Chapter 12: A Lesson
Hermione Granger was delighted.
But in fact, just a few minutes ago, her heart was filled with a sense of urgency.
When Professor McGonagall appeared at her home and demonstrated Transfiguration in front of her entire family, Hermione felt her worldview being impacted, but was quickly captivated by magic.
She had believed in science since childhood, and the scientific viewpoint had always been this—existence is truth!
But being intelligent, she also understood that being Muggle-born was her greatest weakness.
Especially that day in Diagon Alley, when she personally saw Vaughn Weasley perform magic with a snap of his fingers.
She also learned from Professor McGonagall that he was less than a year older than her; Hermione’s birthday was September 19th, and if she had been born 20 days earlier, she would have started school a year ago.
This made Hermione’s scalp tingle…
It was too terrible!
Students from wizarding families started practicing magic from childhood, while she had “wasted” nearly 12 years!
Rounded up, it was almost a century behind her classmates!
This can be compared to her hiding in her bedroom, clutching her head in despair.
So, Hermione had been voraciously absorbing knowledge and practicing spells all summer.
Without guidance, it was difficult to self-teach spells, and as the start of school approached, Hermione became increasingly anxious. Therefore, after boarding the Hogwarts Express today, she eagerly looked for students from wizarding families to exchange ideas with.
It must be said that at first, things went well. In a compartment where they were resting, there was a girl named Susan Burns, who was very cheerful and enthusiastic, and didn’t hide anything. Almost all the first-year students in the entire carriage knew that her aunt was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry of Magic, Amelia Burns.
A perfect study object!
But when Hermione cast a Mending Charm and tried to discuss her study progress with Susan, the other girl completely ignored her.
Then, at the back of the train, she encountered the red-haired Weasley, Ron Weasley.
The boy she had met once was at that moment showing off his new wand to Harry Potter. In a small compartment, the “terrible Weasley” and the Boy Who Lived, recorded in modern magical history, were gathered.
Seizing such a golden opportunity, Hermione naturally wouldn’t let it pass, and urged Ron to cast a spell…
The result? It’s better not to mention it!
The last person Hermione met was Neville Longbottom. When the round-faced boy was grabbed by her, he was crying and laughing while hugging a toad… Honestly, his appearance made Hermione suddenly begin to doubt the education of wizarding families.
“I don’t know any magic. If it weren’t for the Hogwarts letter, my family would have thought I was a Squib…” Neville said, trembling under Hermione’s intense gaze.
“You live in the wizarding world, you’ve been exposed to it since you were little, how can you not know?”
“You… you… why don’t you go find Mr. Vaughn Weasley? He’s over there, he just helped me find Trevor.”
Vaughn Weasley, the nightmare that had plagued Hermione Granger all summer.
But after this half-day’s attempts, understanding the level of her classmates, she could now confidently hold her head high.
Following Neville’s directions, Hermione turned the corner and indeed saw the familiar tall, thin, red-haired figure, who was strolling in the train corridor, playing with a wand in his hand.
“Vaughn… Weasley?”
For some reason, Hermione, who thought she was confident enough, felt her heart race when she called out his name and saw him turn around, his handsome face coming into view.
Thump-thump…
It felt like it was about to jump out of her throat.
Was this the aura of an opponent?
The girl whose mind only ever contained the word “study” heard a buzzing in her ears.
Vaughn, however, was not surprised to meet Hermione; there were only so many carriages on the Hogwarts Express.
He smiled and nodded: “Hello, Miss Granger.”
Before coming to find him, Hermione had prepared a whole speech, such as challenging him to a spell duel, or telling him that she had read many newspapers and knew he had already achieved success in Potions Mastery.
But when she genuinely faced his greeting, Hermione suddenly found her mind blank.
She could only respond dryly: “You, hello too, Mr. Weasley…”
“Is there something you need, Miss Granger?”
Vaughn asked.
“I…”
Hermione, dazed and about to say something, was pushed aside by someone who came up from behind.
It was a boy with short, platinum-blond hair and pale skin, accompanied by two tall, burly followers. His demeanor was incredibly arrogant, as if he were looking at people through his nostrils.
“Get out of the way, you Muggle brat!”
Without even looking at Hermione, who was almost knocked over, the boy glanced up and down at Vaughn and sneered, “Another Weasley. I just saw one, filthy and stupid, hanging around with that Potter kid wearing those broken glasses, and you… you’re even more of an oddity.”
Saying this, he finally cast a sidelong glance at Hermione, then quickly looked away as if looking at her for another second would dirty his eyes: “Befriending someone like this, hair as messy as seaweed, front teeth as big as a rabbit…”
Before he could finish speaking, Vaughn interrupted him: “Draco Malfoy?”
Malfoy looked surprised but quickly lifted his head: “Yes, it seems you have some discernment, unlike that idiot Ron.”
Vaughn remained noncommittal and said slowly:
“If I were you, I’d hurry and get lost, because on this train, there are no mom and dad to protect you.”
A faint flush crept onto Malfoy’s pale face. He widened his eyes and waved his hand forcefully: “What, do you want to fight too? Crabbe, Goyle, beat him up!”
The two silly-looking followers behind him seemed quite interested in such tasks.
With a grinning roar, they lunged at Vaughn.
Hermione only had time to let out a startled cry, and then she saw Vaughn raise his wand.
“Full Body-Bind!”
The air blurred for an instant. Goyle and Crabbe seemed to have suddenly charged into a transparent, viscous mire. Their movements slowed drastically, restrained by an unseen force, their limbs splayed as they floated in mid-air.
They looked like two frogs pinned to an experiment bench.
They cried out in terror: “Draco, help us!”
Unfortunately, they called out to the wrong person. Draco, who had just shown a look of fear, saw Vaughn calmly point his wand at him, red light flaring:
“Expelliarmus!”
With a bang, Draco felt a massive force strike his abdomen. The carriages on either side blurred as they retreated, and the next moment, he slammed heavily against the partition.
Due to the violent impact, his mind went blank. Before he could react, another spell was cast: “Densaugeo!”
Draco felt an itch in his mouth. He stared wide-eyed as his front teeth rapidly grew longer, protruding past his lips in an instant, even curving playfully upwards.
The successive blows caused him to burst into tears.
He dared not linger any longer, and even abandoned Crabbe and Goyle, scrambling away towards the back of the train.
At the same time, students in various compartments also noticed the commotion outside and peeked out to observe.
Vaughn released Crabbe and Goyle from the spells, letting them cry and flee.
