Hermione's Ideals Were Noble / Don't Pick on the Honest Ones

There was no way these people didn't know what they were doing. They kept getting their names wrong, and the only reason was their rotten, tedious arrogance!

Thinking themselves superior, they were eager to insult Hermione, his adoptive parents, and the name Granger—the surname that, in Harry's eyes, had given him the warmth of a family again!

A bunch of bastards...

"Harry..." Hermione gripped Harry's hand tightly, constantly reminding him this way to stay calm.

She was just as furious, but she didn't want Harry to keep sticking his neck out for her.

She could stand by and cheer—or even clap—when Harry punched Draco, because, as Hagrid had said, it was just a quarrel between two children.

But if Harry antagonized Lucius, an adult, the whole situation would be completely different!

Besides, Hermione could tell that Lucius and the entire Malfoy family held a position of great importance in the Wizarding World. Hagrid might not be able to protect her and Harry!

"Oh, what... happened here? Potter... no, Granger? I never thought... I'd run into you here!"

Just as the two sides were on the verge of a fight, a sudden, stammering voice completely shattered the tense atmosphere.

"Professor Quirrell!" Hagrid cried out happily. "Harry, Hermione, this is Quirinus Quirrell, one of your teachers at Hogwarts!"

As far as Hagrid was concerned, Quirrell was a timid, stammering weakling. But he was still a Hogwarts teacher, which made him a rare ally.

"Gr... Granger, I'm really, somehow, so h... happy to see you!" Quirrell, his head wrapped in a strange scarf, acted as if he hadn't seen Lucius and came straight to Harry. "I teach, Defense Against the Dark Arts... but I don't think Mr. Granger will, need to study it~"

"Why don't I need to study it?" Harry asked pointedly.

Quirrell was one of the few characters from the story Harry could remember, so his importance was obvious.

The moment Quirrell appeared, Harry had already forgotten all about that inexplicable Lucius~

He was sure Quirrell had come over specifically to help him out of this predicament.

"N-no, I can't say, Mr. Granger, I... I can't tell you that!" Quirrell seemed frightened by Harry's question and awkwardly changed the subject. "Anyway, you're going to... buy the things you need, right? As it happens, I'm planning to buy a new book about, v... vampires..."

"We were planning to buy some things, but unfortunately, we can't leave now!" Hermione said, affecting a hurt look as she glanced at Lucius. Her meaning couldn't have been clearer.

"Mr. Malfoy? Sorry, I didn't see you..."

"Draco, let's go. There's no point wasting time on useless people!"

When Quirrell looked his way, Lucius's face showed unmistakable disgust. He promptly decided to leave with his son.

Come on, there was already one disgusting savage here. Did he really have to argue with a stammerer too?

If he did, there'd be nothing left to write about in the next two chapters!

"Haha! Professor Quirrell, I never knew you were so impressive!" Hagrid laughed and came over. "You're always trembling in front of people, but this time you made Malfoy tremble instead~"

"D-did I?" Quirrell seemed confused. "I don't even, know what happened..."

"Anyway, thank you for helping me out, Professor Quirrell." Harry smiled faintly and offered Quirrell his hand. "Also, I'm honored that you recognize my surname."

"Oh! Mr. Granger, n... no need to be so polite! I was just curious... There's no need to thank me. Anyway... I'll be off now~"

Quirrell's body trembled involuntarily. He fidgeted, wrapping both hands in his scarf, and stammered through a few pleasantries before hurrying away.

As Harry watched him go, the smile on his face gradually grew more inscrutable.

Huh. He was pretty alert.

Honestly, Harry had kind of wanted to see if he could bring the story to its conclusion just by shaking Quirrell's hand and getting the Sorcerer's Stone~

(p.s. I finally signed a contract today. So happy~)

Chapter 28: Hermione's Ideals Were Noble

"Haha, that takes care of all the trouble here~" After the Malfoys and Quirrell had all left, Hagrid burst into laughter.

But when he looked at Quirrell's retreating figure, he shook his head regretfully.

"Ah, it's a shame about Professor Quirrell. He used to be a bright young man, but apparently he ran into vampires during a practical expedition. He's been like this ever since he came back."

"Yeah... we really owe him one today. I never thought that anyone at Hogwarts besides you, Hagrid, would care about me so much~"

Harry picked up Hagrid's thread, but a barely perceptible sneer remained on his face.

Quirinus Quirrell might not have actually encountered vampires on his travels, but he'd definitely run into Voldemort!

And the man really did care about Harry from the bottom of his heart—perhaps even more than Hagrid did!

Quirrell was probably the only wizard in the entire Wizarding World who'd realized at their first meeting that Harry had changed his surname.

See how closely this guy was keeping an eye on him?

"Haha! It makes me so happy to hear you say that! Look what I bought you—a real birthday present! I spent ages picking it out in the shop~"

Hagrid was clearly delighted by Harry's flattery. Laughing, he held up the birdcage in his hands and proudly offered it to Harry.

Inside the cage was a beautiful snowy owl, its bright, clear eyes gleaming as it looked at Harry with curiosity.

Its plumage was pure white, broken here and there by black markings, like scattered pieces of obsidian on an immaculate field of snow.

"Hagrid, thank you so much!" Harry said, unable to hide his delight.

He'd fallen in love with this owl at first sight!

"No need to thank me, no need at all. I'm just glad you like it, Harry~" Hagrid waved it off, though he looked thoroughly pleased.

In the end, Harry and Hermione bought their school uniforms at Madam Malkin's shop. Hagrid saw them out of the Leaky Cauldron and then took his leave.

"Oh, Harry, Hermione, I can't take you home. I have to hurry back right away." As he spoke, Hagrid pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Harry. "These are your tickets to Hogwarts. September first, at King's Cross Station. All the details are on the tickets. You can read them yourselves when the time comes."

He seemed to be in a genuine hurry. Without waiting for Harry to respond, he turned and left, though he still stopped reluctantly before going.

"Harry, I'm really glad to see you doing so well now~"

A simple, pleased smile rested on his face as he gradually disappeared into the chilly London streets.

"Hagrid really is a good person," Hermione said as she watched him go. "He came all this way to celebrate your birthday with you, and he gave you such a lovely present~"

Hermione looked at the snowy owl with envy. Harry's pet owl was gorgeous—enough to put every boy and girl to shame.

"Oh, right, you should give it a nice name!" Hermione said, finally getting to the important question as she examined Harry's owl.

"I already thought of one." Harry opened the cage and held his newly named pet up on his arm. "Its name... is Hedwig!"

The moment he saw the snowy owl, Harry had known that this was the name it should have.

"Fly, Hedwig!" He swung his arm and sent her soaring into the sky!

"Hoot!" Hedwig gave a joyful cry, circled twice above Harry's head, then beat her wings and disappeared into the clouds.

Harry smiled as he watched her, then casually tossed the birdcage onto the roadside.

"Hedwig... that really is a lovely name. But you're not going to use the cage? What if she gets lost?" Hermione clearly didn't understand what Harry was doing.

"It's all right~" Harry tipped his head back, searching the clouds for Hedwig as he murmured, "I like seeing her fly wherever she wants. Hedwig... she should be free, not kept away from the sky in a cage!!"

"Is that so..." Hermione stared at Harry's profile. She couldn't quite understand what he hoped for, but she sensed a deep, unspoken sadness in him.

"Hedwig should be able to find us from the air, so let her fly around on her own." Harry looked away and headed for the subway station. "It's getting late. Let's go home."

"Yeah, we should go home... I can't believe so much happened today. Especially those two from the Malfoy family. They made me absolutely furious!"

As Hermione recalled the day's events, her voice filled with righteous indignation, but a trace of unmistakable disappointment slipped across her brow.

Hermione had now seen for herself the prejudice that wizards in the Wizarding World, especially Pure-blood Wizards, held against people from Muggle families like hers.

It was certain that once she went to Hogwarts, she'd meet even more children from wizarding families. There would only be more of that kind of discord!

"So why put yourself through all that?" Seeing Hermione looking a little discouraged, Harry hastily seized the opportunity. "If you ask me, we should just not go to Hogwarts. I know an incredibly powerful wizard who could teach you. I guarantee he'd do a better job than the Hogwarts teachers~"

"Can you stop joking around? We've already replied to the letter, bought everything, and got our tickets. Don't even think about telling me we're not going now!" Hermione pinched Harry hard. "Besides, that incredibly powerful wizard you know was a student of Professor Dumbledore's, wasn't he? And he dropped out halfway through!"

"Uh..." Harry looked sheepish. Scamander's past really was a mess~

"Besides, all the more reason for me to go to Hogwarts!"

Hermione suddenly hurried a few steps ahead of Harry, then turned back, bouncing as she declared her resolve!

"I'm going to let my grades speak for themselves and show all those wizarding descendants who boast about their family traditions that children from ordinary families can become powerful wizards too! And we'll be even stronger than them!!"

"And I'm going to work hard to change those prejudices! Not just the prejudice about blood within the wizarding community, but also the prejudice wizards as a whole have against ordinary people! We all live beneath the same sky. There shouldn't be any distinction between high and low, noble and common!!"

Wonderful~

Harry couldn't help applauding. Bathed in the noble aura surrounding Hermione, he'd almost been unable to stop himself from bowing down and pledging his life to her.

Hermione's ideas really were unusual, bold, and inspiring. If Voldemort weren't a threat to the Wizarding World, Harry would gladly have become her strongest supporter and fought alongside her for the great cause of freedom and equality!

But now... Harry rolled his eyes with an insincere smile.

Little girl, what do you know about anything~

With ideas as dangerous as Hermione's, getting her to drop out along with him was absolutely essential!

Chapter 29: Don't Pick on the Honest Ones

A month later, at the Grangers' home on the outskirts of London.

"Good grief... Harry, what are you thinking? Why are you taking all this random stuff with you?"

Watching Harry stuff all kinds of ingredients, seasonings, pots, and pans into his suitcase, Hermione felt that he wasn't going to Hogwarts to study at all. He was more like someone opening a restaurant!

Honestly, how little did he trust the food at Hogwarts?

Still... if he let her share his meals, it might not be such a bad idea.

That's right. Harry was bringing all this equipment and these ingredients so he could recreate the glorious culinary culture of the Great Celestial Empire in a foreign country!

Before, he'd been at home, so he'd had to show some consideration for Mrs. Granger. But now he was going away. Did he really have to keep eating those bland fish and chips?

"Before you ask me that, maybe you should wipe the drool off your mouth." Harry rolled his eyes. "And you should explain why there's so much olive oil and so many eggs in your suitcase~"

Tch, she had no room to complain about him bringing kitchen supplies when she'd packed up all the hair-care products in the house too.

It was obvious she planned to keep treating him like her free Tony the Hairdresser, wasn't it?

"Come on, it's getting late. We should get going~" Caught out by Harry, Hermione blinked awkwardly, then cheerfully picked up her suitcase and ran out the door.

Harry could only shake his head with a laugh.

He tossed the luggage he'd packed into his Space Ring, took out another suitcase that looked almost exactly the same, and then left the room.

"There are so many people here... So where's Platform 9 3/4?" Once the family arrived at King's Cross Station, Hermione found herself at a loss in the sea of people.

"Over there." Harry pointed toward the crowd, at the pillar between Platforms Nine and Ten. "Only we should be able to get through there."

"Oh! Someone really did go through!" Hermione had sharp eyes. Looking where Harry pointed, she saw a boy push a trolley piled high with luggage and vanish through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten!

"Dad, Mum, we're off. Please take care of yourselves while we're away."

The time for departure had come. Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, then crossed the barrier together.

"Is this the train to Hogwarts? It looks amazing~"

After they passed through the barrier, the first thing they saw was a deep-red steam engine with an antique design that looked very old.

The platform beside the train was packed with people, adults and children alike. All kinds of pets called out over and over, and the place was noisy and bustling.

Fortunately, it didn't take Harry and Hermione long to find an empty compartment after boarding.

Once they'd put away their luggage, Hermione began excitedly imagining her future life at Hogwarts: which house she'd be sorted into, and how quickly she should raise her hand in class to attract the professors' attention.

Harry, meanwhile, kept racking his brains for a reliable way to get himself and Hermione expelled quickly.

After thinking it over, Harry reluctantly realized that the only workable way to get a good student like Hermione expelled along with him was to stick his neck out for her.

Harry had come to understand just how much Hermione's personality rubbed people the wrong way. There would surely be plenty of troublemakers like Malfoy at Hogwarts, so he was almost certain he'd get into fights at school.

But that didn't matter. He'd have to stand up for Hermione anyway, and the more fights he got into, the closer he'd be to his ultimate goal of getting expelled. Hermione might even be so moved that she'd choose to leave with him. What could be better~

"Um... sorry to interrupt, but is there room in here?"

A stranger's voice interrupted their conversation. Harry and Hermione looked up and saw a slightly chubby young boy standing outside the compartment.