"Hermione?" Silan, somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I... I'm going back to school today too..." The girl looked away. "My parents are going on vacation, and they're worried about leaving me home alone."
"Really? Then let's go together."
"Okay, okay."
Hermione nodded happily, her soft hair brushing against her shoulders.
The Hogwarts Express continues to run during the Christmas holidays, but only once a week.
Students returning to campus need to apply to Professor McGonagall in advance and report their travel plans so that the school is aware of their whereabouts.
Because it was a holiday, there were very few people on the train, but Hermione still sat right next to Silan as if the train was full of people.
The Hogwarts Express, filled with the festive spirit of Christmas, sped along smoothly.
Birds from the mountains and forests accompanied it as it flew across the plains, guiding its way. The cool wind on the hills playfully dispersed the steam, which swirled and disappeared.
The clattering of the train echoed in my ears, and everything seemed quiet and peaceful.
Silan ate the small desserts Hermione had brought from home, chatting idly with her.
"How is Mrs. Hazel?" Hermione asked.
"It's all good. They're still praying and singing hymns as usual. James and the others are helping to manage the orphanage, and it looks much better now."
In the days following Christmas, Silan repeated his old tricks and continued his entrepreneurial ventures.
Using [Wandless Casting], I cast Reparo and repaired quite a few things.
However, apart from minor Spells like the Reparo and the Lumos, other Spells are very difficult to succeed.
Silan instructed James to sell the repaired items gradually, keeping half the money for Mrs. Hazel and distributing the other half among the other children.
This amount of money may not be a huge sum, but it's enough for them to get through the winter comfortably.
The two chatted or read books along the way.
Time flew by, and the train soon arrived at Hogsmeade Station.
When they returned to Hogwarts, George and Fred appeared out of nowhere, greeting them with smiles.
"Oh, sir and madam," Fred said, standing in the doorway as if taking some luggage. "Welcome back."
"We've been waiting for you for so long."
George performed an exaggerated hat-tipping gesture with the air above his head.
"Thank you," Silan greeted them with a smile.
"How was your Christmas?" Fred asked as they walked, turning to hand Silan a set of Wizard's Chess. "I pulled this from a firecracker envelope; it's for you."
Silan didn't stand on ceremony and carefully put the Wizard's Chess set away.
"I'm doing well, and I had some really nice desserts."
Hermione smiled happily when Silan said the desserts were delicious.
She made that.
"I really don't understand why we have to walk past Snape's office..."
"Alright, Ron, let's go. Silan and Hermione should be here soon."
Two dejected voices came from ahead.
Ron and Harry hung their heads, looking somewhat annoyed when they saw Silan and Hermione: "We've wasted too much time; they're already back."
The two walked up to Silan.
"You say it," Ron said.
"You tell us," Harry nudged Ron in the ribs with his elbow.
Ron scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Silan, Professor Snape wants you to come to his office."
"How did he know Silan was back?" George asked.
Snape didn't seem like the type to care when the young wizards would return to school.
Ron was even more embarrassed. "We were planning to pick up Silan and Hermione at the station, but Snape heard us, and... oh my god, he walks so quietly."
"He also deducted a point from each of us," Harry added from the side.
George and Fred both shook their heads. "Ron, could you pretend to be a walking block of wood next time?"
Ron blushed slightly and muttered softly, "I didn't expect him to show up so suddenly..."
"He's like a bat," Harry agreed with Ron. "Not a sound. He'd been standing behind us listening for a while when we finally noticed him."
Rolling her eyes at them, Hermione didn't pursue their responsibility any further, only asking about the important points.
"Why does Professor Snape want to see Silan?"
"We don't know," Ron said, shrugging helplessly. "His face was as black as an unwashed cauldron."
Silan wondered, could it be that he discovered I sent him that case of Potter brand shampoo?
That shouldn't be the case.
I was already very careful when I delivered the shampoo myself.
The owls used by the Owl Post Office are public, making it impossible to locate the owners, and the mail is sent anonymously.
But there's no point in guessing here, let's go and see for ourselves.
After making up her mind, Silan reassured everyone.
"Don't worry, I'll go check."
Watching Silan's departing figure, Fred frowned and said, "Snape's temper has been getting worse lately."
"I heard that at the Christmas dinner, someone heard him curse 'that damn Potter' no less than 50 times," George immediately picked up where Fred left off.
"This..."
The two exchanged a glance, both feeling that Silan's trip was likely Elphias Doge.
"He... he wouldn't do anything to Silan, would he?" Hermione nervously gripped her robes.
Harry muttered to himself, "At least he doesn't have to worry about losing points."
"I have to go check it out," Hermione said.
"Are you crazy?" Ron yelled. "Snape is looking for a chance to deduct points from our record!"
Hermione ignored him and trotted up the stairs to catch up with Silan.
"Sigh, Ron." Fred patted Ron on the shoulder, sighing and shaking his head.
"Sigh, Ron." George mimicked Fred, patting Ron on the shoulder and shaking his head.
Ron stood there, somewhat bewildered, staring blankly at the two of them. "What's wrong with me? Why did you only say half of what you meant?"
"Oh, Ron."
Harry went up to Ron, patted him on the shoulder, and shook his head while sighing.
"How come you're doing this too...?" Ron was furious.
"I'll go take a look too." Harry followed the twins.
Just a moment ago there was a large group of people, but in the blink of an eye, only Ron was left standing there blankly.
Ron scratched his head and turned around, still somewhat confused.
He scratched his head and thought for a long time but still couldn't understand what the three of them meant.
Actually George and Fred were just playing a prank on him as usual.
Don't leave me behind.
Seeing that everyone had left, Ron quickly started running towards Snape's office.
After he ran up the stairs and around the corridor, he suddenly saw George and Fred and a few others gathered at the door of Snape's office.
Ron slowed his pace, like a little mouse afraid of waking a sleeping cat, and tiptoed to Harry's side.
"Shh."
Harry gestured for him to be quiet.
Ron nodded and covered his mouth with both hands.
Silan gestured for them to move aside and raised her hand to knock on the door.