Early in the morning, as usual, Kael went downstairs for breakfast.
The only person in the living room was Chris.
In fact, ever since the last medal ceremony ended, Diana hadn't returned.
Kael had asked Chris, but he didn't know what happened either, only that the task from the Department of Mysteries seemed extremely important this time.
Just two days ago, the entire ninth floor of the Ministry of Magic, where the Department of Mysteries is located, was completely sealed off. The elevator couldn't reach it, and even the paper airplanes used for communication were blocked out.
Not only that, but even Minister Cornelius Fudge couldn't get in.
Because of this, the Minister had quite a fit.
Too bad that throwing a fit wouldn't open the ninth floor, even if he banged his head against the elevator.
Unlike other departments in the Ministry of Magic, the Department of Mysteries had considerable independence and wasn't under the Minister of Magic's jurisdiction.
After all, the Department of Mysteries existed before the Ministry of Magic was established, so technically, they were just in a cooperative relationship.
On normal days, those Unspeakables might give Fudge some face.
But things are different if there's a special situation.
Sometimes, in their eyes, Fudge is even less important than a prophetic crystal ball.
I wonder if this mission for the Department of Mysteries has anything to do with Voldemort.
Kael was curious... Too bad Diana never told him anything about the Department of Mysteries.
...
"It's already your second week of vacation, isn't it?"
At the dining table, Chris passed a plate of bacon to Kael and asked nervously, "Are you sure it really was a letter from Mr. Nicolas Flamel?"
"Dad, I've said it many times."
Kael put down the bread in his hand helplessly, "The letter was from Mr. McPhail, and Headmaster Dumbledore also implicitly agreed. They wouldn't joke about this."
"I know...but that's Nicolas Flamel!" Chris was still a bit in disbelief.
As a legendary wizard spanning six centuries, Nicolas Flamel was too famous. Wherever there were wizards, there were tales of him.
So many people wanted to meet him, yet Kael got an invitation to visit.
Since getting this news, Chris had always had a sense of unreality.
Kael bit into his bread, feeling a bit resigned; Chris had been like this the past few days, and he had grown accustomed to it.
Just an invitation to visit, was it really that surprising? After all, he's the youngest recipient of the Merlin Order Medal, isn't he? This reaction is a bit over the top.
...
"Bang...bang bang!"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Is it the person coming to pick you up?" Chris asked.
"Probably not." Kael shook his head, calmly saying.
Though today was the agreed-upon day, it was still too early, not even eight yet... Besides, he was very familiar with this knock, having heard it almost every day around this time last year.
Kael got up, walked over, and opened the door.
The next second, two identical faces appeared before him.
"Kael, thank goodness you're still home."
George said gratefully, "We remembered you were heading out today."
As expected, it was Fred and George.
There was no surprise on Kael's face. He calmly stepped aside and said, "Come on in and talk."
Fred peeked behind Kael and then shook his head seriously, "No, you must be busy today, we won't take up your time."
"We're here to borrow the owl."
"Borrow the owl?" Kael was a bit surprised.
He thought Fred and George, like last year, wanted to use the attic for their "Skiving Snackbox."
Moreover, although the Weasley family's owl was quite old, under Chris's care these past years, it was still pretty robust and up for delivering letters.
"Yes."
Fred couldn't help but laugh, "The Skiving Snackbox series is quite popular. We've received many orders even over the break..."
"We need to mail the items to them."
George pulled out a piece of parchment filled with a dense list of names.
"So many..." Kael was a bit surprised.
"Why are they buying Skiving Snackbox when there's no school?"
"Haven't you noticed that most of the names are first-year young wizards? And they're nearly all buying Fat Tongue Toffee."
Fred said with a grin, "During the holidays, they're not allowed to use magic..."
"But these magical candies let them show off the wonders of magic at home."
"This was an idea George and I came up with before the holidays began."
Fred said proudly, "We even reduced some of the Engorgement Potion so the effect on the tongue wouldn't be overly exaggerated."
"And indeed, it was a great success..."
Fred suddenly turned a bit indignant, "But that big-headed Percy keeps hogging Errol and won't let us use him."
"Alright." Kael nodded, stepping outside and extending his arm.
"Ladon!"
Before long, a large owl flew in from the nearby woods, its belly round and conspicuously full as if it had just returned from a buffet.
"It's quite impressive."
Despite seeing it many times before, Fred was still a bit amazed to see Ladon.
Both are owls, but this one was larger than two Errols put together; its size was truly astonishing.
And it seemed to Fred that this owl had grown even bigger since he last saw it. How did Kael even manage it?
Looking at Ladon, Fred seemed to think of something and whispered, "Does it track other mail owls?"
"What are you guys planning?" Kael asked warily.
Playing track and trace? That's going too far. What, are they planning to expand their clientele to Azkaban?
"Not others, just Percy."
George said secretively:
"He keeps saying his letters are about sharing homework with other prefects..."
"But we think it's definitely not that..."
"He behaves too strangely when sending letters, like a goblin sneaking potatoes..."
"So we wanted to see who exactly he's writing to."
Kael shook his head and earnestly said, "I advise you to drop this idea; Ladon won't agree, and no owl ever would agree to such a request; some might even go on strike."
"Don't worry, of course, we know an owl wouldn't agree. So we were just joking, didn't mean to actually do it."
Kael noticed Fred and George's mischievous smiles and realized they had been teasing him earlier.
George shrugged, "We still need to hurry and deliver the products to our eager customers."
"That's way more important than that big-headed Percy."
...