18

It was only a dozen minutes by car from the Elantu School for Girls to the Evans family in the small town of Cokeworth, and even longer on foot -- nearly an hour. There was a bus down the street from school that stopped just outside the school gate, but as she walked out of the school, Petunia ignored the bus stop, blocking Eli's view in a very difficult way, and trying to keep her cool, she said, "End-of-term buses are full, the air is stuffy... It's not too far to walk back. Why don't you just walk back? I can carry my own luggage."

She did not often say such things on purpose, and the tip of her nose was sweating with uncontrollable tension.

"Never mind, it's not heavy." Eli did not hesitate to agree to her suggestion with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Yes, let's take a walk... You look a little hot. Would you like something cold to drink? I'll treat you."

"Wizards have pockets of magic that keep them warm?" 'said Petunia in surprise, looking up and down at him.' This is so convenient, I didn't even see it... '

"Yes, but of course you wouldn't have seen it, because I didn't bring it with me. Magic items like that are rare. I don't think anyone uses them to store ice drinks." Eli was stunned by her question, and then, with a grin on his face, pointed aside. "I mean, the ice cream parlor over there -- there's a lot of students in line, so it tastes okay, I suppose?"

Petunia looked from him to the ice cream shop and was tongue-tied. "..."

It was so embarrassing. She was always blurring the line between witch and human life when she confronted him! How does he always switch so easily? Flushed, Petunia ran to the line, Eli following with her suitcase, the sound of its wheels rolling across the road making her more embarrassed than ever to find a crack in it.

But after they got the ice drinks and Eli beat her to the punch by handing her the bill and actually offering her a glass of juice, Penny's embarrassment somehow disappeared. She began to feel that Eli was just so smart and thoughtful, that nothing was going to bother him, that this little switch of identity was a messy mess for her, but it was absolutely fine for him, and acknowledging his excellence was like finding the perfect excuse for herself, and she immediately adjusted her mind and became much more comfortable.

They walked along with a glass of juice in each hand. The school and the Evans house were at the opposite ends of town, not so far as the crow would fly, but crossing roads and lanes certainly slowed things down. The good news is that they are not in any hurry at all. The ice cubes bumping briskly against each other in the juice and the wheel of the suitcase rolling rumbly on the ground are all stress-free.

"It's nothing." Eli shrugged in response to her question. "I've been brought up in the Muggle world, and of course I'm as familiar with the pound as you are -- of course I'm familiar with Kinggalons, too, just as children born into multilingual families tend to have some innate family advantages. For me, magic has always been the ability to make life easier, not..."

He thought carefully before continuing: "Not a paradise pass from real life, I don't know if I made myself clear."

Penny nodded -- she had nodded a little too much today, but she couldn't help herself when she was listening to Eli.

"You must be a very good man even without magic." "She said sincerely, her eyes shining brightly.

Eli smiled and shrugged.

"I'm not sure, after all, I wouldn't have been able to do something as big as rewiring a magic phone without magic. Maybe there is a better place for me in the wizarding world... But if I didn't have magic, I'd probably go to Eton, which my head teacher strongly recommended. She thought I was more than qualified. But my mother said no firmly, that I was going to another boarding school, which confused her, and she talked to my mother several times... I suspect my mother solved it in the end by using a Conflation Charm."

"That's impressive." 'said Petunia from the bottom of her heart, hiding her bag behind her back.' My grades are just average... Not being able to get into the best schools, it's difficult to apply to places like Durham University... Your father is a professor at that university, isn't he? '

"Yeah." "History," Eli said naturally. "He's very interesting. The students like his classes."

"Then he must have preferred the bright ones?" "Petunia asked casually. She didn't know how she had said it. She was asking someone else a question, but she was nervous, like she was doing something she shouldn't be doing.

"I didn't know that. I never asked." Eli thought for a moment, shook his head, and suggested earnestly, "You can ask him yourself next time you see him. I think he'll want to answer."

Petunia pressed her lips, lowered her head and looked up at him.

"One day I will." 'she said, feeling vaguely what she was thinking.' When I'm ready... '

"Just ask a question. Does it take a long time to prepare?" Eli asked, somewhat surprised. Penny didn't answer him, the question wasn't that important, and Eli quickly dropped it, and the two of them continued walking through the streets of town as if they could go on forever.

The long road came to an end, and at last the Evans family appeared before them. It was hot in the middle of summer, and there was no one outside. Petunia was usually very afraid of the sun, for fear of accidentally tanning herself and making her unattractive self even more unattractive, but today for the first time she complained about the short time she had been in the sun.

Eli handed her back the suitcase and said goodbye. "I'll go home then -- my parents are waiting for me."

good Petunia nodded and watched as he pulled out his wand and held it out and waved as a bus came racing up from the distance, knocking houses and street lamps and fields out of their way as they tried to get out of their way.

Such driving skills exist in the world! It must be because of magic that we haven't had an accident yet! Petunia, her eyes wide with surprise, watched him wave at her, turn, step into the car, shut the door, and drive off into the distance, quickly fading into the bright sunlight at the end of the horizon.

I can't believe a wizard of this calibre is friends with her. Petunia took a deep breath, opened the door with her luggage, and climbed the steps, unable to resist a glance behind her before she entered the house.

She looked at the journey they had made together -- a faithful record of what had just happened, however improbable, a testament to the fact that they could walk side by side.

Eli had had a very full, if truth be told, summer vacation -- a few days after he arrived home, and before he had completely settled himself into the leisurely rhythm of summer vacation, he was forced out of the house by Mrs. Smith on a long trip to Germany.

In the face of her son and husband's questions, Mrs. Smith gave a very good reason: "Look at you two, if I didn't drag you out, you'd be spending the whole summer in your study, working on all your magical modifications to Muggle objects -- better take a break, we don't need a whole family of newspaper stars, it'd be too much, wouldn't it? I think it's enough just for me to be in the papers when the new books are on sale."

"She made it sound like I was trying to show off to make myself look good." Eli complained to Penny. "Didn't I do something profoundly good last semester? I always got the feeling she wasn't too happy about it... Well, last year she made me promise to keep my opinions to myself at school, and I admit I didn't, but sometimes circumstances force you to do that, and I wasn't trying to express myself."

"Of course I believe you." "Said Petunia at once. She turned her eyes away from Mrs. Smith, who was laughing with Mrs. Evans, and gazed for a few seconds enviously at her beauty and ease. Then she said cautiously, "But I think your mother has a point there... It's true, but dangerous, isn't it? '

"Well, maybe a little." Eli shrugged. "Fortunately, some progress has been made on this, and the next step is to introduce wizards to the benefits and conveniences of the magic telephone for themselves, which I can't do much for, and probably won't be much for me, so I should be able to settle down to school."

"I'm not sure Lily would be nervous about it." "She's been going on all summer about how your headmaster gave Gryffindor thirty points for you at the end of the term. She has never added that many points at once. She beat you in the school year exam, but she always wants to compete with you again this year."

"I think my grades would have been better if I hadn't spent all that time reading letters." Eli raised his eyebrows in a confident response, and he and Petunia waved. "I'll just get in the car -- see you at Christmas, if that's all right?"

"See you at Christmas, and write to me often." "Petunia told him. After a pause, she suddenly looked carefully to the left and right, and whispered a little nervously." That feather, I've got it properly tucked away, isn't it, even in the wizarding world? I had it with me at the beginning of the holiday, and Snape saw it, and you can't imagine how surprised he looked -- he looked at me incredulously as if I'd robbed a rich, incapacitated wizard, and he looked like hell."

"Every bias is created for a specific reason, and when it's created, it's really hard to change... I can't help it, but I guess his attitude is better than before, isn't it? Lily must have had some positive influence on him."

"I'm not sure how much of a positive effect there is." Petunia glanced sideways at the scarlet steam train. "It was only ten minutes ago that the two of them started arguing again right here, and Lily was furious -- Snape's friends weren't just watching, they were laughing at her, and they encouraged Snape to stop talking to her."

What, are you fighting again? Eli was a little surprised, deeply aware of how difficult the friendship between the two men had been.

"Well, maybe I can guess something." 'he said thoughtfully.' I don't think any of Severus's friends, except Lily, are very likeable... They're Slytherin's, and the discrimination against non-wizarding students is etched into their bones."

Armed with this new piece of information, Eli decided to go to his two friends as soon as he got into the car. When they were on good terms, there was always a little disagreement over some ideological disagreement, but when they were on bad terms, it disappeared, and the atmosphere was horribly quiet and awkward, and then both of them needed him more than ever.

Eli passed the boxes, looking for two figures. He passed a number of other students along the way, and the foursome from the next dormitory were already in a box, listening to James, always the one who liked to share and was the centre of attention of the crowd, tell a beaming story about his wonderful vacation.

"Magic phones are amazing!" "I dialed some random number with it, and you'll never guess who answered -- it was Lady Malkin's Robes in Diagon Alley! I ordered some new robes over the phone, and the owl showed up two days later with a package and a bill. My mother was very surprised -- I ordered her a robe in a color she had never worn before. I bet she was very impressed! Too bad school started before I saw her in that gown --"

"Excellent, James," he said. In the midst of Peter's praise, Sirius. "But did it ever occur to you that your mother never bought a gown of that color because she disliked it so much?"

James was taken aback. Judging by his expression, he had not thought of it at all.

Sirius and Lupin both began to laugh, and Peter, who wanted to but dared not laugh at James, made strange noises.

'I'm going to write and ask about home --' James pulled out his quill at once and bent down to work.

Eli, who happened to be passing by, looked back and moved on, thinking in a good mood that perhaps he could write Arthur a letter with advice, restrict purchases by underage wizards who call, and add a tracer detection feature that wouldn't be difficult in theory...

He passed another box, and looked in it for a moment.

For a moment he thought it was Sirius. Black sat quietly inside.

The men in the box quickly spotted him outside. They looked at each other. The man inside looked at him for a few seconds and said, "Eli. Smith?"

"I am." Eli looked at him, a little hesitantly. "I don't think I've met you. Are you a freshman? You know me? You and Sirius Black... '

"That's my brother." The man in the box said quietly, "I am Regulus. Hello, Blake. I've heard more than one person mention you this holiday season."

Regulus and his brother look alike, with the same dark hair and dark gray eyes, and the two are instantly related. But he was shorter and leaner than Sirius, and less handsome than his brother, and they had different qualities. Under the same graceful detachment from Black, Sirius was the more rebellious, Regulus the more composed, easily recognizable when standing together, and perhaps Regulus the more like his brother, by the way he looked and acted.

"Mention me? Eli pointed to himself, puzzled. "Why? Although I have gained some fame because of the magic phone, as far as I know, the Black's happen to be a family that has made its dislike and disapproval very clear, and would not be interested in me."

Regulus gave him a look of mild surprise.

"I see you don't." "It's not mainly my family, it's your grandparents -- they've always been very close to the Blacks. Although the blood ties are no longer close, it is said that both sides intend to renew some of the ties in this generation. I've never met Aunt Linda, but I've heard of her... She shocked the whole family by marrying a Muggle, your dad."

Eli stared at him in astonishment. He had been a prodigal learner and comprehender since childhood, and it was rare for him to find another person's words incomprehensible, as if someone had suddenly pulled up an elephant and said they shared a common ancestor.

"I really don't know... Well, which one is it?" Eli prepared himself briefly, frowning a little.

"Lestrange." "Regulus said.

Even he had heard of the family of Death Eaters, all fanatical in their devotion to pure blood, who had been open followers of Voldemort, and who had done much to eliminate their enemies by bloody means.

Eli's heart sank with a sudden drop. He stood there and looked at Regulus for a moment. Then he asked quietly, "What are they talking about me?"

Regulus looked him in the eye, and Eli wasn't quite sure if he saw a hint of longing in his eyes.

"The Lord saw you." "He repeated softly." He said you were a very thoughtful boy wizard."

A chill rose from under Eli's feet and enveloped him. Eli shuddered uncontrollably, and though Voldemort's name did not even come up in front of him in the conversation, he had the unmistakable feeling that he was being targeted by a poisonous snake. It made him understand almost instantly why his mother had rushed the whole family on their journey, the lighthearted innocence that had gone out of his mind, the suffocating repression of the rising clouds of haze.

"The Lestrange House is ashamed of you, and wants to bring greater glory to the house through you." Regulus said quietly. "Even if you didn't hear it from me... I think it won't be long before they contact you."