After finishing their meal, Herman and his group packed their bags and headed towards the underground classroom.
Draco walked at the front, her pace much faster than usual, still excitedly planning her trip to see Hagrid tomorrow:
"What do you think that big Hagrid likes? We can't go empty-handed. My father always said you should bring a gift when visiting someone. How about a tea set?"
She spoke with her back ramrod straight and her chin slightly raised, like a triumphant swan. Her voice wasn't deliberately lowered, but it carried perfectly to the Gryffindor table not far away.
Before Herman could reply, Neville's voice came from behind. "Um, Miss Malfoy, did Herman — Hagrid write to you too? Are you going to see him tomorrow?"
Herman turned around and saw Neville, Hugo, and Ron jogging over. Neville had a look of surprise on his face, as if he had finally found his companions.
Neville received a letter from Hagrid that morning.
Dear Neville:
I know you don't have classes on Saturday. Would you be willing to come over around 3 PM for a cup of tea? I'd love to hear about your first week. Please let me know so I can prepare afternoon tea.
Hagrid
After reading the letter, Neville was conflicted. In fact, Neville and Hagrid weren't that close, and their previous interactions had always been with his grandmother or other people. Now, he was going to visit Hagrid, which was indeed a bit awkward.
Herman caught a glimpse of Draco with her mouth open, and judging from her posture, she was probably about to spill the beans about "we want to ask Cerberus what he likes to eat and, incidentally, get Potions for the scratched Herman."
Herman's mind raced, and he spoke before she could, "A letter? We didn't receive a letter. We just went to Hagrid to ask for advice on raising Fantastic Beasts."
He felt a little guilty after saying that, but he couldn't think of a better way to put it.
Neville paused, his expression turning to confusion. " Hagrid keeps Fantastic Beasts?"
Herman realized something from his words: Neville, or rather the students at the moment, were unaware of Hagrid's various quirky hobbies.
Herman learned this information from the original book. For a freshman who had only been enrolled for less than a month, Hagrid was still just a gamekeeper and had not yet revealed his special preference for dangerous Fantastic Beasts.
It'll probably be third grade before Neville understands what it means for Hagrid to keep Fantastic Beasts.
Hagrid can hybridize Fantastic Beasts, the kind that cross species! He doesn't care about science at all!
In other words, he was held back by Riddle, and his studies were cut short. If he had studied for two more years, he would have become a Basilisk.
Herman, forcing himself to continue, said, "Isn't Hagrid the gamekeeper? He's in charge of so many animals in the Forbidden Forest, he must know how to raise them."
This statement barely makes sense logically, even though he himself finds it rather illogical.
Hugo, seemingly lost in thought, pushed up her glasses and whispered in Neville's ear, "That... dog with many heads, if Hagrid knows how to take care of animals, he could ask Hagrid how to get there."
He deliberately lowered his voice, probably thinking that this was already quite subtle.
But Herman wasn't far away and heard it, and having seen the three-headed dog before, he immediately understood what Hugo was saying.
Sure enough, they had gone out for a stroll in the middle of the night.
Neville immediately understood, nodded, and turned to Herman: "We were just thinking of going to talk to Hagrid about something, let's go together tomorrow."
Herman opened his mouth, unable to think of a reason to refuse, so he could only nod. "Okay, let's do it together tomorrow."
He sighed inwardly. Originally, it was three people going to Hagrid to ask about medicine and gather information, but now it had become a group of six.
Both sides had to be careful not to reveal their true intentions to each other, but at least they were a step ahead, and the other side didn't know that they had already guessed their purpose.
But I have to keep pretending to be stupid. What kind of situation is this?
The group walked down the stairs to the ground floor. The temperature in the air gradually dropped, the candlelight on the walls turned darker, and the portraits on both sides of the corridor were much quieter than upstairs. Most of the people in the paintings were dozing off.
Herman looked at the portraits of people dozing off with their heads tilted to the side, and wondered, "They've all become portraits, so what exciting nightlife do they have now?"
When the group arrived at the classroom, Snape was already inside.
He was still wearing that black robe today, but there was a subtle difference from usual. His hair was much smoother and shinier than usual, as if he had styled it specially. Although his pale face was expressionless, he looked much more pleasing to the eye than usual.
Especially compared to the other male professors,
A short dwarf, an old man with a white beard, and others missing limbs, and semi-transparent figures floating around.
Even if you add a few male employees,
A disheveled Half-giant, a psychopathic night owl.
With this ranking, Snape is definitely second.
After all, this version of Quirrell is more handsome and younger.
A thought suddenly popped into Herman's mind: if you think about it this way, there seems to be another factor behind Snape's targeting of Quirrell besides the loss of his Dark Magic Defence Class.
Draco walked at the front, her steps quickening when she saw Snape: "Good morning, Headmaster!"
The sound was clear and loud, echoing in the classroom. Harry followed behind her, her lips moving as if she were speaking, but Herman, standing behind her, heard nothing.
Harry was just giving a perfunctory answer.
When Snape's gaze fell on the two of them, his expression seemed to want to laugh but his muscles hadn't been used in a long time and he didn't know how to cooperate. His lips twitched twice, and finally, it became a Kreacher between seriousness and relief:
Good morning, Miss Malfoy, Miss Harry.
Herman followed behind, feeling he should also greet him, since it was his dean and they needed to maintain a good relationship, so he raised his hand slightly:
Good morning, Dean.
Snape's gaze swept over him when he heard those words, lingered on his face for a moment, and then he turned and walked back to the podium, as if the sound he had just heard was just the wind outside the window.
Herman's hand remained suspended in mid-air for two seconds before he lowered it.
Draco had already walked away and didn't notice what was happening, but Harry turned back and glanced at him, the curve of her lips hard to tell whether it was pity or amusement.
Neville, walking at the very back, witnessed the whole thing. Perhaps due to a misunderstanding of Snape's character, he muttered something as he passed Herman:
"Class is probably about to start, and the professor is in a hurry to prepare."
Herman glanced at the podium; Snape was looking down at a booklet, his eyes occasionally darting up and down, not at all in a hurry.
Herman didn't dare to complain, so he pretended nothing had happened, nodded to Neville, and then quickly followed Draco and Harry, finding a place to sit down in the Slytherin area.