Chapter 1052
Emergency Broadcast
Chapter 1052 Emergency Broadcast
That morning, Wade didn't get up until the alarm clock rang.
The aroma of bacon and toast filled the air from the kitchen to the living room, but instead of humming a tune and setting the table as usual, Fiona sat in a chair, lost in thought.
"Don't do that, Fiona."
Ferdinand whispered, "It's not like this is the first time Wade has gone to school. If you're so reluctant to let him go, he'll worry too."
"I know."
Fiona blinked quickly, suppressing the rising moisture, and said in a tight voice:
"I'm just... a little reluctant to leave. This vacation was too short, it feels like it was stolen away..."
“But Easter is coming soon,” Ferdinand said, holding her hand. “Wade will be home for Easter, and you won’t have to wait long.”
“No, don’t tell Wade—tell him he absolutely must be back by Easter.”
Fiona sniffed, but said:
"What if he wants to stay at school to study? This year is the year of OWLs, he... he will definitely want to study as much as possible and may not have time to come back."
Ferdinand smiled helplessly and said, "Okay, then I won't mention it."
Wade stood quietly at the top of the stairs for a while, until the talking downstairs stopped, before he went down.
Fiona had her usual smile on her face. She took a large brown paper bag from the cupboard and busied herself stuffing it with hot buttered bread and sandwiches, as well as several boxes of cream cakes.
"Vade!"
When she saw her son, she immediately raised her voice and said:
"Put all of these into your seamless stretch bag later! The train journey will take a whole day, don't go to school hungry!"
"thanks Mom."
Looking at the bulging paper bag, Wade couldn't help but say, "But this is too much."
“It’s not much, you can share it with your classmates,” Fiona said firmly. “You’re all still growing, the snacks in the stroller can’t be eaten as a proper meal!”
At the dining table, Ferdinand laughed and said, "Alright, let's eat breakfast! The roads are slippery today, so Wade should leave early to avoid missing the train."
After a quick breakfast, Wade put on his coat, and Fiona helped him tie his scarf. Finally, she couldn't resist opening her arms and giving her son a tight hug.
"Remember to eat well at school, and let your mom know you're safe every day, even if it's just a short message... Don't put too much pressure on yourself, okay? Take good care of yourself."
"I will, Mom."
Wade hugged her back.
He was already a head taller than Fiona, but in his mother's eyes, he was still like a toddler learning to speak.
He looked at his father, Ferdinand, and nodded steadily, his expression as calm as possible, but still revealing a hint of reluctance.
Wade smiled, and after parting with his mother, he opened his arms and hugged his father as well.
"I'll be back for the Easter holidays."
He whispered to his parents, "You know, exams are very easy for me, and there's absolutely no need for me to cram in the last few days."
Fiona couldn't help but laugh and said happily, "That's great! I'll make your favorite roast chicken then..."
Just then, a somewhat hurried voice suddenly came from the mirror next to the sofa:
"Sorry to interrupt the program, we have an urgent news briefing."
The group turned around and saw that the sports program had been interrupted, and the blonde female anchor had disappeared from the screen without warning, replaced by a wizard news anchor with an extremely serious expression.
He glanced down at the manuscript in his hand, his expression one of utter astonishment. After a pause, he spoke in a short, clear voice:
"We have just received a top-priority briefing from the Joint Press Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Daily Prophet regarding a major scandal at Ivermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in North America—"
"The joint investigation team released its preliminary report ten minutes ago on the case of former principal Gilbert Fontana and several key faculty members who had been leaking information about Muggle-born and half-wizard students to unknown external forces." "The report's contents... are extremely shocking."
The host paused deliberately, raised his eyes, and seemed to be looking directly at the audience on the other side of the mirror.
"Preliminary evidence shows that the leak was not accidental or an isolated incident, but a major and serious incident that has lasted for many years and involves 176 underage students!"
"This is unimaginable, a betrayal of the entire magical world! It's a blatant violation of the Secret Law! It's destroying the future of the magical world!"
As Fiona's face paled, countless student files flashed by. The children in the photos all had very innocent faces, their eyes filled with boundless longing for the magical world.
"What's even more serious is—"
The host's voice suddenly rose: "Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, clearly pointed out that this incident has exposed a catastrophic flaw in certain institutions' fundamental responsibility to 'protect students from targeted threats'!"
"Minister Sinkness emphasized that no tradition can supersede the 'absolute bottom line' of protecting students' lives!"
"From this day forward, if any underage wizard of the required age fails to attend magic school on time, or suddenly drops out during the school term, the Ministry of Magic will track their whereabouts to the end!"
"The lessons of Iphamoni must be remembered, and we must ensure that they are never repeated anywhere!"
"This incident will have far-reaching consequences, and our station will continue to follow it closely, tracking its potential fundamental impact on the international landscape of magic education. We also remind parents to pay close attention to safety announcements from their respective magic schools..."
The interruption ended, and the camera abruptly switched back to the original sports news. The blonde anchor hurriedly put down her notebook and hastily continued the previous topic.
But no one in the Grey family cared about the impact of the broom tail on Quidditch; Fiona was still covering her mouth, her face full of lingering fear.
"Thank you, Merlin... Thank God... We didn't go to America back then..."
She spoke incoherently, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Ferdi, do you remember? Do you remember that time? You considered that for the better development of the company, we should immigrate to the United States. We almost…we almost…”
“I remember, darling, of course I remember.”
Ferdinand grasped his cold, trembling hand, then looked at Wied and explained:
“Wade, you may not remember, but when you were a child, we discussed immigration.”
“But back then, we always held onto a sliver of hope, just in case… just in case you possessed magic…” Fiona choked back tears as she said, “just in case you were different… Hogwarts was the perfect place for you…”
They grew up hearing that "Hogwarts is the best magic school," and besides, both Burns and Black were in England.
The Grays thought that even though they had long since lost contact with their former family, they could still shamelessly contact their son and ask for help if he encountered any trouble at school.
Clinging to that faint hope, despite Britain being going through a painful period of transition and the United States experiencing explosive growth, the Grays stayed.
And this choice, reflected in the news from the live stream, seems absolutely correct, even arguably saving their family.
"The Johnson family..."
Fiona suddenly remembered something, and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Could Khalil's disappearance be because of..."
Ferdinand's lips pressed into a tight line, and he slowly nodded, saying, "I'm afraid that's the case..."
He let out a long sigh, too heavy-hearted to utter a single word.
The living room was deathly silent.
Wade frowned slightly, looking at the blonde witch trying to salvage the atmosphere in the mirror, but said nothing.
Immediately afterwards, he received another hug so tight it seemed to meld him into his very bones.
"Thank you... Wade, thank you for still being by Mom's side..."
Fiona choked back tears, her voice muffled: "Thank God, fate didn't take you from me... Please be safe, my child..."
(End of this chapter)