"Christmas? Oh, yes... they spent it at our place -"
After Benitez was stunned for half a second, he looked with some confusion at Mr. Granger, who was inexplicably hostile.
I don't know why, but judging from Mr. Granger's tone and expression, the father of Elena's friend doesn't seem to be very happy.
However, Benitez still replied politely, trying to ease the subtle atmosphere lingering around him - after all, he has always wanted to be a model dad.
"Our orphanage and chapel are on the shores of Loch Lomond. According to Elena, it's not too far from Hogwarts."
"Hey, do you live on the shores of Loch Lomond? That's quite close."
At this moment, the gentle and mature-looking witch nodded with a clear face and joined in the conversation.
"Katherine Abbott, well, my daughter and Elena are in the same dormitory. Of course, I think you should have heard about it from her..."
Mrs. Abbott pointed at the little witches who were fighting not far away, then turned her head to look at Benitez, and continued with some embarrassment.
"All in all, this Christmas is really troublesome for you - I just heard from Hannah that you maintain an orphanage by yourself, and it's really hard for you to have to take care of them this year."
"Hmm? Mr. Benitez, in addition to your work as a priest, you also run an orphanage? A church orphanage?"
"You know the situation in the past few years. How can the church still have money..."
Benitez glanced at Mr. Granger, smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I was born an orphan, and I understand the pain of starvation and cold, so I built some small houses in the open space behind the church and did my best to take in as many children as I could."
"A private orphanage without church subsidies? How do you keep it running? Sorry, I'm not questioning you, I'm just..."
Mr. Granger's eyes quickly glanced at Benitez's priest's robe, which was washed a little white.
Judging from his clothing and conversation, Mr. Benitez does not look like a generous philanthropist.
"The church's subsidy, some odd jobs in the town, um, occasionally doing odd jobs outside. Of course, the most important thing is..."
Benitez shrugged his shoulders and replied with a smile. He turned his head and looked at the little witches who were playing not far away, with a touch of tenderness in his eyes.
"And Elena. Maybe this sounds a bit fanciful, but she actually shares most of the pressure - I alone can't take care of so many children."
Ever since he picked up the "little white wolf" on the streets of London, his life trajectory has taken an unexpected turn.
Elena almost runs most of the orphanage by herself, and he is mostly just a shield on the outside.
Benitez sometimes even thinks that maybe angels really exist in this world - Elena is the angel of blessing given to him and this world by God.
"Oh, you are so humble..."
Mr. Granger shook his head and whispered in awe.
"No matter how obedient and well-behaved the child is, she is still too young to be able to share the pressure of 'reality'."
You know, the current economic situation is quite bad, and even dentists feel a little bit of financial pressure.
And in such a general environment, going against the trend to support a private orphanage alone, if you think about it, you will know how difficult it is.
"Actually..." Benitez blinked, glanced at Mr. Granger, and subconsciously prepared to explain a few words.
"Ahem, Miss Kaslana is quite outstanding——"
At this moment, the middle-aged wizard who had been serving as a backdrop suddenly spoke.
Xenophilius Lovegood scratched his head and sighed softly, his voice mixed with extremely complicated emotions.
"Honestly, she is probably the most powerful witch I have ever seen... bar none."
Putting aside personal grudges, as well as getting involved and bewitching little Luna, the projects Elena presides over are almost all great undertakings beyond the imagination of "The Quibbler".
As one of the first members of the Major Arcana, Xenophilius witnessed almost the entire journey of Elena.
Therefore, he knew very well how terrible energy this little witch contained.
Let alone Dumbledore, even the reincarnation of Merlin may not be as powerful as Elena - oh no, it is definitely incomparable.
After all, a powerful wizard can only destroy a city-state at best, but a powerful "Witch King" can set off a wave of subversion of civilization in an instant.
"Well, I agree with this. Miss Kaslana is indeed the most special student at Hogwarts in hundreds of years..."
Mrs. Abbott nodded in agreement, looked thoughtfully at the little silver-haired witch who was being bullied by Hannah in the distance, and said with emotion.
"Hogwarts kitchen chef, if I remember correctly, this should be the first one in history, right? She has personally opened a new era in the magical society's catering industry."
Hogwarts cuisine has now become the pinnacle of culinary excellence in the wizarding world across Britain.
A large part of the reason for the recent surge in business at the Leaky Cauldron is due to the new magical recipes that Hannah brought back from school.
With the investment from Gringotts Wizarding Bank and the Austrian Destiny Group, branches of the Leaky Cauldron have rapidly spread across Europe in the past year.
The core business secret among them is undoubtedly the "exclusively authorized" Hogwarts dishes, but there is no need to share these things in front of other parents.
"Hogwarts chef? The cutting edge of magical social dining?"
Mr. Granger raised his eyebrows and rubbed his eyebrows with a headache.
"No wonder...I said Hermione became picky when she got home. It turns out that's the case..."
Since last summer vacation, my originally obedient and well-behaved daughter has become picky about her meals.
They even wrote directly home this Christmas, telling them that they would not go home for the holidays this year and would go to Elena’s house to spend Christmas.
He and his wife originally thought it was the teenage rebellious period of a little girl that had arrived early, but now it seems more like the gluttony of a child who has not grown up is at work?
"that……"
Mr. Granger hesitated and looked at Benitez with some embarrassment.
"Mr. Benitez, after this parent-teacher meeting is over, can I pay you a visit first..."
"I want to learn a few simple home-cooked dishes from you so that Hermione won't bother you by going to your place every Christmas -"
"Well, for cooking... I might have to ask Elena to do it."
Benitez shrugged helplessly, then waved his hand and said with a smile.
"Besides, it's not too much trouble. They came here on Christmas night and went back just after midnight..."
"Really? It seems like this is the only one... hmm?!"
Mr. Granger nodded with some disappointment, then suddenly froze and frowned slightly.
"Wait, wait, you just said that Hermione was only at your place this Christmas... um, had dinner and then left?"
"Yes, what else? Doesn't it mean that Hogwarts has a very strict curfew and you can't stay outside for too long?"
Benitez replied without knowing why, and looked at Mr. Granger who was suddenly stunned in confusion.
"But...Hermione said that she will be at your place for the whole holiday..."
"Hannah wrote to say that Hogwarts will not be held this year, so she is also..."
At the same time, Mrs. Aibo's warm expression, which was originally smiling, also froze.
Several parents glanced at each other and quickly understood each other's expressions.
It seems that those children...have reached their rebellious stage?