After the joke, the common room was quiet for a while, with only the firelight in the fireplace still flickering slowly, stretching and shortening the surrounding shadows.
Draco leaned against the armrest for a while, her eyelids starting to droop as drowsiness washed over her. She yawned, then, as if suddenly remembering something, patted Herman's shoulder. "Oh no, I forgot to ask them if Harry came back this afternoon."
Herman shook his head. "She probably hasn't come back yet. After all, it hasn't been long since Head of House Snape questioned us. If she had come back, word would have already spread, and Head of House Snape wouldn't have come to ask us personally. Besides, Harry had agreed to go to Hagrid's place today, but then she stood us up. If she came back, she would definitely come and explain to us, whether the explanation is true or not."
Draco nodded. "That makes sense." She yawned again, her voice a little muffled than before. "Then let's wait a little longer. I want to see what her reason is for standing me up."
As she spoke, she rubbed her eyes again, clearly remembering being stood up that morning; the lingering drowsiness couldn't mask her remaining dissatisfaction.
After a while, the door to the common room was pushed open.
Harry walked in, a few dry leaves clinging to the edge of her school uniform, her hair a little messier than when she left in the morning, as if it had been blown by the night wind and hadn't been tidied up yet.
Draco's eyes, which had been half-closed, lit up again the moment she pushed open the door. She sat up straight and said, "You're finally back. We agreed to go to Hagrid together today, but you disappeared first thing this morning. Where did you go?"
Harry didn't answer directly. She walked past Herman and sat down on an empty chair, her movements showing the relaxation one would expect after a long walk.
She leaned back in her chair, stretched her legs out slightly, and slowly began to speak, "I went for a walk outside the school, but got lost, and am just getting back now."
Herman silently thought to himself, "You're out there all day and you still get lost? That's an even less plausible excuse than Hagrid getting bitten by a dog."
Draco didn't think much of it, tilting her head with genuine curiosity. "Lost? That's pretty unlucky. I often got lost at home when I was little. The garden was so big, I would walk for ages and still not find my way back."
Herman glanced at her. "There's no need to flaunt your family's wealth here."
Draco ignored him and continued to press Harry, "So how did you get back?"
Harry said without batting an eye, "A kind uncle brought me home."
Draco blinked, as if seriously considering the possibility. "Could it be a bad uncle? My mother told me to be careful when I'm out, especially young and pretty witches like us, it's easy for us to be kidnapped by dark wizards. But my father said not to be too scared if something happens, mentioning his name in Britain is effective, at least it can get us enough ransom."
Herman, seeing the conversation veer further and further off course, couldn't help but interrupt Draco: "Alright, that's gone way off course."
He glanced at Harry and added, "You're the one who might be kidnapped, Harry? You're lucky you're not the one kidnapping others."
There was one more thing Herman didn't say: he keenly sensed that Harry was quickly figuring out the home addresses and whereabouts of these unfortunate Slytherin House. Daily Prophet's front page might be updated with news of kidnappings of multiple Pure-blood families during the holidays, with the suspected perpetrator being the wizard assassin Sirius Black.
Reminded by him, Draco seemed to realize something and added, "By the way, what's fun to do outside? I heard Hogsmeade has a lot of dark wizards—no, Vampire. Have you seen any?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, there are some, but the places I went to were different from theirs, so I didn't encounter many."
Draco pressed, "What do you think they're here for? Aren't they afraid of Dumbledore?"
Harry leaned back in her chair, her tone calm, as if she were discussing something she had already figured out. " Dumbledore won't kill all the Vampire just because they've gathered. After all, they haven't broken the law and are protected by wizarding laws. This situation will probably continue for a while until the problem is truly resolved."
Draco sighed regretfully, "What am I going to do? How am I supposed to go to Hogsmeade? I heard it's a lot of fun."
Herman added insult to injury, "You weren't allowed to go anyway, were you? Only third graders and above can go."
Draco stared wide-eyed, her expression one of utter bewilderment. "Really? There's such a rule? Can I buy a ticket and go in early?"
Herman turned his head away, not wanting to look at her anymore; maliciously acting cute was shameful.
He turned to Harry and said, "By the way, Professor Snape was looking for you tonight, did you see him?"
Harry nodded. "I know, I ran into him."
Herman pressed further, "Did you meet him in the castle?"
Harry shook her head. "At the Whomping Willow."
Herman's mind raced when he heard the name: The Whomping Willow. He knew that tree, and he knew that beneath it lay a secret passage leading to the Shrieking Shack, a path that connected several important events.
But at this point in time, he shouldn't know any of this. He maintained his expression, with just the right amount of curiosity. "What's Whomping Willow'? Is it a willow tree that hits people?"
Harry didn't think much of it and explained directly, "It's a magical plant on the edge of the Forbidden Forest next to the school. It attacks anyone who gets close to it. There's a secret passage beneath it that leads to Hogsmeade."
Herman listened intently, then pressed for more information. " Snape found you there? He knew you went to Hogsmeade?"
Harry nodded. "He probably knows. After all, he saw me come out of the secret passage. He couldn't possibly think I went to fertilize the Whomping Willow. Besides, he knows that secret passage."
Draco, sitting beside him, her eyelids drooping halfway down, leaning back in her chair and dozing off intermittently, only managed a muffled response upon hearing this:
"It's alright, Head of House Snape will definitely not punish Harry because of me... I'm sleepy... I'm going to sleep now."
She stood up as she spoke, rubbing her eyes as she walked towards the dormitory, her steps unsteady, clearly no longer fully conscious.
Only Harry and Herman remained in the common room.
The silvery-blue flames flickered slowly in the fireplace, casting a quiet light on the floor between the two people.
Herman looked at Harry's calm and composed demeanor and thought that she really didn't think there was anything wrong with being discovered by Snape. She couldn't possibly really believe what Draco said, that even if Lucius himself came, he wouldn't have that much influence.