Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

"There's a new operation, Hermione!"

When Harry pulled Ron out, Hermione was the only one left in the common room, quietly reading a book. She was curled up in a ball on the soft sofa, sunlight streaming through the window and falling on her hair, giving her a look that Harry couldn't quite describe.

Hermione heard Harry's call, looked up slightly, closed the book in her hand, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

"Hermione, please save my thesis before you say it!" Ron said with a mournful face, waving the parchment in his hand that had been cleaned of ink stains.

"No problem," Hermione replied, drawing her wand and gently waving it in the air. The tangled ink immediately coalesced into a line, flying off the parchment and disappearing from the tip of the wand.

"What operation, Harry?"

Harry repeated what Dobby had said to Hermione, then excitedly exclaimed, "...So, let's go to the Room of Requirement and ambush him!"

"Don't rush me, Harry." Hermione shook her head slightly, tapping her fingers on the book, and said, "Dobby used the phrase 'different people,' didn't he?"

"Uh...yes, I'm sure!" Harry wasn't sure why Hermione was asking this, but his years of habit led him to give the answer directly.

"That's right!" Hermione said. "Harry, do you remember what was in the Potions classroom? A huge vat of it, he could steal some in that class..."

"Compound Soup!" Harry clapped his hands excitedly. "That's it, just like that!"

"There are no two different people, just Crabbe and Goyle! Only those two would blindly obey Malfoy's orders!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go stop them now!"

"Wait, Harry, don't get too excited. Remember what I told you before? You can't get into the Room of Requirement if you don't know what's inside..." Hermione said seriously. "And don't forget, you should be focusing your energy on dealing with Slughorn right now."

"This...it's alright, I can keep an eye on things using the Marauder's Map. As for Slughorn...damn it, why did everything have to happen all at once!"

"It's not that complicated, Harry. You just haven't figured out what's important... Malfoy isn't important compared to Slughorn's memories," Hermione said. "Perhaps you could try talking to him properly instead of using magic or potions. If that worked, Dumbledore could do it himself."

"But Malfoy..."

"Harry, can you prioritize? Don't forget that Dumbledore was somewhat dissatisfied with your previous performance, and clearly, I'm more inclined to believe Dumbledore than your own judgment... At least in his eyes, Malfoy wasn't as important as that memory..."

"Well... okay, okay, I'll try, I'll try..."

Hermione looked at Harry, who was agreeing repeatedly, and shook her head slightly. She knew very well that Harry was clearly not listening to what she had said.

Perhaps in his heart, Malfoy was more important than anything else...

The next morning, Hermione had two classes: first, an Ancient Rune class, and then a Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Harry and Ron. After breakfast, she parted ways with Harry and Ron.

In fact, Ron accompanied her for a while because he needed to return to his dormitory to finish the paper Snape had asked him to write; he was still missing the ending. Meanwhile, Harry, under the cloak of invisibility, used the time before Defense Against the Dark Arts class to keep an eye on Malfoy.

Clearly, he gained nothing and even made himself a minute late.

"Gryffindor loses ten points for your lateness, Potter." Snape glanced coldly at Harry, then lifted his robes, gesturing for the students who hadn't yet taken their seats to sit down.

Harry was furious. He could see clearly that more than half the class, including Hermione and Ron, hadn't sat down yet, so he obviously wasn't that late.

"Before class begins, I want to see your papers. Hopefully, they'll be better than the last one." Snape waved his wand, and sheets of parchment flew up and landed neatly on the podium in front of him. "I really hope they're better than the last one on how to resist the Persecuting Curse, although that's impossible..."

Snape began his lesson on the Cruciatus Curse. Clearly, NEWTs were a completely different level of difficulty from OWLs; at least, the textbooks hadn't included anything about the Unforgivable Curse. Although everyone disliked Snape, given the current situation, they chose to listen attentively, since no one could be sure they wouldn't encounter some truly ruthless dark wizards.

Except for Harry, of course.

Because the outdoor search yielded nothing, and coupled with Snape's continued practice of deducting points for trivial matters, Harry was seething with anger throughout the entire class. Several times, he was about to stand up and confront Snape, but Ron and Hermione pulled him back from either side. However, it was clear that these small actions didn't escape Snape's notice, and Harry was punished accordingly—Gryffindor lost another ten points for a substandard classroom answer.

This lesson was incredibly difficult; both Harry and Ron were subjected to Snape's sarcastic remarks. Harry's were because of questions Snape didn't care about, while Ron's were because of Apparition. Months passed, and of the three, only he remained unable to succeed.

This was frustrating for Ron, and he had to attend special training sessions at Hogsmeade on weekends—he was the only one doing this. Harry and Hermione, on the other hand, could just wait for their exams in a while; at their level, passing would be a breeze.

Over the weekend, Harry and Hermione saw Ron off at the school gates and then turned to head towards the castle, not wanting to linger for even a second longer. Ron wasn't alone; Lavender, who was also going to pass her exams, chose to keep him company, and their clingy behavior was quite uncomfortable. Therefore, they preferred to forgo their rare opportunity to relax at Hogsmeade.

"Hermione, how about you come with me to ambush Malfoy this time..."

On the way, Harry hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question.

"You might as well go straight to Slughorn's office and get that memory," Hermione replied.

"I've been trying, but I never get a chance to be alone with him!" Harry said, somewhat frustrated. "He disappears as soon as get out of class is over, and when I go to find him, he won't open the door. Once I even heard a gramophone coming from inside!"

"That just means you haven't tried hard enough, Harry..."

"Fine, fine, I'll go myself..." Harry said impatiently, quickening his pace slightly.

Seeing this, Hermione shook her head helplessly, caught up with Harry in a few steps, and patted his arm.

"I didn't say I wasn't going, Harry..."