In the past, Hermione would certainly have refused Harry's suggestion.
Curfew was almost upon them. Going to the Forbidden Forest now would be a serious breach of school rules. Besides, Filch's cat had just been attacked. At such a sensitive time, if anyone caught them, the professors would surely become suspicious.
But these were exceptional circumstances. Hermione could only suppress the urge to argue with Harry and silently accept his suggestion.
Still, they clearly couldn't all slip out of the Castle under the Invisibility Cloak together. Harry had wanted Hermione to turn the twins into monkeys again. It would be cramped, but they could still inch their way along.
Hermione flatly rejected the idea. "Harry! I'm only thirteen! I'm not an adult witch yet!"
"If I waste my magic on something like this, what happens if we run into Death Eaters?"
The four boys' expressions turned awkward. They suddenly realized that Hermione wasn't just the brains of their team-she was also their main fighting force.
That left them rather embarrassed. They silently vowed that once this was over, they would study hard. At the very least, they couldn't afford to fall behind in Charms.
Only Ron focused on something different. "Magic? What do you mean?"
"You can think of it as what we expend when we cast spells, such as physical energy and emotion," Hermione explained as simply as she could. "Vaughn calls all of that magical energy. I think it fits!"
"Vaughn again..." Ron muttered. "We're risking our lives dealing with Voldemort, and he doesn't even know anything about it..."
Hermione glanced at him. Instead of getting angry, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly before she quickly forced them down again.
She suddenly found that being the only one who knew the truth, while watching her friend make