"Just Another Day at Wanda's"
Pandora was delighted to talk with Wanda, as if there weren't enough hours in the day to share ideas, theories, and anecdotes. However, at one point, she glanced up at the sky and noticed the sun beginning to set in hues of orange and gold.
"Wow... it's already evening," she murmured with a soft sigh. "I suppose it's time to head back home."
The children, meanwhile, had fallen fast asleep on the grass after spending hours lying there, watching clouds and guessing their shapes: a dragon, a teapot, a hat with legs.
Pandora looked at them fondly and then turned to Wanda.
"I know! Let's exchange addresses. That way, we can send each other letters. Or better yet, you could visit me and I'll show you my research center," she said with an excited smile. "Well… it's actually just my basement. But I have jars that glow when you speak to them in Russian."
Wanda smiled and nodded as they pulled out quill and parchment to exchange addresses.
"Then I'll see you soon," Pandora said cheerfully, gently lifting her sleeping daughter into her arms. With a final friendly wave, she vanished with a soft crack.
Wanda looked down at the two sleepyheads and smiled, carefully picking them up. With another crack, she appeared in her living room, where she found Susan comfortably settled on the couch, munching on snacks while watching TV.
"Oh, sure. You lot were out having fun, and I was stuck all day with patients," Susan complained with fake dramatics, not even looking away from the screen.
"Didn't you say you needed a quiet day?" Wanda asked as she laid Harry and Hermione down on the couch.
"Quiet, yes. But I didn't know it would include envy," Susan muttered with a pout. Then she glanced sideways at Wanda, eyes twinkling. "So, has your heartthrob Lockhart been showing up at the bookstore again with his cheesy lines?"
"He gave up. Or at least, I hope he did," Wanda replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Or maybe he's off learning new flirting techniques," Susan joked with a chuckle. "Though, if you ask me, all it would take is one grumpy man scowling at him to make him run off like a frightened mouse."
Wanda gave her a lookserious, but amused.
"Alright, alright, I get it. You're not interested. I'm just saying," Susan said quickly, holding up her hands in surrender with a resigned smile.
…
After the disappearance of Arthurus Flint and the fall of several of his dark businesses, the Flint family finally conceded to the Greengrasses. As a gesture of reconciliation, they disowned Chelsea and handed over a couple of properties that had previously housed their shops.
With that, the cold war between the two families came to an end, and a few months later, the British magical world regained a tense but solid peace.
Since then, it had become common to see Daphne visiting the bookstore almost daily. She played with Harry and Hermione after her classes, and the three of them would spend the afternoons among books, spells, and cheerful chatter. The reason was simple: making friends with Muggle kids was hard. Not that they didn't try, but something about themmaybe the magicmade other children feel uneasy. Some even called them "weirdos" for no real reason.
But at the bookstore, thanks to Wanda's work, the atmosphere was different. Magical children were welcome, and friendships blossomed naturally.
Pandora also started visiting frequently, fascinated by the fact that Wanda worked there. She often came with her daughter Luna, who quickly joined the group to play or experiment with enchanted objects. On one of those visits, Wanda met Pandora's husband, Xenophilius Lovegood, a man just as eccentric as his wife. They got along wonderfully. Strange? Absolutely. But charming. And happywhich, in the end, was what truly mattered.
…
That day was a day off, and Wanda was taking advantage of it by cooking at home while Harry and Hermione were deep into their latest project: creating a magical toy using the book Alchemy: From Troll to Supreme Sorcerer.
Harry had proposed making a magical version of those battle robots where the goal was to knock off the opponent's head. But using runes. The problem was that the arcane inscriptions were nearly impossible to understand.
Wanda, seeing them struggling with the translations, enchanted a pair of glasses for them that automatically displayed the meaning of each rune.
Seeing Harry wear glasses again made her smile. He used to need them, but Wanda had easily corrected his vision. Now, seeing him with them againmagical as they werewas oddly adorable.
The kids were so focused on their miniature model that they didn't even notice the rapid, frantic knocks at the door.
Knock knock KNOCK.
"Harry, can you see who it is?" Wanda called from the kitchen, not sounding too concerned.
"Okay," Harry replied, getting up. He opened the door casually… and completely froze.
Pandora was standing there, beaming as always… but her left arm was covered in blood. Not just a small cutno. It looked like the entire arm had been torn off and then haphazardly wrapped in bandages.
"Hi, Harry. Is your mum home?" she asked with such absurd calm that it was almost comical.
"MUM!!" Harry shouted, somewhere between surprise and alarm.
Wanda appeared in a flash, and upon seeing Pandora, she also stopped in her tracks.
"Sorry, do you think you could fix this? If Xeno finds out, he's going to scold me," Pandora said, lifting her bloody arm as if showing off a bouquet.
Wanda said nothing. She just raised her hands, and with a quick spell, Pandora's arm gently levitated and reattached itself to her shoulder. The skin regenerated with astonishing speed, and within seconds, all that remained was a thin scar. The blood vanished from her clothes in the blink of an eye.
"Phew, thanks. Really. Xeno faints if he sees more than three drops of blood," Pandora said, as casually as if discussing the weather.
"What did you do this time?" Wanda asked, crossing her arms.
"Well… you know that spell that makes teeth grow? I was trying to adapt it to grow arms. Just a bit. But I may have overdone it. Literally."
Wanda started walking toward the fireplace with a serious expression. "I'm going to let your husband know."
"Wait!" Pandora yelped, dashing after her like she actually was worried this time.
Meanwhile, Harry was still frozen in the doorway. Hermione approached him cautiously.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly.
"Yeah… just a bit surprised," said Harry, shaking his head and snapping out of it. He closed the door calmly, as if Pandora hadn't just shown up bleeding all over with the same ease as someone bringing over a pie.
It was only a few minutes later that Xenophilius arrived at the house, accompanied by Luna. Upon seeing his wife, he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes: he hugged her immediately, more relieved than angry, though he didn't stop scolding her gently as he checked her over with trembling hands.
"Again, Pandora? What was it this time?" he murmured, voice thick with worry, never taking his eyes off her now-healed arm.
"Just a poorly calibrated experiment," she replied with a guilty little smile.
He thanked Wanda at least half a dozen times, nearly tripping on the rug in his haste to leave. He wanted to take Pandora to St. Mungo's immediately to make sure there were no internal consequences.
Pandora, though hesitant at first, eventually followed her husband without complaint. Seeing Xenophilius so distressed broke her heart a little. She adored his quirks, but he always worried too much when she got hurt.
"See you another day, Wanda," Pandora said before vanishing into green flames through the fireplace, waving as if nothing had happened… though she still had a faint smear of blood on her cheek.
Right at that moment, the front door opened, as if fate had a sense of humor. Susan walked in carrying a grocery bag, wearing the usual expression of someone who already considered herself part of the furniture.
"Hey, I think there's blood on your Porsche," she said, raising an eyebrow and pointing at a small trail of red drops on the floor.
"It was Aunt Pandora," Hermione replied without looking up from her project, as calm as if they were talking about the weather.
"Again?" Susan muttered with resignation. She'd met Pandora a couple of months ago. A charming woman… but with the alarming habit of showing up at Wanda's house injured, as if it were her personal ER.
"She ripped her arm off," added Harry, who had already returned to his spot beside Hermione to keep working on their magical toy.
Susan's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything right away. She just looked at the two kids, both completely focused.
"You're way too calm for having just witnessed a self-amputation," she commented with a half-smile.
"It was impressive," Harry murmured. "But these runes are harder than that."
Susan shook her head, amused, but her expression quickly turned to a frown as she noticed something missing.
"Where's Red? Where'd you leave that mini dragon?" she asked, looking around.
Hermione and Harry exchanged a look, as if they had just remembered something of life-or-death importance. They both jumped up and dashed toward the backyard.
Wanda and Susan exchanged a tired glance just as shouts rang out from outside:
"No, Red! Don't eat the clothes! You don't even need to eat!"
"Harry, he's eating your favorite shirt!"
"Aaah! Bad dragon!"
As chaos erupted outside, Susan sat at the kitchen counter and pulled a cookie from her purse, as if disorder had already become a normal part of her routine.
"By the way, the Quidditch World Cup is in a couple of days. Are we going?" she asked casually. "My Wendell's become a fan of the game… though, of course, us going might be a little risky."
"Of course we are," Wanda replied, stirring the pot calmly. "I'll ask Selene and Pandora if they want to come with us. That way we'll go as a group… and hopefully no one will lose an arm."
"Perfect. Just make sure Pandora doesn't try to enchant the broom to fly with moon energy."
"She already tried that last time," Wanda murmured with a resigned smile. "It blew up in her face. Literally."
They both laughed softly as the sound of fabric tearing came from the yard, followed by another shout from Harry.
"Red, let it gooooo!!"