Chapter 25: Chapter 25
At the bathroom door, Albert saw Angelina coming out and stopped her.
"Good evening, Angelina. Have you seen Hermione here?"
"Hermione? Is she a first-year student in our house?" Albert nodded. "She was crying in the room, and the door was locked. Some of us tried to calm her down, but she refused. Are you her friend?"
"Yes. Can you help me get in touch with her? Just tell her that Albert is waiting for her at the door."
"Okay." Angelina smiled and turned to enter the bathroom.
A few minutes later, Angelina came out with Hermione, whose hair was a bit disheveled, her eyes were red, and she was sobbing intermittently.
"Friends are one of the most important things for everyone. I hope you have a good conversation," Angelina said, waving them off as she left.
When Hermione saw Albert, tears welled up in her eyes again.
Albert quickly conjured a handkerchief out of nowhere and handed it to Hermione. "It's okay, don't cry. Let's find a place to talk. It's not appropriate to stand in the hallway like this." He led Hermione to the nearest empty classroom.
Although there weren't many people at the bathroom door, there were always students coming and going, and it was never good to stand around.
Turning the corner, they found an empty classroom. Albert opened the door and let Hermione enter first, then followed her inside. He found two dusty chairs and used the "Solurom" spell to clean them. They sat facing each other.
Albert looked at Hermione, whose eyes were red and puffy, not knowing what to say. After all, in his previous life, as a teenager, he had never had a sister. After his death and rebirth, he had spent years talking only to his father. Thus, he lacked social experience in communicating with and comforting girls. He knew it was hard to comfort them.
The two stared at each other for a minute or two. Noticing Albert's discomfort, Hermione managed a small smile.
This smile broke the heavy atmosphere, and Albert laughed for an inexplicable reason.
After a few minutes, they both stopped laughing. Albert finally gathered his thoughts and said to Hermione, "You don't need to feel so sad; it's not your fault. Ron and Harry don't really want to hurt others. But sometimes, when they get emotional, they do things without thinking. For example, the hurtful words they said today were not what they really meant."
"Then what did I do wrong to make them reject me so much?" Hermione wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the handkerchief and lifted her head stubbornly.
"I've worked hard to earn points for the house, but they never appreciated my efforts and easily deducted points because of their actions," Albert said, pointing downwards. "Hermione, I too have worked hard to earn points so we can win the house cup. Don't you see that I train day and night to earn points? Did you ever see me cry? Yes, I agree that Ron and Weasley can be reckless, but if someone saw you crying easily, they would bully you. I understand human nature well."
Albert said this because he didn't want Hermione to experience what he did in his previous life, where he was an easy target for bullies and always cried when they bullied him. He didn't want Hermione to be in the same position.
"And to be honest, the main reason why I lost the most points was in Professor Snape's class. Sometimes, the professor is just biased, and you know that Snape himself deducts points from me without reason."
"Then why don't Gryffindor students seem to care much about the house cup?" Hermione asked in confusion. "Many students in this house deduct points for discipline or academic performance. I point out their mistakes when I find them, but they don't care at all; they even hate me for mentioning anything about them."
Hermione shook her head slightly and continued, "The sorting hat wanted to place me in Ravenclaw, but I thought that the greatest wizard of this age, Professor Dumbledore, graduated from Gryffindor, so I wanted to come here. Now that I think about it, I don't belong in this house."
"Of course not. I also wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff, but after seeing that my father, Sirius, graduated from Gryffindor, and he always told me that if I went to Hogwarts, I should put in my effort to be chosen for Gryffindor, because it's easy to graduate from there, and the students here are good."
"In reality, the sorting hat assigns students to houses based on their personalities. Then it takes into account the students' personal wishes. If you were sorted into Gryffindor, you must have qualities suitable for this house."
"For students sorted into Gryffindor, the sorting hat means bravery. Actually, I think it would be more accurate to say they are easily emotional. Harry and Ron are the most typical examples, so I say you don't need to worry."
"I get angry at their comments sometimes. They don't really think things through. Everything you said is correct."
"Since everything you said is correct, why do I feel like everyone in the academy rejects me?" Hermione asked somewhat oddly.
"It's very simple. What you said is correct, but there's something wrong with the way you express it," Albert said, reflecting on what he had read in novels in his previous life.
"I also feel like everyone rejects me because of what my father did before. But after I became a top student and helped everyone, people's perceptions of me changed."
"Whether it's Harry Potter or Ron, they are fundamentally good people. But Harry suddenly changed from a helpless orphan to a savior. Perhaps this psychological gap has amplified his emotional side. And Ron, well, he has many siblings and is the least appreciated in his family. In this environment, it's understandable that he would be extreme in everything he does."
"So, comments from an extreme or emotional person when they are emotional are not necessarily accurate, and you don't have to take them too seriously."
After some convincing, Hermione finally felt relieved. She knew not to torment herself over others' mistakes and also understood what she needed to change in her future.
As darkness began to fall, Hermione adjusted her mindset and stood up, extending her hand. "Thank you for taking the time to comfort me. I think you were my first friend at Hogwarts, weren't you?"
"We were just acquaintances before. I'll shake your hand and say: 'Yes, we are friends.'"
After comforting Hermione, Albert suggested they go to the library to study together. However, Hermione felt her eyes were red and puffy and looked like she had just cried. She didn't want to appear in front of her classmates and make a spectacle of herself. She thought it would be better to study in the empty classroom with no one around.
With no other option, Albert went to the dormitory to fetch his school bag, then returned to the empty classroom. Hermione had washed her face and cleaned the desks.
Hermione took out the notes Albert had copied from the class she missed that morning and began catching up on the missed class. As she copied, she said to herself, "Oh my, I can't believe I missed a class like this. The levitation charm is a very important spell. I might be tested on it in the final exam."
Time passed slowly while studying, and after completing all the homework assigned for the day, Albert looked out the window and saw that darkness was beginning to fall.
"Oh no, I think dinner time has passed. There's a Halloween feast tonight. I heard that the Halloween party at Hogwarts will be very grand and that the decorations in the hall will be beautiful. This party is our first one at this school, so I think we can't miss it. Let's hurry, maybe we can still catch it."
They packed their books and were about to open the door to leave when they suddenly heard scattered footsteps from the other end of the hallway.
Albert seemed to think of something, grabbed Hermione, who was about to open the door, and then peered through the crack in the door. He saw a giant monster holding a very large club.
"Hermione, what's that noise we hear?"
"Shh, don't speak loudly. There's a giant monster outside."
Hermione was shocked by Albert's words and felt a strong sense of tension.
She looked to confirm Albert's words.
Seeing it was true, Hermione said, "What are we going to do now? The monster outside seems strong and fast too. What will we do as first-year students? Oh no, we're doomed."
"Okay, calm down first. I have a plan, but you need to calm down first," Albert said.
"Okay, I'll calm down. Tell me your plan."
"The monster is in front of us, and the other room that leads out is behind the monster. Only one of us can get out because the monster can hear footsteps. So, the person who exits the other room needs to run and inform the professors about what happened, while the other needs to distract the monster to buy time for the other."
Hermione was in an unenviable position and wanted to refuse Albert, but after thinking it over, she saw there was no better plan for their predicament.
Hermione steeled herself and said, "Okay, I'll buy you time while you run and inform the professors. I'll distract the monster while you escape. Agreed?" She knew Hermione didn't have combat spells to fight the monster but wanted to save Albert, her friend who had just helped her forget what happened.
"Okay, I didn't expect you'd agree to this, but you will be the one to leave the adjacent room."
Albert said, "Hermione, listen to me. We don't have much time, so you need to go now. Leave through the other room and run as fast as you can to inform the professors. Agreed?"
Hermione couldn't do much else, so she nodded and headed towards the adjacent room, opening the door.
Albert then gripped his wand tightly and exited the room, heading toward the giant.
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