She Came Knocking

"Noah, what are we supposed to do now?"

When Gryffindor and Hufflepuff's Transfiguration class ended, Ravenclaw and Slytherin's Potions Class ended at the same time. Evan, Kate, and Luns could no longer hold themselves back and hurried over to Noah to ask him.

This year's Potions Class was practically a disaster for Noah, and it was much the same for the three of them!

Snape had probably set his sights directly on the four of them because of the notes, constantly looking for chances to question them from the very start of class.

Of course, Snape's main focus was still Noah. Evan and the other two could only be considered collateral damage.

But Noah had been facing extremely difficult questions. Fortunately, every one of them could be answered from Snape's notes. Aside from needing some time to recall them, they were manageable for Noah.

Evan and the other two, however, had never had the chance to read those notes. They could only rely on their own knowledge from the textbooks to answer.

Luckily, Snape had not made things too difficult for them. Still, they had behaved themselves after that and did not dare speak to Noah during class at all.

Now that class was over, they could not hold it in any longer!

After all, what they did was tied to whether they could continue occupying the Room of Requirement in the future. They had no choice but to take this seriously.

"What do you mean, what do we do? We do whatever needs to be done." Noah spread his hands, making it clear that there was nothing he could do about it either.

Their organization had no reputation at this stage, and Noah had no intention of making it known to everyone.

He hoped his organization would become something like a legend—an extremely secretive existence. That would give it a sense of mystery and make it more appealing, wouldn't it?

"But we don't even have any suitable candidates!" Kate scratched his head, feeling like his head was about to explode.

"Don't we already have a few? You're all still under observation too." Noah gave him a strange look.

"Please! Those are all Ravenclaws! We don't need more eagles right now. We need lions, little snakes, and badgers!" Luns rolled his eyes, unable to stand it anymore.

"Fine, but do we know anyone from those houses?" Noah sighed and glanced at the three of them.

"Uh..." That was indeed a rather profound question.

Of course, they did know some people. They all came from wizarding families, so more or less, each of them had a few friends in other houses.

But the problem was that they were looking for outstanding students!

The word "outstanding" was the key!

They were only just getting started, so naturally, they could not let just any riffraff in and ruin the environment. Once they had matured, they might not mind letting their friends join.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Noah understood the situation.

With a helpless smile, he said, "So don't rush. Let's first make a list and see who's suitable. Of course, we have to keep a close eye on Slytherin. I don't want some Death Eater descendant joining us."

"Once we sort out the list, we can visit them one by one and reveal some of our intentions. If they agree, then naturally that's good. If they refuse, we'll have to use 'Obliviate.'"

Maintaining secrecy was essential. Noah had long since thought of countermeasures for this.

These kids could be terrible blabbermouths sometimes. If they joined, that might be fine, but if they did not, they might very well spread the word everywhere. Noah did not want that to happen.

"Using a spell? Isn't that a bit too much?" Evan asked quietly.

"It is a bit much, but I don't want everyone to know our secret, only for us to enter the room the next day and find it packed with people! Of course, this is only for this semester. Once we get past Professor Dumbledore's test, maybe we won't need to do this anymore."

"No problem. We'll do it this way!" Unlike Evan, Luns and Kate were much more decisive.

Honestly, the three of them admired Noah more and more.

They were all eleven years old, but Noah's thinking was far more thorough. It could be said that Noah was the absolute leader of their group.

As long as Noah was around, no matter what problem arose, it seemed like it could be solved perfectly. All they had to do was follow Noah's instructions!

After discussing it for a while, they quickly made their decisions.

For example, Evan would look into Gryffindor, since he had friends there.

Kate and Luns would investigate Slytherin and Hufflepuff respectively. Kate had almost been sorted into Slytherin back then.

It was just that he was not particularly interested in that house's way of thinking, and his father had also been a Ravenclaw, so he had voluntarily asked to come to this house.

Luns's situation was similar to Evan's, so it would be convenient for him to investigate Hufflepuff.

As for Noah, he directly told the three that he would be the examiner. He needed to assess whether the people Kate and the others chose were qualified, and if they refused, he would make them forget this memory.

After making these decisions, their moods visibly improved.

Being lost and helpless, with no idea what to do, was completely different from having a clear direction like they did now. Their emotions and attitudes were entirely different.

As they headed upstairs, they happened to see Hermione standing at the entrance to the corridor.

Her eyes were fixed tightly on the four of them, as though she was afraid they might suddenly disappear.

"Miss Granger? Are you stopping us again to ask how Noah cast a damaging spell last night?" Luns rolled his eyes. Heaven knew why this girl had come again.

"Come on, Luns. Maybe she's here to thank us." Kate tugged at Luns, telling him to shut up already.

"Um... I... I came to thank you. Thank you for saving me from the troll." Hermione looked nervous and hesitant, but she finally managed to get the words out.

"Is that so? There's no need to be so polite. We're all Hogwarts students, aren't we?" Noah smiled and waved it off.

But just as he was about to leave, he noticed Hermione's hesitant expression, and Noah immediately became interested.

Especially when he noticed that Hermione had come alone, with neither Harry nor Ron in sight, he suddenly understood something.

"Is there anything else, Miss Granger?" Noah suppressed his excitement and asked calmly.

"Um... I want... I want to ask if I can study with you?" Hermione blushed. After hesitating for a long time, she finally gritted her teeth and finished the sentence!

Students from different houses studying together was not unheard of, but Noah's group represented the top academic students in the school!

They were Ravenclaws to begin with, and their academic ability was so strong. Why would they take care of a Gryffindor student?

Hermione felt that there was a high chance she would be rejected.

But she had no intention of giving up. If it did not work this time, she could always come back next time!

She had had enough of working hard in Gryffindor without getting very far. She would rather face some proud academic elites, because only then could she show that she had some value.

But what Hermione had not expected was that the four of them first looked stunned, then surprised, and finally delighted. It left her completely confused.