Hermione, Will I Be Punished Too?

Ron pulled a gray rat out of a Chocolate Frog wrapper.

"Scabbers, time to go."

"Is that your pet?" Glenn raised an eyebrow, asking with some surprise.

"Yeah, Percy became a prefect, so Dad gave him an owl—they couldn't afford—I mean, they gave me the rat." As he said this, Ron's ears reddened a bit.

"But it looks like it's shaking?" Harry observed the rat in Ron's hand, which seemed a bit frightened.

"That's normal, too many people around." Ron didn't want to dwell on Scabbers, so he quickly tucked him into the inner pocket of his robe.

"Yeah, true. If someone's got their eye on you, being scared is only natural." Glenn stared hard at Scabbers for a few extra moments.

Though he didn't understand the choice of keeping a rat as a pet, he respected Ron's personal preference.

As the train slowly came to a halt, passengers jostled and pushed, all crowding toward the doors.

After waiting a bit until the exit wasn't so packed, Glenn got off and arrived at a dark, tiny platform.

With a cold gust of wind, a somewhat gruff voice called out to the crowd: "First years! First years over here! Harry, come over here, how are you?"

The burly giant he'd seen a few days ago at the Leaky Cauldron was holding a lantern, greeting Harry, who stood next to Ron.

"Hagrid!" Seeing a familiar face helped tense Harry relax a little.

"Come on, let's go together."

Above the sea of bobbing heads, Hagrid called out again and again for the first years to follow his lead.

Then, slipping and sliding, stumbling along, they went down a steep, narrow path, through a dark, thick forest on both sides, and finally around a bend, where the narrow path suddenly opened up to a black lake.

On the high slope across the lake stood a majestic castle, its towers rising high, windows glittering under the starry sky.

All they had to do was cross this lake, and Hogwarts would be right there—the thought crossed everyone's mind.

"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted, pointing at the small boats moored by the shore.

In the end, Glenn, Ron, Harry, and one other student shared a boat and reached the opposite shore.

Hagrid raised a massive fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The next moment, the door swung open slowly, revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes standing in the doorway.

If he wasn't mistaken, this should be a deputy headmistress and Transfiguration professor...

Glenn always trusted his instincts.

Mainly because the stern expression on this professor's face reminded him of a certain elder relative of Ron's.

Same stern look, same authoritative and capable demeanor.

And that was indeed the case—when Hagrid greeted her, he called her "Professor McGonagall."

And Professor McGonagall happened to be the deputy headmistress whose name was on the acceptance letter.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here." Professor McGonagall nodded.

With that, she led the new students through the door and into a small, empty room at the other end of the hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said, stopping and turning around.

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will first be sorted into your houses.

The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you are here, your house will be like your family at Hogwarts.

You will attend classes with your fellow house members, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend your free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards.

While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose your house points.

At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope you will each bring glory to whichever house you are sorted into."

"In a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will take place in front of the entire school. I suggest you all tidy yourselves up a bit while you wait, look presentable."

Her gaze flickered over Neville's robe, then settled on Glenn and the others standing at the back.

"Mr. Howard, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Malfoy... please come with me." Professor McGonagall called out six names in one breath.

In moments of tension, the slightest stir draws far more attention than usual.

Let alone now.

Almost everyone turned to look at the students stepping out of the crowd.

Malfoy and his two cronies walked ahead, glancing back to mouth silent taunts.

Others might not know, but Hermione had witnessed the whole thing unfold.

She knew Malfoy had started it with insults, sending his cronies to pick a fight.

But while she understood that logically, the hard truth was that Glenn had used Petrificus Totalus first.

Thinking about it, all she could do was sigh as she waited, praying they'd be okay...

"Miss Granger, you come along too."

Upon hearing this, Hermione's pupils sharply contracted.

So she was involved in this too?

"Glenn, are we going to get expelled?" Ron asked in a low voice.

"We probably won't," Glenn said after a moment's thought. "But I can't say for sure, since I'm the one who cast the spell."

"That's the real problem." The worry in Harry's eyes didn't lessen one bit at those words.

Before long, McGonagall led them into a small room.

"Everyone, since I've called you here, there's no need for me to repeat what happened on the train," Professor McGonagall said with a stern expression.

Beside her stood a wizard with greasy hair and a hooked nose.

His gaze swept coldly over the group, excluding Malfoy, lingering a moment longer on Harry with a look of distaste.

"Let's start with you, Mr. Howard. I think we need to discuss the allocation of responsibility," Professor McGonagall said to the boy before her.

"No, Professor, there's no need for that," Glenn shook his head.

"It's all my fault."

"Your fault for what?"

"My fault for almost not noticing that three classmates were about to starve to death."

At these words, Malfoy, who had been about to press his advantage, abruptly fell silent.

Who was about to starve to death?

"Mr. Howard, do you know what you're saying?" said the wizard with the greasy hair.

Glenn looked at this professor, but before he could say anything, McGonagall introduced him: "This is Professor Snape, head of Slytherin."