Ron had never been particularly good at Charms.
Back when they had first learned the Levitation Charm, he had needed ages to master it, so naturally he hoped there might be some kind of magic that could help him learn spells quickly.
However—
It went without saying that if even an inferior wizard like him couldn't learn the Color-Changing Charm, expecting him to master one of Dawn's newly revealed spells was simply asking too much.
Therefore—
He placed all his hopes on Hermione!
As long as his good friend could learn the spell, then by rounding things up, there was practically no difference between her knowing it and him knowing it.
"Hermione? Hermione?"
Ron kept pestering her with questions.
The little witch was thoroughly fed up.
People had been asking her the same thing since last night. She finally stopped walking and snapped irritably:
"Listen, Ron! There are no shortcuts when it comes to studying!
And if you really needed this spell, then you shouldn't have spent all your time showing off after we got back yesterday!"
Hermione glared fiercely at him.
Ron immediately protested.
"That wasn't showing off! I was just explaining what happened to the people who missed the magical conference! I was doing a good deed!"
"Really?"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"If you hadn't deliberately driven Malfoy mad, I might have believed you."
She snorted and clearly didn't want to continue the subject.
"By the way, where's Harry? Do you know what he's doing? Why didn't he leave with us this time?"
"Oh, that..."
Ron waggled his eyebrows.
"During class, I heard someone say Sirius and Snape got into a fight in the Potions office. Harry was worried and wanted to go take a look."
He looked like he was dying to see the excitement himself.
Hermione shook her head.
She didn't ask anything more.
Holding several books related to spell creation, she continued toward the library.
Seeing Ron still following her, she finally explained in resignation:
"Ron, I really haven't learned the Confidence Charm! That spell is difficult. It involves changes in emotions, and I still need quite a bit of time!"
Hearing this, Ron finally gave up.
He stopped following her toward the library and simply called after her hopefully:
"Then, Hermione, you have to study hard!"
Hermione was speechless.
The conversation felt incredibly strange.
Ron encouraging someone to study?
Why did it somehow remind her of Voldemort encouraging people to do good deeds?
The little witch shook her head.
Thinking about her friend that way was probably unfair.
After brushing him off with a few perfunctory words, she quietly quickened her pace.
Soon, Ron's voice was left behind.
The library doors appeared ahead.
Hermione entered with practiced familiarity.
Surrounded by rows of towering bookshelves and the comforting scent of ink, she quickly relaxed.
She raised her hand, about to greet Madam Pince, when she suddenly noticed that something about the atmosphere seemed strange.
A few young wizards who had already arrived were gathered in the distance.
They claimed to be reading, but every so often, they would glance toward a certain direction, clearly unable to concentrate.
Even Madam Pince was behaving the same way!
What was going on?
Hermione's Gryffindor curiosity immediately kicked in.
She walked over.
After rounding a bookshelf, she saw a familiar boy leaning against the shelves, reading a thick book.
Hermione's eyes instantly widened.
Dawn Richter?
What was he doing here again?!
That was the first thought that flashed through the little witch's mind.
But she quickly remembered that he was now completely cleared of suspicion, so there was nothing strange about him being here.
She looked at the book in her hands, A Guide to Spell Innovation, and hesitated before walking over with an indescribable feeling.
"Um... Dawn, what are you doing here?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Hermione immediately regretted them.
Merlin's beard!
What was she saying?
It sounded like something an elementary school student would say when greeting a classmate.
The little witch felt incredibly stupid.
"Tsk. Is it really that strange for me to be here?"
Dawn didn't even raise his head.
"The Ministry of Magic officially recognizes me as a Hogwarts safety inspector."
His tone was calm.
But honestly, if he hadn't suddenly remembered that identity, he would have forgotten about it completely.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Dumbledore about the librarian position yesterday.
That irritating tone again.
Hermione puffed out her cheeks.
"What are you reading?"
"The Hogwarts Chronicles." Dawn casually lifted the book.
The gold-embossed letters on its cover gleamed brightly.
After finishing up his affairs in Vatican City, he had headed straight for the library to search through books related to the era of the Four Founders, hoping to find some clues about the statues Ravenclaw had left behind.
Although Ravenclaw had told him to simply let things happen naturally, Dawn clearly wasn't the sort of person who liked waiting.
He preferred taking the initiative.
Unfortunately—
This book had been completely useless.
It didn't contain a single mention of the Four Founders' artifacts, let alone the reward for collecting all four.
Snap!
Dawn closed the book.
He glanced to the side.
Hermione seemed to want to ask something else, but he immediately raised a hand and cut her off.
"All right, Miss Granger. Time is a very precious thing. If you're planning to ask me some meaningless questions, I'd rather you didn't."
With that, he shoved the thick book back onto the shelf and turned around without another word.
Hermione's mouth fell open.
That scene had thoroughly choked her.
Dawn possessed a peculiar kind of charm.
Whenever someone developed a favorable impression of him or became curious about him, he would destroy that favorable image at lightning speed.
Hermione watched his retreating back grow farther and farther away.
She bit her lip before finally shouting angrily, "Hmph! He's still as annoying as ever!"
She sat down nearby in a huff and opened her book.
She secretly swore that she would create and improve a brand-new spell herself!
Then she'd see whether Dawn could still act so smug!
In her anger, Hermione made a grand vow.
Dawn didn't know about it. And he wouldn't have cared even if he did.
He hadn't been lying.
After experiencing another World Correction, the sense of urgency in his heart had surged again. He didn't want to waste even a moment.
Therefore, after finding nothing in the books, Dawn immediately decided to conduct a field investigation.
He would start with Ravenclaw Tower!
He headed toward the tower.
There were people everywhere along the way. Quite a few young wizards were walking through the corridors.
Perhaps because of yesterday's conference, there was an extra trace of admiration in their eyes.
Unlike last time, they didn't scatter and flee at the sight of him.
But besides them, Dawn could also feel a gaze that had remained fixed on him the entire time.
He knew exactly where it came from.
He glanced at the portrait on the wall and could practically visualize Dumbledore hiding behind it.
With a cold snort, Dawn withdrew his gaze.
Soon, he arrived at Ravenclaw Tower.
The bronze eagle, wings spread wide as it perched upon the door knocker, entered his view.
Dawn walked toward it with some nostalgia.
Ever since his first year in the memories he had seen, he hadn't properly answered one of these riddles in a very long time.
"I have neither edge nor blade, yet I can cause the deepest wounds.
I have neither color nor scent, yet I can paint the most beautiful pictures.
The wise use me cautiously, while fools are controlled by me. What am I?"
Dawn listened to the bronze eagle's riddle. After thinking for a moment, he answered:
"Language."
"Hmm. Makes sense."
Clang!
The door to the common room opened.
Behind it were blue and bronze decorations, along with several young wizards buried in their studies.
Dawn ignored their astonished gazes and walked inside.
His eyes immediately landed on the enormous stone statue of Ravenclaw.
He narrowed his eyes and examined it carefully.
If there was anywhere in the castle most likely to be connected to those statues, then this enlarged version, whose appearance was nearly identical, was unquestionably the best place to start.
But—
Dawn walked around it several times.
He couldn't find anything unusual.
The result was exactly the same as when he had secretly inspected it last year.
It was simply an ordinary statue.
There were no runes or magical circuits hidden within it.
"Just as I thought. It isn't that simple."
Dawn clicked his tongue.
He searched the entire area again.
Still nothing.
Then he suddenly remembered that Ravenclaw's daughter was still here.
Perhaps he could ask her.
He wandered around the tower for a while.
After asking several nervous young wizards, Dawn finally spotted Ravenclaw's house ghost standing beside a window.
"Lady Grey, long time no see."
Dawn walked over and greeted Helena, whom he had only encountered during his first year.
The milky-white ghost ignored him.
Dawn walked over beside her and asked casually:
"Lady Grey, I've heard that Ravenclaw left behind many stone statues containing fragments of her memories. Do you know where they're kept?"
Whoosh.
Perhaps because she had heard her mother's name, Helena finally turned around.
But she merely gave Dawn a cold look.
She didn't say a word. Her body sank straight through the floor.
The contempt was unmistakable.
Dawn's face twitched. No one had ever dared to be this arrogant toward him.
Not even a ghost.
Dawn was somewhat annoyed.
But after thinking about it carefully, he realized he really didn't have an effective way to kill a ghost.
So he could only rub his cheeks, calm himself down, and turn around.
He left the tower, intending to explore other parts of the castle.
He wanted to see whether he could discover something from the magical circuits spread throughout Hogwarts.
However—
He hadn't gone very far.
As Dawn passed through a certain corridor—
A short, chubby boy suddenly appeared, breathing heavily as he blocked his path.
"Mr... Mr. Richter."
Neville swallowed nervously.
Looking at the red-eyed boy standing on the stairs, he awkwardly called out his name.
Then he suddenly bent at the waist and pleaded:
"Could... could you please save my mum and dad?"
Neville gathered all his courage to finish those words.
He gripped the sides of his clothes, feeling sweat break out all over his body.
He was extremely nervous.
He knew that he and the boy in front of him had some history.
He also knew, from his grandmother's and Dumbledore's analysis, that the boy had probably extracted quite a bit of his memory.
"Don't you dare go looking for him! Neville, he's a wizard! He'll kill you!"
His grandmother had warned him sternly countless times.
Even yesterday, when he had left the magical conference and wanted to bring his parents there, she had given him another severe warning.
But—
This was the first time in all these years that Neville had seen a glimmer of hope that his parents could recover.
He absolutely refused to let it slip away.
Therefore—
Even though being alone with Dawn terrified him, he had still come here.
Perhaps it was an exaggeration, but Neville had already prepared himself for the possibility of being killed.
The corridor fell silent.
The world seemed to have become so quiet that only Neville remained.
He didn't dare move.
He continued to bow deeply, and from his lowered gaze, all he could see was the hem of the wizard's robes swaying gently in the breeze.
After a long, long time...
He finally heard a leisurely reply from above him.
"Sure, Neville."
___________
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