….
Daniel looked at his reflection.
And for the first time that day, he actually saw what they were seeing.
And then - quietly, almost like it surprised even him - he spoke.
"…they feel weird." He said, adjusting the bridge of the glasses.
Lily grinned. "That's because they are real. Seren made them personally."
Rupert commented without holding back. "You look like you are about to fight a troll, mate."
Daniel looked at him sideways. "You would probably run."
Rupert gasped, mock-offended. "Oi! I would distract it with my charm!"
They all laughed. Nothing forced. Just light.
Across the room, Regal, still standing back with his hands in his pockets, watched the whole thing unfold in silence.
He smiled faintly.
"....the kid has fallen." He murmured - more to himself than anyone else.
He didn't say it with triumph.
He said it the way you would talk about someone who had just caught a cold or been struck by lightning.
"She probably doesn't even know what she has done to him." He added, voice low.
A shadow loomed behind him.
Regal turned slightly - instinctively ready for trouble - but it was only Rock, looming like a mountain in a hoodie.
He crossed his arms. "That girl gonna be in the movie?"
"Most probably." Regal replied without missing a beat.
Rock nodded toward Daniel. "Then he is in too."
Regal turned his head a little. "Thanks for the confirmation."
"No problem." Rock nodded earnestly, clearly not registering the sarcasm.
Regal turned his gaze back to the trio.
Daniel's cheeks were faintly flushed now, his fingers still fidgeting with his glasses, but there was something different in the way he stood - less stiff, more open.
Rupert was dramatically waving an imaginary wand, performing over-the-top spells like a stage magician.
Lily, arms crossed and expression scrunched with theatrical seriousness, was critiquing his 'form'.
Daniel, caught between them, wore a look that hovered somewhere between amusement and curiosity.
Three kids.
Three completely different energies.
Already bouncing off one another.
Already syncing in strange, delightful ways.
Regal watched them quietly.
And something inside him shifted.
This wasn't just a chemistry check anymore.
He glanced sideways and gave a discreet signal to the young cameraman standing by a corner tripod.
"Take five." He murmured.
The cameraman blinked, puzzled.
Regal gave a short nod and spoke under his breath. "No point rolling right now."
Because some moments weren't meant to be captured or shaped.
Some moments simply needed to exist.
He let the room breathe. Let the kids be. Let the noise and chaos unfurl as it would.
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching as they tripped between games and jabs and half-finished jokes.
Their energy was unpredictable, clumsy, pure.
Then, suddenly—
"Sir Director!"
The voice cut through the room like a spell.
It was Lily.
She turned to him with a snap of the head, hair bouncing slightly, a mischievous glint in her eye.
It was the first time she had addressed him that way - Sir Director, not Regal.
And she wasn't alone. She had dragged both boys with her by the wrists, as if towing stubborn broomsticks.
Rupert was trailing behind, frowning slightly, but playing along. Daniel came with hesitant steps, more confused than resistant.
They were all in their Hogwarts uniforms, sleeves a little too long, ties a little too crooked.
"What's going on?" Rupert asked, clearly unsure why he was suddenly being paraded like a contestant.
"Yeah… where are we going?" Daniel echoed, adjusting his glasses again.
Lily didn't answer them. She only marched straight up to Regal, stopping a foot away like she was calling a meeting of the Wizengamot.
"So…" She said, hands on her hips. "Sir Author."
Regal tilted his head slightly, already bracing. He could tell - this wasn't going to be a quick question.
"What is it?"
Lily's eyes narrowed with exaggerated seriousness, like she was delivering the most important line of her life.
"Who does Hermione Granger end up with?"
Regal blinked. "Sorry - what?"
Without hesitation, she grabbed the boys' arms and yanked them forward - one in each hand like chosen contestants in a game show.
"This one." She said, lifting Rupert's arm. "Or Harry Potter?" She raised Daniel's.
Rupert squirmed immediately. "Wait—what?!"
Daniel's mouth fell open. "I am not… what… I thought—doesn't she…?"
Regal took a slow breath, staring at the three of them.
He could simply brush it off.
Could say it was too early. Could redirect them back to the current film, reminding them that the books were the books and the script hadn't even locked yet.
But instead, he smiled, and for the first time that afternoon, he didn't feel the pressure of directing.
He just felt like someone caught in the orbit of something new being born.
"Well…" He said slowly, lips twitching into a smirk. "Isn't that something only the author knows? So why are you asking the director?"
Before Lily could answer, Daniel adjusted his glasses and added. "Is it even professional to ask that kind of information, Lily?"
Rupert, however, wasn't listening to either of them. He was frowning deeply, curiosity now fully awakened. "But seriously though - who does she end up with?"
Lily crossed her arms with flair. "Because, I know Sir Author personally. He wouldn't tell no matter what. So I am asking you, Sir Director."
Regal chuckled, low under his breath. "That tracks."
He leaned forward slightly. "Well… I suppose it depends on who acts better."
Lily's eyes lit up instantly, like he had just handed her a golden snitch.
Rupert turned pale. "Seriously? That's the criteria?!"
…I just need to act better….?Maybe I should attend the workshops too… Daniel murmured to himself.
And with that, the room burst into laughter.
The three of them turned away, already mid-conversation, already bickering about something else. Just as naturally as they had approached him, they wandered back across the room in a tangled little triangle of youthful noise and wandering limbs.
Regal stayed where he was.
But her question lingered.
Who does Hermione Granger end up with?
It wasn't just a random curiosity. It was the same question he had asked himself years ago as a reader.
And now again, as a writer, as a director. He had considered it - seriously.
Looked at it from every angle.
Hermione and Harry.
It made sense. Logically. Emotionally. Structurally.
The chemistry was there. The emotional foundation. The rhythm.
He still wondered why it never happened. And he remembered, clearly, the discussions that used to flood message boards, articles, interviews.
Before the final book had even come out, that was the burning topic: Who would she choose?
He even remembered hearing the author once speak on the matter.
The explanation had surprised him.
She admitted, somewhat wryly, that maybe she had made the decision just to defy expectations, and that maybe, in hindsight, she should have gone another way.
Regal shook his head slightly, eyes still following the trio across the room.
"Let's think this through…" He murmured to himself, not as a director, not even as a fan.
But as someone who might just get to rewrite it all.
….
As the child actors' workshop continued in earnest, and the first flickers of chemistry started to catch fire in London, Regal quietly boarded a flight back to Los Angeles.
The groundwork was laid with the kids. What came next would be the spine - the adults who would hold this magical world upright.
Some of the characters were already locked in.
Professor Quirrell's role had been locked in.
Regal had restructured the character's arc to thread more deliberately through the narration - not just as a pawn, but as a slow-burn antagonist who would bleed into the second film, [Chamber of Secrets].
Alongside him, Minerva McGonagall and Gilderoy Lockhart had also been cast, their roles fine-tuned through weeks of secluded auditions and instinctual decision-making. A few other key supporting characters had been chosen as well.
All there is left is some paperwork, and to make it official, and that was someone else's problem.
Simon, along with Red Studio's legal team managing the clauses, timelines, and back-end negotiations.
He had no interest in being buried in the technicalities.
The child contracts, though - they were a more delicate matter. Those would be finalized later, after the second round of rehearsals.
There was more flexibility there - no competing schedules, aside from school - but far more legal nuance.
Because they were minors, every clause had to be meticulously crafted, signed in the presence of guardians, with education rights and working hours legally compliant.
Fortunately, Simon had already assembled the right team for that, too.
….
Regal's attention was elsewhere - drawn obsessively toward three empty chairs still unclaimed.
Severus Snape. Rubeus Hagrid. And Lord Voldemort.
Three characters you couldn't afford to get wrong.
Not just because of the fans - but because of the tone they set.
He had spent weeks in London chasing them down. Peering behind the curtains of stage plays, reviewing audition tapes in his hotel room at two in the morning, calling agents for reels not even listed online.
But nothing landed.
Snape needed someone who could carry a storm behind the eyes - someone unreadable but heavy with emotion. And no one he had seen had that.
Hagrid needed warmth, but not the Disney kind - something grounded, weathered, real. Every voice that tried it sounded forced or cartoonish.
And Voldemort… no presence he had seen yet had that cold, commanding stillness.
So finally, Regal did what he had been avoiding from the start.
He looked west.
To Hollywood.
But not through casting calls or through reps.
He just made a short list - the same one he had scribbled in his notebook before the project ever started.
Actors he had imagined in the roles from the beginning, but held off on.
He wanted to give British talent a real shot first - which he did do genuinely, but now with time ticking and no viable candidates, he was left with no choice.
So, he sent out personal invitations, along with annotated scripts.
Each one tailored - complete with detailed character breakdowns, backstory notes, even private voice memos explaining tone and subtext. Everything but makeup tests.
Except for one role.
For that one, he sent no context. Just a script.
A week passed.
All three said yes.
Not with vague interest, but full-on commitment.
They dove in, unprompted.
Called him directly and asked smart questions and sent back notes.
Already tried voice shifts. Blocking ideas. Emotional anchors.
They were in.
….
Now Regal stood outside a soundproof rehearsal room on a quiet lot in Los Angeles.
Just one door between him and the three actors he had imagined before the rest of the cast even existed.
They were inside, waiting.
Now it was time to see it for real - to hear them, watch them, feel what they brought.
If it worked, the final corner of the world he was building would finally fall into place.
He exhaled, steadying himself.
Then he reached for the handle.
.
….
[To be continued…]
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