Herman sat down on the sofa next to Harry, took a cookie from the coffee table, and popped it into his mouth.
The cookies were a bit soggy and not very crisp, but they were still edible.
He chewed twice and swallowed before answering.
I went to Dumbledore's office and we talked for a while about my magical talent.
" Dumbledore?" Draco's eyes widened. "The headmaster himself wanted to see you? You've gotten into trouble?"
" Professor Flitwick recommended him to Dumbledore so he could give me some extra guidance."
Draco tilted her head and looked at him for two seconds, as if assessing whether this was big news. Finally, she said smugly, "That means you're very talented. Dumbledore usually doesn't teach students individually."
She spoke with an air of self-righteous pride, as if Herman had been summoned by Dumbledore because of her.
Before Herman could reply, Harry spoke up.
Her gaze shifted from the fireplace flames to Herman's face, her voice soft but clear. "You don't look well, and you walked very fast on your way back. Dumbledore say anything else to you?"
Herman mentally gave Harry a high score for her observation skills.
He glanced at Draco, then at Harry, pondering how to begin.
Snape told him to tell his "classmates," with the emphasis on letting Harry know.
But if he only tells Harry, it would be too deliberate, and if Draco finds out later, she'll definitely make a scene.
The best way is to say it in front of both of them, making it seem like you just mentioned it casually.
"I ran into Professor Snape on the way back," Herman said.
When Draco heard the name " Snape," she sat up straighter, her expression becoming more serious.
"He asked me to help clean up the area near the dungeon entrance."
"A dungeon?" Draco frowned. "What dungeon?"
"There's another dungeon beneath Slytherin, just past the end of the common room corridor, a little further down."
Herman tried to downplay his words, " Professor Snape said it was left over from the Founders era of Slytherin, a place used to imprison people or conduct experiments. It hadn't been used for a long time, but Dumbledore reopened it and gave it to someone to live in."
"Who will live there? Dumbledore finally decided that giving Filch an office was a waste?" Draco pressed.
Herman glanced at Harry, Harry gaze had become serious the moment he said "dungeon," and she stopped spinning her quill and rested it on the armrest.
"That new Vampire teaching assistant," Gori Herman. " Dumbledore put him in the dungeons, with Quirrell during the day and locked up there at night. Snape told me to tell the students to keep an eye out."
Draco's mouth gaped open.
" Vampire live in the dungeons?" Her voice rose slightly. "... near our common room?"
"It's at the other end of the corridor, a short walk," Herman corrected. "Not particularly close."
"That's still close." Draco hugged the cushion tighter, resting her chin on it, her brows furrowed. "What was Dumbledore thinking, placing Vampire near the student dormitories? Won't he bite people?"
"He sat on the stage for the entire dinner, and did you see anyone get bitten?" Herman said.
Draco thought about it and realized that there really wasn't one.
But she was still a little uneasy. She didn't loosen her grip on the cushion and glanced around the depths of the common room, as if trying to make sure there weren't any suspicious shadows lurking in the corners.
Harry remained silent, her gaze shifting from Herman's face to the flames in the fireplace, as if processing some information.
After a few seconds, she spoke, her tone as calm as usual.
" Snape wants you to tell the classmates, and then what?"
Herman paused for a moment.
"And then what?"
"And did he say anything else?" Harry turned to look at him, her emerald eyes gleaming warmly in the fireplace. "Like, what to watch out for, or who to watch out for?"
Herman suddenly realized that Harry was also observing; she was much smarter than Draco and wouldn't ask questions like, "Do Vampire bite?"
She asked "And then?" because she knew Snape wouldn't send a student to deliver a message for no reason, and she probably had some suspicions in her mind. Just like when she confided in Herman last time, Harry's feelings for Snape were quite complicated.
Herman quickly organized his thoughts.
"He didn't specify who should be careful," he said, trying to make his tone sound casual. "It's just to let everyone know not to go to the dungeon at night."
Harry looked at him for a while, but didn't ask any further questions.
But Herman felt as if she had figured something out.
Those eyes were so still, as still as a mirror, reflecting everything, yet the water itself remained completely still.
Draco accepted this explanation. She released the cushion she was holding, leaned back in her chair, and her muttering changed from " Vampire are so scary" to "Dungeons sound so cool."
"You said there are cells and torture instruments inside?" Her eyes lit up. "Could you take me to see them next time?"
"No," Herman said firmly.
"Why?"
"Because there are Vampire inside."
Draco thought about it and realized that this reason was indeed irrefutable.
She pursed her lips, refocused her attention on the colorful mail-order catalog on the coffee table, flipped to the page she had just been looking at, and pointed to something on it with her finger.
"Let's not talk about Vampire. Look at this, the new Self-Stirring Cauldron. My dad said he'd buy me one next month. You always have trouble stirring your Potions Class properly, right? I can lend it to you then."
Herman glanced at the page she was pointing to. The picture showed a silver cauldron with an automatically rotating stirring rod next to it. It did look quite high-end, but the advertisement next to it read, "Seeking purchases from Potions workshops," clearly indicating that it was aimed at workshops.
"Did your dad buy this for your Potions Class? Or are you planning to open a Potions workshop at home?"
Draco rolled her eyes at him. "Isn't it enough that it works? Besides, it's silver, which matches my tea set perfectly."
Herman was speechless. He could never keep up with the young lady's spending logic.
Harry stood up from the sofa, picked up the half-finished glass of Pumpkin Juice on the coffee table, took a sip, and then put it back on the table.
"It's getting late, and I have class tomorrow, so I'm going back to sleep now."
Upon hearing this, Draco looked up from the mail-order catalog and glanced at the wall clock.
The clock had struck ten, and there were fewer people in the common room than before. Several candles had been quietly extinguished by the House-elf, leaving only the silver-blue flame flickering in the fireplace.