Draco turned back, but his gaze fell on Hermione's face. "You'll have to ask Hermione about that. I'll listen to her."
As soon as he finished speaking, several pairs of eyes turned to him.
Lavender and Parvati covered their mouths and chuckled, while Olivia looked at Hermione with a hint of curiosity.
Hermione had already recovered and was no longer as embarrassed as before. She looked at Neville behind her and readily agreed, "Of course."
Then, noticing the surprise in Draco's eyes, she continued, " Transfiguration requires a lot of practice and interaction. After class, let's find a quiet place together. Draco you the techniques, and I'll help you correct your movements. That way, it'll be more efficient."
She made arrangements in a clear and organized manner, neither refusing Neville's request nor arbitrarily bringing Draco into the teaching group, without letting the earlier teasing disrupt her rhythm.
Neville's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded hurriedly, "Really? That's great! Hermione, Draco!"
He was so excited he almost knocked the quill pen off the table.
At that moment, Lavender exaggeratedly clutched his chest, leaned close to Parvati's ear, clicked his tongue twice, and exclaimed:
"My God, 'Whatever you say, Hermione' —coming those words from Malfoy's mouth is even more unbelievable than successfully conjuring mercury with Transfiguration!"
Parvati nodded in agreement, his eyes darting back and forth between the two men, his gaze sly.
"Of course! Who didn't take orders from Malfoy before? Now they're so obedient, Hermione, what kind of magic did you use?"
Lavender immediately chimed in, "I think it's not magic at all; it's just that Hermione is so charming that she's won over Malfoy!"
"Look at the way he called your name just now, so gentle it was almost sweet. Who has he ever been like that to before?"
"Exactly," Parvati leaned closer, lowering his voice so Draco could hear him, "He used to call you ' Granger ' all the time, but now he's even dropped the last name. That's quite a change!"
" Hermione, tell me honestly, what kind of 'secret agreement' did you two reach in private?"
The two sang in unison, and several students around them, who had their ears perked up, chuckled softly. Even Olivia couldn't help but chuckle to herself.
She patted Hermione on the shoulder, signaling her not to bother with the two.
Hermione, however, remained completely calm. Instead, she turned to Lavender and Parvati and asked, "What agreement? The learning agreement, of course."
" Draco is willing to share his Transfiguration techniques, and I'm responsible for coordinating everyone's practice. It's just about helping each other out. Don't you all want to learn how to turn a match into a needle as soon as possible and impress Professor McGonagall?"
She steered the conversation back to studies with a single sentence, neither denying their teasing nor following their gossip, but instead pointing out the core interests.
Lavender and Parvati exchanged a glance, their thoughts instantly revealed.
They did indeed want to learn Transfiguration.
"Of course I want to!" Lavender immediately dropped her teasing tone. "Then shall we go to the empty classroom behind the library after class? No one will bother us there, and it'll be convenient for practicing."
Parvati nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, that's where we'll go! Hermione, you'll have to give me lots of pointers later."
Hermione smiled and nodded, "No problem, we'll take it one at a time, and I guarantee everyone will learn it."
She turned to Draco and asked casually, "What do you think? An empty classroom should be a good environment for practice; no one will bother us."
Draco watched as she effortlessly dismissed Lavender and Parvati, and said bluntly, "Oh, Granger's not shy anymore, huh!"
He deliberately emphasized the name Granger, creating a contrast with Hermione's earlier, more natural pronunciation.
Hermione glanced at him sideways, her expression as calm as a still lake.
She even raised an eyebrow slightly, turning the tables on him.
Hermione said, "I can't keep being teased by you guys all the time, I might as well get used to it sooner."
"Besides, since the bet has already been made, it's easier to accept it openly than to be coy, isn't it, Draco?"
She pronounced the last three words clearly and naturally, without a trace of deliberate shyness, as if she had said them a thousand times before.
Draco's smile froze for a moment, then he laughed even harder, a hint of genuine admiration creeping into the teasing in his eyes.
"Okay, Granger —oh no, Hermione," he changed his mind deliberately.
Seeing the fleeting blush on the tips of her ears, Draco conceded, "I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to adapt so quickly."
"Handling problems efficiently is an essential skill." Hermione withdrew her gaze, reopened her Transfiguration textbook, her tone calm but concealing a subtle hint of pride.
"More than worrying about how to address someone, I'm concerned about whether the techniques you taught will be effective when Professor McGonagall teaches the practical skills later."
"Don't worry," Draco said with absolute certainty.
Just then, a figure in orange and brown slowly strolled into the classroom.
It was a tabby cat.
The tabby cat swished its tail and shuffled along the desk legs with light, slow steps. Its golden-green eyes swept over the students in the room without the slightest fear.
"Look, a cat!" A Ravenclaw girl in the front row exclaimed in surprise, pointing lightly at the soft, fluffy figure.
These words instantly drew everyone's attention in the classroom.
Lavender and Parvati immediately turned their heads, with Parvati whispering as she patted Lavender's arm, "My goodness, what an adorable tabby cat! Is it a Hogwarts cat?"
Neville leaned forward, his hand instinctively raised, looking like he wanted to touch it but didn't dare, and whispered to Olivia, "It walks so slowly, is it not afraid of people?"
"That's called elegance," Draco interjected.
Neville nodded vigorously, "Indeed! Just like you Draco!"
Draco replied, "Absolutely! Elegance never goes out of style!"
This made Olivia chuckle softly, and she patted Neville's arm. "You sure know how to talk."
Lavender, standing behind, jokingly remarked, " Malfoy, are you comparing yourself to a cat?"
Draco glanced at Lavender: "What's wrong? You look down on cats?"
Lavender was taken aback, but Parvati quickly smoothed things over with a laugh, "How could I look down on you? I just find it strange—I didn't expect you, Malfoy, to like cats so much."
"It's not liking, it's admiration," Draco corrected him earnestly.
The students kept talking about the cat.
The tabby cat, completely unfazed by the stares around it, flicked its bushy tail and strolled leisurely onto the podium.
Then it squatted down in the center of the lectern, its golden eyes sweeping lightly over the students below, revealing an air of noble composure.
"That's strange, I've never heard of the school keeping cats."
A Ravenclaw boy in the front row scratched his head and muttered to himself.
These words immediately aroused the doubts of many people, and hushed discussions arose in the classroom.
Hermione frowned slightly, her mind starting to wander.
She had read through Hogwarts ' history several times, but it never mentioned the school cat. Moreover, she always felt that there was something unusual about the cat's demeanor and behavior, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Olivia leaned closer and whispered, guessing, "Could it be some professor's son? Otherwise, how dare he sit on the podium so brazenly?"
Parvati, standing behind him, nodded in agreement. "It doesn't look ordinary at all; its fur is so shiny, it doesn't look like a stray cat at all."
Neville leaned forward and chatted with Draco, " Draco, whose cat is this? It's so majestic, sitting on the podium like it's on a throne."