Hogsmeade Village is a purely wizarding village in England, and there is a haunted house in the village that is said to be the most terrifying in all of Britain.
The villagers could not remember when the haunted house had been built, nor could they remember when the rumors of it being haunted had begun.
Anyway, through word of mouth, this little cottage that had been abandoned for many years had become synonymous with horror and vicious ghosts.
Under the blazing sun, the Shrieking Shack stood alone in one corner of the village, ignored by everyone. The yard beneath the cottage was extremely desolate, without a single trace of green life, completely out of place with the lively village.
Three young people stood in front of the yard. They were not adventurers who had come because of the cottage's reputation, but the owners of this haunted house.
Eda and the twins, who were restless with anxiety, had left the cottage early and were standing under the scorching sun at the gate, waiting for Vinda to arrive from afar.
Fred and George kept scraping their feet against the dirt, while Eda walked back and forth in front of them with her hands behind her back, making anyone watching her feel dizzy.
No one knew how long they had waited. Perhaps half an hour, perhaps two hours. From the busier part of the village, two people finally came walking from afar. It was Vinda and Lola.
The twins looked at Eda. When they saw her nod, all their previous nervousness disappeared, and the two brothers enthusiastically ran over like unleashed wild dogs.
Fred attentively asked Vinda and Lola whether they were thirsty or tired, while George took the luggage from Lola's hands, showing remarkable tact.
Eda also walked over. Grandmother and granddaughter simply gave each other a brief hug, since the weather was so hot. As for Lola, her greeting with Eda was even more perfunctory. A nod was enough to count as saying hello.
The usually clever twins' performance today could only be described as mediocre. The more they wanted to show off, the worse they performed.
The two of them were so focused on being attentive hosts that they forgot that the sun was blazing overhead and that the outdoors was hardly a suitable place for conversation.
Taking advantage of a pause in the twins' chatter, Vinda said, "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, aren't you going to invite us inside to sit?"
Vinda's pronunciation carried a very slight accent. It did not sound strange at all, but instead added a unique charm to her voice.
Fred and George suddenly realized what they had forgotten. They slapped their foreheads and immediately led everyone toward the cottage.
The brothers' comical appearance successfully made Lola laugh, making the scars on her face look even more ferocious.
"Are they always like this?" Lola asked with a laugh. "Those two Mr. Weasleys still have a long way to go!"
Eda gave Lola a strange look, not knowing what strange thing this old lady was talking about.
Vinda also smiled and said, "A pure heart is what is truly precious. These two children are quite good. Arthur Weasley may not be very good at his job, but he has done an excellent job when it comes to raising his children."
The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked into the yard and then into the cottage. Unlike its terrifying and gloomy exterior, with its doors and windows nailed shut, the inside of the cottage was clean and bright, carrying the warmth of a home.
"You did quite well with your last-minute preparations. You hid all those little snacks and little things of yours too, right?" Vinda said. "If you didn't, I can give you another fifteen minutes?"
Eda did not answer. Instead, she proved it through her actions, directly pulling Vinda into the living room to rest.
The twins stood at the entrance to the living room. They seemed to want to prepare something to drink, but they did not know what Vinda and Lola liked, so they looked helplessly at Eda, hoping she would help them prepare something.
Lola noticed the brothers' awkwardness and said, "I'm thirsty. Would you two Mr. Weasleys mind taking me to see what you have here?"
"Of course, no problem," Fred said. "This way, Miss Fournier."
"Just call me Lola, like Eda does," Lola said amiably. "I only look a little frightening."
As she spoke, Lola pointed at the scars on her own face and joked about her appearance, easing the twins' nervousness and bringing them closer together.
Fred immediately made himself scarce and took Lola to the pantry. George, who was left behind, rolled his eyes around before solemnly declaring, "I'll go hurry Fred up, and I'll help them bring out the plates!"
As he spoke, George also headed toward the pantry. The already small pantry was immediately packed with people.
Only Vinda and Eda, grandmother and granddaughter, remained in the living room. Vinda lazily leaned against the sofa. The journey had exhausted her.
"What is this?" Eda asked, pointing at Vinda's wrist. There were two more silver-white bracelets on Vinda's wrist than usual. Although the bracelets were not connected to each other and did not affect her movements, Eda thought they looked very much like a pair of shackles.
"This?" Vinda raised her wrist and gave it a little shake. "A little toy from the Ministry of Magic. Because of some reasons you already know, I have been legally restricted from leaving the country by the authorities. In order to come and watch the tournament, I submitted an application to the Ministry of Magic to leave the country. They approved it, but on the condition that I wear this. They want to know exactly what spells I cast."
Wizards had many ways of leaving the country, such as flying broomsticks, Apparition, Portkeys, and so on. But most of these were done secretly and did not comply with the regulations of the various countries' Ministries of Magic.
For the sake of easier administration and to prevent wizards from other countries from causing trouble within their borders, the Ministries of Magic in various countries all had regulations governing wizards entering and leaving their countries.
Actually, given Vinda's identity and status, she had many ways to bypass the Ministry of Magic and come to Britain, just as she had done the last time when she came to bring Louis home. But Vinda had not done so. Instead, she had followed the proper procedures and submitted applications to the Ministries of Magic of both France and Britain.
There was no need to elaborate on Vinda's past. The reason she had done this was simply so that she could stand openly beside Eda and watch her glory and coronation in broad daylight.
To accomplish this, entering the country illegally was certainly not an option. It would bring unnecessary trouble. Vinda was not afraid of trouble, but there was no need to deliberately cause trouble for herself, was there?
Eda reached out and placed her hand over Vinda's. She did not know what to say or what to do. It seemed she owed Vinda far too much. Eda often felt afraid, afraid that all the beautiful things she possessed now were merely a dream she was having at the end of her life.
Vinda smiled slightly, turned her hand around, and held Eda's hand. She said with a smile, "Silly child, all of this is simply what I should do. Being able to see you is already a blessing. Besides, I haven't cast a spell in many years. I might not even be able to hold a wand steadily anymore!"
At this moment, Lola and the twins returned. Fred and George were carrying delicate tea snacks in their hands and carefully arranged them one by one.
Clearly, all of these things had been prepared by Lola herself, yet she kept frowning disdainfully. She said, "This place can't compare with home. You'll just have to make do!"
The twins had lost their usual perceptiveness today and failed to catch Lola's implication, genuinely thinking that the things prepared in the cottage simply did not suit Vinda's tastes.
But Eda had not lost her perceptiveness. She understood perfectly well. This was going too far. Lola was being far too inconsiderate. If she kept this up, Eda was going to have something to say about that baguette.
Seeing Eda laugh, the nervous twins also realized what was going on and laughed along. The two brothers were no longer nervous and returned to their usual energetic selves.
"Madam, you don't know, Eda has been completely outrageous lately." Now that Fred was familiar with Vinda, he immediately started reporting on her. "She's far too extravagant. She already has an entire cabinet full of shoes, yet she still wants to buy more shoes!"
Fred had always done one thing while George followed with another, and this time was no exception. George chimed in, "That's right. We told her to spend rationally, not wildly. Guess what she said?"
"What did she say?" Vinda asked with interest.
"She told us to mind our own business!" Fred and George said in unison.
Vinda looked at Eda and asked, "Really?"
"They really were pretty... and the quality was good... Besides, it's not nearly as exaggerated as those two made it sound." Eda explained herself, then bared her teeth fiercely at the twins, as if she wanted to bite the two of them to death.
But the twins were not frightened in the slightest. Instead, they forcibly dragged Eda away from Vinda, taking over her place and sitting on either side of Vinda.
"Grandmother is here," Fred said smugly, using Vinda as his shield. "We're not afraid of you!"
"She is my grandmother. Fred, let go of me!" Eda said through gritted teeth. "I'm warning you, after the tournament, my grandmother is going back to France. I, on the other hand, may not be!"
"Don't try to scare us with that." George remained completely fearless, facing the threat without the slightest sign of backing down. "At worst, we'll go to France with Grandmother during the holidays too. You can go to the Burrow by yourself!"
Listening to the twins tease Eda, Vinda showed no displeasure whatsoever. Instead, she found it quite amusing and joined in. "Sure. One in exchange for two. No matter how I look at it, I'm the one making a profit."
"See? See? Nyah nyah nyah..."
"I wonder which two people it was who forcibly took aging potion just so they could enter the Triwizard Tournament, refusing to listen no matter how much they were warned." Eda spoke sarcastically. "And in the end, they turned themselves into two little old men, with huge beards and eyebrows."
The twins were rendered speechless for a moment. Although they sometimes thought that incident had been rather amusing, whenever someone brought up what happened that day, they would remember that utterly humiliating moment.
"There was such a thing?" Vinda asked. Seeing the twins helplessly nod, she looked at Eda and said, "If you ever use aging potion someday, you must let me see you. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to see what you look like when you grow up in this lifetime."
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