What took Allen and the others by surprise was this: although the incident was spreading like wildfire among the upper-year students, the three-person group that had come over actually knew nothing about it. There was no helping it—lower-year student camps were separated from those of the upper years, and with their heavy course loads, who had the spare energy to care about gossip like this?
After a brief rundown of what had happened over the past few days, the boys' gazes unanimously settled on Hermione. No one was expecting Harry or Ron to come up with any kind of solution.
As the witch praised endlessly by nearly every professor—so much so that even Snape, despite all his displeasure, had to begrudgingly acknowledge her as a "know-it-all"—Hermione's reputation among Hogwarts' faculty and students was extremely high. Her likability, however, was another matter entirely. That wasn't strange at all. The "other people's child" effect naturally came with a built-in debuff to favorability.¹
If Allen hadn't been socially active, earning the school plenty of honors while also frequently "oppressing" Slytherin students, there was no way he'd enjoy such high affinity across the campus. Worth mentioning was that a lot of people liked Allen simply because he was good at breaking school rules—and regularly getting locked up for it.
So, when everyone found themselves at a loss, asking Hermione for help wasn't awkward at all—especially since she was a girl. When it came to this sort of issue, she was bound to think differently from a bunch of boys like them.
As expected—Marshall once again suffered a barrage of eye-rolls.
After all, this entire mess was of his own making. If not him, then who else was there to blame?
Complaints aside, the problem still had to be solved. The current chaos had grown far too unruly and needed to be dealt with immediately.
Faced with everyone's expectant stares, Hermione couldn't help but feel the pressure. She'd only come to ask a question and broaden her horizons—how had she suddenly ended up dragged into this?
To be honest, too much information had been dumped on her all at once, leaving her momentarily overwhelmed. Her thoughts were a mess, and on top of that, Marshall—currently the most anxious person in the room—kept pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, making it even harder for her to think.
So, when Marshall completed what was probably his hundredth lap around the tent, twelve-year-old Hermione finally snapped.
"All right—Marshall, stop right there!"
Marshall obediently froze in place, facing Hermione, who was two grades below him.
Hermione rubbed her already messy hair, her expression filled with helplessness.
"All right. Since the problem started with you, we'll begin with you.
First, we won't discuss what happened before. Right now, do you still have feelings for Miss Kaoru?"
Marshall hesitated slightly, but soon shook his head firmly. Forgetting her completely in such a short time was impossible—but he'd already made his choice.
"Good. In that case, the first issue is settled. We don't need to consider maintaining any sort of relationship with Miss Kaoru going forward.
However, I still need information about her. Marshall, can you tell me? This might help resolve things."
"Of course." Marshall quickly pulled out a thick stack of documents and handed them over, startling Hermione.
She instinctively covered her mouth, staring at Marshall as if he were absolute scum.
"If I remember correctly, in the story you just told, you'd only known Miss Kaoru for a very short time—something like meeting her the day before yesterday?"
If that timeline was correct, then Marshall had been dumped yesterday. So where did this thick pile of information come from? Weren't they supposed to have met by chance? You scumbag!
Seeing the look in Hermione's eyes turn dangerous, Marshall immediately shoved the blame elsewhere.
"It wasn't me! Allen had someone collect this information after the incident that day. I swear to Merlin, I really didn't know her before that!"
Very good—the suspicious gaze instantly shifted, and the blame landed squarely on Allen's head.
"I didn't know Miss Kaoru either," Allen explained with a bitter smile, his expression utterly sincere. "To be honest, before she came looking for trouble this afternoon, I knew nothing—not even about the rumors. Otherwise, I'd rather take a beating and run than get involved in this mess."
He earned a fresh round of eye-rolls, and the investigation continued.
Hermione lowered her head and began reading through the documents. Very quickly, however, her expression became the most eye-catching sight in the entire tent.
Aside from Allen and Marshall, no one knew why—because, out of consideration for Miss Kaoru, the contents of the file hadn't been made public.
Clearly, Hermione had been utterly shocked by Miss Kaoru's almost legendary experiences.
Hermione's own academic journey was already impressive by most standards, but compared to Miss Kaoru's glorious record, it still fell short. After all, Hermione was only in her second year—and thanks to Allen's intervention, that batch of Polyjuice Potion had yet to be brewed.²
Watching Hermione go from slightly open-mouthed surprise, to outright amazement, and finally to eyes shining with admiration, Allen suddenly felt a very bad premonition.
Don't tell me she's getting completely won over…
Hermione had always admired legendary figures. Even a fraud like Lockhart could win her over with his books. Of course, that wasn't her fault. Other authors fabricated their stories outright—Lockhart at least conducted "field interviews," producing firsthand material. His professionalism was exemplary. Aside from changing the protagonist's name, everything else was real; even experts couldn't find fault with it. After putting in that much effort to deceive people, it was perfectly normal for an inexperienced young girl to admire him.³
So, given that personality, it was only natural for Hermione to feel admiration when faced with such achievements from someone of the same gender.
But this couldn't go on like this!
You're on our side! If you defect, what are we even playing for anymore?!
Fortunately, Hermione proved reliable at the critical moment. Though her gaze toward Marshall carried a few extra layers of disdain, she didn't turn around and leave. Clearly, she intended to help Allen and the others resolve the issue first before addressing anything else.
Still, she didn't immediately question Marshall. Instead, she turned to Allen.
"This information… it's real?"
Allen nodded with a bitter smile. Yes—it was real.
Her doubt was understandable. According to the file, aside from being a bit violent, Miss Kaoru was practically flawless. Her conduct wasn't off-putting, and she came across as remarkably capable. Yet none of it made her seem like the kind of person who would get entangled in this kind of affair.
And so, under everyone's gaze, Marshall was stabbed straight through the heart.
Hermione tilted her head, propping her cheek up with one finger. The puzzled look on her face was undeniably cute—but her words were lethally sharp.
"If all of this is true… then how exactly did she end up liking you?"
One thousand points of true damage.
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