The Girls' Feelings and Dilemmas

Outside the castle, Daphne walked along the paved path through the landscaped grounds.

The usually aloof young lady from a pure-blood family had rosy cheeks now, as if she'd just run an 800-meter race.

She was in a good mood.

Being born into a pure-blood family that hadn't yet fallen into decline had its perks. The only problem was that she had no friends.

She'd always spent time with pure-blood children of the same standing. Every word and action reflected on their families, and they had to consider their families' future relationships, so they were expected to follow the Pure-blood Family Etiquette Guide to the letter.

But things were different when she was with Tom. She didn't have to worry about any of that superficial nonsense and could really talk and spend time with him like an innocent little girl.

"Ugh." Daphne sighed.

She'd suddenly grown sick of the "men and women should keep their distance" rule in the Pure-blood Family Etiquette Guide. It said that girls had to be reserved and keep their distance when spending time with boys, whether they were pure-bloods or ordinary wizards.

Because of that, whenever Daphne wanted to spend time with Tom, chat, or talk to him, she had to come up with an excuse, like discussing something from their textbooks or another respectable topic.

If only I were a boy.

If she were a boy, she wouldn't have so many reservations. She could even visit the boys' dormitory whenever she wanted and lie in bed chatting with Tom about life during curfew.

Especially since she'd heard that Tom had a habit of working out. She wondered what those muscles felt like to touch.

At pure-blood gatherings, she'd often overheard the aunts and older female relatives whispering among themselves, "Wizards who work out regularly and have muscles are the best."

She had no idea what they meant.

Just then—

Bang! Smack!

So caught up in her thoughts that she wasn't paying attention, Daphne walked straight into someone, and they both landed hard on their bottoms.

"Sorry about that. Are you all right?"

Following proper etiquette, Daphne immediately stood up and checked on the other girl.

"You're... that stupid lioness, aren't you?"

Daphne recognized the girl right away.

Hermione Granger. She remembered Tom mentioning her name, and they'd watched the show together during Flying Class.

"Slytherin?"

With Daphne's help, Hermione slowly got to her feet.

"You seem distracted. Is something on your mind?" Daphne asked, showing concern.

Of all the Gryffindors, Hermione was the only one Daphne felt any fondness for.

Her family always said that Gryffindor students were a bunch of stupid lions who never thought before they acted. But Hermione was clearly different. You could tell from her performance in class over the past few days.

Hermione often raised her hand to answer questions, earning plenty of points for Gryffindor.

She was an unusual stupid lioness.

"I feel like I'm really bad at dealing with people." Hermione seemed to have found an outlet, and blurted out all the thoughts she'd been keeping bottled up.

Gryffindor had completely ostracized her.

She didn't know why. All she'd done was refuse to join in when they got into a fight during Flying Class...

For the sake of the group's glory, she often answered questions in class to earn points. And to seem more like a brave lion, she'd even reported a few classmates for copying homework...

Why was it that the more she did, the more coldly everyone treated her?

The girls in her dorm went to the bathroom together and deliberately left her out. Now, she didn't just lack friends in Gryffindor; no one was even willing to talk to her.

"Uh..." Daphne stared blankly after hearing her out. She was silent for a long time before finally speaking. "I take back what I said about you. You really are a stupid lioness—and the stupidest one of all."

Gryffindor might stand for courage and honesty, but it also stood for recklessness and stubbornness.

"Why?" Hermione didn't understand.

"You don't fit in, you show off your knowledge and hog the spotlight, and you tattle on people... That alone is enough to condemn you."

At that moment, Daphne felt that the Pure-blood Family Etiquette Guide was pretty necessary. At least it could help prevent situations like this.

"What should I do, then?" Hermione's expression fell even further.

"It's simple. You can't make people like you, but you can make them need you." Daphne smiled faintly.

Having grown up with a family legacy behind her, she was more mature and sensible than most children her age.

"Need me?"

"Exactly. As long as you prove yourself good enough, your classmates will naturally come to you for help when they run into trouble."

Hogwarts wasn't like an ordinary Muggle school. First-years couldn't move on to second year just by spending a year at school. They had to pass their final exams, or they'd be held back.

Every year, plenty of lazy young wizards scrambled to find people to tutor them at the end of term.

"So you mean I just have to keep answering questions in class every day and be a good student?" Hermione was beginning to understand.

If I help enough people, I'll naturally make some friends.

"That's not enough. If you want the people who used to shun you to swallow their pride and ask for your help, you have to prove yourself overwhelmingly good."

"You mean I have to get all Os on my final exams?"

"The end of term is still a long way off. If you want to solve this as soon as possible, you could try the Dueling Club. If you can beat everyone around you, that'll be enough to prove how good you are."

Everyone at a magical school was there to learn magic, and the Dueling Club was the best way to find out whether a student was any good.

"I... think I understand." Hermione clenched her fists.

As a consummate overachiever, she'd already learned about half of the first-year spells and was the best among her Gryffindor classmates. If she wanted to get good results in dueling...

She was confident.

At noon.

Brewing Potions was a time-consuming and laborious process. You had to keep a close eye on the heat and the state of the ingredients for a long time.

The fumes produced during brewing were hard to deal with, and so were the leftover dregs afterward.

There were Aurors all over Hogwarts at the moment. If someone was caught brewing a potion in secret, they'd very likely be arrested on the spot.

So Tom had chosen the Room of Requirement as the place to dispose of the evidence.

"This room really does provide everything you could ask for. It even has an automatic cleaning function." Tom looked around.

He'd never cleaned the Room of Requirement, but every time he came in, it was spotless.

"By the way, don't you need my help brewing Potions?" Voldemort asked from the back of Quirrell's head.

He hadn't expected that his host had not only forgotten the spells, but also how to brew Potions. He'd earned all Os in his N.E.W.T.s when he graduated, and he'd been an expert at Potions too.

"I need to develop my own abilities, so I have to relearn how to brew Potions as well." As he spoke, Tom took out a handful of ingredients.

He ground what needed grinding and boiled what needed boiling...

Beside him, Quirrell explained the brewing process.

Quirrell was a brilliant student, but he was clearly better at Defense Against the Dark Arts and a little less capable when it came to Potions.

So while Quirrell taught, Voldemort offered suggestions for improvements.

A teaching team made up of a theoretical whiz and the Dark Lord—probably no student in all of Hogwarts' history had ever received this kind of treatment.