“Scarlet!” The children swarmed around the red-haired girl, hugging her and cheering as they weled her back. They chattered excitedly, asking why she hadn’t visited in so long, how her school days had been, and telling her how much they’d missed her.

  , it was Kyle’s turn. The older children surrounded him, calling him Uncle Kyle, wishing him a merry Christmas, and sharing stories from their daily lives since his st visit.

  “All right, now everyone line up! We’ve got presents for you,” Kyle said, guiding them towards the activity room. William, Lupin, and the Weasley boys followed behind, their arms den with bags of gifts.

  Suddenly, the children gasped and poi the Weasleys. “Red hair!”

  “They all have the same sweaters!”

  “And freckles too!”

  “Scarlet, are they your cousins?!”

  “Are they your retives?”

  “Or brothers?! Did you find your real family?”

  Scarlet ughed. “No, they’re my sates! We’re not reted.”

  “A,” the children chorused in disappoi, but kept cheering as they ushered Scarlet into the room.

  The wizards were amazed by how popur Scarlet was with the children, and even more impressed as she called out each child by name, handing them presents with a few words of encement. Although the Weasley had purchased the gifts, Scarlet had made little adjustments to eae, making them feel personalised for each child.

  “Blimey, how does she remember all of that?” Ron whispered as the wizards huddled in a er, watg her.

  Percy responded in a low voice, “Maybe Scarlet lived here before she ted.”

  Ron’s eyes widened in shock, though he remembered to keep his voice down. “She’s adopted?”

  “She told me,” Percy said, gng at the twins. “Fred and Gee probably overheard it.”

  They twins looked stunned. “No, we didn’t!” Fred said.

  “We’re as surprised as Ron!” Gee added.

  “Well,” Percy said, realising their fusion, “you must’ve only caught part of our versation. We were talking, and you twed in, saying you wao join us on this trip.”

  Reition fshed iwins’ eyes as they recalled the moment. But before they could say anything, a few bold children approached, them with curiosity.

  “Hi,” the Weasley brreeted.

  One of the children looked at them and asked, “How you not be reted to Scarlet?”

  “Yeah, you all have red hair,” Another chimed in.

  “Was Scarlet bluffing us?”

  “Maybe?” Someone shrugged.

  “No way, she’s always been ho with us!” One of the children protested, and soon they were all arguing amongst themselves.

  A timid girl stepped forward and asked in a very soft voice, “Do you like jade? Jade pendants?”

  Ron blinked and reached for the token he wore as neckce pendant, a gift from Scarlet. “You mean like this one?”

  “You do like it!” the timid girl’s face lit up. “See? They’re reted!”

  “Woohooo!”

  “Yeah!” The children cheered and pulled out their own pendants. “Look, we have them too!”

  “We’re all family!”

  Ron smiled wryly, thinking, I think the Weasley family’s already rge enough...But he didn’t have the heart to correct the children and spoil the festive mood.

  “Hey, someone’s outside!” a child called out. “A tall man and a bck-haired boy. Did any of you ihem?”

  Scarlet stood up quickly. “It’s my sate and his godfather! I’ll go greet them--”

  “You stay here, Scarlet, I’ll go pick them up!” Ron interrupted, hurrying to the gate. The twins followed close behind, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this!”

  Scarlet tinued distributing presents to the children, keeping an eye orance. Soon, Harry and Mr. Btered, with Harry looking far happier, livelier, and more extroverted than he had during their first meeting.

  Harry raised his hand high, waving at Scarlet, and she returhe gesture with a smile. Seeing that she was busy, he joihe Weasleys in the er, only to be taken aback wheiced his godfather standing frozen in surprise as a gentleman approached him.

  Surrounded by the noisy children, Scarlet couldn’t hear what the two adult wizards were saying, but from their excited hugs and pats on the back, she guessed it was a joyful reunion.

  Meanwhile, Harry chose not to interrupt his godfather, enjoying his versation with Ron, the twins, and Percy, who looked somewhat left out. After a moment of hesitation, Percy decided to approach Kyle, to help managing the children as they ran around the room, screaming with delight.

  “Okay now, children!” A loud, ringing sound suddenly echoed from the entrance of the activity room. A middle-aged woman, her hair streaked with grey, was tapping on a bell-like instrument, instantly capturing the children’s attention. “Line up! Uncle William has prepared cakes for you in the dining room. Go a your portions. Remember --”

  “No rushing, no pushing, and say please and thank you~” the children chorused in unison.

  “Good, off you go.” The women smiled warmly as the children flowed out of the room like a school of fish, then turo embrace Scarlet. “Darling, it’s so wonderful to see you doing well. How’s school?”

  “Great.” Scarlet replied, returning the hug with a kiss on the cheek. “I’ve brought some photos with me. I’ll tell you all about my friends and my dorm.”

  Percy watched as the two of left, disappearing into a smaller room. Kyle, standing beside him, noticed his gaze. “Madame Brown is the director of the orphanage. She’s been looking after these children for years.”

  Percy observed the children filing out of the room, noting the orphaaff guiding them with care. “I tell. I assume Scarlet has been helping them ever since she ted? Is that’s why she’s always so busy? To support the orphanage?”

  “Part of her earnings does go to the orphanage, but it’s more than that. The pce is now supported by donations from various corporations and gover subsidies since a few years ago. They even have enough to help other orphaoo,” Kyle expined, exhaling deeply. “You’ve no idea how stunned I was when I found out she’s been w tirelessly to improve this pce since she was five...Close your mouth, d. You know she’s been writing books, right? Uhe name of a prodigy, she’s supported the orphah her fame and earnings since she was five.”

  Percy shut his mouth, but his eyes remained wide with surprise.

  Kyle chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Now you uand why William and the servants at the house call her ‘Midy’.”

  All the guests enjoyed a lovely time at the orphanage, especially the Weasleys and Harry. Knowing they lived iskirts with little exposure to the city, the children eagerly shared their knowledge of everyday things - things even Harry, who had grown up in a Muggle household, wasn’t familiar with.

  “How do you lot know so much?” Harry asked, curious. “How e I never knew about any of this?”

  “Because we go on trips once every week,” one of the children replied. “Scarlet made a proposal, and Mama Susan agreed, so now we get to go on short trips once every week.”

  Another child chimed in, “We go out in groups of five - two teenagers and three younger kids – with volunteers from the church to their workpces. We visited different pces, and then we share what we’ve learned whe back.”

  “How did Scarlet put it again?” A girl said, clearly a big fan of Scarlet. “Oh, she said, ‘We might not be able to attend schools that require expeuitioo get the best education, but we still gain knowledge from experiences and stories shared by others.’ I dare say we’re the best orphanage in the UK!”

  “What about other orphanages?” Harry asked.

  “It depends.” A boy, about fifteen, began ting on his fingers, “I’ve been to some orphanages with Mama Susan, delivering supplies. Some were alright, but others were really struggling - low on food, torn clothes, barely any staff or volunteers, and the facilities were in terrible dition. Not all orphanages are supported by the authorities, you know; some are just set up by locals and ck of permits and paperwork. The worst one I saw had children w illegally iaurants just to earn moo keep it going because the adults were exhausted fr to make ends meet.”

  “Well, I’ve heard worse,” said a girl around the same age. “I saw it on the loews - human traffig, physical abuse, terrible punishments...Remember Alice, who got adopted st year? She was one of the victims. She was burned with boiling water, and her left arm was badly scarred. She was moved to our orphaer the police shut the pce down.”

  “Alio wonder Mama Susan was so careful about approving her new parents,” the boy nodded. “Thankfully, she’s starting a new life with them.”

  “Yeah, and I heard they got a pstic surgeon to fix her scar.”

  “Really? Did they mao get rid of it?”

  “Not pletely, but it looks much better now - more like a birthmark.”

  “That’s great news!”

  Harry nodded and leaned over to whisper to Ron, who had been listening wide-eyed to all the tragic stories. “I guess my aunt and uncle weren’t that bad after all. At least they didn’t starve me, beat me, or throw boiling water at me.”

  “Yeah,” Ron whispered back, still in shock. “Not great, but not that bad either. Plus, you’ve got Sirius now. He’d never let anything like that happen to you.”

  “Exactly,” Harry grinned, adjusting his new gsses – far more stylish than his old pair, thanks to Sirius.

  Qiya