Confusing Human Behavior

After the three of them had breakfast/lunch, they played Wizard's Chess for a while.

Hermione and Anne were the main fighters, while William watched from the sidelines.

He would act as Hermione's strategist one moment and offer advice to Anne the next, but in the end, the two of them disliked his unhelpful guidance and kicked him out.

The three of them fooled around until after 1 a. m. before finally settling down to study in the yard.

A small wooden table is set with various snacks and desserts, with one person sitting on each side, plus the four seats for Bobocha, which is just right.

Hermione was learning Transfiguration in her second year. After William explained it to her, he went to check Anne's homework.

These are the questions Hermione gave Anne; they're mostly obscure and tricky, so you can imagine how difficult they are.

William took his wand and tapped Anne's head.

"You wrote to me on Easter saying you previewed the entire textbook, and this is how you previewed it? Did you treat it like a comic book?"

Anne pouted, looking aggrieved. "I filled all the blanks."

"Just because it's full doesn't mean it's right, huh?!" William said sternly, adopting the authority of a big brother.

Anne timidly nudged Hermione closer.

"If you combine Asphodel Root powder and mugwort, you'll get a daffodil and mugwort mixture?" William read aloud one of the questions marked with an X.

"Anne, you're a genius! You even came up with such an obvious answer!"

Hermione chuckled.

William glanced at Hermione, who immediately straightened her face and sat up straight.

Tell her, Hermione.

Hermione raised her pointed chin, proudly saying, "It can be concocted into a very potent sleeping pill, a potion of Draught of Living Death."

Anne obediently wrote it down in her error notebook.

William continued reading, "Bezoar... it's a gallstone found in cattle. Its chemical composition includes 5%~11% cholic acid, about 2% deoxycholic acid, 0.6%~1.7% chenodeoxycholic acid, and their salts... Anne, what's the question asking?"

The effects of Bezoar.

What did you answer?

"The chemical composition of Bezoar."

"What did I tell you?"

"The Four Major Pitfalls of Biology, Chemistry, Environment, and Materials Science..."

"How come you memorized it so perfectly?"

Anne argued, "This is a science book my mom bought for me. She told me that the 21st century is the century of biology."

"That's right, but that's after 2080, when you're an old lady. Do you think you'll still be able to climb out of the sinkhole by then?"

"..."

"Anne, Bezoar has extremely strong detoxifying properties," Hermione said from the side. "An explanation of Bezoar can be found on page 76 of ' Basic Potions,' in the bottom left corner, and on page 25 of ' One Thousand Antidotes,' in the left half..."

"Alright, alright, stop showing off." William quickly stopped Hermione from further undermining Anne's confidence.

William sighed.

This is what other people's children are like! Hermione had already memorized "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" during the summer before starting school last year.

William looked at the red cross on the next page and felt a headache coming on.

"Anne, your level isn't good enough. If you don't work harder now, forget about getting first place in the final exams; you'll be facing difficulties from Professor Snape when school starts."

"He's in a difficult position even with girls?" Anne blinked her dark green eyes and tilted her head.

It seems to be asking, "Are there really professors this beastly?"

William sighed and said earnestly, "Professor Snape hates girls the most. He likes boys, like Harry Potter, who is his favorite student."

In every class, the professor would "check" Harry's learning progress in real time, paying meticulous attention to every detail.

Hermione looked at William with a puzzled expression; what she saw... didn't seem to be the case.

"Professor Snape doesn't like girls, so that's perfect, he won't call on me to answer questions." Anne's mind suddenly clicked again.

"No, he knows you're my sister, so he'll definitely call on you to answer a question in the first class."

If you can't answer, he'll call on you every class, and that'll result in a huge deduction of points!

Anne sighed deeply; Hogwarts wasn't as good as she had imagined.

"Brother, will I be sorted into Ravenclaw? In the same house as you?" Anne asked, looking up at her.

"No, you'll most likely be assigned directly to the fifth house," Hermione grinned.

"The fifth college?" Anne paused, "Where?"

Azkaban.

"..."

Hermione had been at Hogwarts for a year, Anne knew far less than her, so she was clearly no match for her in a verbal exchange.

She had no choice but to make up an excuse, complaining that Hermione was writing beyond her boundaries and encroaching on her territory, so she puffed out her cheeks and glared at her.

Hermione glared back, showing no fear whatsoever.

They stared at each other, wide-eyed.

William and Bobocha were also there, staring at the two of them.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, and a string of magic wind chimes on the eaves rang.

This is a doorbell William set up. When someone appears near the house, it triggers the magic, making the wind chimes ring.

William also planned to set up Tracking Charm around the area to create a new map, so that he could detect which wizards were around in advance.

William looked up at a mirror in the yard.

This mirror can show him what's outside the door, just like a camera.

A girl appeared at the doorway.

She had a head of messy, dirty, waist-length golden hair, and a pair of bulging, seemingly unfocused gray eyes.

Her clothes were also... fashionable.

She wore a necklace made of Butterbeer corks, Dirigible Plum earrings, and a sky-blue long dress.

She was also carrying a huge lotus leaf, which she used as a parasol to shield herself from the scorching sun.

To William's greatest surprise, the girl was riding on a Unicorn.

However, the Unicorn was very young, at most a few years old, and seemed to have never seen a river before, so it was unwilling to cross it.

The girl seemed unhappy that the Unicorn under her was so timid and afraid of water, so she took a carrot pendant and threw it into the water to lure the Unicorn to eat it.

The Unicorn ignored him completely, while William, who was waiting for the koi to be cooked, immediately gathered around the carrots and started eating.

The girl was saying something, coaxing the Unicorn to go down.

But the little Unicorn, genuinely afraid of water, shook its head and looked pitifully at the girl, its clumsy appearance endearing.

The girl tied a small knot in the hem of her blue dress, turned around, hesitated for a moment on the shore, and then jumped in.

Even earlier, the little Unicorn leaped into the water at an even faster speed, creating a towering column of water on the surface.

It caught the blonde girl precisely, preventing her from falling into the water.

After a while, the Unicorn, which was originally afraid of water, seemed to have figured it out. It paddled around with its four paws and gently stepped onto the water's surface, starting to run around happily.

William, Hermione, and Anne had already left the courtyard.

The three of them squatted on the shore, watching the little girl and the Unicorn.

William was actually more curious: why didn't they use the wooden bridge when it was just two or three meters away?

Hmm, why?

What baffling human behavior!

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