Just a moment ago her legs were numb, yet now she was running so fast.
Kate chuckled, shaking her head as she briskly followed her, greeting the portraits of her ancestors along the corridor as she passed.
Like most English households, the dining room was already laden with roast pig, turkey, Christmas pudding, and a wide variety of other dishes. Even Hermione, who had witnessed the classic grand feasts at Hogwarts, couldn't help but let out a gasp of amazement.
"Kate, the gifts stored at the house at Number 445 have been brought over and placed in the study. You may open them at your leisure after dinner," the old butler said. He then thoughtfully departed, leaving the two of them some private space.
However, for children, eating was naturally the priority!
Watching Hermione impatiently slice a piece of roast pig and immediately bury her head to inhale her food like a storm, Kate couldn't help but recall how reserved little Hermione had been when she first visited her home years ago.
A tiny brown ball of fluff had grown up just like this, keeping the exact same proportions; even her facial features hadn't changed much.
Calculating carefully, they had known each other for nearly five years now.
Time truly flies.
She looked at her childhood friend, whose mouth was smeared with grease, and handed over a tissue, asking with feigned casualness, "How long do you plan to stay?"
"My mom and dad said they'd be back right after Christmas ends." Hermione took the tissue and wiped her face, looking momentarily dejected.
In previous years, she had always spent Christmas traveling with her parents, though back then she had always secretly hoped to spend a holiday with Kate.
Now the opportunity was here, but she found herself missing her parents a little.
Of course, she wouldn't voice such longing to Kate. She knew Kate's parents had passed away, and she wasn't about to foolishly poke at someone's wounds like Ron would.
"Is that so..." Kate murmured, staring at the turkey leg in front of her while unconsciously poking it with her fork. "I mean... um..."
Hermione sensed her hesitation. "What's wrong? Do you not want me to spend Christmas here with you?"
"Huh?" Kate's head snapped up. "I-I didn't mean that!"
She had been trying to figure out how to tell Hermione about her birthday. In the past, Hermione was always away traveling during Christmas, so she never knew which day Kate's birthday actually fell on.
But now, it was a rare chance to celebrate a birthday together...
After all, it was her eleventh year in this world!
"I just wanted to ask," she scratched her cheek awkwardly, "After Christmas, could you stay for one more day? Or even half a day would work."
Hermione frowned in confusion. "Why? We have to return to school on the third day after Christmas anyway."
"If I told you that day is my birthday, would you stay?" Kate looked at her with puppy-dog eyes.
The room instantly fell silent.
Hermione's eyes went wide.
Kate met her gaze with a baffled expression, unsure if she had said something wrong. After a long moment, just as she was about to speak, she saw Hermione leap up, rush over, and hug her tightly.
"I didn't know!" Hermione said excitedly. "I've known you for so long, and I actually didn't know your birthday was the day after Christmas!"
Kate was hugged so hard she nearly couldn't breathe. She managed to struggle free. "So, does that mean you're willing to stay and celebrate my birthday with me?"
"Of course!" Hermione nodded earnestly, her beautiful eyes shimmering with delight. "I will definitely celebrate your 13th birthday with you! Not only that, but I'll celebrate with you when you're 23, 33, all the way until you're 203!"
This childish promise made Kate laugh out loud. "203 years old? My teeth will have fallen out by then, won't they?"
"Having no teeth doesn't stop you from eating cake!" Hermione responded cheerfully.
Kate thought about it seriously, her eyes curving into crescents. "Alright. From now on, we'll spend every birthday together."
Hermione stubbornly extended her pinky finger. Under Kate's amused gaze, she hooked it around Kate's finger and gave it a shake.
After completing this childish ritual, she couldn't help but preempt Kate: "You're not allowed to say I'm childish!"
"Cough!" Kate cleared her throat, suppressing a laugh. "I didn't say that. But the food is getting cold. Are you really not going to eat any more?"
Hermione finally snapped back to reality. Blushing, she crawled out of Kate's embrace, sat back in her seat, and resumed stormily inhaling her food like a kitten gnawing on kibble.
After finally demolishing most of the dishes on the table, Hermione clutched her small belly and let out a burp.
"Alright, I'll take you to the guest rooms downstairs. You can pick whichever one you like." Kate reached out to rub Hermione's tummy before pulling her up.
Hermione paused. "Guest room?"
"Yeah, my house has dozens of guest rooms. Pick any one you want!" Kate nodded generously.
"Oh, okay." For some reason, the little kitten who had just finished eating suddenly felt disappointed, but she simply followed obediently behind Kate, shuffling her feet slowly.
In the very end, Hermione chose the guest room directly beneath the castle's master bedroom. aside from a few decorations, it was almost identical to Kate's room.
Next, Kate took her on a tour of the manor for over an hour, treating it as a post-meal digestion walk.
When passing the vegetable patch magically cultivated by the house-elves, the ever-studious Hermione asked several questions about vegetable planting methods. Thus, a perfectly good leisure walk turned into 'Professor Kate's Little Classroom'.
However, this lesson ended quickly after Hermione drained every drop of planting knowledge Kate possessed.
The two of them simply sat on the ridge of the field, leaning against each other as they watched the vigorously growing plants.
Kate didn't know what Hermione was thinking. Her own thoughts, however, had drifted to the horizon because of the teaching session that had just ended.
Having only observed the elves planting vegetables a few times, she knew very well that she had nothing left to teach Hermione. In fact, unless Hermione asked a specialist dedicated to planting, there probably weren't many people who could satisfy her curiosity.
This was exactly what Kate was pondering.
At Hogwarts, spells with such professional divisions were rare. After reading through the Charms textbooks, Kate had only seen one or two spells that touched upon specialized fields.
One could say that Hogwarts was more like a basic education school, similar to a middle or high school. The magic learned there, apart from Defence Against the Dark Arts, consisted basically of general techniques used in daily life, rather than the specialized professional knowledge required for work.
Furthermore, not every student graduating from Hogwarts ended up doing well.
The worse off ones became wandering street wizards, relying on their magic to scam food and drink from Muggles.
The better ones either continued self-study or entered the Ministry of Magic. In short, if one wanted to refine their professional knowledge, aside from finding a mentor, they could only fumble around on their own.
Actually, Kate had considered that the reason the wizarding world lacked institutions like universities was also due to the small population and the scarcity of jobs requiring specialized talent.
Of course, another reason was that contemporary wizards were getting worse with each generation; many old wizards didn't want to pass on the knowledge they had researched their whole lives to young wizards with no talent.
Looking at the entire Harry Potter series, there were very few people who clearly demonstrated unmatched talent in a specific area and were willing to put in the effort.
Harry, even if he hadn't become an Auror, could have been a Quidditch player; Snape was the greatest Potions genius in a century; and Neville, a student with below-average grades, becoming a Herbology professor after graduation was proof enough of his talent.
Others didn't clearly show special talent in any specific area. For instance, Hermione was a generalist. She knew a bit of everything, but she wasn't as proficient as those with a specific bias.
Perhaps Hogwarts could establish a preparatory curriculum. Students about to graduate could sign up if they wished, while those who didn't could simply graduate.
Those who signed up would list the subjects they were best at and appropriately study a portion of the essence written by masters in those corresponding fields.
After studying for two or three months, they would know if they were suitable for further education. Then, based on a comprehensive judgment, the masters could choose whether to let them self-study or teach them personally. This way, those masters could also find decent successors.
But this idea was too simple; the difficulties in implementation were foreseeable. For example, some people might be good at several things but could only choose one. Or perhaps some were just ordinary talents who couldn't compare to those with truly outstanding gifts.
Whether these people would become mentally unbalanced and despondent during those few months of study was also a problem.
And then there was the issue of how to find masters for so many niche specialized fields.
These were all problems, not to mention she was currently just an ordinary student. Even if she had such ideas, they wouldn't possibly be adopted.
Maybe... after she graduated, she could try making a run for the position of Hogwarts Headmaster?
Anyway, by the time she graduated, Hogwarts wouldn't be plagued by the Dark Lord anymore.
However, becoming Headmaster just for a fleeting idea like this felt a bit like making dumplings solely because one had a craving for vinegar.
"Hermione, I was thinking..."
Just as she was about to share these impractical fantasies with Hermione, she felt a weight on her shoulder.
Turning her head, she discovered Hermione had already fallen asleep.
Children were always prone to drowsiness, especially in such a relaxed environment.
Kate smiled silently and carefully scooped her up in a princess carry—
Phew! Although it was a bit strenuous, she could actually lift her!
She whispered for Jingjing, having the elf take them via Apparition to the guest room. Kate then walked quickly to the bedside and placed the little kitten from her arms onto the bed.
Outside the window, several silent fireworks bloomed quietly in the sky; these were the fireworks the old butler had prepared in advance.
Kate tilted her head back to watch the window for a while before turning to look at Hermione, who had already wrapped herself into a ball and was sleeping soundly.
"Merry Christmas, Little Hermione."
She smiled faintly, pinched Hermione's small cheek, then walked out of the room with light steps and closed the door.
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