With Harry back, everyone resumed their normal shopping. Mrs. Weasley first went to find Ginny and George, who were still being measured for clothes. They'd been worried about Harry, too.
An hour later, everyone met at Flourish and Blotts. The bookshop was especially lively today, with countless middle-aged witches trying to push their way inside—for a chance to get Gilderoy Lockhart's books signed in person.
"We'll get to meet him!" Hermione cried. "I mean, almost all the books on the list were written by him."
They slipped through the crowd and sneaked over to where the parents were lined up. "Oh, thank goodness you're here at last! We'll be able to meet him any minute now!" Mrs. Weasley was even more excited.
Gradually, they caught sight of a blond, blue-eyed wizard sitting there signing books. A short, irritable man kept leaping about and taking pictures, nearly stepping on people several times. Just as he jumped toward Ron again—
"Thump!"
He flew straight from Ron's side to Lockhart's. "Who did that?!" The short man glared angrily behind him, just in time to see Bing Huan slowly lower his leg.
"Just reminding you that you're not a monkey. Even if you were, try acting like a person."
Lockhart looked over too, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that Harry Potter?"
He hurried over and pulled Harry in front of the camera. After taking the photo that would appear on tomorrow's front page, he grandly gave Harry a complete set of his books and announced that he himself would be teaching Dark Arts Defense at Hogwarts in September.
Bing Huan frowned, scrutinizing the whole scene. He'd thought Lockhart was merely someone with a little ability whose reputation had been inflated. Now... even whether he had that little ability was starting to seem doubtful.
Given Bing Huan's current situation, where he knew a little about everything, he had talent and a good grasp of things, and his teacher was the strongest person of the age. Even with all that cutting down his learning time, after he turned five, he still had to spend ninety percent of his time meditating to recover instead of sleeping.
Hermione asked, "What's wrong, Huan? Is there something off about him?" Her hapless boyfriend wouldn't make such a frightening face for no reason.
Bing Huan shook his head. "Most wizards' magic grows with age. From that perspective, he looks like a perfectly ordinary wizard."
"What's wrong with being ordinary?"
"That's exactly why it's not ordinary."
"Huh?" Hermione didn't understand.
Bing Huan could tell at a glance that she'd unconsciously started thinking of herself as an ordinary person again. "Who do you think knows more, me or him?"
"Judging by his books, he knows more."
"Right. What if I told you that from the time I turned five until I came to Hogwarts, I barely slept? Cultivators can recover their energy while accumulating power, but wizards don't have that ability.
"In other words, if I were here, it would take me at least until I was twenty to reach my current level. He's not that old, is he?"
"Twenty-seven."
"Then that's strange. He's not very talented, and he's not old. Where did all that power come from?" Bing Huan watched Lockhart grabbing hold of Harry. "Clearly, he still needs to learn how to take pictures and grab the headlines."
"But I learn quickly too," Hermione said, feeling Bing Huan was underestimating ordinary people a little.
"Have you never noticed that you grew faster than other kids your age and were healthier, too? And that image that keeps appearing in your mind is the Mental Power Meditation Method. You don't need me to remind you how important mental power is to learning magic, do you? What makes you so sure you're ordinary?"
"Ah~"
"Besides, over the past year, I've given you nourishing pills and medicated meals every so often. When you read leaning against me, I even used my mental power to work on your meridians. Even a little pig like you would be able to fly~" Bing Huan pinched Hermione's cheek, pretending to look fierce.
Hermione slapped his hand away. "All this time, I thought I was just a little clever~"
Bing Huan rolled his eyes. "Look at the people around you. Harry's the Chosen One, Draco's a genius from the Malfoy family, and even Ron, who's the least talented of the lot, is only the least talented among the five of us. Want to guess who the Prefect and Head Boy were a few years ago at Gryffindor?
"Last year, Ron was held back by an old wand that didn't suit him, and he wasn't all that interested in studying, either. His spellwork will definitely improve by leaps and bounds this year."
By then, Lockhart had finally let Harry go, and Mrs. Weasley had gotten her signed book. Everyone started toward the shop's exit. Hermione tilted her head and asked, "What about you?"
"I've been beaten up by Dumbledore and Grindelwald."
Hermione: (‧_‧?)
As they reached the door, Draco came out too. "Hey, Potter! You make the front page just by visiting a bookshop. You really are the Chosen One."
"Don't say that! He didn't want this." Ginny glared angrily at Malfoy. Harry hurried to explain to her, "Ginny, Draco's joking. He was the one who rescued me from Knockturn Alley today."
But Draco clearly wasn't focused on being misunderstood. "You have a girlfriend?! Potter!"
Ginny's face turned red. Harry pointed behind him, exasperated. "What are you talking about? Those two are the ones who got together."
Draco looked over. o_O???
"They've been like that for ages. They seem even worse now, though."
"They confessed a few days ago."
"What did they do?!"
"Confessed."
"When?!"
"A few days ago."
"What did they do?!"
"Drop dead!"
Draco seemed to have spotted the Chosen One and ran over to Ron. "Weasley, you don't have a partner, do you?" Ron shook off his hand with a look of disgust. "Where would I get one of those?"
Draco let out a long breath of relief. "Good. Bing and Granger are together, and it can't be hard for Potter to find a girlfriend. If you beat me to it as well, I might as well bash my head against a wall."
"Wait, explain yourself. What do you mean?" I can't get there before you, is that it?
Draco smiled confidently. "I admit, you're pretty good among the students, but you're still a little behind me."
"Draco, what have I told you? Be polite to your friends." Lucius had appeared behind Draco at some point.
"Yes, Father."
Lucius turned to Hermione. "You must be Miss Granger. Draco tells me you're top of your year. I hope you do well in the new term, too. I'm sorry, but I need to borrow your companion for a little while. Mr. Bing Huan, I'll be waiting for you on the second floor."
They watched Lucius go upstairs.
Draco said, "Father, you make me feel like I don't know you."
Hermione said, "He doesn't seem like a bad person~"
Bing Huan said, "It's only natural for an employee to praise the boss's wife. I'll be right back."
Bing Huan followed Lucius upstairs. Lucius took out a sealed diary. "Is this Voldemort's backup plan?"
"It's his diary from when he was a student. It contains a fragment of his soul."
"A fragment of his soul? Splitting one's soul isn't easy, especially in the Wizarding World. And why seal it so tightly?" Bing Huan idly toyed with the diary, intending to open it and take a look.
Lucius hurriedly stopped him. "Don't. The moment you open the diary, the Dark Lord's soul will be able to sense the outside world. To be safe, I temporarily sealed it with magic. As you said, deliberately splitting your soul requires planning a vicious murder.
"An object that holds a fragment is called a Horcrux. If its owner is killed, it gives them a chance to come back to life. But there's a price. The more the soul is split, the more fragile it becomes. Under a severe shock, it may create new fragments without the owner even realizing it."
"So there could be many more things like this? How many do you know about?"
Lucius nodded. "We can be sure there are fewer than ten, and they're all objects with names. The Dark Lord is proud and arrogant. Only heirlooms from ancient families would catch his eye. Unfortunately, this diary is the only one we know about."
"What are you planning to do with the diary?" Bing Huan sent Dumbledore the news, reminding him to keep an eye out.
"Originally, Ginny would have been a very good choice, but given the Malfoy family's current position, that's clearly unsuitable. I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm doing my best to find a way."
Bing Huan glanced at Lockhart downstairs, still beaming. "How much do you know about that fellow?" Lucius came over at that. "His background is impressive, but I don't know much about him. There's no evidence proving he's lying, but there's no evidence proving he isn't, either."
"Has he ever used magic in public?"
"Almost never. When he has, it's been little spells from first- or second-year textbooks."
Bing Huan raised an eyebrow. "Then he'll do?"
"Is that appropriate?"
"A useless windbag who's almost certainly all talk. What do you think he wants most?"
"Power to match his reputation. The Dark Lord is best at manipulating people that way. I'll make sure the task is done before the term begins."
By evening, everyone had been dragged by Bing Huan to a Daoist hotel for dinner. Mrs. Weasley was still reminiscing about meeting Lockhart. "He was so handsome!"
Fred said, "Mum, we're eating."
George said, "What's so handsome about that guy?"
Bing Huan said, "Mrs. Weasley, with all due respect, who here isn't more handsome than him?"
Ron and Draco said, "Exactly!"
Over the past year, Bing Huan had fed the others plenty of foundation-building pills and nourishing medicated meals. Their growth and looks were far better than those of their peers, and he himself had been guided in body cultivation since he was still in swaddling clothes.
If the five kids had merely grown a little faster, looking like slightly immature fifteen- or sixteen-year-olds, the Twins and Percy had grown into their looks completely—and been improved along the way. Compared to them, Lockhart had no advantage besides his life experience.
Mrs. Weasley wanted to say something in defense of her idol, but her children's looks—nearly enough to win over the readers—made it impossible to go against her conscience. After dinner, the families said their goodbyes. Harry went back to the Burrow, while Bing Huan and Hermione went with him to spend the last few days of summer with her parents.
Before you continue