Restricted Section

The Hogwarts Library was said to be one of the largest libraries in all Europe.

With tens of thousands of books, hundreds of bookshelves, and countless narrow aisles, its sheer scale was somewhat daunting.

On Saturday morning, Jon Hart appeared in the Library... Over the past few days, he had come to the Library whenever he had free time in the mornings and at noon, searching for several books he needed.

Unlike the packed university library from his previous life, there were not many students in this enormous library—only around twenty, all familiar faces.

After all, Hogwarts's academic atmosphere was truly terrible.

The moment Jon entered the Library, he spotted Justin Finch-Fletchley, a second-year Hufflepuff student. He was pointing at Jon while saying something to a brown-haired girl with curly hair, behind whom stood a red-haired boy who looked like some sort of sidekick.

After listening to Justin for a few moments, the brown-haired girl walked over towards Jon.

"Ahem... hello..." She cleared her throat. "You're Jon, Jon Hart?"

"Er... yes..." Jon nodded, putting on a surprised expression. "And you are?"

"I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger. Wendell is my father," the girl said as she gathered her thoughts. "I think you must have heard my na—"

"Oh, you're Doctor Granger's daughter?" Jon interrupted Hermione, wearing an expression of sudden realization.

"That's right..." Hermione nodded.

"What a pleasure to meet you!" Jon warmly took Hermione's hand. "It was such a shame that we didn't meet in Diagon Alley..."

"I thought so too." Hermione gave a somewhat forced smile, then asked, "How has your week at school been?... Mainly, I didn't know where the Hufflepuff common room was, so I couldn't come find you after the Sorting Ceremony... Yesterday, Justin told me you came to the Library every morning, so I waited here especially for you..."

"It's fine!" Jon shook his head, his face bright with excitement. "Hogwarts is simply incredible. I swear, in all my years of life, I've never seen magic this astonishing..."

He chattered excitedly for several minutes. Hermione humored him while offering a few reminders about things to watch out for at Hogwarts.

It was not until the red-haired boy behind her cleared his throat and quietly reminded her, "Hermione, we need to go. Harry's Quidditch training is about to start."

"Sorry, I need to go!" Hermione smiled apologetically at Jon. "If you have any problems at Hogwarts, you can come to me..."

"Mm-hmm!"

Hermione and the red-haired boy hurried away.

As they left, the red-haired boy gave Jon a strange look.

"Who's he?"

"Er... the son of one of my father's friends... During the summer, my father told me to look after him once we got to school."

"Oh, really? He doesn't look like he needs looking after to me!"

Once the two of them had gone, Jon let out a breath of relief. With the connection between their fathers, getting to know Hermione Granger had been unavoidable. Fortunately, Hermione had no intention of introducing him to her two friends.

"Jon, you actually know Gryffindor's know-it-all!" Justin Finch-Fletchley strode over and asked.

"Hello, Justin..." Jon greeted him vaguely. "You could say that."

"Miss Hermione Granger is just too amazing..." Justin did not press the issue, instead sighing, "Why is it that we're both Muggle-born, but I feel like I'll never catch up to her academically?"

"Er..."

The two wandered through the Library, chatting quietly.

"The first Quidditch match is coming up soon. We're playing Ravenclaw... Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup last year, but their old Seeker, Lina Hedi, graduated. They found a new Seeker, a third-year student... I don't think she can possibly be a match for Cedric..."

Jon led the way ahead, and before they knew it, he had brought Justin to the Library's Restricted Section.

Hearing the familiar sound of cloth slippers drawing ever closer behind him, Jon suddenly raised his voice and asked, "By the way, why do so many students dislike our caretaker, Argus Filch?"

The cloth-slippered footsteps behind them abruptly stopped.

"Filch?" Justin shrugged. "Mostly because the Weasley twins and their lot from Gryffindor keep spreading stories about how awful he is. Honestly, I haven't had much contact with him..."

"I think Mr. Filch is quite a good person!" Jon said with a smile. "He's responsible... He doesn't let us wander all over the school after dark, since we might run into trouble at night and be unable to get help. He doesn't let us go to places like the Forbidden Forest either. Didn't Professor Flitwick say at the start-of-term feast that there were extremely dangerous creatures in there?"

"That's true!" Justin nodded thoughtfully.

"And I heard from the Fat Friar that the previous caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, used to punish students with whippings. Once Mr. Filch became caretaker, corporal punishment was abolished and replaced with detention... To be honest, I think he cares about us deep down..."

Abolishing whippings had been Dumbledore's idea. The real Filch actually supported them very much... But what did that have to do with Jon Hart? He was only a first-year who had heard a few rumors and knew practically nothing about Hogwarts.

"Maybe..."

The cloth-slippered footsteps behind them resumed, and then the Library's librarian, Mrs. Irma Pince, approached with a feather duster in hand.

"Oh, children... this is the Restricted Section. I don't think it's somewhere you ought to be!" Mrs. Pince thought for a moment, set down her feather duster, and spoke as pleasantly as she could.

"Sorry, ma'am..." Justin clearly knew how terrifying an angry Mrs. Pince could be, and fled in panic.

Jon, on the other hand, dawdled behind. Looking at the entirely unfamiliar expression on Irma Pince's face, he knew that more than half of his plan had succeeded.

The librarian Irma Pince and Hogwarts Castle's caretaker, Argus Filch, were a couple secretly in love... It was a deeply hidden secret at Hogwarts, but not to him.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Hart?" Mrs. Pince asked with a beaming smile.

"Yes... ma'am..." Jon gathered his courage and said, "Actually, Professor Lockhart sent me to find several books in the Restricted Section!"

"Professor Lockhart?" Mrs. Pince blinked at first, then revealed an admiring expression.

It was only the first week, and Professor Gilderoy Lockhart had not yet revealed his true nature at Hogwarts. Thus, his title as the "friend of middle-aged women" still stood. Irma Pince was naturally no exception; she was also a devoted admirer of Lockhart.

"Do you have his signed permission, Mr. Hart?" Mrs. Pince asked.

"Not yet... Professor Lockhart hasn't decided exactly which books he needs. He only gave me a general direction..." Jon said calmly. "So, Mrs. Pince, may I look through the Restricted Section? I swear I'll only look at the titles and won't recklessly open any of the books! Once I find them, I'll immediately take the list to Professor Lockhart for his signature."

If it had been any other student, Mrs. Pince would have told him to get lost the instant she heard he had no signed permission.

But as it happened, Jon Hart was one student she found quite agreeable.

"Oh, I heard from Miss Lovegood that you are Professor Lockhart's favorite student in Defence Against the Dark Arts. I don't think you're lying!" Mrs. Pince nodded with a smile. "I'll allow you to search here, but do not open any books in the Restricted Section. Many things here are dangerous for first-year students like you."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Near noon, at around eleven o'clock, Jon hurried towards Professor Gilderoy Lockhart's office on the fourth floor, clutching a slip of paper.

He was lucky. Lockhart was in his office at the time.

Countless framed portraits of Lockhart hung on the office walls, brightly illuminated by many candles. Some even bore his autograph, while a large stack of photographs lay on the desk...

"Hello, Mr. Hart. What can I do for you?" Professor Lockhart looked at him with a broad smile.

Clearly, he remembered this student who had performed so well in Defence Against the Dark Arts and paid close attention in class.

"Yes, Professor. Actually, I finished reading those books of yours this week and encountered a few questions. For instance, I didn't quite understand the slow-acting ghoul venom you wrote about in Gadding with Ghouls; nor your method of resisting a hag's mind control in Holidays with Hags; nor the spell you used to finally destroy that werewolf in Wanderings with Werewolves..." Jon asked calmly.

Lockhart froze, seeming unable to find the words. Jon's questions appeared to be somewhat beyond him.

"Of course, I'm not here to ask you!" While Lockhart's eyes darted about, Jon hurriedly continued, "I'm sure you could answer such simple questions with ease, but since you didn't write them in your books, you must want us to explore these questions ourselves..."

"Is that so!" Lockhart blinked. "No, I mean, you're absolutely correct, Mr. Hart... I did indeed want you to explore the answers to these questions yourselves. You truly are my finest student!"

"So I would like—I would like to borrow some books from the Library. I hope to learn some background knowledge from them." Jon raised the slip of paper in his hand. "The problem is that these books are in the Library's Restricted Section, so I need a teacher to sign this slip."

Lockhart nodded. "Of course. I could never stop a seeker of knowledge from pursuing the truth."

Without a second thought, he took the slip from Jon's hand and signed a large, flamboyant name across it.

He had not looked at what was written on the slip at all.

"Thank you, Professor!" Jon hurriedly took the slip back.

"You're welcome, Jon..." Lockhart grandly waved a hand. "Study hard. One day, you may very well achieve something close to my accomplishments!"

"I'm honored, Professor!"

Having obtained the signed permission, Jon could not even be bothered to eat lunch. He ran straight to the Library.

Mrs. Pince was just preparing to leave.

"What is it?" She looked at Jon in surprise.

"Yes, ma'am... I've found the books Professor Lockhart needs and obtained his signed permission!"

As he spoke, Jon handed over the slip.

"That's right... it's Gilderoy's signature. I've seen it in Witch Weekly..." Mrs. Pince could not help blushing. She carefully tucked the slip into her pocket.

"Come with me, Mr. Hart... I'll take you to find those books right now!"