Christmas Plans

Hermione ultimately joined the Mage Alliance Noah had spoken of, becoming the organization's first non-Ravenclaw member.

Hermione was no fool. The moment she heard Noah explain that Professor Dumbledore had approved of it, she had basically decided to join.

The conditions here were so good, and there were several exceptionally talented students in the school. Only an idiot would refuse to join!

As for the Memory Charm?

Hermione was somewhat puzzled. After all, it was not such an easy spell to control. Even adult wizards could easily make someone forget many important things because of it.

But she wisely did not ask too many questions. Although Professor Dumbledore had indeed agreed to the existence of the Mage Alliance, there were conditions.

If the people Noah and the others invited did not intend to join, then it was only natural for Noah and the others to take some precautions.

Otherwise, once all sorts of people kept coming and going through this wonderful place and it lost all sense of mystery, someone would surely start studying how to get in.

By the time they all managed to sneak in, the Mage Alliance would probably have no reason to exist. Now that Hermione had joined, she naturally would not allow that to happen either!

Over the following days, Hermione began studying here alongside Noah and the others. She finally understood just how vast the gap between herself and these people was!

But she was not discouraged by it. After all, Hermione had only just joined. Everything was only beginning for her.

So Hermione worked exceptionally hard these days. Like Noah and the others, aside from attending classes and eating, she spent nearly all her remaining time here.

Noah and the others also took good care of Hermione. Noah had even specifically found several professors in the Room of Requirement to help her.

The Room of Requirement had no idea which professors were good, but Noah did.

This guy knew everything that happened throughout the entire Harry Potter series, and he also knew exactly which professors were reliable. As a result, the professors they conjured were generally very capable.

There was just one thing Noah could not figure out. For example, right now—it was mealtime after class.

Although students from every house gathered in the Great Hall to eat, each house sat separately, and generally few people chose to visit another table.

Yet Hermione, dressed in Gryffindor robes, was sitting among Noah and the others. It left the four of them unsure what to say.

Especially with quite a few Ravenclaw students nearby pointing and whispering, making Noah and the others' scalps tingle.

"Hermione?" Noah scratched his head. He had no choice—the looks in Kate and the others' eyes clearly said, You handle this. So Noah could only ask.

"What is it?" Hermione took a doughnut, dipped it in some sauce, and looked at Noah curiously.

"Um, why aren't you eating over with Gryffindor? Won't your friends find it strange?" Noah asked somewhat awkwardly.

"Am I not welcome here?" Hermione's movements stiffened for a moment, but she quickly returned to normal.

"Of course not. Hey, listen, you're our friend—a good friend. How could we not welcome you? It's just..."

"If we're friends, then there shouldn't be a problem with me eating here, right?"

"...Of course there isn't."

"Besides, I don't have any friends in Gryffindor."

No friends? The four of them froze, but Noah quickly understood.

At the beginning of the school year, Hermione truly had not had many friends in Gryffindor. Her only friends had been Harry and Ron.

But now the Golden Trio had been broken into a two-wheeled cart by Noah. Naturally, Hermione would not become friends with Harry and the others anymore—though even if they still got along well in the end, it would never return to how it had been in the original story.

Thinking of this, Noah sighed and said, "Hermione, you really should have come to Ravenclaw. This is the place that suits you best."

"Yeah. I really don't understand what the Sorting Hat was thinking, putting you in Gryffindor." Evan chimed in from the side. He clearly felt that having this girl in Gryffindor was a waste.

"Um... I don't know either." Hermione's face reddened slightly at that. She did not dare tell them that she had asked to be sorted into Gryffindor.

"From now on, just stick with us. As long as you want to, you'll always be welcome here." Noah finally summed it up.

Visiting another house's table rarely happened, practically never.

But there were no written school rules saying it was forbidden. In any case, to Noah and the others, Hermione was their companion. Crossing house lines did not matter.

With Noah's declaration, Evan and the other two immediately made their own positions clear.

That immediately made Hermione feel much better. Although the other Ravenclaw students were still pointing and whispering, she believed things would be fine after some time.

Habit was a frightening thing. Once everyone got used to it, naturally no one would say anything anymore.

And so, Hermione thoroughly became one of Noah's group. She did not even go watch the Quidditch match she had previously been rather curious about.

"Still, Harry's flying skills are really good. He got onto the house Quidditch team at such a young age, and he even beat Slytherin." Evan twirled a clump of noodles around his fork and sighed. His own performance in Flying Class had really not been great.

"He may be good at Flying Class, but he loses points in Potions Class every day. If I were him, I probably wouldn't be so happy." Kate shrugged indifferently. Honestly, he did not care much about Flying Class.

"Hermione, what do you think?" Luns looked curiously at Hermione, who belonged to Gryffindor.

"I don't have much of an opinion. I just hope he loses fewer points elsewhere. At least then I won't have to work so hard, and a lot of it won't be wasted effort."

Hermione was quite happy that Harry had helped Gryffindor win. At the very least, it earned them some points, didn't it?

"All right, everyone, Christmas is coming soon. Do you have any plans?" Noah did not care about Quidditch at all.

In his eyes, it was nothing special. If he had the choice, he would rather go to the Muggle world and watch some football.

Christmas, on the other hand, was coming soon, and Noah was considering how he should spend this neither-too-long-nor-too-short holiday.

Honestly, he could stay at school. The holiday was not that long, and his pockets were rather tight. Otherwise, he would probably have run off to America for a look around.

Hmm, perhaps he could check out Stark Tower standing in the heart of New York?

He wondered whether it had been finished yet.

Still, Noah had a grateful heart. After being reborn into this world, he had grown up in an orphanage. The people there had treated him well; none of the awful things people talked about online had happened.

Even Noah's tuition for this term had been paid by the orphanage director. Noah felt that he should go back and visit them.

"We're planning to go home. What about you, Noah?" Evan and Kate exchanged glances with the others before directly telling Noah their plans.

"I'm planning to go home too. Noah, I heard you're from the Muggle world as well?" Hermione looked toward Noah.

"That's right, I'm from the Muggle world, but I grew up in an orphanage. I'll go back and visit for Christmas. I also need to thank Ms. Heifen, the director, for helping fund my tuition. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't have been able to come here."

"Is that so?" Hermione looked at Noah in surprise, but she quickly smiled. "Then let's go together. What do you think?"

"Of course. That'll give me some company, and the trip won't be so boring."