Armed with Lockhart's signed permission slip, Harry brazenly borrowed The Secrets Within the Mind from the Restricted Section. Madam Pince, at this point, was practically certain that Harry was the one who'd snuck into the Restricted Section last time.
"Potter, Granger, don't let other students see this book. I can't imagine why Professor Lockhart agreed to this." Even though she wanted to give them detention right then and there, Madam Pince dutifully warned them.
Seeing that Madam Pince wasn't going to pursue the previous incident, Hermione felt a pang of guilt and wanted to apologize, but Harry forcefully dragged her away. "Hermione, if you apologize, I'll end up in detention," Harry said once they were out of the library.
"And you'd deserve it, too. We did break school rules, after all."
Harry remained noncommittal as Hermione lectured him. They quickly found an empty classroom. Ignoring Hermione, who was clearly having an internal debate, Harry eagerly began reading The Secrets Within the Mind.
By the time Hermione came out of her mental musings, Harry had been reading for quite a while. Not wanting to disturb him, Hermione quietly pulled out her textbooks and started reviewing. She trusted Harry's magical talent and was confident he'd tell her everything in the end. Time flew by, and soon it was evening.
"Phew, so that's it," Harry breathed out.
Hearing him, Hermione stretched her neck, looked up, and asked Harry what he'd learned. Harry didn't rush to answer, stretching first.
"What Opening Other People's Minds says isn't wrong. To practice Legilimency, you do need to understand the brain, and practicing the Muddle-Headed Charm is indeed a good way to start." Harry paused, then continued, "But The Secrets Within the Mind proposes a different idea: that Legilimency is about reading memories, not controlling the brain. Simply put, we don't need to understand the entire brain; we can start practicing directly from where memories are stored."
Hermione, being Muggle-born, understood exactly what Harry meant. "You mean, go straight for the hippocampus, and not worry about the whole brain?" Seeing Harry's confused expression, Hermione explained that ever since she learned Harry wanted to study Legilimency, she'd asked her parents to buy some medical books. "The hippocampus is where memories are stored in the brain; that's what our doctors have found." Hermione emphasized "our."
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Harry nodded thoughtfully. It seemed Muggle doctors also conducted research on the brain. Perhaps combining both approaches would be the key to practicing Legilimency. He shared his idea with Hermione, wanting her opinion. To his surprise, Hermione seemed exceptionally excited.
"I knew it! That's right, Muggles – no, ordinary people – have valuable insights too! They're not backward and ignorant like the pure-blood wizards claim!" Hermione exclaimed, agitated. "If this is true, we could totally publish a paper! Show those pure-blood wizards a thing or two!"
Harry tried to calm Hermione down, explaining that such a paper would never pass the Ministry of Magic's review. Getting those pure-blood families to admit Muggles had any merits would be harder than pulling teeth from a Niffler. (Many pure-blood wizards held positions in the Ministry. On one hand, they looked down on Muggles, but on the other, they enjoyed comfortable Muggle cars.)
But Hermione had already grabbed The Secrets Within the Mind and was engrossed in reading it. Harry raised an eyebrow. It seemed Hermione was still very concerned about the relationship between ordinary people and wizards. After all, Hermione was born and raised in London; the Muggle world was her home. And the wizards at Hogwarts had, since the start of term, subtly shown disdain for Muggles. Most Muggle-born witches and wizards, eager to integrate into the magical world, often publicly agreed. The remaining few avoided the topic entirely, as if discrimination didn't exist.
(It only took a few days for many Muggle-born witches and wizards to switch their catchphrase from "My God" to "Merlin's beard," a sign of their eagerness to blend into the wizarding world. But when they went home for the holidays and saw their parents saying "My God," one wonders how they felt.)
Harry, however, didn't have so many thoughts. He didn't care about learning magic the Muggle way, as long as he could master Legilimency.
"Grrrrumble~" Harry's stomach rumbled, and only then did he realize it was time for dinner.
"Come on, Hermione, let's go eat dinner first. Even if we wanted to practice Legilimency, we're not in any state to start right now," Harry told Hermione.
"Mmhmm, okay. You go ahead, I'll just finish this..." Hermione said distractedly.
Harry didn't say anything more. He simply snatched the book, making Hermione yelp. "Hey! What was that for?!"
"Time to eat!" Harry was unusually firm with Hermione.
Harry figured Hermione was holding a grudge and wanted to prove to wizards that ordinary people had their strengths. He understood, but he wouldn't let Hermione neglect her meals and sleep for it. After all, you couldn't expect an orphan to feel a sense of belonging to the Muggle world.
"You'll have plenty of time to read after dinner," Harry coaxed.
Finally, Hermione reluctantly watched Harry put the book away and followed him to the Great Hall. During dinner, Hermione suddenly looked at Harry. Harry thought she wanted the pork and kidney pie on his plate, so he offered it to her. Unexpectedly, Hermione shook her head, refusing it. Then she said something out of the blue.
"Harry, will you help me?"
Seeing Harry's silence, Hermione's eager eyes gradually dimmed.
"It's alright, Harry," Hermione said softly.
Looking at Hermione, who had lowered her head, Harry's heart softened. While he didn't care about the conflict between pure-blood and Muggle-born wizards, or the relationship between the wizarding and Muggle worlds, Hermione was his best friend.
"I'll always stand with you," Harry promised.
Hermione looked up, not with sadness but with a sly smile. Harry then realized he'd been tricked. But before he could get angry, Hermione hugged him.
"I knew you'd help me~"
Her breath tickled his ear, and Harry suddenly thought that the wizarding world really did need to change.
Late at night, in a certain corridor, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater were on patrol. (Penelope Clearwater was the Ravenclaw prefect and Percy's girlfriend. At the end of Chamber of Secrets, Ginny mentioned seeing them kissing.)
Suddenly, Percy stopped in front of an empty classroom. Penelope looked at him, puzzled. Inside the empty classroom, Harry and Hermione were hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak. On the floor nearby lay a fresh brain and several stunned frogs. Tonight, Harry had brought Hermione to an empty classroom used by older students for secret magic practice, ready to begin their Legilimency training.