Chapter 564: Darren Is Too Weak?!!
"What did you say to Darren? What do you mean by not disliking you for being too weak? Especially Darren—does he really count as weak?"
Ron was speechless.
He felt that the two of them were clearly pretending, but Harry and Darren refused to admit it.
"Well then, everyone's happy. Darren and you will teach us," Ron said cheerfully.
Before he could finish, Hermione interrupted him.
She said rather awkwardly, "Actually… it's not just me and Ron. There are quite a few people who want to listen to Darren—cough—to both of your lessons."
"When they heard my proposal, they all signed up. They said they were planning to gather at Hogsmeade, so they could—"
"I'm sorry, Darren. I was just thinking about helping more people," Hermione said hesitantly.
Darren sighed. He already knew this would happen.
After all, in the original timeline, Hermione had gathered a large group to form Dumbledore's Army—people who would later fight against Voldemort.
He had thought that with his involvement, he might only need to teach Hermione.
But it still ended up like this.
Fortunately, he had the excuse of being in poor spirits, so he could act as an assistant rather than the main instructor.
That was what Darren thought.
However, when Sunday came and they arrived at Hogsmeade, he realized just how optimistic that thought had been.
Hermione said they would meet at the Hog's Head.
When they entered the Hog's Head, there was already a witch sitting inside. Darren recognized her at once—Umbridge.
She had heard about Hermione's recruitment and had come specifically to spy.
Of course, with a veil on her face and a cloak over her body, it was almost impossible to recognize her as Umbridge.
The owner of the Hog's Head was a grumpy old man with gray hair and a gray beard.
When he saw so many people entering at once, he cleared his throat unhappily.
"What do you want?"
"Three butterbeers," Hermione said.
Then she looked at Darren.
Darren hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll have a glass of juice."
"..."
"Go inside and drink juice," the old man muttered.
At that moment, his gaze fell on Darren, and he showed a shocked expression.
Darren suspected that Dumbledore had said something to Aberforth, but there was no proof. Whether there was proof or not didn't matter.
He simply pretended not to know Aberforth and acted as if they were strangers.
"Juice."
Aberforth finally moved his gaze away from Darren.
He found a relatively clean cup, rinsed it, and poured Darren a glass of juice.
Then he turned to Hermione and Harry.
He grabbed three random cups, poured three butterbeers, placed them together on a tray, and handed them over perfunctorily.
Darren glanced at Harry's cup. He had no idea how long it had been since it was last washed.
He definitely wouldn't drink from that.
Fortunately, Aberforth hadn't given him that cup.
Otherwise, Darren would have had to clean it on the spot, which would have been far too awkward.
Darren took his cup and sipped the juice. The taste wasn't bad.
At the same time, he observed the entire bar. After all, this was a location described in the original story.
He still thought that, like in the book, only a little over twenty people would attend.
Ten minutes later, he was so shocked that his cup nearly slipped from his hand.
"Boss, let me count—get me eighty-nine butterbeers!"
Fred said with a grin.
Then he handed out butterbeer to everyone.
"Oh, and chip in a bit. I don't have the money to pay for so many people!"
Darren and Harry stared at Hermione in disbelief. This was what she meant by "some people"?
Was this really not a crowd?
"I told everyone," Hermione said carefully to Darren, "but they all insisted on coming. I couldn't stop them."
When Darren looked around, nearly eighty percent of them were girls.
It seemed Hermione had dragged in almost every girl in the castle except Slytherin.
The girls chattered excitedly, all glancing at Darren.
For the first time, Darren felt that having too many girls was not a good thing.
He now felt like a sheep on display—weak, helpless, and pitiful.
Aberforth was also stunned.
He mechanically poured butterbeer, as if his mind had gone blank.
Even Umbridge stirred slightly.
She clearly hadn't expected Darren and Harry to be this popular in the school.
Darren sat innocently in a corner, trying to make himself invisible. Harry's face was red.
He sat next to Darren and whispered, asking why so many girls were staring at him.
He looked extremely uncomfortable.
Darren gave him an awkward smile. If Harry was happy, that was fine.
But even so, Harry was still at a loss. He looked at Hermione.
"What exactly did you promise them? Don't tell me you said Darren and I would tell heroic stories?"
Hermione shook her head quickly.
"...No. Forget it, I'll talk to them."
Hermione stood up.
She said nervously, "Thank you all for coming. I believe Voldemort has returned—"
"No, I don't believe that," a boy shouted. "I just heard you'd teach us more spells!"
"Then leave!"
Fred roared.
The boy muttered indignantly, but still didn't leave.
Harry whispered to Darren, "That's Michael Corner. He used to hate you the most. I don't know why he came this time."
Darren looked at Michael in confusion. When had he made enemies?
He was clearly such a little Holy Father, never retaliating against others.
Then he noticed Michael's obsessive gaze toward Ginny.
Darren immediately understood.
A love rival.
He quietly memorized Michael's name, planning a bit of revenge when he had time.
Hermione continued, "Anyway, we need to learn how to protect ourselves. In this environment, you wouldn't really wait for Umbridge to conquer you with theory, would you?"
"But you're about to take the O.W.L. exams," Michael said again. "Do you really have time to teach us? Or are you willing to waste it on us?"
He looked directly at Darren, suspicion written on his face.
Darren smiled and said calmly, "I swear on my honor that we will teach. If anyone doubts my guarantee, they can speak up now."
The room fell silent.
Hermione laughed softly.
"That settles it. Let's move on to the next issue."
"No, I still have a question," someone said. "You're the ones taking O.W.L.s. We haven't even reached that stage yet. Why should we start learning now?"