บท 331: Chapter 331 "Buried In Snow"

On the verge of closing her eyes, Hermione felt Jerry's hand on her shoulder, causing her to freeze in place.

When she heard Jerry's tone's seriousness, she took ten seconds to process what was happening and replied somewhat regretfully, "Okay, I promise you, I won't teach anyone else the magic you taught me!"

Seeing Hermione's disappointment, Jerry's mouth twitched again.

"Okay, this magic is called Meditation, and the principle behind it is like this..."

Under Jerry's guidance, Hermione began learning about meditation.

"This magic is truly... amazing!"

Four hours later, as Hermione stepped out of the cabin with Jerry, her tiredness had vanished, replaced by a radiant glow.

Although she hadn't fully mastered the meditation technique and was starting, Hermione had already experienced the benefits of practicing Meditation.

The exhaustion from using the Time-Turner to study had disappeared entirely.

"In the past few days, we've been using the Time-Turner for five hours daily to come here. I believe that before the Christmas holiday, you should be able to master the Meditation fully!"

Jerry told Hermione as they went to the Great Hall for dinner.

Hermione was indeed a magical genius, and although Meditation was complex, it seemed to come naturally to her.

Jerry believed that in about four or five days, Hermione could fully master Meditation.

He even thought that without a wizard's blood, Hermione's exceptional mind might allow her to harness magical power through Meditation alone.

Apart from Meditation, Jerry also taught Hermione Occlumency to shield her mind from Dumbledore's penchant for Legilimency, where he could read people's thoughts.

Initially, Jerry hadn't intended to introduce Meditation to this world. Still, now that he had dealt with Voldemort and his strength was comparable to Dumbledore's, he felt less need for strict control.

Moreover, it was beneficial for Hermione to learn about Meditation earlier, as relying solely on Meditation for longevity was not easy, even with Jerry's improvements and optimizations to the original technique.

Therefore, starting early would provide her with more hope.

...

Two days before the holiday, in Hogsmeade village.

The weather had reached its coldest point of the year, and heavy snowfall the previous night had transformed Hogsmeade village into a picturesque winter wonderland.

With the threat of Sirius Black being no longer present, the school allowed the young wizards to visit Hogsmeade before the holiday.

Unfortunately, Harry still couldn't join Jerry and the others through the usual route to Hogsmeade village and had to rely on the secret passage on the fourth floor.

In the woods, two hundred meters from Hogsmeade village, Harry removed his invisibility cloak and indulged in the snacks he had just purchased with Jerry, Hermione, and Ron.

"Jerry, are you really not spending Christmas with us at school?" Hermione asked, her mood slightly down as she nibbled on a toffee.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all decided to stay at school for this Christmas holiday.

Harry didn't want to return to his aunt's house, Ron wanted to spend time with his parents and visit his brother, and Hermione wanted to use the Christmas break to review the subjects they had covered during the last semester.

But to their surprise, Jerry didn't fill out a school settlement form to stay at Hogwarts on Christmas just like last year.

Harry and Ron couldn't hide a tinge of regret in their eyes.

"Next year, I promise I'll spend Christmas with you. This year, I'll release my first magic book, 'The Theory of Air Magic and Flying,' in Diagon Alley."

Jerry patted Hermione's head comfortingly.

Hermione's eyes sparkled with admiration upon hearing that Jerry would release his magic book.

Harry and Ron had grown used to such things. They struggled to understand their textbooks while Jerry was already publishing his own magic books, widening the gap even further.

It was undeniable that Jerry's ability to single-handedly handle Sirius Black was remarkable.

"Shall we have a snowball fight instead?" Ron suddenly suggested, looking at the thick layer of snow on the ground.

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed a handful of snow and playfully threw it at Harry, who was nearest to him.

Harry initially ignored it but soon found himself covered in a "white mane" of snow.

And so, the snowball melee began.

The boys and girls, aged thirteen or fourteen, formed snowballs and ran around, laughing and enjoying the carefree spirit of youth, stirring a sense of excitement within Jerry.

After a while, Harry, Ron, and Hermione realized they were covered in snow, while Jerry remained pristine.

They stopped the melee, locked eyes with Jerry, and focused on him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jerry, laughing and watching the three of them, occasionally dodging snowballs, understood their intentions when their eyes turned unkind.

"Jerry, this is Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" Ron declared, puffing out his chest and forming a snowball the size of his fist.

Jerry sighed helplessly. "But it's three against one. Isn't that unfair?"

"It can't be helped. It's your bad luck to be alone!" Harry said, patting the snow off his head and creating a snowball more giant than Ron's in his hand.

"Hermione, are you so merciless?" Jerry asked half-jokingly, looking at Hermione.

Hermione blushed and raised her head, replying arrogantly, "You left us for Christmas vacation, so consider this your punishment!"

However, her snowball was noticeably smaller than the others.

"Well, since you're all like this... don't blame me for being ruthless!" Jerry's face revealed a mischievous smile. He swiftly bent down, picking up a large handful of snow, his hands moving like a blur.

Within seconds, he had formed three snowballs, which he launched simultaneously.

And so, the 1v3 snowball battle began.

Fifteen minutes later, still immaculate with no trace of snowflakes on his body, Jerry looked at the snow-covered Harry, Ron, and Hermione, whose heads and shoulders were barely visible, and smiled. "Are you going to continue?"

However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't respond because, at that moment, a thought simultaneously struck them, "What the hell just happened then?"