Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

Wade initially thought it was somewhat like a game—a small group of just a few people, they'd come together if they liked each other, and break up if they didn't, so why bother with rules and regulations? But everyone else was participating very seriously, which gave Wade a strange feeling.

It's as if he really joined some mysterious organization.

……

"Rust was used as a detoxifying agent in ancient Greece and was discovered in the 16th century. To date, its medicinal value has been found to include the following: extracts from its stems and leaves can detoxify toxins; its pollen has a protective effect against the poisonous gas spewed by the basilisk; rust has been widely cultivated, and the cultivation method is as follows—note the following points during cultivation."

Wade wrote the last letter on the parchment, finishing his homework for yesterday's herbalism class. As for his homework for other subjects, he had already completed it all on the same day after class. Wade checked the grammar one last time, and after the ink dried, he rolled up the parchment.

"Wade, have you finished your homework?" Hermione asked, leaning closer.

"Correct."

“There’s something I want to tell you,” Hermione whispered.

The two moved to the other side of the classroom, and Wade waved his wand: "Turn your ears off."

—That way, no matter how loud they speak, it will only be a faint buzzing sound to other people's ears.

Seeing Hermione's worried expression, Wade asked, "What happened?"

“Here’s the thing, the day before yesterday afternoon, Malfoy challenged Harry to a midnight duel in the Prize Room. I knew immediately he was up to no good, because he doesn’t have the guts!” Hermione said angrily. “But Harry and Ron completely ignored my advice, all for the sake of what—male pride—it’s so selfish! They didn’t even consider how many points they would lose if they got caught! They don’t care about the honor of the house at all!”

Hermione took a few deep breaths to suppress her anger before continuing, "Of course, that's not the point—because we were lucky enough not to get caught, albeit very close—"

“—You guys?” Wade caught the key word.

“Yes. While I was stopping them from doing something stupid, I accidentally got locked out of the common room and had to go with both of them.” Hermione frowned, saying with disgust, “As expected, Malfoy didn’t go to the prize room, and he even tipped off Filch—that despicable guy! Then, when we were escaping, we broke into a locked room—”

Hermione suddenly lowered her voice and asked, "Wade, do you remember what Professor Dumbledore said when school started?"

Wade thought for a moment; Dumbledore's speech wasn't very long to begin with, and what impressed him most was, of course—

"Idiot! Crybaby! Trash! Twist?"

"Oh, not that!" Hermione rolled her eyes, reminding her, "It's—anyone who doesn't want to suffer an accident, a painful and gruesome death—"

"—Don't go to the fourth-floor corridor?" Wade suddenly remembered. "You guys went to the fourth floor? What did you see?"

“Yes. We accidentally ran up to the fourth floor and then saw a—” Hermione swallowed hard, a hint of lingering fear still on her face: “a three-headed dog as tall as a house!”

"—How did you guys survive?" Wade was speechless. He couldn't remember the details anymore, and he hadn't expected Hermione and the others to have started this kind of adventure so early. He said, "I remember reading about this monster in a book. Although the three-headed dog of today is not the legendary hellhound, its teeth can easily crush skulls, and its teeth are covered in corrosive poison. Wounds from being bitten by that thing are very difficult to heal."

“It probably didn’t react at first, but then it roared and pounced, and we were almost eaten!” Hermione clenched her fists, her body trembling slightly. “The school actually—actually put such a dangerous monster in the castle! It’s unbelievable! Even if they wanted to use it to guard something, what if another reckless student broke in?! Doesn’t the school consider the safety of ordinary students at all?”

Wade joked casually, "Maybe the magic school has some kind of death indicator? A few students dying every year is no big deal, and it can even serve as a wake-up call for others! Let them know they can't take the professor's words lightly!"

"—Such a thing!" Hermione exclaimed, clutching her face in horror. "But I didn't see it in 'Hogwarts: A History'—yes, of course they wouldn't write something like that in a book—it's horrible! How could the Ministry of Magic allow it—"

Wade was surprised that she didn't doubt him at all, and quickly raised his hand to apologize: "Sorry! Hermione, I was just kidding. Don't take it seriously—"

Hermione stared at him, tears welling up in her brown eyes.

Now Wade truly felt a pang of guilt. He said sincerely again, "I'm sorry, I was just joking because you seemed scared. But it seems like it's turned into a terrible joke—I'm such an idiot! Don't be angry—"

Hermione remained silent with a stern face, too angry to pay any attention to Wade for a long time.

It wasn't until practice ended and everyone else had left that Wade stopped Hermione and apologized repeatedly before finally getting the girl to relent.

Hermione lowered her head and said sullenly, "I know—nobody likes me—but I consider you a friend. Don't make fun of me like everyone else—"

Wade was incredibly soft-hearted, overwhelmed by guilt to the point where he'd slap himself in the face even in the middle of the night—because he knew Hermione hadn't had an easy time in Gryffindor, which was why she seemed so sensitive and vulnerable. He raised two fingers as if making a vow and said earnestly, "I'm sorry, I promise it will never happen again."

Hermione looked into his eyes for a long time before whispering, "A joke is only a joke if both parties feel happy."

"I understand," Wade said, ashamed. He'd actually had to rely on a real eleven-year-old girl to teach him such a simple lesson. Had he really come to see himself as a heartless little boy after being reborn?

Hermione smiled slightly as she looked at the vortex above his head.

"Alright, I'm not angry anymore." The girl coughed lightly. "Back to Cerberus—actually, I wanted to discuss with you whether I should go see Professor McGonagall."

"You want to talk to Professor McGonagall about Cerberus's safety?" Wade immediately understood what she meant.

“Yes,” Hermione said, scratching her already messy hair in annoyance. “Even though they locked the room, it can be opened with a simple lock-picking spell. What if some curious student runs in—sigh, I was thinking of suggesting to Professor McGonagall that we hide the room with powerful magic, but that would expose our violation of school rules—”

“Why not look at it from a different angle, Hermione?” Wade said after a moment’s thought. “Perhaps the door was sealed so simply so that someone would open it.”

Chapter 24 Purchasing Agency

Hermione's eyes widened slowly, clearly understanding something. She said, trembling, "So, it's that one—"

“That’s right,” Wade said. “It’s Harry Potter.”

"—Death indicator!" Hermione shouted at the same time.

The two looked at each other.

"—Harry Potter?" Hermione asked in surprise.

“…They all said it was a joke,” Wade said helplessly.

The two looked at each other again.

Hermione frowned.

Hermione gradually understood.

“No wonder…” she whispered. “Percy—the Gryffindor prefect, a fifth-year Weasley—said that Professor Dumbledore would always explain why students were forbidden from going somewhere. But this time, he only said that we were not allowed to go into the right-hand corridor on the fourth floor, without explaining why.”

“If it were stated outright that a three-headed dog was hiding there, even the Weasley twins wouldn’t go looking for their deaths, let alone Potter, who’s only a first-year student.” Wade wasn’t surprised. “The vague warning was meant to lure the curious Gryffindors—Dumbledore probably left some kind of test there.”

He recalled that Harry Potter played a live-action puzzle game in his first year of school. He and his friends each solved a puzzle using their own wisdom and abilities, and in the end, Harry used "love magic" to defeat the final boss, Voldemort.

The seven Harry Potter books are all thicker and darker than the last, but the first one is still full of childlike fun, and even the conspiracies and tricks seem innocent and cute. Voldemort is practically offering Harry Potter experience points.

"How could he do this!" Hermione's fear immediately turned to anger. "People could die! Does he really care? Or does he simply not care about Harry Potter's life?!"

"So, when you suddenly barged in, were you injured by Cerberus?" Wade countered.

"No, not at all. But that's because it started out—ah—"

Hermione suddenly realized, feeling as if she had seen the truth through the fog.

“I guess—just a guess—maybe Dumbledore put some restrictions on Cerberus so that it wouldn’t actually harm the students who wandered in, but just scare them. But if it wanted to do something further, Cerberus wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing,” Wade said thoughtfully.

“I saw it standing on a trapdoor,” Hermione said. “It must be guarding something.”

“If things are as we suspect,” Wade concluded, “Harry Potter would certainly know what it is guarding.”

……

Things seemed to have slowed down, perhaps because Hermione was angry with Harry and Ron and wasn't paying much attention to them, so she didn't get any further news.

However, Wade wasn't too concerned about these things. He knew everything was under Dumbledore's watchful eye, so there was nothing to worry about. Compared to Harry Potter's adventures, the progress in Charms was what concerned Wade more.

During a recent practice session, he accidentally discovered that he could see the guiding lines for correct spellcasting not only when instructing others, but also when looking in a mirror. This greatly accelerated his spellcasting practice. As a result, Wade also dedicated some time to practicing potions—the shelves at the back of the Potions classroom were always stocked with common materials for students to practice with free of charge. However, due to Professor Snape, most students, even Slytherin students, were reluctant to step into the underground classroom except for class time.

Wade spends his free time practicing potions, and Snape turns a blind eye, occasionally pointing out his mistakes with a sarcastic tone. Overall, as long as you're not too sensitive, you can still learn a lot from him.

At times like this, Wade is glad he's a Ravenclaw—if he were the Lion of Gryffindor, he probably would have been kicked out by Snape on his very first day of sneaking into the Potions classroom.

One afternoon, Wade successfully brewed a pot of wound cleaning solution, which Professor Snape deemed "barely usable" and asked him to deliver it to Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary—the Quidditch match was about to begin, and the infirmary would become busy at such times.

Back at the Umbrella House from the school infirmary, Wade found everyone excited. They were all gathered around Theo, even Hermione had put down her book and was calculating, saying, "I want three feet of parchment, five bottles of ink. I've heard there's a really good shorthand quill; if they have it, I'd like to buy two—"

Hermione scribbled furiously down her notes, while Michael beside her exclaimed, “Oh, come on, Hermione! I know you love studying, but life would be so boring if it were all just studying! You should treat yourself to something fun! Honeydukes candies are amazing! I recommend Super Bubble Gum; it fills the whole room with bluebell-colored bubbles, and it’s practically every girl’s favorite. Spicy Honey Candy is also a bestseller, and the Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks is irresistible.”

"Hmm—" Hermione hesitated for a while before saying, "Then bring me a Galleon of candy too! Not those weird cockroach piles!"

Although it's inconvenient for her to bring the candy back to the dorm—other girls would definitely ask her questions and maybe even say some sour things—she can leave the candy in the umbrella room and share it with her SSC friends.

"What are you talking about?" Wade walked over and asked curiously.

“You’re finally here, Vader! We’ve all been waiting for you!” Neville said happily. “This week is the first Hogsmeade weekend, and students in their third year and above can go to Hogsmeade Village.”

“I know!” Wade said, “but what does this have to do with us first-year students?”

Of course, Wade had heard of Hogsmeade Village. It was the only village in England with only wizards and no Muggles. It was said to be very unique and interesting, and it was right next to Hogwarts, within walking distance.

However, Hogwarts rules stipulate that only students in their third year and above can go there on specific Saturdays, and they must have a guardian's signed permission. Therefore, Wade and his friends will have to wait at least two years before they can go to Hogsmeade.

“It wouldn’t have been a problem,” Michael said excitedly. “But Theo said—a third-year student from Hufflepuff said he could buy some things for the younger students and even made a list of items in Hogsmeade. Theo and Ryan said they could add the things we wanted to the list.”

Wade took the shopping list and looked at it while asking curiously, "Who's so kind? Doesn't he mind the trouble—or is he just trying to make a profit?"

Ryan shook his head and said, "No, Cedric isn't helping out for money."

Wade paused, then asked, "What did you say his name was?"

“Cedric,” Ryan said. “Cedric Diggory, the top student in the third year, almost no student in Hufflepuff dislikes him.”

Chapter 25 Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Wade didn't ask any more questions; he first looked down at the product list.

Hogsmeade, being a small village, naturally can't compare to Diagon Alley, the commercial center of the British wizarding world, and has a limited number of shops. But though small, it's well-equipped; you can find almost every type of shop, such as clothing stores, quill pen shops, magical equipment shops, a post office, pubs, tea houses, and so on. Of course, the most popular shop among students is undoubtedly the candy store, with a long list of sweets exceeding the total number of all other categories combined.

Wade glanced at the items the others wanted to buy and couldn't help but ask, "Can he carry all of this?"

“In the Hufflepuff lounge, Cedric specifically mentioned—” Theo laughed, “that I shouldn’t worry about whether my arms can lift it, I have the Levitation Charm! The other third-year students said they could help too, so Cedric wouldn’t have to do all the work alone.”

Michael slumped onto the table, sighing listlessly, "Ugh—why don't we Ravenclaws have such enthusiastic predecessors? They just give you sidelong glances and say things like, 'Don't worry, you'll be able to go in two years.' And 'This is for your safety!' Not a single person offered to bring us a handful of candy! Ugh, another day of longing for Hufflepuff!"

Theo and Ryan exchanged a glance and smiled with pride.