A Certain Scientific Harry Potter

After dinner that night, Harry failed to catch up with Hermione in time, and as a result, the number of times they acted together plummeted for a period thereafter.

Even during class, Hermione rarely sat with Harry anymore, and they barely shared their wands.

Although Harry was quite noncommittal about Hermione's transparent, childish temper, he could only choose to give her the cold shoulder for the time being... because he simply couldn't bring himself to be proactive about this.

Was he supposed to actively clarify things and tell Hermione, "We are just a pure adopted brother and sister, I don't have any thoughts about you at all"?

That move would be truly asking for a beating!

When it comes to girls, especially girls you have a good relationship with, you might not have any romantic intentions, but you absolutely cannot bluntly show that you look down on them, because that is truly hurtful.

So, it would have to be the other way around... but please, the other way around would be an even bigger problem!

Was he supposed to let Harry confirm and cement the fact that their adopted sibling relationship was not pure?

In short, Harry was at a loss for now.

Moreover, he had recently been distracted by a matter that had Filch tearing his hair out, so he could only put the issue with Hermione on hold.

In late October, a series of strange events occurred within Hogwarts castle.

Why did shadows suddenly appear in empty corridors? Why did pristine carpets turn muddy in the blink of an eye? Why were the kitchen's reserve rations being stolen so frequently? Were these all just boring pranks, or were they omens of disaster...

The person in charge of the Hogwarts kitchens, Professor Sprout, had delegated the matter entirely to the caretaker, Filch.

"So this is the reason you wouldn't let me sleep late at night, insisting I accompany you to the kitchen to keep watch?" Squashed under a small table in the kitchen with Filch, Harry rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Halloween is coming soon, this matter must be resolved as soon as possible," Filch said solemnly. "You usually have plenty of wild ideas; you can help me brainstorm."

"Heh, do I have to thank you for the compliment too?" Harry's mouth twitched, though he crawled out from under the table. "Alright, tell Mrs. Norris and Peeves to wrap it up, summarize what they found, and let's go back. We've been watching since nightfall, it's nearly two in the morning; if you aren't tired, I certainly am."

"Fine." Since they were roommates after all, Filch didn't want Harry to suffer along with him, so he had no choice but to end tonight's stakeout.

"Hee hee hee, I'm back, I'm back! Come on, praise me!"

"Meow~"

Not long after, Peeves and Mrs. Norris, having received Filch's signal, hurried back together.

They were the scouts Harry had sent to patrol the corridors and stairs. After spending time together, the ghost and the cat had become quite familiar with Harry, and they had been accompanying him on stakeouts every night recently.

However, just like Harry and Filch, they hadn't found any useful clues yet...

Sigh, who knows if there will be any harvest today~

Chapter 55: Late-night stakeouts can catch 'thieves'

"Hee hee, there are absolutely no clues! The stairwell is completely clean, there wasn't a shadow of a person anywhere, ha ha~"

Peeves was a bully who feared the strong and picked on the weak. After Harry's persistent daily efforts to "reason" with him, he had finally understood the principle that "causing trouble leads to a beating," and had become much better behaved, occasionally even willing to obey Harry's orders.

This was a good thing for all the teachers and students at Hogwarts, as it meant there was one more person who could keep Peeves in check, and his annoying pranks would decrease significantly.

However, this braggart's ability to do real work was clearly inferior to his ability to cause trouble. Looking at his empty hands, Harry knew he hadn't found a single clue.

"Meow~"

On the contrary, Mrs. Norris, whose fur had recently been replaced and was now sleek and shiny, lived up to expectations by carrying the only discovery of the past few days in her mouth...

A piece of bitten bread!

"This piece of bread seems to have a problem, but the light here is too dim; I'll have to take it back to examine it properly."

Harry felt the shape and claw marks on the bread were a bit strange, but it was too dark in the kitchen for him to make a more detailed judgment.

"That's fine, since it's the only clue, we must examine it carefully." Filch readily agreed, and while happy, he couldn't help but tease Harry, "However, for you to be so diligent in helping me handle this, could it be that you've completely given up on your plan to drop out?"

"Mr. Filch, please, can we not bring that up? I'm already depressed enough as it is." Harry rolled his eyes in frustration.

Of course he wanted to drop out, but the problem was that Dumbledore was watching him so closely that Harry had no other way out for the time being.

Clatter~

Suddenly, a distinct sound came from the silent night, as if something had just shattered!

"This is... an egg?!" Arriving at the kitchen entrance, Harry quickly discovered a puddle of broken eggs on the floor.

"Finally caught you, chase him!!" Filch gave the order, commanding Mrs. Norris and Peeves to give chase together!

The harvest tonight was truly massive; not only had they found a clue, but they had also seemingly caught the "suspect" in the act. Driven by excitement, the diligent Filch immediately switched into full-on pursuit mode!

In an instant, the entire corridor was filled with the sounds of a cat yowling and a ghost cackling.

"Stop! Don't run, wah hee hee hee!"

"What an idiot..." Watching Peeves shouting and screaming not far ahead, Harry couldn't help but sigh helplessly. He shouldn't have brought this guy out tonight.

With you yelling that loudly, are you trying to catch the person, or scare them away?

Because of Peeves' interference, the shadow that had appeared in the kitchen kept running away. Soon, Harry and Filch chased it to the door of a secret room at the end of the fourth floor.

"Peeves, are you sure he ran in here?" Looking at the dilapidated wooden door before him, Filch frowned deeply.

Dumbledore had specifically emphasized at the start of the term that approaching this place would be life-threatening.

"This door is locked. If someone really ran inside, they must have used an unlocking charm..."

"Ahhh!!"

Harry's analysis was interrupted by a shrill scream. The previously locked door was shoved open, and a fragrant breeze rushed forward, colliding directly into his arms.

Mmm... If he sniffed carefully, the breeze even smelled like eggs.

"Woof!!"

"Colloportus!"

Suddenly, a snarling black dog head poked out from the doorway, snapping its teeth at Harry and Hermione. Harry, however, reacted with sharp reflexes; he pulled Hermione around, kicked the door shut, and snatched the wand from her hand, firing a locking spell directly at the latch.

At the same time, Filch brought the lantern he was carrying close to Harry, a teasing smirk gradually spreading across his face.

The know-it-all of Ravenclaw, the genius top student who was always the first to snatch points, had now been caught during a night patrol by the Eagle House's most notorious point-deduction magnet. It had to be said, this was quite an amusing scene.

"Hermione?" Harry looked at the girl in his arms, puzzled. "Why did you go to the kitchen? And you... uh, how did you end up looking like this?"

Harry actually wanted to ask why Hermione had been running in the first place, but the moment he saw her current state, he understood everything.

Hermione looked as if she had just been fished out of a bowl of egg drop soup.

Her hair was soaking wet, matted with yellow and white egg bits, and some had even splattered onto her pajamas. She seemed to have lost one of her slippers while running, and her bare little foot had nowhere to hide, so she tucked it behind her in embarrassment.

Because she had been running so hard—or perhaps because she had been terrified by the scene in the room earlier—her chest was heaving violently, and her expression was a mix of shame and fear. Furthermore, Harry noticed an egg still clutched in her hand.

"Heh heh, looks like we don't even need to analyze the evidence to close the case." Filch put on a cold, grimacing smile. "Caught red-handed. Hermione Granger is the culprit behind the recent kitchen thefts!"

"I, I didn't..." Hearing Filch say this, Hermione's eyes instantly turned red.

For her, this was truly a night that couldn't get any worse.

She had just wanted to wash her hair properly, only to end up looking like this. Then she had been chased like a thief, even losing her shoe in the process. And just a moment ago, in that secret room, she had seen such a terrifying monster!

Not to mention what she had accidentally overheard while Harry and Filch were chatting...

In short, Hermione was now both frightened and aggrieved, and she desperately wanted to find a place where no one was around to have a good cry.

"Don't take it to heart. Mr. Filch is just joking with you; he knows you aren't a food thief." Harry turned Hermione slightly, using his back to block Filch's line of sight. "It's just... if you wanted to wash your hair, why didn't you come to me?"

"I... I thought I could manage it myself." Hermione lowered her head in embarrassment, her cheeks so hot they could have practically fried the egg bits into an omelet.

She felt like a complete idiot tonight.

"Mr. Filch, do you know of any private bathrooms in the castle? I need to take her to clean up."

Harry couldn't just leave Hermione in this state; the clues he had found tonight would have to wait for further analysis.

"You can take her to the Prefects' Bathroom on the sixth floor. No one will be using it at this hour, and I happen to know the password." Filch said, struggling to suppress his laughter.

"Then let's head there first."

"Meow~"

As Harry nodded in agreement, Mrs. Norris arrived right on cue, carrying the slipper Hermione had lost earlier in her mouth.

"Umm..."

Hastily putting on her slipper, Hermione's face turned even redder.

Please provide the Chinese text you would like me to translate. I am ready to apply the requested formatting and style guidelines as soon as you provide the source material.

Chapter 56: Some things are better left away from Hermione

As he led Hermione toward the sixth floor, Harry felt that tonight's events were nothing short of a farce.

Hermione's hair had always been her greatest enemy; that was why she had brought olive oil, eggs, and other hair-care products when she first reported for her freshman year.

Back when the two were inseparable, whenever Hermione needed a hair treatment, Harry would take her to Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid was usually very busy, so there was no chance of anyone disturbing them there, and they could stay as long as they liked.

Harry was referring to hair care, of course.

Come to think of it, he found the whole thing quite magical. He did know a few hair-care remedies from his past life, but he hadn't expected them to be so easy to pick up—it was as if he had naturally unlocked the skill tree of Tony the Hairdresser.

As for why Hermione had ended up in such a sorry state tonight, it was because she had been deliberately keeping her distance from Harry lately, but her hands had been itching to style her hair, so she had tried to do it herself.

The result, naturally, was obvious: she hadn't controlled the water temperature properly and had ended up cooking her hair into egg drop soup with the last of her eggs.

Hermione, who never liked to admit defeat, naturally wouldn't give up easily. She had snuck off to the kitchen to grab two more eggs to try again, only to be mistaken for the thief who had been stealing food lately.

Hermione: My heart is breaking~

Following Harry with small, shuffling steps, a blushing Hermione clutched the egg in her hand, having no idea what to say to make the situation less awkward.

Tonight... was just too embarrassing.

"We're here. Delicious Baked Apple."

The Prefects' Bathroom was located on the sixth floor of Hogwarts Castle, the fourth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. Harry found the location easily and opened the door using the password Sanmiao had made up on the spot.

"This place is... way too luxurious!"

Upon entering the Prefects' Bathroom, even the embarrassed Hermione was completely stunned by the sight before her.

Everything she saw was made of snow-white marble, including the sunken pool in the middle of the room—no, calling it a pool was an understatement; it was more like a rectangular swimming pool!

About a hundred golden taps hung above and around the pool, each handle inlaid with a gemstone of a different color, and in the corner of the room, a large pile of neat, clean bath towels was stacked high.

A set of luxurious chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the dim, warm candlelight flickering playfully, casting a cozy, soft glow throughout the room.

"Mmm... Prefects really are the ruling class. No wonder those fifth-years rack their brains trying to get elected." While Harry sighed with emotion, his expression was quite playful. "But I'm more curious about how they allocate bathing times for everyone. Or perhaps... is it all together?"

This bathroom was specifically for the use of prefects and Quidditch captains. Students at Hogwarts could participate in the prefect election during the second semester of their fourth year. By the time they reached their fifth year, each house would elect one male and one female prefect, with those positions retained through their sixth and seventh years.

In other words, at maximum capacity, there would be a total of 24 male and female prefects and 4 Quidditch captains at Hogwarts simultaneously, meaning this bathroom was shared among those 28 people.

However, looking at the layout of this bathroom, Harry couldn't help but feel it was more suited for hosting private pool parties.

With decor and lighting ambiance that would have been raided by inspectors in a heartbeat in his past life, this was definitely meant to spice things up during a "bath."

"Go lie down over there; I'll take care of your hair."

Harry pointed to the marble ledge by the edge of the pool. If Hermione lay there, she could spread her hair into the pool, and there happened to be a faucet right above her head.

"Mmm~" Hermione responded softly and obediently lay down.

Harry had laid out bath towels on the pool ledge specifically to keep it from being cold. It was very comfortable to lie on, soft and fluffy with a hint of warmth, just like sleeping by a hot spring.

Harry leaped into the pool. The depth of the pool was designed like a swimming pool, and at his current height, he couldn't even reach the bottom.

But that was clearly not a problem for Harry. His mastery of Transfiguration was on par with his Charms, so it was easy for him to extend the soles of his shoes to the height of stilts.

He turned on the faucet above Hermione's head, and bath liquid mixed with hot water immediately sprayed out, quickly soaking Hermione's hair completely.

Floating out from the faucet were masses of pink bubbles that rapidly covered the entire pool, casting dreamy halos under the glow of the candlelight.

"Mm..." Hermione subconsciously gazed at Harry, who was surrounded by bubbles, and was momentarily stunned.