The early morning breeze after the start of summer was particularly refreshing. Gentle sunlight pierced the thin mist over Loch Lomond, scattering dappled golden light on the water's surface.

A silver-haired little girl sat on the lakeside grass, hugging her knees. Her delicate leather boots fidgeted, kicking at the turf, indicating she wasn't as still as she appeared.

Nearby, a white-haired old man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching the birds flitting across the lake with keen interest, as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Okay... Professor Dumbledore, what exactly are we doing now?"

After much hesitation, Erina finally couldn't resist standing up and breaking the silence.

After breakfast, Erina had followed Dumbledore to the lakeside. Because of her guilty conscience, she had responded to Dumbledore with simple words like "um," "uh-huh," and "okay" along the way.

However, after Dumbledore had stood with her by the lake for almost a quarter of an hour, the desire to splurge in Diagon Alley successfully outweighed the awkwardness.

"If I remember correctly, shouldn't we be buying everything I need for school now?"

"Indeed. In fact, we are on our way to Diagon Alley."

Dumbledore turned around upon hearing Erina's voice and nodded cheerfully.

"On our way?! We've been standing by the lake for almost a quarter of an hour, and we haven't gone anywhere!"

The silver-haired little loli's patience was dwindling. She began to suspect that Dumbledore was starting some strange nurturing experiment again.

The old wizard blinked, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. He glanced at the ravaged grass beneath the little loli's feet and replied with a smile.

"Sometimes, waiting is a necessary part of the journey."

"So, can't we just Apparate? You wouldn't happen to be waiting for your skill's cooldown to end, would you!"

Erina kicked the ground in frustration. What she hated most was dealing with these kinds of people who didn't speak plainly and always spouted philosophical nonsense.

"Apparate? Of course not. After all, our destination is hundreds of kilometers away in London."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. He realized that while Erina seemed to know a lot about the wizarding world, most of it was just a vague concept.

Dumbledore took out a strangely shaped pocket watch from his chest pocket, checked it, nodded slightly, and patiently explained to Erina.

"Apparition has distance limitations. To be precise, as the distance increases, the burden on the wizard will increase, and the corresponding difficulty will also increase. Forcing a long-distance Apparition would be quite dangerous. I don't think putting you in danger to save a little time is a wise decision."

Although Dumbledore's words were a bit vague, Erina immediately realized that what Old Dumbledore meant was simply – the distance is too far, not enough "mana," can't "fly."

Since they couldn't Apparate, there weren't many transportation options left. It was nothing more than a train, a flying broomstick, Floo Powder, or a Portkey.

Logically speaking, Muggle transportation was out of the question. After all, it would take at least a day to get from the Scottish Highlands to London.

And Erina didn't think that an old professor Dumbledore would imitate young people by holding her and flying to London on a flying broomstick in broad daylight.

Besides, in Erina's memory of the original work, using Floo Powder to travel between cities should be the most common way for wizards to travel.

For example, in the second book, *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, the Weasley family used Floo Powder to travel directly from their home, the Burrow, to Diagon Alley.

However, Floo Powder requires a fireplace to use, and Loch Lomond certainly didn't seem to have a fireplace connected to the Floo Network.

In that case…

The silver-haired little loli who was counting on her fingers suddenly changed her expression, showing a strong resistance!

"Wait, you're not talking about a Portkey, are you! No, no, no, I refuse!"

Judging from the current situation, Dumbledore was likely waiting for a Portkey to London to appear.

Erina's little face turned pale, and she ran to Dumbledore, shaking the old wizard's wide sleeves and begging.

"Professor Dumbledore, let's go back to Hogwarts. Let's use Floo Powder! It's just my insignificant little request… Hogwarts clearly has so many fireplaces."

If she had to choose the scariest way to travel, Erina would undoubtedly vote for Portkey.

Even if it was the most convenient long-distance travel method in the entire wizarding world, it couldn't change its terrifying travel experience.

Because when using a Portkey, it feels like a hook behind your belly button is suddenly pulling you forward with an irresistible force, and then you feel like your feet are leaving the ground and flying forward like a gust of wind, and you can't see anything in front of you.

At least from the description in the novel, the Floo Network's travel experience was clearly more comfortable than a Portkey.

One is quickly shuttling through a warm fireplace (but you might get carsick), and the other is like pulling your belly button forward with a hook – that sounds terrifying!

"But, Ms. Erina. You also said half an hour ago that it was your last request."

Dumbledore looked at the flustered little loli beside him, a little puzzled, and said with a playful wink.

"I'm a little confused, which one is your last request?"

"…Huh?"

Erina's expression froze. After thinking carefully, she timidly extended two fingers and said ingratiatingly in a low voice.

"How about the previous one was the second to last, and this is the last one?"

Although he didn't understand why Erina was so resistant to Portkey travel, it didn't affect Dumbledore's choice.

"Go back to Hogwarts and use Floo Powder?"

Dumbledore looked at the hopeful little loli, lengthened his tone, and said playfully and quickly, "Of course… not!"

Hearing Dumbledore's answer, the silver-haired little loli's face instantly fell. She pouted without saying a word, and her lake-blue eyes looked at Dumbledore with a grievance, looking like she was about to cry.

When words couldn't win, she usually had one last option, which was to activate the talent magic in her blood – get away with it by acting cute.

Dumbledore shook his head with a chuckle. He vaguely knew why Benítez was so fond of this little girl.

Dumbledore thought for a while, held up three fingers, and explained seriously in a gentle tone.

"First, only fireplaces connected to the Floo Network can be used for transmission. And Hogwarts' fireplaces are temporarily closed to this capability."

"Second, our first destination is the goblins' Gringotts, which has never opened fireplace connection permissions to the wizarding world."

"Third… the time has come."

As he spoke, Dumbledore suddenly took out his left hand from behind his back. In his palm was an old cloth bag that emitted a faint blue light and kept shaking.

"Welcome to, the wizarding world!"

"Wh…"

Before Erina could react, after a burst of light distortion, the two disappeared from the spot.