Shawn brought ten poised young snakes to Ravenclaw Tower.
At the door knocker, they met Hermione, who had been waiting there all along.
Shawn looked at Hermione and resisted the urge to rub his eyes. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
How could he put it? Today, Hermione was neither as carefree nor as scruffy as usual. Instead, she looked strikingly different.
She had smoothed her bushy curls into soft, gentle waves, and magic had brought her formerly prominent front teeth down to a normal size.
Quite apart from her pretty face, Hermione had an intellectual air about her.
Her fitted blue Ravenclaw uniform with its white trim, the book in her hands, and her black square-framed glasses made her look even more bookish.
It was only because Hermione was still a little girl that calling her the prettiest girl in school would have been premature.
When she saw Shawn, Hermione wanted to shout excitedly, but she remembered the older girls' crash course in dress and etiquette the night before and restrained herself, greeting him demurely.
"Hello, Shawn. You're here."
Shawn likewise resisted the urge to ruffle the hair she had gone to so much trouble to smooth down and offered a warm compliment.
"Yes, Hermione. You look beautiful today."
That was how things worked in the West: compliments were meant to be given face-to-face.
Sure enough, delight spread across Hermione's face.
"Really? This is what I..."
Shawn stopped Hermione before she could launch into a long account of how the older girls had fussed over her.
"All right, we have business to attend to. Let's go inside."
Hermione immediately regained her composure. She walked to Shawn's right and gave Theodore a sweet smile.
Theodore: ...?
"I'm Shawn's guide today. Would you mind moving back one place,