Chapter 9: We always learn together (Edited)

"So that's your grand prize?" asked Hermione as she held a silver egg in her hand.

"Yes, it's an Occamy egg, it's described in the book 'Fantastic Animals and Where to Find Them' that Occamy eggs have silver shells," said Tom.

Tom's special prize at the magical pet store was an Occamy egg. It was a rare item, not often found in the magical world.

"Come on, we'll talk about it when we get back." The three of them had left Diagon Alley and were in the parking lot. Mr. Granger stuffed their purchases into the trunk of the car and drove them back to the house.

Hermione's house was a small three story house with a large garden outside, and although it was in the suburbs, it was a good example of her family's wealth.

"Here, this is the guest room, what do you think?" Mr. Granger led Tom to his guest room, which was simply furnished with a bed, a small sofa, a table and chairs, and a closet. Everything was neat and tidy.

"That's great." Tom complimented him heartily.

For the next few days, Tom stayed at Hermione's house and received a warm welcome from the Granger family. Mrs. Granger was an intelligent-looking middle-aged woman, from whom Hermione had inherited her brown hair.

Mrs. Granger cooked an excellent meal, which Tom ate until his stomach was full.

It was almost a month before school started, and in the meantime, Tom and Hermione's main activity was reading books. Hermione soaked up the textbooks like a sponge, and her talent was evident: she quickly mastered some simple little spells.

Hermione's room was now a mess. But unlike the usual mess, her bedroom was crammed with books: there were magic books everywhere, and Hermione herself was sitting cross-legged on her bed, propped up on a pillow, with a book in her hand, reading with great interest.

"The 'History of Modern Magic' is a book that I think is worth reading, and I have found that 'The History of Modern Magic', 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts', and 'Important Magical Events of the 20th Century', all of these books mention one name."

"Harry Potter. When it comes to the history of magic in the 20th century, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Voldemort and Harry Potter are inescapable characters." Tom guessed which character he wanted to talk about.

He glanced up at the bright sunshine, not often seen in London, and the temperature was perfect today, not too cold and not too hot.

"Shall we go for a walk?", Tom offered, "I've been cooped up at home reading books for the last few days..."

Hermione cocked her head to one side and thought, thinking Tom was right, so she shooed him out of the room.

A short time later, a young woman in a sailor suit appeared before him. She was wearing a white sailor suit with a short navy blue skirt and black stockings, Hermione held up the book in her hand, "Shall we go for a walk by the lake?"

Tom made no comment.

They walked through the gardens and up the tree-lined path that led to the lake.

"So, which house do you want to go to?" Hermione started the conversation, "I'm a little tempted to go to Gryffindor, which is where Dumbledore graduated from, but I guess Ravenclaw isn't too bad, what do you think? I'm a little worried about being sorted into Slytherin, or Hufflepuff."

"Well, being Muggle-born and getting into Slytherin is a real problem," Tom said.

"Is being Muggle-born a big deal?" whispered Hermione.

Tom hesitated for a moment, but still said, "It makes no difference, as long as it's not in Slytherin house, they're not so, er, friendly to Muggle-born wizards..."

More than unfriendly, if a muggle-born wizard went into Slytherin, they would be ostracized and take a lot of abuse from those in that house.

"That's good. I was a little worried." Hermione sighed in relief, "So you haven't said which house you'd like to go to?"

"Personally I'd rather go to Ravenclaw. There's more of a learning environment there, the Gryffindor students are a bit too energetic and can find it hard to study quietly..... There are many great wizards in Ravenclaw, for example, the Lady of Ravenclaw is the most knowledgeable and knowledgeable of the big four," Tom said.

It was clear that Hermione was somewhat impressed, but after a moment she sighed again, "Unfortunately I don't know how the houses are divided, and I may not be able to decide where I want to go."

"Students can decide which house they want to go to, their own will plays a big part in the choice, if you want to go to a house, the school won't stop you..." said Tom.

Hermione paused, she seemed pleased by the news.

"...And I think you're so smart, you'd fit in better in Ravenclaw," Tom said.

"Oh?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, eyes flashing: "Well, Ravenclaw isn't out of the question, but...".

"But what?" asked Tom.

"I'm still having trouble deciding between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, so why don't we have a race to see who gets to the lake first? If you're faster than me, I'll go to Ravenclaw, and if you're slower than me, then you'll go to a house with me, okay?" said Hermione.

Tom looked at her, "A race? Are you serious?"

"Come on, don't underestimate me." Hermione tied her hair back.

They walked down the path together, Hermione stood in the middle of the path.

"Now start, one, two and three!" Hermione took off running in a flash and all Tom could see were the heels of her leather shoes clacking lightly against the ground with a crunching sound and the blue ribbons on her chest fluttering in the wind like two blue butterflies.

Hermione was much faster than he expected and hurried to catch up with her.

He ran after the pair of blue butterflies until he caught up with Hermione at the end of the road, not far from the lake, and sped up, rushing after her and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Gotcha!" shouted Tom gleefully, though he was out of breath.

"Oh, hands off, it hurts!" Hermione jerked her shoulder, trying to free herself.

The two of them stood panting at the end of the path, Hermione's last strength drained from the run, leaning involuntarily on Tom for a moment, but one that would remain in her memory.

The two were staggering together towards the lake, when Hermione suddenly turned her head, "You've lost!"

"What?" said Tom.

"Look, I got to the lake first," said Hermione.

Tom shook his head as he remembered that their bet seemed to be that the first one to the lake won. "You're playing with words."

Hermione smiled mischievously, "I've decided, you're going to the same house as me!"

"Fine, I'll go with you." Tom found a clean, shady spot and lay down.

"You're going to Ravenclaw with me!" suddenly said Hermione.

Tom's eyes widened in surprise, only to see Hermione standing next to him with a smile, looking up at him.

"Then let's make a pinky promise!" Tom stuck out his little pinky.

"No problem!" Hermione also took pinky finger.

"No more lies, no more lies, the liar will be thrown into the glacier. The glacier is cold, the snow is cold and the liar's tongue is frozen," Tom recited.

"What kind of strange agreement is that?" said Hermione.

Laughter from the two of them could be heard around the lakeshore.

"Hey, tell me more about the magical world," said Hermione.

"Yeah," nodded Tom.

...