"Ah? Did you hide something in your clothes?"
Suddenly, Benítez noticed Lori's small silver-haired chest protruding in front of her, clearly bulging with something inside.
"Hey, by the way, the scroll hidden behind the frame...?"
Following Benítez's gaze, Elena looked at her chest and suddenly remembered that the old parchment full of small impressions was picked up that afternoon in Dumbledore's office. Due to a series of things that happened afterwards, if it weren't for Benítez, she would have almost forgotten to open it to see what was inside.
"I don't know, but I think it's nothing more than a spell, a potion recipe, or some documentation."
Elena shook her head, and as she pulled the yellowed parchment from her clothes, she glanced at it curiously.
The first thing she saw was a huge twisted S emblem, reminiscent of the Slytherin House logo, but more picturesque and mysterious. Below this emblem, there are several strange symbols slightly faded and crowded.
A little further down, there is a long row of dense text, the first sentence at the beginning reads:
[With this land registration document, I would like to certify: the great Slytherin family will always enjoy ownership rights over the following lands, registrant, Salazar Slytherin...].
"Land registration certificate?!"
Elena shook her hand and swallowed nervously.
Like most countries in the world, the United Kingdom implements a system of property rights registration. British land can be registered in the form of absolute property rights, limited property rights, possessory rights, or effective lease rights.
The so-called land registration is actually the registration of land and buildings, that is, the registration of real estate properties or real estates. For land that supports buildings, according to the principle that the house is subordinate to the land and the house walks along with the land, the land ownership certificate and the attached cadastral map of the plot are declared in text and graphics.
In other words, a valid [Land Registration Certificate] is equal to [Land Ownership Certificate] + [Property Ownership Certificate] for all buildings located on it.
As for the specific location of the land and the buildings on it...
Elena didn't even have to read the text details carefully; the familiar castle architecture depicted on the parchment was enough to explain it all: Hogwarts.
Suddenly, this light parchment seemed to become warm and heavy.
"Elena? What is this?"
Benítez's voice seemed to come from afar, waking up the little silver-haired loli whose mind was blank.
Elena shuddered, hastily folded the pile of yellowed parchment she had in her hands, and tucked it back into her chest. She could even feel her heart beating.
What to do?! What to do?!
After all, she had accidentally taken the Hogwarts property certificate!
"Nothing... just a very powerful spell."
Elena took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and replied in a trembling tone.
"..."
Benítez silently looked at Elena. Although he couldn't clearly see the content due to the angle, the intricate graphic records, more than a curse, obviously seemed more like a type of document or contract.
"Is it dangerous?" Benítez crouched down, his brown eyes meeting Elena's.
"Danger is not good, but it's really complicated."
Elena thought carefully, shook her head, and pleaded softly, "In short, father, you simply haven't seen this matter."
"Alright."
The man carefully confirmed the expression of the little silver-haired loli. After hesitating for a second or two, he relaxed his brows and nodded.
He stood up, and Benítez walked to the door, took out a stack of bills from his coat pocket on the rack, and handed them to Elena.
"By the way, I heard Professor McGonagall say that the pound sterling can be exchanged for wizarding coins, so I withdrew a thousand pounds from the bank today."
"No, Professor Dumbledore said that Hogwarts has a scholarship for every orphan, and this money is staying for Bran and his..."
Elena scratched her cheek, raised her hand without hesitation, ready to return the money to Benítez's generous hands.
"I have already declined it for you, as for the scholarship," Benítez said calmly.
"Eh? Are you crazy..."
The little silver-haired loli looked astonished and then exclaimed eagerly, also ready to steal some of Dumbledore's hidden money from the tyrant wizard the next day.
Benitez's expression sparkled with a touch of tenderness, and the palm of his hand gently caressed the soft silver hair of the girl.
"I can fully cover your education expenses. I don't want you to get a scholarship; that will make you the subject of ridicule at your new school."
"But..."
"You are not an orphan, Elena!"
Benitez raised his voice, interrupting the girl's complaint, speaking firmly.
Elena raised her gaze, and Benitez's shadow was reflected in the blue eyes of the lake. The man looked somewhat anxious and gazed ahead, but more than anything, he seemed to have the pampered look of a father, just like Ai Linna had been trying not to remember, the look of the hunched figure in the previous life was the same.
"..."
"As I said, stop touching my head."
After a few seconds of silence, the little silver-haired loli shook her head discontentedly, turned around, and avoided letting the man see her expression.
"...I'll clean up later, help me wash my hair, it's greasy and uncomfortable."
"Silly dad."
...
The next morning, before dawn, Elena got out of bed.
After freshening up a bit, the girl rubbed her eyes and walked to the kitchen as usual. To ensure the rest of the children could have breakfast on time, she had to get up early to prepare.
But to her surprise, when she arrived, someone was already busy in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Elena."
Upon hearing footsteps, Benitez turned around and greeted with a smile.
"Oh, early, dad..."
The little loli with silver hair rubbed her eyes, yawned, and subconsciously replied, as she spoke, the girl's eyes slowly fell on Benitez's face, gradually focusing.
"Wait! How are you here?! It's almost ready, you lied to me!"
Elena, with a grumpy face, pointed towards the door as she spoke angrily.
"Calm down, I have fully recovered. Thanks to the help of Professor McGonagall, to be precise, I have never felt so healthy."
Benitez laughed and flexed his robust biceps, the muscles of his strong arms stood out, full of powerful curves, enough to make most girls swoon.
"Even if you are in good health, according to the agreement, the kitchen is my territory, hurry up and get out of here!"
Elena rolled her eyes unperturbed, her hands against Benitez's back, pushing him forcefully towards the door.
Although Benitez's cooking standard is not the dark British cuisine type that is common, barely reaching the qualified line.
Not to mention that since he began to take care of the meals at the orphanage, Benitez has barely cooked.
"Rest today. I just washed my hair last night, and the tortilla will get dirtier later."
Benitez raised his hand, intending to habitually rub the little head against his chest. After a moment of thought, he placed it on the girl's slender shoulders and effortlessly guided Elena into the kitchen.
"Also, what will you do after going to school? You have to let me practice first and get the hang of it! Go back and change into new clothes, then wait for the Hogwarts teacher to come for you. Here I am, calm down."
"No, what you do is really unpalatable..."
Slap!
While the two remained at a stalemate, a sharp sound came from the air outside the door.
"I'm sorry, it seems I came a little early."
Dumbledore's kind voice came from outside the door. "If you don't mind, allow the children to try the breakfast prepared in the Hogwarts kitchen."
.....
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