"Sit down and talk," Draco said.
Having become somewhat acquainted, Cho Chang and Emock pulled up chairs and sat opposite each other, their plates lightly tapping on the table.
Harry, standing next to him, entered another moment of epiphany.
Draco casually forked a piece of steak and asked, "Do you want to hear about Jiangshi, or...?"
Before she could finish speaking, Emock waved her hand to interrupt her, shaking her head and saying, " Jiangshi? Forget about them. We 'Sickle; just thinking about them gives me the creeps."
"That's right, that's exactly why we came here. Could you teach us the scent-blocking spell from this morning as well?" Cho Chang nodded in agreement.
Draco didn't respond, instead glancing at Olivia, who was watching the commotion, and said, "No problem, you can ask Olivia. I taught her this morning, and she's learned it."
Upon hearing this, Cho Chang feigned a resentful look and said to Draco, "What a fine man! The relationship isn't even official yet, and he's already in a hurry to distance himself from other girls?"
There was a moment of silence for half a second after he said that, followed by a burst of laughter.
Hermione's face flushed again.
Draco remained completely unfazed, saying helplessly, "What else can I do? My back can't withstand constant strain."
One sentence made Hermione so embarrassed that she buried her face in her plate, and it also caused a burst of laughter from those around her.
Ron nearly spat out his food.
Embarrassed by the teasing, Hermione hurriedly looked up at Cho Chang and Emock across from her, abruptly changing the subject, "Didn't you want to learn the Odour-Blocking Charm?"
"Changing the subject won't work. We all know that Hermione is the one who calls the shots in this family," Olivia said bluntly.
Draco shook his head in denial, saying, "Outside, I have to give Miss Granger some face, but at home, I have to keep her completely submissive."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lavender gave Draco a thumbs-up and said, "Commendable courage!"
" Draco, a real man," Parvati laughed as well.
Olivia added fuel to the fire by saying, "That's right, that's how it has to be!"
Hermione's face instantly flushed red, then turned bright red again. She glared at Draco, gritting her teeth and snapping, " Draco! What did you say?!"
Draco immediately backed down, his tone softening instantly. "I admit I was too loud just now. Hermione is actually very gentle."
Upon hearing this, Hermione's tense face instantly froze.
The anger that was about to erupt was abruptly suppressed by the label of "gentleness".
"Well done, Draco. You really have Hermione completely under your control." Olivia saw right through him.
Hermione instantly realized what was happening, and her eyes narrowed as she prepared to lash out again.
Draco hurriedly forked a piece of roasted potato and held it to her mouth, coaxing her in a low voice, "Don't let her provoke you, I'm telling the truth."
She paused for a moment, then instinctively opened her mouth and bit down.
Emock, watching from the side, chuckled and said dismissively, "Truly a family brother!"
These words immediately tickled everyone's funny bone. Lavender and Parvati burst into laughter, Neville's shoulders trembled from holding back laughter, and even Cho Chang covered his mouth and laughed until his eyes crinkled.
Hermione chewed on a potato, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she secretly wondered: Why is it that I, who used to be so calm and composed, am now so easily angered?
No, I need to stay calm.
She coughed lightly, picked up the Pumpkin Juice, and took a sip.
"What do you know? This is a sign of love for his wife. You're just jealous that Hermione found someone as good as me," Draco said matter-of-factly.
These words stunned everyone at the table, their faces filled with question marks. They even forgot to laugh, and the air was silent for half a second.
Are they jealous?
Hermione had just taken a sip of the Pumpkin Juice when she heard this and almost spat it out.
She hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her face turning bright red.
Ron, clearly annoyed by the sarcastic remark, interrupted, "Alright, alright, those two are here to learn spells. All you two do is spout lovey-dovey nonsense. Isn't that annoying?"
These words inadvertently saved Hermione from an awkward situation, and she quickly seized the opportunity, wiping her mouth and nodding repeatedly:
"Yes, yes, stop fooling around, hurry up and study, or you won't have enough time for lunch break!"
After everyone came to their senses, they teased us a couple more times, but seeing that Hermione was really embarrassed, they stopped while they were ahead and really got back to the main topic.
"Speaking of which, you guys were also tormented by Professor Quirrell's garlic smell this morning, weren't you? I almost threw up just now," Parvati asked.
"That's right!" Cho Chang replied.
" Hogwarts changes its Defence Against Dark Magic teacher every year, but no one expected this year's teacher to be so bad."
Emock, looking utterly miserable, picked up the conversation:
"Actually, we could tolerate him not teaching anything, but the strong smell of garlic was unbearable; it made it impossible to concentrate on the lesson."
Those around him echoed his sentiments, all seemingly suffering greatly as a result.
Lavender picked at the pudding on her plate and complained:
"You bet! Before class started, we were curious about what the new professor would teach, but it turned out to be all garlic and outrageous stories. It wasn't even as interesting as Draco's China Jiangshi."
"It's more than just pungent; I almost threw up my breakfast this morning. Luckily, Draco taught me the spells early on, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to endure this lesson."
Olivia waved her wand and said to Cho Chang:
"Come, now I'll teach you the Odour-Blocking Charm, so you won't suffer the same fate in the next lesson."
Cho Chang and Emock nodded in unison, "Okay!"
Olivia then explained in detail the key techniques of the spell and gestures.
With their existing foundation, the two Charms quite quickly.
They mastered it after just two tries; a faint magical light flashed at the tip of the staff, and both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
After learning how to do it, the two smiled and apologized to everyone, "Thanks, we'll take our leave now, we still have to go teach our friends in the dorm."
After saying that, they quickly left with their trays. Inside the Great Hall, they could still be seen making wand gestures to their companions, presumably eager to share the spells.
"Everyone's gone, why aren't you snapping out of it yet?" Ron shoved Harry's arm hard with his elbow, making a loud noise that everyone around could hear.
Harry snapped out of his reverie, his face flushing red. He hurriedly shoveled some rice into his mouth to cover it up, saying, "What do you mean, 'back to reality'? I was just thinking about Defense Against Magic this afternoon."
"Oh? Defense Against Magic?" Ron teased. "I think you were staring so intently at Cho Chang's back that your eyes were practically popping out of your head."
Upon hearing this Lavender and Parvati immediately burst into laughter, and Olivia joined in, teasing, " Harry, you have good taste! Cho Chang is a beautiful girl in Ravenclaw."
Harry blushed even more and hurriedly explained, "No, I just... I just thought she learned spells really fast."
He even stuttered a little when he spoke, like a naive young man whose secret had been exposed.
Hermione glanced at Harry, who was being beaten up by the crowd, and a sly glint flashed in her eyes.
Now everyone's attention is on Harry. If Harry really likes and can win Cho Chang over, he'll never have to worry about her having designs on him again...
Thinking of this, Hermione immediately added fuel to the fire, following Ron's lead:
"I noticed that too, Harry. When Cho Chang the spell, your eyes never left her, and you didn't listen to a word we were saying."