The Bard at Hogwarts

Since Halloween, rumors in the castle have been buzzing like mosquitoes in midsummer, making Hermione very annoyed.

And the cause of all this is the pumpkin carriage at the dinner.

As a leader of Slytherin, Ino's popularity in the castle is unimaginable. Not only because of his handsome appearance and outstanding talent, but also because of the long report in the Daily Prophet.

This is like hype and celebrity effect, which makes people follow the crowd.

Therefore, with these conditions combined, Swinburne finally became the white moonlight in the hearts of girls.

But all this has become the source of Hermione's troubles. Her relationship with Ino has been maliciously misinterpreted by many people, and even evolved into twelve different versions.

The most annoying one is the disgusting love potion version.

"Don't let me find out who is behind this..." Hermione thought fiercely.

She doesn't like being secretly talked about, and she doesn't like the envious or jealous eyes of those who don't know the truth.

Unwarranted speculation and discussion always seem boring.

Today, Sirius's letter became the best opportunity. Since there are so many people who are interested, she will use her actions to explain it.

Hermione held the letter in her hand, walked through the long corridor, and walked downstairs one floor at a time along the moving stairs.

Similarly, Harry and Ron followed quietly behind her.

"She really went alone, or we should stop her." Harry couldn't help but look around.

After entering the basement of the castle, there were very few people from other colleges around, and the people coming and going were all green Slytherins.

"Don't worry, there won't be a fight!" Ron said confidently, and there was always a kind of excitement in his eyes about participating in a big event.

"But..." Harry hesitated a little, always feeling something was wrong.

"There really can't be a fight!" Ron turned his head and looked at Harry with burning eyes.

"Slytherin is not stupid, at most it's just verbal squeeze, if you really want to fight, then you'll put Ino on the fire and push him out."

"Then let's do it?" Harry was a little confused.

At first, I thought I was trying to dissuade Hermione, but then I thought I was helping her fight. Now, I don't even want to fight.

"Let's help Hermione!" Ron made the final decision.

...

At the same time.

Hermione had already arrived at the corridor on the first floor below ground, which was the only way to the Slytherin common room.

Perhaps, as Ron said, Slytherin would not produce stupid people. Even someone like Goyle would not take the initiative to cause trouble without instructions.

After turning a corner, Hermione walked along the corridor step by step.

Most of the Slytherins who passed by along the way responded with curious and inquiring eyes.

This also included the Quidditch captain, the seventh-year repeater Marcus Flint. The tall figure was standing in the corridor with a playful look on his face. Not only did he not make any extra moves, he even took the initiative to move aside to make way.

...

Slytherin's female dormitory.

As the two first-year girls informed her, Daphne stood up suddenly, as if she felt something was wrong, and sat down quietly with a guilty look on her face.

"Don't you care?" Sitting on the chair, Daphne still turned her head with some resentment.

"What do you want me to do?" Pansy took the initiative to put down the book in her hand. The cover was the famous ancient Greek history book "The Persian War".

"Daphne! We should avoid responding to everything. Besides, I don't want you to follow me forever, because I may not lead the way, so you should make your own decisions on some things."

After saying this lightly, Pansy picked up the book on the table again.

Facing Pansy's clear attitude, Daphne hesitated and looked in the direction of the door.

After a long while, she gritted her teeth and walked out the door.

...

Slytherin common room.

Draco sat on the sofa absent-mindedly, but his ears were always shaking slightly unconsciously.

Whenever there was a movement at the exit of the girls' dormitory, he would always subconsciously scan his sight.

As footsteps came again, although he didn't see Pansy, Daphne, who was expressionless, seemed to be the same.

Without hesitation, Draco stood up and walked out first. He didn't plan to look for Ino, and he couldn't find him in such a big castle.

In fact, even if he knew where he was, he wouldn't do such a stupid thing.

Adding fuel to the fire is what fools do. Smart people will only remove the fire source below and let all conflicts dissipate into nothingness.

Leaving the common room, Draco walked straight to the Potions Office.

Even when he passed Harry and Ron behind him, he didn't stop to take a second look.

...

The corridor on the first floor below the castle.

Looking at the silent Slytherins around.

Hermione also had some regrets, not because of fear, but because of inappropriate behavior.

After calming down, she found that this was a unilateral and subjective declaration. Although it could vent a breath, it might also make Ino feel disgusted.

Just when Hermione was hesitating whether to return.

The entrance to the Slytherin common room was opened again.

This time, a blonde girl came out, with delicate skin like a porcelain doll.

Seeing that it was not the familiar black-haired girl, Hermione did not pay much attention to it, but turned around and walked to the other side.

Although this was a bit anticlimactic and might even be laughed at.

But she didn't care about any comments from others, she only cared about Ino's opinion.

"You're leaving now? I thought you were so powerful." Daphne suddenly blocked her way.

The sweet and indifferent voice, coupled with the ever-present smile, always gave people a vague sense of danger.

Facing the obvious provocation, Hermione took a deep breath and calmed down a little.

"Are you talking to me? If so, please call me Miss Granger. After all, politeness is a person's basic upbringing."

"Oh? Miss Granger?" Daphne chuckled: "As far as I know, the founder of the Extraordinary Potion, Mr. Hector Dagworth Granger, has no daughter. If she is an illegitimate daughter, just pretend I didn't say anything."

To be honest, this remark is already full of aggression. Being suspected of an illegitimate child in England is a great insult.

Daphne said it anyway, and she said it with reason and evidence, and even her tone showed a state of questioning, as if she really didn't know.

With beautiful facial features and an innocent expression, if any boy changed to Daphne, he would believe it without hesitation.

Hermione looked calmly at the girl who blocked her way.

After a brief confrontation, she roughly understood the other party's intention, provoking and trying to anger her.

Although she didn't understand what the other party had done, she didn't intend to fulfill the other party's wish.

"I suggest you spend more time in the library, so that your vision will not be limited to the British Isles wizarding world."

As she spoke, Hermione stretched out her slender palm, and under the gaze of everyone, she gently brushed away the slightly messy hair on her forehead, and then slowly brushed it behind her ears.

"The noisy toad at the bottom of the well will never know how vast the world outside is. Even when it rains outside, it will naively think that all the rain comes from the well."