A Sheep Enters the Snake's Maw

However, not everyone was as good at teaching as Harley, such as Ron and Hermione at the other table. The two were on the verge of an argument.

Just over ten minutes ago, Ron had been waving his long arms like a windmill while shouting "Wingardium Leviosa" at the top of his lungs.

As a result, Hermione had mercilessly pointed out Ron's mistakes, criticizing everything from his gestures to his pronunciation.

"It's Wingar-dium Levi-o-sa, you have to make the 'gar' part long and clear!"

Hermione pointed at the textbook, "Study the content in the book; it's written clearly right there. Have you never read the book before?

Besides, how many times has Flitwick already taught this?

It's a swish and a flick of your wrist, not swinging your arm around like a gorilla!"

Ron retorted, telling Hermione to try it herself if she was so capable.

As a result, Ron was slapped in the face on the spot, because Hermione easily made the feather hover four feet above their heads.

This scene was even spotted by Flitwick, who awarded Hermione another point.

Hermione held her head high, looking at Ron haughtily: "See? I succeeded on the first try!

You won't succeed at magic just by being loud! You should pay attention to what the professor is teaching and master the corresponding techniques!

Also, you should learn to admit your own mistakes and shortcomings!"

Hermione didn't notice the gloomy expression on Ron's face; she kept lecturing and repeatedly harping on Ron's failures.

"Look at how many people are asking Harley for advice!" Finally, Ron could no longer tolerate Hermione and said in a near-roar, "Do you know why everyone else has successfully cast this spell, yet they all choose to ask Harley for help instead of you?

Because everyone is sick of you! You're like a nightmare!

You only know how to suck up to the teachers! You never care about your classmates!"

Hermione froze in place, her mouth opening as if she wanted to say something, but she said nothing and slumped back into her seat.

For the rest of the time, Hermione sat quietly in her seat, motionless, her gaze fixed straight at the tabletop.

The moment the bell rang for the end of class, Hermione didn't say a word, grabbed her bag, and rushed out of the classroom.

And for the entire History of Magic class that followed, Hermione did not appear again.

However, not many Gryffindor students noticed this, and even those who did didn't care much.

After all, ever since that flying lesson, in everyone's minds, Hermione's image had become that of someone who was good at sucking up to professors but arrogant toward her classmates.

Just as Ron had said, "She's like a nightmare!"

Only Hermione's good friend Harley was concerned about her disappearance and prepared to go look for her as soon as class ended.

After the History of Magic class ended, Harley began asking others if they had seen Hermione.

However, the Gryffindor students didn't seem to pay any attention to the girl who didn't value house honor and only knew how to suck up to professors.

Harley wanted to use the mirrors in the castle to activate Spirit Vision to track Hermione's location.

But the castle itself had very powerful magical protection, so Harley could only detect a small area around her.

In the end, Harley learned about Hermione from Hufflepuff's Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones.

"She's crying in the girls' lavatory on the first floor," Hannah said, "I wanted to go in and comfort her, but she locked the stall door from the inside and wouldn't open it, nor would she tell us what happened.

So I couldn't do anything and had to leave.

By the way, Harley, thank you for teaching me the Levitation Charm, otherwise I would have had to practice desperately all through this Halloween holiday."

"You're welcome. Helping classmates is what I should do," Harley said softly, "Actually, I should be the one thanking you for telling me such useful information.

Goodbye, I'm going to find Hermione first."

With that, Harley quickly headed toward Hermione's location, sighing to herself that the little badgers of Hufflepuff were indeed kind-hearted.

Harley easily found Hermione in that first-floor lavatory. At this moment, Hermione was still sobbing, and Harley could hear her crying through the lavatory door.

Harley glanced at her watch; it was past six in the evening, and the Halloween feast had already begun.

This meant that Hermione had been crying for nearly two hours, and her tears had yet to run dry.

Harley couldn't help but sigh, as this was the girl with the most tears she had ever seen.

Even though Harley had practiced the Pleasure Witch's abilities for so long, she had never encountered this!

While Harley was letting her thoughts wander, she prepared to push the door open. But her hand stopped halfway.

"That's not right," Harley thought silently to herself, "Why did my train of thought jump so far away in an instant?

Am I starting to lose control of my thoughts? Or... no way..."

Harley's red lips parted slightly, her face turning ugly. She thought of a word, a word that was terrifying to all Beyonders.

"Loss of control"!

"No, I must examine myself thoroughly when I return tonight! I don't want to turn into one of those lunatics!"

Harley stood in place with a gloomy expression, hesitating for a long time before finally deciding to soothe her best friend, Hermione, first.

Harley had once been in contact with a psychiatrist from the Spectator Pathway, and during her time fleeing alone, she had frequently practiced self-regulation to resolve her own psychological issues.

Therefore, when facing a twelve-year-old girl, Harley was confident that no problems would arise.

Harley pushed open the door to the lavatory and approached the stall from which the sobbing originated, gently knocking on the closed door:

"Hermione, are you in there?"

"...Harley?" After a long pause, a slightly hoarse voice replied, "How... how did you come here?"

"Of course, because I was worried about you, my dear Miss Hermione Granger," Harley said softly.

"Open the door, Hermione. I've been looking for you all afternoon."

"You don't need to worry about me, just let me wither away in here alone! I'm just a nightmare anyway..."

At this, the sobbing inside the restroom started up again.

Harley was stunned. Given Miss Granger's emotional intelligence and self-awareness, she would never have imagined that her classmates were bad-mouthing her behind her back.

That meant someone must have said it to Hermione's face.

"...How could that be?" Harley thought for a moment, deciding to soothe Hermione first. "Hermione, you're so outstanding, how could you possibly be a nightmare?"

As she spoke, Harley effortlessly unlocked the stall door using one of her own hairs.

Although this was a mandatory skill for a Marauder, Assassins occasionally made use of it as well.

Hermione was currently curled up on the toilet, resting her chin on her knees.

Seeing Harley suddenly enter, the young girl was clearly a bit startled and flustered.

She hurriedly lowered her head, not wanting Harley to see her face.

However, in that split second, Harley had already clearly seen Hermione's red, swollen eyes and the tear tracks on her cheeks.

Harley smiled slightly; it was time for the part-time psychiatrist and former Pleasure Witch to go to work!