Hermione's brown eyes sparkled with confidence as Glenn slowly turned his head, his dark gaze meeting hers from beneath silken black hair.
Then Glenn reached out with his right hand, gently lifting Hermione's chin with his index finger while his thumb brushed across her lips...
He wiped away the trace of milk lingering there.
"Mm, very impressive indeed."
Glenn turned back and began to applaud.
Hermione had deliberately kept her voice low, but Glenn's clapping rang out clearly in the sparsely populated Great Hall, drawing curious glances from several early-rising young witches and wizards who'd come for breakfast.
Hermione's smile froze. Her face turned bright red—whether from embarrassment or mortification was unclear—and she quickly leaned forward to grab Glenn's clapping hands.
"Ahhh, stop it, stop it!"
The girl bumped into Glenn's side.
"Ow."
After a brief bout of playful tussling, Hermione sat up straight, her cheeks still flushed. She smoothed her hair, which had gotten mussed during their antics, tugged at the wrinkles in her robes, and decided to focus on breakfast.
Then she produced two sheets of parchment and placed them between herself and Glenn, sharing their contents.
"Here, look at our timetables. I ran into Professor McGonagall when I got back to the dormitory last night—she gave me mine early and brought yours along too."
Glenn extended his magical senses over the parchment, scanning the contents.
"Nine periods today. First up is Arithmancy and Muggle Studies. Are you planning to—"
"Of course I'm going to Arithmancy with you and letting the alchemical puppet attend Muggle Studies! Do you even need to ask?"
Hermione nibbled her bread in tiny bites, looking remarkably like some adorable small creature.
Glenn nodded and leaned closer to continue examining Hermione's schedule.
Compared to his own timetable, Hermione only had today's Muggle Studies as an additional class—everything else was identical.
It seemed that even with four electives, Hermione should be able to manage. After all, except for Care of Magical Creatures, each elective only met once per week.
"Finished reading."
Glenn straightened and extended his left hand.
"While there still aren't many people around, Hermione, go ahead and connect with the alchemical puppet."
"Right! Want me to provide some cover?"
Hermione chewed and swallowed her food, then glanced around discretely before whispering her question.
"No need."
A flash of black light—and seemingly nothing happened.
"All set. Go ahead."
So fast!
He'd already retrieved the puppet and cast the Disillusionment Charm?
Hermione raised an eyebrow. She hadn't caught even a glimpse of the alchemical puppet materializing.
Glenn had become so much more skilled.
Right! I need to keep working harder too!
Hermione reached out her left hand and felt the familiar soft, fluffy texture.
It was her own hair.
To achieve maximum realism, Glenn had used a combination of magic and scientific techniques to replicate and enhance Hermione's signature locks, grafting her actual hair into the alchemical puppet.
With a mental command, Hermione easily connected to the puppet, and suddenly her consciousness split between two sets of visual and auditory input.
This was nothing new for Hermione—she'd long since practiced and adapted to this dual perspective.
She controlled the puppet to turn toward Glenn, and his image from this different angle appeared in her mind.
"Hehe~"
"What's got you suddenly looking so pleased?"
"Because I'm seeing you from a different angle! Glenn, I could look at you forever and never get tired of it."
"You're so handsome~"
"Thank you for the compliment."
Glenn nodded in acknowledgment, though he didn't dwell on it much.
Well, not that he was entirely indifferent—being praised by Hermione did give him a rare little spark of happiness.
"Mm, now my second self can keep watching you while I focus on eating properly."
Hermione was delighted by this arrangement. She could enjoy her breakfast elegantly while simultaneously watching Glenn eat—a pleasure few could imagine.
Even the milk tasted sweeter. Her boyfriend was just so handsome—he made everything better~
Breakfast passed quickly. The pair wiped their mouths with napkins, stood up, and prepared to head to the Arithmancy classroom.
The two of them—no, more precisely, the three of them—climbed the stairs together.
Upon reaching the second floor, Hermione began directing her other self toward the Muggle Studies classroom.
"Just as we discussed," Glenn whispered in Hermione's ear, his warm breath brushing against her sensitive skin.
The unexpected sensation made the completely unprepared girl's neck contract reflexively, her mind scatter, and she nearly lost control of the invisible puppet, almost causing it to stumble into a passing young wizard.
"I know! Stop distracting me!" Hermione cried in flustered annoyance, pinching Glenn's cheek and pushing him away while hurrying to stabilize the puppet's balance and movement, narrowly avoiding disaster.
"Alright, alright," Glenn replied, his face remaining squished in Hermione's grip, his voice muffled by the facial distortion.
Fortunately, it was still early and their antics went unnoticed—otherwise, who knows what might have happened to Hermione and her controlled puppet.
The alchemical puppet navigated the long corridor, weaving around various young wizards, and finally appeared undetected in the Muggle Studies classroom.
As expected for an elective course, the classroom was predictably empty.
Hermione applied a bit more pressure, giving Glenn's cheek another gentle squeeze.
Glenn obediently lifted the Disillusionment Charm from the puppet.
"Hermione" materialized in the Muggle Studies classroom, walked calmly to the center seat of the front row, smoothed her robes, and sat down gracefully. She began retrieving textbooks and writing materials from her long-absent but recently upgraded magically expanded pouch.
"All set over there... Oh, we've arrived too?"
Hermione pulled back some of her attention to speak to Glenn, releasing his face. Looking up, she realized they'd reached the Arithmancy classroom.
"Yes, let's go in."
Glenn escaped Hermione's grasp, his speech returning to normal.
Naturally, their seats here were also in the front row center, closest to the podium.
Hermione took out both their books and placed them on the desk, extending a reading invitation to Glenn.
"Well then, let's do some proper revision—though we've already read through the first few chapters."
"You go ahead. I need to finish some work I didn't complete last night."
Glenn declined the reading invitation and rose from his seat.
"Oh? That's fine—finish it early so you can get to bed earlier tonight."
"Go on, go on~"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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