"They've already decided. You'll be staying at school over the Christmas holiday."
Just as Hermione sat staring blankly at her potions book, the Sports Professor appeared before her out of nowhere and said this.
He looked quite pleased with himself, even sitting down beside her and pouring himself a drink.
Hermione frowned. Like an angry kitten baring its claws, she snapped, "What gives you the right to make decisions for me?"
"You have trouble making choices," the professor replied, placing a bottle of soda on her head. "And what happened wasn't long ago. You definitely don't want Voldemort finding out where your family lives, do you? He loves torturing and killing Muggles."
At that, she immediately covered the bottle on her head. "My parents are okay, right?"
"They're fine. You're their only connection to the Magic World, and everyone who knows students' home addresses is very trustworthy." Su Ming tipped back his drink. Sure enough, drinking in winter really ought to be accompanied by hot pot lamb. Whiskey by itself was missing something.
Hermione relaxed a little. She closed her potions textbook and took a sip of the soda. Only a fizzy drink like Fanta gave her even a little sense of modern society.
After thinking for a moment, her lips moved. "Was that ring dealt with in the end?"
"You mean the Horcrux? Of course. I know a few very professional old people when it comes to that sort of thing—the kind who are even more professional than Principal Dumbledore. They stripped the soul fragment out of the ring. As for the ring itself, the Principal has hidden it somewhere safe."
"Can the Resurrection Stone really bring the dead back to life?" The girl blinked.
"No. None of the three Deathly Hallows are much use. The ring reads the