"All right, Mum." Only after his mother's reminder did Hugo react. He quickly turned to Herman and politely introduced himself:
"Hello, my name is Hugo Granger. I'm eleven, and I'm about to become a first-year at Hogwarts."
Herman had already had an inkling when he heard Hugo's mother call his name, so by the time Hugo introduced himself as a Granger, he was fairly calm.
Right, Harry and Draco have both been gender-swapped. A male Hermione hardly seems like a big deal now. So this is how my Hogwarts story is going to be. Surely Voldemort isn't a woman too?
No, I need to flip through Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century in a bit and see whether the Voldemort described in there is male or female!
"Hello, Hugo. I'm Herman Horace. I'm a new student at Hogwarts this year too."
"By the way, Herman, where are your parents? How come I haven't seen them?" Hugo asked casually.
"I'm an orphan." Herman's expression was calm, without the slightest ripple in his voice.
"Um, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to." Hugo immediately panicked and stammered out an apology. "It's fine! You didn't do it on purpose. Um, do you have any other books to recommend?"
Herman deftly steered the conversation back. "Yes, yes!" At that, Hugo excitedly began introducing more books to Herman. Only when both sides of the sheet of paper in Herman's hand were filled to the brim did Hugo reluctantly finish his recommendations, adding one last remark as though he still hadn't had enough:
"There are actually lots of other books worth reading, like Monsters and Where to Find Them. It isn't as good as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but it mentions more fantastic beasts, so you can use it as a reference book. Unfortunately, I don't have enough money left. Why does Gringotts only let us exchange a hundred Galleons?"
At this point, Hugo's face was full of helplessness and frustration. There were clearly so many good books, yet he couldn't buy them because he didn't have enough money. It was truly painful and regrettable.
Seeing Hugo doing nothing but talking on and on, his mother gave a slightly apologetic smile and spoke to Herman gently and with some embarrassment:
"I'm so sorry. That's just how he is. Once studying comes up, he's like someone possessed and won't listen to anything else. When you get to school, I hope you can take him out and about more and help him relax. There are plenty of other interesting, more important things in life besides studying."
"Of course. Don't worry, ma'am," Herman quickly replied courteously, a polite smile on his face, though inwardly he thought Hugo's enthusiasm for studying really was rare.
By then, Hugo seemed to have recovered from his earlier excessive anxiety over studying, and he began discussing things with Herman enthusiastically:
"It looks like we'll have to make the painful choice to give up some of these books. But I asked Professor McGonagall earlier, and the school has a library. We can borrow the books we leave out from the library later. It's just a bit of a shame that we won't be able to study them ahead of time over the holidays."
As he spoke, Hugo went through his notebook like a rigorous scholar reviewing his research, crossing out one by one the books he considered less important, such as Introduction to Alchemy: Start with Everyday Objects and Practical Magic for Housewives.
After crossing out his own entries, Hugo looked up and saw that Herman hadn't done anything. Like an eager little housekeeper, he offered to revise Herman's notes for him. Seeing this, Herman quickly stopped him, waving his hand as he said:
"Um, there's no need. I actually have another fifty Galleons in financial aid for orphans, so I have enough money for books."
"Financial aid for orphans?" Hugo murmured, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes. In an instant, his mind was like a little machine running at full speed, starting to convert those fifty Galleons into a number of books.
He thought that if he had those extra fifty Galleons too, he might be able to get all the books he wanted, instead of being stuck like this: even if he kept only enough money for basic living expenses, he still couldn't afford the books, let alone scrape together enough to buy a pet.
At the thought, Hugo's gaze unconsciously drifted toward his father, who was reading nearby. Of course, he wasn't hoping to become an orphan himself. It was simply that his desire for money made him look involuntarily at his father.
Hugo's father, Dr. Granger, was immersed in the world of his book when he suddenly seemed to sense something odd in the air. Like an alert rabbit, he instinctively sensed potential danger. Without changing his expression, he quickly slipped the copy of Wizard Player he was holding inside his clothes as though hiding a little secret, then picked up The Quibbler, which he had been reading earlier, and began reading its reports as though nothing had happened.
The stories in this newspaper really were quite interesting, and Dr. Granger was soon drawn in by a special report titled "The Little Murderous Sofa."
Herman followed Hugo's gaze and happened to catch Dr. Granger's little maneuver. Although it lasted only an instant, as a male, Herman's gaze still automatically zeroed in on the book being tucked away, swiftly and accurately.
He hadn't made out the title, but he had clearly seen the pretty, blonde, blue-eyed witch on the cover, wearing extremely skimpy clothing.
Even meeting a male Hermione hadn't shocked Herman this much, but the sight of a magazine like that instantly piqued his curiosity.
The wizarding world actually has magazines like this? How come I never saw them in the films? Herman soon found an excuse for Rowling: Harry Potter is children's literature, after all. It's understandable that some content wasn't shown.
Once Hugo leaves, I'll have to look carefully for that magazine. Maybe it'll offer a glimpse of a different side of wizarding culture. That counts as gaining a deeper understanding of this magical world too!
"Herman, what are you looking at?" Seeing that Herman hadn't said anything for a while and had kept staring in his father's direction, Hugo couldn't help asking curiously.
Herman's mind raced, and like a clever little detective, he instantly came up with an excuse. "I saw your dad reading the newspaper, and it suddenly occurred to me that I ought to buy a batch of old newspapers. That's another good way to get to know the wizarding world quickly."
"Right! Why didn't I think of that?" Hugo slapped his forehead excitedly, using so much force that his glasses wobbled on the bridge of his nose and nearly fell off.
But he soon remembered that he was short of money and couldn't afford old newspapers. His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to Herman's fifty-Galleon orphan grant, and his gaze turned toward his father again.
Dr. Granger inexplicably shivered again, feeling as though a cold breeze had blown past. Thinking the report in the newspaper was simply too eerie, he hurriedly turned the page to the next article, "The Little Murderous Puppet," whose contents seemed even more macabre.
Hearing Hugo's words, Herman quickly reassured him. "It's fine. Old newspapers aren't like books. There's not much need to read them over and over. I'll lend them to you once I've finished reading them."