The recording device Glenn had set up at Hagrid's hut appeared to have been activated.
One crisp morning in mid-October, as they were enjoying breakfast, the owls swooped into the Great Hall as usual, delivering letters from Hagrid to both Glenn and Hermione.
"The storage unit on Glenn's recording device has changed color, but I don't know how to operate it, so I didn't touch it. I'll meet you both in the Hogwarts Great Hall after your classes this afternoon—Your friend, Hagrid." Hermione carefully read the letter aloud, word by word.
Glenn nodded. Despite Hagrid's rough exterior and his tendency to be loose-lipped, he was quite reliable in other respects. He took advice to heart and never meddled with things he had been specifically warned about.
The magical tool attached to the recording device for storing images did indeed require a specific method to extract its contents. Mishandling it could result in the destruction of both the stored content and the devices themselves. Hagrid had done the right thing by leaving it alone.
"Don't worry about it now. Focus on your classes." Glenn noticed Hermione's distracted expression and immediately understood that her overflowing curiosity had taken over her thoughts. "The storage device's contents aren't going anywhere."
"Pfft." Hermione, momentarily unsettled, couldn't hold back her laughter at Glenn's unexpectedly cute metaphor. "Haha... Glenn, what a charming way to put it. You really outdid yourself."
Glenn fell silent, returning his attention to his breakfast and ignoring the girl who kept apologizing while giggling.
No sincerity at all. How excessive.
Fortunately, Glenn wasn't that childish. After Hermione's persistent pestering, he eventually responded to her, though he resolved never to use metaphors like the one he had just used again.
Better to stick to straightforward language. That sort of thing really didn't suit him.
It was just another ordinary day. After breakfast, Glenn and Hermione, as usual, arrived early at the Transfiguration classroom and began self-studying while waiting for the other students to arrive.
Professor McGonagall also arrived early. After exchanging greetings, the three of them went about their tasks. The interaction among the trio of academic achievers was brief and efficient—a dynamic that neither felt awkward about but instead found to enhance their productivity.
Soon, the other young wizards began trickling into the classroom. Of course, there were always a few Gryffindors who performed their daily last-minute arrivals. While the faces often changed, there were always a few regular culprits. No need to name names here.
With Hermione present, every Transfiguration class was destined to be a one-woman show, and it was also the best opportunity for Gryffindor to rack up points. Everyone knew that Professor McGonagall's favorite student in this classroom was Hermione. Apart from a few stubborn individuals who still disliked her, most were impressed by Hermione's abilities and extensive knowledge. They also understood that their reaction speed to McGonagall's questions was far slower than Hermione's. Gradually, they got used to watching Hermione dominate the class and earn points for Gryffindor.
Yes, they became desensitized. This little witch was truly formidable.
The Slytherins had once been unconvinced and tried to outpace Hermione in raising their hands to answer questions. However, when it came to the process of hearing the question, processing it in their minds, arriving at an answer, and signaling their hand to raise, no one could beat Hermione.
Some young Slytherins even attempted to predict McGonagall's questions. The result? Either they stood up with no idea what to say, or they spent ages thinking before arriving at an answer, much to McGonagall's displeasure.
"From now on, before raising your hand, make sure you already know the answer," Professor McGonagall sternly warned with a disapproving look on her face. "Otherwise, the time you spend thinking after standing up will significantly delay our class progress. I may consider it as disrupting the classroom order."
Since then, Hermione had completely monopolized all the extra points in Transfiguration class.
Other classes were largely the same. Occasionally, some Ravenclaw students could compete with Hermione, but very few could match her overall.
Yet, there was one exception—a class where no matter how hard Hermione tried, she couldn't earn a single point.
That was Professor Snape's Potions class.
Cunning and sharp as ever, the old bat had long noticed Hermione's frenzy for earning points. Determined to secure the House Cup for Slytherin this year, Snape had devised countermeasures.
Snape had successfully managed to ignore Hermione's raised hand in his class, instead directing all his questions to Slytherin students for answers.
Today was no different.
"Since Mr. Malfoy's response barely met the minimum standard, Slytherin will be awarded ten points," Snape said slowly, pacing the classroom and continuously posing one question after another.
Then, with a swift double tap of his Potions textbook, he smacked it against the heads of Harry and Ron, who had been whispering to each other. The quick one-two strike left them momentarily stunned.
"Excellent... excellent. It seems, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, that you have already mastered the material I taught. In that case, you will handle the next question!"
Of course, aside from awarding points to Slytherin, deducting points from Gryffindor was also a regular occurrence in Snape's class. The mischievous Gryffindor lions always gave Snape ample opportunities to dock points. Despite Hermione's efforts to rally her fellow young wizards in the Gryffindor common room to refrain from disruptive behavior in Potions class, some stubborn individuals remained incorrigible.
For instance, Harry and Ron, who had not been paying attention, were bound to fail at answering Snape's question.
This gave Hermione a headache, though she understood well that it was nearly impossible to change someone's thoughts and habits easily. Nor did she have the energy to constantly police those who refused to learn. She simply let them be.
Fortunately, not all Gryffindors were troublemakers. At the very least, the girls around Hermione had been inspired by her to take their studies seriously. Once someone truly began to enjoy learning and the knowledge, achievements, and joy it brought, they would become addicted to it.
Thanks to their efforts, Gryffindor's points were at least steadily increasing.
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