Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 22 Leisurely Sunday Time

The next morning, Harry had some dark circles under his eyes.

At breakfast, Loren leisurely sipped his black tea; the food at Hogwarts was indeed quite good.

Harry glanced at Loren several times, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back, and barely even enjoyed his meal.

Loren was somewhat exasperated; he really was an honest kid. When Harry glanced at Loren again, Loren couldn't help himself. He put down his teacup and said, "Stop looking. I was just teasing you last night. I can't read minds at all."

Harry relaxed a little upon hearing this, though it's unclear how much he believed.

"I'm planning to go to the library, do you want to come with me?" Loren wanted to make a study plan for himself.

Harry wasn't really in the mood to study, but Ron wasn't around, and he had nothing else to do. "Well, at least I haven't even started my homework yet."

Loren reached in, wrapped a few egg tarts in paper, and put them in his pocket. "Which subject?"

Harry, with a hint of smugness, declared: "Every subject!"

One of the egg tarts wasn't held properly and fell off the plate.

The Hogwarts library is on the second floor of the castle. The bookshelves are connected to each other, stretching from one end to the other. You can only see the bookshelves getting smaller and smaller, but you can't see the end.

Loren felt that a similar magic spell, the Unseen Stretch, must have been used here as well, as the area inside was much larger than the outside, containing nearly ten thousand books.

Hogwarts' library has been passed down through generations of students and teachers, and contains many rare and unique books that have ceased to be printed elsewhere. The Board of Governors also allocates a special fund each year to purchase new books. It can be said that, apart from the Ministry of Magic, no other institution has a more comprehensive collection of books.

There was no one around the bookshelf for a certain period of time. Loren saw several books with thick iron chains extending from their covers, the other end of which was attached to the bookshelf as if it were growing out of the bookshelf, in order to prevent anyone from reading them.

There were also several other books, their light shimmering in different colors in his eyes, bearing obvious traces of magic.

That must be the restricted book section.

It contained many spells that Loren desired, such as Fiendfyre and Legilimency. However, borrowing these required the professor's authorization and credentials. No matter how talented a first-year student was, there was no reason for them to borrow books from the restricted section, unless they wanted to be put on Dumbledore's list of priority readers.

Harry took out his accumulated homework and started catching up.

Loren thought Ron had corrupted him; the first week's homework wasn't much, and Loren finished it during breaks. Thankfully, at least Harry hadn't learned to copy homework yet.

In fact, if Loren hadn't dragged Harry to the library, Harry would have started his assignments the day before they were due, which he felt was more efficient.

Loren selected some books he needed from the bookshelf: "Developing from the Basic Transfiguration Laws of Gamp", "Basic Material Properties of Potions", and "Underlying Principles of Simple Spells". These correspond to Transfiguration Charms, Potions, and basic yet not-so-basic knowledge of spells, much like the relationship between the Abel group and addition up to ten.

The King of Books' experience: Once you've built a basic knowledge system from the ground up, learning becomes much easier.

Hermione arrived at the library shortly afterward, which didn't surprise Loren and Harry. However, she wasn't looking at textbooks or any other materials; she seemed to be engrossed in a novel, her head buried in it, occasionally letting out a small smile.

Loren was drowsy from reading a thick book when he looked up and saw Hermione staring at the book with bright eyes, occasionally laughing to reveal her cute front teeth before pursing her lips.

"Wandering with werewolves?" Loren read aloud as he looked at the book cover.

Hermione looked up, her expression still cheerful: "Yes, I saw you bought this book at Flourish and Blotts. It's also in the library, so I looked it up and took a look."

Loren was somewhat surprised: "I was hoping to find some books about werewolves and some information about them. But I found out that this book didn't have much content at all."

Hermione frowned. She really liked the book, and since you can't talk too loudly in the library, she leaned closer and questioned, "Why do you say that? The story in this book is very exciting, and it's based on the author's real experiences."

Loren noticed that the little witch had very thick eyebrows and kept some distance: "There's not much knowledge about werewolves in it; most of it describes or highlights how wise and powerful the author himself is."

He paused, then added, "If this experience hadn't been so fascinating, the book would have been terrible; the author's narcissism practically oozes out of the page."

Loren didn't mention that even those exciting experiences were tricked and stolen by Lockhart. He knew Lockhart was a fraud when he bought the book, but he still hoped to learn some useful werewolf knowledge to help Grandpa Bates. Unfortunately, he was almost blinded by that man's smile.

Hermione thought back for a moment. She hadn't noticed it when she was immersed in the story, but now that she looked at it from a different perspective, it really felt like the author was repeatedly praising himself, and even the smiling illustrations in the book seemed glaring.

Hermione found herself somewhat helplessly unable to refute it; it seemed to be true. She had been studying day and night, and finally had a way to relax, but now she couldn't concentrate on her books, and was even a little annoyed with Loren: "Then what are you looking at?"

Loren spread his hands to show the content, which was all for higher grades. Hermione then began to instruct, "These books contain content that we will encounter later. We should first learn the material in the textbooks."

Loren also tried to change Hermione's mind: "Reading by rote and memorizing won't work. Understanding the principles and organizing the knowledge system will make learning faster and easier."

This touched upon the professor's authority in Hermione's eyes. "Do you really know more about magic than the professor?" Her voice was almost shrill. "Then why didn't the professor teach these things first?!"

Mrs. Pince appeared behind the two of them instantly and smacked them on the back of the head: "Get out! This is not the place for you to argue!" She kicked them out of the library.

Harry thought it was a good thing that wasn't a topic he could get involved in. Why think so much? Just learn what the teacher teaches. He just couldn't understand these people; they were really strange.

"Ah~" Harry yawned, feeling sleepy. He hadn't slept well last night.

Otherwise, I should go back and catch up on my sleep first, and then deal with my homework later. Once I had this thought, I couldn't do my homework anymore.

The atmosphere between Loren and Hermione remained tense after they were kicked out.

Loren found it strange. If you disagree with my idea, just say so. Why are you so angry?

Hermione also found it strange; she shouldn't be so excited, but she just couldn't help it.

The two parted ways at the top of the stairs. Hermione couldn't concentrate on her book for a moment, and she wandered aimlessly around the castle. When she reached the third floor, she found herself in a room filled with trophies, medals, and the like.

Hermione looked around and saw the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup, all polished and neatly arranged in display cases... as well as group photos of players from all four House Quidditch teams throughout the years.

Among the many unfamiliar faces, the figure of a girl caught her attention. The girl in the photo sensed Hermione's gaze and jumped up happily to wave at her.

Hermione knew that the photo had been developed with developing chemicals, and that's why she recorded the girl's actions at the time. But this was Professor McGonagall!

Although the girl in the photo is younger and has a vibrant energy that Professor McGonagall doesn't have now, she is still easily recognizable.

Hermione was very surprised. She never imagined that Professor McGonagall was a Quidditch player when she was a student. She was so energetic and unrestrained, completely different from how she is now.

After pausing in front of the photograph for a while, Hermione continued walking, and soon made another discovery—it was a small, gilded shield set on top of a larger one, with the following inscription on it:

Seeker

James Porter

1971

(End of this chapter)