Chatting on the Train

"You should have used Curses; you've forgotten you're a witch."

Bell's feeble voice came from the other side. The voice reminded Hermione of the first time she met Bell last year. At that time, Bell was even more decadent than he is now, looking like he had turned into a zombie.

"But you're really strong! I'm supposed to be quite heavy, right? I didn't expect you to be able to drag me this far."

(╬￣俣)

"I know I'm heavy and can't lift myself! Besides, I'm not that strong!"

Hermione squeezed Bell's calf hard.

"You dare call me a muscle woman! You're the muscle woman!"

"... I didn't say you were a muscular woman. Besides, I'm a man, so I can only be a muscular man, not a muscular woman."

Looking at Hermione's flushed face, Bell mood improved a lot.

Since he was already on the wrong path, there was no way he could Side-Along Apparition back now, or his mother would probably go crazy. So this was the only option.

As the saying goes, there are only zero times and countless times for everything. Since we have already studied at Hogwarts for a year, it seems that being separated from Shanna for another year is not so hard to accept.

Why do I always have this feeling that I'm going to become a jerk?

It's an illusion! It must be an illusion!

After kicking for a while, perhaps she had vented her anger, or perhaps she was too tired to kick anymore, Hermione stopped.

"What just happened? Why did that woman attack you? By the way, was that your mother?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just a small dispute. That's my mother, Elena, and the other one is my father William."

Bell Grylls, lounging in his train seat, casually waved his hand and said...

Hermione, of course, didn't believe Bell's perfunctory words. What "minor dispute" would require the use of Wand? But since Bell wasn't going to elaborate, the Little Witch naturally wouldn't press him; she was a polite and well-mannered girl after all.

Bell, of course, wouldn't tell Hermione what had just happened. If Hermione knew he was planning to drop out of school and go home to play with his sister, wouldn't the Little Witch go crazy?

It would still be over four hours before we arrived at Hogwarts, and Bell didn't want to listen to Hermione's lectures the whole time. He'd already experienced Hermione's lectures last school year, and it felt like being swarmed by countless flies, buzzing around him, driving him crazy.

"Bell, what have you been up to all summer? It seems like you're busier during summer vacation than during the school year!" Hermione complained to Bell.

She'd been holding this complaint in for the entire summer. You see, her Personal Terminal's contact list only had Bell in it. So, every time she messaged Bell during the summer, it either went unanswered or she'd simply reply with "busy."

If Hermione hadn't had a decent understanding of Bell's personality, she would have thought she had done something wrong to make Bell dislike her.

"Didn't I already say? I'm studying Alchemy."

"But does learning Alchemy require so much work that you don't even have time to type a few more words? By the way, what exactly does Alchemy involve?"

Hermione searched through all her spellbooks, only occasionally finding the word "Alchemy" in them. She couldn't figure out what Alchemy actually was, wondering if it was the same as the Alchemy in fairy tales.

"Simply put, Alchemy is the technique of creating magical items. We can usually create temporary magical items using Curses, but these items have the disadvantages of low power and short duration. Magical items made through Alchemy do not have these problems. The Personal Terminal and Constant Temperature Badge you are using now are simple magical items made through Alchemy."

"I was fortunate enough to become Nicolas Flamel's apprentice during the summer vacation. Because the vacation time was limited, I was busy learning Alchemy from my Nicolas."

"Nicolas Flamel?"

Hermione felt the name was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place it.

"There are indeed not many records about Nicolas now. Nicolas is the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, and he has lived for over 600 years by using the power of the Philosopher's Stone."

"I remember now! I saw it once when I was buying books at Flourish and Blotts. I thought it was a children's book. Seriously, is it possible for someone to live for over 600 years!?"

"Of course, never underestimate the power of magic. Magic is omnipotent."

"Can I learn Alchemy? Bell, can you teach me?"

Hermione looked at Bell expectantly. The Little Witch was very interested in the magical knowledge that could prolong life, even though she didn't need it yet.

"Of course I can teach you, but to learn Alchemy, you need a certain foundation in Ancient Runes. Ancient Runes are Elective Course for third-year students, so you can't learn Alchemy right now."

"Oh..."

Hermione lowered her head in disappointment. The incredible knowledge of magic was right before her, yet she couldn't learn and master it because of her insufficient knowledge base—this feeling was truly agonizing.

"Don't be anxious. After all, you've only been learning magic for a little over a year. The exploration of magic is endless. Calm down and take firm steps, one at a time, and you'll go further."

"Alright, stop talking about me. Let's talk about you. How was your summer vacation?" Bell changed the subject.

"It's alright. I reviewed all the first-year courses first, and then memorized the second-year textbooks. But why can't I use my Wand during the holidays? It's so annoying that I can't practice spellcasting!"

As she spoke, Hermione began to get a little angry again.

"..."

Bell was speechless at the Little Witch's brilliant academic statement. If he had put in half the effort of Hermione, Bell felt he could probably beat Dumbledore and kick Voldemort by now. He was simply too much for her...

However, the rule that Little Wizard cannot use Wand outside of school is something that definitely needs to be considered.

Although the Ministry of Magic's monitoring of underage wizards' Wand is not accurate, as long as there are adult wizards around, there is no need to worry about being bothered by the Ministry of Magic. Therefore, Bell has always used magic as he pleases at home.

However, there's no guarantee that there won't be times in the future when he'll need to use magic alone outside. So, to avoid future troubles, Bell felt it necessary to solve the Wand problem once and for all.

As for the specifics of how to do it, that requires some time to think about.

"Hermione, the reason for forbidding Little Wizard from using magic outside of Hogwarts is actually to protect Little Wizard. After all, many Little Wizard cannot control their magic well. So if no one is supervising them, they could easily cause serious harm to those around them, and more importantly, to themselves. This is especially true for Little Wizard from Muggle families."

This is absolutely not double standards; Bell is just stating the facts, really!