Hogwarts: Me? Fight Voldemort?

"Really?"

Jimmy's performance was so natural that Hermione couldn't understand it at all, and even wondered if she was overthinking it.

“I’m helping Norbert with his rewilding training at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.” The cunning Jimmy noticed Hermione’s suspicion and came up with a plausible excuse for his actions. “Tomorrow, I’ll invite Harry and the others to come and see Norbert one last time.”

"All right……"

"How is the follow-up survey progressing? That's all important data."

"I've already asked most of the students, and they all think card games are great; so far, no one has found them boring..."

Hermione didn't believe in superstitions like the sixth sense, but she still had some doubts about Jimmy's perfect explanation. Although the topic was changed naturally, she just felt that Jimmy was doing it on purpose.

She had already made up her mind to follow Jimmy and see what he was up to, though Hermione had a feeling it wouldn't be a good thing.

"Go for it, Hermione! I believe in you!"

After finishing his breakfast, Jimmy wiped his mouth clean, gave Hermione a thumbs-up, and then disappeared outside the Great Hall doors.

Hermione hurriedly got up and followed, but by the time she reached the entrance of the Great Hall, Jimmy was nowhere to be seen.

Frustrated, Hermione stomped her foot. Just then, she saw Harry and Ron walking into the Great Hall side by side. An idea struck her, and she immediately blocked their way. "Harry, can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak?"

Harry tilted his head and readily replied, "Of course, it's in my closet."

"Thanks. Don't tell him if Jimmy asks."

Harry found it a little strange, but nodded anyway, "OK."

After saying goodbye to the two, Hermione returned to the common room and went straight into the boys' dormitory. She even bumped into Neville, who was coming down the spiral staircase, as she went up the stairs.

"Good morning, Naveen."

"Good morning, Hermione... um?"

Neville, who was about to walk down after saying hello, suddenly felt something was wrong. He turned around and saw Hermione enter their dormitory.

After obtaining the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione wore the magical cloak and waited in the Great Hall at noon, still wearing it.

Over time, she had figured out Jimmy's biggest pattern: he would always be in the auditorium at mealtimes.

Sure enough, when the time came, Jimmy walked in from outside the auditorium.

Hermione immediately stood up from her chair and saw Jimmy looking around as if searching for someone. Then he quickly sat down at the long table, ordered some food, and began to wolf it down.

He looked like he hadn't eaten for three days, which made Hermione want to laugh.

After finishing his glass of water, Jimmy got up and walked outside, with Hermione quickly following.

Fortunately, Jimmy, who had just finished eating, wasn't moving very fast, otherwise she might not have been able to keep up.

Jimmy strolled into an abandoned classroom, sat down in a chair in the corner, took out a stack of documents, and began to read. Hermione gritted her teeth again; Jimmy was secretly studying behind her back!

After waiting for about half an hour, Hermione heard the footsteps of several people outside the door. They were George, Fred, and Draco.

As soon as he entered, Draco jumped up and down excitedly, "Hurry up, hurry up, I can't wait!"

Hermione stepped back to the doorway, listened to their conversation, and then witnessed a shocking scene.

Draco pulled out his dragon-skin wallet and poured all the money inside into the cloth bag that Jimmy had brought out. George and Fred laughed and said that Draco was really rich.

Then the group left the classroom and headed into the forbidden forest.

Hermione couldn't understand what they were doing, but she had a feeling they were making some kind of secret deal, so she immediately followed them.

Finally, after wandering around for a while, they arrived at Hagrid's cabin and knocked on the wooden door.

Hagrid emerged from the cabin, carrying two large wooden buckets in his hands: one filled with chicken blood brandy, and the other with bright red beef.

They walked together into the Forbidden Forest, and after going a little deeper, they came to a clearing. Hagrid built a nest for Norbert out of straw in the clearing, and Norbert lay down on the pile of straw to sleep.

The house-sized Norbert snorted as it sensed their arrival, rose from its prone position, and raised its long, slender dragon neck.

Hagrid then placed the two barrels in front of Norber, and only after Jimmy said it was time to eat did Norber lower his head to show off the meat and wine beneath him.

Chapter 77 Flying Dragon in the Sky!

During the display of his physique, Draco was so excited that he stood next to Jimmy, trying to persuade him, "Can we fly a little longer?"

"No way! If the people in the castle see us, we're doomed!" Jimmy refused.

By this time, Norber had finished his meal and drinks. The closer they got to parting, the more food and drinks Hagrid prepared. After the meal, Norber was quite relaxed, swaying his head.

After eating and drinking their fill, it was time to get to work. Jimmy, with Draco blushing with excitement, approached Nober. At his command, Nober lay down on the ground, and Draco immediately scrambled onto Nober's back.

Just as Jimmy was about to give the order for Norbert to take Draco for a flight, and Norbert was ready to take off, a chilling shout rang out in the air.

What are you doing?!

All five people and one dragon at the scene were startled, especially Jimmy. When he heard the sound, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, shrinking back and turning his head.

Suddenly, a ball of brown yarn appeared in the air, followed by Hermione's visibly angry expression.

"Hermione?!" Hagrid greeted Hermione somewhat awkwardly. "Are you here to see Norbert?"

George and Fred exchanged a glance, then quickly hid in the bushes and sneaked away.

Invisibility Cloak!

Harry, you've really put me in a lot of trouble!

Feeling annoyed, Jimmy's eyes lit up as he prepared to tell a white lie, "Hi, Hermione, you're here too."

Hermione squinted at Jimmy, trying to see the guilt on his face. "I saw it all!"

Jimmy's eyelids twitched. Could it be that Hermione had been there since she received the money?

Even so, he still asked, clinging to a sliver of hope, "What did you see?"

Hermione gave Draco a look, letting Jimmy understand on his own.

Draco, perched on the dragon's back, felt a chill run down his spine and clung to Norbert's neck, daring not to utter a word.

"Huh?" Norbert uttered softly, exhaling a breath of alcohol.

"Things aren't what you think."

Jimmy knew he'd been found out, but he still didn't intend to give up. He believed Hermione wouldn't tell the professor, but getting the little witch to calm down wouldn't be an easy task.

A clever mind thinks quickly, and many excuses immediately pop into its head.

Hermione stood with her hands on her hips, staring at him with an expression that said, "Keep making things up," making any excuses he wanted to give seem pale and powerless.

"Well, alright." Seeing that he couldn't fool him, Jimmy simply confessed, "Draco wants a Dragon Knight trial card. It's his lifelong dream, and I can't refuse him."

"Okay, that's Draco's dream. A lot of people at school dream of the same thing, right?"

Hermione seemed to know everything; her tone wasn't one of inquiry, but rather of sarcasm.

Now it was Jimmy's turn to feel embarrassed. He thought for a moment, then straightened up again. "Many people like dragons. They just like dragons. What's wrong with that?"

Hagrid's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "That's absolutely right!"

"But what if we get found out?" Hermione's aura was like that of a miniature Professor McGonagall; a single glance from her silenced Hagrid, the big boy, leaving him dejected. "I remember you promised me that we wouldn't let too many people know, right? Do you really want to go to Azkaban, Hagrid?"

"Don't be angry, Norber will let you ride it too."

When the honesty failed, Jimmy resorted to bribery, trying to pull Hermione to his side as well.

Hermione looked at the tall Norbert and felt a little attracted, but this was quickly replaced by shame; she had come to confront him.

Besides, she was really angry. Jimmy not only lied to her, but he also took money from other people and was full of lies!

Seeing Hermione's silence, Jimmy also fell silent, realizing he couldn't fool her anymore.

He gestured for Norbert to take off, telling him to take Draco for one lap first.

Norbert spread his wings and began to fly with difficulty. At first, he wobbled, but soon he was weaving through the towering trees in the Forbidden Forest, which made Draco let out an excited scream.

Jimmy walked up to Hermione, like a spoiled brat who had gone too far in bullying a little girl and made her cry, and asked timidly, "What...what are you thinking?"

Hermione didn't cry like a little girl who had been bullied badly; she just stared at herself with a blank expression.

"I wonder if a liar can tell the truth."

This left Jimmy speechless; those words struck a nerve, like a whip tormenting his conscience.

He still cared a lot about Hermione, his "little" friend. Hermione's intelligence, wit, and kindness naturally made him want to get close to her, because such a person would not easily betray their companions and could be a friend he could confide in without any worries.

As a child raised under the red flag, Jimmy is very good at putting himself in others' shoes because he was always scolded as a child: Why don't you look for the reasons in yourself?

So he looked for the cause within himself, and as Hermione said, he acted like a liar, exploiting her concern for her friends to get her to do things.

However, the survey data he had Hermione obtain was genuinely useful, laying the foundation for the creation of the second-generation card game, albeit a little earlier.

Hermione snorted softly when she saw that Jimmy had nothing to say.

“I shouldn’t have kept it from you, I just want to open a shop in Diagon Alley.” After a few awkward laughs, Jimmy confessed some of his plans to Hermione, but he still had to make one point clear: “I do business entirely on a voluntary basis, and the product I offer is the result of Norber’s training.”

Hermione could never correct Jimmy's behavior. Every time, Jimmy had a legitimate reason, and in the end, she was the one who compromised first because she couldn't win the argument.

As a friend, could she deny Jimmy's goals?

Did Jimmy use lies to trick others out of their Gallon as a friend?

As a friend, would she expose Hagrid for raising dragons to get him into Azkaban?

The answer to all these questions was no, and Hermione was quite downcast. She said, "You think I'm a nuisance?"

"Do not……"

Jimmy was at a loss and was about to explain when Draco's scream suddenly came from behind him.

"Help! Norbert is going to fly into the sky!"

He, Hermione, and Hagrid immediately looked in the direction the sound came from and saw Norbert flying back, but it had already flown out of the canopy.

Jimmy hurriedly shouted into the air, "Come down! Come down!"

Knober ignored them, as if it hadn't heard them, and flew over their heads like a rapidly moving broom.

"Nober! Come back to your mother!" Hagrid shouted even louder, looking hopefully at the silent sky, but Nober did not fly back.

Just then, the sound of thunderous hooves came from the forest, and several burly centaurs rushed out and surrounded the group.

“Bane? Ronan?” Hagrid recognized the centaurs. Seeing the bows and arrows in their hands and remembering Norber who had just flown past, he asked, “Are you chasing Norber?”