Chapter 68

Somewhere in Surrey

As the car pulled up in front of the large and impressive house in Surrey, Nina's heart skipped a beat with excitement. She had been waiting for this day - the day she would finally get to see her grandparents again since they dropped off Albert. With a loud squeal of delight, Nina opened the car door and ran as fast as she could towards the house.

"Grandpa Luke, Grandma Sansa, guess who's here to visit!" a high-pitched voice shrieked.

Luke and Sansa were waiting for her at the front door. Their faces lit up with joy as they saw their granddaughter approach. Luke scooped Nina up into his arms and hugged her tightly, while Sansa wiped away her tears and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"How's school, my dear?" Grandma Sansa asked.

"I don't want to go to school anymore," Nina said.

"Why not?" Luke asked gently.

"The other kids are mean to me," Nina sniffled.

"That's terrible, my love," Sansa said. "But you mustn't let them get to you. You are strong and brave, and you can handle anything."

"I don't feel strong or brave," Nina mumbled.

Luke kneeled down to look Nina in the eyes. "Nina, do you know what bravery is? It's not the absence of fear. It's standing up to your fears and facing them head on. And I know you have that kind of courage in you."

Nina looked up at him, tears still in her eyes, but a glimmer of hope shining through. "Really?"

"Really," Sansa nodded. "And we're here to help you every step of the way."

"Then, can you get me into Hogwarts? I really want to go. I'll be a good girl and have my vegetable if you let me go," Nina said rapidly, like a Gatling gun in rapid fire mode.

"I'm sorry, Nina, but we can't do that. We don't have the authority nor power to do that," Grandma Sansa said. "Come on, let's get you into the house where it's nice and toasty. And you two, I hope you brought the box."

The three guests followed Grandma Sansa in. When they stepped into the grand entrance hall of the house, Nina was awestruck by the expansive high ceilings and the glossy marble floors. No matter how many times she had seen it, it always made her gasp. They adorned the walls with intricate paintings and antique tapestries, and a grand staircase led up to the upper floors. As Nina stepped into the hallway, the sweet scent of freshly cut flowers filled the air and she felt like they had transported her to a magical world.

Nina and her parents stepped into the living room, which was warm and cosy, with a gigantic fireplace on one wall. They decorated the room in shades of cream and beige, with plush armchairs and a comfortable sofa arranged around a low coffee table. They adorned the walls with various family photos in gold frames, and there were several bookshelves filled with well-worn volumes.

In one corner of the room, there was a tall grandfather clock that chimed softly every hour. They laid a thick, soft carpet on the floor and placed a large rug with a floral pattern in the centre of the room. A beautiful oil painting of a countryside scene hung over the mantelpiece, and there were several vases of fresh flowers scattered around the room, adding a pop of colour to the otherwise muted palette. They all sat down on the plush armchairs or on the cosy sofa.

"Albert sent us this box. We have no idea what's in it and, guessing by what you said earlier, you also got one," Herb said to his father.

"Yes, he also sent us one," Grandmas Sansa said. "I didn't expect the drink the wizards drink would taste so strange."

"Where's Tom?" Luke asked.

"On the porch. I'll get him," Daisy said as she got up and left the room.

When Daisy entered the room again, she let tom out of his cage and at that moment, Snow appeared from behind Daisy. They were about to go at it with each other until Daisy picked Tom up and put him on her lap when she went back to sit down.

"Don't make me put you back in your cage," Daisy said as she sat down.

While she you out of the room, Herb opened the silver box the Eurasian Eagle Owl dropped off early today.

"So this is all the sent back?" Herb said as he laid everything out on the coffee table.

"How much is he meant to send back?" Daisy said as she glanced at Herb. "We didn't give him a lot of spending money, and how would the poor owl fly it over here?"

"But the question is: where did he get those from? I hope he hasn't tried escaping from school again and going off the shop again," Sansa said with a light chuckle.

"My guess would be the Honeydukes Owl Mailing Service. He must have ordered it to his dorm and then sent it to us. I remember one of my half siblings doing that," Luke said, reminiscing.

"Can we try them already?" Nina asked impatiently.

"Of course. Wait a moment," Herb said with a smile.

Nina picked up the paper bag and opened it. She found Albert filled it with photos he had taken, and he marked the photos in chronological order of when he took them. The first photo was the Hogwarts Express.

"Here's our copy. We already looked through them," Sansa said as she handed a pile of photos to Daisy. "Albert labelled it as the Hogwarts Express. It is used to take the children to Hogwarts."

"Wow! Is that the 4-6-0 Hall Class Steam Locomotive Model GWR 5900?" Daisy said as she picked up the photo and took a closer look. "I can't believe they use this kind of old antique to take children to school."

Daisy handed the photo to her husband and grabbed a bottle of... pumpkin juice?

"Pumpkin Juice, sound ominous. Well, bottoms up," Daisy said as she popped open the lid and downed the bottle.

"How does it taste?" Herb asked.

"It tastes weird," Daisy said as she threw a bottle to her husband and passed the other to her daughter.

Nina took the battle, opened it, and took a sip. "Ugh, I don't like it that much. I prefer apple juice."

After Herb finished drinking, he blinked and said, "Not bad, but not good as well."

"It smells like childhood," Luke mumbled.

Nina put down the bottle of Pumpkin Juice and pointed to the Butterbeer. "I want to try that!"

"Let's see what this is first, okay? Butter... beer? No, you can't have that," Daisy said as she read the label on the bottle.

"It's okay Daisy. It has minimal alcohol concentration. She won't be affected. It is like alcohol to the wine you drink during mass," Luke said. "it's creamy and frothy and has a hint of butterscotch. Have a task first before deciding to give it to Nina."

"It smells quite buttery," Daisy said as she sniffed the bottle and took a snip.

"Butterbeer is what coke is to us. Even though children shouldn't have it, they still do," Luke said.

"What about the alcohol?" Daisy asked.

"Coke has Coke," Luke said.

"So can I have some?" Nina asked.

"You have the rest of mine," Daisy said as she passed the bottle to Nina. "Sip it, don't slurp."

"Okay," Nina said and then downed the rest of the bottle.

"NINA! What did I just say?" Daisy screamed.

"Calm down, honey. It's not a lot of alcohol. You let her have more wine than that during mass...," Herb said before shutting up because of his wife's glare towards him.

While her parents were having a silent argument, Nina went to the coffee table to see what else was there. She looked around and went for the Chocolate Frog. She opened the wrapper and took a bite before it could jump away. Daisy went to the stack of letter held together by a red ribbon and handed it to her husband. She told him to read it out loud.

The first letter was how his first couple of days went after he got onto the Hogwarts Express. It mentions all the first years going on a muddy trail and crossing a lake on enchanted boats. Albert wrote about a massive oak door leading into the Great Hall and the process of the sorting ceremony. He also described what each house represented and a brief history. It also mentioned secret passageways, talking portraits and a Kitchen in the dungeon hidden by a painting. You had to tickle a pear to get in. The next section described the Common Room and subject teachers he's already met. Albert described the Moving Staircase and introduced his friends. The next parchment has the History of Hogwarts written on it with a hand-drawn map of key locations and a photo.

While Herb was reading, Daisy and Niina were looking through the photo and having a few snacks. Looking at the photo, Nina grabbed them and looked at them carefully.

"Mummy, I want to go there," Nina said.

"In due time, my dear, in due time."