The Death Knell

"Ding dong."

This was the sound of the doorbell ringing. Miss Granger, who was wearing pajamas and brushing her teeth on the stool facing the bathroom sink, suddenly swayed, turned her head and shouted anxiously:

"Mom! The teacher is here!"

"Quick, dear, bring me my tie," Mr. Granger shouted at the same time.

The Grangers took a special day off today just to stay at home, because yesterday a professor claiming to be from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry called and informed them that he would come to take them to the mysterious magical world today. Take a turn.

The couple are both dentists and they jointly run a dental clinic in another building in the community. In addition to the same hobby of taking care of teeth, they are also very liberal parents.

You must know that ordinary people, if they receive a notice from some magic academy telling them that their eleven-year-old daughter will become a witch, they will definitely not be as easy to talk to as they are now.

Whether or not to call the police is another matter, let alone the thought of using an owl to reply.

Yes, Mr. Granger is indeed a top student who graduated from medical school. He received the letter from Professor McGonagall from the owl. After seeing his daughter's admission notice and the purchase list for the new school year, he immediately verified whether the owl was real. postman.

If this is true, then the Magic Academy should indeed exist.

As a middle-aged man with a dream, he wrote a letter on the spot and asked the owl to take it back to Hogwarts. The furry animal could completely understand his language and just stood quietly on the window sill while he wrote the letter. superior.

And soon it brought back a second letter from Professor McGonagall. The beautiful cursive letters introduced information about the wizarding world and Hogwarts to the parents of the students, and expressed that they understood the concerns of the Muggle couple and would be waiting for the start of the school year. On this occasion, the college professor accompanied the family to learn about the situation in the magical world.

Simply put, it’s a day trip to Diagon Alley.

Originally, this work was in charge of Professor McGonagall, but in the new semester there was an additional professor in the school. Naturally, the hard work of accompanying a Muggle family on a sightseeing trip for a whole day fell to the new person under the hint of the principal. .

The daughter was too excited last night and couldn't sleep. She just woke up in the morning, and the husband seemed to be going to school. He kept dressing up in front of the mirror early in the morning. Mrs. Granger was very helpless and handed her husband another dress. blue tie and hurried to open the door.

In the warm sunshine of the morning, a tall and straight figure was standing in front of the door. He was wearing a handmade suit. He looked like a big shot from Bishop Street who had gone to the wrong place.

Purely a woman's intuition, Mrs. Granger felt that the person in front of her had an indescribable temperament, a bit mysterious and a bit dark.

But soon, after seeing the other person's smile, all doubts melted like ice.

"Good morning, Mrs. Granger, I'm Slade Wilson, the professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who called yesterday." Su Ming showed a classic business smile and handed over a Wilson champagne gift box: " It’s a little gift for your first visit.”

"Thank you... please come in."

The wife accepted the gift. British and Americans like to bring a bottle of wine when visiting other people's homes. This is also a kind of folk custom.

It's just that she's not sure if the person in front of her is really a magician? Looks more like a banker.

The other party nodded to her and walked into the small house. It was well decorated and quite clean.

As if he had read through all her thoughts, the other party said while walking through the porch to change shoes: "Do you think I don't look like a magician? Do you think you will see an old man wearing a robe and a pointed hat when you open the door?"

"Haha, teacher, you are so funny."

Mrs. Granger had a good impression of Su Ming. The magician didn't seem as ignorant of the world as described in another professor's reply.

Su Ming laughed along with him. He had always been unsure about the criteria for judging British humor. He clearly didn't tell a joke.

Arriving in the living room, Mr. Granger was already sitting on the sofa. When he saw the guests arriving, he also stood up and welcomed the guests with a smile:

"Welcome, Professor Wilson. You look really young, unlike I thought."

"It's really not a good thing to look young when you are in the profession of professor. Just like a doctor, if you are too young, your patients will feel inexperienced. Except..." Su Ming sat on the sofa with a smile and took the hand. I drank the tea prepared by others.

Mr. Granger was also knowledgeable and immediately answered: "Except for us dentists, because our eyesight and hands are trembling as we get older, I'm afraid the drill may hit the patient's tongue, haha."

As if he heard a good joke, he immediately got close to the guest. On the premise that both parties were willing to get closer, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

More than ten minutes later, when Hermione came downstairs after changing into beautiful clothes, she saw a strange one-eyed man chatting happily with her father. The two were even talking about the result of last night's Premier League game.

Her home is Manchester in the North West, a city with such a high proportion of football fans that she knows quite a few.

"dad."

She let out a milky cry, and reached out to grab her naughty long hair, trying to make them look smoother, but it was in vain.

Hearing her cry, Mr. Granger ended the topic about the football team: "Look, my lovely little princess is coming down. Professor Wilson, this is my daughter Hermione. She graduated from the elementary school with all her grades not long ago. They are all excellent.”

With pride on his face, he walked over to hug his daughter affectionately, and introduced his daughter to Su Ming with great interest.

Hermione was a little proud of her results, but also a little embarrassed, but after lowering her head, she secretly watched the professor's reaction, because she already knew that if everything went well, he would be her teacher for many years to come.

As a good child, she didn't want herself or her parents to leave a bad impression on the teacher, which is why she wore a new dress today.

The one-eyed man had a warm smile that didn't match his appearance. He stood up and said, "We all know Miss Granger's excellence, but I think it's better to invite you to breakfast first, and then start today's journey. It’s an amazing day.”

"That's right, Professor. If we don't know what kind of world she will live in in the future, we really can't rest assured." Mr. Granger went to find his hat, while Mrs. Granger was busy putting away the teapot and Tea Cup: "Please wait a moment, how much money do we need to bring? Is 500 pounds enough for tuition?"

"Actually, it doesn't cost that much, 200 pounds is enough." Su Ming replied, listening to the doctor go to the bedroom to withdraw money from a safe in the name of looking for a hat: "Hogwarts has free food and accommodation, you can Give your kids more pocket money.”

Logically speaking, first-year students cannot leave school at all, so there is no place to spend money. However, Su Ming is now a professor, and he can take anyone to Hogsmeade Village to 'learn and collect materials'.

"Okay." Mr. Granger's voice came from the large bedroom upstairs.

Only little Hermione and the tall professor were left in the living room.

Facing the teacher's gaze, she sheepishly lifted up her skirt and saluted, but she almost fell down clumsily and unskilledly, and her embarrassed look with her lips pursed made her look even more adorable.

"No need, little Hermione, curtseying is not suitable for magicians." Su Ming smiled, raised his hand, and stabilized the little girl: "From now on, you will gradually master the real power, and there is no need to ask for help." Anyone take a knee.”

Hermione scratched her head. She was too young to understand the deeper meaning of the words. She regarded the strange tentacle creature as a kind of magic. She watched in amazement as it retracted into the professor's clothes.

"Okay, Professor."

It was only when her father found the right hat and returned to her that she remembered to respond to the professor's words, which made her blush even more.

At this time, the whole family was ready to go out, and Su Ming nodded: "Let's go then, go to the Radisson Hotel for breakfast, and then I will take you to the Leaky Cauldron, the gateway to the magical world."

"Okay, how should we go?" Mr. Granger went out with some enthusiasm, looking around like a thief, and whispered: "I mean, is it through some teleportation or flying magic? Being seen by others Isn’t it too bad?”

Su Ming dug into his pants pocket and took out a car key with two fingers. As soon as he pressed the button on it, a luxury car on the side of the road sounded an alarm to unlock it.

"I rented a car."

Mr. Granger's shoulders slumped, looking disappointed, but Hermione chuckled along with her mother.