No Need to Thank Me, It's What I Should Do

Breakfast time, in the Great Hall.

Loren sat at the Gryffindor table, holding half an apple in his hand. He looked down at the white flesh of the apple, his mind racing with complex emotions.

In this season, putting a cold apple into your mouth is as difficult as learning Patronus Charm.

Ah~

Hermione yawned and rubbed her sleepy cheeks. "How long are you going to stare at that apple?"

Hearing the girl's voice, Loren looked up and immediately noticed the faint dark circles around her eyes. He couldn't help but ask, "Did you stay up late again last night?"

"Yes..." Hermione's tone carried a hint of sleeplessness and languor, sounding soft and gentle. "Last night, Parvati and Lavender kept me chatting until late at night."

At this point, Hermione sighed, recalling the absurd love questions she had answered last night, and a helpless expression appeared on her face.

If she had known the answers, she wouldn't have had to write back to ask her mother.

"We chatted until late at night..." Loren muttered to himself, repeating the phrase with mixed feelings.

No wonder I couldn't wait; someone else snatched it away.

Linmei's.

Frustrated, Loren viciously bit a large hole in the apple, chewing it with a ferocious expression, making a "crunch crunch" sound.

Unaware of this, Hermione took a sip of milk and continued, "Speaking of which, I didn't dream about the Library again last night. What a pity, I wonder if I'll ever have the chance again?"

Click—

Juicy apples are chopped by teeth, crushed into small particles and pulp, and then enter the stomach through the esophagus, where they are gradually digested and absorbed.

As Hermione had predicted, Hermione never entered the dream Library again after that day, and Loren's dream date seemed to have come to nothing.

Loren inquired about this with Flamel, but received no answers; the triggering conditions for Hermione's entry into the Fantasy Book remained a mystery...

Hogwarts is gradually entering late autumn.

The temperature has dropped, and the sky has become gloomy. Clear, sunny days are a rare sight, and cloudy or overcast days are becoming more frequent. Moist rain clouds always drift across the sky, and you never know when a sudden downpour might occur.

It often happens that when you wake up in the morning, it's drizzling outside the window, but then the sun suddenly shines through during class, and bright golden sunlight streams into the classroom. If it's Professor McGonagall, everyone will be a little more reserved, but if it's Professor Flitwick, the young wizards will burst into laughter and chatter.

Whenever this happened, Professor Flitwick would not get annoyed. He would look out the window with his students, smiling, and enjoy the rare sunshine for a while.

Sometimes it's a sudden afternoon downpour. After lunch, the young wizards are lying or sitting in the fields and courtyards when, in an instant, the drizzling raindrops suddenly fall, leaving a large group of disheveled young wizards soaked.

If the young wizards of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff don't have time to run, they'll simply give up, laughing and joking as they rush into the rain, waving the raindrops and tugging at their friends' clothes, hoping to get as many people as possible soaked.

Once the initial excitement subsided, they returned to the Castle, shivering from the cold, to rest, shower, and change clothes. They were late for their afternoon classes, received a severe scolding from the professor, and then spent the day laughing and joking around.

Rain at night is not good. Quidditch teams often train at night, and the temperature drops after sunset. Players always have to train in the cold and rain, returning to the Common Room shivering. After taking a shower, all they want to do is curl up in their warm beds and have no mood to do their homework.

"So that's your excuse for copying homework in third grade?"

In a corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, Loren stood speechlessly. He had just returned from brewing Potions in the Room of Requirement when Harry grabbed him and eagerly asked about his homework.

Harry chuckled and said, "I wanted to do it myself, but Wood required us to practice more on the weekend, and I also had to go to Professor Lupin to learn the Patronus Charm, so I didn't have any extra time to allocate to homework."

The other Quidditch players had just returned from outside and were scattered throughout the Common Room, enjoying the weekend with their friends. George and Fred happened to overhear Harry's words.

"That's right!"

"It's all Wood's fault!"

The Twins shouted as they walked over. George put his arm around Harry's shoulder and praised him for copying the homework, "You're right, Harry. Life is sometimes full of helplessness. We can't have everything."

"Even people as outstanding as Fred and I have to make sacrifices for Quidditch." Fred put his arm around Loren's shoulder, pretending to be George, and turned to call out to the girl not far away, "Right, Angelina?"

Angelina, the Chaser of the Quidditch team, rolled her eyes, showing him no respect whatsoever. "So it turns out that you two were sacrificed for copying my homework? I had no idea about that."

The young wizards around him burst into hearty laughter.

Oliver Wood walked up and tapped each of the Twins on the head. "When I leave next year, let's see which new captain can tolerate you two. Oh no, let's wait until after Halloween when we recruit new players. Once I find a suitable Beater, I'll get rid of you two from the team!"

Ron even stopped playing Wizard's Chess, stood up and shouted, "That's right, kick these two pests out of the team!"

Fred and George ran over and jokingly scolded Ron, causing a burst of laughter in the Common Room.

Just as Loren was explaining his messy handwriting to Harry from time to time, a group of little Witch shrouded in a somber atmosphere entered the Portrait Hole.

Lavender nestled in Parvati's arms, her shoulders heaving as if she were sobbing softly.

Hermione walked at the back of her roommates, her small face showing a frustrated and angry expression, her lips pouting, looking very resentful.

Under the watchful eyes of the young wizards, Parvati put her arm around Lavender and went upstairs, followed by several close young Witch.

Frustrated, Hermione sat down next to Loren, bumped her head against his shoulder, and before he could ask, she explained, "Today is October 16th, you know, Trelawney Prophecy Lavender would suffer her worst fears."

"Huh?" Loren asked curiously, "What happened?"

"Lavender received a letter from her mother that her pet Binky the Rabbit, had been killed by a fox, and then we went to see Professor Trelawney together..." Hermione gritted her teeth indignantly, "And then she tried to lie to Lavender!"

"What's wrong?"

"She actually said that this was something she foresaw with her Inner Eye, that she had warned Lavender, and blamed Lavender for not being prepared." The little Witch looked extremely angry. "And she even said that this was destined, and the future cannot be changed!"

Loren smiled at Hermione's bared teeth, looking like an angry little squirrel, not at all intimidating.

Harry, who was engrossed in copying his homework, looked up, his expression blank. "Does this mean that Professor Trelawney really can Prophecy? Does this also mean that I am about to face an ominous death?"

"No way!" Hermione interrupted crisply. "Trelawney just happened to be there! Binky the Rabbit is a baby bunny, Lavender has never been afraid of Binky dying before!"

Loren for a moment, and then thought that this could be considered a kind of Prophecy, and nodded thoughtfully.

"Loren, do you remember that Prophecy she made last semester about a meal for thirteen people?" Hermione said confidently. "I've figured out her trick. Her Prophecy is just an ambiguous guess. No matter what the outcome, she can always say she's right."

Harry blinked. "So, what about my ominous death?"

Hermione frowned at Harry, and slowly said as she pondered, "She only said that you would encounter misfortune, but she didn't say what misfortune would be. Maybe you'll choke on a lamb chop while eating dinner, or maybe you'll stumble while practicing Quidditch..."

Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up, and she raised her voice slightly. "Or perhaps you've already encountered misfortune, remember?"

Loren also remembered, and looked at Harry thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Harry was still confused.

"The night we flew out of school together on our Hippogriff!" Hermione said quickly, "You encountered Dementor and fell off Buckbeak; that was a death sentence!"

As she spoke, Hermione slowed her pace and gradually widened her eyes. She was trying to convince others that Professor Trelawney was a fraud, but unexpectedly, she confirmed Trelawney's deceptive Prophecy.

Recalling Trelawney's seemingly genuine Prophecy and considering Trelawney deception, Hermione was utterly confused. She looked at Loren with a bewildered expression.

"Professor Trelawney's Prophecy did come true to some extent, but think carefully about the Prophecy she made in her first lesson, the ones about Neville's grandmother, Parvati and the red-haired man, Lavender's greatest fears..."

Loren said unhurriedly, "There is no doubt that these are just linguistic games to disguise themselves. Just like I can now Prophecy that what Ron is looking forward to will happen after Halloween, and that Harry will still face the threat of death in the future."

"Hey!" Harry looked at him with displeasure. "Why me again?"

Hermione had come to understand these Prophecy: "Because you have a mortal enemy, far away in Ilvermorny, who may be plotting how to take revenge on you."

Harry was taken aback, then asked defiantly, "What about Ron? Why is his Prophecy considered a good thing?"

Hermione spread her hands and explained, "Because Quidditch selections, Transfiguration Club recruitment... these fun events are all around Halloween, there's bound to be something he's looking forward to."

"And there's Hogsmeade Week!" Ron suddenly popped out from behind, put his hand on Harry's shoulder, and was very pleased with himself, having just narrowly missed killing Seamus.

Ron sat down next to Harry and said, "I thought you guys had figured out Professor Trelawney a long time ago. Honestly, what serious subject has assignments where students make up stories about their misfortunes and get higher marks for the worst ones?"

"That's right." Loren nudged Hermione's shoulder lightly. "Professor Trelawney might really be able to Prophecy future, but as she herself said, the Inner Eye is an innate talent that cannot be learned or taught, so..."

Hermione opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't find the words.

Swaying slightly from the bump, the golden chain around her neck jingled softly. Hermione gripped the Golden Hourglass at her chest and pursed her lips thoughtfully.

The weekend passed uneventfully. Loren's "Wolfsbane Potion - Leopard-skin flower Modification" was progressing well, and the Fiendfyre was progressing at a steady pace. Apart from Hermione having to comfort Lavender with her roommate, there were no other regrets.

Ring ring—

The school bell rang, and Professor McGonagall called to the young wizards who were about to take off, "Wait a minute! Children, I believe you have all seen the notice on the bulletin board. This is your first year of Activity Week. Those who haven't handed in their forms yet, remember to do so before Halloween..."

The third-graders had never been to Hogsmeade before, and Professor McGonagall patiently explained all the precautions one by one. In addition to the Dementor, she especially emphasized the importance of the permission form, which must be signed by a parent or guardian.

Apart from Neville searching for a while before finding the permission form in a folded compartment of his textbook, almost no young wizards in the class were bothered by it, and Harry had already had Sirius Black sign it long ago.

So on the way to the Great Hall for lunch after class, every student was excitedly talking loudly about what Hogsmeade would do first.

Hermione had something to ask Professor McGonagall, so Loren waited at the classroom door for a few minutes.

"Let's go!" Hermione came out of the office with a relaxed smile on her face, as if she had shaken off a heavy burden. Even her steps were light, and she skipped along.

"You cancelled the Divination Class too?" Loren tilted his head and looked around. The Golden Hourglass that used to hang on the gold chain was gone. He felt a little regretful; he hadn't even had a chance to experience it yet.

"Yes!" Hermione nodded emphatically and said with a smile, "I thought Professor McGonagall would be disappointed in me, but I didn't expect her to agree with my approach. She even said that I should have done it a long time ago, and that I should have quit Divination before quitting Muggle Studies."

"It sounds like Professor McGonagall has long harbored resentment towards Professor Trelawney."

Hermione tugged at his sleeve and shook it. "After all, Transfiguration requires rigor and meticulousness, while Prophecy..."

The little Witch wrinkled her nose and shook her head, looking as if she had inherited the true skills of a certain professor of Transfiguration.

The joy and ease made the girl tiptoe as she went down the stairs. Loren pulled out a box of finger cookies from somewhere and started crunching them.

Hermione hummed an unknown melody, and seeing this, she subconsciously muttered, "Lunch is almost here, why are we eating cookies now?"

Loren didn't reply, but casually handed over a small cookie.

Unsuspecting and in a good mood, Hermione opened her mouth and was then put into something cold and icy.

The cheerful footsteps and melody stopped. Hermione turned around, her expression blank, and smacked her lips. "Mandrake?"

Loren nodded and said happily, "Now that we don't need the Time-Turner anymore, let's practice the Animagus ritual together."

"..."

Hermione was completely stunned. She pointed to the Great Hall in front of her, then pointed to her own mouth.

"That's right, that's right!" Loren's face beamed with a bright smile. "Lunch is coming soon, and I'm worried you'll have a good meal."

"Loren! Morgan!"

"You're welcome, it's what I should do."