After playing in Hogsmeade Village until late, Hermione had almost completely overcome the impact left by the troll's gruesome death. Maybe it really was the Butterbeer's doing. Those fluffy bubbles relaxed her completely as they fizzed in her mouth.
But early the next morning, she still got out of bed on time. She set her cat aside to keep sleeping, then prepared to wash up and go to class.
Yes, Ravenclaw offered a very relaxed environment, but Hermione felt she could do better than the other Little Eagles. At the very least, she believed learning many things from professors was more precise than studying them from books on her own.
Books were experience distilled and summarized, but they could deceive people too. Her own professor had told her that.
That was certainly true. Hermione had had little free time lately, and she had spent nearly all of it reading. She had found quite a few errors made by wizard authors in books. Some had even classified Garden Gnomes and groundhogs as the same kind of creature.
The door to the common room was still covered in dense writing. Plenty of people had come up with all sorts of excuses to ask for leave, but Hermione merely glanced at it before pushing the door open and leaving. After last night, she vaguely felt that she might be different from everyone else.
She had to do better than the others, then become a Dragon-Slaying Hero during the winter break after Christmas.
Everyone, including the Principal, had been delighted after she killed the troll. Last night, she had even been exceptionally allowed to go into the village for fun. That was a reward too, wasn't it?
Thinking about it now, killing monsters could make her a hero and earn her rewards. There was