"Say, Glenn, why don't we ask Professor Dumbledore if we can just take this semester's final exams early?"
On their way to the library for studying, Hermione suddenly made a suggestion that caught Glenn completely off guard.
"We could, I suppose. Dumbledore probably wouldn't mind, but why do you say that?"
The beast-seeking expedition was scheduled to begin in early February and would last two months. The two of them could actually return to Hogwarts by April... if the operation went smoothly.
Hogwarts' final exams were in June, still two months away. After participating in the expedition and returning, they'd have plenty of time to continue reviewing for the exams.
"What I'm thinking is, after we finish the beast-seeking expedition, we could just stay in the Dragon Kingdom and study with the Dragon Kingdom's young sorcerers for a while, then return to Britain during summer vacation—after all, the material we'd be studying when we get back would be stuff we've already mastered anyway. Rather than that, we might as well stay at the Dragon Kingdom's magical academy and learn something fresh."
Hermione waved her index finger in front of Glenn, analyzing everything logically and persuasively, but Glenn knew Hermione too well. The way she was looking at him now clearly lacked conviction.
However, Glenn actually thought Hermione's suggestion was quite good. He was rather interested in it himself. After thinking it over, he expressed his agreement.
"Indeed, but you're still thinking about something else right now."
Of course, Glenn didn't forget to voice his confusion.
"...Oh, you caught me. Actually, I just don't want to face the reality that we won't win the House Cup again this semester. Having to watch your Slytherin House claim the House Cup once more, with that Draco fellow putting on his arrogant, nose-in-the-air act and mocking us relentlessly—that's just pure torture!"
"Rather than that, it's better to be out of sight, out of mind, and peacefully study new knowledge at the Dragon Kingdom's magical academy."
Hermione spread her hands with a saintly expression of complete detachment, not showing the slightest emotional fluctuation on her face.
Honestly, Hermione didn't believe that without her efforts and point-earning for two months, Gryffindor House's score could possibly keep pace with Slytherin House, let alone slightly surpass Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Houses.
As the top point-earner for Gryffindor House, our Miss Granger had both the confidence and ability to make such boastful yet truthful statements.
Having often secretly organized tutoring sessions beyond study groups for the little lions in Gryffindor's common room, Hermione knew all too well these little lions' academic abilities and attitudes.
Although Gryffindor House's study atmosphere had vastly improved under Hermione's leadership compared to before, at the same time, the study attitudes of young wizards in other houses were also changing!
Hermione considered herself not selfish or shameless enough to skimp on study sessions or even sabotage other houses' wizards' learning just so her own house could win in house points. So she was well aware of the average academic level of young wizards in the other three houses.
Unfortunately, the most mischievous little lions had the lowest average academic level among the four houses.
That was definitely hopeless, unless several little lions could perform great deeds and have Professor Dumbledore directly award them a hundred or two hundred points—then there might be some hope of victory.
But Hogwarts should be relatively peaceful lately, right? Now that potential threats both inside and outside the castle had been completely resolved by the combined efforts of Glenn, Hermione, and Snape, where would great deeds come from for the little lions to claim? It wasn't like good fortune would fall from the sky.
Incidentally, because Glenn and Hermione had contributed significantly to capturing Peter Pettigrew and helping Sirius Black clear his name, and since these two were unwilling to step into the spotlight to receive rewards, Dumbledore could only quietly award Slytherin and Gryffindor Houses a symbolic hundred points each, to make up for the points Hermione had missed during the period when she couldn't speak normally.
But that hadn't been much use. Now Slytherin House's score was far in the lead, with Ravenclaw House close behind, while Gryffindor House was still struggling to compete with the now-fierce Hufflepuff House for third place.
Gryffindor's situation could be described as dire.
At this crucial final moment, the beast-seeking expedition originally scheduled for summer vacation had been moved up. Hermione chose to give up entirely and began deceiving herself.
If not for Hermione's relatively firm and mature disposition, plus the power of the Saint within her to calm her inner turmoil, the young girl might have completely lost it and started cursing.
Thinking of this, Hermione couldn't help but become agitated again over this vexing matter. Feeling unpleasant, she immediately drew upon the Saint's power to soothe her emotions and calm herself down.
Seeing Hermione's body begin to periodically emit wisps of white light, Glenn wisely chose not to delve deeper into this topic.
"I have no objections to taking final exams early, and I also agree with what you said. Since we've decided this, let's go back and ask Dumbledore about it. Besides, we should probably give the other professors advance notice too."
"Phew... Yes, that's right, but let's leave this matter for tonight or simply tomorrow. Although the sooner we tell Professor Dumbledore our thoughts, the more likely he is to agree, but..."
Hermione, having forcibly calmed her emotions, looked up. She and Glenn had unknowingly walked to the front of the library, with only seven or eight steps remaining before they could enter.
"...We're already at the library. Going back to the headmaster's office now would really be a waste of time, so let's study first."
With that, Hermione took the lead in walking toward the nearby library, leaving Glenn behind her.
Glenn gazed at Hermione's retreating figure. The young girl was swinging her arms quite high, her pace had quickened considerably, and her blood was clearly flowing faster than in her normal state.
Magic could soothe a person's agitated emotions and help them calm down, but that person's physiological functions and external emotional expressions couldn't return to normal so quickly.
Glenn shrugged and followed in Hermione's footsteps.
"Hermione is definitely still angry."
That was his conclusion.
However, Glenn didn't dare voice such a conclusion, or he'd get bullied by Hermione again.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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