HP: Wizards at Hogwarts

Hermione's face darkened further upon hearing Ron's words.

Her long, disheveled hair seemed ready to spring up and turn her into a ferocious lion at any moment.

Seeing this, Harry quickly tugged at Ron's sleeve, acting like a good-natured mediator.

"Don't say that, Ron."

"Hermione also considers Elaine a friend and doesn't want him to be put in solitary confinement for offending the professor, or to be ostracized by the Hufflepuffs for losing points, which is why she's thinking of him like this."

Hermione nodded repeatedly, looking at Ron with a smug expression: "Exactly, Harry really knows me!"

Harry hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "But... Hermione, I think Ron has a point."

"What did you say?!"

Hermione turned around abruptly, staring into Harry's eyes in disbelief.

That expression was like someone who had been betrayed by their trusted best friend.

"I mean... uh..."

"What I'm trying to say is that Elaine is the smartest and bravest person I've ever met. He knows exactly what he's doing and saying, and he knows the consequences of doing so."

"He deliberately belittled Potions in front of Professor Snape today, perhaps he had his own reasons, and we shouldn't assume that he was necessarily wrong."

"Eleven is also my friend. If you're really worried, when we get to the cafeteria later, Ron and I will go with you to ask the upperclassmen what they think about this."

"As long as we're sure everyone won't isolate or ostracize Elaine because of this, then we won't have to worry about it, right?"

Harry's words were perfectly watertight.

This approach both affirmed Elaine's actions and gave Hermione a way out, a two-pronged approach.

Hermione was convinced: "Okay, let's go to the dining hall first!"

Before long, the three arrived at the cafeteria.

As soon as I entered the cafeteria, I saw a group of people gathered around the Hufflepuff table, making a noisy commotion.

These people included first-year students as well as upperclassmen; there were students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.

There were no Slytherin students, not a single one.

Among these people, the loudest voice came from the Weasley twins of Gryffindor.

The two red-haired boys, their faces beaming with excitement, linked arms and danced wildly in circles, chanting repeatedly: "♫Elevin Yakut♫~♪Brave Little Badger♪~!!♫Make Snape suffer♫~♪Well done♪~!!..."

They looked even more joyful than when they celebrated Halloween.

Elaine was the one surrounded by the crowd.

He was excitedly telling those around him about how he had confronted Snape in Potions class that morning.

"...I'm pretty sure Professor Snape heard what I said, which is why he spoke in that sarcastic tone—'After you pulled out the Gryffindor sword, you've become just as arrogant as the Gryffindor students, haven't you?'"

Everyone burst into laughter at Elaine's impersonation.

A Ravenclaw freshman laughed so hard he almost fell over, grabbing those around him and shouting, "That's right, that's the tone! I can vouch for it, I was there! Merlin's beard, he's exactly like Professor Snape!"

Eleven continued, his face beaming, "He not only said I was arrogant, but also that I was all talk and no action. Hearing that made me furious. Others might be afraid of him, but who am I? You tell me, who am I?"

Ernie was very enthusiastic and immediately shouted, "You are Elaine Yakut, the bravest person at Hogwarts!!"

"That's right!"

Elivin was immediately overjoyed, slamming his right hand heavily on the Hufflepuff table. "I am the man who drew the sword of Gryffindor, a true warrior! Others may fear this giant bat, but I am not!!"

"So I pointed at his big nose right then and there and said, 'Potionology is worse than biochemistry!'"

Professor Snape was furious when he heard this.

"I was close enough to clearly see that his nose was crooked with anger."

The crowd around him burst into laughter again; they couldn't even imagine what Professor Snape would look like with his nose crooked from anger.

"But as you know, Professor Snape liked to act cold and elegant. He couldn't just yell at me directly, so he could only test me to prove he was right and that I was an ignorant person. He started by asking me, 'What's the difference between Aconitum carmichaelii and Aconitum kusnezoffii?'..."

Elaine mimicked Snape again, "Guess what happened next?"

The wizards listening to the story all perked up, especially the first-year students from Gryffindor.

They knew that if Snape had asked them the same questions, they would definitely not have been able to answer them.

Neville Longbottom, his nose sweating with nervousness, asked, "Did you answer it?"

"Of course I answered it!"

"I'd heard Professor Snape liked to target Gryffindor, and I guessed he might target me too, since I'd pulled out the Gryffindor sword. So I did my homework beforehand and answered his questions perfectly!"

Professor Snape was completely stunned. I bet he never imagined in his life that he would be unable to stump a Hufflepuff student!

Everyone burst into laughter again upon hearing this.

A Gryffindor freshman named Seamus pressed on, "And then what? Didn't he deduct points from your score for doing that?"

"Honestly, he almost forgot at the time."

"If I hadn't felt it wasn't enough and wanted him to give me a couple more questions to test me, he might have really forgotten about the points being deducted."

"Although he deducted 10 points from me later, his emotions were clearly affected, and he couldn't even speak properly."

A freshman from Gryffindor, a boy named Dean Thomas, asked curiously, "So you...you don't...feel uncomfortable?"

Elaine retorted, "Why should I feel bad?!"

"Ask those upperclassmen, in all their years at Hogwarts, has they ever embarrassed Professor Snape?"

"But I did it on the very first day, in the very first class!"

"And the price I paid was a mere 10 college points, which is negligible and doesn't even affect my ability to sit here and eat lunch while telling you his embarrassing stories!"

The wizards burst into laughter again.

"As expected of Elaine!"

"You really should come to Gryffindor!"

For a moment, the entire cafeteria was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, witnessing this scene, were speechless.

"You see? Elaine is thoroughly enjoying himself; you don't need to worry about him!"

After Harry and Ron finished speaking, they stepped forward and merged into the crowd, laughing and dancing together.

Hermione tugged at her hair, and it took her a long time to finally manage to utter a single sentence.

"These people are absolutely insane!!"