Besides the growing tension between Slytherin and Gryffindor brought on by the recent fight, no one really dared to stir up trouble lately—not even the notoriously rowdy Weasley twins, who had been unusually quiet.
It probably had something to do with that Howler. After all, Ron was their younger brother, and watching him get humiliated in front of the entire school made it hard for them to hold their heads up.
What's more, once the excitement died down, everyone started realizing the real consequence: both houses had lost 50 points, dropping them to third and fourth place on the leaderboard.
Slytherin still had hope—if they won the Quidditch Cup, they had a real shot at reclaiming first place by the end of the year. But for Gryffindor, the outlook wasn't as bright.
As a result, every time Professor McGonagall showed up to teach Transfiguration, her expression was grim. The homework load had also doubled. No wonder the little lions had been unusually well-behaved these days...
...
"Still no decision on the punishment?"
On his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Draco glanced over at Crabbe, who was sneakily stuffing pumpkin pie into his mouth, and casually asked Pansy.
"Nothing's been announced yet. Maybe they're planning something else?" Pansy shrugged. She didn't see what was so hard about deciding on a punishment.
Draco frowned at her response.
Normally, this kind of thing should've been settled long ago. Otherwise, how were the offenders supposed to learn their lesson?
He looked over at Goyle and the others, who were acting like nothing had happened, and let out a silent sigh.
If it weren't common knowledge among the Slytherins that Goyle and Crabbe were his friends, the two of them probably wouldn't have the appetite to be stuffing their faces with pie right now.
After all, Ron's situation in Gryffindor was far worse than theirs...
Yes, Slytherin had been the ones to start it.
But people tend to be lenient with themselves and harsh on others. Even though Ron had tried to repair his image with a string of lies and shift the blame onto Slytherin, every time someone passed the house point hourglasses, what they remembered was Ron Weasley's impulsive punch that cost them all those points.
Maybe no one said it out loud, but deep down, many were still holding a grudge against Ron and his friends.
And Ron, sensitive as he was, had definitely picked up on it...
"Damn it! Damn it!"
"Ron..."
"I wasn't even the one in the wrong! Why is everyone treating me like this?!"
As he snapped, Ron shot a glare at a group of younger students whispering nearby.
If he remembered right, they were second-years.
Harry, watching Ron unravel, had no idea how to comfort him. Honestly, if he'd been the one to get a Howler, just imagining that kind of public embarrassment gave him chills.
"That Howler couldn't have come from George or the others. It had to be Percy. Yeah! It's definitely Percy!"
Ron paced back and forth with a scowl, his expression twisted in frustration. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was quietly reading nearby, silently begging for help.
With no choice, Hermione put down her book—"Ancient Alchemy and the Creation of the Philosopher's Stone"—and gave Ron an irritated glare for constantly interrupting her reading.
They say comparison breeds disappointment, and in Hermione's sharp, rational eyes, Ron's childish behavior was even more unbearable than that of a certain jerk who always bullied her...
Unable to ignore Harry's silent plea, Hermione let out a quiet sigh.
"Come take a look at what I found."
Without bothering to talk Ron down, Hermione simply opened up her copy of Ancient Alchemy and the Creation of the Philosopher's Stone and laid it out in front of them.
"What's there to see? Unless it has something to solve my problem, I'm not interested."
"I borrowed this from the library a few days ago, just to read for fun. I never thought to check it for clues."
Hermione spoke in a frustrated tone, clearly annoyed with herself. If Harry hadn't remembered seeing the name on a wizard card, she wouldn't have realized she'd had the answer right beside her all along.
But her comment about reading it "for fun" startled not just Ron, but Harry too. The look they gave her was a mix of disbelief and mild horror.
That book was massive—and she read it for fun?
"For fun?"
"Quiet. Look at this part."
Hermione snapped at Ron, who hadn't stopped talking, then quickly flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She pointed to the section with her pale finger.
"Right here."
"Are we allowed to talk now?"
Ignoring Ron's sarcasm, Hermione lowered her voice and began reading aloud.
"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"
Her voice was full of mystery, but it seemed to have no effect. Harry and Ron just stared at her, faces blank, question marks practically floating above their heads.
Total disconnect.
"What stone?"
"The Philosopher's Stone?"
"Oh, come on... don't you two read anything? You seriously don't know what the Philosopher's Stone is?"
She was back to her old "know-it-all" self from the start of the school year, and the way she looked at them—half exasperated, half superior—made both Harry and Ron twitch.
If it weren't for the fact that they already knew what Hermione was like, that condescending tone would've been unbearable. It made them feel like hopeless idiots.
But Hermione, now fully in her element, didn't even notice their reactions. Her eyes were bright, and she launched into her explanation, totally absorbed.
"Ancient alchemy involved the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with incredible properties. It can transform any metal into pure gold and produce the Elixir of Life, which grants immortality to whoever drinks it."
"And the person who created it is Nicolas Flamel—the one we've been looking for. Got it now?"
"..."
"..."
Hermione's brown eyes were practically glowing, and for a moment, Harry and Ron just stared, completely forgetting to respond.
Why? Probably because of the intelligence and focus radiating from her face.
They say seriousness makes a man attractive—but clearly, it works on girls too...
...
[Upto 50 chapters ahead for now]
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