Hogwarts: Please, Just Graduate Already!

Wayne placed Hogwarts: A History in his little cart, then turned around to look at the little girl again.

"I was crouching on the ground looking for a book just now, and I didn't move. There's no way I could have bumped into anyone just by standing up straight.

"Unless you deliberately stood beside me and leaned your head over, I couldn't have hit your chin."

"Tsk, tsk..." Wayne looked suspiciously at Hermione, whose face had already flushed red. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to scam me, would you?"

"Scam you? What does that mean?" Confusion filled the little girl's large brown eyes. She had never heard the term before.

"It means framing someone, extorting money, or deliberately injuring yourself to cheat them out of compensation." Wayne gave her a simple explanation.

Hermione instantly bristled!

"Nonsense! I'm not that kind of person!"

"I-I just saw this book too. I didn't expect you to get to it first."

"Then why were you standing so close?" Wayne asked suspiciously.

Hermione acted as though it were only natural. "This book is a little dirty. If you put it back, that means you don't want it, so of course I had to keep a closer eye on it."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Wayne nodded knowingly.

He picked up the book again and waved it in front of Hermione. "Do you want it?"

Hermione nodded excitedly and looked at Wayne expectantly.

She thought Wayne was going to give the book to her, and her gaze toward the boy softened considerably.

Her impression of him instantly rose by a large margin. Wayne smiled and pointed at his own face. "Do you think I'm good-looking?"

Hermione nodded instinctively. Calling an eleven-year-old boy handsome was a little premature; at that age, cute and pretty were more fitting descriptions.

Wayne was the prettiest boy Hermione had ever seen, with features even more delicate than a girl's.

"Then who do you think is prettier, you or me?"

"This..." Hermione found herself in a difficult position.

Still, for the sake of this history book, she chose to tell the truth. "You're prettier."

"Mm, your praise has made me very happy." Wayne's smile vanished. He turned around and pushed his cart away. "In return for telling the truth, I'll give you a piece of information. The next batch of Hogwarts: A History will arrive before the start of term. You'll be able to buy it then."

Hermione was dumbfounded. When she saw Wayne walk some distance away, she hurried after him. "You're not going to give me the book?"

"Why would I give it to you? I grabbed it, so it's mine."

"Then why did you ask me all those questions?"

"Can't I conduct a social survey?"

"You!"

Hermione was furious. Only then did she realize that she had been played. She could do nothing but watch Wayne pay for his books.

Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Breaking with Wraiths... These were all books she wanted.

Hermione's eyes grew slightly red. Because of the restrictions on exchanging Muggle currency, even if she squeezed her pocket money for the entire school year down to five Galleons,

the money she had left after spending it all on books was still far from enough.

She really wanted to be like this boy, able to buy whatever books she wanted. Feeling the gaze fixed on his back, Wayne secretly chuckled. He had deliberately teased Hermione just now. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

He had the cashier send the other books home by owl, leaving only Hogwarts: A History and Identification and Cultivation of Hundreds of Herbs behind.

Then he looked at Hermione again.

"Do you want to read them? I can lend them to you."

Because she had just been tricked, Hermione watched Wayne warily and said nothing. Wayne didn't mind and continued on his own. "Of course, I can't lend them to you for free. But if someone is willing to pay a little rent, I might consider it."

At those words, Hermione was indeed tempted. "How much?"

"One Sickle per hour."

Hermione frowned. "That's too expensive. If I read it for a day, I'd have to pay you one Galleon, seven Sickles."

"Who said I was lending it to you for a day?" Wayne took out a pocket watch and checked the time before continuing,

"I'm going to have afternoon tea at Flourish and Blotts this afternoon and read for a while. I'll be there for two hours at most."

After much hesitation, Hermione finally nodded. "Deal!"

On the way to the sweetshop, the two of them introduced themselves. It was the little witch's first time meeting a Hogwarts student her own age, and she didn't stop talking the entire way.

Wayne merely responded with "oh, yes" and "oh, shit," which kept things from becoming too boring. "Lawrence, you bought so many books at once. You spent dozens of Galleons." Hermione suddenly said enviously:

"You must have been born into a wizarding family, right? Can you tell me what wizarding life is really like?"

Being able to come to Hogwarts to study magic was an astonishing yet intimidating event for Hermione.

Highly competitive by nature, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to adapt to Hogwarts, would fall behind the children who had grown up in wizarding families, and would end up at the bottom of the class. Wayne shook his head. "I wasn't born into a wizarding family."

"Impossible." Hermione immediately argued, "Even if you exchanged the full seventy Galleons, after buying the required items, you couldn't possibly have more than thirty Galleons left.

"How could you buy so many books at once?"

"I saw you paying just now. It was a full one hundred and twenty Galleons!" Wayne remained perfectly calm. "There's a limit on pounds, but not on gold. I exchanged these Galleons for gold."

"What?!"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Y-you exchanged gold for Galleons? That's far too extravagant! Your parents actually agreed to it?"

Wayne continued to speak calmly. "My parents died when I was young. I'm an orphan."

Hermione: "..."

She realized that she had never experienced a day when her emotions were so wildly disjointed.

Emptying Their Wallets! A Conversation in the Headmaster's Office. At Flourish and Blotts, the two found a table with a parasol. Wayne ordered two ice creams, one for himself and one for Hermione.

"This counts as an additional service. I'll be going home by five at the latest." Hermione took out her wallet, removed two Sickles, and handed them to Wayne. Ever since learning that Wayne was an orphan, Hermione's attitude had become much gentler. Until just now, she had still been urging Wayne not to spend his money recklessly. It would be several years before he came of age and could earn his own living expenses.

Wayne merely smiled and nodded without arguing.

Hermione was no different from the girl in his memories. Her speech carried a touch of haughtiness, and she couldn't go three sentences without mentioning studying or books.

Yet the kindness in her heart had never been concealed.

It was no wonder the Sorting Hat had ultimately placed her in Gryffindor.

After receiving Hogwarts: A History, Hermione eagerly began flipping through it.

She had rented it for one Sickle per hour, so the little witch cherished it greatly and remained completely focused.

After Wayne accepted the Sickles, the system's notification sound suddenly rang out.

The host has been detected successfully earning a little witch's living expenses. The large-scale long-term mission—Empty Their Wallets!—has been activated!

Mission description: What wealth in this world could be more precious than children's pocket money? Empty their wallets! For every Galleon earned, it can be exchanged for system points. The exchange rate is one Galleon for five points.

This mission will remain active for the duration of the host's enrollment at Hogwarts. It will disappear upon graduation or withdrawal.

Wayne: "System, be a decent person. How can one Galleon only be worth five—"

Wait, how much pocket money could little wizards have in a year? A normal student probably only has a dozen Galleons or so. Pure-bloods from Slytherin might have more, but there are plenty of little wizards like Ron who only have one or two Galleons a year.

They have so little money, and you're targeting their wallets too? You're seriously awful!

Wayne looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh. Hermione raised her head in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking about something. By the way, how much pocket money do you have?"

Hermione didn't think much of it and immediately answered, "After buying my books, I only have five Galleons for this school year."

That's only twenty-five points.

Wayne looked at the little witch with disdain, leaving her utterly puzzled. She gave a soft snort and continued reading.

Although he despised the system's mission, the points were still incredibly tempting. With points, he could become stronger quickly. Once he became stronger, if Voldemort's minions came to Hogwarts, he would be able to protect the other little wizards.

Wasn't that a win-win?

No, it wasn't as though he were robbing the little wizards of their money. The system had made it very clear: only money he earned could be exchanged for points.

So he could only obtain them through normal transactions. In that case, the little wizards won twice, while he was the one losing out!

The more Wayne thought about it, the angrier he became. He silently calculated what kind of goods could strip the little wizards' wallets as cleanly as possible.

A future profiteer who would make little wizards shudder with fear while loving and hating him was slowly rising to prominence.

Time passed swiftly.

The sun gradually sank in the west, and more than two hours quickly went by.

Wayne lightly tapped the table, rousing Hermione, who was still absorbed in her reading. He said softly,

"I have to go home."

"Huh? Oh." Hermione reluctantly closed the book and returned it to Wayne. "When will you come back to Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked.

"What about you?" Wayne looked at her.

"I'll be practicing spells at home in the mornings recently, and I'll go to Flourish and Blotts to read in the afternoons." Hermione planned to finish reading the books introducing the wizarding world and Hogwarts before the start of term so she could learn as much as possible.

"Then just keep this book for now." Wayne waved his hand.

"But I don't have that much money..."

"You don't need to pay. I'll lend it to you for a week. I'll come to Diagon Alley then, and you can return it to me."

This could also count as the little witch's payment for activating a system mission for him.

Hermione happily hugged the book to her chest and promised that she would return it in a week.

For that reason, Hermione even gave Wayne her family's telephone number and took his in return so they could contact each other later.

Hogwarts.

That morning, Professor McGonagall had finally completed the new-student orientation for the last little wizard from a purely Muggle family and returned to the school.

Dumbledore happened to be at school as well, so she went to the Headmaster's office on the Seventh Floor to report what had happened.

Dumbledore listened with a smile as McGonagall finished. His gentle gaze passed through his half-moon spectacles and settled on her.

"Minerva, you've worked hard. If I hadn't sent Snape away, you certainly would have had a much easier time."

McGonagall's expression remained stern. "It's all for the sake of the school, so there's no need to call it hard work. If we're talking about who has it hardest, Albus, you're the one who works the most."

"Haha." The old man chuckled. "You're making me feel ashamed."

McGonagall did not reply. Instead, she asked about the matter she cared about most. "How are things with Potter? Hagrid didn't botch the job, did he?"

"I trust Hagrid just as I trust you," Dumbledore said. "There was a small incident, but you'll see that child on September first."

Dumbledore briefly described what Hagrid had seen and heard at the Dursleys' home.

McGonagall visibly grew angry.

"How could they treat him like that?" Professor McGonagall said furiously.

"Calm down, McGonagall. Muggles often harbor certain prejudices against wizards. In truth,

the two groups aren't all that different. At least they raised the boy to adulthood, didn't they?"

The anger on McGonagall's face still had not faded, but her excellent upbringing prevented her from saying anything too harsh.

Dumbledore comforted her. "All right, Minerva. If there's nothing else, go back and rest. Enjoy the less-than-month-long remainder of your holiday. After that, you'll have to face those energetic little rascals."

"Sorry, there is one more thing. I nearly forgot." McGonagall rubbed her forehead. "I met a little wizard with truly exceptional talent, Wayne Lawrence."

"When choosing a wand, he spent nearly an hour on the process. In the end, he even cast the Patronus Charm on his own."

"Oh?"

Dumbledore's eyes brightened, and he sat up slightly.

"Impossible!"

The portraits of former headmasters on the walls stopped pretending to sleep as well. One wizard who looked particularly sharp-tongued even cried out,

"McGonagall! I've read so many books that you can't fool me. How could a little wizard who had only just come into contact with a wand use a Patronus?"

"Calm yourself, Phineas." Dumbledore gestured for him to be quiet, then asked,

"Could you tell me the details of what happened?"

A Very Large Fearow?

McGonagall described everything that had happened that day in great detail, especially the process of choosing the wand.

Dumbledore gradually formed a general impression of the little wizard named Wayne Lawrence.

Both parents were dead, yet he came from a noble family. He also had a Muggle uncle who was a high-ranking official.

He did not follow conventions. On his first visit, he had actually brought gold to Gringotts to exchange for Galleons.

Most importantly, his talent was plainly visible.

After coming into contact with the wand best suited to him, he had been able to release a Patronus through instinct alone. Even Dumbledore, with all his knowledge and experience, had never heard of anything like it.

"It seems we're about to gain a genius student and a future famous alumnus."

Dumbledore was delighted, and even his snow-white beard bobbed twice.

"I hope he's a little more obedient." McGonagall recalled the questions Wayne had asked her at The Leaky Cauldron and said with some worry,

"One pair of Weasley twins is already enough to give anyone a headache."

Dumbledore, however, did not take it very seriously. "Students are better off being a little lively."

Whenever he saw students brimming with vitality, Dumbledore always felt genuinely comforted. These little wizards were his most precious treasures.

After exchanging a few more words, Professor McGonagall left the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore also set Wayne's affairs aside. He had many other matters to think about at present.