The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

The study room is on the right side of the living room on the first floor. Unlike the highly educated Granger family next door, the study room in Loren's family is empty, with some extracurricular books by Loren and Hermione stored on the solid wood bookshelves.

For example, I bought "Walking with Werewolves", "Curse and Counter-Curse", and "Alchemy: From Beginner to Mastery" when I first went to Flourish and Blott Bookstore... I also bought some from the Room of Requirement, such as Miranda Gorshak's Once upon a Time Used textbooks.

There is no messy magic in these books, and they do not make strange sounds. Even if ordinary people read them, they would only think that they are fantasy novels published by unknown publishers, and they can be placed at home with confidence.

The desk originally placed in the center of the room was moved to the corner, and a projection screen covered with a red curtain hung on the wall.

On the wall opposite the projection screen is what Grandpa Bates calls a projector. It is actually a set of home theater equipment. The host is a CRT analog projector that is almost as big as a TV. It is a square projector. The box has three large CRT tubes, red, green, and blue, protruding from the front, like the muzzles of small-caliber cannons.

From Loren's aesthetic point of view, this projector is too contemporary, with a rough and unrefined shape, but he also knows that such a machine is worth a lot of money in this day and age.

"Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Groundhog Day, Schindler's List..."

Loren crouched in front of the cabinet and muttered, lowered his head to rummage in the drawer, and looked back at Hermione who was nestled in the single sofa, "Which movie do you want to watch?"

Two single-seat sofas were placed side by side. The seat on the left was empty, and a girl with disheveled hair sat on the seat on the right. With the help of the dim light, Hermione raised her eyes and glanced at him.

The boy has entered a period of rapid growth, and is slightly taller than her. His waist and legs are well proportioned. He is a sight to behold when he squats there, which is a bit eye-catching. But now is not the time to think about that...

Hermione silently guessed Loren's progress in learning human transfiguration, and estimated when he would be able to turn others into cats.

"I wonder if he will attack me..." Hermione thought in her heart.

"Asking you, which movie do you want to watch?" Loren asked again.

Today should really just be a movie.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and replied casually: "I can do either, you choose..."

"Then Groundhog Day." Loren took out a thick box of video tapes from the drawer.

"Wait..." A trace of confusion flashed across Hermione's face, "I heard my parents talk about this movie. It's good, but it seems too serious. Our vacation is about to end, so let's watch something lighthearted. "

"That makes sense..." Loren rummaged for a while and took out a video tape again, "What about Jurassic Park?"

"My parents went to see it when it was released. My dad said the special effects were very good, almost like magic..."

"Then this one?"

"But we are wizards. Wouldn't it be boring to watch this?"

"..."

There was something strangely familiar about this question-and-answer method. Loren realized that he couldn't get an answer even after dark. He silently took out the video tape of "Home Alone" from the drawer, stopped asking questions, and walked to the projector to operate it. stand up.

The VSH video tape was a bit too old for Loren, and the operation was a bit laggy, and the video did not come out for a while.

Hermione stood up and moved her head to help. Her untied long fluffy hair instantly obscured Loren's sight. Instead, she was more familiar with this kind of video tape. When she took it out and adjusted it, she saw the image and name on the cover page of the video tape shell:

"It looks like a Christmas movie. Isn't it too late for us to watch it now? How about we change it to another one and save this one for next year?"

"..."

Loren reached out to push her hair to the side and looked at Hermione expressionlessly: "Did you do this on purpose?"

"What's intentional?" Hermione blinked and felt itchy in her palms. If she hadn't been holding the video tape with both hands, she would have reached out and touched Loren's head.

"Put away your offensive thoughts!" Loren noticed her restless gaze and glared at her warily, "I feel that you have been a little too brave recently!"

"No, no..." Hermione said, subconsciously rubbing the side of the video tape with her palms. It was cold, somewhat similar to the touch of a cat's tail.

She had to admit that since Loren turned into a cat that day, some of Hermione's past inherent perceptions seemed to be shattered, and she felt that many strange thoughts would pop up in her mind from time to time.

Loren said quietly: "Although I haven't fully mastered human transformation yet, if you want to try it, I can cooperate."

"No, let's watch a movie." Hermione instantly became well-behaved.

Home Alone tells a happy comedy story. While the family was busy going out to celebrate the Christmas vacation, they left the youngest member of the family, 8-year-old Kevin, at home. Mom and dad came to their senses and were extremely anxious, but it would take time to get back... Two thieves who had just been released from prison targeted their home. The film revolves around little Kevin outsmarting the thieves, and is full of jokes...

Loren had watched it a long time ago. Although the plot has no depth and no twists and turns, the classic comedy can still catch people's attention and make people laugh with its solid basic skills.

Loren watched it with gusto. He held the dried sweet potatoes he made in his hand and ate every bite.

The light from the movie made the whole room half-dark. Hermione calmly turned her head and looked at Loren next to her. He was eating a sweet snack in his mouth and staring intently at the screen with his bright eyes.

Hermione was reminded of the white long-haired lion cat inexplicably.

The movie was getting to the exciting part, and Loren next to her had already finished eating the dried sweet potatoes. I didn't do much at first, I just had something fresh to eat, so I put the plate aside and threw the paper towel I wiped my hands into directly on the plate.

Loren sat on the sofa and arched his head, resting his hands on the armrests of the single sofa, changed into a comfortable position, and then concentrated on watching the movie.

Hermione's eyes followed his hand to the armrest of the sofa. After thinking for a moment, Hermione leaned over and whispered: "You still have icing on your hands."

"Yeah?"

Loren looked intently and reached for the tissue without looking back.

"Let me wipe it for you." Hermione said, pulling a tissue and wrapping it around Loren's left hand.

The icing took little effort and came off quickly, but Hermione thought she should check it carefully.

If tiny sugar crystal particles fall into the projector, the expensive machine may be damaged. No one knows whether the repair spell can repair such a thing.

Hermione thought so, grabbed his hand and placed it on the armrest of the sofa, pinching the flesh on the back of his hand. Hermione raised her head and glanced at his expression——

Well, no response.

So Hermione immersed herself in mind and body and examined it intently.

Hermione pressed her palm against his, making sure that his hand was slightly larger than hers. You can feel the fine bones under the skin with the back of your hand. The veins are more protruding than yourself and are very elastic when pressed. Although I often do housework, my fingertips do not have hard calluses and have a warm and moist feeling.

The movie had just finished a small peak plot and entered a dull period. Loren finally felt something strange in his hand. He looked down and saw Hermione playing with his left hand intently, her eyes shining, like Crookshanks seeing a novel little toy. .

"..."

In the past, I used to play with her hands, but now I can switch between offense and defense!

Although there was a secret joy in his heart, Loren told himself not to be fooled. The majesty he once had had been completely lost in Hermione's eyes, and she now regarded him as a cat toy in human skin.

Hermione must be turned into a cat as soon as possible and played with for a whole day to let her know who is the boss.

…

In the library of the Book of Fantasy.

Loren kept circling around Flamel's simulated body. After repeatedly confirming the transformation target in his mind, he shook his wand.

A white light band floated from the tip of the staff, slowly wrapping around Flamel's body. The weak white light penetrated in, and the outline of the humanoid body showed twisted ripples. After a few seconds, Flamel's whole body turned inward. Contraction, but the limbs gradually expand.

Eventually it turned into a hairy, muscular chimpanzee.

Flamel raised his arm and looked around. He seemed to find it interesting. He squeaked a few times and imitated the gorilla's voice.

"I didn't expect that the anatomy knowledge I learned before would come in handy..." Loren tried hard to hold back his laughter. He could tell that Flamel was trying to sing high notes with a gorilla voice.

After a pause, he continued: "The body structure of chimpanzees is very similar to that of humans. Once I get more familiar with the body structure of cats, I can try to turn humans into cats."

Flamel broke the transformation spell and returned to the human form from the orangutan appearance. He reminded aloud: "If you are just having fun with your friends, remember to cancel the transformation in time... After all, the transformation spell is different from the Animagus. People's reason is long." When time stays in an animal's body, unexpected changes may occur."

In the early days of the Animagus teaching class, Professor McGonagall emphasized the problem of the conflict between human reason and animal nature: the witch Mirabella turned into a cod and failed to break the spell in time, so she actually transformed into Loch Lomond. A common cod. And the seven hedgehog sons of the dark wizard Thaddeus Thalkel...

"Speaking of this..." Loren thought slowly and said, "When I transformed, I didn't seem to have to worry about my sanity. I thought with human cognition that whole day."

"Probably the magic power in your body is at work..." Flamel guessed, "The Animagus uses the power of astrology and secret medicine to control the animal nature. Starlight shines on the world all the time. As long as it succeeds, it can always maintain its animal form. …

"Although your transformation has a time limit, you can transform into more animals. Both methods have their own pros and cons. When you have a deeper understanding of transformation in the future, you may be able to dismantle your transformation method into magic The ritual spreads like an Animagus..."

Loren nodded thoughtfully. It was indeed a great idea, but there were more important things to do now.

"Flamel, help me find a book on cat anatomy... I want the Munchkin cat."

"..."

…

Morning.

Loren got up first to wash up, and after breakfast, he raided Hermione's bedroom.

Hermione had already gotten up when he teleported and seemed to have even eaten breakfast. She was sitting at the desk holding a thick tome and reading carefully, with her head slightly lowered and her thin lips pressed together. , his expression was quiet and a little serious.

The small bespectacled owl on the desk is enjoying nuts, and there is a small cloth bag next to it. It seems that this tome was delivered not long ago.

Loren walked over, put his hands on Hermione's chair, looked over her at the content of the book, and read the title in a low voice: "House Elf Case Record?"

"I asked the manager of Livestock Bookstore to help me find an out-of-print book..." Hermione explained. "It contains detailed records of all the cases involving house elves that have been tried by the Ministry of Magic from the beginning of the 19th century to the present."

She raised her head and looked at Loren, her tone indescribable sadness: "You know, Loren, as long as they go to the Inquisition, all house elves will be found guilty and will be imprisoned in Azkaban."

"But even so, the house elves imprisoned in Azkaban are lucky, because more house elves were executed by their masters before being sent to the Inquisition."

Loren didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only stroke her hair gently.

The out-of-print book is a bit shabby, and the paper has turned yellow due to decay. However, the girl's bedroom is filled with a faint fragrance, like some kind of blooming flower. If you take a gentle breath, you will find blooming decay.

After a long time, Hermione suddenly closed the book: "Loren, I want to watch a movie."

"Um?"

…

In the study.

The light and shadow on the projection screen change, the movie ends, and the staff table begins to float.

【Oscar Schindler-Liam Neeson】

【Itzhak Stine-Ben Kingsley】

【……】

The movie "Schindler's List" tells the story of a German in Poland who hired more than 1,100 Jews to work in his factory during World War II, helping them escape the massacre.

Loren looked sideways and saw Hermione curled up on the sofa, her red eyes filled with water.

He thought to himself, "Oh no," he knew Hermione would feel uncomfortable after watching this movie.

"They are the same as house elves, right...No, house elves are not as good as them, they are born slaves..." Hermione whispered with a timid cry, "I think of Hao Qi..."

Loren sighed lightly and did not answer her words, but talked about the movie: "The prototype character of Schindler lived a miserable life in his later years, and few of the people he helped were grateful to him... If his If the factory was still there, he would probably have a happy ending."

"Historians have many conjectures about how house elves were domesticated by wizards, one of which is the theory of war."

"Thousands of years ago, when house elves didn't even have the word domestic in their names, they had wars with humans... In fact, centaurs, merfolk, acromancers, and even unicorns all once fought against wizards. There were wars, and the goblins launched the famous goblin rebellion, but the ancient wizards did not use such vicious blood magic to enslave these races."

"Maybe the scholars' guess is right. House elves once launched a massacre of weak little wizards. In order to punish other races, house elves were enslaved for generations."

"But..." Hermione shrank deeper into the sofa and curled up into a smaller ball. Although this know-it-all girl had read many books, she was only in third grade when faced with such a grand problem. Still a little confused.

She could only tell what she was sure of: "But that was a mistake committed by their ancestors who didn't know how many years ago, and it should not be repaid by the current elves."

"The theory of original sin is wrong, Loren. Just like pure-bloods discriminate against Muggles and half-blood wizards, no one should be discriminated against and enslaved from birth..." Hermione's voice slowed down, but her tone became more firm. , "I don't want to see something like Hao Qi happen again."

"What if this leads to a more serious disaster..." Loren walked to sit next to her and rubbed the girl's head, "What if the house elves start a war again after they are freed and attack with their unique magic?" What should we do if the little wizard attacks weak humans and imposes more cruel slavery on humans?"

Who would have expected that the race that claims to be God’s chosen people would launch a war in the 21st century and even massacre the old, weak, women and children without any scruples.

"As Principal Dumbledore said, many people have tried to make the world a better place in their own way, but they often drag the world in a worse direction."

"..."