"Mom, where's my letter?"
Louis came downstairs and asked as he entered the kitchen.
"It's in the living room—there are two letters," Mrs. Wilson said, poking her head out from the kitchen and ruffling Louis's fluffy hair with a meaningful smile.
Louis was a bit puzzled. He touched his head, then turned and walked toward the living room.
In the living room, Mr. Wilson was feeding Fafnir while entertaining some feathered guests. To Louis's surprise, there were two owls.
Mr. Wilson saw Louis and waved with a smile. "Hey, Louis, come here. Your school and one of your classmates have sent you letters."
"Classmate?" Louis could understand the part about the school, but what was this about a classmate?
He walked over and saw the two envelopes lying on the table.
One of them was from Hogwarts.
This wasn't just an ordinary acceptance letter—it had been altered due to Louis's unique circumstances. And since this was likely the first time in Hogwarts history such a mistake had occurred, the entire letter was handwritten by none other than Headmaster Albus Dumbledore himself.
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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(President of the International Confederation of Wizards,
Order of Merlin, First Class,
Grand Sorcerer,
Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot)
Dear Mr. Wilson,
We sincerely apologize for the oversight that led you to miss the original Hogwarts admission. Though it comes somewhat belatedly, it is with great pleasure that we inform you: Hogwarts welcomes your arrival.
It has come to our attention that you have, through your own cleverness and observational skills, received assistance from Rubeus Hagrid. As such, we will not be including the usual list of required school supplies in this letter. A train ticket to Hogwarts has been enclosed.
Additionally, as an expression of our regret, please visit the Headmaster's Office on the second day after your arrival to discuss the matter of compensation.
Yours sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster (Male)
---
There was no doubt—this was a handwritten letter from the Headmaster himself. Clearly, they were taking this mistake very seriously.
Louis opened the envelope and tipped out a train ticket.
King's Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Seeing this familiar name, a smile lit up Louis's face.
Though it was just a ticket, it symbolized a gateway into the magical world.
One of the owls, having confirmed Louis had received his acceptance letter, took off with a dried mouse in its beak and soared away, leaving behind a younger-looking owl.
"Don't just stare at that letter—take a look at this one too." Mr. Wilson smiled and handed him the other envelope. "Just so you know, the envelope's a bit torn, but we definitely didn't open it."
This envelope had visible scratch marks and even a leaf stuck inside, likely the result of the inexperienced young messenger's mishap.
Said messenger was now standing nervously on the back of a chair, not daring to touch the dried mouse held up to its beak.
Because of the tear, a bit of the letter inside was showing. Nothing much—just the signature at the end.
Hermione Granger.
So that's what sparked the Wilsons' interest—the distinctly feminine name.
"Oh, so it's her." Louis casually opened the envelope and started reading.
The letter didn't say anything particularly important. It was mostly Hermione expressing curiosity about a new friend while studying hard, and so she had decided to write a tentative greeting.
Only the beginning was a friendly hello—everything else was basically Hermione bragging about what books she'd read and what she'd learned from them.
Of course, in Hermione's mind, she was just sharing. But to her peers, it came off as plain old bragging.
If it had been another young witch or wizard (not to mention a Muggle), and they hadn't understood a thing after reading their books, they'd probably have distanced themselves from Hermione immediately upon reading this letter full of flexing.
Fortunately, Louis already had a good sense of what kind of person the girl writing the letter was, so he didn't take offense.
She also mentioned that she'd gone to Diagon Alley on her own to buy more books about the wizarding world.
She even recommended one to LouisA History of Hogwarts.
"She's really impressive. I've only memorized the textbooks, but she has the energy to read extra books too," Louis muttered, marveling at Hermione's natural talent, even with his weakened cheat-like copying ability.
As for the book recommendation, Louis completely ignored it.
A school history? Who has time for that? The past is nothing compared to what's coming.
After all, he'd read the entire Harry Potter series cover to cover.
"It's alright, not your fault. Thanks for the delivery." Louis scratched the anxious owl and slipped the dried mouse into its claws. "Hold on a bit—I've got a reply."
He quickly penned a polite response, praising her study progress and eagerness to learn, and thanked her for the book recommendation.
Once the letter was sealed, Louis handed it to the owl.
"Take this to your master."
The owl finished the mouse in a couple of bites, took the letter in its beak, and with a few flaps of its wings, flew out the window.
"Louis, aren't you going to tell us a bit about this Miss Granger?" Mr. Wilson asked with a gossip-loving grin.
At nearly the same time, Mrs. Wilson peeked her head out from the kitchen, clearly eavesdropping.
"She's just a classmate I happened to meet. We're both from non-magical families, so we exchanged contact information," Louis replied earnestly.
"No need to be shy, Louis. Your mother and I don't mind if you're dating at your age," Mr. Wilson laughed heartily and patted Louis on the shoulder.
Louis shrugged and didn't say anything more.
No one believes the truth—what a frustrating thing.
If I'd known, I should've just lied. My parents would be happy, and I could've earned a few Trick Points.
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