The Return to Hogwarts

Harry muttered something, shrugged like Ron had before, and prepared to go wash up. But after only two steps, Harry suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked back at Ron's bed. For some reason, a feeling of sadness suddenly welled up in Harry's heart.

Chapter 577 Clumsy Protection

2023-11-06

On Sunday morning, Hermione woke up and looked at the clear sky. It took her a while to realize why she felt so tired and sad. The events of the previous night had kept her tossing and turning for most of the night, and the scenes in her dreams were all things she didn't want to face.

The dormitory was quiet. Lavender and Parvati were no longer in their respective beds. Hermione sat up with unprecedented difficulty, pulled back the curtain of the four-poster bed, and stared blankly at the 'wall of books' opposite the bed.

The furnishings in the girls' dormitory are not as dull, tasteless, and unchanging as those in the boys' dormitory.

To give you an example, the three girls living in this dormitory use bedding in three different colors. Hermione uses the sheets and blankets provided by the school, while Lavender and Parvati's beds are much brighter in color, and their curtains are covered with many interesting and cute little decorations. As for Hermione, the stacks of books near her bed are probably her way of decorating her living space.

If she could, Hermione would prefer to stay in this quiet environment until the first event of the Triwizard Tournament begins, so that she could avoid many foreseeable troubles, but obviously that's not possible.

She arrived at the dormitory washroom wearing slippers. The girl reflected in the mirror had heavy dark circles under her eyes, her hair was a messy, hopelessly tangled mess, the first button of her collar had been undone while she was sleeping, and her pajamas were dangling on one shoulder, making her look slovenly.

Based on Hermione's years of experience dealing with her messy hair, the fastest way to get downstairs as soon as possible is to wash her hair while taking a shower.

So, she braced herself against the wall with one hand to avoid falling over due to sleep deprivation, and began unbuttoning her pajamas with the other. Her movements were slow and clumsy, as if this would reasonably help her gain more time in the room.

hiss.

As she unbuttoned the third button, the pajamas slid down her pale body. The weather in early November was far from pleasant, and the chill that swept over her made Hermione gasp. She saw goosebumps on her bare arms in the mirror.

Hermione rubbed her arms together a few times, realizing she shouldn't waste any more time. She quickly took off the rest of her clothes and headed for the shower. But as soon as she was out of the mirror's view, Hermione stepped back in.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Hermione, as if possessed, straightened her chest, which had been shrunken from the cold, and began to examine the outline of her body in the mirror.

Even with a critical eye, it would definitely get a high score.

Hermione was startled by the thought that suddenly popped into her head, and then, blushing, she quickly got out of the mirror and jumped into the shower.

"Parvati and Lavender have been compared since second year, there's nothing shameful about it!" Hermione thought, feeling embarrassed and annoyed as she was enveloped in mist and hot water.

Today is Sunday, and students can wear their own clothes instead of wearing wizard robes.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione, dressed in jeans and a loose light blue sweatshirt, stood in front of the mirror again. After carefully examining herself, she confirmed that apart from the dark circles under her eyes, she looked no different from usual, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.

Hermione's backpack was a little loose because it had been emptied, but she didn't care. She stood behind the dormitory door for several minutes, and finally, she took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked out of the dormitory.

Hermione descended the spiral staircase to the common room below, where she was greeted with a warm welcome by her classmates who had already eaten breakfast. Colin, a year younger than her, rushed over with his camera to take her picture—a first for him. Colin had only ever shown interest in Harry before, but this finally made her understand why Harry always looked so embarrassed when Colin asked for a photo.

"Sorry, Colin, I woke up a little late. I need to hurry to the auditorium for breakfast, and then to the library—"

Hermione hurriedly squeezed past the Creepy brothers, strode to the hole behind the portrait, pushed it aside, climbed out, and then ran into Harry who was returning.

"You're up?"

Harry, somewhat surprised, showed Hermione a stack of bread wrapped in a napkin.

"I went to the Owl's Cottage this morning to mail a letter to Sirius, and then I waited for you in the Great Hall, but I didn't see you come down, so I brought you some—"

"Oh, thank you--"

Herman said gratefully.

Are you going to the library?

Harry asked again, and after receiving an affirmative reply from Hermione, Harry muttered "wait," then rushed into the common room. A few minutes later, he reappeared before Hermione, panting and carrying his schoolbag.

"I want to go too--"

The last time they went to the library together was back in the school year when they wanted to help Hagrid find some legal documents favorable to Buckbeak. Therefore, it wasn't hard for Harry to understand Hermione's surprise.

"Go find some information related to the paper Professor Sinise assigned."

Harry scratched his face awkwardly and looked away.

“You should be focusing your energy on the competition now; there’s no reason for you to waste your time on my and Ron’s homework.”

Hermione pursed her lips and smiled.

"No one will attack me in the castle during the day, Harry, though I know I'll definitely hear a lot of nasty remarks—"

"Oh, you noticed."

Harry exclaimed in surprise, and then he realized that he was trying to hide it from Hermione, a brilliant and knowledgeable person who knew him very well. It would be strange if she didn't see through his intentions!

Where is Ron?

They left the corridor in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady and began to descend the spiral staircase down the tower. Hermione was silent for a few seconds, then asked Harry in a tone that was as nonchalant as possible.

"They're still eating in the auditorium—"

Harry responded with a hint of complaint, "I brought him with me because if the guy who threw your name into the Goblet of Fire has ill intentions towards you, he might come after you again at any time. But Ron said there are plenty of people eager to protect you, so there's no need to worry."

Harry muttered,

"This is not the same thing!"

Hermione's face was a little blank. She didn't know whether to be moved by Harry's flawed deduction and his decision to carry it out, or to be saddened by Ron's ulterior motives.

The journey to the library was not easy.

Before leaving her dormitory, Hermione knew that even if Professor McGonagall had told everyone that the school had deduced, based on some speculation, that she hadn't thrown her name into the Goblet of Fire herself, she wouldn't be able to gain everyone's forgiveness. Therefore, she decided to prepare herself for the strange looks she would receive.

But the reality was far worse than she imagined. Along the way, the Hufflepuff classmates she encountered made no attempt to hide their disgust as they looked at her. They didn't care how her name ended up in the Goblet of Fire. The undeniable fact was that she had 'stole' the glory that rightfully belonged to Cedric and the Hufflepuffs.

Needless to say, the way the Slytherins looked at Hermione clearly told her that they considered her a clown, a pathetic wretch on the verge of ruin.

Hermione had assumed the Ravenclaw students would be more rational, but that wasn't the case. As she and Harry walked down a corridor, they overheard several Ravenclaw ladies huddled together whispering—'Who knows what's going on? Maybe it's just a cover-up for a scandal.'

Harry angrily rushed up to confront them, but Hermione held him back and walked forward without saying a word.

The two of them arrived at the Hogwarts library, where the librarian, Mrs. Pince, was staring menacingly at a group of little witches hiding behind bookshelves, chuckling at a boy in the reading area.

Whether it was the books in front of him that pleased him or the harassing gazes, Krum had a gloomy face and looked a little unhappy. He casually shook his head, and then he saw two Hogwarts students he was familiar with appear in the library.

“It’s you, Hermione--”

Krum stood up and nimbly walked around the stool to talk to Harry and Hermione. But to his surprise, just as he was about to approach them, Harry suddenly stepped forward, blocking Hermione's path and staring at him with a wary look.

"Don't come near—"

Harry pressed his hand to his pocket, as if to pull out his wand at any moment, and spoke in a threatening tone.

Chapter 578 Friendly Krum

2023-11-06

Harry's tense actions stunned everyone watching. Not to mention Krum, even Mrs. Pince forgot to be angry. The only reason she tolerated those empty-headed little witches chasing after celebrities in her library was because Krum was Durmstrang's guest.

But what about Harry Potter?

Krum's eyebrows, which had just relaxed, furrowed again as he looked at the boy who was half a head shorter than him, his eyes filled with confusion.

He knew the boy with the bright green eyes was Harry Potter, someone even more famous than himself in some ways. He had met him twice in person, the first time at the World Cup, and the second time just yesterday when he and two friends showed them around Hogwarts. Both times, the boy had been quite friendly, especially his red-haired friend, who was a fan of his.

But what's going on now?

He wouldn't allow himself to get close and seemed to want to attack him, but it has to be said that Harry Potter's posture and eyes were quite intimidating, and he looked like he had been trained.

"Oh, don't do that, Harry!"

Hermione finally came to her senses and cried out in a panic.

She was probably the only one who knew why Harry was behaving so excessively; he probably saw everyone he didn't know as a potential target for persecution. It must be said, the feeling of being protected was quite nice, but it would be bad if it led to any conflict with Durmstrang's heroes.

"Let's come out and talk."

Hermione pulled Harry behind her without a word. She was about to explain to Krum, but Mrs. Pince's unbearable gaze sent chills down her spine. So she whispered to Krum.

The library entrance was bustling with people, clearly not a suitable place for conversation. As if by some strange twist of fate, Hermione led the two boys to the spot where Professor Blaine had rescued the house-elves last time. Turning around, Hermione noticed Krum looking around at the corridor and the enclosed classrooms.

"Oh--"

A spider the size of a baby's fist crawled across the enormous web above their heads. Hermione brushed a strand of hair aside, her tone slightly unnatural.

"We don't need that many classrooms for regular classes, and some places have been abandoned for centuries. So, they don't look very tidy."

Harry pursed his lips. This wasn't like yesterday when he was the tour guide; there was no need to explain things so clearly to Krum.

"I think it's very interesting--"

Surprisingly, Krum didn't seem to mind the terrible environment or dwell on Harry's earlier overreaction. Instead, he stared in interest at a sculpture with a broken arm at the end of the corridor and said...

"Our castle isn't as tall as Hogwarts, it's only four stories high. And it's not as comfortable or fun as this place—"

Harry seemed to have realized that Viktor Krum didn't quite have the air of an international Quidditch star. He wasn't usually talkative, probably just worried about his broken English pronunciation. For example, right now, he was muttering about Durmstrang, but occasionally he'd throw in a few strange Bulgarian phrases that Harry and Hermione couldn't understand at all.

"Could you get me an autograph?"

Suddenly, Krum looked at Harry and Hermione and said something.

That's an interesting request. Usually, it's others who ask Krum for autographs. Yesterday, when Harry was walking around campus with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, he saw quite a few Hogwarts girls rush up to Krum and ask for his autograph.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a surprised glance, and then a realization dawned on them.

"Whose do you want?" Hermione asked cautiously.

“Mr. Blaine—” Krum said somewhat melancholically, “I don’t know many people, and I don’t know if Mr. Blaine would think, uh…”

"Excuse me!" Harry helped Krum fill in the word he couldn't spell.