After listening to Harvey's story, Hermione quickly waved her hands, gracefully indicating that no thanks were necessary.
Then, staring intently at Harvey with her beautiful green eyes, she asked with a look of anticipation, "Can you take me to see that world?"
Harvey shook his head and said, "Sorry, we haven't learned magic yet. Going to that world rashly is simply too dangerous. It's best if we wait until we've learned magic, and then I'll take you to explore that new world."
"Learned magic?" Hermione acutely caught the key phrase in his sentence.
"Are you saying we can learn magic? Like... the magic of the legendary wizard Merlin?" Hermione was somewhat in disbelief.
Harvey deliberately spoke in a mysterious tone, "Of course. I believe you've also noticed your own abnormalities. That's the phenomenon of accidental magic that every wizard experiences in their childhood."
At this point, Hermione was very convinced that Harvey was telling the truth, because she indeed had traits that were different from ordinary people.
Her gaze drifted as she fell into her memories, murmuring, "When I was seven, I discovered I could make objects float, but this ability is very inconsistent."
"And up until now, I haven't succeeded for a long time. But just now, I succeeded again..."
Listening closely, Harvey noted the specific timing of 'just now'.
Harvey said somewhat uncertainly, "What you're saying... it's very likely that my accidental magic acted up just now. Does this mean I have magical talent too?"
"That's great!"
By the end of his sentence, his expression was clearly joyful.
Hermione asked in a confused manner, "You only have magical talent if you experience accidental magic? Doesn't everyone have that?"
"Of course not!" Harvey patiently explained to her, "In the magical world, those without magic are called Muggles. You only have the potential to become a wizard if you have magical talent!"
Hermione asked, half-understanding, "Muggle? I've only heard of pumpkins and watermelons. Are Muggles edible?"
Harvey didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he explained, "It's a specific term for ordinary people without magical talent."
"In the magical world, there are many other special terms."
"For example, the derogatory term 'Mudblood', which specifically refers to wizards born to Muggle families."
"There are also 'Squibs', which refers to people born into wizarding families who lack magical talent."
"'Death Eaters' specifically refers to the followers of the Dark Lord."
"'You-Know-Who'. Because speaking the Dark Lord's name can be detected by a certain tracking magic, the magical community generally uses 'You-Know-Who' to refer to him."
"There are many other weird and specific terms in the magical world. You can slowly learn about them through a few magical encyclopedias, like Hogwarts: A History and Modern Magical History..."
Hermione listened with rapt attention and asked with a face full of curiosity, "Who is this Dark Lord? You can't even say his name?"
Harvey deliberately adopted a cautious attitude, carefully scanning their surroundings.
On the cream-colored walls of the room hung a few of Hermione's childish oil painting doodles. The wool carpet on the floor was soft, comfortable, and spotless without a speck of dust.
The gentle afternoon sunlight filtered through the curtains, shining on several cute dolls on the bedside table.
The decorations in Hermione's room hid a young girl's innocence and romance everywhere.
Harvey scanned the room back and forth, as if confirming there were no eavesdroppers, until he had completely whetted her appetite before feigning a look of difficulty:
"I can't say. Even though the Dark Lord has fallen, his name is an absolute untouchable taboo in the magical world! Unless..."
Sure enough, Hermione's curiosity was piqued, and she pressed, "Unless what?"
Harvey pointed to his own cheek and leaned in closer again, until he could clearly see the fine peach fuzz on Hermione's exquisite face.
"Unless you kiss me, then I'll tell you the Dark Lord's secret!"
Hermione's pretty face instantly flushed red. Somewhat annoyed, she reached out and pushed Harvey's face away. The force was neither heavy nor light; she was probably more shy than angry.
"I'm not going to kiss you! Mom says kissing is something only lovers can do."
Harvey put on the most sincere attitude of his life and started to bluff, "There is a very miraculous spell in the magical world called the Fidelius Charm."
"The way this spell works is that the caster hides a secret within someone's soul, and this person becomes the Secret-Keeper."
"As long as the Secret-Keeper doesn't voluntarily reveal it, even the most powerful wizard cannot discover this secret. Even if other people see the place where the secret is hidden with their own eyes, they will remain oblivious to it."
"And the only way to break this spell is to kiss the Secret-Keeper on the cheek. Then the Secret-Keeper will involuntarily blurt out the secret!"
Hermione listened, dumbfounded. Harvey's words were logically sound, and knowing nothing about magic, she couldn't find any flaws.
"But... is this really the only way?"
She hesitated, she actually hesitated!
This meant there was a chance!
Harvey struck while the iron was hot, pretending not to care as he said, "Oh, if you don't want to know the Dark Lord's secret, then forget it."
"After all, this secret really isn't suitable for too many people to know. It's a secret that concerns the safety of the entire magical world!"
Hearing this, Hermione's curiosity tickled her heart, and her face was full of hesitation.
Giving a kiss shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Anyway, doesn't she often kiss her dad and mom?
Besides, cheek-kissing is a common greeting...
Barely finding a reason to convince herself, Hermione gritted her teeth, aiming for Harvey's delicate face, wanting to quickly plant a stamp and be done with it.
Harvey seized the moment and deliberately turned his head.
Hermione had no time to react. For the first time in her life, she hated Newton's First Law of Motion so much. Under the effect of inertia, they kissed right on the lips.
"Mmph..."
With eyes full of panic, Hermione struggled and pushed Harvey away.
Harvey looked like a prankster who had succeeded, laughing loudly and deliberately teasing:
"So sweet, and it even has the strawberry scent of the post-meal dessert. Aren't you afraid of getting cavities from eating so much fruit?"
Hermione covered her burning face with her small hands, so shy that she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. But thinking that the culprit was right in front of her, still daring to mock her so brazenly...
Having seen her mother deal with her annoying father plenty of times, Hermione, self-taught, reached over and gave Harvey's waist a vicious pinch!
"Hiss... Ouch!"
Harvey let out a miserable shriek.
The little girl's resentful strike hurt so much that it brought tears to his eyes.
Seeing Harvey clutching his waist and looking like he was in agony, Hermione let out a delicate snort and said triumphantly, "Let's see if you ever dare to mess with me on purpose again!"
"One day, I'll let you know about a kind of pain called childbirth..." Harvey swore to himself.
Now that she had calmed down, Hermione's intellect reclaimed the high ground. Her exquisite eyelashes fluttered as she said with some suspicion, "Don't tell me the secret you mentioned is also a lie?"
Harvey stretched out his nasal tone, acting mysterious, "Of—course not! I do indeed know certain unspeakable secrets."
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, narrowed her eyes slightly, and glared at Harvey with ill intent, threatening, "If you don't spit out the secret right now, hmph..."
"I surrender!" Harvey raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.