On the early morning of August 11th, Adelaide got up early. After washing up, she sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting for her two good sisters to come downstairs.
Before long, Hermione and Alice hurriedly came downstairs to join Adelaide. They ate a few bites of breakfast and headed out—today was the day of Ginny Weasley's birthday party at The Burrow, and they didn't want to be late.
They first went to Number Four, Privet Drive. As soon as they turned into the street, Adelaide saw Harry standing at his aunt's front gate, craning his neck as if waiting for someone. He only broke into a smile when he saw Adelaide and the others arrive.
Originally, Adelaide had planned to travel directly to The Burrow in the village of Ottery St Catchpole Village, Devon, England, via the Floo Network at Dumbledore's Old House. However, for some unknown reason, Dumbledore had refused Adelaide's request to bring Harry to Dumbledore's Old House in Godric's Hollow.
Furthermore, the fireplace at Number Four, Privet Drive was not connected to the Floo Network, which meant they couldn't use a magical shortcut to reach The Burrow while accompanied by Harry.
Left with no choice, Adelaide had to take Harry, Hermione, and Alice on a train, following the Muggle route to Ottery St Catchpole Village.
Although the journey was somewhat convoluted, fortunately, the village itself was a place where Wizards and Muggles lived together, so transportation was relatively convenient.
After some traveling, they finally arrived smoothly in Ottery St Catchpole Village before ten o'clock in the morning.
But the rest of the journey was not so smooth. Even though they had reached the village, they spent nearly an hour without finding the exact location of The Burrow; they were lost in Ottery St Catchpole Village.
By this time, Hermione was panting with exhaustion. Since her physical stamina was the weakest among the four, after nearly an hour of walking, she felt as though she could hardly move another step.
Sweat kept sliding down her forehead, soaking her bangs, but she still gritted her teeth and persevered, not wanting to hold everyone back.
"Adelaide, is The Burrow really in Ottery St Catchpole Village? We've already circled this village three times!"
Looking at the small village before her, Alice couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness and anxiety.
The entire village of Ottery St Catchpole Village had only a dozen or so households, and those belonging to wizarding families were even fewer, totaling only four: the Weasley family, the Fawcett family, the Diggory family, and the Lovegood Family.
However, to their surprise, they had circled the village three times and yet hadn't seen a single sign of a Wizard; they couldn't even find anyone to ask for directions.
The weather in Britain in August was still somewhat muggy. Fortunately, the sky was overcast today, and there was no direct, scorching sunlight; otherwise, wandering outside for so long might have made them worry about fainting from heatstroke.
Adelaide couldn't help but run her hands through her hair in frustration, feeling deep regret—had she known this would happen, she would have asked the Weasley Twins to meet them at the village entrance.
In her memory, the architectural style of The Burrow was very unique. Logically, it should have been easy to spot; they shouldn't be unable to find it—
"Do you need help? I see a Harassing Blight buzzing around your heads."
A silver-haired girl appeared out of nowhere, swatting at the air with both hands as if chasing away invisible moths.
The silver-haired girl wore a reflective, bright silver dress, and the thick, odd glasses on her face covered half her features, making it hard to see her looks. This outfit appeared very strange in both the Wizarding World and the Muggle world. Adelaide recognized her as Luna Lovegood with just one glance.
Adelaide stepped forward and asked politely, "Hello, we are friends of the Weasley brothers. We were invited to Ginny Weasley's tenth birthday party. Could you take us there?"
Luna replied with a smile, "Of course. I'm a good friend of Ginny's. I've just prepared some birthday presents for her and was about to head to The Burrow to find her. You can follow me."
As she spoke, Luna gently shook the small bucket in her hand. Adelaide's gaze was drawn to it, and she was surprised to find the bucket about half-full of clear, transparent water. Swimming happily in the water were several peculiar-looking, spherical little fish with two long, thin legs.
These little fish shimmered with multicolored light, looking like dazzling gems embedded in the water—Merlin's wig, wasn't that an Orbish Fish!
Adelaide's eyes widened, and a surge of uncontrollable surprise welled up in her heart.
In her previous plans, she had a project involving crossbreeding experiments between Orbish Fish and Flobberworms to create a type of Flobberworm that could walk underwater.
Unable to contain her excitement, Adelaide asked impatiently, "Where did you get these Orbish Fish?"
Her voice trembled slightly, revealing her eager desire for the answer.
Hearing Adelaide's question, Luna's face broke into a smile as bright as spring sunshine, and she replied cheerfully, "Just near the Valley Bridge. If you like Orbish Fish too, I'd be very happy to take you there to catch some more. I'm sure we'll have a great harvest."
Luna blinked her large, expressive eyes and looked at Adelaide expectantly.
"Adelaide, the priority is to get to The Burrow for our appointment. We can discuss other matters later,"
Hermione said with a serious expression, interrupting Adelaide just as she was about to speak.
A strong female intuition surged in Hermione's heart, making her certain that she must not allow Adelaide to continue talking with that girl.
Standing to the side, Alice also nodded vigorously, agreeing with Hermione's view. "Exactly. If we don't arrive at The Burrow before lunch and miss the delicious food Mrs. Weasley has prepared, it would be very rude!"
Alice rarely agreed with Hermione, but clearly, she also didn't want Adelaide to have too much contact with Luna.
Only Harry, the outsider, was confused. At the moment, he was happily staring at the Orbish Fish in Luna's bucket, curious about how these little fish—which looked like pufferfish but with frog legs—were caught. However, after hearing Hermione and Alice's words, he felt embarrassed to say he wanted to go catch them too, so he could only wait in silence for Adelaide to make a decision.
Adelaide sighed. It seemed she could only temporarily set aside her plan to catch Orbish Fish and follow Luna to The Burrow with the others.
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