Chapter 48 Being a Guest

Chapter 48 Being a Guest

'Dingling~'

The doorbell rang crisply, and Della, who had been sitting in the living room early, stood up suddenly. The tables and chairs made a slight noise because of her quick movement.

Della walked lightly towards the door where the doorbell was still ringing. Her yellow floral skirt kept puffing up in different arcs with her steps. Until she opened the door and greeted the somewhat awkward Harry with a smile, the hem of her skirt was still trembling slightly like a flower about to bloom.

"Hey, Harry, I'm so glad you came," after receiving Harry's shy smile, Della took his arm and led him into the house.

"Don't be so restrained, Harry. Although my aunt and her family don't seem very kind, they are actually very good people. You brought your homework? Just go to my room. There is a big desk there, and my homework is also there."

"Hmm..." Harry blushed and lowered his head. He clenched the bag of books in his hand and followed Della's movements up the stairs. During this time, he only raised his head slightly a few times to look at the exquisite layout that kept passing by his eyes.

The clothes he was wearing today were no longer the baggy and worn-out ones he wore yesterday. It was obvious that he had taken good care of them, but they still didn't fit him very well.

Even though he tucked his shirt into his waist as tightly as possible, the wide sleeves still made his arms look even thinner, and his trouser legs were folded up quite high, making him look like a child who had stolen adult clothes.

"Don't bow your head, come in first," Della laughed softly and opened the door. "Go in and put your homework away first. I'll go downstairs and bring the snacks over. Ah, there are no secrets in my room, you can take a look around."

"Ahem." Harry coughed twice and lowered his head to hide his shyness and excitement. He walked into the house silently, and only after Della's brisk footsteps faded away did he slowly raise his head and look around the room.

This place was much bigger than the room he had cleaned up temporarily, and the furniture didn't look very expensive, but it matched the room and the outside layout very well, and was definitely not a perfunctory product.

Just like Della said, her desk was big enough that four Harrys could study together.

Not only is there a five-layer bookshelf on the desk, but there are also several rows of grids dug out on the wall not far away, padded with wooden boards and filled with books.

Harry walked over to his desk, unable to take his eyes off the bookshelf in front of him.

"Resurrection", "Morphology", "Metallurgy"... He browsed the titles on the spines of the books, put his handbag on the table and absent-mindedly took out his unfinished homework, not even noticing Della's footsteps.

"Interested in those books?"

Della's crisp voice called Harry's attention back. He looked back at the door in panic. It was the first time he noticed Della's overall outfit since he entered the room.

The yellow floral dress obediently fell down to cover her knees, and the brown leather shoes and half-length white socks that had been dancing in front of his eyes just now outlined the slender curve of Della's calves.

At this moment, she was standing upright, holding a plate of fruit tarts and cut fruits in each of her hands raised high to her chest. She had the same smile on her face as usual, but her black eyes seemed rounder and bigger than usual. When she saw that Harry didn't speak for a while, her watery eyes blinked twice as if in confusion.

Harry turned around instinctively. To hide his embarrassment, he actually pulled out a book from in front of him. It happened to be the book "Resurrection". "I just think the title is very interesting. It's about alchemy? It can't really bring people back to life, right?"

Harry flipped through the book with large patches of strange runes on it. From the few pages of text, he guessed that it was a book about alchemy. When it talked about resurrection, the blush on his face faded along with his softened voice.

"Ah, this book, it talks about resurrection, but it can't bring the dead back to life." Della came over and put the fruit in her hand on the side of the table.

"What difference does it make?"

"Link Tairen, the author of this book, made his greatest achievement by making alchemical dolls. His means of making a living at the time was to make alchemical dolls according to the requirements of the clients, some of whom were dead people. Although Link Tairen deliberately retained the metallic appearance of the dolls, it is said that the dolls' characteristics are almost the same as those of the dead. Over time, he gained the reputation of being able to bring the dead back to life."

Della took the book from Harry and flipped through a few pages, showing him the most complicated-looking page.

"The book contains the phase diagrams and runes he left behind. This page in particular is generally considered to be the essence of his alchemical puppetry. However, no one has publicly claimed to have cracked his technique. In fact, even Linktailon himself said in the book that there is no real way to bring the dead back to life. This discouraged many people and caused the book to gradually become less popular."

"Harry, wizard alchemy is divided into three parts. I like to summarize them as potions, smelting and engraving."

Seeing Harry looking a little confused, Della explained patiently.

"First, it is configured like making a potion, from nothing to something, then it is condensed into the required form, and finally the product is given the ability to move through runes. Alchemy is basically composed of these three parts. Link Tyran did not deviate from this framework, but he is more proficient in potions and runes, so the alchemical dolls are so exquisite that they are indistinguishable from the real thing."

"So he called his book 'Resurrection'?" Harry nodded confusedly.

"Yes, Harry, but the idea of ​​'resurrection' alone is comforting enough, even if it's as desolate as the Mirror of Erised - oh, my goodness."

Della rubbed her neck in annoyance. "I've been so obsessed with this lately that I accidentally started bragging about it. It's not interesting stuff. I'm so sorry, Harry."

"No, no, you explained it very clearly. I wish I could understand it as quickly as I could when I was listening to you speak in History of Magic class." Harry spread out his brand new History of Magic homework book with helplessness on his face.

“It looks like this will be a big project.”

Della laughed. She took out a thick book on the history of magic and her homework from the pile of homework she had sorted out early. "There are my notes in the book, and I have done my homework. Come on, Harry, while your uncle is letting you get in touch with the magical world for business."

Harry took the book with a bitter face, he pulled out a chair and sat down resignedly, his cute friend in his eyes suddenly turned into a serious teacher, although he actually needed this suggestion.

"I'm sorry, Harry. This is the first time I invite friends to my house. I don't know how to bring you along. Studying and reading is probably the most suitable thing for a nerd like me to do at home."

Della took down another copy of Rune Studies from the bookshelf in front of her and pulled out a chair to sit down. "I think we can look at the Weasleys' letters and the new toys Fred and his friends made later. Those are indeed more interesting than homework."

Harry looked into Della's black eyes and nodded, then picked up the quill and pretended to bury his head in his homework. After a long while, he spoke in a sullen voice:

"This is also my first time visiting a friend's house, Della. I'm so happy that you invited me. Before I went to Hogwarts, I was a weird kid in school and always the redundant one at home. Magic gave me a sense of home, but I was still the unpopular kid during the holidays. It's great that you told me that I still have friends."

His voice was already filled with tears, but his head was still buried deep in his chest. Della looked at his black fuzzy head, pursed her lips and said nothing more.

She gently placed a white handkerchief next to Harry's hand and patted his back comfortingly. After the quill that he had been clenching in his hand began to move again, she looked at the two books spread out in front of her with mixed feelings.

Since I have chosen death, does that mean I am qualified to be friends with these shining people?

This thought, which Della had tacitly accepted after the conversation in the Shrieking Shack, came back to her mind, and she suddenly felt very cunning.

Anyway, this little episode was over soon, and after Harry had finished half of his History of Magic homework by consulting Della's notes and homework, they happily played with the prank toys made by the twins, and guessed about the life of the Weasleys' big family through their letters.

The two plates of fruit were divided up unknowingly, and life seemed to be soaked in that sweetness, constantly emitting the same fragrance as the basket of flowers brought back from Della's house. Even the gray room had a different color in this sweet fragrance.

The following days were filled with that fragrance, and Harry spent the most comfortable days since the holiday. During the day, he could escape from the environment that had always restricted him and go to his friend's house. Hedwig could also go out as much as she wanted. The seemingly endless amount of homework was unknowingly completed through the correspondence with friends.

After writing the last letter of the Potions paper, Harry couldn't help but stretch. His relieved voice attracted Della's attention, "Finished? That's your last paper, right?"

"Yeah, thanks to you, I didn't expect that I could finish my homework in just a few days. It doesn't seem as hard as I thought."

"Congratulations! You've finished your homework at the end of July. Now you can relax for a whole month."

Della smiled and pushed the fruit plate next to Harry. She looked at the small calendar on the table and said with some emotion.

"Tomorrow is the last day of July. Time flies so fast. Since you have finished your homework, do you want to go out and play tomorrow? It's not that hot anymore anyway."

Harry stared at the calendar blankly, blinking twice unconsciously, and after a long while he nodded in response to Della's suggestion.