Outcompeting Ron, Stealing Hermione!!

Cooking mastery?

Dental mastery?

Absorbing the information flooding into his mind, Cro's eyes flickered slightly.

The cooking mastery must have come from the treasure chest contributed by Mrs. Granger.

The dental mastery likely came from the one contributed by Mr. Granger.

Combining this with the wizard profession from Hermione's chest earlier, Cro could now deduce that the rewards from the treasure chests were linked to the person who contributed them.

This means...

In the future, whatever he needed, he could farm the corresponding treasure chest from the right person.

Need spells? Go to a wizard.

Need money? Go to a rich merchant.

Need a wife? Go to...

...

"Better to have something than nothing. System, continue opening!"

Cro's anticipation didn't diminish in the slightest.

This next chest, contributed by an unknown person, would reveal whether the contributor was a wizard if it produced something from the magical world, or a Muggle if it produced something ordinary.

But he hadn't even entered the wizarding world yet.

He wasn't naive enough to think that his talent had attracted the attention of wizards.

If something from the wizarding world did appear, then who had noticed him?

And why?

[Congratulations to the host for opening a Silver Treasure Chest: Reward - Basic Transfiguration Talent!]

[Basic Transfiguration Talent: Makes understanding and practicing Transfiguration easier!]

Cro's eyes narrowed.

He had pretty much figured out who contributed this chest.

"In that case, I should already have my Hogwarts acceptance letter, right?

Otherwise, she wouldn't have known my name, much less contributed a treasure chest."

"I was even thinking about whether to farm Hermione's chest to see if I could get a Hogwarts letter from her."

"Looks like once I unlocked the wizard profession, Hogwarts' two magical artifacts detected my magical power, and McGonagall learned my name."

Cro lay on the bed, deep in thought.

The wizarding world was indeed a goldmine for farming treasure chests.

Especially Hogwarts!

Wizards gathered there, most of them children with wild emotional swings, making it easier to collect treasure chests.

And then there was Pansy, Luna...

It wasn't that he was lustful.

He just wanted to assemble a team for farming treasure chests!

Cro mentally defended himself.

"Cro, the room is ready! Come check it out!"

"Afterward, we'll go buy some clothes. Yours are way too big; they look like a dress on you."

"I know a great clothing store. You'll love it. Almost all my clothes are from there. You wouldn't believe..."

Hermione grabbed Cro and pulled him out of the room, talking non-stop.

At this moment, she seemed to have an endless stream of things to say, wanting to share everything she knew with Cro.

Cro quietly listened to her chatter.

He didn't find it annoying.

In fact, he felt quite happy.

When a child wants to share what they know with you, it means they've accepted you as a friend.

Given how Hermione had long had no real friends, it made sense that having Cro as a friend would make her so talkative.

"Hermione, you know that talking non-stop can make people dislike you, right? You shouldn't do that."

Hearing this, Hermione looked a little dejected and hung her head, falling silent.

She didn't know why, but she just wanted to share everything with Cro.

After all, he was her only friend.

Isn't that what good friends do—share?

"Sorry, Cro. Hermione's just..."

Mrs. Granger began to apologize, but Cro cut her off.

"It's alright, ma'am. I love hearing what Hermione has to say. No one has ever shared such secrets with me before. You know, that feeling of being accepted... it's really nice!"

Cro smiled and shook his head.

No way he'd get annoyed now.

The more Hermione talked now, the less Ron would stand a chance later.

While Ron was still playing in the dirt, Cro was already making moves on Hermione!

He was going to outcompete him!

...

The room was a cozy, soft blue.

There was a comfortable-looking big bed, a small desk beside it, and the bed was made with dinosaur-patterned sheets.

The whole room had been meticulously cleaned, and the window was open, letting in fresh air.

It looked bright and tidy.

"So? The bedspread and sheets were picked by me, of course with my mom's help. Dad did the cleaning."

"But I chose the dinosaur pattern. I'll tell you a secret: these were actually bought for me, but I don't like them. I prefer cats. Dinosaurs are for boys!"

Hermione leaned in and loudly whispered her "secret" into Cro's ear.

The Grangers exchanged amused looks.

Even though she said it was a secret, her voice wasn't lowered at all.

Even if they hadn't wanted to hear it, they'd heard it loud and clear.

With no other choice, the couple turned their heads and pretended they hadn't heard a thing.

That afternoon, the Grangers had taken the day off to buy clothes for both Cro and Hermione.

They bought quite a lot.

That night, Cro lay in bed, staring out the window at the night sky.

"500 Galleons is already a pretty decent amount of money. It should be more than enough for Hermione and me."

"Hogwarts' acceptance letter should arrive within the next couple of days. I wonder how Hermione will react when she finds out we're both wizards and will be attending Hogwarts together?"

"She'll probably be thrilled. Hopefully, that excitement will yield a high-tier treasure chest."

Cro pondered for a while before his eyelids grew heavy.

After three days of tension, the sudden relaxation allowed exhaustion to wash over him like a tidal wave.

In mere moments, he was fast asleep.

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T/N:

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