Chapter 176

"If it weren't for the Occlumency, I would have had nightmares for sure. But thanks to the Occlumency, I thought it over calmly," she said as she continued to look out the window. "I'll be honest, at first, I was extremely outraged and dismayed by what you did. And then I analyzed everything. Played through every moment of the fight in my head and couldn't think of a way to disarm them without killing them. I hate to admit it."

"That's not all that bothers you, is it?"

Hermione nodded and looked at me with a serious look.

"They moved and acted very quickly. So were you. Like I said, I was replaying every moment of that fight in my head. You weren't just moving on reflexes and habits. You had time to think through every move, evaluate the situation, choose a spell. Maybe you hadn't noticed, but the fight didn't last a dozen seconds. They moved fast, too, but not that fast."

Looking at the girl, I waited for her to continue.

"Our training is ineffective in terms of fighting. We're pretty gentle, as I've seen us do spells and learn magic and stuff. It does help against peers, but an adult wizard is different."

"Do you want to intensify your training?"

"Yeah... You know, in the regular world, the ones who reach heights are the ones who almost go over the edge of their capabilities. I don't want to become a real fighter, no. But I don't want to find myself in a similar situation, only without anyone to help me and unable to resist on my own. I think I could handle one of those attackers. Maybe two. And our training, it's so... You know, it's fun. It's all really fun when they don't want to kill you, and you don't have to do it. Maybe dueling is my thing?"

"Maybe. You know, in the month that Lady Greengrass has been chasing me, I've been on the verge of death several times a day. I shudder to imagine how many different potions it took for me to recover constantly. That's despite the fact that I have enhanced regeneration."

"Because of lycanthropy?"

"Who knows," I shrugged. "Really harsh training must be accompanied by equally brutal injuries. Madame Pomfrey would very much disapprove if we practiced in such a brutal fashion. And then Dumbledore will sit on our brains with lectures about how children shouldn't torture themselves like this, preparing as if for the elite troops."

"We'll think of something," Hermione nodded confidently. "I don't want to find myself in a situation like this and realize that I'm just a victim. And yet Lady Greengrass said they were just scum from the Knockturn. Maybe not such scum, but then what are the average wizards capable of?"

We spent the rest of the trip exchanging notes, making new ones, pondering obscure points in the materials from the Restricted Section, and compiling a selection of potions, spells, and rituals that could help with our training. During this undoubtedly interesting activity, time flew by, and now it was finally dark outside the window, and the rain continued to pour as if from a bucket. We left the compartment one by one, giving each other time to change into our school uniforms. Just in time for our arrival at Hogsmeade.

It was still raining outside, but this time we put a water-repellent charm on ourselves, which allowed us to get to our carriages dry, though the mud clung mercilessly to our shoes.

"Terrible weather, isn't it?" remarked one of the twins, into whose carriage we decided to board. Their dark-skinned friend Lee Jordan was here, too.

"Pretty normal," I shrugged and helped Hermione inside, sitting her down next to me. "How's summer?"

The twins and Lee Jordan started talking about the match, their experiences, the horrible appearance of some vandals, and the Dark Mark.

"The Dark Mark?" Hermione asked immediately.

"Yes! The mark of You-Know-Who..." said George unhappily. Or Fred - who knows.

"Here, take a look!" Lee Jordan reached into his bag. "Magic photograph."

Hermione took the photo card and scrutinized it, then handed it to me. Still, interesting technology, these magic photographs. A huge skull of indeterminate hue because of the color reproduction, with a snake crawling out of its fangy mouth, wriggling and hissing. It seemed I could even hear the hissing.

"Interesting," I handed the photo back to Lee Jordan.

"So those people were Death Eaters?" Hermione looked around at each of us.

"I don't think so," the twins shook their heads at the same time.

"Father said some of them were detained," the left twin continued. "There are no marks, and they are too young, although they clearly do not live in abundance. One of them had a couple of criminal episodes behind him, and he lived in Knockturn. Surely the others are from there, too."

With this kind of talk, we rode in the carriage, swaying now and then from the wind and then from the bad road. Glancing now and then at the approaching great Hogwarts, the lights in the windows of which glittered through the wall of pouring rain. When we finally got there, the boys rushed out of the carriage into the rain with a youthful "Ooh!" trying to pull on their robes, splashing mud from under their feet. I renewed the water-repellent charms on myself and Hermione and quietly jumped from the carriage to the ground, offering my hand to the girl.

"Thank you," she nodded with a smile, and taking advantage of my help, she stepped easily onto the ground.

Few of the students guessed to protect themselves from the pouring rain, but those who did looked funny - as if there were some kind of protective field within an inch of their bodies, along which the raindrops skirted the wizard...