It wasn't until Glenn pulled his dagger from the now-motionless Monster Book of Monsters that Hagrid finally snapped back to reality. Seeing Hermione smiling as she handed her Monster Book to Glenn, he quickly spoke up.
"Ah, ahahaha, this book really is quite special, isn't it? But don't worry, I won't let these little darlings bite any of you!"
Hagrid said this while forcing himself to ignore Glenn's actions, giving a meaningful look to Draco, whose gaze had become somewhat vacant. Draco received the signal, refocused his attention, nodded at Hagrid, and raised his hand.
"Oh! Looks like someone has already done advance preparation on this material—what a delightful surprise!"
"Well then, let Draco demonstrate the correct way to open the Monster Book for everyone!"
The young Malfoy lifted his chin, cleared his throat lightly, and stepped forward holding his Monster Book of Monsters, which was bound with exquisite rope and struggling constantly. He looked quite pleased with himself, as if the dumbstruck fellow from moments before hadn't been him at all.
"Tch, letting that guy show off again. Look at how smug he is."
From within the crowd, Ron made a disdainful sound, squinting at Draco as he walked into the center of the group.
"Ah, yeah, Ron..."
Harry looked toward Draco, who was beginning to untie the rope, his expression showing no particular emotion.
"Let's put some extra effort into Professor Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class from now on. We've fallen behind quite a bit in other courses, but in this class, we're on the same starting line as him."
"You mean..."
Ron turned to look at Harry, trying to read something in his eyes.
"That's right."
Harry nodded firmly, his tone brooking no argument.
"We can't just let him steal the spotlight. This is our first step to defeating him!"
"Even though that guy has restrained himself somewhat and isn't as annoying as before, I'm quite vindictive!"
Sparks of determination seemed to flash in Harry's green eyes. Starting from this step, a future of surpassing Draco lay ahead.
"Ha, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. I can't wait to see that big forehead crying his eyes out in front of us."
Ron got the response he wanted to hear and snorted with laughter, but clearly he had made up his mind just like Harry.
Invisible flames seemed to burn behind those two, making Neville nearby feel helpless.
"Although I'm not sure why something seems to have happened between Harry and Ron again, overall... it should be a good thing, right?"
"Ahem, very good. Everyone focus your attention on my hands!"
Draco's voice from within the encirclement drew Neville's attention back. Neville sighed softly and concentrated on observing.
Previously, in order to preview the Care of Magical Creatures course in advance, he had been bitten quite badly by the Monster Book of Monsters. According to Hagrid and Draco, there should be a method to control the Monster Book other than Glenn's violent suppression approach.
"First, everyone's movements must be quick. Even though the method I'm about to demonstrate can calm these irritable little monsters, when we first release the restraints on them, there's still a high possibility of getting injured."
Draco said this as his fingers approached the knot wound around the Monster Book, continuing:
"What comes next is very simple—first, undo the restraints..."
With a finger movement, Draco undid the knot. The Monster Book that was simply bound by rope wasn't as well-behaved as Glenn's Monster Book confined in an alchemical container, and its movements were much quicker. Its gaping maw immediately opened wide.
But Draco's hand speed wasn't slow either. He quickly used his right hand to gently stroke the Monster Book's spine from top to bottom—
"Then stroke their spine, and look—this way these monsters will quiet down."
Ta-da~
It seemed as if wonderful music was playing in everyone's ears, though actually no one heard anything—probably just their imagination. But the Monster Books did indeed settle down in Draco's hands.
OHHHHHHHHH!!!
Though not quite that exaggerated, the young witches and wizards all opened their mouths and burst into applause.
Hagrid smiled with relief on the side. Although some of the spotlight from his first class had been stolen by Draco, he didn't think this was a problem. Instead, he felt incredibly happy to see two formerly hostile houses getting along so harmoniously in his lifetime.
"Beautiful demonstration! For this, I'll award Slytherin ten points!"
Hagrid generously gave out points.
"So, do you want to use that method?"
Glenn turned his head back, offering the Monster Book of Monsters that Hermione had just handed him back to her.
Hermione smiled mischievously and didn't take the book, putting her hands behind her back.
"That won't do. I also want you to help me quiet the Monster Book using that method."
"But that way will damage the book itself. Isn't reading what you love most?"
"Yes, but using your method can make our books uniquely styled."
"Hmm... Is this what they call 'couple's edition'?"
Glenn withdrew his hand and began releasing the alchemical device.
"You figured it out? But is this also something you learned from books? It seems you really put a lot of effort into this area~"
"I can't always trouble you to advance our... 'romantic progress,' can I? I don't know how to describe it—roughly that meaning."
"You found out? But I wasn't being very deliberate about it. I feel like even if we did nothing and just stayed together, our feelings would gradually warm up."
"Although I think so too, it seems doing it this way would be more romantic."
"From books?"
"Yes."
"I really don't know what to do with you, but I can't deny that I actually quite like this approach... though just a little bit, hehe~"
"As long as you like it."
Glenn said this, then drove his blade through Hermione's Monster Book, depriving this magical semi-creature of its meager life force.
Pulling out the dagger and returning it to his sleeve, Glenn handed back Hermione's now-motionless Monster Book.
"Here, this is Hermione's exclusive Monster Book of Monsters."
"Thank you, I love it very much~"
The little girl smiled as she accepted the Monster Book Glenn returned to her, with a visible puncture wound penetrating the entire book.
Hermione touched it, feeling the texture was a bit strange, but more than that, she felt satisfaction and happiness.
Although their interaction was somewhat childish, Hermione really enjoyed this little interaction that belonged uniquely to the two of them.
"But just now when we were talking, I actually told a lie~"
"What?"
"I won't tell you. Can you guess?"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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