6 Chapter 006 - Surprise Parent-Teacher Conference

At this time, on the distant shores of Loch Lomond, Alina had no idea what sort of consequences her words had wrought.

She had believed that Dumbledore would probably continue with the 'Harry Potter Hero-Training Game' and would have no time to care about something so minor as a willful girl refusing to enter his school.

Of course, she couldn't be blamed for this. After all, the movie 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' had yet to be released when he crossed over. She would have never imagined that the relationship between the old foes Dumbledore and Grindelwald would finally receive official verification, nor would she have imagined that Grindelwald would espouse such similar ideals to hers.

The most urgent problem facing Alina at this time was how to break the oppressive silence that had persisted in the small room for almost half an hour now.

Yes, ever since Professor McGonagall had left, Benitez and Alina hadn't spoken a single word.

Alina sat at the end of the bed and played with her fingers while the priest focused on slowly eating his breakfast, working through it so meticulously that it seemed like he wanted to suck the marrow from every tiny bone.

"Haaaa...so do you plan to remain silent forever?"

Finally, Benitez helplessly sighed. Putting down his clean soup bowl, he broke the silence.

"I'm sorry..." The silver-haired girl raised her head and weakly mumbled.

While Alina usually had a harsh and unforgiving mouth, she regarded this man who had picked her off the streets of London, taught her how to speak English, and then clumsily raised her, like a father.

But in the end, she found it impossible to tell Benitez about the Magic World and how she had crossed over from another dimension.

This was perhaps the greatest curse that burdened down all those who crossed over, a secret that they could never divulge.

"Fine. It seems that this is an even more complicated problem than stealing explosives from the stone workshop and then setting it off in the lake to get fish."

Benitez comically moved his eyebrows, attempting to make himself seem grave and serious.

"A hundred times more complicated, and I didn't steal, I borrowed! I wrote down the contact info for the orphanage and my purpose, and I even gave them half the fish."

Alina's cheeks bulged. She had never let this matter go. It was just blast fishing, just humans using their intelligence to catch food. But the fussy conservation association even decided to inform the police and the safety department.

That was the first and only time Benitez had ever gotten angry at her. At the time, she had even thought about running away at night with her small blanket and bag if the situation turned sour.

Sitting up, Benitez vigorously rubbed Alina's little head, ceasing to argue. He was well aware that he was no match for this devil of sophistry.

"You don't want to open it and take a look? This letter is from that magic school."

Benitez took the parchment envelope that Professor McGonagall had left and handed it over with a warm smile.

There was no postmark on the envelope. The address and recipient had been written in emerald ink.

[Scottish Highlands, Luss, Hardstone Street, Benitez Orphanage, the Partitioned Room in the Kitchen, For Miss Alina Kaslana]

"There's no need. You can open it if you want to read. It should just be the school start date and the materials I need to buy, but it's not like I'm going there to study."

Alina took the thick letter from Benitez. She stroked the Hogwarts emblem for a moment before throwing it back to Benitez, silently cursing as she shook her head.

In her previous world, there had been many unscrupulous authors who had written fan fiction based in the Harry Potter world, and these letters all had the same contents. She could almost recite them from memory...

"But, I advise you not to open it."

Alina stopped and then glanced at the empty bowl on the headboard of Benitez's bed. After some thought, she decided to add a comment.

"Forget it. It doesn't matter. They probably won't send any more letters."

"Why?"

Benitez frowned and asked in confusion.

"Because the Magic World uses owls to send letters. Where do you think I got so many Scottish Round-Faced Chickens from?"

The silver-haired girl spread apart arms and answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh...dear God."

Benitez placed a hand on his forehead, where he could feel it throbbing.

He immediately understood why Professor McGonagall had stormed out after being invited to breakfast.

Anyone would get angry over such a thing. This child was truly getting more and more uncontrollable.

His face darkened. "Alina, come here right now! We need to talk!"

He felt that he needed to chat with this child and teach her what it meant to have some basic social etiquette. Alas, he had thought that Alina had matured and grown more restrained after the blast fishing incident, but it appeared that she hadn't changed at all.

"Nuh-uh! I'm not stupid!"

After glancing at Benitez's darkening expression, Alina cutely stuck out her tongue and made a face.

"Ah, I suddenly remembered that the kitchen doesn't have any vegetables. I need to go to the market to buy some."

Without waiting for Benitez to get angry, the girl jumped to her feet, waved goodbye, and rushed out of the room.

She didn't want a repeat of last time. If she got careless, Benitez would chatter her ear off for the entire morning.

"This girl..."

Benitez watched the silver-haired girl run off like a startled rabbit and helplessly shook his head.

Perhaps it was as Professor McGonagall said, and this child did possess some mysterious magic.

Whenever he wanted to teach Alina, this girl would only need to throw a slight tantrum for his heart to soften, and he would end up letting her off with just a few words of reproach.

It was merely him. Whenever Alina got into trouble, her actions were tolerated to an abnormal degree. It was like she would be forgiven no matter what she did.

Of course, it could also be that the nuns back in London were right, and he really couldn't teach children.

"A...magic school?"

Benitez looked at the letter Alina had tossed back. His fingers went back and forth across the seal as if what was before him wasn't a letter, but a frightening Pandora's Box.

While outsiders might not know, Benitez, who had watched Alina grow up, was keenly aware that Alina would never invest even a speck of energy in anything that she had no interest in.

She wasn't even eleven years old, but she had been able to confront and refute a mature witch of the Magic World into speechlessness. Benitez didn't believe that Alina was as uninterested in the Magic World as she claimed to be.

After struggling for ten-some seconds, Benitez glanced at the bowl he had placed on the headboard and had a thought. If he hadn't been suffering from the cold and migraines, would Alina have used some other method to refuse the invitation from the Magic World?

Benitez recalled how bright the silver-haired girl's eyes had been when talking about the stewed owl soup and gave an exhausted sigh. There was simply no way to determine the true reason for the actions of that uncontrollable little ghost.

Benitez took the thick parchment envelope and once more solemnly examined those rather strange insignias upon it, almost afraid that a monster might suddenly emerge.

After another few seconds of hesitation, he clenched his teeth and tore the letter open.

[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Headmaster:

Albus Dumbledore (Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer)

Dear Ms. Kaslana, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted by the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. The term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress]

Benitez lightly tapped his finger against the letter, pensively gazing at the ornate wooden chair that had been transformed through Transfiguration magic. Perhaps he needed to talk some more with that, Professor McGonagall.

At the very least, he had been able to tell that when Alina saw Professor McGonagall walk in with that little wooden stick, there had been fear behind that stubbornness. However, this was rather similar to her trembling appearance when her blast fishing had been discovered, though this time, it was eating someone else's owls.

The thought of this made Benitez's head ache once more.

At a rough estimate, he placed the number of 'Scottish Round-Faced Chickens' the orphanage had eaten in the past week at around ten. Since he now knew what was going on, Benitez decided to offer compensation if he had a chance to meet Professor McGonagall again.

"I don't know if pounds can be converted into wizard currency, but if it's as Alina says, the prices in the wizarding world should probably be a little lower."

At this thought, Benitez sighed again. Although Alina had helped the orphanage make quite a lot of money in the last few years, the compensation that had needed to be paid for the trouble she had caused had also been significant.

At this moment, there was a pop like the snap of a whip from outside the door.

Then there was a rhythmic knocking and a familiar female voice.

"Mister Benitez, I am Minerva McGonagall. My apologies for disturbing you again, but if we can talk, I wish to have you understand a little about Miss Alina's situation."

The Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall?

Benitez's lips curled into a smile. After scanning the letter again, he got out of bed, put away the bowl on the table, and put a jacket over himself. Finally, he gave a firm reply.

"Miss McGonagall, welcome! I also happened to have a few things to ask you about Alina and this world of wizards."

Alina, who was fishing by the lake, suddenly felt a chill. It was like...that ill omen one felt when the school sent out notices about a parent-teacher conference?