A Normal Day
During the holidays, it was not uncommon to see Harry wandering through the halls of the Potter Manor library, and the same could be said for the other members of the chaotic group.
Though normally they completely occupied the manor's library to finish their studies, prepare for the next school year, or perhaps search for information to improve their battle golems.
But this time, something seemed different...
"Ugh," Daphne said as she lay completely sprawled out, twisting around in boredom on a blanket in the middle of the enormous library that only the Potter family of old could have created.
Unlike Hermione, who had already selected dozens of books from the shelves, almost forming a mountain around herself for some "light reading."
Draco sat not far away with his own golden book while appearing completely absorbed in his research to improve his golden magic.
And Harry was sitting beside Neville, helping his younger friend learn some alchemy because he seemed quite interested in following in Harry and the others' footsteps with golems.
As for Daphne, she seemed completely incapable of concentrating on reading like everyone else.
"What's wrong with her?" Neville asked, glancing toward Daphne, who had just twisted dramatically on the floor for the fifth time as if she were suffering.
"Ignore her or it'll be too late," Harry said in a completely dry tone when he saw Daphne acting like that.
Knowing her perfectly well, giving her attention would only bring problems for everyone.
"R-right," Neville said before giving Daphne one last glance.
She genuinely looked as though she was waiting for someone to ask her something.
Taking Harry's advice, he returned to writing notes from Harry's explanation.
Though to be precise, he understood at most one percent of what Harry was saying.
He had changed quite a lot since his parents returned home and he decided to change his attitude and all of that.
Even his appearance.
But truly doing that overnight, or even over the course of a year, was not so easy.
"Haaaaaaa!" Daphne complained again as she twisted around and even kicked her legs, creating an irritating amount of noise.
Hermione, who was trying to concentrate on reading her book, could not help looking up for a moment with a fairly annoyed expression.
But she clenched her teeth and let out a sigh before continuing to read, trying to ignore her.
As for Draco, he did not even turn around and simply raised his quill to write something down.
Right when Daphne complained again, even louder than before.
"UUUGGH!"
That caused Draco's hand to pause for a brief instant.
But he quickly calmed himself and, with composed manners, continued his work.
Daphne seemed to look at her group of wonderful friends for a moment with a somewhat annoyed expression.
Seeing that nobody was paying attention to her, she appeared to calm down and stop causing trouble.
Simply crossing her arms and rolling over on the floor.
But at that exact moment, footsteps could be heard approaching and entering the manor's enormous library.
"Wow," Fleur's surprised voice sounded as she could not help marveling at the enormous number of books present.
Even larger than the combined libraries of Beauxbatons and Hogwarts she had known.
And knowing the magic of this library, perhaps every book from both schools also had a copy somewhere in this place.
Behind Fleur came Billy, Tommy, and for some reason, Red.
Even though the foolish dragon was supposedly banned from the manor by Grandma Euphemia due to his constant destruction.
Red had been following Fleur everywhere to the point that the young veela had no choice but to accept it.
Knowing Harry would not help her get rid of him because he seemed to enjoy her situation far too much.
"Harry, your girlfriend is here." Tommy said as he approached the group and greeted them with a quick wave.
"Gi-girlfriend? I am not his girlfriend. Don't say ridiculous things," Fleur instantly replied upon hearing Tommy's words.
"Mm? But you came to our house and when you couldn't find Harry, you looked so sad—"
Before Tommy could finish speaking, he felt a great danger coming from the veela's gentle expression.
And all of his instincts told him to shut his mouth.
Which was exactly what he did.
"What were you saying?" Fleur asked with a smile as soft and sweet as honey, but carrying considerable danger in her eyes.
Tommy, one of the Scarlet Witch's sons, could not help taking a step backward, instinctively hiding slightly behind Billy.
"N-nothing," he said quietly before whispering toward Billy. "She's scary. No wonder Harry calls her Miss Villain."
While Billy nodded, he replied:
"They really are perfect for each other."
Having received Fleur's stare as collateral damage for being used as Tommy's shield.
"Oh. Well, look who we have here," Harry said while looking at Fleur with a teasing smile the moment he saw her.
"Ah, by Merlin. I can't have a single free day before the villainous stalker miss appears right in front of me. Ah, poor me," Harry said while shaking his head dramatically.
"Should I call the Aurors?" Harry asked his friends.
But just as Draco and Hermione ignored Daphne, they were now completely ignoring him as well.
Even Daphne, lying on the floor, did not bother turning around to look at him, doing exactly the same.
Showing that, as always, the four of them were perfectly in sync.
Billy did not respond to his older brother either and instead walked over to the spell section to look for a book to read.
As for Tommy, he simply went looking for some comic book or illustrated story in the smallest bookshelf in the entire library, one that seemed to have been created specifically for him...
And for Daphne.
"Why would I assume I was looking for you? Do you think you're the center of the universe?" Fleur immediately shot back in a proud tone while crossing her arms. "Professor Wanda said that if I wanted to improve my English, I could come here. The fact that you're here means nothing to me," Fleur said while looking at him with disdain.
"That excuse again. I think you use it every time you show up right in front of my house. Sometimes it makes me feel like you spend more time at my house than your own, even though you're supposed to live across the street. Or is this your strategy for supposedly making me fall at your feet? Because if that's the case, let me warn you that you're much closer to getting arrested than making that happen," Harry said mockingly.
"Poor little boy and his delusions," Fleur instantly replied while staring at him.
"Oh yes, little boy. And who was the older lady who fell for this little boy and almost confessed her love in front of the entire audience during the maze competition?" Harry said as he stood up from his seat and walked toward her.
Draco, who was trying to continue with his work, could not help letting out a sigh while rolling his eyes tiredly.
Meanwhile, Hermione seemed to have had enough distractions for one day.
"Could you just... stop already?" Hermione said immediately, no longer able to tolerate this nonsense that happened every single time Harry and Fleur were in the same place. "If you're going to flirt, please do it outside the library. Some people are actually trying to read."
For a moment, both Harry and Fleur could not help feeling embarrassed and muttering:
"No, we're not..."
But Hermione did not let them continue.
"And you," she said, pointing toward Daphne.
Upon being singled out, Daphne immediately sat upright on the floor.
"We understand you're bored because there's nothing exciting happening, and for once that should be completely fine. They're just normal teenagers trying to have a peaceful day. So act like one," Hermione snapped, making Daphne quickly nod before she could anger her even further.
"Now. We are in a massive library, perhaps the largest in the world, with thousands and thousands of books full of every kind of information imaginable. So... can we enjoy a moment of peace and reading without something exploding in our faces, trying to eat us, starting a plague, or some enemy from the past showing up to corrupt us for once?" she asked in a tone that sounded far more like an order than a question.
Naturally, nobody had much to say about that.
They simply nodded in agreement.
"Thank you," Hermione finished before sitting back down.
As Draco watched her, he could not help carrying a faint amused smile.
And of course, nobody said another word, preparing to find a place to sit quietly and peacefully.
Unfortunately, those words would not last very long.
Billy, who had picked up a random book about charms, noticed Hermione's anger.
But since it was not directed at him, only at his older brother and the others, he simply looked back at the book he had grabbed.
Which apparently was actually some kind of old notebook.
He opened it, wondering what it contained.
The moment he did, he found pages full of scribbles and strange spells.
Some of them even made Billy question whether they were really spells at all.
For some reason, the words of the second spell caught his attention far more than the others.
"Resonare Sentia" — A charm that allows emotions to synchronize with another person, directly and mutually sharing joy, sadness, or calm.
"Portalis Externum" — Advanced and experimental enchantment. Allows the opening of a portal to unknown magical dimensions. Warning: destination uncertain. Return not guaranteed.
Seeing the two spells, Billy looked interested.
But he would need some reassurance in case they were simply a joke.
It would be better to ask Harry.
The problem was that just as he was preparing to close the notebook and go ask his brother...
Suddenly, his chaos magic seemed to receive a jolt.
And moved on its own directly into the notebook.
Causing Billy to stop and stare at it for a moment.
Then open it again.
Just in time to see the words Portalis Externum glowing intensely.
But before he could become alarmed, a dark portal suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of him.
Everyone turned around to look at both the portal and Billy.
Even Tommy, who was right beside him.
"Billy?" Harry asked when he saw the strange magic his younger brother appeared to have summoned.
But before anyone could do anything, Billy and Tommy's bodies were suddenly pulled forward as if being sucked in.
And both of them were dragged into the portal.
The portal immediately began closing.
"Shit!" Harry shouted.
Without hesitation, his body transformed into red mist and shot forward at incredible speed straight toward the closing portal.
The moment the portal shut completely, the mist that made up Harry had already gone through with it.
Leaving everyone else standing there in shock, unable to properly understand what had just happened in the span of a single second.
"We need to tell Aunt Wanda," Hermione said immediately, recovering her composure.
And nobody seemed particularly inclined to argue with that.