Harry felt as if his nose had been snapped clean off. Hermione truly was cross this time, giving him quite a wallop right on the bridge of it. He rubbed his aching nose, watching as Hermione marched off towards the dorms, only to return with a small bottle in her hand.
"Stop acting like such a drama queen, I didn't break it," Hermione said, then aimed the bottle at Harry's nose and sprayed a few times.
Whether it was just in his head or not, Harry did feel his nose growing less painful. He asked curiously, "Hermione, that doesn't look like a potion. Are you actually carrying Muggle remedies?"
"My parents practically forced it on me at the start of term. It's called 'Yunnan Baiyao,' from China. I'm not entirely sure if it counts as a potion or not." Hermione answered Harry's question, spraying a few more times for good measure, just to be sure.
"Fancy that," Harry chuckled. "Your parents are British doctors, but they're keen on Chinese products."
"Well, originally they weren't so impressed with things from China," Hermione grumbled, "but ever since they found out I was a witch, they've become utterly fascinated by all these mysterious things from abroad."
"Sounds like they've been fleeced out of quite a bit of Galleons then."
"Oh, they certainly have! We bought so many things that turned out to be fakes. This 'Yunnan Baiyao' is the only one that actually seems to work like a potion, so they bought a few bottles and insisted I keep them on me."
Hermione finally put down the bottle, looking satisfied as Harry's reddened nose returned to its usual shade.
"Hermione, perhaps you should still take him to the Hospital Wing to see Madam Pomfrey?"
A red-haired girl edged closer, speaking to Hermione but constantly glancing at Harry. When she noticed she'd been caught, she quickly averted her gaze.
"I will, Ginny," Hermione replied coolly, then paused and added to Harry, "This is Ginny Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley clan."
"I saw you this morning, actually. Hello there, Fred and George's sister," Harry said, giving Ginny a brief greeting before pulling Hermione away from the common room.
Harry led Hermione to an empty classroom, then unwrapped the package Malfoy had sent. Inside was a black book.
The title was Opening Other People's Minds, and on the cover, there was a wizard pointing his wand at another man's brain, casting a spell. Harry opened the book, and the first page was identical to the cover. Suddenly, the man's brain exploded, and a pained shriek echoed through the classroom. Harry instinctively shielded Hermione.
But Hermione pushed Harry aside, raising her wand and casting several Silencing Charms around them.
"Harry, this book is enchanted! You have to open it the right way, or you won't be able to read what's inside," Hermione panted, a little breathless from her rapid, multi-spell casting.
Harry immediately snapped the book shut. Sure enough, the painful shriek vanished, and the man's brain reappeared on the cover.
"Hermione, we truly owe you one. You saved us from being caught," Harry praised her.
"Oh, it was nothing, really," Hermione said modestly. "I just asked Madam Pince in the library. She told me the books in the Restricted Section often have Screaming Charms on them to stop younger students from sneaking a peek. I just figured books in pure-blood family libraries would be similar." Then, she changed the subject, telling Harry to follow her to the library later.
Harry wasn't entirely against the library; he just couldn't stomach the thought of going every single day. So, he made an excuse about needing to get the Hand of Glory from his dorm and quickly left.
Later that evening, by Hagrid's hut, Draco was already growing impatient. Just before curfew, he finally spotted Harry appearing at the end of the path. Draco immediately noticed the Hand of Glory in Harry's hand and reached for it, but Harry didn't hand it over.
"Potter, I gave you that book!" Draco said, clearly annoyed.
"Malfoy, was that on purpose?"
"?"
The two simply stared at each other for a moment. Harry then realized that Malfoy might not have known the book was enchanted. To test his theory, Harry cautiously asked, "Have you actually read this book?"
"Of course not! My father wouldn't let me read books like that," Draco replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He paused, then added, "Professor Snape also said I'm not old enough to learn from it yet."
Harry insisted Malfoy prove his words were true, or he wouldn't get the Hand of Glory. Draco initially thought Potter was joking, but after a moment, he realized Harry was quite serious.
"Potter! Are you having a laugh?" Draco exclaimed, exasperated. Suddenly, Draco seemed to grasp something. He hesitated, then said, "Does that book... not open?"
"Exactly," Harry said, pulling the book from his robes, ready to demonstrate right there.
Draco quickly stopped Potter's reckless action. He looked at Harry with a sly glint in his eye. "You mean you didn't know that common bit of knowledge? Oh, right, you grew up in the Muggle world, so of course you wouldn't know the common sense of pure-blood families."
If this had been a first-year Malfoy, he wouldn't have used such a roundabout tone. He would have directly said, "You don't have parents, so you wouldn't know." But after so many painful lessons, Draco Malfoy had matured a bit. At the very least, he wouldn't act so brazenly in front of Harry, though Harry was still quite annoyed by Malfoy's tone.
Draco saw Potter pull out his wand and glare at him menacingly. He panicked.
"Potter, calm down!" Malfoy, drawing on his extensive experience, quickly ducked to avoid a Levitation Charm. "Spells that directly attack the mind, like Legilimency, demand an exceptionally high level from the caster. You could say you simply don't have enough magical power to learn it. And I'm still young, which is why my father doesn't let me read that book."
"Of course, you're different. You can hold your own against Professor Snape in a duel—or so it seems to me, anyway—so this charm shouldn't be difficult for you at all. You can't open it because it's protected by a defensive charm. Most of the books in my family use a similar set of defensive charms. I don't know exactly how to open this book, but I have a pretty good idea of the method."
Draco rattled off all of this in one breath, slightly out of puff. Luckily, Potter didn't attack him again.
"Tell me how to open it, and we'll call it even," Harry said after a moment's thought.
"I don't know," Draco said bluntly.
"?"
Seeing Potter raise his wand again, Draco quickly blurted out, "When you open it, whatever part of the cover changes, you cast a Stunner at that spot!"
Harry, half-believing, half-doubting, tried it right then and there. And to his surprise, it worked!
Malfoy eagerly leaned in for a peek, but Harry snapped the book shut with a loud thwack.
"Take your Hand of Glory. This book is mine now."
Malfoy, clutching the Hand of Glory, quickly forgot all about the book. After all, he had plenty of similar books at home.
Back in the common room, Hermione asked if he'd found a way to open the book. Harry lied and said no. Lying on his bed, Harry recalled the "Muddled Brain Charm" he'd seen when he opened the book. He decided not to tell Hermione about the book's contents for now, planning to teach her after he'd mastered Legilimency himself.
(The cover of Opening Other People's Minds is shown below.)