Falling Apart

"I wish you won't cry your eyes out by then! Goodbye!"

After saying goodbye, Hermione didn't take any further action. She stood there, her eyes fixed on Li Mu. Her eyes were red, as if water was about to spill. Li Mu looked at Hermione helplessly, gave her an apologetic smile, and gently shook his head.

In this matter, Hermione was clearly more rational than Harry and Ron. If she didn't care about them, why would she take the initiative to step forward after a few days of cold war? Unfortunately, Li Mu really couldn't do anything about it. He didn't expect to reason with an eleven-year-old Ron, especially when the other party was unreasonably angry.

"Get punished?... You said the same thing in the flying class." Sure enough, Ron now seemed to wish Hermione would get sick from anger. He even deliberately imitated Hermione's tone in a strange way, with a mocking look: "Oh, Madam Hooch will expel you! - But look now?"

Ron pointed to the Nimbus 2000 in Harry's hand: "Listen, Harry has entered the Quidditch team! The youngest Seeker in a century!"

Harry was embarrassed and lowered his head when he heard him mention the flying class.

"So you think this is a reward for violating school rules!?" Hermione gritted her teeth. "You'll regret it! I guarantee it!"

She didn't wait for Ron to reply, turned her head, and stomped away with her books.

"Hey, Hermione..." Li Mu called out. But Hermione ignored him too. She straightened her body even more and left resolutely.

"She's finally gone." Ron seemed relieved. "Being with her is a really deadly feeling."

"Okay, you'll be glad. Maybe you won't have this feeling in the future." Li Mu looked in the direction Hermione left and sighed, "Maybe Harry and I won't either."

"Isn't that good? Like her, bossy, arrogant, always giving you orders..."

Ron didn't finish his sentence because he found that Li Mu had already started to move. Without a word, he calmly chased after Hermione and disappeared.

He pursed his lips, turned back to look at Harry, full of incomprehension: "What's wrong with him again?..."

The famous savior stood helplessly in place, in front of one of his friends, but felt full of loneliness and coldness. His friends were falling apart, and he felt it clearly. This was not caused by him, and he was completely powerless.

*********

Running to the end of the corridor and up a flight of stairs, Li Mu stopped at the door of a bathroom on the second floor. The bathroom door was marked with a skirt, which was for girls only.

He took a breath, closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and rushed into the room. The bathroom was quiet, but in the deepest cubicle, there was a faint sound of sobbing.

Hermione was indeed here, hiding inside and crying secretly. Although the "history" has deviated a bit, the nature of the partners is still difficult to change. Ron is still the naive and reckless Ron, and Hermione is still the Hermione who is proud and strong in front of people, but secretly hides in the toilet to cry behind her back.

"Hermione, are you okay? Can I come in?" Li Mu took another breath and asked in a low voice.

The sobbing stopped suddenly.

After a while, Hermione's voice came from the cubicle, with some panic: "Li Mu?... No, this is the girls' bathroom, how can you..."

"This bathroom is usually empty, right?" Li Mu smiled, took two steps forward, and stopped at the cubicle door. "I heard about it as soon as school started, the girls' bathroom on the second floor is haunted. No, it should be said to be haunted by a ghost."

There was a crackling sound from the cubicle door, and then the door opened, revealing Hermione's small head with thick, messy brown hair: "You... why are you here?"

There's a chance! Dialogue is the premise of communication and understanding. Hermione was willing to talk to him, which meant that she was not so angry that she had completely lost her mind. Li Mu looked at Hermione's delicate face, her eyes were red, and there was still a trace of tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Don't be angry, and don't be sad..." Looking at Hermione's weak appearance now, Li Mu couldn't help but comfort her gently. Although the other party was still an eleven-year-old girl, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of pity from his heart.

Maybe he, who has traveled through two lifetimes, is still affected by the body of an eleven-year-old... Even the aesthetic orientation is developing in the direction of loli control.

"If you are here to apologize for Ron and them..." Hermione looked at Li Mu, her eyes darting away, raised her face, and continued to pretend to be angry, "Then go out, I won't forgive them!"

Okay... she really hates Harry Potter together, poor savior. Li Mu smiled and shook his head: "No, I'm here to help you solve your doubts."

"Solve my doubts?"

"Right, don't you want to know? Why is it that you're clearly acting out of kindness, but Ron and the others are so unappreciative, impatient, and even disgusted with you?"

Hermione's eyes lit up, instantly casting all her emotions aside. She stared intently at Li Mu, her gaze filled with a thirst for knowledge.

Li Mu chuckled inwardly; he had found the right approach. To comfort someone, the most important thing is to cater to their interests and say what they want to hear, right? And Hermione's great desire for all kinds of knowledge is precisely her weakness.

"You know about the Three Kingdoms period in ancient Celestial Dynasty, right?" Quickly organizing his thoughts, Li Mu asked, deciding to use examples as a starting point to present the facts and reason. Regardless of the effect, as long as he could guide Hermione out of her sad and resentful mood.

And little Hermione was indeed led away by Li Mu; she quickly nodded. Hermione, who came from a Muggle family, had studied ordinary people's history and had some understanding of the famous Celestial Dynasty in Eastern culture. Li Mu continued to speak.

"Historical records state that during that Three Kingdoms period, such a thing happened—the warlord Yuan Shao was going to attack another warlord, Cao Cao, and his advisor Tian Feng dissuaded him, saying that Cao Cao's use of troops was unpredictable, and attacking him rashly would likely lead to failure, so it would be better to wage a protracted war. Yuan Shao didn't listen, and Tian Feng repeatedly advised him, so Yuan Shao became even more angry, saying that Tian Feng was disrupting the morale of the army and imprisoned him. As a result, the war situation was indeed predicted by Tian Feng, and Yuan Shao's army was defeated miserably. Everyone believed that if they had listened to Tian Feng, they would not have suffered this defeat... Guess what happened to Tian Feng in the end?"

"Since he was proven to be a talented and visionary minister, he was probably reused..." Hermione rolled her eyes and thought for a moment, answering, but with some uncertainty in her heart, "...right?"

Sure enough, young people are still too simple, thinking that having talent will lead to being reused? That correct behavior will lead to the correct outcome? ...The idea is still too naive.

"You're wrong," Li Mu said with a smile, shaking his head.

(End of this chapter)

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