"Mr. Weasley, please be sure to follow that car in front!"
Adelaide shouted loudly, leaning against the rear window.
"No problem, leave it to me!"
Arthur Weasley responded readily.
He quickly pressed a few buttons, activating the car's invisibility and flight modes. The seemingly ordinary car rose into the air as if granted magical power, speeding toward The Dursley Family's car.
Today was Sunday, and for Arthur Weasley, a corporate slave of sorts, it should have been a day to rest and relax at home. However, an urgent Owl letter from Dumbledore had shattered that peace.
Initially, Arthur Weasley was a bit frustrated; after all, who wouldn't want to sleep in on a rare day off?
But when he read Dumbledore's promise in the letter, all his dissatisfaction vanished into thin air.
Dumbledore not only permitted him to drive his beloved car out on a mission but also explicitly stated that if any accidents occurred along the way, Dumbledore would take full responsibility.
Upon hearing this news, Arthur Weasley was beyond excited. This was practically providing him with a free joyride with no worries about the consequences!
He was too excited to sleep and woke up early at four in the morning. While the naughty twins were still fast asleep, he slipped into the garage and cast a Scouring Charm on his beloved car to make it look brand new, then couldn't wait to drive to Number Seven, Zijing Road to meet up with Adelaide.
The Dursley Family didn't stop to rest all day until nightfall, when they pulled up in front of the Railview Hotel on the outskirts of Cokeworth in the Midlands of England.
As was her custom, Adelaide cast a Disillusionment Charm and followed the Dursleys and Harry inside. She watched them book two rooms and only left the hotel after confirming the room numbers.
"Mr. Weasley, we might have to stay here for the night."
Arthur Weasley said with a smile, "Dumbledore already told me that if it couldn't be finished in a day, he'd help me request leave from the Ministry of Magic. I happen to have a tent in the trunk of my car; let's set up camp by the river tonight!"
Adelaide nodded in agreement. Tents in the Wizarding World weren't like those cold, narrow, suffocating little things used by Muggles; the environment inside the tent might even be a few degrees better than the hotel where the Dursleys were staying.
While Mr. Weasley was casting a Muggle-Repelling Enchantment to set up the tent, Adelaide took Hermione along the street to look for a supermarket, intending to buy some instant food for tonight's dinner.
They strolled along the slightly dingy streets of Cokeworth. Scenes from the thrilling ride in the flying car earlier that day kept flashing through Hermione's mind, and she seemed completely immersed in it, unable to pull herself away.
Although she had long known that the Wizarding World was full of all sorts of incredible wonders, having experienced it personally, she found that reality was far more shocking than imagination.
Thinking of this, an inexplicable sense of fear welled up in Hermione's heart—these Wizards with miraculous magic were almost omnipotent!
If one day they decided on a whim to launch an attack on unsuspecting ordinary people, Hermione felt that ordinary humans relying on their own strength would likely be completely unable to resist such a powerful offensive. Just thinking about that terrifying image made her shudder involuntarily.
Hermione spoke up with some concern, "Adelaide, Wizards look no different from ordinary people, and they usually hide among them..."
"In other words, among the passersby we brush past on the street, there could be Wizards. If they wanted to, they could kill ordinary people using methods the police couldn't detect—don't you think that's a bit scary?"
Adelaide naturally knew what Hermione was worried about and spoke to reassure her, "Hermione, you're overthinking it. The Wizard population is extremely small. There are currently billions of Muggles—ordinary humans—in the world, while the number of Wizards is only a few million."
"And most of them choose to live together, forming wizarding communities. Wizards who have interactions with Muggles in their daily lives are very few indeed—"
Just then, Adelaide and Hermione reached a fork in the road. A man wearing long black robes suddenly stepped out from a side alley and collided head-on with Adelaide, who couldn't dodge in time.
Adelaide was startled by the sudden collision, but when she calmed down and looked closely, she immediately trembled with fear—wasn't this Professor Snape?
Severus Snape was also surprised to encounter Adelaide right outside his old home. A flicker of imperceptible doubt flashed in his deep eyes, followed by his thin lips parting to say coldly, "If it isn't Miss Grindelwald, who made quite a name for herself last school year and helped Ravenclaw win the house cup. If I recall correctly, it seems Dumbledore gave you a certain task—could it be that wandering aimlessly around Cokeworth in the middle of the night is what you call a task?"
Hearing Professor Snape's familiar venomous tongue, Adelaide couldn't help but inwardly groan.
She had just finished boasting to Hermione with such certainty about how small the Wizard population was and how hard it was to encounter one another, only to run into such an acquaintance a moment later. Talk about a slap in the face!
"Professor Snape, what... what are you doing here?"
Adelaide secretly speculated about the reason for Professor Snape's appearance here—could it be that this infatuated Potions Professor intended to sneak a peek at Lily's son, his 'White Moonlight'?
At the thought of this possibility, Adelaide couldn't help but gasp, and a layer of fine sweat broke out on her forehead.
Hiss~
Having stumbled upon his little secret, wouldn't the habitually tsundere Professor Snape silence her to keep it hidden!
"What, must I report to you if I return to my old home for a while? Distinguished~ Grindelwald the Second."
"Uh, no, no need."
Adelaide's mind began to race. Cokeworth was Snape's hometown... what a coincidence!
She looked up, squinting at a dilapidated sign hanging on the stone wall next to the alley, which had a few letters faintly carved on it—Spinners End.
Whoa, it really was!
A thought flashed through her mind: since this was Snape's hometown, then the childhood home of the sisters Lily Evans and Petunia Evans must also be nearby.
Usually, when people encounter danger or are in a state of chaos, they tend to subconsciously flee to a familiar place to seek refuge... In that case, it was perfectly logical for the Dursleys to choose to flee to Petunia's old home.
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