It felt like… it had been so long…

Irina Ivanovich looked up, gazing at the brightly colored parasols outside the coffee shop and the various wizards strolling along Diagon Alley, a trace of bewilderment flickering in her emerald green eyes.

Before, when her grandfather was still around, she often sat in that ice cream parlor in Moscow, listening to his stories.

As Professor Walter Ivanovich's most beloved granddaughter, she could hear whatever stories she wanted; old Walter could tell any tale she desired. No matter where she wanted to go or what she wanted to eat—perhaps because her mother had passed away when she was young—as long as she behaved at home, listened obediently, and read diligently, her father and grandfather would try their best to fulfill her wishes.

Whether it was Muggle books or textbooks from magic schools, her grandfather would find a way to get them for her.

Irina Ivanovich often dreamed that when she entered Koldovstoretz School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she would strive to be the best in the school, win many awards to make her grandfather happy, and then join the Ministry of Magic after graduation to work with her father.

However, on Irina's fifth birthday…

All of the Ivanovich family's hopes for the future vanished like bubbles.

At the breakfast table that morning, her father and grandfather had an unprecedentedly heated argument, and that evening, officials from the Russian Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards came to their home, announcing that her grandfather was a criminal.

Immediately afterward, her father lost his job at the Ministry of Magic, and most of the family's savings were paid as fines to the Ministry.

Those uncles and aunts who used to visit their home frequently never came again. Irina's former playmates avoided her as if she had the plague. Old Ivanovich was confined to the small wooden house behind the main house. Except for the time to deliver meals each day, Irina had almost no chance to see her grandfather, and her father's temper became increasingly volatile…

According to the magical world's law regarding "Wizard's Grief," as relatives of Walter Ivanovich, they were prohibited from going to any wizard-dense areas. Even though old Ivanovich had passed away several years ago, this ban remained in effect.

She and her father were as if they had been exiled and forgotten by the entire Russian magical world.

Until…

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

A pleasant voice interrupted Irina's thoughts, and the girl came back to her senses.

Two large scoops of ice cream appeared before her eyes, snow-white cream ice cream topped with bright red strawberry sauce, sprinkled with some rock candy shards, making one feel the heat dissipating just by looking at it.

"Try it quickly. This is Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour's specialty—although their raspberry ripple ice cream is also good, I still prefer this newly launched strawberry cream ice cream…"

"Eh? Okay, thank you…"

Irina was slightly stunned, somewhat flusteredly taking the ice cream cone in front of her.

She didn't know why, but since they came out of that "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions" shop, this older student named Elena Caslana had been in a particularly good mood, even taking the initiative to treat her to dessert.

Perhaps… because their figures were relatively similar?

Since most of the family's savings had been used to pay the fines, the Ivanovich family's financial situation had been quite bad in recent years, so that Irina was much thinner and smaller than most of her peers.

Eleven-year-old Irina is only 118 centimeters tall now, even a little shorter than Elena.

However, Irina didn't look down on Elena because of her height.

When buying the powdered ingredients on the list at a pharmacy in Diagon Alley, Irina Ivanovich heard the shopkeeper call Elena "Professor Caslana" with her own ears, and the two also talked for a while about the supply of basic materials for the Potions class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year.

There was no doubt that Elena hadn't lied in her self-introduction; she was indeed a professor at Hogwarts.

As for why the girl looked so small, Irina wasn't too surprised.

As the granddaughter of the deputy headmaster of Koldovstoretz School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Irina had heard many wonderful magical stories from her grandfather. While mixed-blood wizards were rare, they weren't exactly shocking in the magical world.

However, after comparing herself slightly to Elena, Irina suddenly felt a little unsure again.

In that legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry full of monsters, could she really become the best student in the school, as her grandfather had hoped—even if it was just the top of her grade…

"What's wrong?" Elena asked.

"Nothing…"

Irina shook her head gently, turned her head to look at the street opposite, and quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, Elena, what's that shop over there?"

Not far from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, dozens of young wizards, male and female, were gathered at the entrance of a shop, discussing something excitedly, and even across the street, the sound of their discussions could be vaguely heard.

"Hmm, if it's in that direction, it should be…"

Elena pondered for a few seconds, then casually glanced at the goblin Douglas standing beside her.

"Oh… that's Quality Quidditch Supplies!"

Catching the look Her Majesty gave him, Douglas, the chief financial officer of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, shuddered, bowed elegantly, and continued Elena's words very naturally.

"Gringotts Wizarding Bank, in conjunction with the Destiny Group from Austria, has launched a brand-new concept of high-speed flying broomsticks, and today is the first day of the new flying broomstick sample display…"

"Oh, do you goblins also make flying broomsticks?"

"Of course. Throughout history, many famous wizards have had one or two items made by goblins—in the field of magical item smelting and forging, we goblins are much better than human wizards."

Douglas straightened his back, grinned, revealing his sharp teeth, and said with great pride.

Along with the introduction of the goblin Douglas, Elena and Irina left Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and walked towards Flourish and Blotts, as Irina still needed some textbooks for school.

When they passed the Quidditch shop, they heard the shopkeeper introducing with a very proud voice.

"This [SU91] developed by [g-h-cyxon Design] can be said to be the fastest broom in the world. It combines the most advanced streamlined design in the world today. The broom material uses a mixed forging goblin technology of metal and wood. Not only is the braking performance far superior to any model, but the protection can also resist Bludger impacts of over 150 miles per hour without any deformation."

"The British national team has just placed an order, ordering a total of fourteen such brooms—"

"If there are no accidents, everyone should be able to see its performance on the field at the World Cup opening ceremony next week… For safety reasons, orders from outside professional teams are not accepted for the time being."

The fastest flying broom in the world… exclusive to the national team…

Irina stopped subconsciously, trying to stand on tiptoe, and looked curiously through the gaps in the crowd at the beautiful flying broomstick placed in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. It was the most imposing broom she had ever seen.

She remembered that her father especially liked Quidditch. If he were here, he would definitely stand here and be unable to move, right?

"Irina, first-year students are not allowed to bring flying broomsticks, you know."

Elena glanced at Irina's face full of longing and curiosity, raised her finger, and said quite seriously.

"If you have played Quidditch before, I can recommend you to join the Hogwarts first-year team—as long as you pass the selection test, I can give you a pretty good broom."

"When I was very young, my grandfather gave me a toy broom…"

Irina answered subconsciously, her voice suddenly dropping a few degrees.

"However, when the Ministry of Magic came to our house to search, all the flying broomsticks and Floo Powder were taken away by them. I don't know if I can still fly now… Everyone at school must be very powerful, right?"

"That's hard to say…"

Elena shrugged, "In fact, there are wizards at Hogwarts who can't fly, and there are quite a few powerful ones—there have even been cases in history where first-year students swept the House teams and won the championship in the end."

"House teams?"

"Yeah, you know, Hogwarts is divided into four Houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw—then, starting from the second year, each House will form a separate House team and participate in a year-long Quidditch competition in a cycle, and finally determine the winner based on points and wins and losses."

"Are all the first-year students at Hogwarts that powerful?"

Irina said in some shock, becoming more and more nervous with Elena's introduction.

Students in school serve as professors, lower graders sweep the House teams, first-year students defeat higher graders in magical duels, study higher-grade courses on their own and get full marks…

"Not all of them, I guess… but in the last year or two, there seem to be some every year…"

Elena touched her small, silly hair guiltily and explained casually.

She didn't know how her "Seven Under the Moon" group was doing during the summer vacation, whether they were following the study plan she had developed.

If she aroused Irina's sense of crisis, but then the girl found that there was no one who could fight when she arrived at school, it would be very embarrassing.

Fortunately, Luna Lovegood is among the first-year students enrolling this year.

After a year of tutoring from her, the little moon, although still a little confused from time to time, has undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the original in terms of strength and family background.

It is conceivable that with the addition of Irina Ivanovich and other Russian little witches, the new semester at Hogwarts will definitely become extraordinarily exciting.

At least, in Elena's opinion…

When they face familiar Russian textbooks, they will surely shed tears of happiness, thereby promoting the learning of other Hogwarts students—the catfish effect, which is a very effective method.

Meanwhile, on the other side…

In the homes of some adult wizards, the atmosphere was not so happy. An extremely tense atmosphere had enveloped that land since morning.