Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 771 Mrs. Granger's Excellent Parenting Skills

mid-September.

Two weeks into the new semester, in the late summer and early autumn season, the lingering summer heat is making its last stand, and the weather is somewhat muggy.

The crickets chirped louder and louder, making their final struggle—if they didn't mate soon, they would die alone. Crookshanks often took Mrs. Lorris to catch these annoying creatures.

Perhaps because students and professors often stroll in the courtyard, the crickets here have become desensitized. They don't even run away when two bad cats approach, and eventually become toys under the cats' paws.

The two cats frequently roamed through the grass in the yard, and when they returned to the common room at night, they were always covered in grass blades.

Students went to and from school, and the administrator patrolled and cleaned. Loren inevitably ran into Filch. For several days in a row, the administrator always had a gloomy face, which left Loren completely confused.

If the sun is just right, warm but not scorching, Crookshanks and Mrs. Lorris will stroll around the grounds basking in the sun. Students from the Magical Creatures and Herbs classes sometimes encounter them, rummaging through their pockets for snacks and teasing them.

Unfortunately, the cat didn't appreciate it.

Crookshank isn't good-looking enough; with its persimmon-like face, it doesn't get many snacks. It can only earn some biscuits and nuts with its glossy, ginger-yellow fur. Mrs. Lorris, on the other hand, has been spoiled by Filch. Forget about gray squirrel meat strips and fish-shaped crackers; those are for owls. She only eats handmade roasted beef jerky.

The two cats would occasionally take a walk by the lake, where they would sometimes run into idle seventh-grade students, such as a certain couple who often read books and newspapers under the trees. Crookshank wouldn't rush over to fawn over them; it would only look up and greet them as it passed by. The couple, engrossed in their romance and taking a break to read, would only glance at it indifferently and ignore it.

Today was no different. Hermione was sitting under the red maple tree by the lake, flipping through a recent issue of the Daily Prophet, while Loren leaned on her shoulder, munching on a green apple.

Produced by Malfoy Family Orchard.

According to Draco, this is one of the few remaining fixed assets of their family. They also own dozens of shops, over a dozen farms across the country, and shares in over a dozen chain stores…

However, overall, the income of pure-blood families has decreased sharply, the influence of the Malfoy family has gradually weakened, and it has been a long time since we have heard news about the Malfoy family in public.

For example, when the fountain statue in the main hall of the Ministry of Magic was unveiled recently, newspapers published a photo of the famous wizards. In the past, Lucius would always dress up carefully and stand next to the minister at similar events, but this time Lucius was nowhere to be seen. The report only briefly mentioned that the cost of making the statue was donated by the Malfoy family.

The Malfoy family has never been this low-key in centuries.

The subsequent trial and extradition of the Death Eaters are proceeding smoothly, and related news is no longer new.

Even more noteworthy was the Ministry of Magic's internal investigation, which resulted in the dismissal and investigation of several high-ranking officials. The Department of International Cooperation was particularly hard hit, as almost all of its core staff were spokespeople for pure-blood families. Whenever there was a product inspection, they would leak the news in advance to protect the pure-blood families' import and export trade.

There are also proposals to ban traded goods, which are all tactics used by pure-blood families to squeeze out their competitors. For example, the Selwyn family, which is deeply involved in the flying broom industry, bribed employees to ban portable flying products such as flying carpets...

This investigation has completely plugged similar loopholes. The Department of International Affairs and Cooperation has released a new list of traded goods and is even preparing to host flight racing competitions.

Hermione quickly skimmed the newspaper, summarizing the recent events in her mind. While organizing her thoughts, she asked Loren, "You rejected Nott and their offer, so why did you then propose a business deal with them? What do you plan to have them do?"

"Click..."

Loren chewed on the apple pulp: "Although these pure-blood families are currently at a disadvantage, their channels and connections are rare resources, and they also have a sufficient talent pool. With their help, the promotion of the new space teleportation device after graduation will be much smoother, and they can also benefit from it. It's a win-win situation."

Hermione nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.

This person has always been lazy and careless, and didn't even put much effort into dealing with Voldemort, so why is he so enthusiastic about promoting the new spatial teleportation device?

"Click..."

Loren, oblivious to her gaze, swallowed the last bite of fruit and casually tossed the apple core into the bushes.

It is the season when ants and insects store food for winter. A single fruit pit can help many ants survive the cold winter, and it might even sprout new branches the following year. In a way, it can be considered that our ancestors planted the tree.

The only problem is the juice stains on my fingers.

Glancing at Hermione, who was deep in thought, Loren got up and went to the lake to wash his hands. Then he tiptoed back, reached out and placed his hand on Hermione's shoulder, kneading and massaging it.

"Hermione..."

"?"

Hermione silently turned her head: "Tell me, what topic do you want to use to distract me and make me ignore the fact that you're wiping the lake water from your hands on my clothes?"

Loren continued the massage, pretending not to hear: "Your birthday is coming up soon, is there anything you want for your birthday?"

"What gift did you originally plan to give?"

"An improved two-way spatial teleportation device, connecting places like The Burrow and 12 Grimmauld Place."

"Why did you change your mind?"

"Flameme and I are designing a better device that can transmit over a longer distance. The original device feels a bit rudimentary. However, the new device is still under development and cannot be manufactured yet, so I'm asking if you have any gifts you'd like to receive."

"..."

I wanted to give you the best, so I felt the original gift was not appropriate.

Hermione lowered her eyes, staring into his eyes, her expression gentle: "Actually, there's no need to prepare gifts every year. We'll have a long time together in the future, and we'll spend every birthday together. That's something more precious than any gift."

"Emmm..."

Loren insisted, "It's still my eighteenth birthday, so we should have some kind of celebration."

"Is it absolutely necessary to give a gift?"

Hermione's eyes flickered, and she asked softly.

Loren shook his shoulders impatiently: "Speak up, speak up!"

"Let's make this clear beforehand: I don't actually need the gift, but you insisted on asking me about it. If the gift I suggested makes you feel uncomfortable, just refuse it directly. Don't make excuses, complain, or repeatedly try to persuade me to give it up."

"How is that possible—"

Loren was about to agree immediately when he suddenly paused, stopped what he was doing, and looked at her expression with a puzzled expression.

"Something's not right... Are you trying to provoke me?"

Loren frowned slightly, lost in thought.

Miss Know-It-All is no longer the bookish girl she used to be. Her emotional intelligence and IQ are only slightly lower than his. She won't be foolish enough to expose other people's shortcomings anymore, and of course, she won't mention any outrageous gifts. She said that just to block his escape route and provoke him to agree directly.

Strange.

Since it wasn't an unreasonable gift request, why did she resort to reverse psychology?

Hermione turned a page of the newspaper, her expression feigning calmness, but her tone was gentle: "It's just that I'm being considerate of my boyfriend."

This woman has a sweet tongue!

But this made Loren even more cautious.

After careful and thorough consideration, Loren decided that he could accept the gift. With the Elder Wand and the Philosopher's Stone, even if she really wanted the stars in the sky, he could give it a try. If all else failed, he could always ask Grandpa Bates for help with his money.

I've already made up my mind, but I'll remain cautious on the surface.

Loren hesitated for a moment, then raised his chin: "You tell me first."

Hermione pursed her lips and remained silent for a moment, then a slow smile curved her lips. She knew this meant he had agreed, so she put down her newspaper, turned her head, and leaned closer, staring into his eyes:

"My birthday is on a Friday, and there's only one Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

"so what?"

Loren felt a sense of foreboding rising in his heart, but this woman had been getting too close for too long, and even shamelessly rubbed her nose against his. At this distance, he could clearly feel her breath, warm and ticklish, and his little heart was pounding wildly.

Who taught her that?!

Hermione met his gaze with her beautiful eyes, her soft voice almost a whisper: "After class, I want you to turn into a cat and stay with me all day."

"!"

Loren's neck turned slightly red, but remembering Hermione's warning not long ago, the words of refusal stuck in his throat, and he couldn't bring himself to say them.

"I don't actually need the gift, you just kept pestering me to ask..."

"If the gift I suggested makes you feel uncomfortable, you can just refuse..."

"Don't try to persuade me to give up by making irrelevant excuses and complaints."

The echo seemed to linger, still reverberating in my ears like the chirping of crickets—so annoying!

"Hermione, we're not little kids anymore. I think we should be more mature and composed..."

"We should be frank and honest. Now tell me, is it yes or no?"

"Hermione, I feel I need to remind you that my eighteenth birthday hasn't arrived yet..." Loren's expression was solemn, his speech slow, deliberately leaving the rest of the threat unsaid.

You'd better leave yourself some leeway.

"hey-hey……"

As someone once said, what will Miss Granger be forced to agree to next year, and what does that have to do with Hermione, who is about to have a happy birthday?

Hermione chuckled twice, mimicking his tone, her whole being radiating genuine joy: "So you agree?"

"..."

Loren remained silent, lowering his head to concentrate on reading the newspaper.

This woman thought she had gotten the better deal, but in reality, she had already forgotten about wiping her hands; it was a draw, a win and a loss. And what's more, something even worse awaits her next summer.

In the long run, the advantage still lies with us!

Hermione, standing beside him, was still staring at him with a smile, a gaze that sent chills down his spine.

"Emmm..."

Loren suddenly felt the grass was a bit prickly, so he got up, patted his bottom, and said as if to himself, "I have to go back to the dorm. Simon and Dean are planning this year's group night outing, and they can't do it without my help."

"..."

Hermione watched his figure gradually disappear into the distance, a pleasant smile curving her lips and eyes.

……

Gryffindor Tower, the boys' dormitory.

Crystal-clear runic characters floated in the room, drifting along a clearly directional pull, landing in the correct positions, and combining to form obscure and complex alchemical arrays. The arrangement of the patterns and characters conformed to hidden magical laws, exuding a unique beauty.

As the last set of runes was inlaid into the alchemical array, Loren closed the Book of Fantasy. The initial design of the new spatial teleportation device was now complete. By simultaneously guiding the soul and body to teleport, it completely eliminated the discomfort caused by the pressure and strain on the body during spatial teleportation, improving the riding experience while significantly increasing the teleportation distance.

However, the ideal model still needs to be transformed into a physical device, undergo relevant tests, identify problems, and make adjustments.

According to Loren and Flamel's speculation, the current model has a flaw—the magic consumption increases exponentially with distance.

Traditional methods of spatial teleportation mainly consisted of apparition, Floo Net, and Portkey. Apparition was the most common general-purpose magic, and ordinary adult wizards could use it repeatedly once they mastered it. The distance was directly related to the caster, and theoretically, as long as the caster was skilled and energetic, they could even travel around the world in a short time.

The Floo Network, a spatial portal constructed by the Ministry of Magic, allows wizards to traverse half a continent with just a handful of Floo Powder, without the need for spellcasting. Repeated teleportation allows for world travel. Portkeys work similarly, but are more cumbersome to use.

The new spatial teleportation device is similar to the Floo Network for short-distance transmission. However, for ultra-long-distance teleportation, the magic resources consumed per unit distance are thousands of times that of the Floo Network.

On the other hand, such spatial teleportation devices require the establishment of a beacon system, similar to base stations for telecommunications signals, and occasionally signal towers, which consumes astronomical amounts of material resources.

"I told you it was a big deal..."

Loren stretched, stuffed the Book of Fantasy into his pendant, and walked out of the dormitory. He saw small groups of people gathered in the common room, all of them seventh-grade students who were about to graduate, chattering about tonight's night tour.

Several roommates gathered around the sofa.

Loren sat down beside him and asked with interest, "When does it start?"

"Let's start once the lights are out," Simo said, equally eager to try.

"What are the specific arrangements?"

Dean lowered his voice: "We plan to revisit the rooms where the adventures took place, the underground passage where the Philosopher's Stone was hidden, the secret room connecting to the restrooms, and the restricted section of the library..."

How many people participated in total?

"The entire seventh grade of Gryffindor is participating, and people from other houses are also responding, but the number is uncertain."

"If I get caught this time, ugh..."

Loren found the thought of it exciting.

Tonight is the graduation night out that Simon and Dean planned during the summer vacation. They felt that since they were about to graduate and leave, they wanted to have a real adventure with their friends and partners.

The timing of the event today was pre-arranged. Since the new school year had just begun and the various colleges hadn't yet accumulated their college points, even if more students were caught violating school rules, the college's points would at most be reduced to zero, without affecting the college cup competition. The four founders never imagined that the gem scoring system would have such a loophole.

(End of this chapter)