Bring a fairy tale to Hogwarts!

Ron and Harry were talking about what happened in their afternoon Charms class. Today they learned the Levitation Charm, which requires very precise pronunciation. If you accidentally pronounce the "f" as an "s," you might find yourself lying on the floor with a bison on your chest.

So, in class, Hermione, who had particularly good grades, took the initiative to correct her classmates' pronunciation mistakes, especially her partner Ron...

This, of course, only had the opposite effect.

Ron was enraged.

No one wants their classmates to point out their mistakes behind their back, word by word. It's like being interrupted every time you say a word while learning a foreign language, and having your pronunciation forcibly corrected—it's not a matter of right or wrong, but rather like being accused of not being smart enough to learn it the first time.

But Hermione encountered a stumbling block when correcting Harry, which made Ron less annoyed.

"It seems so," Harry thought for a moment and said, "She was going to say that there was something wrong with my gestures, but before she could finish, I cast the Levitation Charm, and Professor Flitwick even gave Gryffindor three points."

"Ah, that's it," Ron said with some satisfaction. "She's not always right, is she? Why does she always have to point fingers at others?"

The two were whispering to each other in a corner of the Gryffindor dining table, but their conversation was not discreet and was soon overheard by Hermione, who was sitting a few seats next to them.

Hermione was talking to her roommate Parvati Petit when she heard Ron's words. She turned around with a wrinkled nose, looking like an angry Chow Chow.

"...I told you that the gesture she used to correct me was..."

She strode over and glared at Ron, who was speaking:

"My gesture was correct; you were clearly in the wrong!"

Harry and Ron stopped talking and looked at Hermione.

Hermione then spoke very quickly:

"According to the markings in 'Standard Spells - Beginner' and 'Magic Theory,' the hand gesture for casting the Levitation Charm is to lightly flick the wrist and then draw a downward arc of at least two inches—you only did half the action correctly when you cast the spell in class."

"Furthermore, when pronouncing it, you can't put the stress on the 'd'; instead, you have to pronounce the 'jia' in the middle clearly and for a long time..."

She listed a long string of questions about Ron and Harry's spellcasting, then stood with her hands on her hips, looking at them, and concluded:

"You were lucky to succeed this afternoon. If you don't fix your spellcasting technique, you won't get an O on the final exam."

Harry retorted, "My success wasn't by chance."

"Weren't you listening to me? Your spellcasting method doesn't match the textbook..."

Hermione was interrupted by Harry before she could finish speaking.

Harry said seriously:

"Although my spellcasting method doesn't conform to the textbook, it's not wrong. Another book I read said that many adult wizards speed up spellcasting by shortening certain steps."

"Therefore, in most spells, performing only the most important core action will still be effective."

With that, Harry pulled his wand from the inside pocket of his cloak and said briefly, pointing to a plate on the table:

"Yugadim, Leviosa!"

Harry's hand trembled slightly, making a brief, symbolic gesture in the air—

Then the plate in front of him slowly rose up and floated a few inches above the table.

Hermione was speechless.

"Look," Harry said, turning to look at her.

Hermione paused for a long time, her expression somewhat blank, before finally saying after a few seconds, "...Which book did you see this casting method in? I've read 'A Brief History of Magic' and 'Standard Spells, Intermediate,' and I haven't seen this description before."

"From Blood to Curses," Harry said. "It's the book the professor gave me, with lots of spell-casting notes in small print. I practiced all summer according to what was written in it, and I got most of the spells I tried right."

"All right……"

"But the textbook is the most standard, so I think we should follow it when casting the spell."

Hermione was no longer as aggressive as before, but she was still a little awkward. After saying that, she turned away.

Ron then grimaced even more, rolled his eyes at her departing figure, and then complained to Harry in a low voice.

"Why is she so nosy? What you did was clearly reasonable, but she still insists on what the book said... No wonder everyone can't stand her."

But after he finished speaking, Hermione, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped in her tracks, and a few seconds later rushed out of the Great Hall and slammed the door shut with a low thud.

"Bang!"

"...She seems to have heard what you said." Harry looked over.

"So what?" Ron said, a hint of unease in his voice, but he still retorted, "She must have noticed that she doesn't have a single friend at school."

But after a few seconds, Ron fell silent, looking very uncomfortable. After a while, he looked at the plate full of chicken in front of him and began to silently stuff meat into his mouth.

Harry glanced worriedly in the direction Hermione had disappeared, but didn't say anything more.

To be honest, he also couldn't stand Hermione—Hermione would always scold every student who might lose points, making everyone avoid her.

The two spent most of the banquet in this somber atmosphere.

But to their surprise, just over ten minutes later, the auditorium door was suddenly forced open.

It's Quirrell.

His large scarf was askew on his head, and his face was filled with terror. Everyone stared at him as he stumbled into the center of the auditorium, panting, "The troll—in the underground classroom—I thought you knew—"

After saying that, he collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.

The auditorium erupted in uproar.

The students were in complete chaos. Professor Dumbledore had to make his wand explode with purple smoke several times before they quieted down.

"Prefect," he said in a deep voice, "take all the students from each college to their dormitories immediately!"

"Professors, come with me—"

As Dumbledore spoke, Harry subconsciously looked up at the teachers' table and suddenly noticed that several seats were empty.

……

Ten minutes ago.

Hermione covered her eyes, hurriedly pushed open the doors of the Great Hall, and ran through the empty school corridors. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She certainly heard what Ron said.

After all, everyone was around the same table, so even if they lowered their voices, it was impossible for them not to hear.

Hermione then ran out of the Great Hall entrance, down a flight of spiral stairs, as if trying to find a place to shrink into herself. But because she wasn't paying attention, she bumped into someone while going down the stairs—

"what!"

Hermione stumbled and fell to the ground after bumping into the man's arm.

"...Miss Granger?"

That person said this.

When Hermione recovered from the dizziness of the fall, she looked up and saw Victor in his black cloak.