Chapter 62: Hermione, You Actually Skipped Class?

"Hermione, are you sure it's okay?"

Hermione's face turned rosy, and she nervously looked around, afraid that someone might suddenly appear.

"I-I've never done this before."

She kept fidgeting with the hem of her robes, lowering her head.

"Although it's my first time too, don't worry."

Dudley patted his chest loudly.

"Trust me, I'm really good at this."

"But if we get caught..."

Hermione hesitated, looking conflicted. After all, it was her first time doing something like this.

"Don't worry, it'll be quick. I'll be back in no time."

Seeing Hermione's hesitation, Dudley reassured her with a firm tone.

"Hermione, you don't want to feel uncomfortable with an empty stomach in the middle of the night, do you?"

"Gurgle."

As soon as he said that, someone's stomach made a very timely and loud noise.

Hermione's face turned even redder.

"Go on, I'll be right back."

Dudley walked confidently into the area next to Hufflepuff's common room and Hogwarts' kitchen.

As soon as Dudley entered the kitchen, the lively clattering and clinking sounds suddenly stopped.

"Dear little wizard, is there anything we can help you with?"

A respectful voice echoed under Dudley.

Dudley bent down and saw a creature with a humanoid shape, short and frail, with bat-like ears and tennis ball-sized big eyes, standing respectfully at his feet. Despite its impoliteness, its nose did resemble Snape's a bit.

If he had to compare it with something he was familiar with, it was like a poorly nourished version of a goblin. Or, if you insisted on connecting it to something Dudley wrote in his novel, it bore some resemblance to Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings," but with larger ears and a sharper nose.

Of course, they are somewhat similar to the goblins of Gringotts, but the goblins have sharp teeth.

House elves are a magical species. According to the history of magic, they are a vassal race of wizards, elves who have served wizards for generations.

Home Elves, a magical species that had served wizards for generations, were known for their strong magical abilities. Many adult wizards, even those not skilled in combat, would not be their match.

According to "A Short History of Hogwarts," the Hogwarts kitchen was entirely managed by House Elves.

"I'm a bit hungry. Can I use the kitchen here?"

Dudley looked around and finally focused on a large iron pot on the stove.

"Do you think that our food isn't tasty?"

The House Elf spoke with a trembling voice and then bumped its head against the wall, making a 'thud' sound.

"Bad zipper, bad zipper. You think the food we make is hard to swallow."

Dudley halted it, saying, "Stop."

Although he knew that House Elves' thought processes were peculiar, he didn't expect them to react like this.

Five minutes later, Dudley came out of the kitchen with a bucket of fried chicken and pickled sausages.

"So much."

Hermione looked at the pile of food in surprise. "Did you plunder the kitchen?"

"They were very hospitable inside."

Dudley didn't want to dwell on this issue, changing the subject. "Quick, eat while it's hot. We'll need to go to bed soon."

In a while, the two of them had devoured most of the food, or more accurately, Dudley had consumed the majority of it.

After leading Hermione to the entrance of Gryffindor's common room, Dudley didn't directly return to Slytherin's common room. Instead, he found a random window, climbed onto the castle wall, and then ascended to the top of a spire.

It was time for a good workout after dinner; Dudley hadn't done his evening exercise yet.

Different from the morning exercises, during this night session, golden electric sparks emerged from his body, legs, and wrists.

Hamon Qi Gong.

During the day, it was pure physical exercise, while at night, it was Hamon Qi Gong practice.

Day after day, year after year, every day was like this.

At this moment, Hermione had returned to Gryffindor's common room.

"Where did you go?"

As soon as Hermione entered the common room, she attracted the attention of many Gryffindors.

When she and Dudley left, it didn't attract much attention. Still, that was Hermione – the little witch who loved to raise her hand to answer questions, earning points for Gryffindor. Unlike Dudley's case, which was collectively "forgotten" by Slytherin, the sudden absence of "Gryffindor points" during a class couldn't be ignored. Sooner or later, someone would remember.

"I think we haven't reached a level where we can call each other by our names, Mr. McLaggen."

Hermione didn't give the other party a good look and said coldly.

"Okay, Miss Know-It-All."

The term "Miss Know-It-All" sounded pretty good at first listen, but it was more of a mockery than anything else.

"I'm just here to remind you, don't take the wrong path. If I were you, I'd be careful."

"If you keep going like this, no one in Gryffindor will like you, no one!"

He said this for a reason. Hermione and Dudley were getting close; they often went to the Hogwarts library together, as evidenced by the fact that today, for the first time, Gryffindor didn't hear the familiar "Gryffindor gets points" sentence. However, for the foolish, annoying, and self-righteous Gryffindors, it didn't matter. In their eyes, if you were in Gryffindor, you should keep your distance and draw clear boundaries with Slytherin, or you would be seen as a traitor.

As for Harry? That was different; Dudley was Harry's cousin, and Harry was special.

He was the Chosen One, the saintly Potter.

Double standards were something every carbon-based lifeform liked to do.

Of course, not all Gryffindors were targeting Hermione. Stupid, annoying, and self-righteous people existed everywhere, and there were plenty of them.

Hermione didn't care about this. She was a very determined little witch who did things her way, and being unsociable, especially in this regard, was one of the reasons she wasn't well-liked in Gryffindor. Even though she earned a lot of points for the house, they didn't care.

It wasn't much of an issue at first, but recently, Hermione's belongings in the common room mysteriously went missing. For example, when she got up this morning, she spent a long time looking for her shoes and was fortunate that she brought several pairs with her.

But she didn't tell Dudley about these things.

This kind of phenomenon was normal at Hogwarts. After all, where there were people, there were "conflicts" or, to put it differently, bullying.

Whether it was a regular school or a magic school, such phenomena existed. However, at Hogwarts, most of the time, conflicts transferred to other houses, like Snape and James. Still, these situations could happen within a house, too. For example, Luna, who would be sorted into Ravenclaw in a year.

Cormac looked around as he spoke, and many Gryffindors cooperatively smiled, the laughter sounding quite harsh.

Only Neville, who was sitting in the corner with bandages on his arms, moved his lips slightly, as if trying hard to say something, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

(End of this chapter)