The entire summer vacation flew by in the blink of an eye.
On the very last day of the holidays, Kate finally completed the first personal mission for Hermione issued by the System.
[Congratulations Host on completing Character Side Quest 1. Rewards are being unlocked...]
[Mission Reward: Attribute Points +1, Wand Attribute Points +1, Intimacy with Hermione +1]
This reward... it wasn't much more generous than the previous Daily Quests!
Lying on her soft, large bed, Kate asked with a trembling voice, "System, what does this 'Intimacy' at the end mean?"
[When a Character Personal Side Quest is unlocked, Intimacy with the mission target is added.]
[Hermione's current Intimacy with Host: 1]
"Only one point? I feel like my relationship with Hermione is quite tight," Kate asked in surprise.
[If the relationship were not close enough, the Host would not have been able to open the Personal Side Quest.]
Oh, so it was a prerequisite.
Kate scratched her hair and didn't ask any more questions. She applied the Attribute Point directly to her Spirit. Increasing this value would make her mind more resilient.
Specifically, in practical scenarios, it would prevent her from fainting after practicing spells, or increase her probability of breaking free when subjected to control-type spells like the Imperius Curse.
As for the Wand Attribute Points...
She looked at the Wand Output Power displayed by the System and began to struggle with indecision again.
[Current Wand Output Power: 1.55]
This meant that using 1 unit of Mana would result in an output of 1.55 units of spell power.
She had already been trying hard to suppress her magical output so that her Teacher and the old butler wouldn't notice anything amiss.
If she added more points, the Wand Output Power would reach 1.6 times. That meant she would have to use only 0.6 times her normal Mana to maintain a standard output.
It was so hard... Why was it so difficult just to pretend to be an ordinary little wizard?
She just wanted to fight for a little more time to farm and develop!
Tearfully adding the points, Kate sighed, only to hear a knock on the door.
"Kate, you have to report to school tomorrow. Have you packed your things?" The voice of the old butler rang out.
She quickly sat up in bed and shouted toward the door, "I'm all packed, Grandpa Rand! Go to sleep soon!"
"It's just that Newt sent a small animal over today. He said you should take it to Hogwarts."
The small animal her Teacher sent had arrived?
Before she returned home, Newt had mentioned he would give her a small animal to take to Hogwarts. However, there had been no news all summer. If the butler hadn't mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten about it.
Kate immediately jumped out of bed and ran to open the door, only to see the old butler standing there holding a cage covered by a black cloth.
Seeing the cage, a bad premonition sprouted in Kate's heart. She stepped back hesitantly. "Doesn't Hogwarts only allow cats, rats, toads, or owls?"
If it was some strange, bizarre creature, she would rather pass. She didn't want to become notorious on her first day of school for having a unique pet.
Rand shook his head with a mysterious look. "Don't worry, it doesn't count as a violation of school rules."
As he spoke, he removed the cloth from the cage.
"A Dodo?" Kate couldn't help but widen her eyes, circling the cage with exceptional curiosity. "Aren't they extinct?"
Although the bird in the cage was only half the size of a normal human head, it looked exactly like a Dodo from every angle.
Rand corrected her, "'Dodo' is the Muggle term. In their cognition, it is indeed extinct."
"But to us Wizards, its name is the Diricawl. It is a type of magical creature, just relatively rare."
"Although it cannot fly, it possesses the ability to disappear from one place and reappear in another."
Kate asked in surprise, "Isn't that equivalent to another form of Apparition?"
"Precisely," Rand smiled. "This is the true gift Newt, as your Teacher, is giving you."
"At Hogwarts, aside from the Headmaster, no one can use Apparition, but..."
"But this is the innate talent of the Diricawl; it won't be restricted by Hogwarts' wards!" Kate cut in, speaking excitedly.
Such a gift was far more precious than any ordinary owl or toad!
At the very least, Kate knew that dangers existed at Hogwarts. With a Diricawl, her chances of surviving danger would increase drastically.
"I must write a letter to properly thank Teacher!"
She happily took the cage, examining the rare species before her as if she had found a treasure.
Rand chuckled, "It was born less than half a year ago; it is still a chick. Kate, you must feed it well."
"Mn, I will definitely treat it well!" Kate carefully placed the birdcage on the table and lay prone in front of it, watching it like a true little girl.
"You don't have a name yet, little bird. Hmm... shall I call you Fluffball?"
The Diricawl in the cage looked at her curiously. Influenced by her Animal Affinity ability, it obviously liked this new owner very much.
A moment later, it hopped and fluttered in front of Kate, opened its beak, and let out a soft cry.
Kate felt a surge of joy. "You called out, so I'll take that as a yes, Fluffball!"
Rand looked lovingly at Kate, who was rarely this happy like an ordinary child. "Go to sleep early. You still have to take Fluffball to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters tomorrow."
Yes, she would still need to cover Fluffball with the black cloth tomorrow.
Otherwise, if Muggles discovered that an extinct Dodo was locked in a cage by a little girl, it would certainly cause a huge uproar.
Kate nodded obediently, then reached out her finger to gently stroke the top of Fluffball's head.
Thanks to the Animal Affinity, Fluffball was very submissive to her. Not only did it let her look and touch, but it also knew to actively rub its head against her hand.
"In addition, I will usually send the family owl to the Hogwarts Owlery. If you need to communicate with the outside world, just look for an owl named Cedar."
Rand instructed her from the side, "Little Master, the Shafiq family has always held a seat on the Hogwarts Board of Governors."
"Although the family is currently in seclusion, if you encounter urgent matters, you can use this as a basis to seek Dumbledore's assistance."
Kate's movements paused, and she turned her head to glance at him.
Just now, the old butler had said to seek Dumbledore's assistance...
It seemed the Shafiq family had always been supporters of Dumbledore.
That was fine. She intended to stay hidden; having Old Man Dumbledore as an aid was certainly better than having him as an enemy.
At least so far, she had no conflict with Dumbledore.
"I understand, Grandpa Rand." She gave a sweet smile, then turned back to continue stroking Fluffball's head.
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