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

Hermione flinched.

Professor McGonagall looked at the girl's brown hair and asked, "I remember you took the afternoon off because you weren't feeling well. Why are you here?"

"I..." Hermione probably hadn't lied to her teacher before, and now, being questioned to her face, her mind was in complete disarray. She stammered, "I thought—I read about trolls in a book, I thought—"

Vader grabbed the girl's shoulder and shoved her aside—this silly girl probably thought she could fight the trolls, so she secretly came to challenge them one-on-one, right? That excuse was so stupid that even the trolls wouldn't believe it.

Even if they don't believe it, what if someone tries to pin the blame for the trolls breaking into the castle on them? Don't think that such a thing won't happen. Wade remembers that Harry was misunderstood by his classmates more than once or twice in the original book.

“She felt better in the evening and didn’t want to miss the dinner, so we were planning to go to the Great Hall together,” Wade said calmly. “On the way, Hermione and Padma went to the restroom, and Michael and I waited for a while. When we left, we encountered the troll. We should have run away immediately, but it happened so suddenly that everyone was stunned and didn’t react in time. Fortunately, Harry Potter distracted the troll and alerted us.”

The professors looked at Harry again. The boy's face turned bright red, and he felt that he did not deserve such high praise.

Michael glanced at Wade thoughtfully, understanding what was going on, and added, "Yeah, he smashed a bucket on the troll's head and yelled for us to run—that was really brave."

Professor Snape: "--The bucket?"

Harry stared at the ground, feeling like he was about to be slowly tortured by Professor Snape's gaze—he now suspected that the two Ravenclaws were praising him so enthusiastically just to distract the professor.

“And what about you, Mr. Weasley?” Professor McGonagall turned to Ron. “Why didn’t you just go back to your dorm?”

Ron had been thinking about how he should have come with Harry, so he could have been the hero who saved everyone, and most importantly, made that arrogant Granger look at him with new eyes. Now, suddenly called on by Professor McGonagall, he was speechless, forgetting what he was going to say.

Professor McGonagall's gaze gradually sharpened.

Harry could only stand up for his best friend, mustering his courage to say, "Ron was just reminding us that there are trolls—"

“Yes, we all heard it!” Professor Snape suddenly sneered. “Shouting in the hallways as if he was afraid the troll wouldn’t find him—I suppose your books say trolls have better hearing? Oh—Mr. Weasley probably hasn’t even opened his textbooks, has he? Just like our savior, Mr. Harry Potter, using a bucket to distract the troll—ha, a bucket?! I hope you haven’t forgotten you’re a wizard!”

The Gryffindor duo were so ashamed and indignant that their ears turned red.

Michael secretly gave Wade a mental thumbs-up—if it weren't for promoting Harry Potter, they might be the ones being ridiculed now. He didn't know that Snape's devotion to Harry was permanent, unwavering until death. Even if there were a thousand people here, he would only see Harry Potter.

But with Professor Snape speaking up, Professor McGonagall's anger seemed to subside. She pondered for a moment and said, "Since there are extenuating circumstances, I won't deduct any more points from you. I'll inform Professor Dumbledore about this. You should all head back to the common room—the students are enjoying their Halloween dinner in their respective houses!"

Everyone hurriedly left, and once they were out of the professors' sight, someone suddenly chuckled, and several of them followed suit.

Chapter 31 Padma

“Honestly, when I first saw that huge thing, I thought we were going to die!” Padma clung to Hermione’s arm and said sincerely, “Hermione, you’re so brave.”

Hermione blushed and said, "I wasn't thinking about anything else at the time, my mind was just filled with the Levitation Charm. I mean—I was really lucky, the most I'd ever made before was a textbook!"

"Dude, that slide spell of yours was amazing!" Michael waved his wand and gestured. "The slide is so-so! You have to teach me next time we have self-study!"

“No problem.” Wade turned and said, “—Harry, don’t mind Professor Snape’s opinion, using a bucket is a good idea. On the contrary, ordinary spells are like a mosquito bite to a troll.”

“No wonder Michael’s petrification spell didn’t work before—none of you guys used spells to attack the troll directly afterward.” Harry thought for a moment and said, “But I don’t think I saw those two spells you used in Standard Spells: Elementary.”

“Wade has already taught himself the Standard Spells: Level 3,” Michael said proudly. “And he spends all his time in the library and study room, and he’s learned more spells than all of us combined—even though it’s only been two months since the semester started.”

Harry felt a pang of shame and inferiority—if Ron, Michael, or even Malfoy had more spells than him, he could console himself by saying it was because they had already learned them at home. But he knew that Wade and Hermione hadn't been exposed to magic before entering school, yet they were now among the best freshmen.

He couldn't help but wonder—had he been too lazy in his studies?

Seeing the group chatting and laughing, even Harry naturally joined in the conversation. Ron wanted to say something but couldn't get a word in edgewise, feeling quite awkward following behind.

They soon reached a fork in the road and parted ways. Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed towards the Gryffindor Tower. Without Michael and the others' banter, the atmosphere immediately became tense. They didn't look at each other and quickened their pace to return to the common room.

……

On the way back to Ravenclaw Tower, Padma casually glanced at the road ahead and said, "Vade, can I learn that flat-slide spell too? It sounds like fun."

“Of course,” Wade said. “I don’t have classes tomorrow morning, so I can teach you.”

“Hmm—it might not be convenient in the lounge. I heard—” Padma glanced quickly at Michael and said, “You have a place specifically for practicing spells?”

After all, she was only eleven years old. Although she had tried to make her request indirectly, she still tried not to make the implication too obvious.

Wade understood. He considered for a moment and said, "I need to consult with others, but I don't think they would refuse to let you join."

“Of course—you’re welcome!” Michael said with a smile.

"That's wonderful!" Padma couldn't help but jump up, then blushed. She straightened her clothes with a composed expression and said, "I'm honored."

Upon reaching the lounge door, the eagle-shaped door knocker asked, "O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, N, what's the next letter?"

“Uh…” Michael was the kind of Ravenclaw who wasn’t very good at riddles. He rested his chin on his hand and pretended to think for three seconds before giving up and asking, “What do you think it is, Wade?”

“It’s a ‘T’,” Padma said.

"Correct answer," the door knocker said in a chanting tone, then opened the door.

"Why is it a 'T'?" Michael asked as he entered. "Is it the 'T' of 'Troll'? Does the door knocker know we defeated the troll today?"

He made exaggerated faces and couldn't help but laugh. "It's saying the first letters of one to ten—One, Two, Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

The common room was packed; it seemed like the entire Ravenclaw community was there. Several long tables, laden with food and drinks, had been added by the fireplace. The students were celebrating Halloween here for the second time, even better than in the Great Hall—because there were no professors watching over them, forbidding them from doing this or that.

Wade noticed that some students who were usually quite withdrawn had also chosen to stay in the lounge, sitting in a corner. The lounge had been decorated for Halloween at some point, with a huge skeleton walking around, occasionally eliciting screams; some students were wearing skull masks, which occasionally emitted ghostly noises.

"Want a blood lollipop?" Terry enthusiastically recommended to Lisa.

Wade bypassed the crowded people and went straight back to his dormitory—the stench of the trolls still seemed to linger in his nose, and he had no appetite for the time being.

Padma watched his retreating figure, and asked Michael with some trepidation, "Didn't Wade skip dinner? Why didn't he come to the dinner party?" She was worried that it was because she was annoying that Wade would rather go back to his dorm hungry than spend time with them.

"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you. Wade just doesn't like crowded places," Michael said casually, focusing on piling food onto his plate.

Padma breathed a sigh of relief, and also felt a bit hungry. After they had eaten about 70-80% of their food, they finally had time to continue chatting.

"By the way, about your study group, when Wade asks for other people's opinions tomorrow, remember to put in a good word for me!" Padma couldn't help but remind him again and again when she thought of this.

"OK! OK! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Michael said with a smile, raising his hand.

—Seeking opinions?

Michael knew better than anyone else that as long as Wade agreed, no one else would have any objections.

Theo and Ryan are both easygoing and unlikely to refuse their partner's choice; Neville is timid and Michael thinks he has no temper and no opinions of his own; the only one who might be a little difficult is Hermione, and Padma has just established a fairly good friendship with her.

When Michael proposed that "adding new members must be with everyone's consent," he actually meant that "if Wade doesn't agree, you can't bring anyone else over"—this was a restriction on the other four people.

He knew very well that while SSC appeared to be a mutually supportive group, it was actually Vader who was helping them most of the time. Vader's notes made it easier for them to understand the obscure expressions in the books, Vader's essay writing methods enabled them to complete high-quality assignments in a short time, and Vader also helped them master various spells quickly and accurately.

Anyone who joins this group will soon experience the benefits.

Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs are both enthusiastic folks. If they like it here, they might bring their other friends over without telling anyone—perhaps thinking that bringing more members is contributing to the group! In reality, it will only cause trouble for Vader, and SSC won't last long like that.

Wade won't outwardly refuse, but as the crowd grows and the place becomes more noisy, he will one day quietly disappear from the umbrella house, just like he is now, staying in a quiet and lonely place where he is all alone.

That's why Michael established the rules, and used them to restrain the people from the two academies from being too "enthusiastic." He could also use the rules to subtly reject those who tried to join through him. The only exception was Wade—because he was the center, and he could decide who to help.

Michael hadn't told anyone about these plans. When Padma asked for his help, he simply smiled and nodded, promising to try his best to persuade the others.

Chapter 32 The most correct decision

When Wade returned to his dormitory, he found an unexpected visitor—a house-elf dressed in a tea towel stood in the center of the room, staring at him with its large, gray-green eyes, which startled him.

Wade almost unleashed a spell, but breathed a sigh of relief after seeing who it was: "Zoe? What brings you here?"

House-elves generally consider it an honor to not appear in front of their owners, so Vader had never seen any of the school's house-elves in sight except when he went to the kitchen.

Zoe twisted her slender fingers, clearly flustered, and said softly, "Wade Gray didn't eat dinner, and Zoe is a little worried. Zoe knows she shouldn't have come, but Zoe came anyway. Zoe wanted to know if Wade Gray was feeling unwell."

“I’m fine,” Wade said, half-squatting down. “It’s just that the trolls smelled so bad that I have no appetite right now.”

Zoe said seriously, "But not eating is bad for your health. Wade Gray gave Zoe a gift, which Zoe liked very much. She also cares about Wade Gray's health and doesn't want him to go hungry."

House-elves have a very interesting way of speaking. Whether they are referring to themselves or others, they always use the third person, even when they are face to face.

Wade looked at Zoe, who still had a small pumpkin carriage hanging from her waist, the light from the lanterns flickering.

"Okay." He sighed. "Could you please get me some fruit? Not jam or pudding, just fresh fruit. I'll eat some fruit after I shower before going to sleep."

“Yes, sir!” Zoe nodded happily and disappeared from the room with a “snap.”

When Wade emerged from the bathroom, still damp from the water, he saw a basket of fruit on the table—apples, pears, bananas, a few strawberries, and a bunch of bright green grapes, all washed clean and still glistening with water droplets.

Wade took an apple, took a bite, and found it plump and juicy, which filled him with emotion.

In his past life, his mother insisted on maintaining good health and believed that people should eat twelve kinds of food every day to provide the body with sufficient nutrition. Vegetables and fruits were of utmost importance, and sometimes she could eat a different kind of food every day for a month.

After being reborn, the food at Hogwarts was much more abundant than at home, but it mostly consisted of roast meat and desserts, with very few kinds of vegetables, and the cooking methods were monotonous. Fresh fruit never appeared on the long table.

At that moment, Wade made up his mind: after graduation, he wanted to go to the East to see the world—magic is the wings of miracles, but the future lies in the East.

Moreover, there are mysterious powers in this world, and you might even see more wondrous scenery.

……

Padma's joining SSC went very smoothly, with no one raising any objections. After all, this girl was not only intelligent and generous, but also very beautiful, with deep, expressive eyes that made Theo and the others blush involuntarily.

Hermione, on the other hand, is spending more and more time studying because Wade is putting a lot of pressure on her—in the most recent Transfiguration class, Wade successfully transformed a mouse into a beautiful little teapot, with lines so delicate that it looked like a work of art just put on a shelf. Professor McGonagall praised Wade's Transfiguration skills and said that he was now good enough to get an "O" on his final exam.

Hermione also knew that Wade's owl had brought him the complete set of "Standard Spells" and "Intermediate Transfiguration" from Diagon Alley. Therefore, although Hermione was already one of the best first-year students in Gryffindor, she still felt she was falling behind, and her temper flared from studying every day, leading her to argue with Ron several times—since she knocked out the troll, Ron had stopped complaining and gossiping behind her back.

Now, Ron actually hoped Hermione could give him some pointers, because he found that she was right about everything. But Hermione had finally curbed her tendency to be a know-it-all; she tried to turn a blind eye to the Gryffindors' various rule-breaking antics, which improved her popularity in the house somewhat. Especially with Harry, they were practically friends.

Wade hears Hermione complaining almost every day: "She had a whole weekend to do her homework, and she only wrote a title! When it's time to hand it in, she panics and says things like, 'Hermione, please let me copy your homework!'"

"Did you let him copy it?" Wade asked as he wrote.

"No way!" Hermione wrinkled her nose and said disdainfully, "What good is copying homework? But I promised to check it for him after he finishes!"