04

Penny. Evans.

The name was really unexpected by Eli. As a wizard and a Muggle, his and this girl's lives were theoretically like two non-parallel straight lines, intersecting briefly on platform nine and three-quarters, and then naturally parting apart to live two very different lives. Now that I have received a letter from the other side, it feels like a sequel to a novel with a complete ending suddenly appeared, and it is difficult to guess what else it can say.

Eli stared unexpectedly at the name on the envelope for a few seconds, and couldn't help but raise his head to look at another Evans he knew.

She sat diagonally across from him, smearing jam on her bread. Next to her roommate – presumably Mary, also a girl from a Muggle family – was chatting lightly about something.

Eli noticed that Lily hadn't received the letter this morning, which made him look at the one he had received again and feel genuinely curious.

Probably a love of exploration is also his inherent nature, which is a bit like a Gryffindor. Eli unfolded the letter, and there were two pages of white letterhead inside, the text was well arranged, each letter was neat, there was no trace of alteration at all, and it seemed that he had been drafted several times to make the finished product so perfect. The name is written in flowered characters at the beginning, which looks very formal.

-Eli. Mr. Smith:

-I'm Penny. Evans, we met once on platform nine and three-quarters of King's Cross on September 1st. I don't know if you remember me, my sister Lily. Evans is also going to your school this year, and you may have an impression of her.

-I'm sorry to bother you so presumptuously, but if you remember, you gave me a handkerchief on the platform that day. Whether it was out of ridiculous sympathy or something else – I would like to repeat, I attended a decent school run by normal people and did not need sympathy at all – but in short, you did it so superfluously, and I did not return that handkerchief to you in time out of astonishment and haste.

- Herein lies the problem. When I got back I washed the handkerchief and put it on my hanger to dry – I can assure you that it was an ordinary hanger, there was no magic and no one else would touch it – but the next day, the handkerchief was gone! I searched in the house for a long time, and found only an owl feather on the ground, don't tell me, this is the handkerchief you took out!

　　- What the hell! You wipe my tears with an owl feather! I even actually used it! Is this a trick peculiar to you wizards? Lily went to that school of yours to learn these boring things? Do you usually tease people like this? Or is it just aimed at me? I must say, it doesn't work! I wasn't scared at all! Just have some new understanding of the badness in your personality!

　　- Everyone—I mean, you wizards, can you do this? Like the magic cast on Cinderella's crystal shoes, it will take effect after twelve o'clock? Or is it a special trick that only you wizards can activate to tease Muggles like me?

　　-Anyway, I decided to return this feather to you. It is the stuff of you people and clearly does not belong to me. If you think you can amuse me with this kind of thing, then I'm going to tell you that you're wrong, and if you want to do it again when we meet next time, I'll throw what you took out in your face.

　　-—— Penny. Evans, serious, serious, and full of warning.

　　I didn't know if I would receive this letter, I asked the postman who came to our school every day to deliver the newspaper, he didn't know anything about Hogwarts - of course, he was also a Muggle, and it was normal not to know what was going on over there. But I still put the letter in the mailbox, you are still in the UK after all, aren't you? If you do not receive the letter, I will ask Lily to tell you the next time she comes home, and in any case I will definitely convey my attitude and ask Mr. Smith not to report any fluke mentality.

　　-And: If you receive a letter, find a way to tell me, you wizards must all think you have a good way? It's okay to leave it alone, but rather that's exactly what I expected, very reasonable.

　　- Finally: I didn't put the feathers in the envelope, I was afraid that the letter would be lost during delivery. If it's a precious magic item, I'll find a way to give it back to you.

　　Eli read the letter carefully, and when he saw half of it, there was already a shallow smile on his lips. Seeing the end, he had to raise the letter paper to cover his face to hide his dumb smile.

　　He took the letter in his hand and looked down at another one from the same owl - unsurprisingly, this one from the Ministry of Magic. He scanned through the ten lines preparedly, and the letter told him that the Ministry of Magic had retrieved the address of Hogwarts from the Muggle communication network and had been checked to be sent to him. The Ministry of Magic reminded him that this was not in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Wizarding Secrecy Act, and that Muggles would use specific channels to contact wizards.

　　The letter was casually set aside by Eli, who read it again during breakfast with the stern, hardworking, but very interesting letter in his hand. This feeling is a bit fresh, like suddenly there are more distant pen pals, and their lives are completely different, making this kind of communication interesting.

　　But... Eli thought and raised her eyebrows slightly, looking at Lily on the other side.

　　Lily noticed his long gaze and looked over curiously: "Eli? Do I have something on my face?"

　　In her inquiring eyes, Eli replied without changing her face: "I'm thinking." "

　　Lily and Mary, as well as the other Gryffindors who heard this, burst out laughing – there was nothing wrong with that, but a Gryffindor declaring himself at the breakfast table that he was in some kind of philosophy, and these elements were fine to look at alone, and together they did have a bit of a bit of a strange style.

　　"Okay, okay." Lily smiled with a smile on her eyebrows, and cooperated with him with interest, "Well, big thinker, what are you thinking?"

　　"Wizards can send letters to Muggles, such as Hogwarts acceptance letters. And what about the other way around? How do Muggles contact wizards if they want to?"

　　Lili was startled, and her face suddenly changed slightly. Mary didn't notice anything wrong and asked blankly, "Why did a Muggle contact a wizard?"

　　"For example, your parents want to send you a letter." Eli reminded her.

　　Yes. Mary suddenly tilted her head slightly, and also fell into thought: "I haven't paid attention to this problem for a few days just now... I haven't received a letter from home yet, but it should be soon, and I wrote a letter and sent it home, and the owl will definitely be able to bring my parents' reply. "

　　Eli looked at Lily.

　　Lily's face turned a little pale, and she hesitated, but finally said, "I don't know, maybe we can ask Professor McGonagall." "

　　Good idea. Eli nodded, indicating that he was persuaded, put his letter away carefully, put the one from home on top, and continued to eat his meal.

　　Lily put down her knife and fork and looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment, before going to Transfiguration class, unsurprisingly stopping him.

　　"Eli, why did you ask that in the morning?"

　　"A little curious." Eli said calmly, "I have a strong spirit of intellectual curiosity, and my father passed this gene to me. "

　　Lily bit her lip uneasily.

　　"You know Penny, in that case, that letter you..." she asked tentatively.

　　To her surprise, Eli reacted quickly and waved her hand, stopping what she wanted to say.

　　"It's just acquaintance." He smiled at her politely and gently, "It would be rude to take advantage of your poor communication to explore this privacy." "

　　That's right. Lili sighed, and her face became bright again: "Very gentleman, Eli, maybe the next time I send a letter to my sister, I can mention you to her?" I guess she'll be happy to see it, it's definitely better to see your name than Seaver's... To be honest, it's much better for her. "

What a sure description. Eli shook her head and smiled, noticing the details of her words: "Did you send the letter home?" I remember that your sister does not live at home now, she attends boarding school. "

　　"yes, she only comes home once a month." Lily nodded, her face darkening slightly, "I thought about writing to her and sending it to her school." But Seaver said she must have hated seeing an owl at her school, which made her even more angry with me... I think he has a point. "

　　After Lily finished whispering, she suddenly raised her head and dropped her expectant gaze on Eli: "What do you think, Eli?" You always analyze the problem clearly, and the professors like you so much. "

　　Facing her expectant gaze, Eli spread her hands.

　　"Obviously I can't speculate on what other people think." He said, then paused, "But I suggest you try it first—don't piece together your sister from someone else's point of view." You are sisters, and it should be easier to get angry and reconcile than everyone else. "

　　Two days after sending that letter, Penny began unconsciously looking at the sky from time to time.

　　There's always something weird about that kind of person, isn't it? She thought. The last time she wrote that stupid letter—secretly delivered it in the middle of the night with Lily's owl—she received a handwritten rejection from the school principal the next day. Their reactions are always quick, and don't try to hide such little things from those people.

　　But two days have passed since that letter, and there is still no movement.

　　It's understandable, it's understandable that she's sending a letter to a first-year freshman, not a principal, maybe not a big skill — or just simply disdainful of her, which is entirely conceivable.

　　Every time Penny thought of this, she would snort heavily in her heart to show her same disdain. But she still looked up at the sky from time to time, and she couldn't tell whether she wanted to kill herself, or if she really wanted to see some animal with wings flying towards her.

　　Although that hope is slim.

　　On the morning of the third day, Penny and her roommates set off for the classroom, discussing some girls' current obscene topics. The postman who delivered the letter rode his bicycle into the campus and stopped her when he drove past her.

　　"You're the one—Penny. Evans? There is a letter from you. "

　　Penny's heart jumped, and she blurted out and asked, "Sent from Hogwarts?"

　　"I told you last time, I haven't heard of a school with such a strange name - this letter is from Durham County, the address is on the block next to Durham University."

　　"Durham County?" The girl who was traveling with her repeated in surprise, looking at her with a look of surprise and envy: "You know such a decent friend, Penny?"

　　Does she know? Penny took the letter from the postman blankly and looked at the address on the envelope.

　　Her heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if she had suddenly woken up from a somewhat muddled dream, and her spirit was incredible, enough for her to recognize every letter on the envelope.

　　Petunia, holder of the feathers of the Elantu School for Girls of Cokeworth. Evans closes

　　Gilesgate Neighborhood, Durham County Eli. Smith

　　At this moment, the female companions around him seemed to have all pressed the mute button, and Penny quickly and carefully opened the letter, and her fingertips even trembled a little unconsciously. She unfolded the letter quickly and read it to the end in one sitting.

　　-Penny. Miss Evans:

　　- At the beginning of the letter, please let me sincerely apologize for my negligence - I forgot to explain to you that I was using my wand to cast a Transfiguration Charm to turn a feather that my owl had dropped on my luggage into a handkerchief, because I did not have the habit of carrying a handkerchief with me, so I had to use it locally. It was definitely not a prank, just an insufficiently enthusiastic help – the beginning was ok, but the duration was regrettable.

　　- As you can see, wizards do not use magic as they wish, but follow the corresponding rules of application. For example, there are five exceptions to Gamp's basic transfiguration rule, although my transformation is not among the five exceptions, but my current magic power is not strong enough to perform permanent transfiguration, and it may be possible in the future, but it will also be limited. The ability to be constrained is safe, and I strongly agree with that.

　　-Now you know, that owl feather is not a magical item, just a feather - you can keep it, of course, it does not make any practical sense to keep it, and it cannot rush to help you fight when you are in danger, even if it is not an item used by wizards, wizards are not omnipotent.

　　-I'm still sorry for losing a handkerchief. A new handkerchief was included as a reparation, a real handkerchief – I had just gone to buy it before sending the letter. This time I left your name on it with a spell as proof of my sincere apology, it is not a transfiguration magic, but an external force that changes the state of the object - the same effect can be achieved with my hands, but my hands are not so dexterous.

　　-I hope you won't get angry because of my momentary negligence, and if you do, I hope you don't get angry for too long. I'm not sure if you want to see owls in your living area, so I turned the letter around and sent it back to my house and then from my home postal system, which took a little more time, but it made ordinary people around you feel normal. Hope it saves you from bothering – you can use this address when you write to me in the future, and my owl will take the letter to my school the next day, if you will. As you can imagine, mailing letters to Hogwarts directly from the postal system is really not very safe.

　　-I believe that this letter will be delivered to you, and I hope to get your understanding.

　　-—— your careless friend Eli, who is deeply sorry for it. Smith

　　-And: I am very happy to receive your letter and sincerely look forward to the next one.

　 Penny read the letter quickly, and then, as if she couldn't believe it, read it carefully again. The female classmates who were traveling with her looked at her curiously: "Penny?"

Penny hurriedly returned to her senses, reflexively closed the letter sharply, coughed disguisedly, and continued to walk towards the classroom with everyone: "What's wrong?"

"What good news does this letter bring you? Maybe you'd like to share that?"

Penny didn't answer, only asked curiously, "Why is it good news?"

Isn't that obvious? The companions looked at her: "You are laughing, you look happy." "

Am I laughing? Penny raised her hand and touched the corner of her lips.

"Okay." "I was laughing," she said. But this is not good news, it is a... a..."

Her lips twitched, paused for a long time, and finally said, "It's a good dream." "