The days at Hogwarts

"Hogsmeade..." Hermione was silent for a moment, feeling very complicated. Under someone's instigation, the activity week that should have been the most anticipated for the third-year wizards no longer had much appeal to her.

Shaking her head, Hermione turned the letter over and checked the list of books to be used next semester: "Standard Spells, Level 3", "Intermediate Transfiguration Guide", "Seeing the Future through the Mist", "Wizarding Monuments"... "The Monster Book of Monsters"!

The little witch's eyes lit up: "Harry mentioned this, the Care of Magical Creatures textbook prepared by Hagrid is amazing! I really want to see this book now!"

Loren was still teasing the owl.

Hermione glanced at him secretly, and slowly a plan came to her mind. She pretended to mention casually: "How about we go to Diagon Alley on your birthday? I celebrated my birthday in Hogsmeade, and your birthday is in Diagon Alley. It's a good opportunity for us to go and see it."

"Is it my birthday or yours? Why are you already making a wish?" Loren joked with a smile.

"Hmm..." Hermione pondered for a moment and changed her way of expression, "You arranged my birthday, so you should follow my arrangements for your birthday."

Loren remained unmoved and focused on entertaining the owl.

Hermione was unwilling to give up, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him, her tone unconsciously becoming coquettish: "Loren, go~"

The sunlight was too bright, and Loren was dazzled for a moment, lost in the girl's cuteness.

Early morning two days later.

"Ha~~"

Monica rubbed the corners of her eyes. She was too tired recently. In the summer, more people drank soda and beverages, and there were many patients with dental problems, such as cavities, wisdom teeth, sensitivity to cold and heat... Most of them were old customers. They decided to go to the Granger family's dental clinic. She and Wendel couldn't refuse, so they had been busy these days.

At the same time, she is her husband's wife and her daughter's mother. She doesn't do as much as Wendell in the clinic, but she always has to work harder at home. In order to prepare breakfast for the family, she is often the first one to get up in the Granger family.

The same seems to be true today.

Mrs. Granger slipped on her slippers and walked to the bathroom.

The door was open, but someone was already inside. My daughter was facing the mirror, combing her unruly golden-brown curls with water.

Her hair is thick and fluffy, growing wildly like her thirst for knowledge and curiosity, and has a strong vitality. Most of her face is covered by her hair, and only through her delicate collarbone and fair skin can we see that she is a beautiful girl.

Monica felt a little emotional, as if in the blink of an eye her daughter had grown up and she was about to enjoy her brilliant youth.

"Look, which girl is so vain that she gets up early just to take care of her hair?" Monica joked with a smile.

Hermione pulled her hair with both hands, tying them together tightly and trying to tie her up. She had a hard time speaking, and her voice was a little distorted: "Stop talking, Mom, come and help me!"

Monica shook her head and walked over: "My little Hermione, stop torturing your hair so hard. Mommy will teach you some tricks for girls. You don't have to tie up all your hair. It doesn't look good if it's close to your scalp. Leave a few strands..."

"And a little hairspray."

"Do you want lipstick? Mom can open a new one for you."

……

When Loren opened the door and saw Hermione like this, he was stunned.

She was wearing a pure white dress, with a skirt that was neither too long nor too short, and with irregular ruffles. A few strands of hair fell from her forehead, and the breath of youth filled her face. The girl's lips were thin and delicate, and after applying lipstick, they added a bit of bright and moving meaning. She smiled slightly, and the momentary beauty seemed to make Loren's whole body feel like he was electrified by a meteorological spell.

"My mom dressed me up. How is it? Does it look good?" Hermione faced the scorching gaze and couldn't help feeling a little shy.

Just as Loren was in a daze, Grandpa Bates' voice came from the side: "I said it was beautiful, why are you in a daze?"

He looked at Hermione with a smile and said, "Hermione, I'll leave Loren to you today. Please keep an eye on this boy for me."

After saying that, he pushed him out and closed the door neatly.

Hermione covered her mouth and chuckled twice, the sound was clear and crisp, like a silver bell, and went straight into Loren's heart.

Instead of going to the Leaky Cauldron, the two Apparated directly into Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley is the largest wizarding commercial street in the whole of Britain. It is always crowded with people at the end of August when the school starts. But it is only the beginning of August now, so it is not so bad at the moment. Although there are many wizards, goblins and veelas trading on the street, the road is still unobstructed, enough for Loren and Hermione to move freely.

The weather is very good today, with blue sky and white clouds, and the sun is warm but not too hot.

The gold Galleons from selling unicorn hair had not been spent yet, so they didn't have to go to Gringotts. They first went to Madam Malkin's robe shop to buy new magic robes. Loren and Hermione's school uniforms no longer fit them, and the trouser legs and sleeves were several inches shorter.

"Hogwarts students, eh? You're here so early!" Madam Malkin greeted with a smile. She looked the same as when Loren first met her two years ago, short and plump, dressed in purple.

Madam Malkin had the two men stand on a footstool at the back of the shop while she and another clerk put robes on them, pinning them to the right length.

Loren and Hermione let them do what they wanted while looking at the mirror in front of them. In a trance, they seemed to see the same situation two years ago, when they were brought here by Professor McGonagall.

At that time, they were both still little kids, even more immature than they are now. In the blink of an eye, they both grew a lot taller.

Hermione blinked her eyes in amusement, "Am I taller than you now?"

"Really? No, it's the footstool and your heels that are too high!" Loren stuck his neck out and refused to admit it. In fact, girls develop earlier than boys, and Hermione is indeed taller than him now.

Hermione smiled widely and did not object.

"I've tried it on, dear. You'll look even better in it!" Madam Malkin also smiled. "By the way, this lady's footstool is the same height as yours."

Loren didn't want to stay in front of the mirror for a moment, and hurriedly took Hermione away. In order to divert Hermione's attention, Loren pulled her all the way into Flourish and Blotts Bookstore.

The scene in the store shocked Hermione. The store usually displayed gold-embossed magic books as thick as those used to build pyramids, but now the bookshelf was gone and replaced by an iron cage with about a hundred strange books locked inside.

The green covers were covered with a layer of wild animal fur. The books were all tangled together and fighting each other fiercely. Torn pieces of paper flew everywhere, and some defeated books were crawling on the ground like crabs.

If it weren't for the big golden words "Monster Book of Monsters" printed on the cover, Hermione would have thought it was some scary beast. The little witch fell silent. This was different from the magical textbook she imagined.

Loren watched the books fighting with great interest. The bookstore clerk was probably the person who hated Hagrid the most. He had no idea how the bookstore purchased its books. Didn't he ask the publisher for a way to tame these books?

The manager of Flourish and Blotts Bookstore walked over and asked abruptly, "Are you from Hogwarts? Are you here to buy new textbooks?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded, "we need to—"

“Get out of the way!” the manager yelled impatiently, put on thick gloves, picked up a large crutches covered with knots, and walked towards the cage door where hundreds of “Monster Books of Monsters” were locked.

His expression showed seven parts of courage to face death, two parts of fear of pain, and one part of the helplessness of a social animal.

"Wait," Loren stopped him reluctantly, "When you bought the books, didn't you ask the publisher for advice? Just touch the spines and the books will calm down."

The manager was stunned. He looked at Loren, then at the books fighting in the cage, and couldn't believe it: "Really?"

Before Loren could reply, a loud crackling sound cut through the air, and two copies of the Monster Book of Monsters grabbed hold of the other, brutally ripping it in half.

The other monster books in the cage were quiet for a few seconds, then instantly became agitated. They seemed to have learned some efficient method, and quickly joined together in pairs, ready to imitate the two books just now.

“Stop! Stop!” The manager could not stand any longer and quickly grabbed a book on the edge of the cage. He did not let go even though he was bitten. His fingers quickly stroked the spine of the book, and the monster book immediately loosened and lay quietly in his palm.

"It works! It really works!"

The manager was so happy that tears came to his eyes. He loudly called for the other employees to come over. They worked together to calm down the hundreds of monster books and put them quietly into several piles.

After using a healing spell to simply treat the wound on his hand, the manager quickly came over, grabbed Loren's hand and shook it non-stop, tears in his eyes: "Thank you! Thank you so much! If it weren't for you, I can't imagine how much loss these monster books would cause, even more than the two hundred copies of the "Invisibility Book of Invisibility" that disappeared as soon as they were bought..."

In the end, the manager gave them two sets of textbooks for free on behalf of Blooms and Blotts Bookstore, and promised to give them a 20% discount on future book purchases.

"Humph, helping him solve such a big problem is not free for life, why did you stop me from asking for a few more books?"

When Loren walked out of Flourish and Blotts, his face was filled with regret, as if he had suffered a great loss.

In fact, no one wanted to buy more books more than Hermione, but she always felt that this behavior was like taking advantage of the situation.

Hermione closed the book "Seeing the Future through the Mist" in her hand, put it into the pendant around her neck, and looked at him with a smile: "Loren, Loren, how many secrets do you have that I don't know about?"

Loren shook his head with a smug expression: "You said it was a secret, how can I tell it?"

Hermione hummed twice, took his hand and walked towards the next shop.

Loren went to the pharmacy to buy some ingredients needed for the potions class, and also added some common medicinal herbs that he thought would be useful.

Well...uncommon ones are very expensive, so he can just fleece Professor Snape.

I went to the stationery store of Transformation Ink and bought enough ink and quills, and most importantly, parchment. Hermione used too much parchment to write her History of Magic paper, and the remaining parchment was not enough to complete her paper on shrinking potions in Alchemy. Loren thought the color-changing ink was interesting, so he also bought two bottles.

Past issues of the Daily Prophet were placed on the counter of the stationery store. Loren glanced at them while waiting for Hermione.

There were two photos on the left and right of the first page. On the left was a woman with a gloomy face, vicious eyes and messy hair, and on the right was Loren's acquaintance, the short, fat and bald Peter Pettigrew.

Loren picked up the newspaper and read it. After half a minute, he roughly understood what had happened.

The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Magic's Prison Department defected, and in the process, released the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. The Ministry of Magic also announced the news of Peter Pettigrew's escape. Now, a senior Ministry official and two Death Eaters were listed as wanted criminals.

Chapter 275 Meeting Harry at the Ice Cream Shop

"The Ministry of Magic is like a sieve..."

Loren muttered to himself, putting the newspaper back on the counter under the clerk's disgusted gaze.

At the side, Hermione finally paid for the parchment she purchased in bulk. With a smile that only a top student could have on her face, she came over happily and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"The latest Daily Prophet, to see if there is any big news in the wizarding world while we are traveling."

"Is there any big news?"

"Yes, but I won't tell you now."

Hermione snorted twice: "If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. I'll order a copy and read it myself when I get home."

"Where do we go next?"

"Let's go to Florin's Ice Cream Shop. We're tired from shopping. Let's take a break."

From the outside, this shop is no different from the cold drink shops in the Muggle world. The decoration is simple and clean, with coffee as the main color, and the shop name is printed in gold. Maybe it's because the weather is good today, there are many open-air seats outside.

On the wall to the right of the door were several special drinks for today: Vampire Special - Virgin Girl Blood Flavored Drink, Fairy Special - Gold Fragrance Ice Dew...

Of course, there were also normal-tasting drinks. Hermione went to the counter and ordered an extra-large cup of avalanche strawberry ice cream, while Loren found a quiet spot by the glass window.

To their surprise, they saw Harry with a silly smile on his face in the corner.

"Happy birthday, Loren! Did you receive the collapsible cauldron I gave you?" Harry shouted, waving the dessert spoon in his hand excitedly.

Loren recalled the scene of Harry running away from home and said absentmindedly: "Thank you, I guess I had left home when Hathaway came to the door. It should be waiting for me at home now."

Harry held the ice cream that Boss Florin gave him in his hand and ate two mouthfuls happily. Then he realized what was happening and said in surprise, "Oh, it's only early August. Why are you here?"

Hermione sat down with a large cup of strawberry avalanche ice cream and handed the other spoon to Loren: "I came here with Loren to celebrate his birthday, but why are you here?"

The moment he saw Hermione, Harry's eyes widened: "You, you are Hermione!?"

It was Hermione, but she didn't look like Hermione at all. Her hair was no longer messy, but had been combed into a beautiful bun with hairspray. A few strands were left in the front, hanging casually on her temples, adding a sense of laziness that made people unable to help but look at her.

Hearing Harry's surprised question, Hermione couldn't help but smile, her eyes were full of smiles, and the sunlight coming in from the glass window fell on her, as if it was glowing.

Loren coughed and reminded, "Let's continue talking about why you are here, Harry?"

Hermione bit the spoon, her inexplicable eyes wandering over Loren, and she smiled even more happily.

Harry: "..."

Feeling a little redundant, Harry scratched his head and began to talk about the Dursleys: "An annoying relative came to the Dursleys' house... So I blew up Aunt Marge into a balloon and hung it on the ceiling. I ran out in a hurry, and then I got on the wizard's Knight Bus and came to Diagon Alley. Now I live in the Leaky Cauldron."

"She said such outrageous words! She should be punished!" Hermione said angrily. She took a look at his current appearance. Although he was a little sloppy and his hair was messy, his eyes were clear and his smile was relaxed. She knew that Harry was probably fine.

Loren scooped a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and said jokingly, "International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, Law on Reasonable Restraint of Underage Wizards, in total you probably only violated 70 laws."

Is this the time to talk about this? Harry was speechless: "Thank you, Loren, for giving me a clear understanding of my own guilt."

Harry spread his hands. "I was also very nervous at first, but then I met the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and he said that the Ministry of Magic would not send anyone to Azkaban just because he inflated his aunt's breast. He arranged for me to stay at the Leaky Cauldron and let Boss Tom look after me."

"In fact, it's not bad to live here. I can get up when I want, eat whatever I like, and cast spells freely. In fact, as long as I'm in Diagon Alley, I can go wherever I want. The Leaky Cauldron is always full of interesting guests, and the shop owners in Diagon Alley are very friendly. Mr. Florin even taught me how to write my thesis, and he gave me a free ice cream every half hour."

"Dumbledore asks me to spend some time with the Dursleys every year. I think this year is enough time. I can live here until the start of school!" Harry leaned back in his chair and sighed with satisfaction, "I like this place!"

Hermione looked at his messy hair, then at his clothes, which, although cleaned with a cleaning charm to remove any stains, were wrinkled and looked terrible.

The little witch felt something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was.

Loren saw this more clearly. He had experienced this feeling before. For a while, he thought that life in an orphanage was also good. It was not until he met Grandpa Bates that he understood what true stability felt like.

After a moment of silence, Loren asked softly, "Harry, do you really think this place is good?"

It was a very calm voice, a very ordinary tone, but it was this dullness that washed away the smile on Harry's face. He tried hard to grin and return to his previous state, but he just couldn't laugh. His expression even looked a little panicked and embarrassed.

Of course he knew that this place was not good, or not that good. He could sleep as long as he wanted every day because no one woke him up.

It would be nice to eat outside a café under a parasol, but he would rather have someone sit at the same table with him and ask about the weather when carving the steak, rather than him counting the number of strands of meat on the steak or the number of thyme leaves on the plate.

And the kindness of those bosses always reminds him that he is a homeless person.

Harry hung his head like a defeated greyhound, almost buried in the ice cream bowl, and his voice was muffled, very much like the whimper of a defeated dog: "But I have nowhere to go. I can't go back to the Dursleys, and I don't know where Sirius is. I have nowhere to go..."

"Bang bang bang!"

Hermione patted the table and looked at him seriously: "Harry, it's not that you have nowhere to go. Ron will definitely welcome you to the Burrow. Lauren and I also welcome you to our home."

"And Hagrid, he must be worried about the Care of Magical Creatures class right now, and he urgently needs someone to give him some advice." Loren added, "Anyway, it's better than you living here."

Harry calmed down and finally forced a smile towards the two of them, which was uglier than crying: "But Fudge won't let me leave Diagon Alley."