A Certain Scientific Harry Potter

She should like this, right...

It was only a short sentence, yet Harry wrote it with unusual care.

After putting down his quill, he chuckled as he looked at the card before him, stretching his back as if a great weight had been lifted... but his movements suddenly froze!

A faint sound of footsteps came from behind him. At first, Harry thought it was just Crookshanks running about, but when he instinctively glanced back, he found that there was absolutely no one behind him...

No!

There was definitely someone behind him!

The intruder seemed to be trying their best to stay hidden, moving each step with extreme caution, yet Harry could still clearly hear the footsteps drawing closer.

And then there was that faint, carefully suppressed breathing... it was almost brushing against his neck!

"Ha... hey!" A young girl's coquettish cry came from behind, followed by a thin breeze that blew softly toward Harry.

However, the hyper-vigilant Harry dodged at the first possible moment, causing the person behind him to lunge at empty air.

Hmph, trying to ambush me from behind is...

"Hermione?"

Harry quickly identified the person by her voice and reached out to grab her, but he was caught off guard when her stumbling toes tripped his legs. His entire body tipped forward uncontrollably, pinning her firmly onto the bed.

"This is... uh~"

Feeling a softness beneath him that was entirely different from the mattress, Harry panicked and tried to push himself up, but in his haste, his hands landed on something they shouldn't have!

And what was worse, his brain short-circuited, and he actually used that spot as a leverage point, giving it a slight squeeze...

Though, there wasn't much of a sensation to speak of just yet~

"Mmph..."

Hearing a soft moan come from the 'empty' bed beneath him, Harry pulled his hand back as if stung by a needle, his heart turning ice-cold in an instant.

Great, he was absolutely done for this time...

Once Hermione recovered, she was going to tear him to pieces~(terrified)

"Harry... can you get up first? You're crushing me..."

To his surprise, Hermione didn't 'explode in rage' as he had expected; instead, she used her small hands to gently push against his chest.

"Oh..." Harry's face stiffened, and he scrambled off the bed like a spring.

Standing awkwardly by the bedside, Harry had no idea what to do.

"I just... wanted to put on this Invisibility Cloak to tease you, why did you react so strongly..."

Hermione sat up on the bed and slowly pulled back the magical cloak draped over her, her tone filled with resentment, yet there seemed to be a hint of hidden bitterness as well.

"I... I'm sorry, I was just, a bit too on edge..." Harry responded incoherently, his mind a complete mess.

The sudden shock, combined with that earlier sensation, left his heart in total turmoil.

So much so that when he saw Hermione's flushed face gradually appearing from beneath the Invisibility Cloak, he couldn't help but associate it with the scenes of lifting a bridal veil from the weddings of his past life...

"That... the Invisibility Cloak, why do you have something like this?"

After a long silence between them, Harry finally managed to squeeze out a question, barely breaking the awkward atmosphere.

But soon, he realized he had asked a useless question.

"I don't know... An owl suddenly brought it to me, and there was no sender's name written on it."

Hermione twisted her ten fingers together, her tone muffled: "And this Invisibility Cloak is actually supposed to belong to you. The note attached to the package said it was originally your father's, so it was entrusted to me to return it to its rightful owner."

Chapter 75: Gifts (Don't) Satisfy Everyone (8/10)

"My things, huh..." Harry nodded slightly and took the Invisibility Cloak from Hermione.

It felt cool to the touch, and the shimmering fabric had a strange texture, as if it were woven from water, constantly flowing in Harry's palm.

After a brief inspection, Harry could conclude that this Invisibility Cloak was no ordinary item, because aside from the impeccable craftsmanship, he couldn't hear any sound of magical flow from it at all!

Every magical item possessed a sound of magic, and that sound was something Harry could always hear, yet this Invisibility Cloak was an exception!

This meant that it was capable of achieving total 'disappearance,' even completely masking the magic of both itself and its user.

In theory, as long as one wore this cloak, unless they exposed themselves or the opponent possessed exceptionally high-level detection methods, they would absolutely never be discovered!

It was truly a rare treasure. If Harry remembered correctly, in the original story, this Invisibility Cloak was given to him by Dumbledore.

Could it be that his biological father in this life actually possessed such a treasure? Was it a family heirloom?

"Harry... I didn't prepare a specific Christmas gift for you, I only wrote a greeting card, is that okay?" While Harry was lost in thought about the origin of the cloak, Hermione suddenly handed him a card, "I made a wish on it..."

At this moment, Hermione's heart was in a state of great conflict.

Through what had just happened, she was once again certain that ever since he started studying at Hogwarts, Harry had absolutely no sense of security.

Just like now, even at home, as long as there was the slightest disturbance related to magic, he would instantly become tense.

Hermione didn't want to see Harry like this.

So, if he was important family... then she would be the one to make this wish for him.

"Oh, what a coincidence?" Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, picking up the card he had just prepared from the table. "The gift I prepared for you is actually a greeting card, too~"

In Harry's mind, rather than preparing some tangible gift for Hermione like he did for others, it was better to fulfill her long-held expectation and put her mind completely at ease.

He just hadn't expected Hermione to have the exact same thought.

Hmm... if he guessed correctly, only one of their wishes could possibly come true.

So, is this our version of The Gift of the Magi... though the roles don't quite fit~

"Anyway, read it... my wish." Before Hermione could speak, Harry tucked her card away into his pocket and made a gentlemanly 'please' gesture toward her.

"This... what is this?!"

Looking down at the card in her hands, Hermione stood frozen in place.

"Harry!!" A second later, a wave of overwhelming surprise washed over her.

Hermione was so moved she couldn't say a word, throwing herself into Harry's arms without a second thought!

She had never dreamed that the wish Harry wrote on the card would be... the exact opposite of her own!

'I am willing to attend school at Hogwarts.'

'I am willing to drop out of Hogwarts.'

They were just two simple sentences, yet they were the best gifts they could have received this holiday.

That night, Hermione couldn't fall asleep for a long time, tossing and turning as she replayed everything in her mind.

From the playfulness of wearing the Invisibility Cloak to pull pranks, to the blushing embarrassment of small awkward moments, to the emotional impact of exchanging their wishes at the end...

To be honest, when she handed her card to Harry, she had truly prepared for the worst.

Since she knew Harry had no fondness for Hogwarts and had only agreed to enroll for her sake, Hermione felt that as family—especially as his older sister—she had an obligation to look after Harry's feelings.

But in the end, Harry had completely warmed her heart with a surprise.

He had seen through her intentions, confiscated her card first, and rendered her wish void...

And he was willing to choose to stay in a place he disliked, all for her sake!

Every time she recalled the words on that card, Hermione would even giggle to herself while tucked under her covers.

But for Harry, he didn't feel aggrieved by making this decision at all.

The previous incidents had made him truly understand Hermione's expectations, and as her family, Harry felt he had to protect those expectations at all times!

Furthermore, Harry had been attacked by a Bludger during the Quidditch match, which meant Quirrell... or rather, Voldemort, had officially set his sights on him!

Having lost the element of surprise, Harry could no longer remain in the Muggle world, as that would surely bring trouble to Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

Therefore, he had to return to Hogwarts, and he had to deal with Voldemort just like in the original story!

Because when there is no way to avoid it, only by fighting back can one find a chance of victory!

The three-week Christmas holiday ended quickly. Harry had spent this winter break busy and fulfilled, with almost no time to relax.

Because aside from spending time with his family, he had used most of his time to study—to learn the knowledge that normal children were supposed to master.

He didn't want to become an 'illiterate' in the eyes of the general public just because he had come into contact with magic.

On this point, Hermione shared his view.

Of course, he certainly hadn't forgotten the most important gifts, and everyone who received them on the day they returned to school was very happy.

Professor Flitwick even put on the new bowtie that very day, walking around campus with his head held high to show it off.

His other friends at school also received gifts from Harry. Neville received a memo pad; Harry felt this was truly what he needed.

The Remembrall produced by the wizarding world could only remind the user that they had forgotten something, but it couldn't intuitively tell them what exactly had been forgotten. Therefore, it was more reliable to write important things down multiple times and pin them to the bedside, the desk, or even the cuffs of one's sleeves.

Ron received a brand-new set of Wizard's Chess. He loved playing this game, but he only had an old, worn-out set on hand, so he was absolutely delighted with the gift and took it out to play every single day.

During a short break in the most recent Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, he couldn't even suppress his excitement and secretly played a match against his desk-mate Seamus Finnigan... luckily, the pieces didn't get blown up~

And luckily, the good-natured Professor Quirrell didn't scold them, instead offering Ron plenty of stuttering advice.

As for Peeves, he received a brand-new hat... it's just that as a British poltergeist, he didn't quite understand the implications of the color green, (wink)~

"Hmph, boring Muggle items."

In the gloomy dungeon classroom, the Bat Professor looked at the brand-new Cauldron before him, his attitude seemingly quite disdainful.

'Don't always use heavy metal Cauldrons to brew potions; it's easy to get chronic poisoning~'

But when he saw the note inside the Cauldron, his usual sour face softened into a rare, prideful curve.

"Mr. Granger, I am very grateful for your Christmas gift, but I have decided to deduct one point from Ravenclaw as a disciplinary measure!" The next day, during Transfiguration Class, Professor McGonagall was 'grumpily' lecturing Harry.

"Hey, what on earth did you give Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asked in a helpless whisper.

"A Cat Corner Massager, the same one I made for Crookshanks and Mrs. Norris~" Harry picked at his ear, unbothered. "Look at how radiant our professor looks; you can tell she must have rubbed against it quite a bit last night. Now she's just acting out of embarrassment to deduct my points, it makes no sense at all~"

Hermione: ...

Please, Professor McGonagall is an Animagus, not an actual cat, okay?!

If I were Professor McGonagall, I would definitely be enjoying it in private while deducting a hundred points from Ravenclaw~

(p.s. The Christmas holiday for British students is actually their winter break, lasting about three weeks from around December 20th to early January. Also, the following is "plastic" English~)

Hermione: I'm willing to quit from Hogwarts.

Harry: I'm willing to stay at Hogwarts.

Chapter 76: There is no Sorcerer's Stone in the Sorcerer's Stone (9/10)

After the Christmas holiday ended, the tense and busy campus life began once again. Especially in a house like Ravenclaw, where intellectuals reigned supreme, one could see young boys and girls hitting the books in the common room at almost any hour.

However, it was strange that Hermione had recently become an exception.

This top-scoring student, who had always made being number one her goal, had been running to the library almost every day lately. Yet, she was always buried in a pile of leisure books that were completely useless for exams, often reading for hours on end.

Her behavior even greatly annoyed the librarian, Madam Pince, who had ordered Hermione to leave before closing time on many occasions.

Madam Pince had also privately remarked that if it weren't for the fact that Filch had a good relationship with Harry, she would have long since used a feather duster to chase Hermione out for lingering until closing time every single day.

"So... what exactly are you searching for so persistently?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Heh heh, I am obviously investigating important information." Hermione smiled playfully and spread the massive, ancient book in her hands out in front of Harry. "Nicolas Flamel, have you ever heard this name?"