Not the vice principal? Principal Dumbledore?
No?
Wait?!!
What are you talking about?!
Hearing Harry's answer, Cassandra froze.
Her pupils suddenly dilated, then shrank rapidly.
For a long while, she didn't come back to herself, just stood there in a daze.
She felt as if something had just smashed straight into her brain.
No, say that again?
Who is whose old flame?!
She tried to digest this explosive piece of information, but no matter how long she chewed on it, she still found it hard to accept.
You really couldn't blame her for being shocked; after all, as someone from a hundred years ago, especially a sheltered young lady who barely left the house, this kind of fashion was way too avant-garde for her…
"What's wrong?" Harry waved his hand in front of her eyes with concern.
"Wait!" she asked in shock, "You mean… the Principal, sir? Dumbledore? And Gellert Grindelwald?"
"Yes." Harry glanced at Vivi, who had closed her eyes with a tragic air, and nodded toward Cassandra.
"So, so so, Dumbledore is Gellert Grindelwald's…" Cassandra stammered as she waved her hands, making all sorts of gestures.
"I regret to inform you, yes." Harry shook his head and sighed.
He looked at Vivi again and saw that she'd already covered her face.
Cassandra sat in the chair, holding her head in both hands, her eyes completely unfocused.
Her lips trembled, stunned by this path she'd never even imagined.
"In fact," Vivi finally spoke, "I think the one who should be most shocked isn't you, it's me, Kathy—"
"So…" Cassandra's eyes finally focused; she raised her head to look at Vivi. "Then… what do you think you should call Dumbledore?"
"Thank God for English." Vivi smiled faintly. "No need to untangle all those complicated relationships. One simple 'brother-in-law' solves everything."
Cassandra said nothing; she just kept affirming Vivi with her gaze.
She was now thoroughly impressed by this woman. If she had a younger brother who came out of the closet, she'd practically have the urge to kill him.
Never in a million years would she have thought that this woman Grindelwald… would actually pinch her nose and accept it.
"What else can I do but accept?" Vivi sighed and sat down on Harry's other side. "It's been so many years, and besides, the two of them already broke up long ago. Why should I go be the villain now?"
"That's true." Cassandra let out a long breath, even tilted her head and patted one of her ears with her hand, trying to knock out the story a proper lady shouldn't have heard just now.
Seeing Cassandra like this, Vivi couldn't help but chuckle.
"What era do you think this is? This kind of—mm, it's called a trend now, it's very popular in the Muggle World." Vivi said with a squinty-eyed smile. "Especially in the United Kingdom, this kind of… twisted romance is pretty common."
"Stop!" Cassandra gagged a little; she still couldn't accept it.
To be honest, Harry was having a hard time with it too.
"Time out!" Harry hurriedly called a halt. "Let's talk business instead… like… what are your plans after this? Are you planning to keep working at the Ministry of Magic?"
"Mm." Vivi nodded. "This job suits me, and I really like it… it's relatively relaxed—what, you don't want me working at the Ministry of Magic?"
As she said this, Vivi leaned her head against Harry's chest, tilted her face up, and stared at him without blinking.
This was a great opportunity; of course Harry wouldn't let it slip.
He reached out and pulled Vivi's head into his arms, one hand rubbing around in her hair.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Vivi asked, half laughing, half crying. She'd thought Harry was going to say he didn't want her working at the Ministry of Magic; she never expected him to tease her like this instead.
But Harry didn't answer. Instead, he said to Cassandra, "Kathy, perfect chance—I'll hold her, you tickle her!"
Cassandra certainly wouldn't miss such a perfect prank opportunity. She stood up, stepped forward, put her hands on Vivi's waist, and ruthlessly attacked her ticklish spots.
"Ah—hahaha—you two…"
Vivi laughed so hard she couldn't catch her breath, her face pressed tight against Harry's chest as she pounded his shoulder, laughing.
Cassandra had absolutely no intention of stopping, and only let go of Vivi once she felt tired.
After that romp, the three of them were a complete heap of tangled limbs.
Cassandra was lying on top of Vivi, panting hard, while Vivi was sitting on Harry's lap, her arms looped around his neck, her nose pressed into the crook of his neck. Her warm breath puffed against the skin of his neck as she panted, making him itch.
Harry wasn't behaving either. One arm was around Cassandra, and the other was wrapped around Vivi's back.
This posture… looks really familiar, doesn't it, really like a classic scene.
Seems I came at a bad time?
No! You came at the perfect time!
"Looks like I really need to teach you a good lesson!"
Even though Vivi said that, she had no intention of getting up, just stayed snuggled in Harry's arms.
Meanwhile Harry's mind had already wandered far, far away; he didn't really catch what Vivi was saying.
"What are we eating tonight?" he asked.
Vivi obviously hadn't expected that answer from Harry. She froze for a moment, then laughed. "Luqi and Garrett came here with me. If you don't mind, you can stay for dinner tonight."
"Or we could go out and eat." Harry suggested. "You should think of it this way, Vivi—we're used to the food at home. Now that we're out camping, shouldn't we be trying snacks from the street stalls for a change?"
"Sounds good." Vivi readily accepted Harry's suggestion. She lazily nudged Cassandra with her elbow. "Kathy, what do you think?"
"I'm fine with anything." Cassandra was still slightly out of breath; she hadn't recovered yet.
Vivi had struggled quite a bit just now; Cassandra had been mainly responsible for pinning Vivi down and tickling her, which had used up a lot of her strength.
"Then it's settled. I'll go ask Lady Rozier for some time off." Vivi said happily.
But she still had no intention of getting up; she even buried her nose against Harry's neck and inhaled lightly, and every now and then, at an angle Cassandra couldn't see, she'd stick out her fragrant little tongue and give Harry's neck a quick lick.
It had to be admitted, big sisters really do know their stuff; at least Xiao Chunan-Harry was full of respect and awe.
"Your Magic Wand."
Vivi had barely said the words when her face suddenly flushed all the way to the tips of her ears.
Of course she realized what that was, and she just pressed herself against Harry, at a loss for words.
Cassandra had no idea what was going on and gave the two of them a puzzled look.
Seeing that neither of them said anything, she didn't pry.
After a bit more cuddling, Vivi finally stood up from Harry's lap.
"I'll go ask Lady Rozier for leave." she said.
She had just turned to go when Cassandra suddenly said, "You still need to ask for leave? Like I said just now—though I guessed wrong, I still know that Lady Rozier is the most loyal Dark Wizard under your younger brother Gellert Grindelwald… do you really need her permission to go out?"
"She's the Minister of Magic, Kathy."
Sunlight streamed in through the little window of the tent, landing on one side of Vivi's delicate face.
Half of her was in light, and the other half in shadow.
"And I'm just an ordinary employee who's only just joined the Ministry of Magic, and her secretary." she continued. "I can't just leave my post without the Minister of Magic's permission."
Cassandra had a "who would believe that" expression on her face; she didn't buy a word of Vivi's nonsense.
Vivi didn't say anything more, just turned and left the room.