The days at Hogwarts

"Yes."

Wendell and Monica smiled at each other.

"What gift should we give them tomorrow to celebrate their move to a new home? How about red wine?"

"good idea."

When Hermione entered Loren's room, Loren was removing his Transfiguration spell, and the desk and cabinet turned back into two ordinary pens. The luggage had been packed, but there was no need to pack anything, just throw the things into the space box.

Only the bed frame had not been returned to its original shape, and Loren still had to sleep in it for another night.

Hermione's footsteps unconsciously slowed down. Looking at Loren who was staring out the window in the room, she suddenly didn't know what to say.

Loren turned his head to look at Hermione, patted the quilt beside him, and motioned for her to sit over.

Hermione sat down next to Loren and looked out the window with him.

The bright moonlight poured in from the window, sprinkling on the area in front of the window. Loren and Hermione were bathed in the silvery moonlight.

Being in a secluded location in the suburbs, the night is even colder. There is no full moon in the sky, but a thin layer of clouds covering it, and the moonlight is faint.

Neither of them spoke, and the two stars in the sky moved closer in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Hermione whispered, "Remember to write to me."

"Ah."

From above the distant clouds, the ethereal song of the stars and the moon can be heard, and tranquility permeates the midsummer night.

Early in the morning.

Lauren got up quietly, washed up, and had breakfast with the Grangers. Hermione hadn't gotten up yet, but no one woke her up.

After saying goodbye to the Grangers, Bates took Loren away as promised.

It was not until the car outside started its engine and disappeared at the end of the road that Hermione, who was lying on the windowsill and peeking behind the curtains, slowly came out to eat breakfast.

The door closed and Mr. and Mrs. Granger left for the clinic.

"Hermione! Remember to clear the table after dinner!" Wendel's shouting from outside the door gradually weakened.

Hermione was eating. She had never felt such a deserted big house. Her heart and the room echoed empty in the silence.

The soft light cast mottled shadows. The sofa, tables, chairs, doors and windows were motionless. Hermione could even hear the ticking of the clock hands. She suddenly felt aggrieved and sniffed.

After breakfast, Hermione sat on the sofa for a while, then went upstairs to Loren's room, thinking about putting back the handicrafts that she had previously put in the box.

The room was empty, with only the quilt and sheets lying quietly on the carpet.

I can still vividly remember sitting on the carpet grabbing drinks and falling on the bed laughing at the kangaroo's jokes.

Why did he leave so suddenly? There were still so many things he hadn't done together. The branches in the back yard hadn't been trimmed yet. They hadn't been out together yet, and they had also agreed to go to the amusement park together.

"It was clearly agreed upon two weeks, what a liar." Hermione's eyes were red.

Chapter 139 Bates and Lockhart?!

Hermione sniffed and put the bedding back where it came from, then moved out several large boxes of handicrafts from the attic, intending to restore the room to its original state.

Clay dolls are placed at the door, watercolor paintings are placed on the wall, and puppets are made of rags...

Walking along the way, Hermione saw a row of neatly arranged Coke bottles in a corner.

This guy has been hiding Coke bottles in his bedroom?!

Hermione burst out laughing and pouted, "Sloppy, lazy, bad temper..."

Hermione counted 20 of Loren's shortcomings and pressed the tip of her red nose with the back of her hand. She felt much better and was no longer as sad as before.

She came to the courtyard and practiced the Patronus Charm, the silvery light illuminating the green branches. She hid in the study, flipping through the manuscripts and books she brought from school, and previewing the teaching content for the next semester.

Busy figures appeared in various places in the house, until the golden afterglow of sunset shone into the room. Hermione closed the book and walked out of the room. She sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for her parents to come home...

After Loren said goodbye to the Grangers, he came out of the villa and sat in Bates' passenger seat.

The separation is only temporary, they will meet again. With Bates' company, Loren's suppressed emotions slowly relaxed.

"I bought a house in London and we are going to settle down in London!" Bates turned the steering wheel and drove out of Hampstead Gardens along the road.

Loren sat in the car at ease and let Bates take him away: "What about the alpine ranch? Are we going back?"

Bates stared at the road and the condition of the car, and said with a hearty smile: "I'm not going back. Is there anyone you don't want to leave?"

For decades, Bates imprisoned himself high in the mountains, had no social interaction with others, and had no attachment to the people in that town.

Loren shook his head; he didn't either.

The two drove all the way into the city and bought a lot of daily necessities at the supermarket. Bates even ordered a freshly slaughtered lamb.

"Didn't we agree on this? We want roast lamb. Come on, let's go home and roast the lamb." Bates put a whole rack of lamb into the trunk, closed the rear lid, and walked back to the driver's cab.

Loren followed and sat in the passenger seat, holding the ice cream cone in his hand, licking it in small bites. It was so cold and sweet that Loren squinted his eyes in enjoyment.

He asked comfortably, "I saw you bought a lot of other dishes. There are only two of us. Can we finish them?"

"If you can't finish it, eat it slowly." Bates started the engine and drove back to their new home.

Bates learned his driving skills in the army, so he drove very easily. "How was your time at Hermione's during the holidays?"

"Very good, Wendell took us camping in the Forest of Dean and visited the Queen's hunting lodge." Loren saw that the ice cream was about to melt and licked it faster.

"I really don't understand what you young people are thinking. What's so fun about camping and sleeping in the wild?" When Bates was young, he often camped in the wild with the army and didn't think it was an interesting activity.

"This is the generation gap!" Loren was concentrating on the ice cream in his hand without looking up. "Camping alone is an extra expense, and they have to take care of me. The Grangers are very good to me."

Although Bates did not understand the fun of camping, he was very grateful to the Grangers for taking care of Loren.

He slapped the steering wheel with his hand and said regretfully, "How rude! I didn't bring any gifts when I went to visit someone yesterday."

Loren finished eating all the ice cream balls on the cone and began to bite the crispy shell of the cone bit by bit. "Give Wendell a fishing rod. I think he likes fishing."

Bates nodded and asked, "What about Mrs. Granger and Hermione, what do they like?"

Loren was stumped by this question and fell into deep thought.

The roadside scenery kept moving backwards, they gradually left the city, the green outside the window became more, the tall buildings and houses became fewer, and they returned to the suburbs.

Loren was not familiar with the routes and topography of London. He had not been out of the house for several days with the Grangers. When he saw the familiar scenery, he thought that the suburbs around London were all like this and did not think much about it. He just vaguely felt that the appearance of the houses around him was somewhat similar to Hermione's house.

Before he had time to take a closer look at the surroundings, the car drove along the road into a family garage in a courtyard.

Bates got out of the car and walked to the trunk. He opened the lid, picked up a whole rack of lamb in one hand and a large bag of daily necessities in the other hand and walked into the house. "Follow us, come and see our new home."

Loren followed him happily, swinging his hands and looking around.

"I took over the house from someone else. The furniture is still there. We just need to clean and decorate it." Bates walked in front, all the way to the living room, placed daily necessities on the sofa, and put the lamb into the kitchen.

Loren tilted his head and looked around. In addition to the regular living room, kitchen and dining room, there were several other rooms on the first floor. He looked at the walls of the house and the location of the stairs, and felt that the similarities were too high.

Bates took out the cleaning tools and prepared to start cleaning their new home. Loren stopped looking around and followed to help.

"It will be very convenient for you to go to school living in London. How about it? Are you satisfied with this house?" Bates smiled.

Loren nodded, his tone a little puzzled: "The house is nice, but why is the layout so similar to Hermione's?"

Bates avoided her gaze and said perfunctorily, "Maybe all the houses here are built in this style. Maybe they hired the same construction company and designer when they were built."

"Is that right?"

"Of course, the lives of people in the city are similar, and the houses are similar."

The two of them worked until noon before they barely finished cleaning. After a quick lunch, they both collapsed on the sofa in exhaustion.

"Why don't you let me use magic?" Loren asked weakly.

Although he was very tired and didn't want to move a finger, Bates still gritted his teeth and answered firmly: "This is the first time we clean our house. Of course we should do it ourselves. It has a different meaning."

Loren couldn't figure out what was different, but he didn't want to argue with Bates anymore, so he lay down on the sofa to recover his strength.

An old man and a young boy were lying quietly but they were not sleepy. There was bright sunshine outside the house but it was not hot inside.

On the dial of the clock on the wall, three pointers chased each other, making a ticking sound. Time passed slowly and quickly. Loren saw the minute hand surpass the hour hand, and then it surpassed it again after making a circle.

"How was your trip and why did it take so long?" Loren asked leisurely, enjoying the quiet time.

Grandpa Bates begins to narrate his journey:

"I went to see my farm in Scotland. It was rented by a company I didn't know what it was doing. Anyway, they transferred money to my account regularly. I asked for the price and they agreed readily."

"I went to the places where those comrades died. After decades, I feel that I have not let any of them down, so I don't feel uneasy or scared to go there again."

"There are still not many people in the deep mountains. I easily found the wooden house where I met the werewolf. It has been decades since then, and has been beaten to pieces by wind and rain. The corpses inside have been taken away by animals."

Loren listened to Bates telling the turbulent story in a calm tone. He didn't know how complicated Grandpa Bates's emotions were, but he was a good listener.

Bates sat up at this point, and his tone became excited: "I also met a wizard."

Hearing this, Loren's eyes suddenly widened and he asked, "Who, did he find out that you are a werewolf?"

Bates was not nervous or surprised at all. He said with a smile, "He found out that I spent a full moon in the mountains. He probably saw a werewolf baking potatoes and came out to talk to me."

"He knows I'm a Muggle. Oh, that's what you wizards call ordinary people, right?" Bates still smiled.

"Tell me what's next!" Loren asked anxiously.

Many materials on werewolves can be used for alchemy and magic potions, and dark wizards have imprisoned werewolves for evil experiments. If the dark wizards knew that there was such a Muggle werewolf, Bates would be in great danger.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Bates said slowly. "As a veteran, I'm fully alert."

Loren looked at Grandpa Bates, whose hands and feet were intact, and felt relieved.

"But he might really be a good man. I spent a few days with him, and he didn't act like a wizard at all. He personally helped me find firewood, boil water, and bake potatoes. Unlike you, you try to use magic to accomplish everything."

Bates was very dissatisfied with Loren's previous behavior. A month before Loren entered school, he used magic to take care of all the housework, leaving Bates with nothing to do and could only sit and stare all day.

"He was very interested in my experience and asked me about the details of my transformation into a werewolf, how it felt, and why I was able to remain sane."

Bates raised his eyebrows proudly. "Ha, how could I possibly tell him that I have a wizard grandson who sends me wolfsbane potion every month. I am a veteran. I lied to him and said that I didn't know how I could wake up on a full moon night."

As a parent who didn't want to have any impact on his child, Bates did not reveal any information about Loren even though he thought the other party was fine.

"He wants to see me transform during the full moon one more time, hehe!"

Bates laughed twice. "I drank the wolfsbane potion a week in advance when he wasn't paying attention. He really thought I could stay sane on my own. He even said he was going to write me into a book. He introduced himself as a best-selling author in the magical world."

When Loren heard this, he had a guess in his mind: Grandpa Bates might meet Lockhart.

He was worried that Lockhart had used a forgetfulness spell on Grandpa Bates, but there was nothing to steal from Grandpa Bates's experience, and it did not reflect any heroic image. Moreover, Lockhart was not born when Grandpa Bates turned into a werewolf.

The most important thing is that Grandpa Bates has clear thinking and logic, and there doesn't seem to be any signs of the Forgetfulness Spell.

"We spent some time together to collect materials. I introduced him to the Muggle world, and he taught me how to dress myself. No matter what kind of wizard he is, at least he is really good at this."

Bates said this with a brilliant smile, the corners of his mouth curled upwards, revealing only his upper teeth, which was very brilliant.

Loren has seen this smile before. In "Wandering with Werewolves", there is a high-definition animated picture of Lockhart's smile, which is very eye-catching.

He moved away from him with disdain and asked tentatively, "Grandpa Bates, can you still remember what happened the night you turned into a werewolf? Have you become forgetful and lose things?"

Bates's bright smile faded and he glanced at him. "I may be almost 80 years old, but I have a clear mind and I don't have any mental problems. These are not my fantasies."

He didn't want to bother with Loren anymore, so he got up and went to the kitchen to prepare the mutton.

Loren guessed that it might be because Grandpa Bates was a Muggle, and Lockhart's tampering with his experience would not be discovered, so he did not use the Forgetfulness Charm.

His thoughts were wandering. What was Lockhart going to write this time? Wandering with Werewolves 2? Or Wandering in the Muggle World? He knew without thinking that it would be another bestseller...

Bates sat back down in front of the cranky Loren and looked at him expressionlessly.

Loren came back to his senses and was startled, "What?"

"You go and roast the lamb." Bates said quietly.

"why?"

Bates asked gently, "Then do you want to eat the roast lamb I made?"

Loren was silent. Grandpa Bates' cooking skills were not bad, but after decades of living in the mountains, he could only cook with a little oil, salt and sugar.

Whether the food is delicious or not depends entirely on the flavor of the ingredients themselves. It would be a waste to let him make roast lamb.

For the sake of his tongue and stomach, Loren got up humiliatingly and went into the kitchen, resigning himself to making roast lamb.

There was not enough space in the kitchen, so after preparing the sauce and marinating it for a while, Loren moved all the ingredients to the backyard.

There were no green plants in the courtyard, it was bare and surrounded by only a circle of brick walls, which made it look a bit desolate.