Scarlet woke up at her usual time and headed for her morning training. After a few minutes of warming up, a stranger entered, clearly observing her.

He was tall and muscular, with scars scattered across his body. Wearing a black singlet and trousers, his shaved his head bald and the untidily trimmed facial hair gave him a dangerous look, especially with the scar almost blinded his left eye.

“Hello, Mr. Hawk.” Scarlet said politely, “Pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Same here,” he said, approaching and shaking her hand, “Kyle’s been goin’ on and on about how he’s got the best daughter in the world, and that his little girl could even take me down.”

“He’s exaggerating,” Scarlet grinned, “I might catch you off guard with a surprise attack, but if you knew what I was capable of, I wouldn’t stand a chance. There’s no way I’d win in a straight fight.”

Hawk raised his eyebrows, amused. “Girl, you sure you know what you’re sayin’?”

“Well, it depends on how much you know about me.” Scarlet stepped back, raising her fists, giving him a clear challenge.

Hawk caught her intent and took a few steps back as well, raising his own fists, “Something magical, like that stuff we saw in Japan?”

“Yep.” Scarlet nodded, “Can I spar with you? I’m not great at close combat without a weapon, and the only person I’ve ever fought is my dad.”

“Fair enough,” Hawk shrugged, and nudging his chin forward. “Bring it on.”

Scarlet nodded, bent her knees, and lunged at the experienced mercenary. Her agility gave her an edge, allowing her to dodge his heavy punches with smooth, graceful movement. She was like a butterfly, weaving around his attack with ease – skills honed from her constant practice of the Salmon Leap, a technique once used by the legendary Celtic hero Cú Chulainn. But while her dodging was impressing, her punches barely made a dent in Hawk’s thick muscle. Hitting him felt more like striking a brick wall.

They went several rounds, with Scarlet’s punched doing little damage, and Hawk’s attacks always narrowly missing her.

Suddenly, he called out, “Alright, girl, grab your weapon. Let’s see what you’ve really got.”

“You sure?”

“Quit talkin’ and start swingin’!”

Scarlet bit her lip and summoned a spear into her hand.

It wasn’t the Gáe Scáil gifted to her by the Queen, but a replica custom-made by her dad, forged from steel to mimic the great weapon in every aspect - including its weight – except for the magical enchantments. The true Gáe Scáil cursed its victims with every strike, just as it had done to Quirrell, and Scarlet certainly didn’t want that happening to Hawk.

Hawk’s eyes lit up when he saw a spear materialized from thin air. His focus sharpened as he dodged each thrust she launched at him. In stark contrast to her earlier performance, her skill with the spear was formidable, every strike dangerously precise. Even when he grabbed a blade hanging from the training room wall to defend himself, he found himself outmatched by the small girl, whose height barely reached his chest.

After a several intense rounds, they stopped by mutual agreement, and Hawk let out a deep, roaring laugh. “No wonder Kyle talks you up so much. Girl, you’re something else! Just gotta work on building some muscle.”

“Well, I’m an underage girl. My body’s naturally not as strong as an adult.” Scarlet stepped back and continued her spear art training. “I’ll start working on my strength when I hit fifteen or sixteen. Not expecting too much, just enough to buy me time to summon my spear.”

“Sounds like a solid plan,” Hawk said, nodding approvingly. “You know exactly what you’re doing – don't see that kind of clear headedness in most folks.”

“And I’m thankful for that.” she replied, keeping her breath steady as she swung the spear with practiced grace. “How’s Mr. Lupin?”

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“Better.” Hawk shrugged, “Right now, you’re probably the only hope he’s got left. The Japanese Jutsushi couldn’t do anything for his condition. Their only advice was for him to accept who he is. He’s really not a fan of that idea.”

“Well, maybe if he embraced it, he’d be more at a conscious mind. That’s how they handle these things,” Scarlet responded, “So, he prefers being drugged over accepting his identity?”

“Yep. But that’s not exactly a good call either.” Hawk watched her smooth movements, “The drugs numb his senses, mess with his mind, and eventually, if he keeps it up, they’re gonna fry his nerves.”

“I’m not sure how much I can help him,” Scarlet admitted. “He’s basically being genetically altered into something else, not entirely human anymore. But there’s research at my school that suggests it's more like a poison. There might be an antidote potion we could brew.”

Hawk gave a grunt, knowing full well that finding an antidote would likely cost a fortune. Medical research was always a money sink, and unless Lupin proved himself to be worth the investment, the Hong-Tachibana family wasn’t going to throw their money into a bottomless pit with no guaranteed return. They’d already done plenty – using their connections in Japan to get Lupin into the Jutsushi Academy, a hidden school that had even surprised him, despite his prior experience at a magical school...Wait...

“I assume the private school you’re attending now is...magical?” Hawk asked.

Scarlet paused mid-movement and turned to him. “I thought you knew that ever since I told my dad I could research werewolves through letters.”

“Yeah, I guess it just didn’t really click until now.” Hawk scratched his head, “Let me guess...Hogwarts?”

“How did you know?” Scarlet raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. “Lupin mentioned it once when he was kinda out of it. Not exactly sober after waking up from some anaesthetic procedure. Said he graduated from there.”

“My senior, what a surprise,” Scarlet mused, then frowned. “It sounds like he’s been through a lot, and it’s not going to change if he stays a werewolf.”

“Yeah, we can’t keep him drugged forever,” Hawk agreed.

Scarlet wiped the sweat from her forehead and wrapped up her training, “I’ll see what I can do for him...Did he try out the magic circle I left in the basement?”

“Worked like a charm,” Hawk said with a smirk, “We only half-drugged him because we underestimated how tough a werewolf is, just gave him dosses for a regular adult male. He woke up not long after the transformation and tried to break out. But once that magic circle kicked in, it was like he was pinned to the floor, like a sandwich getting flattened...What exactly does that thing do?”

“It multiplies normal gravity by twenty times,” Scarlet explained. “Guess I should’ve gone with water pressure at depth of a few hundred feet instead if I really wanted to lock him down.”

“Your magic...It’s kinda practical, you know?” Hawk said, hesitating. “Not as, uh, whimsical as what Lupin’s shown me.”

“Personal taste. I’m not into all that fanciful stuff,” Scarlet replied as she led the way out of the training room. “Will I be able to see him today?”

“Maybe tonight. But I can leave him be and hang out with you guys...I heard you've got guests from your school?”

“Yeah, some schoolmates who knows almost nothing about the normal, non-magical world,” Scarlet said, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Mind being their guide? They probably have a ton of questions after the film last night, but I’m not sure I’ve got the time to answer them all.”

“Sure thing, leave it to me.”

Hawk and Scarlet parted ways at the training room. After a quick shower, she headed to the dining room to join her dad, Percy, and Hawk for breakfast. The experienced mercenary was deep in conversation with Percy, explaining something about aeroplanes.

“Good morning, Percy. Did you sleep well?” Scarlet asked as she sat down, and a maid quickly served her breakfast.

“Yes, thanks for asking.” Percy replied.

“Where are the others? Still asleep?”

“Probably. There were too excited after the film and stayed up late. I doubt they’ll be up before lunch,” Percy said with a slight rolled of his eyes, clearly unimpressed by his brothers’ behaviour. Scarlet chuckled.

Scarlet gestured to Hawk. “I take it Mr. Hawk has introduced himself? He’ll be your guide if I’m tied up with other things.”

Percy looked at her, curious. “What could you be busy with? I mean...is it alright if I stay around and observe?”

Scarlet blinked. “Of course, but...may I ask why?”

“I...” Percy began slowly, “I think I could learn something from you. Something I wouldn’t find in any of the books at Ho--our school.”

“Sure, why not.” Scarlet said with a smile. “William, can you pass him my schedule? That way, he’ll have an idea of what I’ll be up to.”

William entered the room with a stack of documents, handing the schedule to Percy after placing the rest in front of Scarlet. She continued with her Cantonese congee as she picked up one of the documents and started reviewing it.

Percy glanced down at the schedule but quickly realised he couldn’t fully understand what was written. Scarlet was already absorbed in her work with her manager, while Mr. Hong politely excused himself from the table, giving Scarlet a quick hug before heading to his study. Only Hawk, whom Percy had just met, seemed to still enjoying his breakfast.

Hawk noticing Percy’s confusion, took the schedule from him and raised his eyebrows as he scanned through it.

“Well, I don’t get all the terms either, but I can make a guess,” Hawk said, pointing to a section that had puzzled. “This one here looks like it’s about some plastic decomposition research...Wait, you don’t know what plastic is?” Hawk paused, then added with a grin, “Well, lemme explain...”