The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

The sound of the candy breaking brought Hermione back to reality, and she mustered up the courage to ask: "But why?"

"Why didn't you just restrict it if you knew there was a basilisk in the school? Why did you let the basilisk do its harm? Why didn't Harry stand up and make it clear when he was misunderstood?"

The little witch spewed out a series of questions in a rapid-fire manner, and she was so emotional that her mouth went dry. She raised the cup and drank the sugar water in one gulp, then she frowned at the sweetness.

It's so fun to have a sore throat and have to hold back and maintain a serious look.

Dumbledore suppressed his laughter, slowly picked up the teapot again, and poured her another cup: "Black tea, drinking it will make your throat feel better."

The steam rising from the cup carries the refreshing aroma of tea, indicating that this time it is not sugar water.

I was obviously asking such a serious question... Hermione was a little confused, but in the end her throat hurt and she had to raise the cup to drink the cup of black tea.

But she glared at Dumbledore fiercely and firmly stated her attitude: "Don't change the subject, you must give me an explanation!"

Dumbledore's shoulders drooped a little, and his eyebrows drooped to both sides, highlighting his old age. He said in a helpless tone: "Many years ago, I witnessed Voldemort gathering the forces of Death Eaters. He is causing turmoil in the wizarding world, with news of innocent people being killed every day. People say I am the only one who can deal with him."

"But, I can't stop him, Hermione." Dumbledore's voice was weak, even trembling.

Hermione's heart suddenly panicked and she stammered comfort: "Principal, no, don't say that. We all know that you are the most powerful wizard. The only thing Voldemort is afraid of is you. You protected many people at that time. people."

Dumbledore waved his hand: "Hermione, I never thought that I was the most powerful wizard. Maybe when I was young, I relied on my little talent in magic to gain some fame."

"But now, I am old." Dumbledore said softly, "You must want to ask, what does this have to do with the basilisk?"

Hermione nodded hard.

"Voldemort has been dormant for ten years. His little actions are becoming more and more excessive. Hermione, you are a smart boy, can you understand that he is coming back soon."

"Twelve years ago, it was Harry who defeated Voldemort, which won him the respect of many people and also earned him the hatred and revenge of Voldemort. I hope he can grow up as soon as possible and learn enough skills to protect himself. Resist Voldemort's persecution." Dumbledore looked at Hermione.

Under this premise, many doubts that once existed were instantly solved. After sorting out her thoughts for a moment, Hermione came to her senses: "So it was the same in the first grade. You thought Harry had the right to face Voldemort, and deliberately let him learn many useful things. It's the same this year, too, through the basilisk to confront Voldemort. , is this also planned?”

Hermione was a little angry, but she couldn't tell what exactly she was angry about.

Dumbledore admitted frankly: "Yes, Loren accidentally revealed Harry's Parseltongue to me, and under my conscious guidance, many people became suspicious of Harry. This is exactly what I wanted to see. Yes, the strength of the mind is equally important as the strength of magic."

Hermione was still angry, she still didn't think it was right to do this: "But as for Colin and Justin, they are innocent, but because they were attacked by the basilisk, they had to stay in the hospital for more than half a year. This is not good for them. unfair?"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly: "I realize my mistake, whether it is Mr. Colin Creevey or Mr. Justin Finch-Fletchley, I will work hard to win their forgiveness."

Hermione was speechless and sat on the chair dully.

Full of praise for the little witch's kindness, Dumbledore did not let the silence continue. He took out a box of Lemon Snow candies from the drawer and handed it over:

"Professor McGonagall said you were looking for me because of Professor Black. Is there anything wrong with him?"

"Um, Professor," Hermione calmed down and pulled her thoughts away from what just happened, "I think there seems to be some entanglement between Loren and Professor Black..."

Lemon Snow Babies were placed on the table, and no one touched them. The delicate silverware spun out small streams of white smoke.

After listening to Hermione's explanation of all the signs, Dumbledore didn't think she was overthinking it... He tapped his thick fingers on the table, making a dull sound.

After a while, Dumbledore slowly said: "I will investigate this matter carefully. If there is any progress, I will notify you as soon as possible."

Seeing that the little witch became serious due to his actions, he smiled instead: "Don't worry, Hermione. I don't think Loren will cook and eat his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at school. Isn’t it?”

Hermione laughed at this statement.

"As for today's conversation, I guess it's a little secret between us, right?" Dumbledore winked at her.

"Can't we talk about the basilisk?" Hermione asked a little disappointed.

"better not."

No, I don't want to keep it a secret, I want to beat Loren up openly... But facing Dumbledore's gaze, Hermione agreed against her will.

Although I know the incredible news, it seems that all the plans today have failed.

Hermione turned around to leave with a bleak look on her face, when she suddenly heard Dumbledore's voice coming from behind -

"In addition, Professor McGonagall has a lot of school affairs to deal with. I think you can take my approval note and ask Professor Flitwick to teach you Apparation."

"Really?" Hermione raised her head in surprise: "Thank you, Professor!"

After the little witch left, Fox, who was combing his new feathers, looked up from his armpits and chirped in disgust.

"What are you talking about? How could you say that to me?" Dumbledore retorted with a heartbroken expression, "How could this be deceiving a child? I didn't lie!"

In the principal's office, Fox chirped...

The homework during the Christmas vacation was not collected immediately upon returning to school, but was collected when the professor of the subject was in class. This left a gap of time that was enough for Harry and Ron to perform miracles.

Hogwarts library, corner by the window.

In pursuit of speed, his handwriting was drawn in consecutive strokes like the claw marks of a howling banshee. Ron looked at his 1.5 times line spacing and silently admired his wit in his heart.

Harry also finished the work at about the same time. He raised his head and looked at Ron, smiling at each other, saying nothing.

After dealing with the basilisk incident, they felt free from restraints. The two of them had so much fun during the Christmas vacation that they didn't even touch on their homework.

Neville stretched out his head and looked at Ron's paper curiously: ""The Maintenance and Growth Process of Mandrake in Autumn and Winter"?"

Look at Harry's paper on the other side: ""The Cultivation and Maturation Process of Mandrake in Spring and Summer"?"

Finally, I saw another densely written paper between the two of them - "Analysis of the Biological Properties and Functions of Mandrake".

Neville: "..."

He couldn't help but complain: "You split half of Hermione's paper into two other papers?!"

Harry smiled shyly.

Luna looked up from the strange book "100 Unsolved Mysteries of the Magical World", looked at the two of them for a while, and exclaimed in surprise: "What a groundbreaking idea! You should go work for my dad's newspaper after graduation. He always wants to If you worry about the content of the newspaper, you will definitely like it.”

Hearing this, Ron puffed up his chest proudly with a reserved smile on his face.

The silly look hurt Ginny's eyes, and she quickly pulled Luna away. Ginny thought it was a mistake to drag her little sister over with her.

Neville kept shaking his head: "Be careful if Professor Sprout finds out and asks you to fertilize the mandrake and coax it to sleep."

The scene of tending to mandrakes came to mind, and Harry and Ron shuddered together.

Harry patted his chest and comforted himself: "I've written it all, so that's it."

Ron nodded in agreement: "That's right, it's impossible to write it again anyway."

The two found courage from each other and mustered up their fighting spirit again: "Next subject!"

Hermione watched the farce from beginning to end, keeping her eyes on Harry. Dumbledore's voice echoed in her mind, "...the power of the mind...the power of magic..."

The little witch was a little dazed, did what Dumbledore said have anything to do with the Harry in front of her... She couldn't see any signs of being powerful anyway.

In a daze, Loren's voice sounded closer and clearer in his ears.

"Hermione, Hermione?" Loren pushed the little witch's shoulder, "Why have you been so distracted these past two days and haven't slept at night?"

"It's okay, it's okay," Hermione replied dryly.

She wanted to directly address the conversation that day and give Loren a good beating, but she also kept reminding herself to keep it a secret.

Hermione struggled repeatedly between the two states of mind. She was so entangled that she couldn't even read the book without feeling at ease. Now she felt flustered when she saw Loren.

"By the way, why do you have the smell of white essence on your body? Where are you injured——"

Before Loren could finish speaking, Hermione's mind suddenly shut down.

Oops! Forgot that Loren’s Potions score was always an O, and that he had a nose that was more sensitive than Fang!

Yesterday I practiced apparation with Professor Flitwick. The white essence was prepared by the professor to prevent separation. I didn't expect that it could still be smelled after a day.

Hermione was so panicked that she couldn't speak clearly: "No separate body, no separate body, just a backup..."

"What clone?"

Facing Loren's suspicious eyes, Hermione wanted to seal her mouth, but fortunately her mind turned quickly: "What split? You heard it wrong, I said Lavender hit the foot of the bed last night , broke her head. We accompanied her to find Madam Pomfrey and used white fresh essence. So the smell will remain on me."

"Really?" Loren's voice was drawn out so long that his disbelief was almost written on his face.

The eyebrows were raised, making Hermione's heart beat wildly. She pressed the man's restless eyebrows and said firmly: "There is nothing suspicious about this."

Pressing her tender fingers on her face, the slight medicinal smell of Bai Xian Essence mixed with the fragrance of detergent on the girl's body. Loren became more confused: "But -"

"There are so many questions, no more questions!"

"oh."

——

The exam for the Animagus teaching class was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and there was also a lesson on the history of magic that afternoon.

It was the first History of Magic class after the holidays, and the second-year wizards were required to hand in their Christmas holiday homework, three three-inch parchment papers.

The students in the classroom handed their homework to Professor Binns' desk one after another. Only Ron sat nervously in his seat, holding his double-spaced paper in his hand and did not dare to hand it in.

Yes, he even restrained himself from using 1.5 times the line spacing for his herbal medicine paper. When it came to Professor Binns, who seemed less sane, he boldly used 2 times the line spacing.

The little wizards of Gryffindor all admired his courage and were eagerly looking forward to the result. If Professor Binns really didn't mind this initiative, the time they spent on their History of Magic homework would be cut in half.

However, daring to write homework like this is a kind of courage, and daring to hand it in in front of the teacher is another kind of courage.

Obviously, Ron lacks this courage now.

Sitting around were Harry, Seamus, Dean and others. They crowded around Ron, constantly encouraging him and giving him courage:

"Come on Ron, hand it over quickly."

"You are making history!"

"If you succeed, your name will be engraved on the Gryffindor mantel forever!"

Time passed slowly, and finally Ron was the only one left who had not turned in his homework. After he stood up tremblingly, infinite courage suddenly emerged in his heart. He strode forward and spread the parchment in front of Professor Binns gracefully, placing it on top of all the homework.

Professor Binns' ghostly expressionless face seemed to be twitching, and his eyes were a little turbulent.

But that was all. Ron felt reassured, breathed a sigh of relief, and sat back down like a hero.

The little wizards around them suppressed their enthusiasm, suppressed their voices, and shouted quietly but excitedly: "Weasley is our king! Weasley is our king!"

Hermione looked at Harry, who was leading the booing, and had only one thought in her mind: Principal Dumbledore, I'm afraid he is trusting someone else.

Loren, who was at the same table, watched the action in front with great interest and enjoyed watching the excitement.

He doesn't have any extra thoughts. No matter which subject he does, he always completes the homework according to the teacher's minimum standards. He doesn't do too much, and he won't be lazy.

Except Potions.

If he performed to the minimum standard, Snape would assume that he was being lazy and would give him extra work elsewhere.

Because of Ron's stimulation, Professor Binns became more lively, but when he started teaching, the classroom returned to the familiar hypnotic atmosphere.

Loren didn't want to attend class, and Hermione didn't allow him to sleep. Out of boredom, he reached out to button the school badge on the sleeve of Hermione's magic robe.

Produced by Madam Malkin's robe store, it is the designated school uniform for Hogwarts, and the quality is very guaranteed. Even if it was picked up and pulled by fingernails, the thread did not break or any threads were exposed.

Hermione looked helpless when she heard the "clicking" sound from time to time.

This was the case with the History of Magic class. She wouldn't let Loren sleep, and Loren would find something to torment him with, and he would justifiably say it was to refresh himself.

In class, she couldn't stand up and slap Loren in front of the professor. After a few compromises, the two reached a tacit understanding.

It's just that Loren is still restless just wearing the school badge, and he also takes the opportunity to talk to her, like now.

Loren poked the school badge with his index finger: "How is your Animagus exam review going? Are you sure?"

Hermione listened carefully to the lecture, did not answer, and pretended not to hear.

Loren poked her arm again: "You went to Professor McGonagall to ask questions that day. What did you ask? Are you giving me a make-up lesson?"

Hermione listened carefully to the lecture, did not answer, and pretended not to hear.

The next second, the finger that poked her arm began to poke her cheek. Her cheeks are soft and glutinous, and her fingernails are pretty.

Hermione hit him in the chest with an elbow: "Listen carefully to the lecture. There are so many questions."

Loren was in pain and finally calmed down.

Five minutes later, the sewn school badge was clicked again...