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The day after I got home from Godric's Hollow I received my OWL exam results from Owl, eight "outstanding" two "good" - to my surprise I got an "O" in Transfiguration.I thought I could only get an "A" in astronomy. After all, I never paid attention to the astrology chart in my hand in the last half hour. There is nothing to complain about getting an "E" in History of Magic. All I can think about is hurrying to hand in the paper and then run out to see what happened.In general, this result was not as good as I expected, and it did not disappoint me.

I stayed at home for the rest of the holiday, comforting Hermione who didn't get an "O" in Defense Against the Dark Arts, listening to her write that Fleur Delacour became Ron's brother Bill Weasley Funny thing about the fiancée, it seems Mrs Weasley and Ginny don't like her very much, the reason is that Miss Delacour looks "too egotistical", although Hermione didn't say it clearly, but I feel that she actually doesn't like Delacour too much Miss Er. The Daily Prophet reports new missing people every day, from Igor Karkaroff to Florin Fusco, who owns an ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley, and I heard Mom and Dad lower the Voice conversations, it seems that Mr. Ollivander is also missing.

I stood on the stairs with mixed feelings, and it seemed like yesterday that I walked into his shop-for every wizarding child, having a wand of his own started from fiddling with little colored bars The toy wand started as a dream thing.Stepping into that small, dilapidated shop with the gold lettering peeling off the door with longing and a little anxious awe, and looking up at the thousands of long, narrow boxes stacked from floor to ceiling, Mr. Ollivander seemed to remember Every wand sold from him, while smiling and talking about the material of my mother's wand, he lowered his head and looked at me with silvery white eyes.

"Walnut, eleven inches long, pliable and springy, with the nerves of a dragon... I think you'd make an excellent witch, like your mother," he said softly as he handed me my wand, " Many people complain that walnut wands are difficult to control, Miss Snape, but in fact, a wizard who is recognized by a walnut wand requires an ingenuity beyond ordinary people and a passion for innovation. Once conquered by the wizard's talent, it will respond All your desires—whatever they are."

I stretched out my hand and slowly stroked the wand in the pocket of my nightgown with my thumb and index finger. A slight warmth came from my fingertips. Would it also worry about Mr. Ollivander?

Mom has been busier since she was promoted to Deputy Head of the Auror Office, and she doesn't seem to get along well with the new Auror Office Head, Rufus Scrimgeour, or rather, Mr. Scrimgeour's relationship with the obvious There was a clear rift among the "Dunites", who believed that Mr Potter's success as the new Minister for Magic from Cornelius Fudge was an overkill.Dad will go out from time to time, and then come back in a hurry after a long time. I learned a few magic tricks to use in the kitchen this summer, and I can barely make a stew without paste and a sandwich with lettuce and bacon, to be honest Not very tasty (many people think that wizards who are good at potions often benefit from cooking, but this is not the case), but every time I leave the dinner on the table for my parents, they will eat it. There was also a sense of satisfaction in helping.

My 16th birthday was very simple. So many things happened before and I was not in the mood to celebrate. I ate a small piece of strawberry cake made by myself with my parents who rushed home that night. Obviously I was Strictly follow the tutorial step by step of "Witch Housewives Beginner Cooking Chapter", the cream is still a bit astringent in the mouth.Before going to bed, I was curled up on the bed reading a thick book that described in detail the medicinal properties of Central Asian plants. My mother knocked on my door and pushed in and asked me: "Liz, this Saturday, my mother will take you to Diagon Alley to buy your Are the things for the new semester okay? I happened to be in charge of the Diagon Alley that day."

"Okay." I nodded. "Probably the letters and book lists from Hogwarts will arrive in the next few days. I will sort out the lists in advance."

"I think you'll have to buy another dress that's a little more formal," Mom said, opening my closet and looking at a whole row of dark robes that only slightly differ in detail.

"Is it necessary?" I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't like those skirts that are so strangled that you can't run if you drag them on the floor--the robes are so good that you won't burn your hands if you burn half of the sleeves .”

"You're a big girl." My mother pinched my nose, "With Professor Slughorn's character, when I return to Hogwarts, I will definitely re-run the Slug Club and those holiday parties, and dress formally kind of respect."

Diagon Alley is very different from before. The colorful leaflets and advertisements posted by various shops are all covered by large black and white arrest warrants. The felons who escaped from Azkaban In the photo, every pedestrian who passed by showed a ferocious and crazy sneer.The windows of several shops were nailed to death with wooden boards, and a cordon was pulled at the door to prohibit irrelevant personnel from entering. Several people who looked like Ministry of Magic staff came out in a hurry.But the street is not deserted, and it is even more difficult to pass than usual, because many shabby small stalls are crowded on both sides of the aisle, propped up with dirty cloth or spelled umbrellas to delineate a business area , the owner of the small stall kept stopping passers-by to shake their dirty pendants at them, bragging that those mascots were sealed with great guardian magic.

"Beautiful lady, can you buy a bracelet?" When I followed my mother towards Mrs. Malkin's robe shop, a little wizard with fingernails full of black mud stopped me, and pointed to my wrist with a smile. "It looks very empty there, it needs a little intimate protection, and this beautiful lady, look at this necklace—"

He saw the Ministry of Magic badge on his mother's chest, and he had a funny look on his face, as if all the lines he wanted to say were stuck in his throat, and it was hard to finish them or swallow them.Before his mother could speak, he stuffed the large pile of silver pendants into his arms, spun around and disappeared on the spot.

"There are too many things to deal with these people. They are like mushrooms after the rain. They will come back after cleaning up a wave." Mom shook her head and sighed, "Using people's fear to sell those rubbish... Ya Ser is really short of manpower."

"I'll be right over." She waved to an Auror who was waving at her across the street. "Wait a minute, I'll take my daughter—"

"I'll go to the robe shop by myself." I saw three or four Aurors gathered on the opposite side, obviously waiting to report something to my mother, so I said to my mother, "It's okay, you are just across the street. As for rushing into Madam Malkin's robe shop in front of a bunch of Aurors? It's going to take a while to pick out clothes, but you can handle that."

"Alright." Mom hesitated for a moment but nodded, "Don't run around, I'll come pick you up after I'm done."

Mrs. Mojin's gown store looks deserted. In the past, when the school was about to start, it was probably the busiest place next to Lihen Bookstore. Sitting on a chair, Mrs. Mojin saw me push After the door came in, she was very enthusiastic. She said that I was her first customer today and poured me a cup of hot tea while waving her magic wand.

"Dresses!" Her eyes sparkled when she heard about the clothes I wanted to buy, and she almost took my arm and dragged me to a whole row of shelves full of different styles of clothes, "Let me take a look, I think You look good in anything, it's not some phony compliment I just want to make a deal with."

"Uh," she gestured towards me with a bright red dress that looked like a group of flamingos would emerge from under the skirt in a second, and the tape measure I was tightening my neck finally jumped down and began to tighten my waist She hurriedly said, "I think simple clothes will be fine, ma'am."

"Simple! I understand! Simplicity and grandeur are the real luxury." She grabbed a dark green long dress with only a little silver pattern embroidered on the waist and shook it to me. I looked at the back that was barely covered by the fabric. , shook his head resolutely: "Uh, I want...well, a little more fabric, I'm afraid of the cold."

"But it's in style this year," she said ruefully, after I shook my head firmly. "I bet it's a color that flatters your eyes."

"Girls at your age should show off their beauty to the fullest, especially at this time, and live beautifully every day so as not to waste it." She continued to take clothes from the shelf to show me, nagging, "Well, how about this one? A darker green with white tulle, the silver rose pattern on the skirt is beautiful, it's my own design - there is another one of the same style in a different color, I think... dark green It goes better with your eyes, but the crimson color goes wonderfully with your hair color too, I used the gold thread for this rose in crimson, I have to look all over my body to see which color suits you better."

I muttered, and Mrs. Malkin laughed: "My lady, wearing such a dress is not for a duel, so we never consider it inconvenient, and you will definitely attend with a handsome gentleman." , how could he let you step on the hem of your skirt and wrestle while holding your hand?"

I was almost pushed into the fitting room by Mrs. Malkin. She smiled and hung the two skirts on the hanger. She drew the dark gray dresses so that I could try them slowly. After waving her magic wand, the wall changed. It became a smooth floor-to-ceiling mirror, and the dark fitting room was illuminated by lights on both sides. In her words, "this way you can see the real effect of the clothes under the huge chandelier at the ball."

I took off the crimson dress. It was such a hassle to put on and quickly used up the few patience I have in this kind of thing. Maybe it was the wrong size, and the suspenders kept coming from My shoulders were sliding up my arms, and I was just about to get them in order to zip my back when I heard someone else's voice outside.

"...not a kid anymore, you may not have noticed, Mom. I'm perfectly capable of going shopping by myself." Draco's impatient voice reached my ears through the fitting room curtain, and then After rattling through the shelves of her robes, Mrs. Malkin said, "Yes, dear, your mother is right, none of us should hang out alone now, it has nothing to do with children or not, come on, I think the cuff on the left hand is a little long—”

"What are you doing?" Draco's voice suddenly raised, "Look carefully!"

"Oh, don't worry, I just put it up a little bit. It's obviously not suitable for the cuff to reach the back of your hand." Mrs. Malkin's tone was a little confused, but she still explained patiently, "It won't hurt you, Take it easy dear."

"I'll do it myself, don't touch me." Draco's voice was tense, "Didn't you hear what I said? Don't touch my hand!"

"Ah, yes." Madam Malkin said softly, "You are free, ma'am, do you want to see if there is anything you need?"

"No." Narcissa Malfoy's voice was as cold as ever, "I don't think this one is good enough, son."

"So what about this—"

"I, say, don't, here, I, left, hand, side, Hu, chaotic, gesture, draw." Draco seemed to be suppressing his great anger, "Can't you understand human language?"

Why was he so worried about Madam Malkin touching his hand?In the fitting room, I could only hear their conversations but couldn't see what happened. I frowned and thought, more than half of the Hogwarts students have bought basic robes from her, and Mrs. Malkin Surely he wouldn't imprudently prick someone with a pin, so what was he worried about?Or is it just because Lucius Malfoy is still in Azkaban that makes him grumpy - but why the left hand?Could it be that there is something there that cannot be seen?

"Sit down on the sofa outside and have a cup of hot tea, ma'am, you don't look very well." Madam Malkin's trembling voice sounded again, "Well, I think there is a dark green robe inside, I remember you I used to like this color quite a bit, do you want to try it out, dear—you can wear it yourself, and tell me if you think it’s not suitable.”

"Stay away from me." Draco said coldly, "And those stupid tape measures, stay away from me. I'll change it myself."

"Wait a minute—honey, there's someone in that fitting room!"

I was still concentrating on thinking about what kind of things cannot be seen by others. It was too late to hear Mrs. Malkin's exclamation. The curtain in front of me was suddenly lifted, and I, who was close to the curtain, saw the trying to eavesdrop.

"I——I can't zip my back well, so I want to ask you for help." In desperation, I casually said to Mrs. Malkin, dragging the hem of my skirt to the floor, as if I was standing there just now because I wanted to go out to ask her for help. I moved, trying to squeeze past Draco in a hurry, but I stepped on the hem of the skirt - I knew this kind of skirt was not for me.

"Want to ask me for help?" He stretched out his right hand and grabbed my arm when I staggered and almost fell, and his tone was full of malice when he deliberately misinterpreted my words. "It's not impossible."

My free hand grabbed the sling that was still sliding down and stared at him for a while, his face was not much better than a ghost under the cold white light of the fitting room, the shadows under his eyes looked like he hadn’t slept for days It's like having a good night's sleep.As soon as Mrs. Malkin came forward, he turned and gave her a look. She flinched back and looked at me again.

"Excuse me." I stood firm and nodded provocatively at him. He definitely didn't believe a word of what I said just now, and I don't need to continue to make up lies—if he insists on opening the sleeve of his left hand for me Why should I refuse the opportunity?

"Then...you do what you want." Madam Malkin seemed relieved and wished she could go outside for some tea immediately, "Call me if you need it."

"You should curb your curiosity a little, Alice Snape," he said softly as he zipped up the zipper on my back. Roll up my left sleeve."

"Then I guessed it right. It's not good to know each other too well, isn't it? You can tell what you're thinking by seeing where your eyes go." He slowly helped me zip up my stiff body, pale The fingertips picked up the strap that had been sliding down my shoulder, "The strap is sliding down because it should be on the arm. Didn't you see in the mirror that if you pull it to the shoulder, there will be ugly wrinkles?"

"Haven't been completely swayed by those hopeless Gryffindors, it'd be nice to realize the wand wasn't at hand, if only I could just remember it, wouldn't it?" He rested his chin on my shoulder Looking at the two of us in the mirror, we spoke in a gloomy tone.I flinched and tried to avoid him, but for a moment the thought of taking my wand out of his pocket flashed past me, "By the way, my wand is in the inner pocket of my robe, so it might not be so convenient if you want to get it out."

My right hand was awkwardly stuck at the edge of his robe pocket, and he held it, his fingers were as cold as if they had been dipped in icy water.

"I don't like the color," he said, squinting his eyes for a moment in the mirror. "Ugly."

"What's on your left hand?" I looked down at his left hand on my waist, the cuff of the long sleeve tightly buttoned to the raised knuckle on his left wrist.

He showed an ugly and slightly distorted smile, and mocked: "From your standpoint, do you care too much about me, Miss Snape?"

"Draco." Madam Malfoy's voice came from outside, "Are you ready? Why is it taking so long?"

"Okay." He raised his voice and replied, "But I don't like it, let's go to the Tuofan tailoring store to have a look."

"What's going on?" I asked before he left. "You look awful."

He paused, then turned around and asked me: "What did Potter and the others do to me and my family? Do you still need to ask me? Don't say anything. This is a nonsense that my dad deserves—otherwise I will be here Just snap your neck and I don't care what those Aurors across the street do to me because of it, I'm telling you—"

I looked him in the eyes and said, "You're using Occlumency."

He showed a very annoyed expression for a moment, but he quickly reacted and growled at me viciously: "You don't have a wand in your hand!"

"That's right, so I can't use Legilimency, so I can only swindle casually." I shrugged, "It's not good to know each other too well, you said."

I really don't doubt that he wanted to reach out and grab my neck for a moment, and I took a few steps back.Just as we were silently confronting each other, Narcissa Malfoy's voice came again: "Draco?"

"Here we come." He lifted the curtain of the fitting room and strode out.