Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 270 The Two Most Outstanding People of This Era

From the moment she arrived at Badley Barberton until she met Horace, Hermione barely spoke, remaining quiet and reserved, which made it easy to overlook her presence.

Not only Horace, but even Harry's attention barely lingered on Hermione.

However, everyone's eyes were now fixed on Hermione, who remained quiet. Harry was even more dumbfounded, his eyes looking as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Ten...twelve O's?" Harry swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

"Yes, twelve O's." Hermione smiled sweetly, tilted her head slightly, and nodded gently to Harry.

"..."

Harry was speechless. Even though he knew Hermione was exceptional, he hadn't expected her to receive top marks in all twelve subjects—a rare occurrence in the history of the OWLs. There were people who received all twelve certificates; Bill and Percy had both done it, but even they hadn't achieved such an incredible feat as Hermione's perfect O's!

Horace took another sip of mead, but his slightly trembling hand betrayed his inner turmoil. Dumbledore watched his trembling hand with a smile, then suddenly put down his cup and stood up, startling Horace awake.

"Are you leaving?" he asked.

"No, I just wanted to use your restroom. I drank too much mead today," Dumbledore said with a smile.

A hint of disappointment flashed in Horace's eyes. He pointed in a direction and said, "Go into the foyer, the second door on the left."

Dumbledore nodded slightly and walked out of the living room. A moment later, the door closed. No one in the living room moved or spoke; a sudden silence fell.

After a long pause, Horace suddenly stood up and walked towards the burning fireplace, seemingly searching for something. Suddenly, he turned to Harry and Hermione, who were watching him curiously, then whirled around and shouted, "Don't think I don't know why he brought you here!"

Harry and Hermione exchanged bewildered glances, completely clueless about what Horace meant. After speaking, Horace remained silent for a while, his gaze constantly shifting between Harry and Hermione.

Suddenly, he sighed and said softly, "You look a lot like your father, Harry."

"Yes, that's what others say too." Harry glanced at Hermione with a puzzled look before turning to Horace.

"Just the eyes, the eyes..."

"Like my mother." Harry picked up the conversation naturally, his mind a complete mess, with no idea what Horace was trying to say.

“Yes, Lily Evans,” Horace said. “Although a teacher shouldn’t show favoritism towards students, I do.”

"She was one of the brightest students I ever taught. Lively, lovely, a charming girl..." Horace said, glancing at Hermione, who was staring at him with puzzled eyes. "When I found out she was Muggle-born, I couldn't believe it! I always thought someone as outstanding as her must be pure-blood."

"I'm a Muggle too," Hermione's voice rang out, tinged with pride and a barely perceptible hint of disgust. "If I'm not mistaken, that guy who gave you a hard time the other day was also a Muggle."

Harry didn't realize it, but Horace did. He quickly said, "No, no, no, I don't mean any prejudice! It's just that compared to pure-blood wizards, there are relatively fewer outstanding Muggle-born wizards..."

"Besides, didn't I just say that your mother is one of my favorite students in my life? And there's Dirk Clysway, who's a year below her and is now the head of the Goblin Liaison Office, and he's also Muggle-born."

As he spoke, he pointed to a framed photo on the wall, which showed a picture of him and a middle-aged wizard, both of them smiling happily.

Harry looked at the densely packed photos on the wall, some featuring Horace, some not, but all signed and bearing bright smiles. Horace, seeing this, immediately began to enthusiastically introduce them.

"These are all my former students. Look, this is Barnabas Goughfe, editor of the Daily Prophet; and Ambrosio Froome of Honeydukes, who gives me a gift basket every year on my birthday."

"And this...this is Gwenorg Jones, captain of the Holyhead Harpy. If I want, I can get a free ticket!"

"So, all these people know where to find you?"

"So, these are all the students you've ever taught?"

Two voices rang out simultaneously, one curious, the other somewhat cold. Horace ignored the cold one, coughed, and replied, "Of course not, I haven't contacted anyone for a year..."

"However, these days even cautious wizards try to stay out of the public eye. You all know what the situation is right now; those guys don't care about anything at all!"

"I admit Dumbledore has a point, but returning to Hogwarts at this time would be tantamount to declaring myself a supporter of the Order of the Phoenix! This...this is too dangerous..."

“You don’t have to join the Order of the Phoenix just because you’re teaching at Hogwarts,” Harry said. “Most teachers aren’t members of the Order of the Phoenix, and they haven’t been killed.”

"As long as Dumbledore remains headmaster, the staff at Hogwarts will be safer than most people. Without a doubt, Hogwarts is the safest place right now!"

"Besides, Voldemort is only afraid of him, isn't he?"

Horace shuddered upon hearing this, and his expression became somewhat unnatural.

"Yes, that person whose name can't even be mentioned certainly never got away with anything from Dumbledore, but a student of mine who works at the Ministry of Magic told me that that night at the Ministry, that person whose name can't even be mentioned and that guy from a few days ago faced off against Dumbledore head-on..."

"But they failed! Dumbledore defeated them!" Harry shouted. "I was there! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Horace glanced at Harry suspiciously, but didn't refute him. He just muttered under his breath, "Yes, I know that. My student told me... But I've also heard some rumors. The one whose name can't even be mentioned is indeed no match for Dumbledore, but the remaining one is..."

"That's my opponent," Hermione suddenly said.

Horace was taken aback by what he heard, and an incredulous expression appeared on his face, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

"I said, that's my opponent." Hermione stood up, her expression serious. Suddenly, faint golden threads appeared around her, and an mysterious magic circle appeared under her feet. This left Horace's face filled with surprise.

"I will defeat him!"

(End of this chapter)