On Track

Professor McGonagall's stern face appeared in the four's vision as her cold, furious voice echoed in the corridor, "What on earth were you thinking of?! You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Bearing the brunt of Professor McGonagall's glare, Harry and Ron silently stared at the ground, not knowing how to answer. However, it didn't take long for McGonagall to glance over to see Pro and Hermione. Her eyes flared even more as she yelled, "Even you two are here?! Merlin's beard! I would have expected you two outstanding students to know bet-"

Suddenly, McGonagall's speech paused as her eyes caught something that gave her a bit of shock. She then glanced back and forth between Pro and Hermione. In the midst of the silence, Hermione finally realized that she was still holding tightly onto Pro's hand. With a blush, Hermione swiftly let go and backed up a bit.

Hermione glanced up and saw Professor McGonagall's strange stare at her. Before it could get any more awkward, Hermione brought the topic back on track with her soft voice, "Please, Professor McGonagall -- they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger?"

"I went looking for the troll because I- I thought I could deal with it on my own ... you know, because I've read all about them."

Hearing Hermione taking the blame, Pro raised his brows a bit while the Harry and Ron duo almost dropped their mouths in shock, but they still managed to hold back after trembling a bit.

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Pro found me first and kept it away until Harry and Ron arrived. Harry and Ron then distracted it, letting Pro take me out. Pro then knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. I was already trapped when they arrived."

Blinking her eyes, McGonagall glanced at Hermione and Pro once more, but after considering their age, she finally accepted Hermione's conclusion, "Well, in the case ... Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head like a guilty girl.

"Miss Granger, ten points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses," said Professor McGonagall.

Then, McGonagall turned to Pro, Harry, and Ron to award them points because she had a soft heart inside.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

As he strolled back to the commons room, Pro checked out the quest completion rewards that he took the risk to complete.

[Congratulations! You have completed Troll Mayhem Quest. You are awarded: 1 Quest Point, 200 Slayer XP, 1 Stamina Potion]

Checking out the new stamina potion in his inventory, Pro couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. Although he could brew potions in the Harry Potter verse, he can't brew any of the R*nescape potions.

This stamina potion that can instantly restore 20% run energy per dose and reduce run energy depletion rate for two minutes can be a very powerful life saving card. Still, this potion can be used but not taken out of the inventory.

Besides the quest completion reward, Pro also got XP from every attack he made on the troll. The damage done by his spells gained him slayer, magic, and hitpoints XP. With this XP along with the 200 slayer XP reward, Pro's slayer level directly raised up to level 5. Still, Pro hasn't really found out how slayer actually works because he hasn't fought a creature that he had the slayer level to kill.

It didn't take long for the group of boys returned to the commons room, where they found Hermione waiting for them. Watching the awkward stand-off between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Pro didn't say much but chuckled a bit after dropping a "Thanks."

The trio also thanked each other before Harry and Ron strolled off to get food. Just when Pro wanted to follow them, he was stopped in place as Hermione grabbed his hands, "W-Wait!"

"Huh?" Pro glanced over at Hermione with a bit of confusion.

Seeing the faint blush on her face, Pro couldn't help but twitch his mouth. There's no way her hormones can be kicking in already right? She's still too young.

"I- I just wanted to say thanks. If you hadn't come in to warn me, I may have already ..." Hermione said in a soft voice while she avoided Pro's eyes by looking at his feet.

Pro replied with a smile, "Well, it wasn't just me anyways, Harry and Ron also helped. Plus, you already said your thanks and took the blame for us. There's no need to thank me further. Anything else?"

Hermione shuffled her feet as she went silent for a bit before she whispered, "I heard that you waited for me outside the entire time ... W-Why were you waiting for me outside?"

It seems the real question came out in the end. They were still too young, and Pro only treated her as a friend for now. Still, daddy Joseph had taught him some 'good' ways. So, Pro chuckled and to avoid the question, he teased, "Hermione, my eyes are up here. Why are you looking at my feet?"

Pro then reached out his hand and lifted the girl's chin, raising her head to lock eyes with him. Staring into each other's eyes, Hermione's face blushed even more. In the end, it seemed that she wasn't able to handle it. So, she turned around and rushed off, leaving Pro standing there awkwardly.

"Uhh ... did I go too far?" Pro muttered as he scratched his head, "Still, her reaction was cute."

Well, the result of that event was not so cute. After befriending Harry and Ron, Hermione had began to talk to them again. The trio had many conversations together, much more friendly than before. However, Pro was excluded out of this circle for some reason.

To be precise, he was excluded from Hermione's circle. Pro chatted with Harry and Ron like usual, but when Pro wanted to join in a conversation that Hermione participates in, Hermione would go silent or rush off.

Not only that, it seems she had begun to avoid him altogether. Instead of sitting by him during meals, she sat next to Ron on the other side. When she bumps into him anywhere, she would scurry away before he could say hi. Even in the library, she sat as far away as she could. The worst part is that she had stopped sharing her homework with Pro!

Due to her behavior, even Harry and Ron found that something was not quite right. The nosy Ron couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Blimey Pro, what did you do to her? She's running away from you like Scabbers running away from a cat."

Harry also glanced at Pro with curious eyes, only to see Pro shrug. Honestly, Pro was definitely not one of those dense protagonists. With his mature mind, he already had an idea regarding why Hermione was avoiding him like that. It's just that, Pro didn't have any experience on how to deal with it. After all, he was a single virgin in his last life.

Plus, Pro believed that they were too young to talk about feelings. Puppy love like this usually don't last, and Pro can't just tell Hermione he was just teasing her. Honestly, if Pro wasn't a young boy without hormones, the British FBI may be knocking on his door already.

"Ugg ... if there's anyone to blame, I gotta blame daddy Joseph for teaching me all those must-learn skills," Pro muttered and shifted the blame to his father, "Hopefully time will decrease her shyness."

Well, Pro's hope didn't hold true. Just like how she was able to hold a grudge against him for years, Hermione seemed to continue to avoid him for weeks to come. Without his homework reference machine, Pro could only make do with completing his own homework. It wasn't too difficult to do the assignments, but it still drained a lot of his XP grinding time away.

On the other hand, the lucky Harry and Ron learned the pleasure of having a homework answering machine. Hermione gladly helped them check their homework, and Harry's smug face when he told Pro really made Pro want to punch him.

Still, there was no need to do so because Pro was also able to mock him back when he sees Harry coming back all battered after Quidditch practice in the cold. Needless to say, Harry's first Quidditch game will occur soon.

Of course, the curious, innocent Harry still ended up suspecting Snape because he bumped into Snape with bitten legs. Then, Harry openly told the group his conjectures. Pro didn't say anything because he didn't get any quests to change the plot. Plus, if he talked, Hermione that was sitting uncomfortably nearby may have bolted away.

After weeks, Hermione seemed to have calmed down a bit. Even though she still avoids him, she won't bolt away if they were together with Harry and Ron. She still refuses to talk to him though, but if he stays silent, she would chat with Harry and Ron with no problem.

The day of Harry's first Quidditch game arrived. Pro also went to watch it, but it wasn't because he was interested in the dangerous game of Quidditch. He was just hoping that he would trigger some quest there.

Of course, Pro also slyly slid onto the seat next to Hermione. In the midst of the crowds, Hermione had nowhere to run and could only quietly sit next to him while looking at her feet. Seamus who sat nearby stared at Hermione and Pro with a strange expression while muttering, "What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing," Pro and Hermione answered at the same time.

Pro chuckled as Hermione turned her face away with a blush. Staring at them, Ron just told the others, "They've been like that for weeks. Weird."

The Quidditch game kicked off and Hagrid came to join the group not long after. With Hagrid squeezing in, Hermione was almost forced to sit on Pro's lap, causing her to blush furiously.

Still, it didn't take long for the heat of the game to light up the anger of the audience and Hermione forgot about Pro as she also flared in anger. The Slytherins fouled in order to stop Harry from catching the snitch, and obviously Gryffindor wasn't too happy about it.

Even though he was part of Gryffindor, Pro didn't care much. He only treated it as an amusing game to watch. He wasn't a big fan of sports in his last time, he only came to support his friend. Oh, and wait for the quest to appear of course.

Scanning the crowds with his eyes, Pro easily locked onto Quirrel and Snape. If he was correct, his quest will be related to them.

As expected, it didn't take long for Harry's broom to go out of control. Hermione was already searching the crowd with Hagrid's binoculars, and eventually she locked Snape as her target.

"I knew it. Snape! Look," Hermione then passed the binoculars to Pro, even though he didn't ask for it.

Realizing what she had done, Hermione was about to pull back her hand, but Pro quickly grasped it and slowly took the binoculars out of her hand. He chuckled as he watched her blush, but he continued to hold her hand as he stood up.

"Blimey! What are you two doing?" Ron asked in shock when he saw them get up.

"Hermione saw Snape jinxing Harry's broom. We'll go take care of it. Be back soon," Pro responded before pulling the blushing Hermione away.

Feeling the strange gazes of some of the students they passed by, Hermione whispered with a furious blush, "P-Pro, l-let go!"

"No. Unless you promise me you won't avoid me anymore and talk to me like we used to," Pro shamelessly replied.

Hermione bit her lips as she looked at her foot while blushing, not knowing how to answer. Walking through the crowds, Pro sighed a bit before he tugged Hermione closer so she could hear him, "Are you avoiding me because you feel ... weird inside when you are near me? Does your heart beat faster? Do you have strange thoughts?"

Hermione looked up at Pro with shocked eyes. Pro smiled back, causing her to blush a bit more. Giving her hand another grip to comfort her, Pro then stated, "If you want to know why, let's meet up after the game and I can tell you why. You just have to promise not keep avoiding me like you do alright?"

Hermione blushed a bit before she mumbled, "But I know-"

Pro shushed her with a finger before he said, "We'll talk all about it later. You also want to know how I feel don't you?"

Hermione blushed even more before she nodded softly. Pro smiled before commanding, "Let's take care of Snape first."

As if recalling what she still had to do, Hermione returned to reality as he eyes turned sharp. Hermione had turned on mission impossible mode. On the other hand, a smile rose on Pro's face as he glanced at the new quest he got.

[Jinxed Broom] Stop the jinx on Harry's broom! Or save Harry from the fall.

Well, of course Pro would follow the plot for the easy way out. Passing by Quirrel, Pro secretly grinned and 'accidentally' shoved Quirrel over. Before Quirrel could recover, Pro had already dashed past him with Hermione.

The quest completion prompt had already popped up, but Pro had an evil grin on his face as he approached Snape. Time for the 'fun' part.