Thanks to the Weasley twins, Scarlet had a spotless room within a few hours.

  “Spid span!”

  “Could use a bit of decoration, though.”

  Scarlet nodded, “That’ll be tomorrow’s task.”

  “Say, dear sister--”

  “--why do you need such a vast room?”

  “Some secret project, perhaps?”

  “Well...” Scarlet hesitated. She preferred to keep everything under s. Ideally, she’d like this to remain her secret throughout her school years, but it’s unrealistic given that the staff had likely noticed she ecial student - apart from Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. However, she had a feeling she o be cautious around the twins.

  Yes, they are gentlemen - kind and humorous - but it was undeniable they were a stant headache for the staff with their pranks and jokes. She’d already withem pranking the ghosts and Mr. Filch, and it was only the first day of school!

  They’d respect her, but that didn’t guarahey wouldn’t sneak around or pn something mischievous...It was best to keep them close, just to avoid any uable surprises.

  “Want to see? But you must keep it a secret,” Scarlet said, shrugging and swiftly making a few graceful hops to the tre of the room, moving like a ballerina.

  “Of course we !” the twins chorused.

  “Swear?”

  “Swear on Merlin’s beard!” The twins, curious but intrigued, backed up a few steps to the side of the room, following Scarlet’s motion.

  What they saw was beyond their imagination.

  Scarlet scattered small objects to every er of the room. They were probably marbles or rocks, evident from the sound they made as they skittered across the floor. With a snap of her fingers, she illumihe room by lighting up these tiny things - a magic they usually needed a wand to cast, but Scarlet did it with just a snap.

  Then, her aura shifted.

  She stood tall, fierce, and stretched her arms as if pulling something long from an unseen pce. She anded, “Gear On.”

  Her clothes transformed, ging form tidy school robes into an oddly fashiotire - tight and fitted, with nothing dangling that could obstruct her. Even her hair was ly tied in a braided bun. As her outfit pleted its transformation, the long item she had been pulling from the unseen pce finally revealed its true form.

  It ear - a ruby-coloured spear. Sharp, elegant, delicately shaped, and radiating a whimsical aura that sig was no ordinary on fed from steel or iron. It was magical, and dangerous.

  The spear danced in Scarlet’s hand, swinging smoothly like a flowing stream, perfectly synized with her movements, kicks, and leaps...It was mesmerizing.

  Eventually, she ceased her dispy and smiled at the twins. “So, what do you think?”

  “Think about what?” Fred asked, “I’m stunned.”

  Gee added, looking equally bnk, “And I’m speechless.”

  “You’re just exaggerating.” Scarlet teased, waving them off. “Professor Dumbledore and Professor Sprout seemed perfectly normal when they saw my spear.”

  “They knew?!”

  “Of course,” Scarlet replied with a knowing look, “Do you really think I could keep it a secret from Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the time?”

  “Well...”

  “We’ve mao keep plenty of secrets from them.”

  “True, but my case is different.” Scarlet spread her arms wide, showing her outfit from all angles. “It’s so obviously different; he’d be blind not to notice.”

  The twins chuckled at her words.

  Scarlet gave her spear a final, elegant spin before stowing it away and ging bato her school robes. “That’s why I his room for physical training. You’re wele to use it too. It could even bee your secret hideout; I know you’ve been up to something. I’ll set a password so only those who provide a fingerprint will be able to enter. For now, I’d like to keep things discreet - I don’t want unnecessary attention.”

  “No problem!” Fred said early, “You’ve pced your utmost trust in us.”

  “And we shall repay you in kind,” Gee added.

  “Great!” Scarlet snapped her fingers, extinguishing the lights from the marbles and leaving only a soft glow from the windows. Without the tattered curtains, the room seemed fresher even with the dimmed lighting, “I’ll gradually decorate the room, install the security charm on the door and all. For now, I need a shower and a good night’s sleep – it's been an exhausting day.”

  “Sweet dreams, dear honorary sister.”

  “We ’t wait to see more of your impressive moves!”

  Aruck her. “Well...we could discuss getting some assistany training ter.”

  “Really?” the twins asked in surprise, but Scarlet waved them off.

  “We’ll talk about it ter. It’s time to sleep now. Lack of rest could stunt my growth, and I’d prefer to grow taller to match my spear.”

  They said their goodbyes and called it a day.

  The m, Scarlet arrived at her training room to install the security entment on the door. She doubted she’d have much time for training this week, as she was still adapting to her new enviro. She’d probably end up spending more time writing essays and researg citations in the library.

  Some of her cssmates had already fiheir essays. She’d inquired about their book references and decided to borrow them from the library...If only there were a school i to check the book list and their avaibility, she mused as she finished her breakfast and resumed w on the questionnaire. She’d made some progress before bed st night just o plete a bit more...

  “Owls!” Maya cried excitedly beside her.

  Hundreds of owls swooped into the Great Hall, droppiers to their respective recipients. Most first-years were mesmerised by the flurry wings and the scattering light, but Scarlet couldn’t help but be ed about the hygiene - Surely there won’t be any droppings on the food? hers in the soups?

  Her s faded when her own owl, Faye, arrived with a tightly sealed folder clutched ialons.

  “Good m, Faye.” Scarlet took her folder and pced it on her p while Faye some bnched chi. Faye hooted happily and begaing, and Scarlet checked her over to make sure she wasn’t injured.

  “Wow, is this your owl?” Maya asked, “She’s so pretty!”

  “Thanks, I’ve done my best to raise her.” Scarlet replied with a smile. “She’s the rgest owl in the shop since I’m expeg many deliveries. Aren’t you the cutest~” She hugged Faye and buried her fa owl’s fluffy feathers. Faye seemed to enjoy the attention. “Faye, I’m going to be busy this week, but I promise I’ll spend more time with you week, okay? I’m pnning to sponsor a few school owls to help with the mail delivery between Hogwarts and our home. Would you like to choose your future colleagues, or should I pick them for you?”

  Faye hooted calmly.

  “Okay, then I’ll leave it to you.” Scarlet tapped on the folder. “I’ll see you ter, either before dinner or by tomorrow m.”

  Faye responded with a final hoot and flew off.

  Amelia eyed the folder with curiosity, “Is this why you’ll be so busy? we ask what’s inside?”

  “You ask, but you ’t read it. It's fidential.” Scarlet opehe folder to reveal a letter from her dad, a scrapbook with neers clippings, and several dots encased in a pstic cover. She read the note first and then began browsing through the dots, “This is a dot requesting approval for season’s budget...acceptable. This is a proposal for a new product, including their marketing strategy and packaging...reject. We already have a simir product; it’s better to improve the existing ohan to unch a new series. Another proposal...this looks promising. Agreement? Oh, the colboration with the local festival, let’s see...”

  Amelia looked at Maya with a questioning gaze and raised eyebrows, but Maya was equally puzzled, as were the others who had gathered around them.

  Ron happeo be looking for Scarlet, holding the pleted questionnaire in his hands. He saw Scarlet signing and scribbling on the dots and remarked, “Wow, businesswoman.”

  Scarlet looked up at Ron’s voice, “Hi Ron, you were looking for me?”

  “Yeah, here’s your questionnaire.”

  “Thanks! Here’s the other part.” Scarlet took the papers from Ron and handed him a thicker stack. “How was your first day?”

  “Fun aing!” Ron excimed, “Although one of the professors seems pretty tough to deal with.”

  “The oh the bck robes, who sits o the oh the purple turban,” Ron whispered.

  “He does look a bit intimidating, but he’s probably just a strict professor. I’m sure he’s excellent at what he does,” Scarlet reassured Ron.

  Ron soon bade them goodbye auro his breakfast, leaving Scarlet surrounded by curious gazes. One of them whispered, “Are you doing business? I mean, w for a pany?”

  “...yes?”

  There were gasps from several people, “Do you need some space? We be quiet if you o.”

  “No need for that.” Scarlet said with a smile, “Just some lightweight dots. I’ll find a quiet pce if I o study them.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back!”

  “...thanks?”

  The little wizards seemed to think this was something to be kept secret, reminding each other to aally and not to spill the beans.

  Since everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, Scarlet just shrugged and tinued with her dots and news updates. No signs of the i being widely adopted or accepted yet. The ey seemed stable in Japan, and Hong Kong was as usual. America...notes? Should we sider iing in Hollywood a movie? No, that’s out of our scope. Reply to this note...Perhaps try Southeast Asia or Africa...I miss my email...

  Csses went smoothly until Potions, where they entered the intimidating professor Ron had mentio breakfast.

  Professor Snape looked far better than how she remembered him from the films, which she found odd. She vaguely recalled that the book fans often argued that Snape ortrayed as too attractive pared to his description in the books. It was a hot topic whenever a new film in the series was released. She would see Harry Potter tent all over the i, whether in forums, social medias, or video ptforms. She occasionally clicked in to check the test discussions, just to stay some-to-date when chatting with colleagues. She remembered that this professor was a plex character – a good guy, a double agent, whically dies at the end of the story...

  Again, the film was quite different from the book, and the actor who pyed this professor added to the character’s allure, turning him into a legend. She vividly remembered hoeople cried when he died in the film, creating tribute videos in his memory...So why did he look more like the movie version, and eveer? The protagonist trio didn’t resemble their movie terparts at all. I thought I was reinated into the book versions?

  After calling out names - probably to take attendand matames with faces, as most professors - Professor Snape began to emanate an aura that silenced everyone in the . Even though he spoke in a soft but stern voice, it atention. “You are here to learn the subtle sd exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really uand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitg the mind, ensnaring the senses...I teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

  Professor Snape’s speech was long-winded, and his and of nguage was far too fanpared to other professors. This alerted Scarlet, as she suddenly remembered that most characters in the films spoke in quite a sophisticated manner. But now, she realised that the people around her were all speaking normally...almost too normal, and modern.

  Something’s off...but what?

  “The instrus are on the board. Well? Get started.”

  Professor Snape didn’t go easy on them. His style was more like a uy lecturer’s, diving straight into the material in their first css by pairing them up aing them to brew potions. He mentioned important points and expected the students to figure things out on their own rather than spoon-feeding them. He even assumed they had pre-studied their textbooks for the css, calling on students to answer question aing house points if they failed to respond correctly. But his choice of words was sharp and startling, especially for first-years students.

  Most students were frantically w over their cauldrons, nervously adding ingredients. Scarlet who remained calm, noticed something: the instrus on the board were slightly different from those iextbook, almost as if...he had fiuhe recipe.

  She quickly jotted down the differen her textbook with blue ink, which already had plenty of bk scribbles si was sed-hand. Professor Snape happeo pass by, paused for a moment, and then tinued his stroll.

  Her group fihe brew without any i, unlike some students who spilled their potions, corroding their robe, or burst into tears out of fear of Professor Snape. Some even failed twice because they added ingredients at the wrong time. Her performance was surprisingly good, especially sidering her previous life’s struggles with chemistry.

  “Pretty det, Ms. Hong. One point for Hufflepuff.”

  “...Thank you, Professor Snape.”

  Css ended with most students feeling miserable, even the Hufflepuffs, who had earned a house point thanks to Scarlet, didn’t seemed particurly uplifted. But Scarlet was too focused on an odd feeling, a sehat something important was amiss.

  “You seem deep in thought today,” Maya observed that night after Scarlet had finished everything, including her discussions with the Weasley twins, “Mind sharing?”

  “I was just thinking we might have troublesome school years with Professor Snape.” Scarlet didn’t voice her deeper s, still uo pin down why her senses kept signalling that something was off...though not in threatening way.

  “Yeah, he’s definitely a teacher that gives us nightmares.” Maya hen shift to a lighter subject, “By the way, Scarlet, about your story...”

  “Yes?”

  Maya’s cheek flushed slightly. “I have an idea for a story, but it’s mostly inspired by your book...Like, I’m imagining my character wandering in the background of your story, joining your character in your world. Could I write a story about it?”

  “Well, you . It’s called fanfi. Just remember you ’t profit from it unless my publisher and I agree...” Scarlet replied absentmindedly at first, but then she suddenly fell silent as a realisation hit her.

  Maya didn’t notice. She just thought Scarlet had finished speaking and tinued excitedly, “Oh! Fanfi, sounds great! I’ll write my story down. Could you check it out and see if it’s alright?”

  “...Oh, yeah, sure. Just give it to me when you’re ready.” Scarlet replied.

  After their versation, Scarlet y in bed, immersed in shock.

  So...I’m not only reinated into the Harry Potter universe, but into a Harry Potter fanfi?