Hogsmeade

On September 19th, the lingering warmth of summer had been dissipated by the autumn winds, with the average temperature only around 10℃. The nights would be even colder, and the young wizards had already replaced their thin blankets with thicker ones.

The Gryffindor girls' dormitory.

The sunlight outside had already streamed into the room through the window, leaving Hermione alone in the bedroom, lingering in the warmth and comfort of her blankets.

Her fair face glowed slightly in the sunlight, her long eyelashes casting shadows on her eyelids. She pouted, clearly enjoying her sleep, and her delicate nose twitched, tugging at her slightly chubby cheeks. Her charming appearance seemed to soften even the light.

Influenced by the Charms Club, her roommates all chose their favorite spells and practiced them day and night. They would get up at the crack of dawn to reserve a good spot by the Black Lake.

Repeating the same spell countless times requires a suitable environment. Believe me, if you cast the spell against the wall in Abandoned Classroom, it won't take more than a few dozen times before you start to doubt yourself, and another voice in your heart will ask: Who am I? What am I doing?

Practicing by the Black Lake is a completely different experience. You can cast spells dozens of times towards the Black Lake, and Giant Squid will interact with you, splashing water with its tentacles to wash away your fatigue.

Hey! It was so much fun!

Many young wizards, especially the boys, fell in love with the game. Every day, more than a dozen boys would be drenched in water and helped back to the lounge, shivering.

Hermione practiced the Shield Charm with Loren's help at the Room of Requirement. Because of the Shield Charm's unique nature, she constantly had to fend off incoming spells, and Loren happened to be particularly enthusiastic about this method of practice.

Because of someone's fondness for the Binding Charm— [Petrificus Totalus] —Hermione now feels stiff all over and a little sore when she moves. She can defend against five out of ten Binding Charm, dodge one or two, and the remaining three she can only lie stiffly.

Fortunately, she gave that person a good scolding before they parted ways, otherwise Hermione would have been too angry to sleep.

This allowed the usually self-disciplined Hermione to take a rare break on her birthday. She slept half an hour longer than usual before getting up, feeling refreshed, though Hermione felt a little guilty.

The birthday gifts from friends and roommates were neatly arranged by her bedside. Unlike last year's birthday, which went unnoticed, this year's birthday was much more lively. In the past year, Hermione had made many friends, and her roommates, with whom she had some initial disagreements, had gradually become familiar with each other.

Most of the books were gifts from friends, Miss Know-It-All bookworm was deeply ingrained in her. However, Hermione genuinely liked them, neatly arranging them aside as her bedtime reading for the semester.

Harry and Ron both gave Honeydukes gift sets—the Chocolate Frog Card's Edition and the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans Unlimited Pack.

Hermione and Loren didn't collect Chocolate Frog Card; they would give the cards they got to Harry, and Ron would sometimes compete with them for rare cards. As for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, they were Ron's absolute favorite.

She had every reason to believe that the two men had chosen the gifts according to their own preferences.

Hermione placed the candy box next to the book and looked at the remaining gifts, a sense of foreboding creeping into her heart.

Is Loren sending a gift box Cockroach Clusters?

If so, he's doomed!

Surprisingly, there were no gifts from Loren among the pile. Hermione felt a slight disappointment mixed with a secret delight, which meant he wanted to hand the gifts to her personally.

It's impossible that he forgot her birthday. He remembered it when she first enrolled last year, so how could he forget it this year?

Wash up, get dressed, fix your hair, and then go to the Great Hall for breakfast.

When Loren arrived at the Great Hall, his eyes still held the languor of someone who had just woken up. He had a yawn in his mouth that he wanted to yawn but couldn't quite manage, and he slowly took the food from the long table.

He spotted Hermione from afar; she was wearing an elegant black wizard's robe, her clean white shirt collar accentuating her delicate face, and a Gryffindor red and yellow tie.

The girl couldn't help but smile the moment she saw him, her smile growing brighter and brighter before she hurriedly ran towards him. Her long, flowing hair bounced behind her head, drawing the eye to follow it.

Hermione sat down next to him and said cheerfully and naturally, "I want a sandwich, with bacon, ham and eggs."

Loren:???

Meeting Loren's questioning gaze, Hermione tilted her smooth chin and answered matter-of-factly, "It's my birthday today!"

Loren accepted the reasoning, which was both valid and justifiable.

Loren sandwiched bacon and ham between slices of bread and handed them to her, asking in a very impatient tone, "Milk or juice?"

"Milk!" Hermione answered sweetly, then couldn't resist asking curiously, "Where's my birthday present?"

I'll give it to you in a bit.

"Okay!" the girl said cheerfully.

Throughout breakfast, Hermione's lips never left her mouth; she smiled as she ate, as if the food was more delicious than usual.

Loren picked up a piece of steak with his fork, took a vicious bite, and said while chewing hard, "Next time it's my birthday, I'll make sure you feed me."

Hermione had finished eating and was waiting nearby. She rested her hands on the stool, her legs swinging under the table, humming a cheerful tune; every inch of her exuded happiness. She wasn't intimidated at all by Loren's threat.

After finishing his steak, Loren said to the cheerful Hermione in a rather irritable tone, "Come with me."

"Okay!" Hermione obediently followed behind him. "Where are we going?"

"Did you know that young wizards can visit Hogsmeade Village on certain weekends after they enter their third year?" Loren said.

Hermione immediately understood where he was going, her heart pounded, and she exclaimed, "Hogsmeade!"

The little Witch looked around nervously for a while, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she made sure no one was around. She grabbed Loren's sleeve and whispered, "But we're only in second grade, and we don't have a parent's signature. This is against school rules."

"This week is activity week, many students will be going to Hogsmeade, no one will notice us." Loren had already planned the date.

"But... but," Hermione stammered, speechless. If it were the Hermione of the past, she would have stopped this insane act without hesitation, but now she was tempted—she was actually tempted!

On his 13th birthday, he and Loren embarked on a unique adventure, sneaking into Hogsmeade among the older students... What an enticing choice!

Hermione was filled with mixed feelings. "We can't hide it from Filch and Mrs. Norris. Professor McGonagall will definitely not agree to us going to Hogsmeade."

"Don't forget we're at Hogwarts, a school full of magic and wonder." Loren led Hermione up the stairs, pulling a square piece of parchment from his pocket. It was worn and showed obvious signs of age.

Hermione leaned closer, curiously examining the tattered parchment.

Loren drew his wand and tapped the parchment lightly. "I solemnly swear that I do no good."

The once blank pages of the yellowed, worn parchment have changed. Countless fiber marks on the paper have transformed into regular lines and veins. A black ink dot first appears in the center of the paper, from which hundreds and thousands of ink lines extend, crisscrossing like a spider web.

Large, green, cursive characters appeared on the paper:

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Gentlemen who are dedicated to helping those who create magical pranks

Introduced with great fanfare

Marauder's Map

Then the cursive script disappeared from the paper, and fine ink lines flowed along the veins, drawing a detailed map of Hogwarts Castle. It not only showed details of all the rooms and areas, but also many small moving black dots, next to which was a line of extremely small text.

Hermione leaned closer to carefully read the words and read them aloud, "Filch and Mrs. Norris, Peeves, Professor Flitwick— "

Hermione immediately understood the map's purpose by looking at its name and the terrain on it. Pointing to the black dots, she said incredulously, "It can show the location of everyone in the Castle."

Loren smiled and nodded, pointing to the only two small black dots on the Third Floor Corridor on the map. "These are the two of us. George and Fred told me that there are seven Secret Passages in the school that lead directly to Hogsmeade, but Filch guards four of them, and the entrance to one more is under the roots of the Whomping Willow, so those five Secret Passages are inconvenient to use. The entrances to the remaining two Secret Passages, one of which is here."

Half an hour later.

Hermione stood in front of rows of shelves filled with delicious and juicy candies, looking dazed.

The magical Marauder's Map: tap the statue of the one-eyed hunchbacked Witch with your wand to open the entrance to Secret Passages passage. Wander through the winding, cold, damp mud, climb long stone steps, lift the Trapdoor on top, and you'll find yourself in a brightly lit candy store.

What she had just experienced felt like an illusion. She watched Loren studying the new products at Honeydukes with great interest, while the chatter of other older young wizards filled her ears. The scene still felt unreal.

Beneath a large tasting sign, the text describing the new product was pitifully small; Loren had to lean in to read it, "New Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans series: eye boogers, nasal boogers, earwax, and—dandruff!"

Even Loren, who considered himself well-informed, had to admit that the candy store's product development philosophy was incredibly advanced. It was hard to imagine how they created those flavors; Loren felt the mental state of the candy store owner Ambrose Flume, was questionable.

He turned to look at Hermione, who was still contemplating life, and reached out his eager little hand toward the booger-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Just before he touched it, Loren hesitated and turned toward the cucumber flavor that was placed next to him.

He pinched a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans's Every Flavor Bean between his thumb and forefinger and slowly, discreetly fed it to Hermione's mouth.

Snap!

Hermione swatted away the restless hand, speechless for a moment. "What do you want to do?"

The plan failed. Loren was somewhat disappointed and regretful. "I didn't do anything, I just wanted to see what Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans tasted like."

"Then why don't you eat it yourself?"

"I don't think these flavors taste good."

"You..."

This guy's self-righteous attitude was a bit annoying. Hermione clenched her fist, wanting to punch him.

In any case, they were already in Hogsmeade. Hermione finally convinced herself to accept reality with the most powerful reason, "Since we're already here," and started browsing in Honeydukes.

This week is Hogwarts ' activity week, and most of the older young wizards have come to Hogsmeade, crowding the candy store. Patient students are selecting and packing sweets to take back to the Castle, while some impatient ones are buying them on the spot and enjoying them immediately.

Loren and his companions used to order sweets by owl; it was the main way to shop in the Castle. They would send the Galleon along with the shopping list to the shop, and the owner would pack the sweets according to the list and have the owl deliver them back.

Before that, on the Hogwarts Express, they tried all sorts of novel magical candies.

But none of the previous two weeks of candy shopping had been as overwhelming as entering a candy world. Rows of shelves were filled with delicious, juicy candies: large chunks of Cream Almond Candy, sparkling pink Coconut Ice Cake, and honey-colored toffee.

Looking at all these candies, it seemed as if the air itself was filled with a sweet aroma. Samples were displayed in front of the candy shelves, Loren pulled Hermione over to try each one. The sweet syrup coating their teeth and tongue brought them immense pleasure.

"I love Coconut Ice Cake!" Hermione's eyes sparkled, and her lips were smeared with coconut frosting powder, like a satisfied kitten after sneaking a bite.

Loren used his index finger to apply some powdered sugar to her face, then held it up to his eyes and teased, "We can buy a box when we leave; we don't need to take any with us."

"Ouch!" Hermione pretended to bite his finger, but he nimbly dodged it.

As Loren ate his way from one side of the shelf to the other, he noticed a sign on the next shelf: Special Effects Candy.

George and Fred were standing under the sign, examining a toad-shaped ice cream. Loren, holding Hermione's hand, quietly approached them from behind.

"How do they manage to make the ice cream still bounce in my stomach? It's incredible!" George held the toad ice cream up to his eyes.

"If we can crack it, we can make the S.P.E.W. Puking Pastilles!" Fred said expectantly.

"Then Professor McGonagall will expel you, and you can skip classes forever," Loren suddenly said.

George jumped in surprise, put the toad ice cream back on the shelf, and replied with a laugh, "Ha, of course not. Although we're always causing trouble, Professor McGonagall still likes us very much."

"Hey! Happy birthday Hermione!" Fred winked at Hermione behind him and teased, "So Loren borrowed the Marauder's Map to prepare a special birthday present. Don't forget we played a part in this!"

"Thank you." After being teased by the two so much, Hermione was no longer as shy as before.

George grabbed Fred by the collar and pulled him outside. "Let's go, we still need to go to Zonko's Joke Shop to see the new products, let's not disturb their time together."

"Have fun!" Fred's voice trailed off.

I had another 2k pages left, but I lost the draft due to computer problems. I'll finish it as soon as possible.