[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]
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Ron and Neville, having received their new wands, made significant progress in Transfiguration and Charms.
In particular, Ron's performance in Transfiguration was praised by Professor McGonagall. Furthermore, Harry was also commended for his concern for his peers and his ability to observe and identify problems.
Over the next two months, Ron experienced the joy of learning like never before. Neville also excelled in all his subjects, which was quite rare.
Then, something embarrassing happened.
Harry was the one who fell behind his friends.
It wasn't because his performance in classes had been poor; on the contrary, Harry had always done well in his studies. However, he had a course that he essentially had to learn on his own: Potions.
As the difficulty of the course increased, it became more and more challenging for Harry to study alone, even with Padma's patient tutoring. Though Padma was an excellent student, she was still just a student and couldn't replace a professor.
This difficult subject put a lot of pressure on Harry to study, and there were even moments when Ron and Neville helped Harry with his studies.
As a result, Harry's relationship with Ron and Neville grew stronger, gradually surpassing his bond with Hermione, who had also known them since the beginning and had shared many experiences with them.
This wasn't to say there was any issue with Harry's friendship with Hermione, but mainly because Hermione's old problem had resurfaced.
The semester after Christmas is approximately the same length as the one before, just over three months. After that comes the Easter holiday.
After the Easter break, there was still over a month until the end of June, when the final exams at Hogwarts would begin.
At this point, Easter break hadn't yet arrived, which meant there were still over two months until the final exams. The professors hadn't even finished the courses, they usually do so before Easter break, allowing time to help students consolidate what they've learned that semester before preparing for the final exams.
But in this case, Hermione was already planning her revision.
This was simply awful! What was even more terrifying was that Hermione not only had to revise frantically on her own but also had to drag Harry and the other two into it.
It was a bit painful. Although Harry and the other two could be considered some of the best students in Gryffindor, they couldn't keep up with Hermione's pace.
But Hermione was extremely strict and would criticize them at any moment, so it was inevitable that Harry and the others started to drift away from her.
Fortunately, this period didn't last long, as the Easter holiday soon arrived.
Before that, Harry had been looking forward to such a long break during Easter.
But when the professors announced the assignments, Harry was shocked. He and Ron calculated the amount of homework. Unless someone was exceptionally hardworking and worked late into the night every day, at least 80% of their vacation would be spent on homework.
Of course, if students helped each other, the time could be reduced, but it was still an overwhelming amount of work.
Students from second year and above seemed used to it, and although they complained, it wasn't particularly strong.
The first-year students weren't prepared for this, the amount of homework given during Christmas had given them a false sense of security. With the exception of the top students in Ravenclaw and Hermione, there was no real reaction, Hermione even showed a small, secret joy.
This led Ron to ask Harry and Neville, in particular, if there was something wrong with that girl. Apart from Hermione and the others, the first-year students were all in tears.
"No wonder Fred and the others didn't come home during the Easter holidays," Ron said with a strange but polite smile as he looked at the homework list, though tears were already welling up in his eyes.
"Then we have to hurry. There are only ten weeks until the exams. Just ten weeks. For Nicolas Flamel, it's just a blink of an eye," Hermione once again expressed her dissatisfaction with Harry and the others' casual attitude.
"But, Hermione..." Neville said carefully, "We're not over 600 years old... Right, I'll start revising right now, right now."
The second half of Neville's original statement was strangled in his throat by Hermione's harsh look, and he obediently began to recite his homework.
Although Neville's magic had reached a good level, and his memory had greatly improved, his reasoning skills had also become much stronger. If it had been before, he definitely wouldn't have been able to say the same rebuttal he had just given.
But he was still a bit soft-hearted and got scared when Hermione looked at him like that.
Harry wanted to laugh at Neville, but when Hermione's eyes scanned him, he froze and lowered his head to obediently continue reading.
Only Ron wasn't convinced. Hermione then asked a few questions about the History of Magic. Ron, who initially thought he had studied well, couldn't answer any of them and had no choice but to lower his head and begin studying desperately.
So, Harry and his three friends spent nearly every day afterward in the library.
It was during this time that they encountered someone in the library they had never seen before.
"Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Ron looked at Hagrid, who was nearly as tall as the library shelves, with a stunned expression on his face and said, surprised.
Harry, who had been dazed from reciting the textbook, blinked for a moment before lifting his gaze. When he saw that it was really Hagrid, he wore the same surprised expression as Ron.
It was like seeing a large cat in a mouse's nest.
Hagrid, wearing a moleskin coat, was certainly out of place in the environment and atmosphere of the library.
He seemed a little embarrassed when Ron discovered him, and when he was called out, he almost instinctively tried to hide. But it was obvious that, given his size, it was impossible to conceal his silhouette unless he mingled with a group of elephants.
The library shelves didn't offer adequate cover.
Harry and the others found it very interesting to see him like this because it seemed that Hagrid was hiding something behind his back.
"I'm just taking a look around." Seeing that all four of them were focused on him, Hagrid seemed to realize he couldn't escape and reluctantly spoke, offering a very shallow explanation.
His eyes were distant, and his voice lacked confidence.
Harry was familiar with that feeling. Neville used to speak like that. He was always worried about having done something wrong, so he always felt guilty.
Hagrid would never be in the same situation as Neville, so there was only one possibility, Hagrid was lying or, at least, intentionally hiding something.
Noticing the suspicious looks from Harry, Hagrid quickly tried to change the subject: "Why are you all in the library? The weather's so nice today. Are you still looking for information on Nicolas Flamel?"
Obviously, Hagrid wasn't good at changing the subject. As soon as he said that, he regretted it a little, and an expression of remorse appeared on his face. He shouldn't have said that.
"Hey, we've known who he is for ages," Ron said proudly, speaking excitedly. "Not only do we know who he is, but we also know what his dog is guarding. Hehe, it's the Philosopher's Stone."
"Bah!" Hagrid, apparently slipping, stepped forward and covered Ron's mouth.
Ron's voice hadn't been particularly loud, in fact, he had intentionally lowered it.
Apart from a few, no one else noticed. Instead, it was Hagrid's actions that caught the attention of a few students farther away. But since everyone at school knew that Harry and his friends had a good relationship with Hagrid, most of them just gave a quick glance and went back to their business.
"Hagrid, if you don't let go, Ron's going to suffocate," Harry said sincerely and seriously, looking at Ron, then back at Hagrid.
Hagrid covered Ron's mouth with his hand, but his hand was so large that it covered Ron's entire face.
Of course, Ron had to struggle, but with his small arms and legs, how could he escape the strange strength of Hagrid? In fact, Hagrid didn't even feel Ron's struggles.
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Hagrid said, reacting quickly and releasing his hand while apologizing.
As soon as Ron was released, he collapsed into a chair, gasping for air.
Hagrid looked around carefully to ensure no one was paying attention and then whispered, "Don't joke around, no one else can hear this. Merlin, what the hell do you want to do?"
"Well, thinking about it, we have something to ask you..." Harry rolled his eyes and decided to find something to temporarily escape the grueling revision work. "Regarding the protection of the Philosopher's Stone, apart from Fluffy, is there anyone else..."
"Tsk!" Hagrid silenced them again, but this time, he didn't cover Harry's mouth.
After looking around to confirm no one was paying attention to them, he lowered his voice and said to Harry:
"Listen, you can come to me later, but remember, I didn't agree to tell you anything. But you can't discuss this here anymore. Ah, the students can't know about this. If they find out I told you, ah, what a mess."
"Okay, see you later," Harry agreed immediately.
Except for Hermione, who frowned slightly and seemed a bit hesitant, Ron and Neville appeared relieved. Well, everyone was feeling a bit overwhelmed with Hermione's intense revision, so the chance to "skip class" for a while was a good thing anyway.
Besides, they were genuinely interested in the Philosopher's Stone. Even though Snape hadn't made any moves since Christmas, many people still couldn't help but think about him.
It would be wonderful if they could escape Hermione's grasp and learn more about the Philosopher's Stone.
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