38 Chapter 38: The Illegitimate Child Scandal
The second week of October.
The further you go into Leonard Taylor's lab, the more dangerous and valuable things are stored. In the second room from the back of the lab, Ku, a new magical creature created by Leo, was growing steadily. Its current size is already about that of a 7-8 year old child.
"Well then, Ku. I'm going to class. I think your body will stabilize by tomorrow and you'll be able to get out freely, so just bear with it a little longer."
Leo leaves the lab. Ku floats in the culture tank and thinks.
(I wonder what the outside is like? I know it in knowledge, but I've never seen it... I want to see it. Should I go out? My master will forgive me, right? Yeah, let's go!)
Unable to resist his curiosity about the outside world, Ku jumps out of the culture tank. He absorbs his semi-transparent body and changes his appearance based on a certain human gene. He creates a child's robe with magic and jumps out of the lab.
"Departure!"
Inside Hogwarts, everything was exciting for Ku, who had never seen anything like it in the lab. He walked around the school building, looking at ghosts, moving stairs and paintings. Everything he saw was fresh. However, as a result of walking around without a plan, it was inevitable that he would get lost.
"What should I do? Where is my master? But if my master finds me, he might get angry... I'm also hungry."
Since it's currently in the middle of class, there are no students or teachers in sight in the hallway. As he walks aimlessly, he feels a comforting smell. He decides to go to the source of that smell on instinct.
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I am Hermione Jean Granger, a third-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, belonging to Gryffindor. I am currently 14 years old. Right now, I am taking a Transfiguration class. As always, I was concentrating on not missing a single word of Professor McGonagall's lecture. It was just another ordinary class.
I couldn't have predicted that it would suddenly turn into chaos due to an unexpected intruder.
"Is this the place?"
The door of the classroom is opened and someone comes in. Both Professor McGonagall and everyone else look at her all at once.
Standing there was a pure white girl. She had silver hair and a very fair complexion, dressed in a pure white robe. Only her eyes were green, which felt quite out of place in the white.
Everyone had question marks in their heads.
(((Who is she?)))
That question was reasonable. It's not that we haven't seen her because she's from a lower grade in another dormitory. Her appearance is clearly too young. She must be under 10 years old.
"Who are you? Did someone bring you here and you got lost? What's your name? Who is your guardian?"
Professor McGonagall kindly deals with the white girl. The white girl doesn't answer the questions and looks around the classroom.
(Ah, our eyes met.)
The moment our eyes met, the girl's face changed to joy. She pointed at me and let out an astonishing word.
"Mama!"
(((Mama!?)))
Everyone looks at me all at once. I was confused by the shock of the words that were thrown at me and didn't know what to do, so I froze. The girl doesn't care about such things and comes closer to me and hugs me. The confusion gets worse and worse.
"Gr, Granger! Is that child yours!? Who is the other party!? No, at that age, having a child...! No, no, Granger!"
Professor McGonagall is also quite confused. Seeing her like that, I gradually regained my calmness. It seems true that seeing someone more upset than yourself calms you down.
"Who are you? What's your name?"
"Mama, it's me. It's Ku. Um, I got lost while exploring... I smelled Mama so I came here."
"Ku? Um, could it be Leo's?"
That small, trembling, semi-transparent mysterious creature is this child? I couldn't believe it right away, but this is a magic school and the one who created it was Leonard Taylor. No matter what happens, I thought I wouldn't be surprised anymore, but Leo always easily surpasses my imagination... Carelessly thinking about such things, mentioning Leo's name seemed to have been bad, and the surroundings became even more chaotic.
"You just said Leo? So the other party is Leonard Taylor after all!"
"Kyaa! Congratulations to both of you! When is the ceremony?"
"I'll get more details later for future reference."
"Isn't it time to look for a partner first?"
"Damn it! It's Taylor after all."
"But isn't she too big for a child?"
"It must be magic or a magic potion, right? Anything goes with him."
"Ron fainted from shock!"
Both girls and boys say whatever they want to say. There are some comments that can't be ignored but if you care about them you lose. I can't deny anything about Leo's magic...
Professor McGonagall is also in constant confusion, what should I do... But nothing more will happen from now on, right?
My faint hope was blown to smithereens the moment I saw the person who came into the classroom next.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your class. Has an unknown creature intruded here?"
Here comes my crush, Leonard Taylor.
The classroom heats up even more. Professor McGonagall starts preaching something off-target to Leo and I feel like running away.
"Master!"
Ku-chan who was hugging me sees Leo and sprouts wings like a dragon from her back and flies to Leo. Everyone except Leo who includes me watches it in astonishment. It's as if all the noise had been a lie and it's quiet again.
"Master! I'm hungry! Is it time for dinner yet?"
"Ku, it's not good to walk around on your own. It was good that we installed sensing magic in the culture tank. But still, being able to become human already is more growth than expected. For now, let's go back to the study room. Dinner will be after the lecture."
With that said, they try to leave the classroom.
(((Wait!!!)))
Everyone in the classroom called for a halt. No explanation was impossible.
Then Leo started explaining about Ku-chan.
But even though he explained it in detail with magical creatures and magical potion theories, Leo's unique magic, and even the Philosopher's Stone, I couldn't keep up with the understanding.
"Mr. Taylor, I apologize, but could you please tell me the simple facts? What is this child?"
"It's a new magical creature that I created."
"Why did it call Miss Granger 'Mama'?"
"I used hair provided by Hermione as a material, so I believe that's the influence."
"I see. Ah... I'm tired today... Since this child intruded during class, Ravenclaw will lose 5 points for supervision responsibility. There won't be a class today. Please submit a report summarizing the content of the class. That's all!"
Leo and Ku-chan returned to the study room. I feel many gaze from around me.
"Taylor is still out there as usual. Good luck with parenting, Mama!"
"It's good practice for having a child with your future husband, isn't it?"
Everyone is joking and saying such things.
Well, sure, Leo and I are lovers... and eventually we'll get married...
I want a child too, and if you think about it, since Ku-chan has my DNA in her, she's my child, right?
...Alright!
"I'm going to do my best! I'll raise Ku-chan"
Everyone feels like they can't believe I'm serious... but I don't care.
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From then on, a white girl named Ku started to accompany Leonard Taylor. Everyone was very interested in the magical creature that Leonard Taylor had created.
Sometimes, students who saw Ku alone observed her situation with amusement, and students who had younger siblings started to play with her and take care of her. Ku quickly became an idol-like figure at Hogwarts.
Ku also grew steadily by seeing, touching, eating various people and things, and gaining experience. Of course, Leo also treated her with love, but he let Ku do what she wanted to gain a lot of experience. And as expected, she was close to Hermione and called her "Mama", and she was the one who was most attached to her. From that situation, Hermione, who was 14 years old, had become completely accustomed to being treated as a mother.
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Hermione has become a mother.
Leo is recognized as the creator ≠ Papa.
Ku has no gender, but due to the influence of Hermione's hair, she became a girl.
She is still growing, so her abilities will become more and more clear in the future. Now she can change the shape of her body, sprout dragon wings, and use simple magic.
