Little Tagalong

"Good evening, you three."

Klein emerged from the shadows at an unhurried pace and greeted them with a smile. He looked as calm and carefree as if he were strolling through his own garden.

Under the moonlight, he seemed to wear a silver cloak.

Hazy and mysterious.

"Uh."

Facing those sapphire-like eyes, Harry and the others were momentarily dazed.

They stared blankly as the boy greeted them, then calmly walked past without stopping. The three of them couldn't even manage to get a full sentence out.

Only after his figure vanished around the stairwell did Ron turn his head stiffly, mouth half open, and look at his friend in confusion.

"Was Klein Grindelwald—was he talking to us?"

"Seems like it?"

Harry wasn't sure either. Those few seconds had felt like a dream.

"Whoa—it was real! We weren't imagining it!"

Ron discreetly pinched his own thigh hard and lowered his voice to exclaim.

Harry and Hermione jolted at his words.

In an instant, countless questions flooded their minds.

In the middle of the night,

Klein Grindelwald wasn't in his dormitory. Why was he here?

"How could this happen? This is against the school rules. Klein, how could he..."

Hermione muttered under her breath, her wide eyes full of disbelief.

To her, Klein was the standard all students should aspire to—the best of the best!

How could he possibly break the school rules?

"Clearly, Klein has things to do, just like us~"

Now that he understood the situation, Ron grinned. He felt a lot more respect for Klein.

Before, to students like them, Klein had been like a clay statue: perfect, but somehow lacking a touch of reality.

Now...

Thank God, he finally seemed like a normal person~

"Ron, we're going to be late."

Though Harry was curious about why Klein was wandering the castle in the middle of the night, he didn't have time to think about anything else.

The appointed time was almost here. He had to hurry to the Prizing Room!

"Right, let's go."

Ron didn't waste time after hearing that. He set off at once.

Harry ran to catch up.

After a few steps, he suddenly seemed to remember something and turned around with a troubled look.

"Um, Hermione, do you want to come with us?"

Hermione paused, looking tempted, but in the end, she shook her head firmly.

"Thanks, Harry, but I..."

After a few seconds, her expression gradually grew resolute.

"I have to go talk Klein out of this and tell him how serious the consequences of breaking the school rules are."

"Uh, all right."

Harry had no answer, so he could only nod blankly.

"Hurry up, Harry!"

Ron's hushed voice called from farther away.

"Be careful not to get caught by Filch, and good luck."

After thinking it over, Harry gave up on taking Hermione with him to the Prizing Room.

He left her with a few words, grabbed the hem of his robe, and ran toward his friend.

"Isn't this great?"

Once Harry had caught up with him, Ron watched Hermione run in the direction Klein had disappeared and smiled with relief.

"Now it's Klein's turn to experience that terrifying nagging."

Klein was at a loss.

Because he'd acquired a little "tagalong."

"Hmm?"

Klein couldn't understand why Hermione wasn't sticking with Harry and Ron, but had instead followed him, a Slytherin.

He had no idea that the girl quietly trailing behind him actually wanted to talk him out of making a mistake...

"All right, let's see."

Klein sighed softly and looked back, an unusual glint passing through his eyes.

Legilimency!

He saw straight through her thoughts. His expression shifted, and he made up his mind.

"Come out."

Klein beckoned to Hermione, who thought she was hiding very well, and smiled.

She reminded him of his younger self.

High intelligence, low emotional intelligence.

He'd been the same when he studied at Durmstrang.

"Mm."

Realizing she'd been found out, Hermione looked flustered. Still, she kept her expression under control, steeled herself, and stepped forward, looking up into Klein's smiling eyes.

"This is wrong."

She spoke softly, her eyelashes trembling.

"I know."

Klein smiled and took off his robe, tossing it to her.

"Thanks for caring, but you should go back. Wandering around the castle in your pajamas in the middle of the night is dangerous."

The little girl was wearing pink pajamas and a pair of bunny slippers. It was late autumn, and the night was cold. Even he felt chilly just looking at her.

"Uh."

She'd imagined ten thousand possible reactions from Klein, but this wasn't one of them.

Hermione stared blankly at the green-trimmed robe, still warm from him, and couldn't find the words.

"Goodbye."

Klein gave a light wave and turned to continue on his way.

"Wait!"

He'd gone seven or eight steps before Hermione reacted and called out instinctively. But she immediately realized she might have been too loud and hurriedly covered her mouth.

"Wait a moment!"

Hermione ran after Klein, eyes wide, and stood firmly in his way.

"You—you're doing something wrong, Klein. How can you break the school rules?"

"Which rule?"

Klein asked mildly.

"The Curfew Regulations! Wandering around the castle in the middle of the night!"

Hermione answered sternly.

"And what about you, Hermione? Why are you here too?"

Klein looked at the little girl blocking his way, his eyes full of amusement.

"Me?"

Hermione froze. The color drained from her face.

How could she have forgotten about herself?

If Klein had broken the school rules, then so had she.

If that was the case, what right did she have to lecture him?

"I'll walk you back."

Looking at the ashamed girl, Klein took the robe she was clutching and draped it over her shoulders.

Hermione didn't react. Tears dripped down her cheeks...

"Old Snake was much easier to deal with than this little girl."

He sighed to himself and scratched his temple with the tip of his little finger.

"Since you don't want to go back, how about coming with me?"

It looked like he wouldn't be able to go to "that place" tonight, but that was all right. Hogwarts Castle was full of hidden secrets, so exploring somewhere else would be nice too.

Looking at the girl with her head lowered, Klein ventured the question and took a handkerchief from his pants pocket to offer her.

"Mm."

Hermione actually wanted to run away. But for some reason, when Klein invited her along, she accepted the handkerchief and nodded without thinking, as if in a trance.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she froze.

Along with her shame and nervousness, an indescribable sense of anticipation welled up inside her...

"All right, let's go."

Klein wasn't surprised at all by her answer.

The Sorting Hat might be thin-skinned, but it was very good at reading people.

If it had sorted a clever girl like Hermione into Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw, that meant she was a bit of a "daredevil" deep down.

How could someone like that say no to an adventure?