Chapter 53: Prejudice and Kiss

The ambiguous atmosphere lingered for quite some time before slowly dissipating.

Reason took control of Alaric's inner thoughts.

He suddenly realized that he, in his current physical age, was only eleven years old, and so was Hermione. 

They were two eleven-year-old kids hiding in a corner of the library, playing kiss-kiss, almost turning it into a serious situation..

Although mentally, he was definitely a teenager, the crucial point was that Hermione initiated the kiss.

Were little girls nowadays this bold? 

'Let's stop it, he couldn't continue thinking along those lines. At least wait until we both are old enough…'

After indulging in random thoughts for a while, Alaric finally snapped out of it.

At this moment, Hermione was in a state of chaos. She couldn't believe that she had just said those things and done such actions. So, she buried her head in Alaric's arms, pretending to be an ostrich.

"Cough, cough."

Alaric cleared his throat and was the first to break the silence.

"Uh, Hermione, there's something I want to talk to you about."

In his embrace, Hermione nodded almost imperceptibly.

Alaric continued, "I think, since you've been investigating Nicolas Flamel, on one hand, you want to know what treasure Dumbledore is hiding, and on the other hand, you still suspect that Snape wants to harm Harry and take the treasure."

Hermione nodded again in his arms.

"Listen to me, Hermione, you can't just suspect a professor based on a bad impression." Alaric sighed, persuading her.

"Making such serious accusations without clear evidence is dangerous. I'm not blaming you morally, but I want to tell you that doing this could lead your investigation in a completely wrong direction and even cause irreparable consequences."

At this point, Hermione's reaction suddenly became intense. She left Alaric's embrace, looked up at him, and earnestly retorted.

"But Snape does often target Harry. He always embarrasses Harry in his class. Among the professors, he's the most suspicious."

As expected of Hermione, when faced with a debate, she never cared about whether it was ambiguous or not. This was the style of "Miss Know-It-All".

Alaric sighed again and tried to reason.

"I know that, and Snape does indeed dislike Harry. He has always been a mean person. I heard from Cho Chang that Snape was once named the champion of England's meanness Tournament."

 At this point, even Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

"However," Alaric continued, "disliking someone doesn't mean wanting to harm them. Snape might be unpleasant, but there's no evidence that he's plotting against Harry. 

Dumbledore trusts him, and we should be careful not to let our prejudice cloud our judgment."

Hermione bit her lip, still seemingly unconvinced.

"So, this doesn't prove anything. If we follow your logic, then smearing mud all over the corridor, dropping Floo Worm juice in Gryffindor's lunch, or summoning Fawkes during the students' night stroll—all of these could be attributed to Professor Snape because, among all the professors, he is the most severe with students."

"No... that's not right, these..." Hermione was rendered speechless by Alaric's words. She didn't know how to argue because this was her original logic.

"In fact, all those things were done by Peeves," Alaric said with a smile. "But Peeves certainly wouldn't conspire to steal Professor Dumbledore's treasure. We all know that mischief is his only hobby."

"So," he looked directly into Hermione's eyes, "do you still think Snape plotted against Harry?"

"You're right." Hermione thought for a moment and finally admitted her mistake. "I was too hasty in judging Professor Snape."

"Yes, you were too hasty." Alaric gently touched Hermione's cheek. 

"You're Hermione Granger, smarter than anyone else. All wizards, pure-blood or half-blood, learn magic slower than you. You've always used logic to judge problems, so why this time, like others, did you start following impressions and intuition?"

At Alaric's words, Hermione's face turned red because Alaric knew her too well. He hit the nail on the head; she was usually more rational and less prone to suspecting others. 

She bit her lip and whispered, "Yes, I was too biased against Professor Snape. I won't easily suspect him again."

Then, as if making a declaration, she said loudly, "But, I still think Snape is a nasty guy."

The poor old bat, students' bad impression of him couldn't be changed.

Alaric shrugged, concurring, "I think so too. Not only is he gloomy, solitary, harsh, and biased, but he also never washes his hair. Everyone hates him."

Hermione nodded in satisfaction.

Alaric sighed imperceptibly.

Girls were indeed hard to please, having to convince her without making her angry was quite challenging.

Luckily, Hermione was more reasonable.

Suddenly, Hermione looked at Alaric curiously and asked, "So, the treasure Dumbledore hid is Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone, right?"

"Yes, I guess so," Alaric nodded, but reminded her, "Don't tell Harry and Ron about Nicolas Flamel and the Philosopher's Stone.

 It's too dangerous. Whoever has the courage to steal from Dumbledore must be a powerful dark wizard. Their weak abilities aren't suitable for getting involved."

Actually, it's not that they're not suitable; it's just not the time for them to know everything.

Alaric decided to reveal the information to Harry at the end of the semester. By then, he would be fully prepared, giving him a chance to fish in troubled waters and obtain the Philosopher's Stone.

However, there was no need to tell the justice-minded Hermione about this— at least not for a few more semesters until she truly became "one of us."

After reaching a consensus, the two immediately headed to the library together.

On the way back to the common room, Hermione suddenly asked curiously, "You just said that Harry and Ron are weak and not suitable for getting involved. What about me? Can I participate in this?"

That's right; this time Hermione surprisingly didn't immediately want to meddle in this matter and even asked him first.

However, knowing Hermione's personality, if she wasn't allowed to participate, she would definitely be unhappy.

So Alaric raised an eyebrow and said proudly, "You are you, they are they. Although your strength is not strong—"

At this point, he glanced at Hermione, and the girl's expression became much uglier.

He continued, "But it doesn't matter because I will protect you."

Upon hearing these words, Hermione, who had initially felt underestimated, suddenly had no complaints at all. Even if she was described as having weak abilities, it didn't matter.

She recalled the Halloween night and her first Quidditch class.

Whenever she was in danger, he would stand by her side, protecting her from harm.

"He said he would protect me."

Hermione was completely moved and suddenly gave Alaric a big hug, not saying a word.

As a result, Alaric was completely confused.

What is this? Why is she hugging me? Did I say something special?

Well, never mind, just leave it at that.

Feeling Hermione's strong closeness and dependence on him, he hugged her back.

He had left his original family and come to a different world alone. Here, he witnessed the legendary magic and had a great goal.

But underneath all this was deep loneliness.

Now, he knew that he was no longer alone.

There was someone caring for him, relying on him.

...

Christmas was approaching.

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