Chapter -12 I’m Not Called Hey 

Chapter -12

St. George Primary School

It was just another typical school day, and lunch break was in full swing. Dudley was sprawled out on the second-to-last row of seats by the window, soaking up the sun, while Harry, as usual, went off to grab him some bread—Dudley's favorite snack, a nice crunchy baguette.

Dudley pulled out a little bottle of light blue liquid from his pocket. This was the potion he had brewed yesterday, called the 'Mild Magic Enhancer.' It's a beginner's potion that's supposed to give a little boost to magical power if you use it over time.

Even though it was a basic potion, brewing it wasn't a walk in the park. Dudley had been tossing and turning for days just to get it right.

He took a big gulp of the potion and grimaced. The taste was pretty weird—bitter and not exactly delicious.

This was one of the few potions Dudley could whip up at the moment since he didn't have access to the magical world and a lot of the ingredients were out of reach. 

Not all potion ingredients are exclusive to the magical realm; for instance, the recipe for the 'Mild Magic Enhancer.' includes crushed daisy roots, peeled shriveled figs, sliced caterpillars, a drop of rat bile, and a little leech juice. 

These ingredients can be found by Muggles, but without the right steps and methods, they can't brew them. 

The Mild Magic Enhancer is one of the few potions that doesn't need magical plant ingredients; its main component is a plant called 'fish mint' that you juice.

Oh, and just a heads up—despite their similar names, the Mild Magic Enhancer and the Magic Enhancer are totally different potions, so don't mix them up!

Trying not to gag, Dudley quickly grabbed his water bottle and took a few big swigs.

He secretly promised himself to make potions that taste better in the future; after all, each ingredient might taste fine on its own, but when mixed together, they created a pretty awful flavor.

Before long, Dudley started to feel drowsy, which was one of the side effects of the Mild Magic Enhancer.

"I heard we're getting a transfer student in our class this week," someone said, breaking through Dudley's sleepy haze.

The voice belonged to a freckled boy sitting nearby.

"A transfer student? In our class?" replied a girl with two braids, looking genuinely surprised.

Transfer students usually only come from private schools unless they're super exceptional, like Dudley.

St. George Primary School is a public school—not the best, but not the worst either. Its reputation has been on the rise lately thanks to a certain award-winning student, and more kids have been enrolling.

Still, it's rare for a transfer student to choose their school unless there's a special reason.

"Which school are they coming from?" the girl asked.

The freckled boy answered, "I heard it's from Oxford Primary School."

When he mentioned Oxford Primary School, he lowered his voice, as if worried someone might overhear, and glanced nervously in Dudley's direction. Seeing Dudley still resting on his desk, he let out a sigh of relief.

Little did they know, their sneaky whispers were happening right under Dudley's nose. He was just too tired to care.

If he were more awake, his reputation might have made the others too scared to come to class.

Dudley had once been a transfer student at Oxford Primary School, so it was likely this new student was coming because of him.

The lunch break came to an end, and the bell rang.

The teacher walked in with a girl who had thick, curly brown hair.

"This is our new transfer student from Oxford Primary School," the teacher announced.

Dudley was still slumped over his desk, groggy from the potion and the late nights spent brewing it, and he hadn't even had a chance to eat the snacks Harry bought.

He vaguely remembered the teacher introducing the new student.

Once he could get his hands on some magical materials, he promised himself he'd make a refreshing potion. With a few scattered claps, Dudley drifted off into a sweet dream.

Even the teacher lowered her voice when she noticed him.

Ah, the perks of being a top student!

This continued until school was over, and Dudley was still sprawled out on the desk, completely out of it.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Someone tapped on the desk Dudley was lying on.

No one in the whole school dared to wake the sleeping Dudley.

He blinked awake, still half-asleep, and saw a girl with fluffy, big waves of hair standing there, hands on her hips, frowning at him with her big chestnut-brown eyes. She looked pretty annoyed.

'She seems a bit familiar, but who is she?' Dudley thought, his brain still foggy.

I really need to stop staying up late.

"You missed our appointment!" Before Dudley could even ask what she meant, the girl spoke up.

That unique tone sounded a bit familiar to him.

Dudley: "Huh?"

"You missed our appointment!" she repeated, raising her voice a bit.

"You said you would join the junior math competition!"

Junior math competition.

"Oh." The moment he heard that, Dudley's memory started to clear up.

Back then, Dudley had pretty much ruled Oxford Primary School, excelling in both academics and sports, leaving everyone else in the dust. For the top students there, it felt like a never-ending Black Friday, always overshadowed by Dudley's brilliance.

It wasn't until the day he left that they boldly claimed they would challenge him, but of course, they didn't mean it literally; otherwise, Dudley would have swept them all aside. 

They were talking about a challenge in academics, saying they would beat him in this junior math competition.

"How ready are you?" she asked.

"I've been busy with something really important lately and haven't had time," Dudley replied.

How could a math competition compare to potion research?

"What could be more important than math?" 

The girl clearly didn't agree: "There are only three days left! I'll share the key points the teacher mentioned for review." With that, she pulled out textbooks and notes from her backpack, ready to tutor Dudley right there at school.

"It's getting late. If I remember correctly, your home is a couple of transfers away from here," Dudley said, yawning.

"It's not safe for you to go back alone if it's too late; the security in London isn't great."

The security issues abroad could only be described as 'yikes.'

Especially in the 1990s.

Speaking of which, meeting this girl was a nice coincidence. Dudley loved reading, and it turned out she did too. The library was their favorite hangout, and they often stayed until closing time, which helped them get to know each other better.

Then Dudley went on to dominate the whole school.

The girl fell from the top spot in grades to second place.

Because of this, she secretly cried.

Dudley happened to catch her in the act.

And that's how she became a bit fixated on him.

In the days that followed, she tried to challenge Dudley in various subjects.

But it always ended in failure.

"You want to beat me so badly; isn't this your chance?" 

Unlike the other so-called top students at Oxford Primary School who only dared to talk behind his back, this girl was the only one brave enough to challenge Dudley face-to-face.

Yes, the so-called 'challenge' was just a rumor; that group of cowards didn't dare to formally take him on.

Dudley agreed to participate out of respect for her; he appreciated her straightforwardness.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered with any math competition at all. After all, he had already won first place too many times; he had to let others have a chance.

"I will defeat you fairly." At that moment, the girl looked like a proud little hen, puffing up her nonexistent chest.

"Come on, there's no time left." 

She placed her notebook on the table and tried to tug at Dudley's sleeve, but just then, Dudley was getting up.

Having been sleep-deprived for days, Dudley lost his balance when she pulled him. His left foot tripped over his right, and he leaned forward, bumping into the girl's shoulder. With his larger frame, she didn't stop at all and ended up falling.

Luckily, Dudley reacted quickly, placing his right hand under the back of her head to cushion her fall.

His left hand supported his body to keep from crushing her.

'Thud.'

A dull sound echoed in the empty classroom.

They both froze in this awkward position, staring at each other.

An extreme silence followed, with only their breathing and heartbeats filling the air.

Using one hand or leaning against the wall is called a "wall bang," so does this count as a "ground bang"?

"Dudley, we should…"

Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the door. Harry had just reached the classroom and instinctively turned to leave: "Sorry, I didn't see anything."

It was only ten seconds after Harry left that the girl's face turned bright red. She let out a small "ah" and jumped up like a startled rabbit, quickly exiting the classroom.

But before she left, she turned back to Dudley and said, "The review materials are over there, and my dad wanted me to tell you to come to the clinic when you have time; your teeth are the best he's ever seen."

Her dad was a fantastic dentist, and it's well-known that dentistry is a pretty lucrative field, which is why she could afford to go to a private school like Oxford Primary School.

With that hard baguette, which could double as a weapon, how could Dudley's teeth be anything but great?

"Hey."

At the end of the classroom, that fluffy big wave hair appeared again: "I'm not called 'Hey,' call me Hermione."

"Hermione Jean Granger."

Note : Guys, some power stones will be really helpful.