Odd Luna

Halloween is almost here, and everyone is very happy.

It was quite a coincidence that Halloween Eve fell on a weekend, which was also the day we went to Hogsmeade.

They could spend the whole day having fun in Hogsmeade before attending the dinner party. The itinerary was simply perfect.

The third-grade students were incredibly excited, as this was their first time visiting Hogsmeade.

So much so that on Friday, despite the long hours of class, the classroom was still noisy during the Ancient Runes.

The students were all asking William to give them a guide to Hogsmeade.

Faced with a group of wildly unrestrained little witches, William was so pestered that he had no choice but to reluctantly and openly spend time with them.

"Promise me you will never go to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop."

"Why? I heard that's a favorite spot for happy couples!" Pansy glanced furtively at Malfoy.

The other female students chuckled softly, lost in their own thoughts.

Malfoy was oblivious to Pansy's gaze; he was seriously considering whether Potter could go to Hogsmeade.

It seems he's going to be put in solitary confinement by Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, I must admit, Madam Puddifoot is a master of manipulation; she knows how to understand people's psychology very well," William laughed.

This statement was clearly spread by Madam Puddifoot to encourage everyone to go there for their dates.

Besides, what kind of clueless couple would love to go to a teahouse?

Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was not only small, but also decorated with tacky items like bows and pink wallpaper, and had a strong perfume scent.

A date should be romantic and private. The pungent smell of cheap perfume and the surrounding students kissing... this is really not a good place for a date.

There was absolutely no enjoyment in the experience.

If I had to put it another way, Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was like a movie theater.

Surely no one actually chooses the movie theater for every date, right? Really?!

Can't you come up with something more original?

Don't always choose such boring places, as if the whole world is just a movie theater.

Going directly to a hotel is more romantic than going to the cinema.

Please forgive me.

William is just that straightforward.

"I heard that the owner of Hog's Head secretly sells high-proof liquor to students?" Seamus asked, raising his hand.

William laughed, "Can't you guys get high-proof whiskey while you're at school?"

Everyone burst into laughter, and many even whistled.

"What am I going to do without a female companion?" Dean Thomas asked loudly.

"Very good question." William snapped his fingers and winked. "Remember, being single now is just to gain experience for your future single life."

The students booed loudly.

"William, are you going to Hogsmeade?" Daphne asked, staring at William.

"Of course, barring any unforeseen circumstances."

"May I invite you?" she asked boldly, standing up.

Many girls in the classroom were staring at William.

Since the first class, many students have re-enrolled in this course, or come here to audit classes when they have free time.

They weren't passionate about Ancient Runes; they were simply after William.

He's like a human router; a bunch of girls want to get the password to connect to him.

For example, Daphne didn't originally choose Ancient Runes, but that didn't stop her from skipping class specifically to attend this course.

Anyway, a little rubbing against it... nothing bad will happen.

William reluctantly raised his hand in surrender, saying, "Miss Greengrass, I already have a date, so please don't invite me anymore."

"Is it Granger?" Andy Thomas jeered.

Hermione, her ears burning red, lowered her head and pretended to flip through the book.

William smiled and said, "Please pay more attention to the classmates around you, such as Mr. Thomas doesn't have a female companion."

Dean puffed out his chest, looking like he was always ready to serve.

"Him... I'd rather go on a date with Moaning Myrtle," Daphne said dismissively.

William glanced sideways.

Daphne's dismissive tone carried a hint of disdain; her words were essentially the same as, "I might as well just grab a pencil and do it myself."

That's so hurtful to someone's self-esteem.

Dean might just fall for a simple-minded boy because of this kind of overwhelming advantage.

For example, his roommates, Harry, Ron, and Neville, are all nice.

"Alright, let's get back to the lesson... I just said 'Algiz'." William clapped his hands.

"It represents the elk, whose antlers symbolize courage, strength, and aggression. Here, we'll show you something different."

William pulled a Wizard's Chess piece from the Safety Watch —the Black Queen.

The chess piece came to life as soon as it landed on the ground, drew its stone sword, and searched for its white knight captive, intending to drag it into a corner to deal with it.

"This is Professor McGonagall's masterpiece. I had to beg her several times before I was able to borrow it."

"It contains the 'Algjz' rune, which increases attack power," William explained.

This Wizard's Chess is a miniature version of the school's armored guards, which Professor McGonagall made herself.

She made a batch two years ago and placed it in the Restricted Section on the fourth floor to serve as a large-scale Wizard's Chess level.

William also secretly took some, but he disassembled them for research.

Last school year, after Magical Creatures attacked Hogwarts Castle, Professor McGonagall couldn't resist the urge to create another batch.

William demonstrated for everyone and said with a smile, "These guards are now stationed in the Gryffindor Common Room."

"What would happen if we forced our way into the Gryffindor Common Room?" Seamus asked, raising his hand.

"You'll be surrounded and attacked; whether you die or not is uncertain, but the outcome will definitely be terrible," William said with a smile. "Everyone is welcome to try it out on Halloween night."

Everyone immediately shook their heads.

Stop joking!

People will die!

Only a fool would attack the Gryffindor Common Room.

William put away the Black Queen, clapped his hands, and said:

"This paper is about the application of offensive Ancient Runes."

A piece of parchment, with small font, narrow spacing, and substantial content.

I don't want to see a piece of parchment where someone can write a thousand densely packed words, while someone else... only writes fifty words.

I also don't want people to repeat the same sentence four or five times in different forms to pad the word count.

You think you're lowering the plagiarism rate?!

William glanced at Malfoy, Goyle, and Crabbe.

"If this happens again, I'll just give you a 'T'."

"There's a T?" Hermione, the model student who always got "O", couldn't help but look up in surprise.

"It means Troll." William winked at Hermione.

The bell rang, he tidied himself up, and headed outside.

Hermione ignored the murderous glares from the other girls, quickly packed her things, and chased after William.

"I'll stay up late tonight and hand in my paper to you," Hermione said, carrying the book as she walked down the corridor.

"There's no need to rush, there's still a week."

William avoided the students coming and going, and led Hermione down a secluded corridor.

"I have a ton of homework to do," Hermione said dramatically.

"Professor McGonagall needs two parchments; Professor Snape needs the antidote; and Professor Lupin... Once I finish writing tonight, I can have some fun tomorrow."

"Or I could write it for you?" William suggested. "Like that Muggle Studies paper on 'How to Get to the Sun'."

"No, I want to finish all my homework myself..." Hermione glared at William, speechless. "Fine, fine, you write this one, just this one!"

William laughed out loud.

Professor Burbage always enjoys tackling human problems... Last time he was researching the perpetual motion machine, and now he's set his sights on "ascending to the sun."

"There are still plenty," William said. "Looks like I'll be sleeping in the Room of Requirement again tonight."

Hermione has a lot of homework to do every day, and in order to catch up, she also has to do pre-reading. Every night she also has to do combat training and help William process various Potions ingredients.

There simply isn't enough time.

The two spent almost every night in the library. After it closed, they would use the Time-Turner to go back to evening and enter the Room of Requirement to study.

If I'm too busy, I'll just go to sleep at the Room of Requirement around 11 PM.

Instead, I went back to the dormitory less and less often.

Therefore, Hermione is simply a devil; with such hard work, her excellence is only to be expected.

Hermione smiled and, seeing that no one was around, reached out and gently took William's arm.

The two turned the corner and walked towards the corridor where the Fat Lady was, where they saw someone posting notices on the bulletin board on the wall.

William glanced at it and saw it was Luna.

"Hello," Luna said vaguely, glancing at the two of them before walking over from the bulletin board.

Hermione, like a wildcat whose tail had been stepped on, tried to pull her hand back because of her shyness, but William grabbed it directly.

"Luna, have you lost something again?" William asked.

Luna's personality was peculiar; even many of Ravenclaw's students thought she was odd and called her the Loony Lovegood.

Luna once had her things thrown at her by her roommates, and Anne took Ginny to Ravenclaw and caused a scene, warning them not to bully her.

Such incidents gradually decreased.

"Oh, I didn't lose anything. Anne's Dahei dog is missing. I think she's very upset. Maybe someone saw it, so I'm posting notices," Luna said calmly.

William glanced at the bulletin board, where a lost dog notice was indeed pinned up.

Ask anyone who sees this to provide clues; the reward is a collector's edition of "The Quibbler".

That reward... I doubt only Cedric would be interested.

"Where did Anne go? I haven't seen her." Hermione asked.

"I'm with Ginny," Luna said after thinking for a moment. "I'll go find them later. Do you two want to come?"

William and Hermione both shook their heads. They were both avoiding Anne, who had been pestering them for days, wanting to go to Hogsmeade.

"William," Luna said suddenly after a moment of silence.

"What's wrong?"

"There's something." Her strangely bulging, hazy eyes scrutinized William.

"If you promised your best friend you wouldn't tell anyone else, but you feel you should tell others... what would you do in this situation?"

"I won't say, since I've already agreed," William said matter-of-factly.

"Oh." Luna nodded. "There's something I want to tell you."

"What?"

"I promised not to tell, so I'm sorry."

"..."

Why bring it up if you're not going to say anything? Aren't you just deliberately trying to pique William's curiosity?

Sure enough, the eccentric Luna.

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