Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

Late at night.

Filch is seriously preparing for battle today. He's fed Mrs. Lorris until she's stuffed, and he's planning to work through the night to catch those two naughty Gryffindor clones and then give them a good spanking.

But clearly, he's destined to come up empty-handed today.

Behind a window in the Gryffindor Tower, two heads with red hair were peering under a lamp.

Fred sat cross-legged on the bed, with a pile of bottles and jars spread out in front of him.

“Tell me,” George said, drawing as he spoke, “how did His Highness manage to get his owl to deliver the letter to the Queen? I mean, how far must it have flown?”

"I don't know." Fred didn't look up, focusing intently on mixing the potion. "But I imagined the scene Henry described at the tea party yesterday—that snowy owl named Mercury, with a wax seal bearing the royal coat of arms tied to its leg, landing in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, surrounded by a flock of real corgis..."

He paused.

George also paused.

Two identical pairs of eyes shone brightly in the candlelight.

"...We should put this image inside the jar," the two said in unison.

So the original "backup Corgi" design was urgently modified to "backup Corgi Special Commemorative Edition" at 1 a.m.

"Add a miniature scene to the bottom layer," Fred said, taking the parchment and starting to sketch. "It doesn't need to be too detailed, just enough to show that it's a lawn."

"What about the top of the can?" George leaned closer. "Something has to fall from the sky..."

"A snowy owl," Fred said, "smaller than a corgi, landing on the edge of the jar—and then being bumped into the frame by the corgi running in front."

George slapped his thigh and laughed, "Great! I'll take this one! Wells said his grandmother loves corgis, so she'll definitely recognize it as her own dog!"

The two high-fived.

Fred was halfway through drawing the magic patterns on the glass jar when he suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, we need to make two of his mother's coloring books."

"Why?" George asked, puzzled.

"Just in case." Fred winked. "What if the princess likes it too much and finishes applying it?"

George thought for a moment and nodded: "That makes sense. Let's make another blank template so she can draw her own designs on it."

"You're a genius."

"Same to you."

At three in the morning, Ron went to the bathroom and, half asleep, saw his two older brothers huddled together, whispering and discussing something.

"Aren't you guys asleep yet?" he asked, yawning.

"Almost there," Fred said without turning his head, "the last step."

George held up the glass jar, which was covered in patterns, and waved it at Ron.

Ron stared at the jar, his sleepiness dissipating somewhat.

"Is this the gift you're giving to Henry?"

"To be precise, it's for his grandmother," Fred corrected.

Ron opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He looked at the jar and listened to his two older brothers' explanation—an ordinary glass jar, washed clean, decorated with patterns, and then filled with a tuft of dog hair. Shake it, and a magical corgi will appear.

That sounds pretty stupid.

But he remembered Christmas at the Burrow.

Every year, Mom complains that the gifts are too expensive, and every year Dad gives her some weird gadgets he finds in the Muggle world—last year it was an electronic calendar, and the year before it was a plastic snowman that sings Christmas carols.

Those things seemed utterly absurd to the wizard, but Mom always laughed heartily.

"Alright," George yawned, carefully placing the jar into the wooden box beside the bed. "We have to get up early tomorrow to deliver the goods. Ronnie, go back to sleep, don't tell Mommy we've been up all night again."

Ron mumbled, "No, I'm going to the bathroom."

Clearly, the twins were engrossed in their own world and didn't hear a word he said.

Or rather, they simply don't care.

……

The next morning, Henry received a small package tied with a thick red and gold cord at the Slytherin table.

The package wasn't big, but it was quite substantial.

He untied the knot, revealing three things inside.

The first item was a small glass jar, about the size of a palm, with a label that read in a crooked hand: "Spare Corgi, Special Commemorative Edition".

Usage: Shake gently three times, let stand still for two seconds, and you will get a temporary Corgi.

This corgi doesn't shed, doesn't steal afternoon tea snacks, but it does bark.

It lasts for about fifteen minutes, after which it automatically disbands and returns to its furry state.

If there is corgi fur in the jar, it will become larger; if not, the corgi will be small and won't stay for long.

Bonus: There's an Easter egg on the bottom of the jar.

Henry gently shook the jar.

Three seconds later, a cloud of golden-brown light rose from the bottom of the jar and condensed into a Corgi puppy the size of a fingernail.

It rolled around in his palm, tilted its head back, let out a soft bark, and wagged its tail at him.

Then it seemed to be attracted by something, and turned its little head toward the bottom of the jar.

Henry held the jar up to his eyes and looked at it closely.

The bottom of the jar is a tiny, miniature scene.

On a lush green lawn, three spotted corgis are chasing and playing.

The one running in the lead suddenly stopped and looked up at the top of the jar—at the same time, a miniature snowy owl of the same size descended from the sky and gracefully landed on the edge of the jar.

Before the snowy owl could even get its footing, the first corgi that ran over bumped into it and into the frame.

Two little lights rolled into a ball, and the rest of the Corgis surrounded them, their butts wiggling like rows of tiny whole-wheat bread.

Henry stared at the bottom of the jar for a long time; the Gallon flower was indeed worth it.

The second item was two coloring books the size of A4 paper, with a bottle of golden potion next to them.

The covers all featured cat designs, but one of them had "Escape Coloring Book" written in crooked handwriting on its title page.

There was also a note tucked inside.

"There's a surprise inside. It's normal if you can't catch up. If you do, you can apply it with saliva—Ginny says that makes the color brighter."

(It is not recommended to actually use saliva.)

"Also, if you want to play again after catching the kitten, you can put a drop of cleanse potion on the cover to reset it."

The other book had a blank cover with only one line of text on the title page: "Self-filled version - whatever you draw is what it is."

Henry turned to the first page of the first book.

A line drawing of a kitten lifted its head from the paper, glanced at him, and then darted to the second page.

He turned to the second page.

The kitten had already hidden behind the vase pattern, with only the tip of its tail showing, wobbling adorably.

He closed the first book and turned to the title page of the second one.

It is blank.

He picked up a quill pen and drew an extremely messy circle in the center of the paper.

The circle moved.

Then it popped off the page with a "pop," rolled to the corner of the page, and stopped, as if waiting for him to continue.

Henry stacked the two books together and placed them next to the jar.