Being a passerby in HP female protagonist fanfiction

Holidays are a wonderful thing; when you don't have them, you really want them, and sometimes you wish you had more.

At the bustling station entrance, I stood with my suitcase, looking around.

Finally, it's the holidays... The year-end banquet has come to a successful end, and the first year has come to a close. It's going to be another tough year ahead. I still need to practice magic more. While Barty is still around, I should ask him for advice as much as possible and build up our relationship. I must be careful not to get involved in any rescue operation for Voldemort. It wouldn't be good if we ended up falling out and I got tricked.

"I'm here! Gavin!" I quickly locked onto my target, perked up, and swiftly made my way through the crowd to the smiling, handsome young man.

"Claire." Barty called my name softly, his smile still gentle and cheerful, without a trace of gloom. He naturally took my suitcase, paused for a second, and then patted my head with his other hand. "You didn't get carsick this time, did you?"

"Don't worry, I took a sobering agent beforehand, and I'm perfectly fine now."

I smiled and stood calmly next to him without dodging. After he finished touching it, I handed a chocolate frog to Little Barty and laughed when I saw him stare blankly at me.

"I'll take the snacks." He winked at me, his expression still innocent and sunny, and his words were full of affection. "Let's go back together."

We chatted non-stop along the way, with Barty listening and me sharing my daily life at Hogwarts to reinforce our personalities and strengthen our connection.

“I heard on the train that Headmaster Dumbledore likes to eat a kind of candy called cockroach pile, which looks exactly like a real cockroach… Gavin, have you ever seen it?” I said.

"I've seen it. Claire, are you interested? If you'd like, we can go to Diagon Alley to buy it sometime."

“Gavin…” I said with a deadpan expression.

"Pfft." Little Barty laughed brightly, seemingly enjoying teasing the kids occasionally. "Alright, alright, forget about the cockroach pile, but we can definitely find some time to go to Diagon Alley to buy something."

“Okay!” I replied enthusiastically. “We can buy some herbs, or go to the bookstore to browse for secondhand books, and also buy some notebooks and ink. School uses them up quickly, so it’s better to have more on hand. We can also buy some Hazel snacks; it worked so hard delivering the mail before… and, and…”

"Besides going to Diagon Alley, we can also go to the supermarket and buy some household supplies. Didn't we say we needed a new ladder? The roof also needs cleaning, so maybe we should buy a pair of shears, the kind for trimming grass..."

As Little Barty listened, a hint of something unreadable slowly crept onto his smile, but he quickly composed himself.

"Claire can take a look and see if there's anything she likes."

"We'll need them all eventually, so let's figure out what to buy first. I can't think of anything I like right now, so I'll think about it later," I replied earnestly.

"Don't just think about buying useful things; think about what you like sometimes too," said Little Barty.

"Um……"

After chatting for a while, we finally got back to the house. Little Barty went to cook, and I started packing my luggage and checking the rooms.

There was no dust in the room, so it had been cleaned. The paper bag that was tucked in the closet had been moved. I guess Little Barty must have taken advantage of the holiday to check the whole house. I wonder if he found anything... Anyway, I really don't know anything. There's nothing in the house. Let's not worry about that for now. If something's wrong, we'll just blame it on the parents in the background.

Xiao Ming and the suitcase are the only two magical items I found in this house. Little Barty knows about the suitcase. Unless Xiao Ming makes a sound, he won't be discovered. I can't think of any way Xiao Ming could expose himself.

There's trash in the living room trash can. Little Bati has been here these past few days. You could ask the neighbors around sometime to see if Little Bati has been here recently... Oops, I seem to have gone off-topic. This isn't a spy drama. Why not just ask him directly if he's been in the house recently? Normally, asking like that would be fine.

I reflected on my own suspiciousness.

Sometimes, the most straightforward questions are the ones that are hardest to find fault with.

At dinner time, Little Barty served steaming cod soup, a few butter tarts, and several other side dishes, and we enjoyed a pleasant dinner together.

It feels so homey... Watching my virtuous little Buddy putting on his apron and diligently cleaning up the leftovers in the kitchen, while I sat comfortably on the sofa eating the whole plate of fruit he had specially brought me, I couldn't help but sigh.

After cleaning everything up, I continued chatting with Little Barty. He seemed to really enjoy listening to me. He sat diagonally across from me, propping his hands up and smiling at me with anticipation and focus in his eyes. He showed no impatience at all while we were talking, and he could easily pick up on any topic.

In a relaxed mood, the air was cool and still carried the faint aroma of dinner, fresh fruit, and a soft, cozy sofa. I snuggled up on the sofa, hugging a fluffy cushion.

The first thing that comes to mind, and the thing I most want to discuss, is the final exam results.

When I received my report card and confirmed that I had passed everything, even better than I had imagined, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. From a complete novice who knew nothing about magic and practiced slowly, I have now reached a fairly good level. Surprisingly, I got an E in the history of magic, which I was least confident about. I had originally estimated that I might only get an A.

I got O in Charms and Transfiguration, and E in Herbalism, Potions, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. My grades are pretty good this time. I can't compare to the real academic geniuses, but I'm in the upper-middle range. I'm very satisfied. But my old student habits have kicked in, and I always feel like I could have gotten even better.

Keep a calm mind, keep a calm mind, I secretly reassured myself, not to get carried away just because the exam is over.

When Little Barty heard me report my grades, he probably noticed my cautious expression and awkward movements. He sighed, smiled helplessly, and began to praise me.

“Claire did very well on the test, she has a real talent for spells… I’m happy for you no matter what,” said Little Barty. “I love to see Claire improve little by little, and every bit of progress makes me proud.”

"..."

“What I’m trying to say is—” the young man lowered his eyes, “that you did very well, Claire.”

“…Mmm.” I only said that one word, but my bright eyes made no attempt to hide my joy. Hugging the sofa cushion, I finally relaxed after being praised and lazily nestled into the sofa.

Little Barty laughed too, and leaned back on the sofa like I did, looking relaxed. He didn't say anything about where I needed to improve, he just said I did very well.

Regardless of whether he was sincere or not, I felt especially happy that my efforts were recognized.

Skipping over the grades, I started talking about the College Cup.

"Sigh, although Slytherin lost to Gryffindor in the Quidditch match, they won the next two, and Slytherin also won the House Cup. Maybe we should remind the Quidditch captain to change their strategy." As I spoke, I shifted the conversation from the House Cup to Quidditch, and I started discussing Quidditch with Barty. "They say Hufflepuff hasn't had any really strong Quidditch players in recent years, and the captain said they need to figure out some new, targeted tactics. Hopefully, they can improve..."

Barty was very interested in Quidditch and offered several suggestions. Unfortunately, I didn't know much about Quidditch tactics and couldn't tell if the suggestions were useful. However, I listened very carefully, maintaining my usual conversational style, and stared intently at the young man in front of me.

Barty the Youngster loved Quidditch, I remember it very clearly.

I also mentioned helping out in the greenhouse.

"One of my plants is about to bloom, but unfortunately I can't see it... Professor Sprout promised to let me take care of them next school year, and I'll definitely do a better job next year!" I said excitedly, mentioning the plants I had put so much effort into, and then looked at Barty with expectant eyes. "Gavin, um... maybe... I could plant something in the yard too?"

“Of course, no problem,” Little Barty replied. He thought for a moment and pretended to ponder. “Claire can tell me whatever she wants to do. Planting is a very tiring job. If you need tools or help, just tell me.”

"Okay, Gavin."

After we finished chatting, time passed quickly. Under the slightly yellow light, the young man's face was unexpectedly serene, with gentle eyes and brows. He was like a real family member to me, and we calmly said goodnight to each other.

Goodnight, Claire.

Goodnight, Gavin.