Chapter 725 The Taste of Home

"When do we leave for Ilvermorny?"

"Tomorrow."

"So urgent?"

"Severus and Egilbert have urged us several times. We should not keep them waiting for too long."

"Are you sure?"

"Not yet."

"Oh, I see..."

Loren kicked the branch under his feet and watched it fall into the grass and disappear: "Then be careful when you go to Ilvermorny... Here, I'll give you a copper Knut. If you can't beat Voldemort, remember to contact me. Although the distance is far, with my current ability, I should be able to get there quickly."

"Well... I will."

Dumbledore smiled gently, took the modified copper coin, and looked at it over and over in his hand. As an old wizard who was also proficient in alchemy, he could easily understand the function of the communicator, especially the design that mixed with Muggle concepts. He seemed very interested.

Loren explained how to use it, listened to the principal's soft questions, and the crickets responded from time to time. I felt that this summer night was particularly quiet.

Headmaster Dumbledore is a good man. His life should not be confined to the high tower of Hogwarts. The first hundred years can no longer be recovered. He hopes that after retirement, he can embark on his journey peacefully instead of thinking about where the Horcruxes might be hidden.

He turned around along the path in the courtyard. He did not find the location of the cricket, but found a few frogs. They hid in the shallow pool, half of their heads were exposed, and they called loudly. When they approached, they closed their mouths. They were not afraid of people, and their black eyes stared straight.

Loren yawned: "Did you know that Harry had to stay in school?"

"He told me."

"Did you agree?"

"Sirius' daughter was born, and he should go to see her, but he was worried that he would bring danger to the Burrow... In fact, I would rather see him return to the Dursleys, purely to get along with them, rather than for the power of shelter."

"Oh, that family affection again..."

Before Loren finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in his peripheral vision.

The wizard robes specially worn for the year-end dinner were slightly loose, and the pure white shirt and golden red tie showed a unique temperament. The slightly messy hair was spread out, and a smile was on Qingmei's face. She shook her sleeves and ran over quickly, stopping beside Loren, and said in a crisp voice:

"Professor Dumbledore, good evening."

"Good evening."

"..."

After a simple greeting, both parties said goodbye. The two walked forward side by side, occasionally whispering sideways, and the simple and natural movements seemed to have become a habit.

Dumbledore watched their figures going away, and a gentle smile appeared on his kind face.

...

It was already late, and Loren did not drag Hermione outside for too long. He wandered around for a while and then returned to the dormitory.

Many people who didn't want to sleep gathered in the common room. They sat together and chatted. The voices were not too noisy. The members of the Quidditch team also sat together. Captain Ron maintained order, and Harry sat on the side with red eyes. Sitting in the main seat was Chaser Katie Bell, who was only one year older than Harry and joined the team in the same year as Harry. She was about to leave.

So far, all the Quidditch players of the previous class have graduated.

The atmosphere was inevitably a little sad.

Loren and Hermione did not disturb each other, and said good night to each other at the bottom of the stairs, and then walked upstairs lightly.

Loren came out of the bathroom after taking a shower and found that the team had been disbanded and returned to the dormitory. Ron and Seamus were about to leave when they remembered that they had not packed their luggage, so they pulled Neville to help. Harry sat in the chair silently, his expression still a little dazed, staring at the burning candle, in a daze.

Loren came and sat down next to him, looking at Harry who was in a daze: "Your godfather's daughter is born, are you really not going to go back to see her?"

Harry refocused his eyes and shook his head: "Dumbledore has already advised me, I insist on my choice, Sirius and the others need a stable environment now, and if I go back, Mad-Eye Moody will only disturb their peace with a team of guards."

"Okay, I won't persuade you, but have you thought about how to convince Mrs. Weasley?" Loren spread his hands and said, "She was meeting the car at King's Cross Station, and found that her most precious child was staying at school. Do you think she could come to school directly to take you away?"

"..."

Ron, who was packing his clothes, turned around and looked at the two of them, scratched his head, and always felt that something was wrong.

Forget it, it's more important to pack clothes.

These spare clothes need to be taken back for mom to help wash, and two robes have torn under the armpits, and mom has to sew them.

Harry thought for a moment, thinking of the scene when Mrs. Weasley chased him to the school, his brows gradually frowned, his expression serious: "I said I had a legitimate reason to stay in school. I stayed in Hogwarts not only for safety, but also to practice Legilimency wholeheartedly, in order to find the last Horcrux hidden by Voldemort as soon as possible."

"Can't practice after leaving school?"

"I can concentrate more at school."

"How can you practice alone in school?"

"Who said I'm alone, Dobby, Winky, Grawp and Hagrid will accompany me, the house elves can take me to the Burrow and Grimmauld Place, and there are two giants helping me practice Legilimency, I will definitely make rapid progress."

"It sounds like you are saying that they are simple-minded and easy to see through."

"..."

Harry took a sip of the teacup, his expression subtle, neither admitting nor denying.

The year-end party ended late, and after taking a walk to digest the food, washing up and chatting, the other roommates had already gone to bed. Ron packed all his luggage, blew out the candles, and was the last one to throw off the quilt and go to bed.

The midnight bell had already rung.

The roommates were lying in bed, none of them had fallen asleep yet.

Harry tossed and turned, unable to sleep, turned over to face Loren, and whispered: "Loren, do you remember that night, I tried to use Legilimency on you, and then saw your own memory?"

"So?"

"I have been practicing Legilimency for a while, but I still don't know how to find the channel that connects my head and Voldemort's. I don't even know how to search my brain, except that night."

Harry became more and more energetic as he spoke, and simply sat up, leaning his back against the cushion at the head of the bed: "So I'm thinking, if I can enter my brain like that night, My own head, maybe I can find that passage. "

"So?"

"Loren, tell me, what should I do?"

"It's just a magic mirror." Loren explained with a yawn, "I thought you had already discovered that Legilimency uses the eyes as a carrier. When you look at the mirror, you receive your own gaze, which is to use Legilimency on yourself."

"Mirror..."

Harry muttered softly, his eyes fell on the wall of the room, where there was a magic mirror called Eris, which was huge in size, and the black curtain covered the gorgeous carvings.

...

The next morning.

Loren and Hermione had a simple breakfast and sat quietly in the hall waiting.

At 10:30 in the morning, the Hogwarts Express arrived at the station, and the little wizards who left school began to board the train, dragging suitcases and owl cages.

Harry didn't know what he was thinking, waving his empty hands and following beside them, saying that he wanted to see them off, but he was always flirting with Ginny all the way, which made Ron roll his eyes.

Loren dragged his and Hermione's empty suitcases and talked to the students next to him: "What are your plans for the summer vacation?"

"In the first week, I will be my mother's good baby Ronnie, in the second week, I will be a stranger in the house, and in the third week, I will be my mother's enemy. That's about it." Ron shrugged his shoulders, and his self-awareness was extremely clear.

"Ottery St. Catchpole Village, right? Maybe Luna and I can come and play with you. I will stay at Luna's house for a while, not too long, about a month." Rolf pressed the pocket on his left chest, and his little mantis-like head shrank back, revealing only two eyes, "I hope Mr. Lovegood won't hate me."

"Why?" Hermione looked at Rolf and Luna in surprise with wide eyes.

"Dumbledore invited my grandfather to Ilvermorny for an inspection. It seems to be the same project as last time. This time, the school took the initiative to do some more radical tests, just in case, for..." Rolf paused, "You know that thing."

Loren glanced at the Bowtruckle, which seemed to have grown up a little: "Are you sure?"

"I don't know."

"Remember to write to us if you have any news."

Loren knew that Mr. Scamander was very knowledgeable about magical animals. Considering that the remaining Horcrux was a living Horcrux, it was normal for Dumbledore to invite Scamander. To some extent, the snake tree can barely be classified as a magical animal, or perhaps a magical plant...

Even if the living Horcrux was not found during this trip to Ilvermorny, at least Rolf found a legitimate reason to stay at the Lovegood family, and the Scamander family would not lose out.

Looking at Luna humming softly beside him, who seemed to be happy for the little friend who was about to stay at his house, Loren shook his head. Young couples in love like these childish behaviors the most.

"Tsk tsk..."

Loren looked at Neville who was silent beside him and asked: "What about you, Neville, did your parents accidentally reveal any news? What will the Ministry of Magic do in the summer vacation? What will the Aurors do?"

"No, at least not in the letter. I'll ask when I get back."

"Remember to notify us."

"Got it."

After arriving at Hogsmeade Station smoothly, the group dragged their suitcases onto the train, walked along the back of the carriage, and found an empty compartment. Loren put away the luggage and opened the window, saying goodbye to Harry who was staring at the platform: "Let's go, stay in school and study hard. Remember to come and see us when you have a chance to go out."

Hermione earnestly reminded: "Don't violate school rules, listen to Hagrid."

Ginny and Ron waved at him: "We will miss you!"

"Hiss..."

Harry frowned, feeling a little strange.

The whistle blew, and the Hogwarts Express slowly departed, winding along the rails and gradually disappearing among the undulating hills. The morning light was bright when it departed, and it arrived in London in the afternoon when the sun was about to set. King's Cross Station was as crowded as in previous years.

At five o'clock in the evening, Loren and Hermione walked out of Platform 9.

At five o'clock, they arrived in the suburb of Hampstead.

Today happened to be the weekend, and Monica bought a lot of ingredients early to prepare a big meal for the two children.

I don't know which TV cooking show or cooking magazine she saw it from, but Monica firmly believes that each type of meat has its best partner, lamb with mint sauce, pork with apple sauce, beef with hot sauce, chicken with cranberry sauce...

The kitchen looked very lively. In order to cater to the different tastes of several people, she specially prepared several kinds of meat, made the corresponding sauces by hand, and paired them with croissants, Yorkshire puddings and other side dishes.

It sounds pretty good, but from Loren's point of view, it always feels a bit monotonous.

After sitting on the sofa for a while, listening to Grandpa Bates and Wendell chatting, he couldn't sit still anymore, so he slipped into the kitchen and planned to make some side dishes with other ingredients.

"No need to help, you've been on the train for a day and are already very tired."

"It's because I've been sitting for a day, so I don't want to sit anymore."

"Oh, my dear Loren, you're so thoughtful."

"..."

The concept of cooking shows may need to be corrected. The ingredients they recommend are pretty good. They are all high-quality meats. There is almost nothing wrong with them except that they are expensive.

It's just that it's more troublesome to handle. The meat needs to be soaked in blood water, washed to remove blood foam and floating oil, cut and marinated... a mess. Fortunately, the wizard's wand is the best automatic machine.

After processing the remaining beef, I vaguely heard the sound of Hermione coming downstairs.

"Dad, Grandpa Bates."

Hermione took a shower and changed into a more comfortable silk home clothes. Her curly hair was still steaming. She knew that Loren had gone to the kitchen when she didn't see him at the first time. She didn't care and sat down on the sofa with her slippers dangling.

Oil and protein stimulated the Maillard reaction, and the fragrance gradually drifted out.

The three of them sat on the sofa and suddenly didn't want to talk so much. They looked at each other in silence and could vaguely hear the sound of cutting meat and talking in the kitchen.

"Loren, why do you want to pick this piece of meat?"

"This piece of beef is too lean and has little fat. It will be easy to get old when roasted and the taste is not good."

"Then how should it be done?"

"Cut it into strips and fry it with onions. You will like it."

"Oh, dear, I wish you were my child."

"..."

"I don't want to say bad things about Hermione, but you should have known that nerdy girl. I may have to trouble you in the future..."

Hermione's cheeks flushed, and the action of combing her hair slowed down. She pursed her lips and glanced at the kitchen unconsciously.

Grandpa Bates and Wendell looked at each other, eyebrows raised, eyes rolling, eye contact without obstacles, as if they were real father and son.

"Should we remind Monica?"

"No."

"Should we comfort little Hermione?"

"No."

"Then what should we do?"

"Pretend not to hear."

"Good idea."

After reaching a consensus, they looked away tacitly, as if they hadn't heard anything, and watched the TV intently. A shopping program was playing, good helpers for housewives, all kinds of strange knives, multi-functional toilet brushes, etc.

Who wouldn't like these good helpers for housework?

The two watched with relish.