A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

She plans to work late into the night.

Pushing open the door to the lounge, I found that the other young wizards had already gone back, leaving only two people.

“Harry, Ron?” Hermione asked, somewhat surprised.

“Hey, we didn’t see you at dinner, so we thought you probably didn’t go. This is for you.” Ron pointed to the table in front of him, where food wrapped in parchment was soaked through, leaving an oily stain.

Hermione covered her mouth, trying hard not to cry.

Harry laughed and said, "We can't help with the paper, that's all we can do. Good luck, Hermione, you're the smartest person I've ever known."

Hermione nodded emphatically.

The two left, and Hermione opened the parchment to find two pies inside, which she ate with gusto.

She was alone in the quiet lounge.

The next day, Monday, Hermione was in a daze all day, and while practicing Transfiguration, she almost mistook Harry for her Transfiguration subject.

At noon, she had to go to the infirmary.

She had no classes during the second period in the afternoon, so she planned to finish reading the last two books. She had stayed up all night and had already finished her thesis, but she felt that she had to finish reading the books, as it might add some new content to her thesis.

But she was too tired, and when Harry finished his Quidditch practice, he found Hermione asleep in the common room.

"Hermione, Hermione?"

“Harry?” Hermione opened her eyes sleepily, her hair even more frizzy and messy.

She quickly came to her senses and screamed, "What time is it, Harry? What time is it?"

“Eight-thirty, Hermione,” Fred, who had just finished training, replied. “I’ll never forget that bastard Wood. On the first weekend of school, we trained until eight o’clock. And starting the second week, he went even further.”

Wood, standing to the side, looked exasperated. "I'm still here!"

Not only him, but all the Gryffindor team members were there, covered in mud and too exhausted to speak.

Hermione jumped up and hurriedly ran outside. After only a few steps, she turned back, quickly tidied up the parchment on the table, muttered something to herself, and after confirming that everything was in order, grabbed her satchel and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

"She's such a hardworking and studious girl," commented player Angelina.

Chapter 24 Thesis

The office of the professor of ancient runes.

Felix finished his day of teaching. He had three classes today, but half of the time was spent on exams, ostensibly to "understand the students' learning progress." In his previous life, this had a professional term: "diagnostic assessment."

Diagnostic assessment is defined as an evaluation of a student’s current level of development at the beginning of a semester or a unit.

Using it here is quite fitting.

The other half of the class time was spent reviewing previously learned material. This greatly disappointed the young wizards, who had hoped to continue their magical puppet battles.

Fortunately, the professor told them that they would see him in the next class, and that there would be an extra reward for good performance.

Felix was watching a movie in his office, and he was watching it very intently.

Bang bang bang!

A series of urgent knocks interrupted his leisure time. He opened the door and saw Hermione, who was out of breath.

"Professor... I'm sorry, I... I fell asleep and missed... the time!"

Hermione's chest heaved violently, her face flushed red, and a thin layer of sweat dampened her hair.

Seeing the little witch's anxious expression, Felix told her not to worry and led her into the office.

"Please sit down."

Hermione obediently sat down, only to belatedly realize that a movie was being projected onto the wall in front of her.

She turned her head left and right and quickly spotted a projector.

Hermione was a little confused. Was she still half asleep? Wasn't Hogwarts supposed to forbid the use of Muggle products?

However, she didn't dare to move around and could only watch the content projected. After watching for a few minutes, she found that, hey, it was actually quite interesting.

The movie tells the story of a princess who visits Rome and unexpectedly encounters a reporter. It's clear that the movie is quite old, but the story is told very well and makes it hard not to get absorbed in it.

I happened to see a scene where the princess hit a thug on the head with her violin.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

Upon hearing footsteps, she immediately suppressed her smile and sat up straight.

Felix held out a drink to her, saying, "This is butterbeer. I added a little euphoria and dream potion. They'll release little by little and help you get a good night's sleep when you get back."

“Thank you, Professor Hyp.” Hermione took a sip; the taste was a little strange, but not unpleasant. She found herself feeling refreshed, the fatigue of the past week completely gone.

Remembering her purpose, she quickly opened her bag, pulled out seven sheets of parchment, and handed them to Felix. "Professor, these are my papers."

Felix took the paper and started reading it. At the same time, without looking up, he waved his wand, and several small plates of snacks flew to Hermione. "You can eat something first and watch a movie. You probably haven't had time for entertainment lately."

Hearing Felix's words, she realized with a start that she had missed dinner again, and every cell in her body was complaining to her.

She blushed slightly, ate her snacks in small bites, and occasionally glanced at the professor who was engrossed in reading the paper. Seeing that he showed no intention of looking up, she quietly quickened her pace.

Before she knew it, she had finished her butterbeer and eaten three small plates of snacks, and the movie was coming to an end.

The feeling of fullness lifted Hermione's spirits once again.

She turned to look at the professor and found that he had already finished reading the paper and was now engrossed in reading a book.

"Professor, I'm sorry..."

Felix looked up, a smile in his eyes. "I thought you really liked the movie."

Hermione: "..."

“Alright, let’s talk about your paper.” Felix quickly changed the subject, fearing the girl might be shy. He picked up Hermione’s paper and praised it, “A very good paper.”

"The logic is rigorous, the writing is smooth, and it cites material from eighteen books, with each piece of evidence being just right..."

Hermione lowered her head, feeling a little embarrassed by the praise.

“Congratulations, you are now my assistant.” Felix stood up and walked over to her.

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Really? Ah! Professor, I... I'm so excited!"

“You deserve it,” Felix said gently. “You’ve put in tremendous effort, far exceeding my expectations.”

Hermione wanted to cry; her week had been so tough.

"As my assistant, you will inevitably have to dedicate extra time to me from now on..."

"Professor, I will try my best!"

“No, no, you misunderstood me,” Felix smiled. “You reap what you sow. Therefore—”

"Fifty points for Gryffindor, each semester."

……

Hermione returned to the common room somewhat dazed. Harry and Ron were playing wizard chess, while the twins huddled in a corner, holding a piece of parchment and whispering to each other.

When Hermione entered, many young wizards looked up. Rumors spread the fastest, and they already knew that Hermione might become the new professor's assistant.

Felix, who just finished giving a public lecture, is currently enjoying great popularity.

Harry jumped up quickly, scribbling the chess pieces aside haphazardly. "Hermione, what's the result?"

"Hey! I'm about to checkmate him," Ron muttered irritably, though his mind wasn't really on the chessboard.

"I succeeded," Hermione announced the result directly.

"Yo-ho! Cheers to Miss Know-It-All from Gryffindor! She's become the youngest teaching assistant at Hogwarts!" the twins cheered, scrambling around the common room with their hands behind their backs, mimicking the movements of an airplane.

Several fireworks went off with a "bang," and the lounge was filled with joy. A group of young wizards gathered around to offer their blessings to Hermione, ignoring her whispered explanation that she was "not a teaching assistant, but an assistant."

The twins disappeared for a while, then returned with a large bag of various foods, adding to the cheerful atmosphere of the lounge.

Professor McGonagall was also summoned halfway through; she pursed her lips and remained silent, seemingly pondering how many points to deduct from Gryffindor.

“Professor McGonagall, we’re celebrating Hermione becoming a teaching assistant,” the twins quickly explained.

Professor McGonagall glanced quickly at Hermione, and seeing her nod, she couldn't help but smile. "That's true... but... you should all keep your voices down." Professor McGonagall quickly conceded.

"Is this your paper?" Professor McGonagall looked past the cheering crowd at the parchment in Hermione's hand.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall."

McGonagall picked up the parchment, first counting the number of sheets in surprise, before quickly looking at it.

The text contains both Hermione's original text and Felix's added annotations.

Professor McGonagall initially translated quickly, but soon slowed down. Although Hermione's paper was more like a review, it was very concise and clear, almost completely retracing the development of ancient runes.

Basically, anyone who reads Hermione's paper will have a fairly comprehensive understanding of ancient runes.

"A very good paper; I think it deserves to be published in a journal."

“I still have a long way to go. Professor Hyp helped me correct a lot of things,” Hermione whispered.

Professor McGonagall was also somewhat speechless. In her opinion, Hermione's paper was already excellent, but Felix was able to offer even more feedback, which showed the outstanding graduate's skill in ancient runes.

However, Felix's annotations were not about pointing out mistakes, but rather something like "I suggest reading pages 172-174 of 'Ancient Rune History' to deepen your understanding," which essentially meant that Hermione's thinking was not deep enough.

“He’s too harsh.” Even Professor McGonagall, known for her strictness, couldn’t help but side with Hermione.

“Professor Hyp thinks I’m qualified, and his comments are what I need to do next,” Hermione explained.

Professor McGonagall nodded, looking at the paper with increasing delight.

"Here's what we'll do: once you've revised your paper according to Professor Haip's annotations, I'll submit it to a friend of mine, and maybe it'll have a chance to be published."

The young wizards all wore expressions of reverence for their boss.

Chapter 25 is now open!

The next morning, when the young wizards woke up to find that Gryffindor's house points had suddenly increased by fifty points, putting them in the lead in the House Cup, they all asked what had happened the day before.

And so it was announced that Hermione would become the new professor of Ancient Runes' assistant.

Gryffindor was naturally the proudest, but the other houses couldn't help but have some complaints. How could a second-year student who had just started school become a professor's assistant?