The Legacy of Salazar

The Grangers

Hermione Granger had gotten used to wizarding life. Nine months at Hogwarts does that to you. But her parents, her perfectly normal dentist parents, had yet to catch up. Which meant her father knocked over the pitcher of orange juice when an owl flew through the open kitchen window during breakfast.

"Oh dear, Hermione hand me those napkins please," said her mother, gesturing to the stack in the holder near the end of the table. Jean and her husband Thomas worked a dentistry business together called, Granger Pearly Whites. It meant that Hermione had straight clean teeth, but that she was also constantly thinking about her enamel and how much sugar she ate.

"Can't they wait until after breakfast?" Thomas grumbled, mopping up the spill. His waffle looked soggy.

"I'll get you a new one," Jean laughed. She turned to Hermione. "It's a letter, right?"

The owl had dropped the letter next to the salt and peppershakers before perching on the edge of Hermione's chair. She had been busy running her fingers down the barn owl's speckled belly fur. "Oh, right!" she said looking up. She saw Merlin's handwriting across the parchment.

He had gorgeous penmanship, which had surprised her immensely. It looked like he'd been writing with a quill for years. She hadn't known until she'd forced him to write some notes last term during one of their study groups.

"It's from Merlin," she said reaching for it.

"Please, Hermione—eat your breakfast first." Her father gave her that pleading look and she sighed. She often had a habit of reading books during meals, and her father felt that meals should be family time. No books. No parchment. No reading for just fifteen minutes...

But what did Merlin say? Hermione started shovelling her food into her mouth as fast as possible. After about a minute her dad groaned loudly and her mother started to laugh.

"Stop—stop, just read the letter."

Hermione grinned and snatched the envelope, tearing it open.

Hermione,

I don't know if you know, but my birthday is coming up. Florean's going to throw an ice cream party, and it'd be brilliant if you could attend. Hopefully, Draco will be coming as well. Let me know whether or not you can come. It'd be at the Ice Cream Parlour on the 31st of July at eleven o'clock.

Merlin

P.S. Silas got a kneazle. You have to see her.

Hermione laughed and quickly re-read the letter aloud for her parents. "I can go, right?" she asked. They had to let her. She'd been begging them to take her to Diagon Alley for weeks now. Their discomfort about becoming part of the wizarding world had led them to avoid it, much to her disappointment and annoyance. She'd need to get him a present too—a card and a book? That sounded too much like her. Maybe she should surprise him, get some pranking supplies.

"That's next week, isn't it?" her father said scratching his chin. He took another bite of his waffle, glancing at his wife.

"Oh, why not?" her mother beamed. "I can take the morning off and drive her to Diagon Alley. Do you know how long the party will last?"

"Um, maybe a few hours? But—I'm sure we can entertain ourselves longer," she added quickly. Her parents usually worked until four or five and probably wouldn't be able to pick her up until traffic cleared.

"I can pick her up about six," said Thomas.

"Write back and ask if that's fine, but otherwise you can go."

Hermione scribbled a hasty reply on the back of the letter and gave it to the owl—which had been patiently waiting for them to finish. Hermione suspected that Merlin had told it to wait, as she didn't have an owl herself. She tied the message to the bird's leg and it took off at once through the still open kitchen window.

"This is Silas's brother, right?" Thomas asked. Silas had briefly stayed with them while Merlin attended a Christmas Party at the Malfoy's. He'd been polite, adorable, and willing to listen to anything Hermione had wanted to talk about. He also played a good hand of Uno.

"Yeah, he'll be there too."

Her father nodded.

"Well," Jean clapped her hands together. "What are you planning on getting him?