Bell's Racial Talent

Bell's Racial Talent

On Friday afternoon, Ravenclaw had no classes scheduled. Bell was in the habit of going to the Library to read.

As expected, after arriving at the Library, Bell saw Hermione sitting in her usual spot. He walked over to greet her.

"What are you reading?"

"I'm looking up some information about Magical Animals," Hermione replied quietly.

Speaking in the Library was a highly risky act. Once Madam Pince became displeased, she would chase them out with a feather duster. That was simply too terrifying for a Little Witch.

Like Bell, Hermione enjoyed coming to the Library to read, and she spent even more time there than he did. Whenever she had no classes, she basically spent all her time in the Library.

Since they often ran into each other at the Library, Hermione and Bell gradually became more and more familiar with one another.

Bell carefully looked Hermione over.

"Didn't you sleep well last night? You don't seem very energetic."

"Don't mention it. I'm furious!" Hermione said irritably.

"Bell, do you know? Last night, Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley actually broke the School Rules and went out in the middle of the night to have some kind of Wizard duel with a Slytherin House student named Malfoy! Do they have no regard for the School Rules at all? Didn't they stop to think about how many points Gryffindor would lose if Filch caught them?"

Hermione looked like she was about to lose her mind. It was obvious that she was deeply obsessed with the House Cup.

Bell found it rather amusing, but in order not to provoke the upset Little Witch, he held back his laughter and asked Hermione.

"So you were so angry that you couldn't sleep all night?"

"No."

Hermione once again wore an expression as though the memory was too painful to revisit. Watching the Little Witch's ever-changing expressions made Bell want to laugh even more.

"I originally wanted to stop them, so I stayed in the common room that night. But no matter how I tried to persuade them, neither of them would listen. I followed them out of the common room, but when I turned around to go back, I discovered that the Fat Lady wasn't there. I couldn't get back into my dormitory! I was furious!" Hermione explained. "Oh, the Fat Lady is a painting. You need her permission to enter Gryffindor's common room."

"And then?" Bell asked with great interest.

If they had been somewhere else, he would have wanted to pull out some cola and popcorn to eat while listening.

"I was afraid Filch would catch me if I stayed outside the common room, so I had no choice but to go with them. We also ran into Neville outside the common room. He couldn't get in because he'd forgotten the password. Then we went to the Trophy Room together, but Malfoy never showed up. Not only did he not come, he even told Filch that someone was in the Trophy Room. We went through so much trouble just to avoid getting caught by Filch. I was scared to death!"

Even now, thinking of what had happened the previous night still left Hermione shaken, her little face pale. Heaven knew how much she regretted what she had done. Had she known, she would have just stayed outside the common room.

Thinking about it carefully, Neville had stayed there until he fell asleep without anyone discovering him. If she had waited there for a little while until the Fat Lady came back from visiting friends and relatives, there probably would not have been any problem. At the very least, it would not have been as serious as the trouble they had encountered in the Fourth Floor Right-Side Corridor last night.

"By the way, Bell, there's something I want to ask you." Hermione looked around, and only after seeing that no one was paying attention did she speak in a hushed voice.

"..."

Bell felt that Hermione's movements and expression looked somewhat familiar, as though he had been seeing them often lately. So were children these days simply too fond of making a fuss over nothing? Or were there just too many shady matters at Hogwarts?

"Bell, do you know much about Magical Animals?"

"Not that much, but I know the general basics. What do you want to ask?" Bell asked.

His main field of study was not Magical Creatures, but he still knew some fundamental knowledge. At the very least, he did not think he would be unable to answer the Little Witch's questions.

"Do you know what kind of Magical Animal is a huge dog around three meters tall with three heads?" Hermione asked without much hope.

The Little Witch thought that since Bell did not know much about Magical Animals, he probably would not know what kind of dog they had seen last night either. As far as she knew, Ron and Neville both came from Wizard families, yet neither of them knew.

Still, since she had brought it up, ending the conversation there would make it seem as though she were playing a prank. She did not want anyone to think she liked pranks.

"A huge dog with three heads? That must be a Three-Headed Dog. There are more of them over in Greece, but they're quite rare in Britain. What's wrong? Do you want to raise one?" Bell teased.

If he ever had the chance, Bell would quite like to raise one himself. The only problem was that Three-Headed Dogs were a bit too large.

As everyone knew, dogs liked licking people. If such a huge dog licked him, he would probably be drenched all over in an instant. That was somewhat difficult for cleanliness-loving Bell to accept.

Hermione had not expected Bell to actually know. But upon hearing his question, she gave him a look that said, Are you kidding me? She would have to be insane to want to raise a huge dog that could swallow her in a single bite.

More importantly, she was a cat person!

"Forget it. I don't want to wake up one day and find myself inside a dog's stomach."

"Then why did you suddenly bring up Three-Headed Dogs?" Bell asked curiously.

Could it be that after eating Dragon Meat Baozi a few days ago, Hermione had finally awakened her inner foodie after several days of anticipation? Was she now searching for Magical Animals that looked relatively tasty?

As for why he had said "too"? Heh heh, that was Bell's racial talent!

"Do you remember Professor Dumbledore warning us at the start-of-term feast not to go near the Fourth Floor Right-Side Corridor? Last night, while we were fleeing in panic to avoid being caught by Filch, we ended up running into the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor. In the room at the end of the corridor, we found a Three-Headed Dog. I thought I was going to die!" Hermione said with lingering fear. "Oh, right. You absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this. If the professors find out, I'll definitely lose lots of House Points!"

Just how obsessed are you with House Points?!

Bell looked at Hermione speechlessly.

"I also saw a Trapdoor beneath the Three-Headed Dog's paws. Professor Dumbledore must be hiding something there. What do you think it is, Bell?"

Bell fell into thought. At first, he truly had not known what Hermione had encountered. But when Hermione mentioned a "Trapdoor," Bell remembered, since it was not a commonly used word.

He carefully searched through his old memories. At first, he had not paid attention; it had merely been a subconscious action. Yet as he recalled, he discovered that he had nearly overlooked a very important item. If his memories from his previous life were correct, what was hidden there should be the Philosopher's Stone.

Bell thought of one of his important plans. Though he did not believe that Philosopher's Stone was real, what if it was? It would not take much effort anyway, so he might as well find a way to take a look.

"Bell, did you hear what I said?"

Seeing Bell spacing out, Hermione nudged him.

"Oh, of course."

Bell came back to his senses.

"But how could I possibly know what Professor Dumbledore is hiding? Besides, I'm not interested. Even if I knew, what could I do about it?"

Hermione nodded in agreement. She had only been a little curious, and after hearing Bell say that, she found it quite reasonable and did not say anything more.

For a time, the two of them returned to their own affairs.