"Are you saying Malfoy is up to something again?" Ron asked, taking a sip of his grapefruit juice.
On the last day before school started, Harry finally met up with his two best friends, Ron and Hermione. Hermione was tanned, and Ron looked well, wearing new clothes.
Harry then remembered that Ron's family had won the seven hundred galleon grand prize in the "Daily Prophet," otherwise, he might still be wearing his older brother's old clothes. Ron's family was often strapped for cash due to their own integrity, and it was common for the younger brother to wear the older brother's hand-me-down robes.
Harry was a little distracted, wondering if seven hundred galleons could buy him the Firebolt. These days, his interest was all on that newest flying broom.
Afterward, they exchanged news about their holidays. Ron talked about his visit to Egypt, where he saw many pyramids filled with countless spells, even though he had already mentioned this in his letters, he didn't mind repeating it. He was happy to share his pleasant experiences with his friends.
"And of course, there's the wand." Ron took a long, thin box from his bag, and a wand lay quietly inside.
"Fourteen inches, willow, with a unicorn tail hair."
"I think it will suit you very well," Harry said sincerely.
"Hopefully, you'll use your new wand to do fewer things that break school rules," Hermione poured cold water on Ron.
"Can't you say something nice?" Ron was a little annoyed.
"I'm sorry, I can't," Hermione said seriously, then, without touching her cold drink, she turned to Harry and said, "Harry, I heard you blew up your aunt and sent her flying into the sky? How could you be so reckless? What if you get expelled? Are you really going to wander around on a public bus like you did before?" Hermione's series of questions was blocked by Harry's words.
"She insulted my parents," Harry clenched his fist, veins bulging. He, who had been peacefully enjoying the last of his holiday, became agitated again.
Hermione was momentarily speechless. Even though her parents were alive, she certainly wouldn't tolerate anyone slandering her parents, let alone Harry, whose background made him even less able to endure the vicious slander of these annoying relatives.
"Well, you could have chosen a different way," Hermione's voice was a little softer, not as harsh as before.
"Maybe," Harry drained the drink in his glass. Aunt Petunia's insulting words at the dinner table still made his blood rush, even now. If he had to choose again, even if he was expelled, even if he might regret it in the future, he would still blow her up.
"Actually, the result isn't bad, is it? I even ran away from their house early and stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for more than ten days," Harry smiled, comforting Hermione. He knew that the girl in front of him was actually saying this for his sake. Behind the direct words was the concern of a friend. Her and Ron's friendship with him was the most cherished relationship he had now.
"It's just that I probably won't be able to go to Hogsmeade," Harry's eyes dimmed. "They didn't sign the permission slip for me," he said with some frustration. What he didn't notice was that Hermione's face also changed slightly when she heard Hogsmeade, then quickly returned to calm, like a tranquil lake that had never been disturbed.
They chatted for a while, discussing their new textbooks and new courses. The style of "The Monster Book of Monsters" reminded them of Hagrid.
"I really don't know how Divination class will be taught," Hermione said gloomily, resting her chin on her hand. She was looking forward to the newly opened Ancient Runes and Arithmancy classes, but the Divination textbook, "Unfogging the Future," really didn't inspire her. It was full of vague words teaching her to predict the future based on the shapes of tea leaves. Even wizards need gestures and syllables when casting spells.
These are basic rules, but this class seemed to be completely ineffective. The best gift that more than ten years of Muggle society had given her—logic—was also difficult to use.
"And I feel like I won't have enough time," Hermione frowned even more, as if she had thought of something.
"School hasn't even started yet, our Hermione Granger," Ron looked at her and said somewhat sarcastically. The carefree him didn't care about his grades, as long as he didn't fail.
"You'll regret it later," Hermione glanced at him, left these words, and fell silent.
Exam
Harry noticed that the atmosphere was a little off, so he wanted to find a topic to ease the awkward atmosphere, but he racked his brains and couldn't find any interesting topic.
His holiday was really not interesting, annoying relatives, discriminatory treatment, even if he ran to Diagon Alley, he was just confined here. Ron and Hermione must have seen the things he had seen. Ron would definitely be interested in the Firebolt, but Hermione definitely wouldn't be able to get a word in.
Then let's set up a target.
Harry thought of his less than pleasant encounter with Malfoy that day. He thought this might be the only way to ease the atmosphere at the moment.
So he spoke.
When the name Malfoy was mentioned, Hermione didn't seem to react much, only she knew that her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
Harry didn't bother to add fuel to the fire with any suggestive words. He tried his best to objectively describe the events, and then Ron asked that question.
"Just using a fake name, I don't think that's a big deal," Ron didn't find fault with Malfoy this time. "I think he must have suffered enough last time," he said cheerfully.
"But that girl, you said she looked older than us, is she very pretty?" Ron asked expectantly.
"Yeah," Harry nodded embarrassedly. He just glanced over from a distance and felt like his soul was about to be taken away. To cover up his embarrassment, he was too embarrassed to keep staring at her, but that fleeting glance had left a deep impression in his mind.
"She seems to have a strange charm," Harry thought, but even if that beautiful girl's charm was amazingly great, Harry felt that she was still not his type. Her beauty was too enthusiastic and unrestrained, making people afraid to approach.
"Maybe Malfoy is more suitable for her," Harry actually thought so strangely.
"That's a pity, you should have exposed him in person," Ron said with some regret.
"I wanted to hear what he was planning, but in the end, that girl seemed to suddenly leave, I didn't have a chance," Harry spread his hands, expressing his helplessness.
Suddenly, the two of them fell silent at the same time, because Harry and Ron realized that from beginning to now, Hermione hadn't said a word, as if she was being excluded.
It must be difficult for another girl to get a word in when boys are discussing their opinions of a girl's appearance.
However, Hermione's silence was not only because of this. She heard the name that made her unable to stay calm.
Since she asked Professor Flitwick for advice, she had secretly resolved to find her lost memories. Since the wizard's methods were ineffective, she would choose Muggle methods to try to solve it.
She couldn't tell her loving parents that she might have been hit with a "Memory Charm."
So she began to use her strengths, which was the rapid mastery of knowledge.
So, in addition to previewing future subjects during the holidays, her shopping list also included several works by Muggle psychologists.
Unfortunately, those tutorials were a bit difficult even for many college students who had enough experience, let alone a naive adolescent girl.
No matter how high the IQ is, you can't forcibly bring the lack of experience to the same level.
Psychology is also a kind of sociology in a sense, so perhaps Hermione's only gain in psychology during this holiday was a few terms that she seemed to understand.
As for expectations such as hypnotizing herself to evoke the deepest memories in her mind, it can only be said that they were in vain.
Even in a daze, Hermione didn't just let their conversation go in one ear and out the other, but she wasn't interested and only felt a tightness in her chest. Not knowing what emotion she was feeling, she wanted them to stop the current topic, and then said, "I think two educated men wouldn't comment on a woman's appearance behind her back." After saying that, she picked up her things and prepared to leave.
Harry was about to apologize to her when Ron stopped him.
"Let her go, she always makes things too serious and spoils the fun." Looking at Hermione's back as she stepped out the door, Ron said with some indignation, not wanting to keep her at all.
Seeing this, Harry didn't say anything more. He also felt that Hermione seemed like a powder keg today, ready to explode at any moment.
"Then let her calm down by herself first," Harry shrugged helplessly.
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