In the early morning, the snow outside stopped. Isobel had just woken up and felt a little cold in the room, so she tucked her head into the quilt. There were faint noises coming from the kitchen downstairs. The girl sighed lightly, got up quickly, dressed, and went downstairs to help make breakfast.
"Mum, don't you have to go to work at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries today?" The red-haired girl in home clothes walked into the kitchen and asked Mrs. MacDougal who was busy preparing breakfast.
"My dear, today is your birthday." Mrs. McDougal motioned for her daughter to wait for a moment, "So, I took half a day off to make you a hearty breakfast."
"The beef is going to be burnt!" Katrina smelled a faint burnt smell when she came downstairs and quickly spoke out to remind everyone.
"Let me do it!" Isobel sighed softly, pulled out her wand, and took over Mrs. McDougal's cooking work.
Maybe, there is a saying that is right, everyone has their own strengths. And their mother, apart from having a high talent in healing, always messes up other things. Even if she has spent a long time practicing cooking magic, she still can't cook delicious food skillfully.
Who would have thought that the head of the famous Charmed and Injured Department at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries is such a mess except for treatment!
"Oh, okay!" Mrs. McDougal was a little disappointed, but she quickly cheered up. "By the way, I just counted the number of gifts. You received fifteen birthday gifts this year."
"Okay, Mom. I think we can wait until after breakfast to open those birthday presents." Isobel used her wand to direct the beef in the pan and skillfully plated them. Katrina used cooking magic to fry eggs and sausages, and made tomatoes and other vegetables into a vegetable salad. Her cooking magic was not as skillful as Isobel's, so she needed to pay close attention while cooking.
"Good morning, Dad," Isobel said softly, looking at the photo of a young man next to her. The man in the photo was smiling at them.
"Katrina's domestic magic has improved a lot!" Mrs. McDougal was generous with her praise, as she had almost no talent in cooking.
"I've been practicing all the time," Katrina said. In fact, she helped with housework at home, as their mother was busy at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
At breakfast, the McDoug family talked about some interesting things that happened at school. In fact, the two sisters always made Mrs. McDoug feel at ease.
After having breakfast together, it was time to open Isobel's birthday presents. Most of them were ordinary small gifts from Ravenclaw students. If you had to say whose gift was the most special, it would be the latest edition of the magic book given by Uncle Mogg.
"I think few people in Hogwarts can understand this book!" Katrina took the magic book, flipped through a few pages, and couldn't help complaining.
Although she had learned some, ancient magic runes were not Katrina's strong point.
"There will always be someone who can understand it." Isobel put away the magic book calmly.
"Robert Hilliard, is he pursuing you?" Katrina glanced at the sender of the package, tilted her head and asked Isobel.
"Why do you say that?" Isobel asked.
"It's my intuition." Katrina looked at the beautiful white gloves and raised her eyebrows. "He has a good eye."
"What kind of child is that?" Mrs. McDougal inquired curiously.
"I didn't notice. What's wrong?" Isobel handed the unwrapped package to Katrina. "If you like it, I'll give it to you."
"Forget it." Katrina didn't plan to take it. After all, it was Robert's gift, and if she took it, the poor guy would probably cry in the toilet.
"Thank you, the hat is very nice!" Isobel put on the black wizard hat with a gorgeous evil witch tail feather on it. It looked elegant and was very suitable for wearing to a banquet.
"You're welcome." Katrina smiled, "Anyway, it's not my money."
Mrs. McDougal looked at her two daughters and always felt that they were hiding something from her.
"Hey, Albert actually gave you a birthday present." Katrina was quite surprised when she saw the signature on the package.
"Last time, I used a spell to exchange things with him." Isobel opened the package and was stunned when she saw what was inside.
"What is this, a wood carving?" Katrina asked in confusion, "But it looks very small."
"Amulet?" Mrs. McDougal looked at the unicorn wood carving and was a little surprised to see such a finely crafted amulet.
"Amulet? Oh, and there's a card inside." Katrina reached out and picked up the card, handing it to Isobel.
Isobel glanced at the card and handed it back to Katrina.
"Can I read it out loud?"
"Well, read it!"
"May it help you through your impending doom." - Albert Anderson
"Misfortune, what misfortune?" Katrina was even more confused. Did something happen between them
Isobel briefly recounted the last runestone divination.
"Although I don't want to say bad things about Professor Trelawney in private, many people say that she is a liar. You know, divination requires talent, and Professor Trelawney obviously has no talent." Katrina obviously didn't believe in Professor Trelawney's divination.
"It looks like something is engraved on it." Mrs. McDougal took the amulet, examined it carefully, and commented, "I'm sure this amulet must be very expensive. You know, the ones sold on the market are all scams."
"Is this thing effective?" Katrina asked skeptically.
"It should work. By the way, this is actually carved from mandrake."
As a healer, Mrs. MacDougal was also very skilled in preparing potions and quickly recognized the wood used to carve the amulet.
"Is that the Mandrake?" Katrina suddenly remembered something. It seemed that a Mandrake had been stolen from the greenhouse at Hogwarts. Could it be...
"This thing needs to be carved with mature mandrakes, and the mandrakes at the school are not mature yet." Isobel seemed to see through her sister's thoughts and reminded her.
"Also, this amulet was probably made by Anderson himself. He is very good at magic runes and alchemy." Isobel pointed to the ancient magic runes engraved on it and explained, "As for the price, it is definitely not as expensive as your hat."
"Albert Anderson? I seem to have seen his name in Practical Potion Master a while ago." Mrs. MacDougal suddenly remembered where she had heard this name. "It is said that Anderson is a genius in potions, and his improved potions are highly praised by Mr. Dagworth."
"That guy is indeed a genius." Isobel admitted straightforwardly, "However, you should probably ask Katrina for the details. They are from the same class."
"That Mr. Anderson is in the same class as Katrina?" Mrs. McDougal's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Well, he is in the same class as me. He is a recognized genius wizard in the school. Many people think he will be the next Headmaster Dumbledore." Katrina hesitated for a moment, and then said, "In fact, he has published papers in many academic journals."