The next day, on the train, Harry gave her, Hermione, and Ron each a phone number, urging them to be sure to call him.
Kate knew he was miserable stuck at his uncle's house, so she agreed.
Though she wasn't sure whether a place like Shafiq Manor — sealed off by magical barriers that made even coming and going difficult — could get a phone line at all.
After thinking it over, she decided it'd be better to just call from Hermione's place when she had time to visit.
Right — visit Hermione's, and make the call while she was there. She had to keep her priorities straight.
She chatted and laughed with them in the same compartment for a while, and once the train started moving she simply fell asleep. When she woke and got off, she spotted the old butler standing amid the crowd in his conspicuous butler's uniform.
"Grandpa!"
She hurried forward excitedly, only to see the old butler crouch down, full of apology. "Miss, I have matters to attend to over the two months of summer holiday. I won't be able to stay at the manor."
Kate froze, then quickly asked, "Where are you going? Somewhere dangerous?"
The old butler shook his head. "Not dangerous — just tedious, and it'll take a great deal of time. While I'm away, the manor's entrances and exits will need to be sealed.
"If you're willing to stay at the manor, the house-elf has prepared plenty of food and supplies. But until I return, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave for the time being."
What on earth was this, that even stepping outside carried danger?
Kate's expression turned grave. She glanced at the assorted parents and students milling about nearby, quietly putting herself on guard.
"And if I don't want to stay at the manor?" she asked, testing him.
The old butler smiled as though he'd anticipated it. "I've already contacted your Teacher. If you'd rather not stay at the manor, you could spend the summer at his home for now."
"There's really no other option?" Kate frowned. Why had even her Teacher been drawn into this?
"…My apologies."
Fine. She had no idea what momentous business was afoot, but if even the old butler was treating it this seriously, she'd just do as she was told.
"No need to trouble my Teacher," she said after a moment's thought. "Don't worry — I'll stay home the whole summer and won't go anywhere."
She'd already turned down Malfoy's invitation in advance, too — otherwise it would've been awkward to wriggle out of.
Turning to look at Hermione's family, still waiting for her over there, she asked the old butler, "Can I go say goodbye to them now? I'll be quick."
"Of course." The old butler glanced at the sun. "There's still an hour before the passage home closes."
Such a tight schedule made it hard for Kate not to suspect that some enemy the Shafiq family had provoked in the past had come back to make trouble.
She nodded, then walked quickly over to Hermione. "You probably heard everything we said just now. Sorry — I won't be able to come hang out with you this summer."
"Is it really all right?" This was the first time Hermione had run into anything like this, and she gripped Kate's hand in worry.
Kate gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Once Shafiq Manor closes off the Portkey routes in and out, no one will be able to find it."
That was the truth. Kate had tested it before and found the entire manor protected by countless intricate spells, with entry and exit possible only through specially made Portkeys.
It was indeed a hassle, but that was because Voldemort had once stormed the manor with his Death Eaters and slaughtered most of the direct line.
So the Head of the House back then — Kate's own grandfather — in order to preserve the family bloodline, had pooled the Strength of everyone who remained and sealed off every other means of entering or leaving the manor.
His intentions were good, but the direct Shafiq line — nearly all of them members of the Order of the Phoenix at the time — couldn't simply stay shut indoors forever.
And so those who remained mostly went out by Portkey, only to die, one after another, in battle after battle.
To this day, the manor left behind by old Shafiq had only one person left to protect — her.
"But I probably won't be able to write or call any of you this summer, so remember to tell the others for me," Kate added.
Hermione answered at once. "Okay, I will!"
Having explained the situation briefly, Kate let go of her hand without lingering and walked over to the old butler. "Grandpa, let's go home."
"Yes." The old butler nodded, fishing a piece of chocolate from his pocket and handing it to her.
The instant her fingers touched it, Kate felt her feet leave the ground as her whole body was swept up into the air.
When she landed again, she stood before the long, tree-shaded lane outside the manor.
The old butler hadn't come along; before her stood only a familiar house-elf.
"Little Master, you're finally back — please come home with me!" The moment Jingjing saw her it was beside itself with excitement, even scrambling to carry her birdcage for her.
Mainly because its height wasn't quite right for the job, and its appearance might easily frighten Fluffball, Kate gently declined its offer and walked back alongside it.
"Jingjing," she said, glancing at the house-elf leading the way, testing, "is Shafiq Manor going to be sealed off starting today?"
Its once-cheerful steps paused. Jingjing turned around and nodded rapidly, like a chick pecking at grain. "Yes. The Butler told us the manor needs to be completely sealed during the summer holiday."
Kate raised an eyebrow and pressed on. "Oh? And did he tell you why?"
"The Butler didn't explain that. He only said danger was very likely to occur over the summer, which is why he told us to keep our master safe."
Tch. How strange.
As far as Kate knew, there really was one danger during the summer holiday: Sirius escaping from the wizard prison Azkaban, prompting the Ministry of Magic to send Dementors out searching everywhere.
Anywhere a Dementor passed would be drained of all joy, forcing people to dredge up their most terrible memories.
And if someone were "kissed" by a Dementor, even their soul would be wrung out, reducing them to a walking corpse.
It was indeed a dangerous thing, but the problem was that Sirius hadn't escaped yet at all, the Ministry hadn't sent out any Dementors, and the magical world was still as peaceful and merry as ever.
The old butler was no Seer — how could he possibly foresee something two months in the future and shield her from it in advance?
If it wasn't something from the plot, then it was something outside the plot, something unforeseeable.
Carrying the birdcage, Kate returned to her bedroom. It was exactly the same as when she'd left the year before, entirely unchanged.
She let Fluffball out to bounce around as it pleased, and sat down at her desk.
By rights, the old butler had seen her ability firsthand at Christmas and knew she was stronger than most grown Wizards.
And yet, even so, he still meant to shut her away before this so-called danger arrived — going so far as to call on old, creaky-boned Newt for help.
Just what kind of danger had him treading so carefully?
And what was it that forced him to leave her alone at the manor and set off by himself at such a dangerous time?
Unless this danger was tied to the business he had to take care of.
The thought made Kate scratch at her hair in irritation. She really didn't want to wake up one day and find the old butler lying on the lawn outside the castle, covered in blood.
But if the old butler had wanted to tell her about this sort of thing, he'd have said so plainly back at the station, rather than leaving her here to guess wildly.
Just as Kate was lost in thought, something warm and soft dropped against her back.
"Fluffball, stop it." Without so much as a glance, she reached back on instinct to grab it and set it aside — but the moment her hand went out, something felt off.
It was soft, and to the touch it had none of Fluffball's fuzz — it was the texture of human skin.
She whipped her head around to find Katherine standing behind her, having appeared at some unknown point, one hand resting on her back.
"A-Auntie?" Kate's eyes went wide as she scrambled up from the chair in a fluster. "How did you get in?"
Weren't the passages supposed to be closing soon?!
Katherine adjusted her glasses slightly. "Mr. Rand gave me a Portkey ahead of time — precisely because he was afraid you'd let your imagination run away with you, just like this."
If anyone in the world understood Kate best, it was the old butler who had raised her.
He knew perfectly well that if he sent Kate back without explaining anything, then even if she were sensible enough not to ask, she'd go poking into it in secret.
"Let me guess — right now you're probably wondering exactly what connection there is between sealing the manor and Rand leaving, aren't you?"
Katherine lifted a hand to tilt up Kate's chin, shaking her head with a soft laugh. "Don't ask how I guessed — it's written all over your face."
"Ahem, ahem!"
Kate coughed a few quick times, seizing the chance to slip out of her grip. "So, Auntie — you know where Grandpa Rand went, right?"
"He went to Austria," Katherine said with her arms crossed, laying it out plainly. "Before that, he and I also went to Germany, France, and a whole string of other places together."
She rested a hand on Kate's shoulder, gesturing for her to sit, then went on, "When we went out together last year, it actually wasn't for any business. It was to find someone.
"Lately, though, that person seems to have caught on to our purpose. He's started deliberately investigating us in return, and he's slipped away several times before we could reach him.
"And these past three months, I returned to Hogwarts, which drew his attention. Rand also found records of him recently entering England.
"We suspect he's learned how closely you and I have been in contact, so, just to be safe, this is the only way."
Sitting at the desk, Kate could only hear her speaking, aware of the hand that stayed resting on her shoulder the whole time.
This way of talking wasn't something she was used to. "So… you think that person will come after me, that he might do something dangerous to me?"
Katherine shrugged. "That old codger has never had much humanity in him. Who knows what he's capable of? So we've no choice but to ask you to stay put here.
"As for Rand — he found that, aside from England, that person's been based mostly in Austria of late, so he wants to use the time while the man's in England to go investigate."
No wonder…
Though Katherine hadn't named exactly who they were after, she had at least answered most of Kate's questions.
Before, Kate had been at Hogwarts all along, so there'd been no worry about that person sneaking in. Now that the holiday had come, sealing the manor was the safest thing to do.
And judging by the tone in which Katherine spoke of him, she seemed somewhat familiar with the man — and he was an elderly Wizard, at that.
An aged Wizard in Austria who could be described as having no humanity, up in years, whose Mana even the old butler had to be wary of…
Erm — if she didn't know that Grindelwald was still safely locked up in Nurmengard, she might well have gotten the wrong idea.
But on closer thought, anything to do with Grindelwald would surely have the old butler working alongside Dumbledore, not hunting the man down with Katherine.
So this person's identity… Kate couldn't figure it out.
Since the other party was in the shadows while she stood out in the open, and she didn't even know who he was, it was better not to go running around courting trouble.
"So Grandpa Rand's gone off to Austria now — what about you, Auntie?"
She had just started to turn her head when Katherine forcibly twisted it back, and a voice came from above her. "I still have to stay outside and keep in contact with Mr. Rand at all times."
Kate's little head drooped at once.
Which meant that, apart from the house-elf, she'd be all alone in the manor from now on…
Even though she'd once shut herself up in a house for nearly ten years, after two years in the lively bustle of Hogwarts she'd grown a little unused to this feeling of loneliness.
Perhaps because the pitiful little look on her face was just too much, Katherine broke into a laugh and pinched the baby fat on Kate's cheek.
"All right, we're not really going to lock you up for two whole months!" Katherine said with a playful smile. "How about this — wait a month first, and once I've confirmed there's no danger, I'll let you out to go play with those little girlfriends of yours. Sound good?"
Kate's eyes lit up. "Really?! No taking it back!"
"When have I ever lied to you?" Katherine put her hands on her hips.
"Plenty of times," Kate started to mutter under her breath. "And somebody hid their identity from me right from the start, too — ow!"
Clutching her poked forehead, she flopped dramatically onto the desk, leaving Katherine at a loss for words. "Quit the act. Keep it up and I really will lock you in for two months."
"…Huh, suddenly I feel refreshed." Kate sat right back up and gave a lazy stretch.
The whole sequence flowed so smoothly that Katherine could only shake her head.
What on earth had her sister given birth to?
"If you've nothing else to ask, then I need to go." She glanced at the clock on the wall — it was nearly dinnertime.
Kate let out an "aww" and tugged at her sleeve, wheedling, "Can't you stay and have dinner with me, Auntie~"
"Time's almost up," Katherine said, shaking her head helplessly. "If I don't leave now, I really won't be able to leave at all."
Fine.
Letting go obediently, Kate quickly got in one more question. "Can you tell me who that person is?!"
"No!" Katherine gave her cheek a tweak and turned to leave.
A summer all on her own…
Kate walked to the window, and only after watching Katherine vanish from sight did she slump against the sill, staring blankly out of boredom.
Never mind — at least this summer, no one would stop her from steeping herself in the library all day long.
And so, after finishing the dinner the house-elf brought straight to her room, Kate plunged headfirst into the library.
For these two months, she was switching into full grind mode!
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