296: Hermione's Little Secret

Seeing the Baku vanish into dust, Rhys finally let out a sigh of relief—creatures like this were easiest to deal with when discovered early. Now he could finally get a good night's sleep.

The moment the Baku was destroyed, Rhys also woke up from the dream. The dormitory looked the same as usual, with Crabbe and Goyle snoring loudly in the background.

He also noticed that the protective spells he had cast earlier had all failed, but he wasn't too concerned. It was a common occurrence—when the caster's mental state was disrupted, it was perfectly normal for spells to become unstable or even fail entirely.

After recasting a few protection spells, he lay back down on the bed and entered dreamland for the third time. This time, at last, there were no more strange dreams.

When he woke up, Rhys felt refreshed and invigorated. Everything that had happened the previous night now truly felt like something out of a dream.

However, as he got down from his four-poster bed, Theodore Nott—Rhys's rather low-profile roommate—came up beside him and asked in a hushed, mysterious tone, "Rhys, did you dream about attending a banquet last night?"

Rhys: ???

Seeing the surprised expression on Rhys's face, Nott quickly explained, "I got up in the middle of the night and heard you mumbling like um.. the great Slytherin.. or something —you said it several times. What were you dreaming about?"

Rhys: %#&\*

His face visibly turned red.

Nott seemed like he wanted to ask something else, but the moment he looked up and saw Rhys's expression—it was like staring into the sun—he instantly decided it was better not to ask. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he could've sworn the temperature in the dorm had gone up.

Quickly finding an excuse, he slipped out of the room.

Rhys took several deep breaths, working to calm himself down and suppress the urge to cast a Memory Charm on Nott.

Once he had composed himself, Rhys stepped into the common room and immediately spotted Daphne and Astoria gathered together. The two girls were standing by the fireplace, each holding a cup of hot chocolate, chatting casually.

When she saw Rhys appear, Daphne instinctively raised her cup in a toast to him—instantly dragging all of Rhys's terrible memories back to the surface.

"Put the cup down. Only then can we have a proper conversation," Rhys said, rubbing his throbbing temples, clearly asking her to stop.

"…Okay." Daphne, completely confused, obediently lowered her cup. She had no idea what was going on—just that Rhys didn't seem to be in a very good mood?

"What's wrong? Didn't sleep well?" Astoria asked curiously.

"Mm. Had a few nightmares," Rhys replied, not wanting to linger on the topic. Instead, he pulled out his schedule and looked over the day's classes.

"Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies. Two classes to really look forward to this morning," Rhys said. He was genuinely interested in the electives Hogwarts offered, and he definitely wasn't going to miss these two.

"Let's go. We'll head to the Ancient Runes classroom," he added. He'd originally planned to enjoy a nice hearty breakfast in the Great Hall, but just the thought of possibly seeing Helga Hufflepuff's face there completely killed his appetite.

He really didn't want to run into that old friend again anytime soon.

"Aren't we going to grab breakfast first?" Daphne's sense of unease deepened—what was going on with Rhys? He didn't even want breakfast?

Was Ancient Runes really that enticing? More than caramel pudding or cream cake?

"Some chocolate will do." Rhys pulled out a box of Chocolate Frogs from his pocket, and upon opening it, was greeted by a surprise: the card inside was Helga Hufflepuff.

Rhys: …

What a cursed fate!

Now he didn't even feel like eating chocolate.

As they walked into the entrance hall on the ground floor, a whirlwind of movement rushed past into the Great Hall. From the messy brown hair, Rhys easily recognized her—Hermione Granger. Looked like she was rushing to eat quickly and get to class on time.

"So intensely diligent!" Rhys commented. He'd never seen a student so keen on learning.

Daphne glanced at him and thought: You're even more intense than she is.

At least she was rushing to eat breakfast—you skipped breakfast entirely!

Soon, the two of them arrived outside the Ancient Runes classroom. As they pushed open the door, both Rhys and Daphne were momentarily stunned: someone was already inside.

Sitting in the front row, flipping through the textbook ahead of time—was none other than Hermione.

"Morning." Seeing that it was Rhys and Daphne who had entered, Hermione took the initiative to greet them.

"When did you get here?" Daphne blinked, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

Hermione was briefly stunned, then told them she had just arrived too.

But suspicion still flickered in Daphne's eyes: You say you just got here, then how did you beat the two of us? 

Rhys looked thoughtfully at Hermione, then suddenly asked, "How many classes are you taking this term?"

Hermione's gaze wavered slightly. She hesitated and said it should be about the same as Rhys—since she'd been bumping into him in every elective lately.

"Let me see your schedule," Rhys stepped quickly to her side, insisting on taking a look.

The girl had a bad feeling—Rhys seemed to have realized something.

And precisely because of that, there was no way she could let him see her timetable!!

He was too clever and knew too much. If he saw that unusual schedule, there was a real chance he'd figure out something he shouldn't.

She forced herself to refuse Rhys's request, telling him that she had left her schedule in the common room.

"Hmm..." To Hermione's relief, Rhys didn't press the issue. He simply gave her a meaningful look and reminded her to always follow the rules, warning her not to think that just because she was clever, she could play fast and loose with them.

Hermione lowered her head, faintly feeling that Rhys might already have seen through her secret. At the same time, she grumbled inwardly: When it comes to breaking rules, how am I worse than Daphne?

She remembered that stunning spell that came out of nowhere last term very clearly.

If Rhys knew what Hermione was thinking, he'd probably say earnestly: Daphne is different. Most of what she breaks are harmless school rules. She's like a fire dragon—at most she'll burn down a few forests or leave some craters. But someone like you, taught by Rowena Ravenclaw herself, is far more dangerous. You're the type who could stir up real trouble.

In other words, the smarter someone is, the bigger the mess they tend to make. Daphne was unlikely to cause any major disaster—and Rhys was in good health, so no risk of being angered to death by her antics.

After reminding Hermione, Rhys took the still-confused Daphne to the other side of the classroom and found a nice spot to sit.

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