Persuading Hermione

Li Wei found Hermione Granger at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

The little girl sat at one end of the long table, casting a spell on a matchstick.

"Quick Transfiguration!"

Under the point of her Vinewood Dragon Heartstring Wand, the matchstick immediately changed into a gleaming silver needle.

Transfiguration had only one incantation: Quick Transfiguration!

Yet its scope was incredibly broad.

Transforming inanimate objects into other inanimate objects, living things into inanimate objects, inanimate objects into living things, living things into other living things, even transforming oneself, changing one's species, or altering one's appearance—all of it fell within the domain of Transfiguration!

It allowed all things in the world to change with the wave of a wizard's wand!

Transfiguration could be called the most distinctive magic in the world of Harry Potter!

Wearing Ravenclaw's distinctive uniform, Li Wei ignored the stares of others and sat down at the Gryffindor table, watching Hermione cast her spell.

Hermione waited for the magic maintaining the transformation to dissipate. The silver needle turned back into a matchstick, and when she looked up, she saw Li Wei staring at her with blazing eyes.

She jumped in fright and asked irritably,

"Li Wei, when did you get here? You didn't even say anything!"

"I only just sat down. You were practicing Transfiguration so seriously that I didn't dare interrupt you."

Li Wei answered casually, then glanced at the matchstick in front of Hermione and asked curiously,

"Was this what you learned in Transfiguration this morning? Turning a matchstick into a silver needle?"

"That's right," the little girl said eagerly.

"You have no idea how amazing Professor McGonagall was!

With just a wave of her wand, without even saying an incantation, she turned the lectern into a big, plump white pig!

That pig was just like a real one. It snorted and waddled around the classroom several times!"

"Then Professor McGonagall emphasized classroom discipline, asked us about Gamp's Fundamental Law of Transfiguration, explained some Transfiguration theory, and had us try it ourselves. Our task was to turn a matchstick into a needle!"

Hermione went on and on, not smugly mentioning that she had been the first to complete the transformation and earn points for her House.

Instead, she curiously asked Li Wei,

"Li Wei, what class did you have this morning? How was it? What magic did you learn?"

"Potions," Li Wei answered as he picked up the matchstick in front of Hermione.

After hesitating for a moment, he said,

"We learned how to identify herbs, process ingredients, and brew potions. The practical exercise was brewing a potion for treating boils."

"However, you may be disappointed. Professor Severus Snape has a rather unusual personality. All I can say is that he's especially stern and not easy to get along with."

Li Wei did not know how to describe Professor Snape's twisted personality to Hermione. He could only call him sharp-tongued and tsundere.

But that kind of character setting was already outdated!

"Fine!" Hermione was a little disappointed to hear that Potions class had not been particularly interesting, but she soon made an energetic suggestion.

"Then let's go to the library and finish our homework from this morning. After that, we can each pick out a few books and trade them to read. Once we finish, we can quiz each other and reinforce the knowledge from the books.

"Finally, we can preview this afternoon's Herbology lesson before coming back for lunch. How does that sound?"

Oh, little girl, you were just handing over your Flame Mantra!

Li Wei truly had not expected that quizzing each other could be used to reinforce knowledge.

Doing so could indeed help him quickly memorize and master a book, then store it in the Memory Library.

"That's a good suggestion. Let's go!"

Li Wei had no objection. With a flick of his wand, he turned the matchstick into a silver needle and handed it back to Hermione Granger.

Hermione felt thoroughly shown up. Li Wei had not even attended a Transfiguration class yet, but he could already transform a matchstick so easily. It seemed her learning progress had fallen behind again!

She looked at the smiling boy beside her and immediately decided to hold herself to even stricter study standards.

As the two headed toward the library, they could not help chatting.

"...You have no idea, Li Wei, those two are unbelievably stupid!"

"On the very first class of the first day of school, they actually dared to be late! My Merlin! I was terrified Professor McGonagall would deduct all our House points!"

Hermione loudly complained to Li Wei about how the protagonists, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, had been late to their very first lesson.

"They were certainly pretty bold! But they were only eleven-year-old kids, and the moving staircases in the castle really are difficult to navigate."

Li Wei nodded in agreement, but then changed his tone and actually began defending Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Hermione immediately shot him a look. Though she said nothing, her sulky little face was practically demanding to know whose side Li Wei was on.

Only eleven-year-old kids? As if she wasn't eleven too!

Hermione Granger, who would soon be twelve, fumed inwardly.

"Hermione, the important thing isn't that they were late," Li Wei said with a smile, explaining himself.

"I know you're worried that House points will be deducted, and that you genuinely mean well toward those two!"

"But you need to understand that good medicine tastes bitter, and honest advice is hard to hear. If you use the standards you set for yourself to demand things from them, they'll only think there's something wrong with you—that you're making trouble for no reason and causing them problems!"

"You clearly mean well for everyone, for them, and for the House, but they'll still become hostile toward you, dislike you, and even isolate you!"

"Do you understand, Hermione?"

Hermione opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but when she thought of the signs in certain events from last night until now, she felt that Li Wei might have a point.

"See? Even after hearing what I said, you were ready to argue!"

"The people you criticize and advise probably don't have your rationality or understanding. How do you think they'll treat you?"

Seeing Hermione's expression, Li Wei knew that some of his words had gotten through to the little girl, so he spread his hands.

"Then what should I do?"

Hermione fell silent for a moment, then sincerely asked Li Wei for advice.

"Just be yourself, Hermione," Li Wei advised her, then added meaningfully,

"I think an orchid blooming in an uninhabited valley isn't so beautiful merely so people can think it looks pretty."

Hearing Li Wei compare her to an orchid, the little girl's delicate face immediately reddened.

Still, she took Li Wei's words to heart, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

The two entered the library beside the first-floor corridor of Hogwarts Castle.

The moment they stepped inside, they were stunned by the vast sea of magical books before them.

The library was a domed structure resembling a grand cathedral. Its lofty arched ceiling and bright windows made it both sacred and solemn, as well as spacious and well-lit.

Towering bookshelves, as tall as giants, stretched from the floor to the ceiling. They were packed tightly with all kinds of magical books, row after row extending to the very edge of sight.

How many books were there here?!

The shock on Hermione's face was impossible to hide. Li Wei was somewhat better, but even he could not suppress Ravenclaw-like greed for knowledge rising within him.

The secondhand bookshops of Diagon Alley, the private library in Ravenclaw's common room, and now the public library of Hogwarts Castle.

Even if the books in those three collections overlapped, each was undoubtedly an enormous treasure trove to Li Wei!

And because of the Learning MOD, those three places were also inexhaustible seas of credits!

After his initial excitement, Li Wei gradually calmed down, knowing that he could not possibly finish reading all these books in a short time.

So he raised his hand and spread five fingers toward Hermione.

"Five books each, preferably on Potions and Transfiguration. We'll read while completing our homework."

Hermione also calmed down a little. Filled with excitement, she nodded hard and answered, "Okay!"