Strange Musings

To continue from last time, faced with Penelope's accusation.

"And what about you, Mr. Ryan? I've never seen you at school either." Kate was no longer afraid of boiling water when she was already a dead pig.

"We both broke school rules by coming to Hogsmeade. At worst, I'll report you. And that Crying Boy Loki incident last time—I know it was you." Penelope threatened in a low voice, her face red.

.

As the two traded barbs, Ryan had already forgotten the purpose of this trip and happily watched the drama unfold.

In the blink of an eye, dusk had arrived.

"Penelope, look outside." Seeing how late it was, Ryan could only reluctantly interrupt them.

"It's almost evening already? How did time pass so quickly?" Penelope took a sip of Pumpkin Juice that was no longer cold to calm herself down.

"Penelope, let's hurry back. If we leave now, we can still make it to the party." Kate sounded anxious. Without realizing it, she had already finished all her Butterbeer, and she was now desperately holding it in and needed to use the restroom.

Penelope looked at Ryan and saw him wave his hand. "Let's meet again next time. Luckily, you finished all the food, so none of it went to waste."

Ryan immediately added, "The bill's been paid. The Three Broomsticks has a restroom, Kate. You can go first."

The moment Ryan finished speaking, Kate impatiently ran toward Madam Rosmerta. After asking where the restroom was, she vanished.

Penelope seemed to come back to her senses then, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Kate is just that kind of gossip. Today's date... date..." Penelope paused for a moment. "I'll try harder next time."

Ryan gazed into Penelope's large, watery blue eyes, his heart filled with an indescribable feeling. It was something he, who had been single his entire previous life, had never experienced.

Still, he muttered to himself, If Penelope finds out I'm four years younger than her, I'm finished.

"Keep in touch after we get back." Ryan stiffly forced out the sentence.

Aaaaaah! Ryan was so embarrassed that he nearly dug out a five-bedroom apartment with his toes.

Seeing Ryan's rigid expression, Penelope let out a soft laugh, and the worry in her heart gradually faded away.

Just then, Kate emerged again. It was time to say goodbye.

Parting was for the sake of a better reunion, Ryan comforted himself inwardly.

In the dim passageway, Penelope and Kate walked one behind the other.

"Neinei, Penelope, what kind of person is Ryan? Does he live in Hogsmeade?" Kate asked curiously.

"Shut your mouth." Penelope suddenly turned around. "You ruined today's date, and I haven't even settled that score with you yet. Watch what you say once we get back to Hogwarts."

"Ryan is mine. He can only be mine. You little runt, you'd better watch yourself when we get back."

"Ah, Penelope, you forget your friends the moment you get yourself a man. You value looks over loyalty, you..." Kate scratched the back of her head and secretly studied Penelope's expression. Once she noticed Penelope's tightly drawn little face had relaxed—

What followed was Kate's endless one-sided pestering of Penelope.

"Stop, stop. I can only tell you a little." Penelope was tormented into giving in.

"Mhm, mhm." Kate knew when to quit while she was ahead. With her big eyes wide open, she looked like a cute big-eyed kitten. Then again, with an unlikable personality like Kate's, if she were not cute, she would have been beaten to death long ago. Penelope suddenly thought that for some reason.

"Ryan and I..."

Kate kept cleverly interrupting her, and before she knew it, Penelope had completely forgotten that she was only supposed to give a brief explanation.

Luckily, they reached Hogwarts. Otherwise, clever Kate might have noticed the mystery surrounding Ryan's age. Ryan secretly rejoiced when he received Penelope's letter the next day.

Still, Ryan found it strange. How had there been no mention whatsoever in the original story of a quirky little witch like Kate? Was it because she was not Harry's type?

Ryan had just arrived home. In the bathroom, during this rare moment of leisure, he began to think.

The seven Harry Potter novels, along with the films, continuously flipped and flashed through Ryan's mind.

He had almost treated Harry Potter as himself. Harry was a normal boy, not a transmigrator like him.

Without an adult's perspective, Harry, in the Harry Potter books written from his point of view, mostly paid attention to boys who got along with him better.

Unlike his precocious father, James Potter, he had not fallen for some girl in his first year, pursued her relentlessly for seven years, and continuously attacked her childhood friend both physically and mentally.

Though that was not entirely accurate. In terms of romance, it was more like they pursued each other and went back and forth. It was just that James always brought his brothers along with him. Of course, the original story never stated this outright. Looking on the bright side, perhaps impulsive Sirius could not stand watching it and called Lupin and Peter Pettigrew to help their brother. That was the spirit of unity and mutual aid!

In Harry's Hogwarts life, he did not begin having thoughts in that direction until his fourth year, when he fell for Cho Chang. Then, because he had inherited his mother's kindness, he only started dating her in fifth year after Cedric, Cho Chang's boyfriend, died.

From Harry's perspective, Penelope was merely a girl with long curly hair. Most other female characters did not even deserve names, much less descriptions of their appearances.

And Kate, a student from another House who might not have suited Harry's tastes and was four years above him, was even less likely to be mentioned.

Even Ginny, Harry's official pairing, was not described much. The only attention she received was because she was Ron's sister.

If Ron had been a girl, Ginny probably would not have had a place at all.

Although Ron was directly described as tall and thin, with a long nose and a freckled face, those were only Harry's first impressions when he met Ron.

Boys changed dramatically as they grew up. Freckles were already a common trait among Westerners, and could even be considered a plus.

As for a long nose, those who understood, understood.

Tall and thin were even more of a plus.

One had to know that in the original story, Ron had a fangirl like Lavender Brown throw herself at him. He was not as ordinary-looking as the actor from the films.

After all, he was Ginny's brother. The Weasley family members were all rather good-looking in the original story. Ron's brother Bill even won over Fleur, that picky Veela half-blood, while Fred casually invited Angelina, the Gryffindor beauty of their year, to the ball with a single sentence.

And at the ball, even though Ron was dressed ridiculously, Padma, Ron's dance partner, did not take the initiative to abandon him despite losing interest because of it.

The Padma sisters had both been personally certified as very pretty from Harry's perspective, though Harry had also privately grumbled that Parvati's nose was not quite straight because of her tone.

Ginny also possessed beauty that even Slytherins who hated Gryffindor could not deny in the original text. It could only be said that the film casting made everyone resentful that Harry got Ginny while Emma was paired with Ron.

As for Hermione, casting Emma had not been a mistake either. Once Hermione got rid of her buck teeth and tidied her hair, she truly was stunning.

Among the other main characters, Luna Lovegood, the mad girl, had also been cast rather prettily in the films. In the original story, however, her appearance was not described much. Instead, far more attention was given to her eccentricity and strange ramblings.

And Pansy—Ryan was not trying to badmouth her. She really was not pretty. One could not forget the description of her appearance in the original work just because the film casting suited Chinese tastes. Harry had bluntly said that she was an ugly Slytherin girl who looked like a pug.

Without realizing it, he had been bathing for nearly thirty minutes. In the enchanted painting opposite the bathtub, several glamorous mermaids splashed water by the shore, gesturing for Ryan to soak a while longer.

Ryan waved to refuse, dried himself off, and prepared to begin his nightly reading before bed.

The author has read the Harry Potter novels but has not watched the films in their entirety, so this story leans more toward the original novels. However, as far as I know, the plot and character settings in the films and novels are almost identical. It is simply that the attractive characters were not cast very well, such as Fleur, while the less attractive characters were cast more beautifully. This chapter specifically mentioned that point.