harry potter book of crimes

"Who's there!"

Through the dense and manic snow curtain, Hermione raised her voice and asked the question again.

But maybe it was because the strong wind at a high place carried away the sound, or maybe it was because the other party still didn't want to respond, so she still didn't get any answer this time.

She could only confirm that the figure standing on the edge of the tower against the wind and snow had indeed turned around.

So, what is the reason that makes a person stand silently in the extremely cold snow so late at night?

Hermione, who was even more vigilant, clenched the handle of the wand in her hand, and walked out of the stairs under the trap door in the strong wind and snow. Although the snowflakes made her almost unable to open her eyes, she still took one step.

Walk forward.

But Hermione seems to have forgotten that isn't she also a "suspicious person" wandering around late at night?

And when she came not far in front of the other person, she slowly stopped. At that moment, she found that she could finally see the other person's face clearly.

However, it was only then that Hermione realized that she didn't seem to recognize this... woman.

"You...who are you?"

To be honest, this is the third time she has asked similar questions.

Fortunately, the other party finally spoke.

"Hello, my name is Miriam...and you?"

Yes, the one who ran up to the tower to "find some coolness" in the middle of the night was none other than Miriam, who had just stayed at Hogwarts to seek shelter not long ago.

And when she spoke, Hermione immediately felt a mature charm.

To be honest, Miriam's appearance is by no means extremely beautiful, but if paired with her cold temperament and proud figure, she is really charming.

Girls like Hermione who are still growing up are naturally a little more youthful, but they often lose a little charm accordingly.

"I am Hermione Granger, a student of Gryffindor House..." She replied subconsciously, then shook her head and said, "No, I want to say - you are not from our school.

Right? Why do you appear in this place at this time?"

"Oh...I'm afraid I can't tell you this," Miriam pushed back her wind-blown hair and explained calmly, "I can only say that I am staying at Hogwarts.

Yes, your principal, Ms. Minerva McGonagall, also knows."

"Yeah?"

Hermione looked at Miriam up and down doubtfully, not sure whether she should believe it or not.

"Then...why did you come to the top of the astronomy tower so late? Even if you can't sleep and want to see the stars, you have to choose a clearer day, right?"

Of course her question was very reasonable.

After all, even she was just wandering around in the corridors of the castle in the dark, and would never want to run outside in such a blizzard for no reason.

But I don't know if Hermione's words touched any nerve in Miriam, but she saw the other party suddenly frowned, and a trace of heaviness appeared in the corners of her eyes unconsciously.

On the other hand, Hermione seemed to have become particularly sensitive because of Maka's quiet departure. So when she saw Miriam's expression changed slightly, her hand holding the handle of the wand tightened again.

It seemed as if whenever the other party made any unusual move, she would immediately throw a magic spell at him with her backhand.

But soon, Miriam suddenly sighed softly. As soon as the inaudible sigh came out, it was roughly swept away by the wind, leaving Hermione only able to find a trace of unknown complexity on her face.

.

"It's nothing," Miriam said slowly, "I just don't know why, I was suddenly awakened by a chaotic nightmare, and then I felt as if I had inadvertently lost something important... This kind of uneasiness made me

I couldn’t fall asleep anymore, so I just wanted to come out and regain my composure.”

"Lost something important?"

Hermione repeated her words blankly, and in a daze, she couldn't help but feel a sense of empathy in her heart.

"Um."

Miriam responded casually, but the next second she smiled self-deprecatingly.

"No, if I have to say it, what other 'important things' do I have to lose?"

The only childhood friend she once had was probably dead, and Grandpa Raven, who had raised her up, had completely disappointed her. Now, she had literally nothing, so what else could make her feel so uneasy?

She originally planned to find a place to guard Asaph's grave and grow old quietly after asking Maka to help her retrieve Asaph's body.

In this way, she can not only live up to Asaph, who once sacrificed his life to protect her, but also watch this colorful world for a few more years on Asaph's behalf, which makes her very satisfied.

However, the inexplicable uneasiness and anxiety at that time seemed so strong. It made her, who had never believed in premonitions, feel that something was wrong.

"...I feel like something bad really happened."

After a while, Miriam specifically added.

But to be honest, the last thing Hermione wanted to hear right now was the words "bad things".

When she thought that Maka was leaving tonight, she couldn't make up her mind. But now that she heard Miriam say this, her attention that was finally distracted was instantly pulled back to the starting point.

Forcibly suppressing the tangle in her heart, Hermione rubbed her cheek, which was a little sore from the cold.

"Since you are a guest, it doesn't matter. There are actually quite a lot of guests these days. But it's so late now and it's so cold outside, so you should go back to your room and continue to sleep..."

At this point, she paused for a moment and then added: "...Well, the corridors and stairs in the castle are a bit complicated. Where is your room? I can send you there."

Although Hermione had already somewhat believed Miriam's statement, it would be even more reassuring if she could confirm the specific address.

Of course, it was normal for an impromptu statement like Hermione's to be rejected directly. But for Miriam, she nodded quickly.

"Oh, that's fine! Could you please—um, Miss Granger?"

"Just call me Hermione."

Hermione smiled, but because most of her face was frozen stiff, the smile looked somewhat embarrassing.

From this point, we can see some differences between the two. Because Miriam, who stood much longer than Hermione in the ice and snow, still looked calm, as if she didn't feel the cold at all.

Watching Miriam pass by her and walk calmly towards the stairs, Hermione, who was shrinking from the cold, finally noticed this.

"Did you use some magic spell? Or did you drink some magic potion?" She secretly said with some confusion, "It doesn't look like it?"

While thinking about it, Hermione quickly followed him.

Unfortunately, she originally thought that even if the other party really stayed in Hogwarts, he would only be arranged in the guest room in the main castle. To get there from here, you only need to go down the stairs twice and go through a few corridors.

.

But she didn't expect that Miriam's room was actually on the side of the auxiliary castle, which was mostly unused!

Because the only place where the main and auxiliary castles connect to each other is the corridor behind the foyer on the first floor, they have to go from the astronomy tower to the bottom floor, and then pass all the way through the main castle to reach the auxiliary castle area.

To be honest, Hermione has rarely walked such a long distance since enrolling in Hogwarts!

The two walked in tandem, and after passing through some of the most familiar corridors, the surrounding light seemed to become increasingly scarce as they entered areas rarely visited by people.

It is said that a long time ago, when Hogwarts reached its peak number of students, the castle was also used as a teaching place.

However, most of the time, almost no one goes to the auxiliary fort, which is about half the size of the main fort.

Therefore, a place like this where there is no one and is located inside the entire castle has become the best place for people with sensitive identities to hide.

That's why Maka let Miriam and Ahaz move directly into the vice castle.

"...Is this right here?"

After walking for a while, Hermione found a dusty door according to Miriam's description. Everything here looked a bit old, but because the house elves wouldn't just take care of it just because no one was living there, so

The cleanliness is no less than that of the main castle.

"Well...do you really live here?" She couldn't help but hesitate.

"I know you may think I'm a little suspicious, but it's true." Miriam reached out and pushed the door open, but she didn't make any unnecessary noise.

Ahaz's room was not far away, so she still wanted to avoid waking up the slightly annoying "little guy" as much as possible.

"If you are still worried, please come in and sit for a while! You can take a look at it as you like. When I came, I didn't bring any personal belongings that cannot be seen."

Hearing this, Hermione only hesitated for a moment before decisively walking into the room. When she walked past Miriam, she used the cover of her body to secretly stuff the wand back into her sleeve.

As Miriam said, there is nothing suspicious in this room. Especially, there are small details and traces of daily life everywhere.

"Please sit down and I'll make you a pot of cocoa. I see you're frozen!"

Just as she said that, Miriam walked towards the fireplace and took out her wand to light the firewood inside. Soon, the orange fire made the temperature in the room rise rapidly, and a warmth gradually dissipated He

Min Na's whole body felt cold.

Not long after, when a steaming cup of hot cocoa was delivered to her hands, the warmth that could melt people's hearts immediately made Hermione breathe a sigh of relief.

But the next moment, Hermione was suddenly stunned by the special smell of the steam rising from the cup. (To be continued)