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Content note: This chapter is set in the future, when all characters involved are over eighteen.
Years later, long after Dudley and Hermione had left their school days behind and both were over eighteen, Hermione put down One Thousand Uses of Charms in the quiet library and looked curiously at the unfinished Telephone Snail in Dudley's hand.
"Why have you been tinkering with these big snails so much lately?"
This was the one Dudley had picked up earlier. After a period of feeding, the little fellow was no longer afraid of him. When it heard Hermione's words, a pair of large eyes extended from the ends of its feelers and looked at her curiously.
Its vitality was extremely tenacious. As long as it did not suffer a fatal injury, it could basically recover.
"This is a project I am researching. If it succeeds, it will change wizarding communication forever."
Dudley described it briefly.
Making Telephone Snails was much more complicated than taming magical creatures. In the pirate world, Telephone Snails used biological signals as their transmission medium.
Almost every individual Telephone Snail had a unique signal of its own, but there was also a channel used as a public information signal. In other words, each individual was also an information relay station. Even if it could not interpret the public signal being transmitted, it could still pass it along through itself.
This was not something that could be completed overnight.
"It looks a little disgusting," Hermione said, looking at the Telephone Snail with clear dislike.
Most people would not enjoy slippery, sticky creatures like this. Especially with those two large eyeballs on the feelers. They could easily make young witches uncomfortable.
"Huh? Why... why is it crying?"
After generations of breeding, Telephone Snails could understand simple human speech. Sensing Hermione's disgust, its big eyes immediately filled with mist, and large tears began falling.
"Because you called it disgusting, so it is very sad."
"It can understand people?"
Hermione looked amazed. Although she still found it disgusting, her interest in the Telephone Snail also increased quite a bit.
There were bug-like magical creatures as well, but most had low intelligence, at most comparable to wild beasts. This was the first time she had seen something like a Telephone Snail, which could not only understand human speech but also feel sad.
"Of course. Perhaps in the future, they will replace owls and become an important tool for wizards to transmit messages."
"That joke is not funny at all."
Hermione naturally did not believe him.
Although she also felt that owls transmitted messages far more slowly than telephones, telling her that a snail could replace owls for delivering letters was too absurd. Something like a Telephone Snail had already exceeded her understanding.
It was neither scientific nor magical.
The library was very quiet on the weekend, and there were very few people. Only Dudley and Hermione were in their section, so their conversation did not attract anyone's attention.
Hermione read for a while longer, then felt the back of her neck start to ache. She unconsciously turned her head a little.
Even with good posture, reading for a long time still strained the neck.
Dudley, who was sitting right next to her, naturally noticed this. After putting away the Telephone Snail, he suggested, "I can massage it for you."
Hermione thought for a moment, looked around, found no one nearby, and nodded. "All right. Lighter this time, okay?"
Hermione usually read with her head lowered. That habit was very bad. Dudley had corrected it several times, but whenever she became absorbed, she forgot. Because she kept her head lowered for so long, her neck often became uncomfortable, and Dudley was usually the one who massaged it for her.
The neck was important. It was connected to the nerves and did far more than simply support the head. It had to be protected properly.
"Did you use the buckwheat pillow I gave you?"
Dudley walked behind Hermione, bent down, and gently placed both hands on her shoulders.
The tension in her shoulders was obvious beneath his hands.
At the same time, the faint scent of shampoo drifted toward him, distracting him more than he wanted to admit.
"I did. It feels much better, but sometimes it still hurts."
In his previous life, Dudley had been someone who liked looking down at his phone. In addition, he usually lowered his head while working, so his neck had always been bad.
There had even been a period when a severe curve problem in his neck caused his entire left hand to go numb.
He could not sleep properly for entire nights.
Because of that, Dudley had no choice but to take leave and see a physiotherapist. After a week of treatment and exercises, the discomfort finally eased.
According to the therapist, young people recovered quickly. As long as the sleeping posture was appropriate, the body would naturally recover.
The therapist had also recommended using a buckwheat pillow, specifically one filled with buckwheat hulls.
It was not because of any medicinal value such as calming the spirit or improving circulation. It was simply because a good buckwheat pillow fit the human body better and allowed the height to be adjusted freely, letting the neck reach the most comfortable position and helping recovery.
Sure enough, after using it continuously for a week, the numbness gradually faded. A month later, it had disappeared completely.
Ever since then, Dudley had become a loyal believer in buckwheat pillows. He had thrown away cotton pillows, rattan pillows, latex pillows, all of them. When sleeping, he used only buckwheat pillows. Whenever he saw someone with neck discomfort, he strongly recommended one.
"That is because you spend too much time reading. Try not to keep your head lowered for too long. After reading for a while, get up and move your body."
That was what Dudley himself did. Proper movement also protected the waist.
When Hermione heard this, she said with a playful note in her voice, "Hehe, isn't that why I have you? I get absorbed easily when I read. It is not as if you do not know that."
She really did get absorbed easily. She could hold the same posture without moving for an entire day.
By the time she reacted, her neck would feel as uncomfortable as if she had slept on it wrong.
While the two of them spoke, Dudley's palms had already begun applying pressure.
"Lighter, lighter. A little lighter... yes, yes, right there. It is so sore. Hiss... comfortable."
As Dudley's hands rose and fell, Hermione comfortably narrowed her eyes, like a curled-up cat.
After almost half an hour, Hermione lay limply on the table with a satisfied expression, humming softly. "Dudley, my eyes have also been a little dry lately."
"You spend too much time staring at books."
Dudley rubbed her wavy hair. "I will teach you some eye-relief exercises. Whenever you read for more than two hours, you should do them once."
"What kind of eye-relief exercises?"
"A simple set to help your eyes rest."
Although Dudley was no longer in his original world, whenever he read for a certain length of time, he still did eye-relief exercises. They truly helped his eyes and protected his vision.
"Now follow me. First, gently massage near the inner corners of your eyes."
"I am too relaxed to move, Dudley. Help me with it."
In any case, there was no one else in the library at this time.
Only she and Dudley were there.
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