Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Despite Hermione’s repeated insistence that she would never do Suer’s homework for him, she ended up completing every assignment he had due over the next few days.
It was hardly the first time, anyway.
Delighted to have nothing to do, Suer breezed cheerfully through the last few days before summer holiday.
Then came their primary school graduation ceremony.
While performing onstage in a long-sleeved, lace-trimmed costume, Suer noticed an elderly man in the family seating to the left. The man had a long beard and wore a little cap, and beside him stood a woman with square spectacles and her hair gathered into a high bun.
Probably relatives of one of the other pupils.
Suer’s gaze merely skimmed past them. Little Angel was far more deserving of his attention. Dressed as a princess today, she looked every bit the angel her name promised.
During the curtain call, Suer secretly blew her a kiss. The gesture sent the little girl into raptures.
On the way home, Angel stayed nestled in his arms, giggling the entire journey.
She had come with Mr. and Mrs. Granger today. Mr. and Mrs. Ellison had apparently had something to take care of and had been unable to attend.
“Are Mum and Dad not home today?” Suer whispered to Angel.
Angel did not know either. She had been dropped off at the Grangers’ dental clinic that afternoon.
“That’s strange. Mum normally wouldn’t be out at this hour.”
Suer stared at the darkened house in confusion, then expertly retrieved the spare key from beneath the flowerpot by the door.
The instant he opened it, the lights came on.
Pop!
Confetti rained from above. Suer stood frozen.
Mr. Ellison emerged from behind him and placed a party hat on his head.
“Congratulations on graduating, son. And happy birthday.”
Of course. Today was his birthday–the anniversary of the day he had arrived at the Ellisons’ home ten years ago.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”
Suli walked carefully out of the kitchen, singing as she carried a cake with a single candle burning on top.
“Happy birthday, Bwother!” Angel cried, wrapping both arms around Suer’s leg.
Oh no. He was going to cry.
Suer lowered his head so no one would see. Blinking hard, he crouched down and lifted Angel into his arms.
“You little rascal. You knew all along, didn’t you?”
He gently bumped the tip of her nose with his, making her squeal with laughter.
“Happy birthday.” Hermione stood behind them, applauding with a radiant smile.
Suli brought the cake to Suer and spoke softly.
“Happy birthday, our lucky star. My son.”
“Make a wish, then blow out the candle.”
Suer looked around at Mr. and Mrs. Ellison, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and Hermione. He nodded firmly, his voice thick.
“Thank you, Mum.”
The tears escaped in the end. He blew out the candle with all his might.
Suer had known for a long time that he was only Mr. and Mrs. Ellison’s adopted son. Yet he had come to regard this kindhearted couple as his own parents just as surely as they treated him as their own child.
That had not changed even after Angel was born.
In this life, they and Angel were people he would protect for as long as he lived.
*I wish for everyone I cherish to be safe, healthy, and happy.*
…
Summer holiday began.
When it ended, Suer and Hermione were supposed to attend the same school. Hermione had originally favored a girls’ college, but she had changed her mind and decided to go to Eton with Suer instead. Mr. Ellison had the means to secure places for both children.
All of that changed one morning.
Bright and early, Angel charged into Suer’s room with a letter in her hand. She climbed expertly onto the bed, sprang into the air, and landed on him with a mighty body slam and an equally mighty cry.
“Bwother!”
Suer was about to perform his usual morning routine of lifting Angel off the bed and carrying her out when he noticed the envelope in her hand.
His heart lurched. Every trace of sleep vanished.
“Did you see who delivered this, Angel?”
He took the thick envelope from her, and a slight tremor crept into his voice.
“Nope, Bwother.” Angel shook her head innocently.
There could be no mistake. This letter was identical to the one he had seen in his previous life.
It was a letter from Hogwarts.
Written across one side in emerald-green ink were the words:
**Mr. Suer Bones
Second-Floor Bedroom
445 Lily Street
Stone District, Manchester**
*So my real name is Suer Bones?*
Learning his birth name left Suer momentarily dazed.
“Bwother, Bwother, this wax seal is so much fun! It has lots of animals on it. And a big H.”
Angel was lying on her back, which gave her a perfect view of the envelope’s flap.
Suer came to his senses and turned it over.
There it was: the familiar shield-shaped crest pressed into the wax. A lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounded a large letter H.
Suer stared at the emblem, transfixed.
Angel, far too impatient to wait, sat up, snatched the envelope, and ripped it open. A heap of parchment spilled everywhere with a rustle.
“Wow,” she breathed.
Laughing helplessly, Suer gathered the fallen sheets and put them in order until he found the main letter.
Its contents were exactly what he had expected, except for one additional sentence at the end: a professor would visit that evening.
So there truly could not be that many coincidences.
Coincidence piled upon coincidence became inevitability.
This really was the world of *Harry Potter*, the series he had watched in his previous life with his ex-girlfriend. As for that dazzling green light he had seen upon arriving here…
That must have been the infamous Avada Kedavra.
“Suer, are you awake?” Suli called after knocking on his door. “Your little girlfriend Hermione is here to see you.”
Her voice was rich with teasing.
“Mum!” Suer shouted.
He threw off the covers, lifted Angel down from the bed, washed up quickly, and went downstairs in his pyjamas.
Hermione sat on the living-room sofa, worry written all over her face.
“What’s wrong, Hermione?” Suer asked indistinctly around a bite of toast.
“Suer…” Hermione hesitated for a long while, looking thoroughly miserable. “I…”
“This isn’t like you, Hermione.” Suer had already guessed what she wanted to say. “Is this about not being able to go to Eton with me?”
“Huh?” Hermione’s head snapped up. “How did you know?”
Then she lowered it again.
“Since you already know… I don’t want to go to that school. But someone from there came yesterday. She told me that if I didn’t attend, I might…”
“So we’ll have to go to different schools. I don’t want that either. I really don’t.”
“But I asked about the holidays. We’ll have them, and I can come see you during every single one.”
With her head bowed, she rambled on and on, every word laden with guilt and reluctance.
If she had looked up, she would have seen Suer’s face turning scarlet from the effort of holding back his laughter.
“Is it Hogwarts, Big Sis Granger?”
Angel pattered over and leaned her upper body across Hermione’s lap, gazing up at her with wide, innocent eyes.
“Huh?”
Hermione lifted her tear-reddened eyes in shock. She stared at Angel, utterly baffled.
“How do you know, Angel?”
“Because Bwother got an acceptance letter this morning too. Angel saw it! What kind of place is Hogwarts?”
Hermione slowly shifted her stunned gaze from Angel’s face to Suer’s.
At last, Suer no longer had to contain himself. He burst out laughing.
It was not every day he got to see Hermione like this.
Her face went from red to white, then white to red again, changing colours like a signboard.
The tear clinging to the corner of her eye finally rolled down her cheek. It might as well have been a lit fuse.
That morning, Lily Street witnessed the glorious spectacle of a lioness hunting down her prey inside the Ellison home.
“Suer Ellison! You are so dead–!”
Hermione’s shrieks and Angel’s delighted squeals echoed over the entire street.