In the days that followed, life gradually settled down. Herman threw himself into studying the books he had bought, in a state that felt like being back in the days when he was preparing for his college entrance exams.
Every morning at six, Herman got up on time and first opened his textbook, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One, immersing himself in the wondrous world of magical incantations.
Afterward, he would take a stroll downstairs and have a look at the latest Daily Prophet-borrowing Hannah's grandfather Old Tom's copy, of course.
Herman spent most of his mornings reading general-interest books introducing the wizarding world and looking through old newspapers, continually deepening his knowledge and understanding of the wizarding world through these materials.
After lunch, Herman would take a half-hour nap to recharge for his afternoon studies. In the afternoon, he concentrated on A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, then read other theoretical textbooks, such as Dark Magic Self-Defense Guide and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
After dinner, it was time to study Magical Drafts and Potions and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Initially, Herman had actually planned to study books on alchemy in the evenings, but he discovered that although all the books he had bought were introductory works-especially Rainbow in the Cauldron: An Alchemy Activity Book for Children, which was written for children-he could not understand them at all. After thinking for a while, Herman realized that these books were written for children from wizarding families, and many of the terms for materials in them were completely different from those he knew.
By comparison, the textbooks prescribed by Hogwarts seemed to have taken people in Herman's situation into account. Although their contents were still somewhat obscure, he could at least slowly work his way through them on his own.
So Herman changed his plans and focused on his Potions and Herbology textbooks first, intending to return to those alchemy books once he had a deeper understanding of the various terms used in the wizarding world.
Every day, Herman followed this study routine until nine at night, then went to bed on time. After all, he was still growing, and getting a full nine hours of sleep was crucial for him.
With an adult's mind, Herman had exceptionally strong self-control. Every day, he was like a dried-out sponge, furiously soaking up all kinds of magical knowledge.
After studying hard for over half a month, Herman began trying things out in practice. Room 304 suffered for it, and Kerry had to come almost every day to repair the furniture Herman had broken.
Sometimes Kerry would repair something in the morning, only for Herman to damage it again that afternoon. In the end, there simply was not enough time to make the repairs, and Herman could only sleep on ragged sheets that magic had torn to shreds.
"Four bed repairs, six coffee table repairs, eight sets of replacement sheets, plus the cleaning fee for the floor stained by unidentified liquids. Six Galleons in total. Herman, your deposit's all gone. Time to top it up."
Hannah spoke mercilessly. Helpless, Herman took the few Galleons he had left out of his clothes. He had spent quite a lot just compensating for damaged things lately, and his haphazard attempts at brewing potions had also wasted plenty of precious herbs.
The cleaning fee was for cleaning up those magical liquids. After all, the magic in them was highly corrosive to floors and objects.
Herman counted carefully and took out six Galleons. As he handed them to Hannah, he asked tentatively, "Could you give me a discount?"
Hannah shook her head without hesitation and snatched the Galleons away. "Grandpa said he'd give me half the income from this period as pocket money once I start school, so I'll be keeping a very close eye on you!" she declared smugly. As she spoke, Hannah pointed at her own eyes, then happily skipped away.
"All right, looks like I'll have to find a way to exchange some money for Galleons."
Early one morning, Herman sat in the main room of the Leaky Cauldron, eating the breakfast the pub provided.
A glass of milk, a serving of grilled sausages, and some bread. The taste was only passable, but as breakfast went, he could just about stomach it.
In the years since his rebirth, Herman had gradually grown accustomed to British food, yet deep down, he still kept thinking about the food back home.
Herman ate his bread absentmindedly, mulling over how to make a trip to Knockturn Alley. Unfortunately, he was only a child. If he rashly went in like this, even if he made it out alive, he would probably lose an arm or a leg. He needed a bodyguard.
But he knew hardly anyone in the wizarding world and had no idea where to find a bodyguard. Pay to hire one? He was already out of money, and someone he hired might not be reliable anyway. Someone who took his money and did nothing would be bad enough, but if they took his money, did half the job, then sold him out, that would be disastrous.
In the end, he really did have to become stronger himself. Just look at Snape. When had he ever worried about whether entering Knockturn Alley alone would be dangerous?
Then there was Dumbledore. If he entered Knockturn Alley, not only would its inhabitants probably feel they were in danger, but Knockturn Alley itself might start wondering whether it had become an illegal structure slated for demolition.
As Herman's thoughts wandered, his vision suddenly went dark, as though all the lights in the world had gone out at once.
Herman hurriedly looked up and saw that an enormous figure had sat down between him and the bar, blocking the light nearest to him.
The massive figure was a full two meters tall even sitting down and over a meter wide. At first glance, Herman thought someone had brought a large wardrobe into the pub.
Only after taking a closer look did he realize that this was actually a "person," dressed in a coat made from some unknown fur. Since the figure's back was to him, all he could see was a tangled mass of long black hair.
There really is nothing too strange for this magical world. You can see every kind of wizard here. Herman had seen quite a few wizards in the pub over the past several days, including plenty of odd-looking ones, but most still had a human shape, with a few distinctive features at most. This was his first time seeing someone so huge.
Just then, Old Tom's voice rang out. "Hello, Hagrid. Haven't seen you in a while. What have you been busy with lately?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. The usual first-a barrel of Butterbeer!" Hagrid said breathlessly.
Next, Herman saw a beer barrel that looked almost as big as he was float steadily down in front of Hagrid under Old Tom's direction.
Then Hagrid pulled out the stopper. While anyone else would have needed both arms to hold the barrel, he easily lifted it with one hand and drained the whole thing in one go.
At the sight of this familiar scene, the pub's regulars burst into applause and cheers.
After finishing his drink, Hagrid let out a loud belch. Sitting not far away, Herman was almost knocked out by the powerful smell.
"Your drinks still have a proper kick to them. They just won't give me barrels this big at the Three Broomsticks. Another barrel-I'll take it with me in a bit."
As Hagrid spoke, his enormous, fan-sized hand rummaged in his pocket for a while before pulling out a handful of Silver Sickles, which he slapped straight onto the bar without counting.
Old Tom seemed long accustomed to Hagrid's ways. Without standing on ceremony, he collected all the money. "Leaving now?"
Old Tom placed another barrel on the bar and looked at Hagrid as he asked. "I'll rest a bit. These last few days have kept me run off my feet. You know, term's about to start, and it's not too convenient for Professor Kettleburn, so he had me buy some animal feed. The professor also wanted to buy a batch of suitable little creatures for the students to adopt. I've been all over France and Germany these past few days and found quite a few adorable little things. The professor was quite pleased, but McGonagall rejected them all."
For the sake of the money Hagrid had paid for his drinks, Old Tom offered a perfunctory, "What a pity."
Inwardly, though, he silently gave McGonagall a thumbs-up. My granddaughter's about to start school. Professor McGonagall, you must hold the line on safety.