The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

If Hermione were in a normal situation, she would probably have already argued with Ron about this, and the two would have parted on bad terms.

But out of trust in Rhett, and because of the saying that "nighttime strolls are a tradition for Hogwarts students," Hermione, whose thoughts had slightly changed, paused for a moment, then made a bet with them.

If Malfoy goes tonight, she will never interfere in their affairs again. Even if she gets caught and loses points, she will find a way to explain for them.

But if Malfoy doesn't go tonight, and even calls the Night's Watch to arrest them, then they'll have to obey her orders at school from now on.

The two Gryffindor boys couldn't take the shock. Even though they were aware that Hermione might be telling the truth, they still accepted the bet.

They just shortened the time.

If Malfoy really does stand them up, proving Hermione's guess correct, then they must obediently follow Hermione's instructions and not do anything dangerous until Halloween.

After the bet was made, Hermione began to devise a plan for what would happen if Malfoy didn't show up.

The most important thing is to make sure they don't get points deducted for going out at night.

Hermione's original plan was that if they were discovered, she could pour a bottle of potion on herself and say that she accidentally spilled the failed potion while doing her homework, so that Harry and Ron could take her to the infirmary.

This was a failed attempt she collected from Neville's melted crucible as homework for her Potions class.

The entrance to the Gryffindor common room is on the eighth floor, and the university hospital is on the second floor, so going through the fourth floor is normal.

Seeing Hermione's change in attitude, and even her willingness to sacrifice herself for their duel, Ron and Harry felt a little embarrassed.

After much deliberation, Ron reluctantly sought help from two other more professional individuals.

That's right, it's the famous Weasley brothers.

Gemini isn't stupid, even after hearing Malfoy's late-night duel invitation and worrying that the other party might cheat.

They immediately concluded that the other party definitely had ill intentions, and with Hermione's explanation, they also thought it was a very good plan to strike at Slytherin.

So they patted their little brother enthusiastically, offering to help divert Felch's attention and even find some familiar faces to help keep an eye on the Slytherin break room.

They also slipped some of their own homemade prank props to their younger brother.

If Malfoy comes, they can use these items to duel with the opponent. If the opponent uses any underhanded tactics, they can also create some noise to interrupt the duel when Harry Ron is about to lose.

It would have been better if Malfoy hadn't come; they could have properly publicized how spineless the Malfoy family heir was.

With the help of Hogwarts's top troublemaker, Hermione had to admit that although she didn't have a good impression of the two twins who had already deducted more than ten points from Gryffindor in just a few days of school, with their help, it seemed that they could indeed complete this night out without being discovered.

So around 11 a.m., they went to the prize display room as planned, and unsurprisingly, Malfoy stood them up.

However, because they were mentally prepared, everyone was not nervous. After the Weasley twins helped attract Felch's attention, they prepared to go back and think about how to mock Malfoy the next morning.

Just then, Pikachu suddenly appeared, giving everyone a big fright.

Then Peeves started making a lot of noise in the fourth-floor corridor because of the few little wizards who were out at night, which even attracted the attention of the other professors on night patrol.

Things then returned to normal.

Harry and Ron were terrified when they accidentally entered the room where Fluffy was, while Hermione was shocked to find a trapdoor under Fluffy's feet and suspected that he was guarding something.

Having experienced such a fright, these young wizards no longer had the energy to make fun of Malfoy after returning to the common room.

Fortunately, the Weasley brothers were there; they started spreading the news this morning by having those portraits help spread the word about Malfoy's cunning and sly antics.

Although it wasn't elevated to the level of Slytherin honors, the news was enough to make Malfoy wear a mask of pain.

After hearing Hermione's words, Ryze couldn't help but ponder.

So, is the sudden appearance of Peeves a setup by Dumbledore?

After all, the first Harry Potter book is a classic children's fairy tale.

The protagonist goes through various trials and tribulations, and ultimately defeats the villain through love.

The levels that guarded the Philosopher's Stone were designed so deliberately that it's safe to say they were "trials" that Dumbledore specifically designed for Harry Potter and his friends.

As the story gradually evolved into an adult fairy tale, the stylistic differences between the beginning and end created a very obvious sense of disconnect.

Having seen the ending, Rizz knows that Dumbledore is indeed a good person, but he is not truly omniscient and omnipotent; he also has his own weaknesses and flaws.

He was unaware of the problem between Sirius and Peter the Pettigrew.

The identity of the fake Moody was not discovered.

It took a great deal of time to confirm that Voldemort's method of remaining immortal was through Horcruxes.

And he couldn't resist the temptation of the Resurrection Stone and fell for the curse Voldemort had placed on the Resurrection Stone ring.

However, in the first two years, he let an eleven or twelve-year-old boy face Voldemort and the Basilisk alone, and he also provided Harry with just the right help. This does give people the feeling that he has everything under control and that Harry Potter only needs to follow his arrangements to successfully defeat Voldemort.

And in fact, he did achieve that.

In order to completely defeat Voldemort, he sacrificed his life and used the Elder Wand to completely control Voldemort, ultimately allowing Harry Potter to completely eliminate Voldemort.

Thinking of this, Ryze shook his head slightly.

Forget it, there's no use thinking about these things now.

At least Dumbledore was overseeing the entire first year's storyline, and Voldemort was indeed unable to harm Harry now. The stage was already set up, so it wouldn't be a problem to let Harry play the role of a hero.

He should focus on practicing divination by absorbing curses and catching ravens.

I'll try to find a few more special ravens and unlock a few more Hextech runes this academic year.

That way, by the second year, he might be able to hold his own against Tom from his student days.

While he was pondering, Hermione mentioned that she had won her bet with Ron and Harry, and earnestly told him that she would definitely be able to make those two feel the joy of learning before Halloween.

Ryze gave Hermione a thumbs-up, encouraging her to keep up the good work.

Chapter 52: Hermione's Transformation

Under Rhett's influence, Hermione grew up much faster than before.

Or perhaps it was in the Malfoy incident that she finally saw the difference between herself and Ritz in how they thought about problems, and the difference in their perspectives.

So she began to unconsciously imitate Raz's mannerisms in front of the other Gryffindor students.

For example, she is now trying to encourage Ron and Harry in a gentler way, just as Rize encouraged Neville, in an attempt to help them find some enjoyment in learning.

She began to try to suppress her tendency to point fingers at others, and learned to speak in a calm and unhurried tone like Reese. She also stopped directly stopping some minor violations of school rules.

However, in Harry and Ron's eyes, Hermione's deliberately fake smile in front of others did indeed give off a stronger sense of pressure than before.

However, to be honest, when Hermione tried to dissuade the hot-blooded Gryffindor cubs in a direct manner, the proud cubs would instinctively feel resentful and defiant when they heard Hermione's commanding attitude, and no matter how much Hermione said, it wouldn't have much effect.

Now, by adopting this ambiguous smile, her eyes clearly showing dissatisfaction, yet she pretends not to be angry and suppresses her emotions, the first-year lion has actually started to obey Hermione's instructions.

Although Hermione's interpersonal relationships among the first-year wizards at Gryffindor remained average, her status in Gryffindor and the learning atmosphere of the house both improved because of her change.

According to Ron, Hermione now looks like his angry mother, and whenever his mother shows that expression at home, even the most mischievous Weasley twins become well-behaved.

"So where did she learn this trick from?" Ron complained to his friend privately, feeling rather bitter. After all, Hermione's current behavior was indeed quite different from Ritz's style of doing things, making it impossible to associate Hermione with imitating Ritz.

Harry was able to withstand Hermione's "smiling but treacherous" attitude, since he was also working towards Rhett Butler's goal.

Every morning, I jog around Black Lake with Neville Longbottom, practicing cane swinging as we go.

After that, he diligently took notes in class. If he encountered something he didn't understand, he would ask Ritz if he was there, and if Ritz wasn't, he would ask Hermione. This kind of life was a bit tiring, but thankfully he had Quidditch to vent his frustrations.

Although Neville Longbottom managed to keep his broom from going out of control during his first flight lesson thanks to Raz's encouragement, Malfoy's provocation led him to have a flying contest with Raz before the lesson ended, when Ms. Hooch was looking around.

He eventually demonstrated his talent for flying, which caught the eye of Professor McGonagall, who recruited him into the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

However, Malfoy was truly annoying, challenging him to a duel at dinner. He spent the entire night preparing and even made a bet with Hermione, only to be stood up by her in the end.

They were almost eaten by Lou Williams, Hagrid's three-headed dog, in that room because of Peeves.

After learning that the thing belonged to Hagrid, Harry immediately thought of the small bag Hagrid had retrieved from another vault on their way to Gringotts to get money.

He instinctively felt that the three-headed dog was guarding what was inside the small bag.

However, he no longer had such a strong curiosity to find out what was in that little bag.

He was only thinking about how to make Malfoy pay for his cowardice.

Fortunately, with the help of the Weasley twins to create public opinion, the news that Malfoy was avoiding the duel and dared not accept the challenge spread throughout the lower grades of Hogwarts in just one morning.

Harry felt quite pleased to see that after hearing these rumors, the other person left the Great Hall with a grim expression, without even having breakfast, and then deliberately avoided them for the next two weeks.

Although only a few days later, he was severely criticized by Snape for not looking up in Potions class and had several points deducted.

However, he already knew about his father's past grievances with the other party, and now he had come to terms with Snape's attitude.

After all, the other person will definitely be watching him, so what else can he do but try to avoid being caught out during class, just like Ryze did.

With this mindset, he even felt that he might have some talent in potions.

In the most recent Potions class, thanks to his own efforts and Hermione's advance preparation, Snape didn't find many opportunities to use Potions, successfully managing to hold out until the end of class without losing any points to Snape, just like Rhett.

Both Harry and Hermione were very satisfied with this, feeling that they were one step closer to Rizzi.

He even felt that he should be like Ryze in the next class and boldly look Snape in the eye, but he couldn't find any way to vent his frustration.

Ryze was unaware that he had become the unattainable ideal in the hearts of the two members of the "Iron Triangle".

He was rubbing his head and sighing as he worked on the advanced math problems in front of him.

Oh, no, at Hogwarts this is called arithmetic divination.

The external explanation for this thing is that it "uses the symbolic meaning of numbers and the essence of things to predict the future," and it is also the "most accurate and rigorous divination technique" that transcends ordinary divination.

For example, the statement "7 is the most magical number" is a well-known theory discovered by a 13th-century arithmetic diviner through rigorous academic research.

Rizzi triggered a special raven quest that gave away a basic equipment forging device while wandering around Hogwarts Castle at the end of the month looking for raven quests.

The raven didn't assign him any puzzle-solving tasks. Instead, it gave him a test of arithmetic and divination, requiring him to study relevant books in the library and then complete the test independently under the system's supervision.

Ryze casually flipped through a few old books in the locker in the classroom, and after just one glance, he felt the fear that had dominated him in his previous life with advanced mathematics.

Although its nature is not entirely the same as that of advanced mathematics, the calculations filled with various symbols and formulas still prompted him to immediately go to the library to study the origin and development of arithmetic divination, wanting to figure out what this thing really is.

This subject was first used by wizards to predict astronomical phenomena. Later, numerology emerged, which endowed each number with different magical properties. Subsequently, many wizards added various formulas to this discipline.

Nowadays, many ancient magic deciphering and modern magic theory research cannot be separated from the help of arithmetic divination, and Professor Baburin herself is also a master of arithmetic divination.

One of the most important requirements for applying to be a Gringotts Exorcist is to receive an excellent rating on an arithmetic divination exam.

In the end, Ryze discovered that while the course did contain a small amount of divination elements that allowed him to successfully trigger Ravenclaw's gift passive, the more important elements were the various magical theories that had nothing to do with divination and seemed extremely large and complex.

It's probably because most wizards in the magical world don't have much logical thinking.

Even wizards born into Muggle families enter Hogwarts at the age of 11 and never have the opportunity to learn advanced mathematics.

Therefore, these were not integrated into the wizarding system over the generations. The calculation process felt like divination, which was whimsical, but the final calculation result was extremely accurate and rigorous. The magical mathematical theory without clear reasons was collectively referred to by wizards as arithmetic divination.

Chapter 53: Arithmetic Divination

When Hermione saw the huge stack of draft paper in front of Ryze in the library, as well as several heavyweight books on arithmetic and divination, Hermione felt as if half of her sky had collapsed.

She is currently only reading a few introductory books on ancient magic and divination in her spare time while studying magic theory in depth.

She had to admit that even after reading several books on divination, she was still very confused about the basic principles of divination.

She could tell that the results of her divinations, which followed the methods in the book, were always inaccurate, but her competitive nature prevented her from admitting that she might not have a talent for divination and would be completely outmatched by Ritz in this course.

After a few days, why is Ryze suddenly studying arithmetic and divination again?

The next time I see Ryze, will she be reading a book about Fantastic Beasts?

No, Ryze had actually already started researching magical creatures a long time ago.

After all, the tall guard who lived on the edge of the Forbidden Forest had told Rhett about almost all the magical creatures he knew and their characteristics!

Ryze used arithmetic divination to calculate the magic formula on the paper, and then used a proper divination to verify it. After confirming that he had a good grasp of the problem, he looked up and greeted Hermione.

"Good morning, Hermione. Didn't Harry and Ron come to the library with you to study today?"

Recently, Hermione has essentially formed the "Iron Triangle" ahead of schedule, although Hermione, who won the bet, is currently leading the team.

Hermione truly regarded Ron and Harry as her role models, calling them to the library immediately after class to finish their homework before doing anything else.

"Harry is going to Quidditch training today, and Ron is going with him to join in the fun. I think Ron's attitude is such that we should give him a break, otherwise he definitely won't last until Halloween. What about your roommates? Are they practicing dueling magic again?"

It seems that Hermione's personality is indeed starting to change. Has the Malfoy incident affected her that much?

Rizzo had heard that Hermione's reputation among the lower Gryffindor students was "terrifying," but when he saw Hermione himself, he didn't really feel that she had changed at all.

He was still unwilling to admit defeat and wanted to compete with him in everything. Even in classes they didn't attend together, he would compare with Ritz to see who could accumulate more points from the professor.

Rizz nodded to Hermione: "Because of Malfoy's avoidance of duels some time ago, they feel it's necessary to revitalize Hogwarts' dueling club and let everyone understand the honor that wizarding duels symbolize. So they should be approaching Professor Flitwick now to propose rebuilding the Dueling Wand Club."

"The Staff of Duel..." Hermione pondered for a moment, then immediately recalled the information she had seen in the history of Hogwarts.