But the next second, he was swarmed by his excited Gryffindor classmates, who lifted him up and tossed him into the air again and again.
Harry was tossed around, dizzy and disoriented, the wind whistling in his ears, surrounded by deafening cheers.
He was both amused and exasperated, yet he couldn't help but laugh along; it was truly lively and he was genuinely happy.
But he silently complained to himself:
Those two guys are running way too fast!
Harry was tossed high into the air and caught steadily. Despite being the most popular person there, he inexplicably missed his two companions who had just embarked on their adventure together.
After the House Cup celebrations, Harry had barely landed when Colin, wielding a camera, rushed over and clung to him, snapping photos incessantly, making it impossible to escape.
The results were announced the following day.
Hermione unsurprisingly remained at the top of her class, scoring near-perfect marks in every subject. Her notes were neat, her answers precise, and even the professors couldn't help but publicly praise her.
Draco Malfoy followed closely behind, securing second place in the class by a narrow margin.
Harry's grades were good, not top-notch but solid enough. He performed well in both Magical Theory and practice, passing all his subjects smoothly.
Ginny also performed consistently and achieved a good overall score, while Ron, Neville, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati's results were less than satisfactory.
The group barely passed, barely making it through. They even whispered among themselves that the professors had probably been lenient and secretly helped them out.
Ron complained to everyone he met that he had been affected by the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, which was why he had performed so poorly.
Olivia's grades are quite good, with many subjects achieving good or excellent results, consistently placing her in the upper-middle range.
The entire Gryffindor House, with its excellent academic record, happily welcomed the summer vacation.
On their last day at Hogwarts, everyone once again traveled to Hogsmeade Station in Thestral carriage.
Hagrid had to go look after the first-year students, so he had to say goodbye to them early.
"Oh right, Hagrid! I forgot to ask—how is Norbert doing now?" Harry suddenly slapped his forehead.
Hagrid smiled with an honest face, his eyes narrowed into slits:
"It's doing great! It's living the high life in Romania. The dragon trader sent word that it's growing incredibly fast and has a strong temper, but it still misses my little lizard cookies sometimes!"
Everyone laughed, unsure if it was true or not; perhaps Hagrid was better at cooking animal food.
After laughing and Hagrid goodbye to Hagrid, Draco and the others officially ended their second year.
Back in the Muggle world, Draco personally escorted Hermione home. As soon as they entered, Hermione excitedly showed her parents her report card, as proud as a little peacock.
Mrs. Granger glanced at it and chuckled, teasingly:
"Let me see... first in the grade? Draco must be letting you win, otherwise how could you have secured first place so easily?"
Mr. Granger nodded in agreement, "I think so too. It's clearly Draco who's been tutoring you."
Hermione immediately bristled, her cheeks puffed out in anger. "Mom and Dad~ Am I even your biological child?!"
Mrs. Granger smiled and ruffled her hair:
"Silly child, of course it is. It's just that someone may be sharp-tongued, but their eyes tell a different story."
"I almost got a perfect score. Even if Draco took the test seriously, he would at best be tied with me..." Hermione argued in a low voice.
As I spoke, I began to feel a little less confident.
"Actually, I've already used all my strength," Draco, spouting nonsense with a straight face.
Hermione glanced at him quickly, giving him a "you know what's good for you" look, but her ears secretly turned red.
Hermione's parents couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
After a short rest, the two headed to the Malfoy Manor together.
When Narcissa saw the report card, her first reaction wasn't to praise her son, but to look tenderly at Hermione and say sincerely, "Thank you, Hermione, for always guiding Draco so patiently."
Hermione froze for a moment, then hurriedly waved her hands:
"No, no, Mrs. Malfoy, we're just learning from each other... Draco is very capable himself..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lucius and Narcissa had already produced the gifts they had prepared beforehand. They were exquisite and valuable, clearly carefully chosen.
Hermione was at a loss, wanting to decline but Narcissa gently held her hand. "This is a gift from our whole family. You've long been treated like one of our own children."
Hermione held the gift, feeling both nervous and touched, and in the end, she could only obediently accept it.
To celebrate Hermione and Draco's outstanding achievement of ranking first and second in their grade, the Mr. and Mrs. Granger decided to take their two children on a trip to France.
Draco told Lucius and Narcissa about it that very day and even invited them to come along.
The Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy readily agreed almost without hesitation.
Traveling together allows the children to get along comfortably and also gives the four elders a chance to catch up and completely overcome the barriers between Pure-blood and Muggle.
Soon, the two parties set a departure date.
The day of departure was in the height of summer, with bright and intense sunshine.
The day before their departure, Hermione and Draco went to the Malfoy Manor to change clothes before meeting up and setting off.
Hermione, carrying a complete outfit she had already chosen, excitedly dragged Draco to the guest room to help him put on his matching outfits, saying she wanted to personally oversee their couple styling.
She rummaged through the dressing room, sometimes comparing colors, sometimes tugging at Draco's sleeve to try on patterns.
She would occasionally sling clothes directly onto him, making Dra obediently let her do as she pleased throughout.
During this time, Hermione accidentally slipped and bumped straight into his arms. She hurriedly stepped back, pretending to be calm as she continued picking out clothes, but the corners of her mouth secretly turned up.
After fussing around for a while, Hermione finally chose the first outfit, and the two changed into their refreshing summer couple outfits.
Hermione wore a light blue cropped tank top with a white high-waisted, above-the-knee skirt and clean white sneakers.
Draco wore a simple white short-sleeved T-shirt, light blue casual shorts, and white sneakers.
One in blue, one in white, refreshing and clean, full of youthful energy, understated yet sweet, anyone could tell they were a couple when they walked together.
She ran into the dressing room with the clothes in her arms, and a moment later came out, twirled slightly, looked up at Draco, and asked expectantly, "How is it? Does it look good?"
Draco's eyes lit up instantly, and he stared intently at Draco.
He screamed inwardly: It's so beautiful...
But the next second, his gaze fell on the exposed lines of her shoulders and neck, and his brows immediately furrowed slightly.
Hermione was still expecting praise when Draco stepped forward, his tone unusually serious, even a little domineering. "No, you can't wear this."
Hermione was taken aback. "Why?"