Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Ivan, who had moved into the new manor, soon realised the disadvantage of owning a large house.
If nothing else, it was a ten-minute walk from his room to the dining room, and Ivan sometimes mistakenly believed he was still in Hogwarts Castle.
There were, of course, great advantages to having a large place — it meant that, in addition to his usual living quarters, he could renovate a dedicated library, training ground, potion room, and alchemy room.
Ivan even expanded the top floor of the castle into a meeting room large enough to hold a thousand people, in anticipation of an emergency meeting.
Although the Underground Fortress in Knockturn Alley also had these amenities, who would want to stay in that dark bunker when they could enjoy the sunshine and gardens?
However, the massive transformation was not something that could be completed in a day or two. Even with the help of a dozen engineers, Pierce only managed to complete half of the transformation in three days.
In addition to the expansion of the project and the installation of defensive enchantments, and considering that Hermione's parents were Muggles, Ivan also went out to purchase some common electrical supplies, which saved him a lot of trouble as he was in London, where the houses were wired.
When everything was ready, Hermione arrived later than Yvonne had expected, and it was not until the morning of the third day that Yvonne received an official reply from the little witch, informing her that the Granger family would be visiting the following evening.
… .
"Are you sure this is the right place, Hermione? We're not in the wrong place, are we?"
On the evening of the 4th of July, Will Granger, carrying a large suitcase, stood in the corridor outside the manor and looked around, trying to find a normal place to live.
"This must be it…" Hermione said, looking uncertain. She reached into her jacket pocket and took out the letter Ivan had sent her.
Despite his daughter's confirmation, Mr and Mrs Granger were still suspicious, as the large manor house in front of them looked like the home of a hereditary nobleman, with two giant statues of knights standing in front of the door with spears in their hands.
"I'll ring the bell." As his father and the only male present, Will Granger straightened his clothes and summoned the courage to ring the bell.
The next moment, there was a slight trembling noise above his head, which was accompanied by his wife's exclamation of surprise. Will Granger turned his head to look and was shocked to see that the two statues of the knight in front of the door were moving as if they were alive.
Will Granger was shocked by the sudden appearance of the statues, but they did not attack him. Instead, they slowly put away their spears and opened the door.
In less than a second, a young boy appeared in front of them.
"Ivan!" Hermione exclaimed, breaking away from Ivan's hug when she realised that her parents were watching.
"I've been waiting for you for days, Hermione," Ivan said with a smile, then turned to look at Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "How do you do, Mr. and Mrs. Granger? Welcome to the Harles' Manor!"
"Oh, hello, Hals." Will Granger was still reeling from the shock of seeing the living statue, but he politely shook Ivan's hand.
Strictly speaking, it was not the first time they had met. In the past, during the holidays at Hogwarts, he would often see Ivan at Kingdom Cross Station, and they would even talk briefly, so it did not take long for them to get back together.
After exchanging a few words with her future "father-in-law" and "mother-in-law", Ivan snapped his fingers and levitated their luggage behind them, inviting them into the manor for dinner.
On the way, Will Granger took note of the beautiful scenery of the manor, especially the fountain and the garden, and finally asked, "Are you a wizarding nobleman, Harls?"
"Of course not!" Ivan replied earnestly, shaking his head. "To be precise, there are no noblemen in the British wizarding world today, only long-standing wizarding families, and I'm not a member of any of those pure-blood families."
"Then how did you come to be … living on this estate?" Will Granger was having trouble understanding this.
Prior to his arrival, he had asked Hermione about Ivan's family background, and learned that he was the son of a single parent, whose father had died young, and whose mother owned a wizarding shop.
Hermione was equally baffled, but she soon realised what was going on and said, "It must have something to do with the Stone, mustn't it?!"
"Yes, that's right, that's it." Ivan nodded, against his will. He couldn't very well say that the manor was free and that it was a gift from the Minister for Magic.
"What's a Philosopher's Stone?" Mrs. Granger asked in amazement.
"It was the greatest alchemical creation of them all, and legend has it that the Philosopher's Stone could turn ordinary stones into real gold, and could make potions that could grant immortality…" Hermione went on and on about the Philosopher's Stone, noting that its creator, Nicolas Flamel, was Ivan's teacher.
Mr and Mrs Granger looked at each other in disbelief. Turning gold into immortality sounded like something out of a fairy tale. In their minds, even magic couldn't do it, or the financial system would have been in chaos.
Even if such magic did exist, it would not be mastered by an underage wizard.
"Ivan was the most brilliant student Hogwarts ever had, and even Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Pearce spoke highly of him…" Hermione said, seeing her parents' doubts.
Will Granger smiled and didn't seem to mind. He had heard Hermione say similar things so many times that his ears were starting to get calluses.
However, as he followed Ivan into the antechamber, he was nearly blinded by a large, golden fireplace…