12 Grimmer Street.
The gentle and soothing sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices, casting over the two boys diligently writing at their desks.
A quill pen moves across parchment, the urgent rustling sound fills the room.
Although his wrists hurt fiercely, Harry dared not pause for a moment. He held his breath and focused his emerald eyes on the space remaining on the parchment he was writing on, scribbling wildly while muttering softly to himself.
And Ron, sitting beside him, was in a similarly intense state.
The old clock on the wall faithfully records every second of the passing time. At the moment the hour hand points to ten--
"It's done!"
Harry suddenly dropped the feather quill, jumping up from his chair with his hands raised above his head, like a triumphant cheer after winning a Quidditch match.
While looking at Ron, his face 'looked as if he had just lost his best friend'.
He reluctantly drew out Harry's parchment, scanned it twice to make sure the paper met Binns' requirements in length, and then he let out a mournful howl, collapsing onto the table as if his spine had been extracted.
"Hand it over, Ron, don't try to weasel out of it!"
Ron's mournful howl not only failed to gain Harry's sympathy but also made his smile even brighter. He reached out one hand to Ron.
"Here you go--"
Ron let out a resentful shout, holding his hand in his pocket, pulling out a few coins. He selected a galon from the bunch, then put the rest of the Sickle, Needle, and Brennan Professor's commemorative coin back into his pocket.
"This galon should have played a more important role--"
Reluctantly placing the galon into Harry's palm, Ron said with a melancholic expression.
"Win or lose, Ron, you have to accept it."
Harry said with a smile,
"It's just a galon, Ron. It's not worth you losing your composure."
The door to the room suddenly opened. A person they both knew would be there today had appeared, but seeing her really was a surprise that couldn't be contained.
Before Harry could exclaim in surprise, the girl at the door already dashed over and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, it's only been two weeks, Hermione--"
Feeling the warm embrace, Harry said, but the joy in his heart was many times greater than the joy he had just won from Ron. He hugged Hermione tightly.
Then Ron, Hermione greeted him with a bright smile and gave him a warm embrace, which made the slight tension on Ron's face disappear, and his smile also became bright.
"How was your trip, Hermione?"
While smiling and looking at Hermione, Ron asked.
The girl in front of them was wearing a cotton-blue tank dress with small flowers, delicate and fair feet wearing cool sandals. It seemed that she couldn't wait to see them. Hermione was wearing a straw hat with a playful bow made of white silk ribbon, and it hadn't been taken off yet.
Perhaps because of the abundant sunshine, Hermione's skin tone had a light wheat color.
However, this didn't detract from her beauty. Harry and Ron both amazedly found that just two weeks had passed and Hermione looked taller than before!
"Whew!"
Hermione's smile on her face was just as radiant as Harry and Ron's, and as she looked around the room, the much worse environment than before twisted her pert nose slightly.
But she immediately let out a delighted gasp,
"Father and mother took me to Dijon. It was very beautiful, but the weather there was much drier than in London. I can't get used to it--"
Never mind that. How are you guys doing with your summer homework?"
"It's already done!"
"It's almost done!"
Harry and Ron said hurriedly.
They both unconsciously moved their bodies, blocking behind them the messy-looking magical history paper they had been composing for a competition in an attempt to speed up the process. Of course, even without this competition, their papers might not have been much better than average in Hermione's eyes.
"Oh, really?"
Hermione seemed very pleased.
"I thought you guys wouldn't be this diligent without any prompting. After all,"
Fortunately, Hermione didn't notice their little actions. She smoothed her hair in front of her and continued,
"Dad and Mom weren't very happy about me leaving early. They wanted me to stay at home until school starts."
"You know, I haven't spent much time with them this summer. The trials and the war in Diagon Alley took up a lot of my time."
"But how did you convince them, Hermione?"
Harry was cooperative with Hermione's topic, feigning interest in it, because if Hermione noticed their disorganized papers, her stubborn and particular nature might compel them to rewrite them.
"I told them I had to go buy the things I need for next semester. I didn't tell them about the war in the wizarding world, but only said it was a bit unstable, so I better go with you. Then they agreed."
Hermione was excited,
"By the way, have you guys received the Hogwarts reading list? It's strange; I didn't find any books listed for the Defense Against the Dark Arts course for next term."
"Maybe they haven't decided who to assign for the unlucky task yet!"
Ron, like Harry, was thinking the same thing. To avoid having to rewrite their boring papers, Ron also cooperated with the topic.
"We've been waiting for you to come. Now that you're here, we can leave for Diagon Alley right away!"
"They're already waiting for us downstairs!"
Hermione suddenly remembered and quickly grabbed Harry and Ron's arms, dashing out of the room. She pounded down the stairs hurriedly.
"By the way, how did you get here, Hermione?"
When they got down to the second floor, Harry looked at the large suitcase placed by Ginny's door and asked casually,
"Magic taxi?"
"Don't be silly, Harry, of course it's the Knight Bus--"
Hermione spoke quickly.
"But!"
Ron raised an puzzled expression, but before he could voice his question, Hermione answered him.
"I remember, when I was still there, the Prophet Daily said it, didn't it? The Death Eaters just hijacked the Knight Bus to transport giants to the battlefield, but they didn't kill the driver and conductor of the bus!"
"Why?"
Harry asked in confusion,
"The Death Eaters have become merciful?"
"Oh, maybe the Dark Lord especially likes the Knight Bus!"
Ron's lips were pursed.
They went to the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and the twin brothers were ready to leave.
"Hurry up, Ron!"
As they descended the stairs, Ron's robe was caught on a wooden thorn on the banister, and he grunted as he tugged at the robe that was obviously too small for him.
Ginny scowled at this brother.
"We still have to go to Gringotts to get some money!"
Harry and the Weasleys had visited Diagon Alley many times, but never before had Mrs. Weasley appeared as confident and composed as she did before this trip.
She smiled and stood by the fireplace, not reprimanding Ron for his rough treatment of his robe.
Harry knew that the confidence she showed was due to Ron's winnings from the Triwizard Tournament and the significant increase in Weasley's father's salary.
"Don't complain, Ron, we can get you a new robe later. Think of it as an early encouragement!"
"What kind of encouragement?"
Ron, who was not happy with the tears in his robe, suddenly looked up, eagerly looking at his mother.
"What do you think?"
Hermione was the first to realize it. She took a small breath, looking a bit nervous.
"Isn't the fifth year OWLs year? We are going to face OWLs this school year. Oh my God, just thinking about it my heart is pounding!"
"Oh, if we didn't have to take the OWLs exams, I would rather wear this torn robe all year long."
Ron immediately looked dejected.
They chattered and jostled to the fireplace, but a smile was plastered on everyone's face, as if Hogwarts opening had brought general happiness to everyone.
Harry thought it was a bit like the Olympic Games, where on this important day, all disputes must be put on hold.
"By the way, Mrs. Weasley, didn't Gringotts Bank get destroyed during the war?"
Seeing Fred and George leap first into the fireplace, Harry suddenly remembered the critical point. He turned to ask Mrs. Weasley at the back of the line.
Like that time before the war when he went to Diagon Alley, Harry had also put the money he won from the competition into the vault. Carrying so much gold around was too conspicuous!
That was the first time since Harry had inherited that vault that he had put money in instead of taking it out.
But--
This is because this Gringotts Bank holds all of his wealth. If it were to be lost all at once, he would have no choice but to borrow money from Sirius.
"Oh, don't worry, dear, those vaults are deep underground and were not affected by the war. Any minor losses will be compensated by Gringotts Bank!"
Mrs. Weasley said smilingly.
"I'm almost not recognizing the goblins anymore--"
Harry muttered a few words, then stepped into the fireplace.
