What a Coincidence

What a Coincidence

Hermione slipped out of the girls' dormitory and entered the Gryffindor common room, where she found Harry constantly scanning his surroundings. The sound of her opening the door seemed to give Harry quite a fright.

Harry turned around and saw Hermione, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. Then he pretended to be calm. If she found out he had been scared, she would never let him hear the end of it!

Hermione stepped out of the shadows. Seeing Harry made her think of the dream she had just had about him, and her face flushed slightly. Fortunately, the dim lighting kept Harry from noticing.

"Why aren't you asleep in the middle of the night? What are you trying to do?" Hermione covered her mouth with one small hand and yawned...

At that moment, Hermione perfectly embodied the meaning of languid. Her thin pink nightgown was rumpled from coming out without fixing it, and she wore frog slippers on her feet. Her already fluffy hair had become even messier, and her eyes were still bleary, as though she had not fully woken up yet.

As she approached Harry, she suddenly cried out. Her body lost its balance, and she fell forward. The red carpet beneath her feet had tripped her.

Like anyone in that situation, Hermione squeezed her eyes tightly shut, as though doing so would make it all disappear... Yet the pain she expected never came. Instead, she felt herself fall into someone's arms.

When Harry saw Hermione wobbling as she walked, he had wanted to remind her to watch her step. But then he thought, it was only a carpet—could it really trip someone up...? Who would have thought...? Fortunately, Harry had been watching. The moment he saw Hermione about to fall, he rushed over and caught her...

Holding such a petite, adorable girl in his arms—and one he liked, no less—Harry did not help her stand properly. Instead, he held her even tighter... It had absolutely been instinctive. He definitely had not done it on purpose...

Hermione sat upright, smoothed out her clothes, and placed both hands on her lap, as though that could give her a sense of security.

"Um, just now..."

"This is already the third time!" Hermione lowered her head. Harry could not see her expression, but he felt a chill in the air. There was killing intent!

Harry gave an awkward laugh. "What a coincidence, right? Ha..." he said awkwardly.

"Being held like a little child is just a small matter, right...?"

"A small matter?!" Hermione's voice seemed to come straight from hell.

"I'll show you a small matter..." Hermione suddenly grabbed a book from the table and hurled it at Harry without mercy.

Harry hurriedly got to his feet and dodged. "You still dare dodge?!" Hermione charged in front of Harry and began punching and kicking him. Harry could only run around the circle of chairs while Hermione chased after him.

After a round of horseplay, the two finally stopped. Or rather, Hermione stopped chasing Harry. She was only a delicate girl—how could she possibly outrun Harry?

Hermione panted as she braced herself against a chair, then sat down directly, glaring fiercely at Harry.

Seeing that Hermione was no longer chasing him, Harry let out a sigh of relief and sat two seats away from her.

"Ahem, I came to see you because I have something to tell you..."

"What could possibly be so important that you had to see me now?"

Of course, Harry would not tell her the truth. Instead, he said, "It's about that kind of energy I showed you at the beginning of term. I want to tell you how to control it, since nighttime is more suitable for this sort of thing."

The innocent Hermione was indeed drawn in by Harry's words, and the emotions she had just felt vanished without a trace...

She stared at Harry with eyes full of thirst for knowledge and asked, unable to hide her curiosity, "What exactly is it? How do you control that thing?"

Harry began seriously telling Hermione all of his ideas...

After hearing him out, Hermione's large eyes sparkled. It looked as though she had been completely captivated.

Her mind raced as she thought. "You mean there are many of these elements around us, and we can only sense them with mental power?"

"That's right, but I'm not sure whether everyone can 'see' the existence of elements."

After hearing Harry's words, Hermione raised her head and said in a young but resolute voice, "I can definitely discover the elements!"

Harry could not help smiling. Hermione did not often show such confidence.

"Do I really just need to imagine them?" Hermione still felt it was a little unreliable. If all she had to do was close her eyes and imagine the elements around her, then she could discover them? If it was that simple, why had no one else discovered them?

"Um... it should work, I think." Harry hesitated as well. He could not be sure that the method he used would work for others, but they had to try, didn't they?

Hermione hesitated no longer and closed her eyes. First, as Harry had instructed, she calmed her mind. The serious, solemn expression on adorable Hermione only made her look amusing, making people want to pinch her cheeks. That was exactly what Harry was thinking at the moment.

Harry stared at Hermione without blinking. She was only a child, but it was already clear that she would become a great beauty when she grew up.

Hermione kept her eyes closed for a while, yet she never felt anything different. Though Harry had already said it would not be easy to succeed, she still furrowed her brow. She opened her eyes, just about to speak, when she saw Harry staring at her with a serious expression...

Had he been staring at me like that the whole time I had my eyes closed...?

Thinking that, Hermione suddenly did not know what to say. She felt happy, shy, and annoyed all at once.

When Harry saw Hermione open her eyes, he quickly turned his head away. "Ha... What lovely weather today!" Hermione was almost amused by his behavior.

Then Hermione resumed meditating, while Harry continued reading. The spacious common room was very quiet.

Before he knew it, Harry had actually fallen asleep... while Hermione remained sitting there with her eyes closed...

Harry yawned and woke up. The moment he saw the common room, he remembered why he was there that day. Turning his head, he found that Hermione was still seated in the chair, meditating.

"Hermione..." Harry called out tentatively.

Hermione opened her eyes. Judging by how exhausted she looked, she had not slept at all. Hermione said disappointedly, "I didn't succeed."

Harry said, "It's not like I expected you to succeed today. Look at how drained you are."

By then, dawn had already broken. Harry urged Hermione to hurry back and rest. He told her not to eat breakfast that day and to have one of her classmates wake her in the dormitory before the first lesson.

Hermione felt groggy-headed. It seemed that if she did not rest, she would have no energy at all that day. She could only follow Harry's advice and go rest.

Luo Bei: Spells

Laughing Charm—Tickling Charm. Makes the target laugh nonstop.

Sectumsempra—an offensive Dark spell that causes the victim to bleed all over.

Serpensortia—causes a pitch-black snake to fall from the sky.

Cruciatus Curse—one of the Unforgivable Curses. Inflicts extreme pain and can torture someone into madness.

Imperius Curse—one of the Unforgivable Curses. Controls a person's soul. Wizards with strong self-control

can resist it.

Avada Kedavra—one of the Unforgivable Curses, the Killing Curse. Only Harry Potter has ever escaped it.