Lynn had spent a full week at the Granger Residence—more than enough time to map out Mr. and Mrs. Granger's commute and daily routine down to the minute.
The couple usually left for work at eight in the morning and returned at five.
Lunch was handled in the staff canteen or a café near the surgery.
Once Lynn had their schedule memorized, however, even those midday meals were taken care of.
She rose at six, the earliest creature in the house; no one could beat her to the kitchen.
Hermione, on summer break, loved to sleep in—she rarely surfaced before nine.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger were used to getting up around seven, grabbing a quick bite, and heading out.
Now, with Lynn up at six, breakfast was on the table before they even opened their eyes.
She even packed their lunches into two thermos boxes so the food would still be warm at noon.
As she explained, her mother had warned her that take-out was usually greasy, salty, and of dubious hygiene, so the family never ordered in.
Mrs. Granger tried to protest, uneasy about a child not yet twelve wielding knives and gas burners.
Broken dishes were no worry; they were afraid Lynn might hurt herself.
But the moment Mrs. Granger opened her mouth, Lynn's blank expression preceded the words, "Is it not tasty? I'm sorry—I'll improve."
Mrs. Granger swallowed the objection, ruffled the girl's hair, and said everything was delicious; they simply didn't want her overworked.
Lynn shook her head, insisting it was no trouble: she recited textbooks while cooking and wouldn't let it affect her studies, so they needn't worry.
Mrs. Granger sighed in defeat and thanked her for the kindness she could no longer refuse.
With Lynn around, life changed not only for Mr. and Mrs. Granger but for Hermione's holiday as well.
Staring at the finished stack of homework, Hermione fell into a daze.
Only a week into vacation and it was all done? She usually straggled through the assignments the entire break.
Yet by shadowing Lynn and forcing her to rest, Hermione had accidentally finished early.
And that was after repeatedly limiting study time to afternoons; mornings and evenings were for relaxation.
Otherwise she had no doubt Lynn would polish off the lot in two or three days with perfect marks.
By now Hermione had abandoned any thought of competing academically. She loved learning; Lynn had been warped into knowing nothing but.
Under those conditions comparison was pointless; Hermione focused solely on dragging her away from books.
She took a deep breath, turned to Lynn—who was rereading a textbook for the umpteenth time—and waited for her to finish the page.
"Lynn, how about we go to the Amusement Park? Just for fun?"
Hearing her name, Lynn snapped out of study mode and closed the book.
"Amusement Park?" Her mind stalled; in her memory such places weren't for ordinary children like her.
Could she and Hermione really go?
"Yes, yes!" Hermione nodded vigorously, ready to list the attractions, though she herself had only been once and found it too noisy; she preferred the Library.
But with Lynn… Merlin forgive her, she dared not mention the Library—afraid the girl would camp there daily and never surface again.
"It's brilliant—Ferris wheel, carousel, bumper cars, even a little pirate ship for us."
Hermione's eyes sparkled as she spoke; originally she'd suggested it only to pry Lynn loose from her books.
Yet imagining the two of them there together made her heart flutter—an outing with Lynn sounded wonderful.
Even the clamor she once disliked now seemed proof of life and excitement.
Though she couldn't fathom why an Amusement Park would welcome ordinary girls like them, Lynn obeyed the faint voice inside and nodded.
"All right, let's go," she answered in a flat tone.
Hermione cheered. "Wait here—I'll call Mum and Dad."
She darted to the landline; they needed permission, and more importantly, to learn where the money was kept.
She could hardly suggest the trip and then expect Lynn to pay.
She dialled the surgery number; after a few rings Mrs. Granger picked up.
"Good morning, Mummy," Hermione sang.
The sound of her daughter's voice made Mrs. Granger smile. "Morning, Hermione. What's up?"
"Mum, can Lynn and I go to the Amusement Park?"
An Amusement Park? Mrs. Granger blinked, then felt a surge of delight.
Wonderful—her daughter finally wanted an outing instead of holing up in the Library or the house.
She credited Lynn at once; Hermione was clearly taking the girl out so she wouldn't study every waking second.
As for Hermione disliking the noise—surely that was when they went as a family of three; with Lynn along she would love it.
"Of course! I'm so happy you're taking her to the Amusement Park and not the Library."
Mrs. Granger was in high spirits and couldn't resist teasing her daughter.
"Mum!" Hermione's face flushed. She gave a soft cry; if she'd been alone she really would have headed for the Library, but with Lynn in tow there was no way she could bury herself in books.
"Haha," Mrs. Granger laughed twice, then straightened her expression. "All right, enough teasing. In our room, on the bedside table, first drawer—there's five hundred pounds. Take it all."
"Play whatever you want, eat whatever you fancy—no need to scrimp."
"Got it, thanks Mum." Hermione hung up, padded into her parents' room in her slippers, yanked open the first drawer of the bedside table, and sure enough found five crisp hundred-pound notes.
She rolled the notes up, stuffed the roll into her trouser pocket, and went back to the living-room to find Lynn.
Lynn was on the sofa, eyes vacant, staring at the floor and muttering the entire History of Magic under her breath.
Hermione sighed helplessly, stepped over and slipped an arm round Lynn's shoulders. "Stop revising—we're off. Mum says we're allowed."
"Okay." Lynn nodded without the slightest change of expression, rose mechanically, and followed Hermione to the door to change shoes.
The two girls left the house, locked the front door and the garden gate with a key, and hailed a taxi at the curb.
Once in the back seat Hermione automatically pulled Lynn into her arms, stroking her hair to coax her to sleep.
Lynn blinked; her lifeless eyes slowly closed.
She began sorting and consolidating every scrap of History of Magic knowledge in her head, and by the time the cab reached the Amusement Park she had compressed the entire textbook into a flawless mental map.
The taxi rolled to a stop. Hermione gently patted Lynn's shoulder. "Lynn, we're here."
Lynn's eyes snapped open. She nodded, watched Hermione pay the fare, and let herself be tugged out of the cab toward the ticket booth outside the gates.
At the window Hermione gave the kindly auntie behind the glass a polite smile. "Hello, two children's tickets, please."
The woman inside caught sight of the two adorable little girls and couldn't help smiling back.
She amiably passed the tickets through and told Hermione the amount due.
Hermione counted out the exact money and handed it over. The auntie nodded, beaming.
"Have fun, and stay safe!"
Hermione gave an obedient nod and, still holding Lynn's hand, skipped toward the entrance.
Lynn was pulled along at a brisk pace. Everything matched—and yet didn't—the image of an Amusement Park she'd pieced together from occasional TV news flashes.
The park itself was the same: the grand, imposing gates, the peals of laughter everywhere, the rides visible in the distance.
What differed was the crowd: in her mental picture an Amusement Park never held this many children.
Her gaze flicked across the laughing, racing youngsters; her brain stuttered for a micro-second.
Does this place accept ordinary kids? Won't the parents report them?
The thought surfaced, but no curiosity followed. She stepped through the gates with Hermione, and an utterly unfamiliar world unfolded.
Far away the towering Ferris wheel turned lazily; roller-coasters streaked past; staff in mascot costumes dotted the paths. For an instant Lynn felt dazzled.
Only for an instant. The next moment her mind had automatically calculated the wheel's rotational period and trajectory.
The forces acting on the roller-coaster, its motion state—her brain raced through the numbers.
Every ride within sight was transmuted into a problem set, arrayed neatly inside her skull.
She tackled them one by one, formulas updating non-stop, treating the entire park as one gigantic examination paper.
Hermione, having checked their surroundings, turned back to Lynn, intending to ask which ride she fancied first, only to find her eyes flickering and lips moving soundlessly.
Frowning in puzzlement, Hermione leaned closer but caught no audible words; Lynn wasn't making a sound.
After a moment's hesitation Hermione decided to interrupt. "Lynn, what are you doing?"
She asked tentatively, slipping an arm through Lynn's.
The instant the arm touched her, Lynn snapped out of her calculation frenzy and looked at Hermione.
In a flat voice she told the truth: "I'm computing the numerical data for each ride."
Hermione shut her eyes in despair. Surely not—even in an Amusement Park Lynn couldn't switch off the studying?
She's pushing herself too hard. "Stop thinking about that, all right? We're here to play. Nothing but play—no other thoughts allowed!"
Hermione pinched Lynn's cheek with her free hand, trying to sound fierce.
But since she hadn't the heart to be truly harsh the attempt came out adorably petulant.
Anyone else would have burst out laughing, but Lynn detected nothing odd; she simply turned her blank gaze from the rides to Hermione and nodded obediently.
"All right, I won't think about it."
"Good girl!" Hermione beamed, waving at the attractions all around. "Pick one—let's go together."
Lynn had already catalogued every visible ride during her earlier computation. Without hesitation she pointed to the structure she'd encountered most often in exam questions yet never in real life until now—the Ferris wheel.
"I want to ride that first."
Hermione followed her finger to the giant wheel.
"No problem—Ferris wheel it is." She nodded, tucked Lynn's arm through hers, and headed off, chattering the whole way to prevent any accidental relapse into data-analysis mode.
They had come to play and relax together, not to revise maths or physics!
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