Andy: What an Outstanding Little Wizard I Am

September 19th, Thursday.

Andy had deliberately gotten up half an hour early today. He tidied himself up properly in the washroom and even used hair gel to give himself a new hairstyle.

"Simply perfect!"

Looking at himself in the mirror, Andy was immensely satisfied.

How could there be someone so handsome in this world? Merlin had simply given me all the best things in the world. What a troubling burden.

After getting dressed, Andy left the dormitory and found a sofa in the Common Room to sit on.

As they gradually became more familiar with each other, Andy and Hermione had gotten used to going to the Great Hall together for meals. Whoever came out first would always wait for the other.

Come to think of it, it was quite a coincidence.

Other than each other, Andy and Hermione basically had no friends they could truly get along with. Even with their roommates, they were merely somewhat familiar.

So, a few days ago, Andy had decided to help Hermione celebrate her birthday.

Ravenclaw had four classes on Thursday.

But due to a schedule change, the morning Defense Against the Dark Arts Class had been moved to the afternoon.

That left them with more than three hours of free time, from 10:20 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon.

That was enough! "Morning!"

After sitting in the Common Room for a while, Andy saw Hermione emerge from the Girls' Dormitory. She wore her Hogwarts uniform, hugged a stack of books to her chest, and had a head of hair that looked rather messy.

"Why are you up so early today?" Hermione asked, somewhat surprised. Usually, she was the one waiting for Andy here. It was rare to see him rise early.

"Maybe I didn't sleep well last night!"

Andy brushed it off, then stood up and said, "Come on. We've got a lot to do today."

After breakfast, they finished their homework in the Great Hall, then headed straight to a Charms Class shared with Gryffindor.

The Little Wizards progressed slowly, and the content of Charms Class was almost no help to Andy.

Fortunately, Professor Flitwick had a great personality and was Ravenclaw's Head of House. He was more than willing to answer some of Andy's questions unrelated to the course.

That was the main reason Andy enjoyed attending class.

The same went for Professor McGonagall. Though she was rather strict, she never hesitated to offer Andy some extra guidance.

Andy could learn by reading on his own, but much of what was in books was obscure and difficult to understand. With Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick answering his questions, his learning progress had sped up considerably.

It would be nice if Professor Snape could be the same.

Andy decided that when Christmas came, he would give Professor Snape a gift and draw them a little closer.

After all, Andy did not have the Gryffindor label attached to him, so Snape would not usually target him.

"All right, that's it for this class!"

The moment she heard Professor Flitwick dismiss them, Hermione immediately packed her books and suggested, "Let's go practice magic. I want to try the casting technique Professor Flitwick just taught us."

"Sure!"

Naturally, Andy had no objection. "But that classroom on the Sixth Floor is a little small. I found a new secret base a couple of days ago. Let me show you."

"I didn't think it was small?"

Hermione looked puzzled, but she did not object. "All right, let's take a look!"

"Follow me!" With that, Andy led Hermione out of the Charms classroom.

"Andy—"

Someone called out from behind them. It sounded like Ron. Andy pretended not to hear and pulled Hermione directly around a corner into a corridor.

"I think someone called for you," Hermione said.

"Did they? How come I didn't hear anything?"

Andy pretended to have forgotten. "Never mind it. Even if they need something, it can wait a little while."

Andy brought Hermione to the third floor of the castle and stopped in front of the One-Eyed Witch statue.

"This is the place. Watch closely—there's a mechanism here."

As he spoke, Andy pulled out his wand and lightly tapped the statue. "Separate Left and Right!"

Click, click!

The entrance to the Secret Passage slowly opened.

"There's a Secret Passage here!?"

Hermione covered her mouth in shock. "We should tell the professors about this!"

Andy: "..."

All right. That was very Hermione.

Andy flicked Hermione on the forehead and said irritably, "Do you think the professors don't know about this place? They do! But Hogwarts' Secret Passages are meant for Little Wizards to go adventuring in. For all we know, this passage might even have been built by Ravenclaw."

"Ow!"

Hermione covered her forehead and glared fiercely at Andy.

Andy continued spinning his tale. "Don't be fooled by how many school rules Hogwarts has. There's actually only one real rule: never get caught doing bad things."

"It's also a form of training for Little Wizards."

"Take this Secret Passage, for example. Once we've gained experience exploring Secret Passages, we won't be at a loss when exploring ancient ruins after graduation."

Hermione: "..."

She felt like Andy was fooling her.

But when she thought of the staircases in the castle, it did seem plausible that Ravenclaw had built this Secret Passage.

Andy looked at Hermione with a completely sincere expression. "Trust me!"

No! You're incredibly hard to trust like this. You aren't trying to trick me in there to look at goldfish, are you?

After hesitating for a while, Hermione still decided to go in and take a look.

"If there are any dangerous traps in the Secret Passage, we have to tell the professors," Hermione said.

After sliding down the stone steps for about ten minutes, Andy and Hermione reached the bottom.

They only needed to climb the steps and push open the Trapdoor to reach the cellar of Honeydukes Sweetshop.

"Let's go up."

Andy tilted his chin at Hermione, then went up first.

Hermione followed carefully behind Andy, gripping her wand tightly in her hand. It was hard to say whether she held it for protection or because she wanted the chance to give Andy a good hit.

Andy pushed open the Trapdoor and took a look.

Good. There was no one in the cellar.

"Hermione, hurry up!"

Andy pulled Hermione out through the Trapdoor, used a Disillusionment Charm to make them both invisible, then sneaked out of the cellar.

Before anyone noticed them, Andy grabbed Hermione's hand and raced out of Honeydukes Sweetshop.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade!"

Andy looked at Hermione with a smile. "This is the only all-wizarding village in the Wizarding World of All England. There are plenty of fun places here."

"Want to sit down at a tea shop?"

Hermione looked at Andy, debating whether to hit him with a Stupefy or a Petrificus Totalus.

"Thank you!" Hermione suddenly rushed forward and hugged Andy.

"Happy birthday, Hermione," Andy said softly.

Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was one of Hogsmeade's signature attractions.

It was famous not because its decor was particularly elegant, nor because its food was particularly delicious. The real reason it was famous was that Hogsmeade only had one tea shop.

No one was competing with it for business.

Andy led Hermione along Hogsmeade's main street to a street corner. "Let's have something to eat here first!"