I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 336 Safe House

"Okay! That's all right now."

The first week of June.

Owen dragged Hermione away to Hogsmeade.

In an unassuming house on the east side of the street bordering the old Hogsmeade village, he was packing his things.

Most of them were things that Dobby helped him find, like tables, chairs, benches, and sofas.

Wallpaper, chandeliers, and white paint are all things needed when decorating a room.

"Add more protection here, and add a hidden door over there," Owen instructed Hermione, who was holding her wand and carving intricate ancient runes onto the wall.

This is the bedroom on the second floor.

It's the master bedroom.

As Owen walked towards the washroom, a hidden door was added behind a cabinet filled with various bottles and jars of potions.

"Strong and hidden." He inscribed the runes representing these two meanings on the door, and then took out a huge clock with the hour hand pointing to twelve from the pocket at his waist.

It was hung on the cabinet.

Then the wand gently tapped the hour hand, and suddenly, the clock emitted a dim light, slowly merging into the hidden door behind the cabinet.

"Alright!" Owen reached out and knocked on the hidden door in front of him. To the naked eye, nothing could be seen, and the sound was normal.

Then he went back to the bedroom and watched Hermione carefully pasting a huge sunflower wallpaper along the pattern of the wall.

She looked very focused, seemingly unaware that Irving was approaching from behind.

And that's exactly what Irving wanted.

In a safe environment, focusing on decorating their future "home" can alleviate the stress she is under.

Hermione is acting strangely.

Besides the empty rooms in the restricted book section, he also went to the third-floor washroom.

He went to see it.

The room was a complete mess.

The toilet was filled with failed potions.

The compartment was filled with various methods and steps for brewing magic potions, and she used a knife to carve the text onto the wooden doors on both sides.

Besides, the stone wall was covered with parchment he had left behind, containing records of potions.

A wooden cabinet was nailed to the wall, containing countless bottles and jars, as well as all sorts of leftover magical materials.

The scene was dirty, chaotic, and terrifying.

It sounded like the ramblings of a madman, which suddenly reminded Owen of the prisoners in Azkaban. After being possessed by Dementors for a period of time, some wizards would exhibit these strange behaviors.

They have to keep themselves busy. They can't stop, they have to focus their minds on one thing, only in this way can they temporarily escape from the pain of reality.

Hermione was clearly the same.

After all—that potion recipe wasn't actually that difficult. The original recipe was quite difficult, but through his research, he had quantified all the steps. He was so precise that he knew exactly when to heat it, how many times to stir it, and whether to stir it clockwise or counterclockwise.

There's no way Hermione couldn't make it. If you gave that recipe to Justin, he could make it even if he stayed up all night.

Then there's only one possibility left.

She made the mistake on purpose.

He examined the remains of those potions; they had all reached the final stage.

So it could only have been intentional, though she probably didn't even realize it herself.

In the room, Owen watched as Hermione reached out and touched the wallpaper, carefully checking whether the edges and corners were properly covered.

"What's wrong?" It seemed she had finally noticed the gaze behind her.

Hermione turned around and saw him.

"Yes, enjoy the scenery," he said.

Then I smiled unconsciously.

Upon hearing this, Miss Granger narrowed her eyes slightly, and the corners of her mouth slowly turned up.

A subtle hint of joy flickered in his brown eyes.

A smile fell into Irving's eyes, and then he took a book out of his jacket pocket.

"Miss Hermione Jane Granger, I am giving you this copy of 'Origins, the End of Magic,' and I hope you will find it enjoyable and inspiring."

It was a parchment-bound, hastily made notebook that could hardly be called a book, but rather a kind of notebook.

"What is this?" Hermione asked curiously as she took his manuscript.

"The legacy of my predecessors, the reward for the first test that Bridged entrusted to me."

She quietly opened it and found it to be a thick manuscript with hundreds of pages, a very detailed encyclopedia about spells.

It encompasses almost all variations of current magic, as well as its development, such as the example of the unlocking spell.

After that, there were some origin magics that had long been lost.

This includes the three major incantations related to stargazing.

The five major curses of calamity are lightning, storm, volcano, earthquake, and tsunami.

After quickly flipping through more than thirty pages, she suddenly realized that the rest of the page was blank, with no text.

"I was in a bit of a rush, so I only wrote this much. I'll add more later."

Irving said with a smile.

He was studying Hermione, and she was gazing at him.

In an instant, they all felt relieved.

Owen knew her too well. The best way to get Hermione to stop her research into dark magic was to find her some other magic to study. It's better to guide than to block.

Hermione understood this, and by accepting the manuscript, she meant she had agreed.

"Oh, right, come and see this." He stepped forward and took out another clock from his pocket. This one was much smaller than the one he had left in the bathroom, only about the size of a palm.

"What is this?" Hermione's gaze shifted to the clock.

"Interesting little gadget," Owen replied, and then she watched as he slowly shoved the small clock into the wall behind her.

Then, to her slightly surprised surprise, strange patterns suddenly appeared on the wall, as if invisible pens were drawing on it. The patterns became clearer and clearer, from blurry to solid, until finally a wooden door appeared in front of the two of them.

Irving didn't say much, and simply pushed the wooden door open.

The other side of the door leads directly to the washroom.

"With this, you can come back here anytime, anywhere." Owen closed the wooden door again. He raised his hand and tapped the wooden door in front of him with his wand. The next second, the wooden door changed from solid to ethereal, then the patterns became fainter and fainter, and finally disappeared, spitting out the clock.

"In addition, you can also move these hands."

"Each number represents a location. There are seven locations in total. Hehe—it's all a mix of reality and illusion! If someone accidentally finds this and forces you to reveal its secret, you just need to turn the clock hand to a fake time and stay there for more than five seconds, and it will become junk. It's a kind of self-destruction measure."

The seat here is for 12 o'clock. I also have one seat reserved in the Requirement room, for 11 o'clock. There are five seats left, which can be allocated as needed later.

"This—like Mr. Nicolas Flamel's Anywhere Door?" Hermione's gaze lingered on the small clock in her hand. Her eyes held a mixture of surprise and delight; it was clear she wanted to take it apart and see what was inside.

"Hmm—" Owen nodded. "More or less, but Nick Lemaître's Anywhere Door can go to many places. Considering he lived for over six hundred years, I estimate that door connects almost every corner of the earth."

This only allows you to go to seven places.

"That's amazing!" Hermione picked up the clock, treating it like a precious treasure. "Did you invent this?"

"No—it was Victor's invention. I lent him Nick's alchemical artifacts for a few days. It's the compass that can take you back to his safe house."

Irving certainly didn't have time to study these things; he was in a coma for three months, remember?

"Why did you give me this?" Hermione suddenly asked, her voice sounding somewhat calm, as if she were suppressing something.

"Just in case," Irving said bluntly, "Childhood is slipping away from us, isn't it?"

Their eyes met, and he solemnly said, "The development of the world situation has exceeded my expectations."

After three months of slumber, Owen realized that this magical world had nothing to do with the one he remembered.

He knew nothing about it, and there were some secrets he didn't even know. He couldn't stay with Hermione all the time, so he had to leave her a safe house.

This safe house must never be in Hogwarts.

That would be too big a target.

Owen had previously considered his house in London—but then he realized that there were wizards around there, and when his house was infested with sparse moss, he had contacted the Ministry of Magic's Pest Advisory Committee to clean it up.

This is a department under the Department of Magical Creatures Control of the Ministry of Magic.

They are specifically responsible for helping wizards' homes get rid of the swarms of ...

The spotted ground squirrel is a magical animal found all over the world, adept at crawling under floors and behind walls.

They have many eyes and look very much like slightly greenish fungi. They appear in groups in dwellings, feeding on dirt and capable of destroying entire houses.

The stench of rotting things usually attracts scavengers. They slowly secrete a substance that corrodes the foundations of houses, eventually causing them to collapse.

The main problem was that he only lived in the house a few days a year, and leaving it vacant for too long made it prone to attracting all sorts of magical creatures. Wizards' houses are like that, so they need to be cleaned frequently, but he couldn't bear to spend money to have Dobby clean it all day, since he didn't live there for the ten months of the year when he was in school.

Moreover, there were no wizarding families around that place, making him stand out conspicuously, which didn't fit his idea of ​​living a life of seclusion.

He also considered going abroad, such as Nick's safe house, and he probably wouldn't mind bringing Hermione along for a visit.

But that would be too far away, making it impossible to learn about the war situation in Britain in a timely manner.

Although she lives in a remote corner, given Hermione's personality, she would never choose to run away.

After much deliberation, Hogsmeade Village seemed the most suitable. It was right under the nose of Hogwarts, surrounded by wizards, and few wizards knew about this place. The only possible danger was Lucius Malfoy revealing it to the Death Eaters.

But he wasn't afraid, because Lucius knew the location of the house was no longer this one. He had swapped houses with several other owners, managing to move a house not far from the center of the block to this remote corner.

Moreover, this place is right next to Hogwarts. Unless it's really the Dead Apostles launching another major battle like last year, why would they attack here?

"I thought you had anticipated everything." Hermione stared blankly at him.

"That's what I used to think." Irving didn't intend to hide anything.

The boy ran his fingers through her hair.

He placed his palm on the back of her head and pulled out the hair clip from her side, freeing her messy, long hair from its restraint.

He disliked lying, and there was no need to lie to Miss Granger; she was too clever to guess many things herself, so it was better to face the problem honestly.

"From now on, maybe starting next year, I'll be busy, and you'll all be busy—Harry, you, or the other young wizards. I don't want to say anything arrogant because of the risks."

In the dreamlike realm, Koyatl kept her promise and told Owen many secrets about the Outer Gods.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to save her.

There are some things he has to face, and this time it's not dealing with an idiot like Voldemort.

Faced with the Outer Gods, any possible outcome could occur. Owen didn't consider himself superior to anyone else. How much better was he than his previous successors?

They were all geniuses, possessing the strength of top-tier wizards by the age of seventeen or eighteen.

And what about them?

Who's still here?

I might be luckier, but how long can this good fortune last?

Actually, Owen wanted to tell Hermione that if anything unexpected happened, he hoped she could live a happy and healthy life.

But as the words reached my lips, I realized how cruel they truly were.

What right does he have to demand that she live happily? Doesn't she even have the right to choose?

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Irving changed the subject. He seemed a little anxious.

It has lost its former glory.

It was like a raging wind dropping an anchor.

The wind slowed down.

It has also changed, and is no longer the same as before.

"Well—there's a saying that goes, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift from heaven. Cherish today as you would a gift."

He looked down at Hermione and realized that he was already much taller than her. Perhaps it was because of her malnutrition that he was growing slowly.

He cupped her cheeks, and then, in a moment of unintentional inattention, he kissed her.

The moment their lips and teeth touched, all their fear, guilt, and resolve crumbled.

Someone broke into his/her room, forced their way in, and went straight to the depths of his/her heart.

The boy hugged her tighter, his arms encircling her waist, his lips almost burning her.

And she responded in a cathartic manner.

After a long while, the possessive kiss finally stopped as it traveled along the lips, down the jaw, the throat, and the collarbone.

—————————————————————

If you bury your gentleness, it will grow into a flower called resilience.

Even if you bury love, it will always sprout anew.

The two are still renovating their new house.

From a simple decorative item to the overall architectural style of the room.

To be honest, they had absolutely no experience with this.

Interior design requires a certain level of aesthetic appreciation; you can't expect Hogwarts to teach art.

Wizarding families typically leave their belongings scattered about as they please, which is why wizarding houses often look messy.

Only pure-blooded, ancient wizarding families like the Malfoys or the Blacks, with their rich historical heritage, would have their own unique aesthetic concepts when it comes to home decoration.

Clearly, neither Owen nor Hermione possessed such talent.

However, they lack experience, but others do!

At the risk of being killed, Owen went to see his beloved grandmother. The Rozier family was very famous, and his grandmother had received a systematic aristocratic education. She must know these things, as could be seen from her clothes and appearance.

Elegant, noble, and aloof—she's practically become synonymous with these words.

Don't think Owen doesn't know; there are quite a few people in this castle and in Hogsmeade Village who want to be his grandfather.

To Owen's surprise, after he told Wenda his thoughts, although his grandmother was still cold and disliked him, she did not directly kick him out of the office. Instead, she went back to her bedroom, took out a book, gave it to him, and then kicked him out of the office.

Irving looked bewildered holding the book, but he understood after flipping through a few pages.

This is a magazine—to be precise, it's a magic magazine from over fifty years ago, featuring various castles and buildings in Europe. It's the kind of magazine that wealthy ladies would often flip through when they were bored, filled with images of towering towers, castles, and princesses that they longed for.

However, unlike others, this magazine contains a lot of neat, small print, offering the author's own evaluation of the styles of some castles and suggestions for renovation.

Well—this magazine is quite heavy.

Someone poured too much emotion into it; she may have longed for such a castle, a home, not a war fortress.

Owen completely adhered to his grandmother's architectural aesthetics—after all, neither he nor Hermione had much of an aesthetic sense.

The house was decorated in a restrained and elegant style. At first glance, it did not seem particularly lavish, but upon closer inspection, one would find that everything was very valuable. There were gold-plated armchairs covered in leather, with only the gold of the handles showing. Glass display cases contained various porcelains and perfume jars from the Egyptian era (Christmas gifts from Justin), as well as some medieval swords, pendant boxes, crowns and other jewelry. In short, they were all antiques.

The room was covered with a thick, fluffy carpet, brown with various intricate patterns. It wasn't the fur of some animal, but rather a kind of magic and ruthlessness.

Compared to animal fur, this rug was cheaper, warmer, and easier to clean. Miss Granger specifically changed it, not because of the money—she simply didn't want to step on a corpse.

In addition, Owen built a basement where he stored a large amount of magical materials. He stored everything he could buy in there, such as a huge amount of materials for Polyjuice Potion, just in case.

In short, the two of them spent two weeks just finishing the renovation of the three floors. They don't need the rooms upstairs right now, so they'll leave them for later.

(End of this chapter)