Hermione: You're Impossible

After a long while, Ron returned to his dormitory as if he had burned himself out.

"How are you, buddy?" Seamus asked with concern as he stepped forward.

"I'm alright." Ron was a little flustered. "My God, I'm starting to regret being Prefect —it's just too tiring."

"Really?" Seamus asked, somewhat skeptical. "Then why don't you step down Prefect and let me take the position?"

Ron cleared his throat. "But then again, serving the Gryffindor is my life's pursuit..."

"Cut!"

The guys in the dorm all gave Ron the middle finger.

"By the way," Neville suddenly asked, "Have you seen the latest newspapers? The Ministry of Magic is again claiming that the return of the Dark Lord is complete nonsense..."

"Sigh." Seamus sighed as well. "My mother actually believed the Ministry of Magic's nonsense at first, but when I told her that Harry had shown us the memories of Voldemort's return, she chose to believe me—I believe many wizards would choose to believe the Ministry of Magic, after all... you know, it's the official authority, and the official authority represents everything."

"But I'd rather believe pigs fly than believe a single word of nonsense from the Ministry of Magic," Ron muttered. He genuinely disliked those officials at the Ministry of Magic, a sentiment deeply influenced by his family's upbringing...

"Why?" Seamus asked, puzzled. "Isn't your father also a member of the Ministry of Magic?"

"But my dad doesn't associate with them, Seamus," Ron said, chewing gum. "You know, my dad has never really gotten along with Fudge."

"The adult world..." Seamus sighed.

"Let's go to sleep." Ron took off his shoes and socks and got into bed. "We're tired enough today. I think we should get some rest. We have new classes tomorrow, don't we?"

"You're right, Ron," Neville agreed.

The next morning, they got up very early.

Ron left the dormitory first because he was the Prefect and had to fulfill his duties.

At least there are still those new students waiting for him to guide them.

When Harry woke up, the dormitory was empty.

When Harry reached the Common Room, he saw Hermione and Ron talking to Abercrombie.

"Hi, Harry," Hermione greeted, raising her hand. "Why are you only getting up now?"

"I'm a little sleepy," Harry said with a yawn. He had been training his Mental Power all night, trying to expand his Mental World.

Just then, the Weasley twins walked over, laughing and joking, and pasted a large notice on the bulletin board.

The students crowded around, laughing and joking, but the Weasley twins slipped away after pasting up the notice.

"Oh my god," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "These two clones really know how to find things to do—especially to find things for us..."

Harry looked over and saw it read, "Plenty of Galleon! Not enough allowance to cover your expenses? Want to earn some more gold? Contact Fred and George Weasley in the Gryffindor Common Room for a simple, almost painless side job."

There is another line of smaller text below.

"(We apologize, but all job seekers assume all risks.)"

"Those two are really going too far." Hermione stepped forward, intending to tear the notice down.

"Well, Hermione," Harry said. "I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to let them run a small business, at least that would stop them from losing points for the House, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, you really..." Hermione frowned, thought for a moment, and then sighed.

"Perhaps you're right, Harry," Hermione sighed. "Let them recruit from Gryffindor. At least that way they won't do anything to lower Gryffindor's grades— Malfoy and Pansy are Slytherin Prefect now, and I think they'll definitely find every way to lower Gryffindor's grades, won't they?"

"Indeed," Ron nodded.

"However..." Hermione thought for a moment and said, "I think you need to keep them in check. After all, they're your brothers, Ron —promise me you won't let them lose any Gryffindor, okay?"

"No problem, Hermione, no problem." Ron nodded eagerly, not at all finding this task particularly troublesome.

In fact, stopping the two older brothers was no easy task.

Just then, Angelina walked over from not far away.

She wore a high ponytail and looked very sunny, lively, and healthy.

"How was your summer vacation?" Angelina asked with a smile.

"It's good, very fulfilling," Harry replied.

"Fred and George have already told me about your amazing summer adventures; it was quite a splendid one," Angelina said with a smile.

"Yes," Harry replied. "Oh, by the way Angelina, I haven't congratulated you on becoming the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team yet."

"Haha." Angelina laughed. "That's why I called you here—oh, right, there's one more thing. Oliver's gone, and we need a new goalkeeper. The selection will be on Friday at 5 p. m., and I hope the whole team can be there, okay? That way we can see if the new guy can fit in well with everyone."

"Of course, no problem," Harry said.

At this point, Harry suddenly remembered that his good friend Ron was also a huge Quidditch fan.

So he said, "By the way, Angelina."

"What's wrong?" Angelina turned her head.

"What do you think of Ron?" Harry asked, pointing to Ron who was talking to Hermione. "Ron has always loved Quidditch, and I think he's good at flying too. Maybe he could be selected as the Quidditch team goalkeeper?"

Ron hadn't realized what was happening yet when he heard Harry mention him and looked up in confusion.

"What's wrong, Harry?" he asked.

"I was suggesting to Angelina that you be the goalkeeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Harry laughed, patting Ron on the shoulder. "You know, Oliver graduated, and we're in dire need of a qualified goalkeeper right now—and you, my brother, haven't you always loved Quidditch? Plus, you're a pretty good flier, so maybe you could give it a try."

Ron was overwhelmed with joy; heaven knows how much he wanted to join the Quidditch team!

Every one of the Weasley family children, from Bill to Charlie, and then to the Weasley twins, was a key player on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team!

Of course, Percy is an exception.

"Can I... can I do it?" Ron was a little unsure of himself.

"I believe in you, brother." Harry patted Ron on the shoulder. "I think you can do it. The selection ceremony for the new Gryffindor goalkeeper is at five o'clock on Friday afternoon. I think you should participate, don't you think?"

"Okay, I'll definitely go, brother." Ron nodded quickly, his grin stretching from ear to ear.

After Angelina left, they went to the Great Hall.

"I forgot Wood was gone," Hermione said casually, sitting down next to Ron and dragging a plate of bread in front of her. "I imagine that must have had a big impact on the team."

"No," Harry said, swallowing a bite of bread. "If Ron makes it into the Quidditch team's goalie class, I don't think Oliver's absence will have much of an impact on Gryffindor— "

"But absorbing some fresh blood isn't a bad thing," Ron chuckled. "I think I should be able to do it. Thanks for the recommendation, buddy!"

"Well then," Hermione said after thinking for a moment. "I'll handle your Prefect affairs until Friday... Of course, you'll still need to take care of things inside the boys' dorms. Ron, you should go to Quidditch training with Harry before Friday... Yes, have him find someone to train you, so you won't be left out when the selections come around."

"That's wonderful!" Ron was pleasantly surprised again.

He never expected Hermione to be so supportive of him.

"I just can't do anything with you," Hermione said with a smile, shaking her head.

She lowered her head and used her knife and fork to cut off a piece of bread.

Suddenly, swish, swish, clack, clack, clack, hundreds of owls flew in from the high window.

They landed throughout the Great Hall, delivering letters and packages to their owners, while also sprinkling water droplets on the heads of those eating breakfast.

It was clearly raining heavily outside.

"Oh, Pigwidgeon!" Ron complained, looking at Pigwidgeon who was shaking water droplets next to him. "Stop shaking them around me, my bread is covered in your water droplets!"

Pigwidgeon barked twice, seemingly dissatisfied with her master's complaints.

"What's in the Daily Prophet?" Harry leaned closer and asked. "Look, ever since Rita Skeeter got fired from the Daily Prophet, the newspaper's sales seem to be going downhill every day."

"Same as always." Hermione placed a Knut in the small leather pouch on the owl's leg, picked up the newspaper, and said, "Oh, it's nothing more than claims that Voldemort will never return. Please don't believe the rumors spread by certain malicious individuals. The Ministry of Magic will never tolerate any act of spreading rumors. We urge all wizards not to believe or spread rumors..."

"Idiot," Ron said with a chuckle in his throat.

At this point, Professor McGonagall went around the table distributing course schedules to each student.

"Look at today!" Ron sighed. "History of Magic, two Potions Class, Divination Class, two Defense Against the Dark Arts Class? Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that woman named Umbridge, all on the same day! I hope Fred and George hurry up and get those Instant Class-Skipping Candy out of here!"

"Am I hearing things?" Fred said, having just arrived with George and squeezing next to Harry. "The Hogwarts Prefect wouldn't want to skip class, would they?"

"Look how unlucky we are today," Ron grumbled, shoving his class schedule under Fred's nose. "I've never had such a terrible Monday."

"You're right, buddy," Fred said, glancing at the course schedule. "If you'd like, you can have some Nosebleed Nougat, it's cheap."

"Why is it so cheap?" Ron asked skeptically.

"Because the nosebleed will keep flowing, and eventually you'll curl up in a ball—we haven't figured out an antidote yet," George said, starting to eat a piece of smoked fish.

"Thanks," Ron said sullenly, putting the timetable into his pocket. "I think I'll still go to class. I'm really afraid that there might be some serious side effects after eating those candies."

"Speaking of which!" Hermione said sternly, "I know you're up to some interesting little gadgets, but please, whatever you do, don't do anything that damages Gryffindor's reputation—if you dare do anything that deducts points from Gryffindor, I'll ban you from all your strange research! Do you hear me?!"

"Oh." Fred and George didn't think much of Hermione's words. "Haha, don't worry, Hermione. Actually... we're just trying to help our classmates. Believe it or not, this is their common wish because this year... this year is the most painful year for you all."

"Why?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Trust those who've been there." Fred smiled and scooped a piece of coconut bread from Ron's plate. "We've all been through the 'OWLs' year. I imagine you'll be overwhelmed by the studies this year..."

"So what?" Hermione said, arms crossed.

"So that means you'll have to deal with exams endlessly, right? They'll be like a grinding wheel relentlessly polishing your noses, grinding the skin off the tips until they bleed—soon, you'll change your tune, and soon you'll be begging for Skiving Snackboxes— "

"You really don't understand Hermione," Ron said, eating without looking up. "Is this even a problem for Hermione? I don't think she'd feel any pain at all; in fact, she'd probably feel like there's not enough to keep her busy with her studies."

"Oh, you really know Hermione well." The Twins said in unison, their tone sarcastic, as they looked at their younger brother with meaningful eyes.

"What are you looking at!" Ron slammed his fist on the table in anger—because he felt guilty.

"It's nothing," the Twins chuckled as they stood up. "We just feel that spring has arrived—someone's spring, a spring that belongs only to him..."

The Twins scurried away laughing, leaving Ron alone, sulking.

"What are they talking about?" Hermione looked at Ron suspiciously, then at the Twins' departing figures. "Why is Ron so angry?"

"Oh," Harry forced a smile, "Actually, I didn't understand much either, haha..."

That's great.

He felt as if he had returned to that wooden-like age.

Looking at Ron and Hermione now, he felt as if he were seeing himself and Cassandra back then.

(End of this chapter)