Lily walked into the hall carrying a freshly baked birthday cake. Eleven candles were stuck into it, forming a slightly crooked "11." At the very top sat a miniature cauldron made of frosting, with an edible wand inserted inside.
She placed the cake in front of Harley, her green eyes curving into crescents. "My little princess, happy 11th birthday! Hurry and make a wish."
Harley closed her eyes and hesitated for a moment before finally making the wish she anticipated most for now—she hoped her future seven years at Hogwarts would be spent safely and smoothly.
Thinking carefully, although not a single year was safe when Harry studied at Hogwarts back then, the disasters basically stayed around the Trio. The Hogwarts careers of other bystander students were actually quite safe.
Now that the chosen one has been replaced by Neville Longbottom, Harley felt that as long as she stayed away from Neville and didn't join the chosen one's little group, it shouldn't be a big problem.
Thinking of this, Harley glanced at Hermione. As sisters who grew up together, Harley still hoped to give Hermione a hand; she had to find a way to keep Hermione away from Neville as well.
Hermione didn't know what Harley was thinking. Seeing Harley immediately look at her after opening her eyes, she couldn't help but let her imagination run wild.
Could it be that the wish Harley made was related to her?
Th-this must be mutual affection!
Sitting on the other side, Cho also noticed Harley's gaze toward Hermione. The smile on her face didn't change, but she turned to pick up the Xiaolongbao she had spent four hours making—starting from shelling the crab meat, mincing the filling, and kneading the dough. Once the birthday party officially began, she moved close to Harley and fed her one.
The warm Xiaolongbao burst in her mouth. The fresh, tender soup wrapped inside the thin skin instantly soaked the taste buds on Harley's tongue. The delicious crab roe paired with the perfect amount of fat from the pork shoulder made Harley's eyes well up with emotion—after more than ten years, she finally tasted the flavor of home again.
Harley looked up at Cho gratefully. Cho's figure emitted a divine golden glow through the hazy tears (actually just light reflecting off the surrounding gold ornaments), looking as beautiful as a fairy descending to earth.
No wonder Harry's first love in the original story was Cho. Who wouldn't love a gentle, elegant older sister who can also cook!
Harley grabbed Cho's hand and said seriously, "Cho, we have to be best friends for life!"
Cho was stunned for a moment, then gave a gentle smile and nodded.
Harley let out a long breath. It seemed her meal ticket for Chinese food this life was secured.
When James and Sirius hurried back, the birthday party was nearing its end. Everyone cast curious glances at the latecomers, wanting to see what new tricks they had come up with after being delayed for so long.
Sirius breathlessly pulled a full set of man-sized golden knight armor out of a suitcase, while James was even more generous, actually taking out his family's heirloom Invisibility Cloak!
Severus and Lily both knew James had an ancestral Invisibility Cloak. During their school days, James and Sirius basically relied on this cloak to avoid the patrolling Professors at night. However, they didn't realize this cloak was actually one of the legendary deathly hallows; they simply thought it was a high-end item passed down through the Potter family.
In fact, even James himself didn't know he was a descendant of Ignotus, the third of the Peverell brothers.
Interestingly, Cadmus, the second Peverell brother and original owner of the Resurrection Stone, happened to be the ancestor of the Slytherin and Gaunt families—which is to say, Lord Voldemort's ancestor.
In other words, the original world of HP was essentially a story about the descendants of the second Peverell brother hunting the descendants of the third brother because of a prophecy, only to be counter-killed in the end.
At this moment, although James taking out the Invisibility Cloak to give to Harley as a birthday gift shocked the Wizards present, no one thought it was unreasonable.
In the Wizarding World, gifting ancestral items to the younger generation is a common and expected custom. In the original timeline, Mrs. Weasley once gave Harry an ancestral gold pocket watch from the Prewett family—despite having six sons, she still gave the Prewett watch to Harry. (The male heirs of the Prewett family almost all died in the struggle against Lord Voldemort, leaving only Mrs. Weasley's line in the Wizarding World.)
James said with a grin, "Our lovely red-haired little princess, once my match is over in a few days, Uncle Sirius and I will teach you how to use the Invisibility Cloak to explore Hogwarts at night—night-walking is an essential skill for Hogwarts students."
"Don't you dare corrupt my daughter!" Lily Snape said in unison. After speaking, they glanced at each other. For the first time, the couple reached a consensus regarding James wanting to be Harley's godfather.
A thirty-year-old man still acting so immaturely, actually thinking of corrupting their precious daughter—James can forget about being the godfather!
They would rather have Dumbledore be Harley's godfather than let James have his way.
At this moment, James hadn't realized that his casual remark had directly cut off his possibility of becoming Harley's godfather. He was still thinking of arguing a bit with the "rigid" Severus.
"Old man Sev, and Lily, you've forgotten the fun we had at school—"
"Not us, just you and those brothers of yours," Lily immediately corrected, distancing herself.
Harley was right there watching with wide eyes; she would never admit that during school she, like other Gryffindor students, enjoyed going out for adventures in the middle of the night.
"Lily and I were model students in school. In our seventh year, we even became Head Boy and Head Girl respectively. Rule-breaking things like night-walking are only done by you unlearned Marauders."
Severus also replied righteously. He also wanted to maintain a glorious and towering image of a father in front of his daughter. Things like sneaking out in the middle of the night to date Lily during school must absolutely not be known by Harley!
In case Harley heard and thought it was cool, then after starting school, she also sneaks out for night dates with some little boyfriend... Severus felt like he was going to explode just imagining it. His trembling hand unconsciously reached for the pocket containing highly toxic potions—he would never allow any punk to lay a finger on his precious daughter!
"Harley, you must follow the school rules and be a good student after you enroll. Whatever you do, don't learn from idiots like James and Sirius. Look at them—they didn't follow the rules in school, and after graduation, they can only be Quidditch jocks or high-risk Aurors with little pay and lots of work. Their jobs aren't nearly as respectable as mine or your mother's."
James and Sirius were so angry they almost spat blood. One was an international superstar and the other an elite Auror; they were nowhere near as pathetic as Severus made them out to be!
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