't been explained yet," Ian offered a kindly hint, which only made Hermione blush even harder.
"Dad! Mom and I met him!"
The girl could only seek help, hiding behind Mr. Granger. Professor Yelena had been puzzled, but after hearing Hermione complain, she immediately began to understand what was going on.
"Little Ian is one of the older kids at our orphanage. Sometimes he'll go out and try to earn a bit of money to help relieve the stress of living expenses."
"If he accidentally offended you or your family before, I'll apologize for him..." Professor Yelena hurriedly waved Ian over, sounding anxious.
"It's not as you think. I don't believe this boy has behaved improperly. My wife speaks highly of him. My daughter can just be a bit strong-willed sometimes."
Mr. Granger didn't really care about Hermione's complaints. He glanced at his daughter, whose face grew more anxious, then looked at the outstandingly handsome Ian standing before him.
"Young man, are you a Divination Master?"
Mr. Granger's eyes flickered a bit.
He wasn't using a confrontational tone.
But Professor Yelena quickly jumped in to explain for Ian.
"He's a good kid, who was admitted to an exceptional school without tuition fees. I believe there's been a misunderstanding—he doesn't have any Divination Master talent."
Lady Yelena looked extremely nervous.
"What school?"
Mr. Granger kept his smile, but suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Uh..."
Lady Yelena hesitated for a moment, then answered Mr. Granger's question. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Hogwarts Genius Youth Academy."
"Is that the right name, Little Ian?"
After saying this, she looked a bit uncertainly at Ian.
"That's right, that's the name."
Ian looked at Mr. Granger with a dazzling sunshine smile. If Ian remembered correctly, this was a highly-paid dentist in the United Kingdom. Doctors in the West are well-paid, so the Granger family was at least middle-class; a top-notch dentist can earn hundreds of thousands of Pounds a year.
"Hogwarts Genius Youth Academy..." Mr. Granger repeated, pondering. He often attended events with wealthy people and was certain this school didn't exist in the United Kingdom.
"It was after meeting you that weird things started happening to me! You have to tell me why!" Hermione, now hiding behind her dad, suddenly got some extra courage.
"I told you we'd meet again, didn't I? Here we are. Who knows, maybe we'll even be classmates." Ian shrugged, his words leaving Hermione completely confused.
Lady Yelena was also full of confusion in her eyes.
"So, is there really such a school?" Only Mr. Granger seemed to realize something, looking surprisingly and uncertainly at the little boy in front of him.
"Of course. It's right there, been around for a thousand years."
Ian replied.
"A thousand-year-old school, huh..."
Mr. Granger's pupils trembled violently; it was obvious he was deeply unsettled, though thanks to remarkable self-control he didn't let it show too much.