On the morning of July 1st, Anne was up early, today, she had an important mission: picking up Hermione for a stay at her home. Although it was only for half a month, Anne had let out a soft, dramatic sigh when she first got the news over the phone.

  By nine o’clock sharp, she was out the door, hopping into the car and starting the engine with eager excitement.

  After saying goodbye to Hermione’s parents, Anne loaded Hermione’s luggage into the trunk.

  Once she smoothly parked the car in the garage at the estate, Anne stepped out with the keys in hand. Hermione was already standing at the edge of the stone-paved path, gazing toward the distant castle.

  A pale gray castle stood halfway up a gentle hillside. Two four-story towers framed its modest structure. About fifty meters behind it y a dense forest that stretched all the way to the mountaintop.

  In front of the castle was a lush green slope. Two stone paths wound across the grass, one led down the hill to a keside cabin and continued east to a greenhouse; the other connected to the parking area where Hermione stood.

  “Not a bad view, right?” Anne asked with a cheerful smile as she walked up beside her.

  “It’s beautiful,” Hermione replied, then gnced back toward the garage. “But since there’s a garage… does that mean Muggles can get here too?”

  Anne shrugged. “Very unlikely. This valley doesn’t even appear on regur maps. Do you remember the fork in the road where we turned? There was a stone marker there that said ‘Private Property – No Trespassing.’ That marks the outer boundary of the Rond Manor’s protective enchantments. The entire area is under a Muggle-Repelling Charm.”

  She continued, “As for the garage… well, it took quite a bit of effort to convince the Muggle contractors to build the road up here st time.”

  Hermione blinked in surprise. “Anne, I thought you said the estate wasn’t very big?”

  “It’s not, definitely smaller than Hogwarts,” Anne replied casually.

  “But Hogwarts is a school…”

  Anne raised her hands in mock innocence. “I’ve only ever seen two magical estates, this one and Hogwarts, so that’s all I have to compare it to. Anyway, it’s not that important. Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying for the next two weeks.”

  Anne gave her a pyful wink. “And I want to introduce you to some new friends. They’re very excited to meet you.”

  “New friends?” Hermione asked, curious, as she followed Anne along the stone path toward the castle.

  “Hehe, that’s a surprise, for now,” Anne said brightly.

  As they approached the grand oak doors, twice as tall as either of them, the entrance opened on its own. Inside, six house-elves stood neatly in two rows. They wore matching tea towels with the Rond family crest, draped over themselves like robes, much like the house-elves at Hogwarts.

  “Good morning,” the six elves chorused.

  Gooka stepped forward and bowed politely. “Good morning, young mistress. Good morning, Miss Granger.”

  The other five house-elves peered up at Hermione with unabashed curiosity. One of them, particurly excitable, looked like he could barely contain himself from running over for a closer look.

  “These are the new friends I mentioned,” Anne said with a smile. “This is Gooka, the head steward of the Rond Manor. He’s served the family for many years and knows the pce better than anyone.”

  “And that one,” she pointed, “is Lekko.”

  Lekko suddenly leapt into the air and nearly tripped on nding, but he didn’t seem to mind. His long ears wobbled with enthusiasm.

  “Lekko! Lekko! It’s been so long since a guest came to the estate! The young mistress said Miss Granger is an honored guest, the most special guest!”

  He tilted his head. “Lekko doesn’t quite understand why…” Then his face lit up again. “But the young mistress has talked about Miss Granger many times! She said Lekko should treat her just like he treats the young mistress!”

  “Now Lekko understands!” He stomped his foot with excitement. “Lekko will cook his best dishes for Miss Granger! The young mistress loves Lekko’s food, especially desserts!”

  Hermione thanked him politely, then cast an amused gnce at Anne.

  Anne gave a sheepish smile, only for a moment, before regaining her composure.

  Once the introductions were over, the six house-elves Disapparated one after another.

  “You’ll be interacting with them quite a bit over the next two weeks,” Anne expined as she led Hermione inside, “so I wanted to introduce them early. And, honestly, I think it’ll be good for your S.P.E.W. efforts too. You’ll be able to freely observe and talk to them, far more easily than at Hogwarts. Especially Lekko, he’ll love answering your questions.”

  “They don’t hide like the Hogwarts elves either,” she added. “So don’t be surprised if you run into them in the corridors. Inside the castle, they can all Apparate freely, but across the entire estate, only Gooka can do that.”

  As they toured the first floor, Anne showed Hermione the dining room, then led her up the stairs to the second floor.

  “This level has my aunt’s study, her bedroom, a conference room, some guest rooms, and a small b. But your room isn’t here,” Anne said, holding Hermione’s hand as they walked.

  When they reached the third floor, Anne beamed at her. “This is going to be your favorite part of the entire castle.”

  Before Hermione could ask why, Anne pushed open a heavy wooden door.

  The Rond family library occupied nearly a third of the third floor, nestled in the southwest tower.

  Bookshelves stretched up to the high ceiling, and as the doors opened, the entire room lit up. Unlike Hogwarts, which used chandeliers and candlelight, the Rond library glowed not only from sunlight streaming through the windows but also from glowing stones embedded in the walls.

  “There are nearly twenty thousand books here,” Anne said, leading an awestruck Hermione toward a shelf. “Many of them are ancient and rare, and there’s no restriction on what you can read. No banned section. You’re free to browse whatever you like.”

  Hermione’s eyes sparkled. She pulled out a thick volume and began flipping through it with reverence.

  “Ahem,” Anne gently pced a hand over the pages. “Lunch first. You can spend all day in here if you want ter, but how about we check out the rest of the castle for now?”

  Reluctantly, Hermione closed the book.

  Anne smiled and said, “No need to put it back, you can take it to your room or leave it on that table. Just know that Buko tidies the table every evening.”

  She gestured to a cozy reading nook, several plush armchairs and small side tables arranged near a sunlit window with a view of the forest behind the castle.

  “The third floor has the library, my study, my bedroom, and an extra room,” Anne expined as they strolled down the corridor.

  She pushed open another door. Inside, a wall-high bookshelf was lined not only with books but also pnts and decorations. In one corner was a music nook with a piano, guitar, and violin. Albums hung on the walls, and even an old-fashioned gramophone stood nearby.

  At the center of the room was a modest desk, clearly divided into two sections.

  “This side is mine. The other half is yours,” Anne said, opening a drawer neatly stocked with parchment and paper. “Here’s your supply.”

  “Oh, and over here, ” Anne led Hermione to a cabinet. She opened a drawer, and Hermione gasped at the collection of brand-new quills, arranged by type.

  “Pick whichever you like. I have more than I could ever use,” Anne said sheepishly, then moved to another drawer filled with ink bottles.

  “There was a time I was really into buying stationery…” she added.

  Hermione gave her a look, part incredulous, part amused.

  “All bought with my own money!” Anne said quickly. “Spending it just gives me more motivation to earn it back!”

  Hermione noticed a small door in the study and pointed at it. “What’s this?”

  “Oh! I forgot to mention earlier, this door leads directly into the library,” Anne said with a grin as she opened it.

  At the end of the third-floor hallway, aside from the stairs to the fourth floor, there was another wooden door just beyond the stairwell.

  “My bedroom,” Anne said, giving Hermione a pyful wink. Hermione leaned in with interest as Anne opened the door.

  The circur room was bathed in natural light from a huge arched window. A simple but charming space, it had a rge wardrobe, a bed, and a full-length mirror. The style was minimalist, yet warm and inviting.

  A striped blue-and-white rug y around the bed. A book, pced facedown, rested on the nightstand. A painting of the Rond Castle hung on the wall.

  Suddenly, the soft chime of wind bells rang through the room. Hermione looked up to see a small ceramic wind chime swaying gently in the breeze by the open window.

  “I decorated it to my taste, maybe it’s a bit too pin?” Anne asked.

  “Not at all,” Hermione said warmly. “It’s lovely. It feels really cozy.”

  “Whew, that’s a relief. Because your room is right above mine, decorated in the same style! It may be simple, but I promise you’ll sleep like a baby.”

  “I’ll show you, come on. The view upstairs is even better.”

  They climbed to the fourth floor, where Hermione’s luggage was already pced inside the room. As the highest floor in the castle, her room offered the best view.

  Its decor was simir to Anne’s, but in warmer tones. A wind chime also hung by the window.

  To the right of the door was another door leading to a private bath and toilet.

  “We’re in the northeast tower,” Anne expined. “The library is in the southwest tower, which is nearly twice the size. That tower also has four stories, its top floor is a high-security b. You can use it for any potions experiments you want.”

  There was a soft pop as Gooka appeared outside the bedroom.

  He bowed and announced, “Young mistress, Miss Granger, lunch is ready. The mistress has returned as well.”

  “We’ll be right down,” Anne replied.

  She turned to Hermione with a grin, raising a hand as if inviting her to dance.

  “My honored guest, the banquet awaits. May I escort you to our grand feast?”

  Hermione ughed and replied, “Of course.”

  ??━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━??

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