One month later, Great Britain, London, King's Cross Station.
"Okay, we'll part here. I certainly don't want to be waving farewell to you from the train."
Alina pushed a luggage cart and stopped between platforms 9 and 10 as she turned and spoke to Benitez. At the same time, she patted her bulging belly, "Food Reserve, come out and say goodbye to Father."
The girl's chest shifted, and a drowsy little owl poked its head out of the girl's collar and called out as if saying goodbye.
Gu~
Ever since she was brought back to Luss from Hogwarts, Alina had been banned from touching any books related to magic, and it was only today, the start of the term, that Alina had managed to touch her wand for the first time.
The two wands of black walnut sent over by Ollivander had been in Benitez's safekeeping the entire time.
After that failed coup of August 19th took place, Alina ceased paying attention to news regarding the Soviet Union.
The tide of revolution had finished taking form, and unless one could upset more than half of human civilization in the space of three months, no one could stop the Soviet Union from pressing onward to its dissolution.
Thus, Alina had focused the majority of her energy on learning how to cook and training Food Reserve.
After experiencing the reward of a hot water bath several times, Food Reserve quickly learned that it could not peck a rat to death and bring it home, that when it slept in Alina's arms at night, it could not flap its wings, and when prey was struggling, it needed to come and help (Its current opponents being only the fish in the lake)...this was a set of very important laws of survival.
"You..."
Benitez helplessly shook his head. He reached out and plucked Food Reserve out from Alina's collar, placing it atop the large black trunk on the luggage cart.
As he tidied the girl's somewhat messy silver hair, he affectionately chided, "In class, don't always act as casually as you do at home. You can't have Food Reserve sleep under your clothes all the time."
Although he had already prepared himself for this moment, at the moment of parting, Benitez couldn't help but be worried. Squatting down, he patted Alina's head and once more began to advise her.
"Two trunks, one with your clothes and blankets and the other with books and snacks. Once you get to school, remember to take out the clothes and hang them so that they don't get all wrinkled and ugly. Once the weather gets cold, remember to put on an extra layer of blankets.
"This trunk has quite a few snacks in it, and you can share them with your classmates, make a few friends. If you don't have enough, just send a letter through the Food Reserve, and I'll send you more.
"And that imported German knife set. You must be extremely cautious when using them. I look at them, and they're heavier than the knives you normally use. Don't injure yourself.
"Remember to stay safe at school. If you get into an argument with a classmate or are bullied..."
"Ah, I know, I know...I'll do my best to be on friendly terms with my classmates, and if there's a problem, I'll go to a professor for help."
Alina helplessly sighed. Benitez had been prattling similar words the entire way here, and she felt like she was developing calluses in her ears.
"Okay, relax...Father."
The silver-haired girl grabbed the large hand on her head and gently patted it. Her lake-blue eyes reflected the man's stubbly face as she slightly raised her voice.
"Hogwarts is in the Scottish highlands, not in Africa or the South Pole. And besides, this isn't my first time going to school. Things were much worse when the orphanage was just getting started."
Looking up at the time on the wall clock, Alina bit her lip, walked past Benitez, and began pushing the cart in the direction of Platform 9¾.
"It's getting late, and the Hogwarts Express will set off at eleven. I'm going inside."
Ah, she was just no good at these farewell scenes. She really should have just gone without saying a word.
"Alina!"
Just as the girl was about to walk through the metal barrier between platforms 9 and 10, Benitez loudly called out to her.
"Mm?"
The girl turned around and tilted her head in confusion.
"I was thinking just now, and I've decided that it's best if you don't wrong yourself."
Benitez slightly lowered his body and raised his fists, taking up a boxing posture. He began to swing his bowl-sized fists in the air.
"Do you remember how I taught you to punch? If someone is bullying you, just give them a good beating!"
As expected, still that same attitude of subduing by strength and giving all the thorns in one's eye a good beating first before being reasonable?
This was the stormy priest she remembered, and Alina immediately brightened up. Her lips curved upward, revealing her cute front teeth, and then she turned around and waved around her little fists.
"Relax, Father! I won't let you down! I'll even beat up a man if I have to."
After saying this, Alina confidently pushed her cart into the metal barrier.
Behind her, Benitez raised his hand as if he wanted to say something more, but in the end, he just watched as the girl and her swaying silver air disappeared.
Benitez rubbed his eyes. The metal barrier had seemed extremely solid as she was passing through it, and none of the pedestrians seemed to have noticed a girl disappearing from the train platform.
"Your daughter? What a very smart child. Is she also a new student at Hogwarts?"
The warm voice of a middle-aged woman spoke into Benitez's ear. Turning around, he saw a short and plump woman leading four red-headed boys at his side. Each boy had a luggage cart with a trunk the same as Alina's, owls perched atop them.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't intentionally listening in."
The middle-aged woman apologetically blinked her eyes. "But I think that if it's possible, you should still send her off at the platform. After all, she's still so young."
"It's best not to. That might be embarrassing, and besides..."
Benitez carefully thought it over and shook his head, his eyes slightly dimming. "...Whether it's magic or any other kind of knowledge, I can't teach her. She belongs to a bigger world."
One month had not been enough time for Benitez to completely understand the Magic World, but it had been enough for him to roughly understand just how grand Alina's designs were.
Whether it was the amazing magic Dumbledore had displayed, that astronomical fortune or that chess game that spanned the entire globe, any one of them was enough to completely upend everything Benitez had learned about the world in his several decades of life.
For the first time, Benitez felt helpless and dejected. He could clearly sense that the strong body and orphanage that he was so proud of had become shackles preventing Alina from reaching the wider world.
Haaa, men...this one was even worse off than the one in her family.
The middle-aged woman, Mrs. Weasley, helplessly shook her head and patted Benitez on the shoulder.
"Children have to grow up eventually, leaving us to walk their own road. But that doesn't mean that the family has lost its meaning. Children can choose to run, but as the head of the family, we have to do our best to keep them company until the very end."
After a brief pause, Mrs. Weasley softly added, "And besides, I saw that the child was crying. Shouldn't you go after her to comfort her?"
"Alina was crying?"
Benitez paled, and when he raised his head, he saw that the girl was already gone.
"Of course. Take it from a mother who has raised seven children."
Mrs. Weasley proudly chuckled and then gave Benitez a pat on the back. "Go on then; there's still time. Just pass through the metal barrier between platforms 9 and 10."
"Thank you, Madam."
Benitez nodded and then hastily ran over.
"Mom, why did you say that the girl was crying? She looked rather happy, didn't she?"
To the right of Mrs. Weasley, a girl with fiery hair looked up and curiously asked.
"Oh, Ginny, perhaps I saw wrong. Be quiet now."
Mrs. Weasley smiled, rubbing her daughter's head. She turned around and clapped her hands. "Children, let's move out. Percy, you take the front..."