Honeydukes

Time spent studying was this plain and unadorned.

Open his eyes, attend class.

Close his eyes, sleep.

Hermione truly deserved her reputation as a cheat code.

Her learning speed was practically rocket-fast.

Under her guidance, Brook's Disillusionment Charm finally made remarkable progress.

After more than a month of hard work,

he finally managed to cast the Disillusionment Charm successfully.

Though there were still a few minor flaws.

If someone looked closely, they could still spot the telltale signs.

But for Brook, as long as people could not easily recognize him, that was enough.

"Are you planning to do something bad again?" Hermione suddenly asked.

"Why would you ask that?" Brook was puzzled.

"Hmph! If you weren't planning to do bad things, why would you learn the Disillusionment Charm?"

"What a clever little witch."

Hermione raised her little chin, and the curve of her lips was harder to suppress than an AK.

Brook smiled at Hermione. "You figured it out, and you still taught me?"

"It's not like you wouldn't do bad things if I didn't teach you," Hermione muttered softly. "At least if you know the Disillusionment Charm, you won't get caught and lose points."

"Hermione, you really are adorable." Brook rubbed Hermione's little head.

(￣▽￣)ノ

So this was the legendary double standard!

If it had been someone else, they should have thanked their lucky stars if Hermione did not report them to a professor.

Hermione: (ꈍᴗꈍ)

"By the way, what exactly are you planning to do?"

Brook shrugged. "Me? I haven't decided yet, but I'm planning to go out for a bit."

"Go out? Leave Hogwarts? No!" Hermione shrieked.

"Keep it down."

Brook hurriedly gestured for her to be quiet.

Luckily, they were in an empty classroom with no one else around.

Otherwise, he really would have been defeated before he even got started.

"It'll be dangerous if you leave Hogwarts." Hermione's face was full of worry.

"I'm going to Hogsmeade, where third-years and above go on weekends. Besides, I can enter the space inside the ring anytime, so there won't be any danger." Brook explained.

Hermione pouted. "Then I'm going too."

"I'll scout it out first. I'll take you next time."

"Oh, all right!" Hermione was a little disappointed, but she still relented. "Then be careful."

"When I'm handling things, what could you possibly be worried about?"

"Don't get caught, or else..."

Hermione could not think of a way to threaten Brook.

"Or else I'll go to the library with you every day. How about that?" Brook suggested with a smile.

"As if you don't already go with me now," Hermione muttered softly.

Her voice was as quiet as a mosquito's buzz. Only Brook's ears, far sharper than an ordinary person's, could hear it.

"When I get back tomorrow, I'll bring you something tasty."

Hermione looked haughty. She would not be bought off by a little snack.

On the weekend, Brook got up unusually early.

He had quite a few things to do and was afraid there would not be enough time.

He put on makeup inside the ring and changed into another face.

Then he took out his wand and lightly tapped his own head.

"Disillusionment Charm."

When he reappeared in the dormitory,

his body was like a chameleon, blending into the colors around him.

He crawled through the hole and pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait.

Seeing no one, the Fat Lady could not help muttering, "Why turn invisible in broad daylight?"

Brook smoothly arrived before the statue of the One-Eyed Witch in the Third Floor Corridor.

He lightly tapped the statue with his wand.

"Dissendium!"

The statue's hump immediately opened, revealing a passage wide enough for one person to pass through.

Inside was a stone slide. Brook sat down without hesitation.

The slide was long and thrilling, twisting and turning like the ice slides he had ridden back in the Northeast.

It took about five minutes before he reached the bottom.

It was pitch-black around him, so dark he could not see his hand in front of his face.

"Lumos!"

He lit his wand.

He looked at the stone slide stretching upward.

Well, no going back that way.

The path was uneven and winding.

Brook began sensing the spatial marker he had left at Hogwarts.

His Space Gate currently had a maximum range of twenty thousand meters.

Once he could no longer sense it, he could leave another spatial marker.

That way, when he came again next time, he could come directly through the Space Gate.

He did not want to suffer through this again in the future.

Of course, he could also pick a direction and open a Space Gate at random.

But he had no idea what would be on the other side.

What if Dumbledore happened to be in Hogsmeade? Opening it right in his face would be something else.

After nearly an hour of walking, he finally saw a long stone staircase.

The kind whose end could not be seen at a glance.

For someone like Brook, who only wanted to lie flat, it was practically deadly.

Even with a physique comparable to an adult's, he was panting by the time he climbed up.

He truly did not know how the twins had kept at it.

Only when he saw a wooden door did he realize he had arrived.

It was still within the twenty-thousand-meter range, so next time he would not even need to take the secret passage.

He listened carefully and heard no movement, then cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself again.

He quickly pushed open the door and sprang onto the surface.

It turned out to be a cellar, piled full of chairs and boxes.

He slowly walked out.

At this time, Honeydukes was exceptionally quiet.

Behind the counter, a witch was lying there, sleeping soundly.

Brook walked over to the shelves, waved his wand, and instantly removed the Disillusionment Charm.

Then he openly began browsing through Honeydukes.

After all, he had promised to bring Hermione a gift.

So, he switched into a frenzied shopping mode.

Chocolate in various flavors, fudge, pear drops, licorice wands, Fizzing Whizzbees, Sugar Quills.

Pink, faintly glowing Coconut Ice, and exploding bonbons.

Acid Pops that could "burn a hole in your friend's tongue," Ice Mice that let you "hear your teeth chatter and squeak," Pepper Imps that "make smoke come out of your mouth,"

and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, which could fill an entire room with bubbles the color of bluebells that would not burst for days, and more.

Brook only glanced at each item before sweeping it into his basket.

Perhaps he was making too much noise, because he finally woke the sleeping witch.

The witch rubbed her sleepy eyes and groggily raised her head.

When she saw the candies piling higher and higher in Brook's basket,

her still-hazy eyes instantly lit up, and her eyes curved into crescents with delight.

This was a big customer!

She hurriedly stood up and said warmly,

"Hello, I'm Madam Flume, the owner here. Since you're buying so much, let me get you another empty basket."

She swiftly handed Brook an empty basket and took away the one that could no longer hold any more.

It was as though she was afraid Brook would stop buying once he filled the basket.

"Take your time choosing."

After quite a while, Brook finally finished picking out all the candies.

There were three whole baskets, each piled high above the rim.

Madam Flume's smile never faded, and her eyes had narrowed into slits.

"That comes to twenty-one Gold Galleons, three Silver Sickles, and six Knuts."

Brook paid, then stored all the candies in the ring.