novelraw Chapter 132: Lupin's Interesting Discovery + Goyle's Diary (Part Two)
Chapter 132: Lupin's Interesting Discovery + Goyle's Diary (Part Two)
Draco Malfoy was in a bad mood.
It was no wonder he was disappointed; Hermione's attitude toward him was completely different from what it had been two weeks ago.
The passionate kisses of the past were like a fleeting dream; the cold shoulder of today was the cruel reality.
How had they gotten to this point? Draco had absolutely no idea what the logic behind it was.
All he knew was that he hadn't had a proper conversation with Hermione for about two weeks; she was always avoiding him—in an awkward and clumsy way—which bothered him immensely.
Once, he'd encountered Hermione in the corridor and tried to greet her with a smile, but when she saw him, she suddenly raised the book in her hand, covered her face, and walked away.
"She's avoiding me, isn't she?" he asked Goyle, who was standing next to him, suspiciously.
"Well...maybe she didn't see you..." Goyle said vaguely.
However, in the days that followed, her methods of evasion became increasingly clumsy.
For example, during Herbology, he went to a corner of the greenhouse to get his tools and saw her almost trip over a bag of dragon dung on the ground. Instinctively, he reached out and helped her up, briefly touching the girl he'd been longing for.
The girl, feeling dizzy, turned around to thank him, but as soon as she saw it was him, she immediately stood up straight, pushed him away, dusted herself off, and pretended she hadn't seen anyone.
"Are you blind?" Draco asked with a double meaning, referring both to her almost tripping over the dragon dung because she hadn't seen it, and to her guilty conscience about pretending not to see the living person in front of her.
He immediately regretted uttering that pun.
Why would someone so recklessly equate themselves with "dragon dung"? It's utterly foolish.
Hermione's reaction was anything but ordinary.
She brazenly ignored him! Pretending not to hear Draco's words at all, she continued to disregard him, instead addressing the round-faced, unfortunate boy walking up behind him: "Neville, did you just call me?"
"No! I, I, I didn't call you." Neville looked at the back of Draco's platinum-blond head and inexplicably felt a surge of danger approaching. He left those words behind and wisely slipped away, even abandoning his plan to collect the tools.
"Neville, where's the trowel you went to get?" Susan Bones' voice drifted over from nearby.
"Oh, I'm going to use my hands," Neville said, still shaken, as he diligently used both hands to alternately dig at the soil in the pot.
Draco, watching Hermione's darting eyes, felt a touch of exasperation. "Could you please stop—"
"I think you did speak to me, Neville." Hermione glanced at Draco, then flung her bushy brown hair at his face before quickly walking past him, making a show of saying this to thin air to reinforce her point.
Her fragrant hair was so infuriating! Draco stared at her departing figure, a fleeting twist appearing in his otherwise calm expression.
Her defiant avoidance made Draco restless. This wasn't the shy avoidance she used to have—that had been rather amusing.
Right now, she was genuinely angry with him, and in his opinion, this anger had come on rather inexplicably.
For a moment, he wished he could drag this stubborn girl back, pin her down in the thick, lush umbrella flower bush beside him, and kiss her until she stopped being so insufferable.
He fantasized viciously about doing something drastic to appease her.
"Draco, what are you standing there for?" Harry asked, looking confused as he passed by. "She's already far away."
"Have you realized that Hermione is avoiding me?" he said ominously to Harry. "She's being so ridiculous, isn't she?"
Harry chuckled awkwardly. He glanced at Draco's expression—deciding not to point out that gritting his teeth at the umbrella flower didn't seem like mature behaviour—and asked, "I noticed something was off between you two a few days ago. Did you offend her?"
"She's being completely unreasonable!" Draco said angrily to Harry.
His wariness of certain creatures was not unfounded.
He'd experienced that war in his past life and knew long ago which side giants and werewolves would ultimately choose—a fact that had always troubled him. Hermione's tolerant and kind attitude toward werewolves and giants yielded no reward.
Therefore, he was very wary of them and often tried to persuade her to be more vigilant, fearing that she would take exceptions like Lupin and Hagrid as the norm and regard those cruel villains as good people who could be won over.
If she misused her compassion, trusted someone too easily, and was thus betrayed and fell into a pitiful state, who could save her? Who could guarantee they would always arrive in time to rescue her before she was harmed?
She needed to learn to be more vigilant.
However, Draco hadn't expected that his well-intentioned warning would provoke such a strong reaction from her.
When had he ever shown her the slightest contempt? He was talking about werewolves and giants—so why did she deliberately put herself in the line of fire and insist on associating herself with them?
"Can't you just sincerely apologize to her?" Harry said. "Now she's always glaring at Ron and me, making sure we're doing our homework, or she's constantly pestering me about the golden egg!"
"What exactly is that golden egg of yours—"
"I'm working on it!" Harry said hastily. "And that's not the point! These past few days have been miserable! When you two were on good terms, at least she'd let us play Exploding Snap for a bit—"
"I didn't say anything wrong, why should I apologize?" Draco said angrily. "Besides, I tried to apologize, but she completely ignored me."
Over the past few days, he'd tried to show her kindness many times. But each time, she'd rejected it and started ignoring him further.
"About this—" Harry said quietly, "I did hear her mention it once. She said you didn't realize your mistake at all."
"Of course I don't realize it, because I did nothing wrong!" Draco glared at him.
"It's hard for me to judge without any details. Can you tell me what exactly you two are arguing about?" Harry asked.
"No!" Draco said, neck stiff. Their affair was none of anyone's business; besides, Harry, who was close to Hagrid, would probably side with Hermione more than him, so how could he understand his concerns?
"Your answers are exactly the same," Harry said, clicking his tongue. "Even your expressions are a bit alike."
"You don't understand," Draco said, deep in thought.
"Then let's find someone who does understand and discuss it," Harry said. "This stalemate can't go on."
Draco didn't say anything more. He absentmindedly shoveled soil from the flowerpot, stealing glances at the girl's brown hair, regretting that he hadn't helped her a little longer—even just a second more.
---
The first Hogsmeade weekend of January. Draco was still feeling melancholy because of Hermione.
As he dejectedly stepped into Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, his eyes suddenly lit up. He hadn't been to the shop in a long time and hadn't expected such dramatic change.
The store had been magically expanded. The entire first floor had been doubled in size, with more shelves stacked up to the ceiling. Different types of products were meticulously organised and managed, with several labels flashing in vibrant colours atop the shelves, allowing customers to quickly find items of interest.
There was a magic basket near the entrance. The handle of the basket flashed with the specific price of items placed inside, and there was also a row of constantly changing numbers on the basket's edge, representing the total value of goods inside.
"Lupin came up with this, isn't it brilliant? He borrowed ideas from Muggles," Fred said happily. "It greatly reduced our workload. No one asks us for prices over and over again anymore, and settling the bill is much easier."
"He's a genius," Draco praised.
"And here too!" He led Draco down the stairs, showing him the cellar.
There were more goods piled up here than before, arranged very neatly. It seemed that the space had been greatly expanded. On the other side was a brand-new kitchen, with rows of newly purchased ovens, a long, gleaming table, and several cabinets holding gleaming cups, plates, and bowls.
"Lupin organised it; he would sometimes cook for us," Fred said with reminiscence. "He was a pretty good cook."
"Where is he now?" Draco raised an eyebrow. He was somewhat interested in this skilled craftsman who had transformed Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"He's busy upstairs. Can you go by yourself? I still need to tell Verity something..." Fred said.
Draco nodded and began walking upstairs. With only a few steps left, he could faintly hear the sound of jazz music. Pulling back the curtain at the top of the stairs, the sound grew louder—Lupin's old-fashioned gramophone, which had once been in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, came into view, playing cheerful music in the corner of the workshop.
The workshop, which had once been cramped and dark, had become more spacious and bright than ever before, and had even been systematically divided into several work areas.
Lupin was facing away from the doorway, swaying slightly to the rhythm of the jazz music, waving his wand as he cast a spell on an ornate witch's hat.
He heard a noise at the door, turned around, and saw Draco.
"What a rare guest!" he said with a grin.
Draco nodded slightly, giving him a subtle glance.
He'd gained some weight in his face and was no longer so thin. A magenta shop robe had replaced his old, tattered clothes, and the colour made his previously pale and weak face look rosy and healthy. He looked much younger than when Draco had last seen him.
"How was last week?" Draco asked.
Last week was when Lupin had been taking the Wolfsbane Potion; it must have been a very difficult time for him.
"Fortunately, the potion was very good and relieved a lot of my pain." Lupin flicked his wand and turned the music down a bit. "I have to admit I had some doubts about your potion-making skills before—but as it turns out, appearances can be deceiving."
"Should I thank you for your approval?" Draco smirked, striking a haughty pose. "The kind that's been professionally assessed by patients?"
Lupin sensed Draco's bad mood and didn't react.
He gave the dejected boy a kind look and decided not to bother with his sarcastic remarks. He gestured for Draco to sit down, waved his wand to pour him a Butterbeer, then continued fiddling with the hat, casually asking, "Has that necklace been given away yet?"
"Certainly."
"Does Hermione like it?"
"Of course she likes it—" Draco suddenly realized. "How do you know it was her?"
"I still can't forget your Boggart," Lupin said meaningfully.
"That's an irrefutable reason," Draco said expressionlessly. "I'll say it again: I hate it when people pry into my privacy."
"Merlin's beard, that was a mandatory lesson! Dealing with one's own Boggart is a skill every student must master! I myself don't want to see those things everyone fears," Lupin said helplessly. "How long are you going to hold a grudge about this?"
"A lifetime," Draco said mercilessly.
"A lifetime is too long to promise so lightly." Lupin wore a mysterious smile. "Speaking of which, you two have had a falling out lately, haven't you?"
"And where did you get that information from..." Draco's arrogance subsided, and he muttered to himself.
"George and Fred told me," he said with a smile, raising his glass to Draco. "You have to understand me—I'm really bored being cooped up in the shop all day inventing things. I need to hear Hogwarts news to pass the time."
"I don't like my love life being used as gossip," Draco said sternly, raising his glass as well.
He took a sip of Butterbeer and immediately felt warm.
"This isn't the first time I've seen an arrogant, conceited pure-blood wizard and a proud, stubborn Muggle-born witch fall in love and quarrel." Lupin chuckled, strange glint in his eyes. "To be honest, your little squabbles are nothing to me."
"Really? You think this is just a minor squabble? I'm going mad." Draco absentmindedly fiddled with the glass on the table. "Girls! No matter how much you worry about her, she never appreciates it."
"I smell something bitter," Lupin said with a smile. "Can you tell me what's going on?"
Draco glanced at him and suddenly remembered Harry's words.
Remus Lupin—one of the targets of Hermione's misplaced sympathy—was perhaps one of the few who understood what Hermione was thinking.
Now that he already knew his feelings for Hermione from the Boggart, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
Let's give it a try.
"I told her that giants are dangerous, hoping to warn her; but not only did she disagree with my point of view, she also absurdly concluded that I looked down on Muggle-borns and on her. What kind of baseless accusation is this?" he said coldly.
"I guess you also expressed your dissatisfaction with werewolves," Lupin said casually.
Draco didn't answer. He thought, *What on earth am I doing?* He was in a room with a werewolf, discussing his emotional problems, which stemmed from his utter wariness of giants and werewolves.
A complete mess.
Lupin noticed Draco's slightly stiff expression and gave the boy a forgiving smile. "It's alright—I hate werewolves myself. I was bitten by Fenrir Greyback when I was a child. Nobody hates werewolves more than me."
"I regret bringing this up," Draco said, trying to hide his surprise.
Greyback's doing again.
"Hermione...in some ways, she's a lot like Lily. Intelligent, studious, and kind. She always has a knack for finding the good in others—good that they themselves don't even realize," Lupin said with a smile.
"She really is. Very kind, always thinking the best of people," Draco said softly. "Do you know why I was willing to give you this job?"
Lupin raised his eyebrows. "I've never been able to figure this out."
"Because of Hermione."
"Oh, I see," Lupin said, look of understanding on his face. "She knew I was here—"
"No, she doesn't know. I haven't had a chance to tell her yet."
"Then why were you willing to give me this job directly?"
"As I look at you, I suddenly remember what she said. I once asked her if she was afraid after that terrible night." A smile appeared on Draco's face. "She said, of course she was afraid. But she believed that if there was anyone more afraid than her that night, it must have been you—Professor Lupin."
Lupin showed a look of surprise, and hint of vulnerability.
"She said you must be very afraid of hurting us. When you come to your senses, you'll be very sad if you see what you've done. So, although she's afraid, she won't blame you." Draco continued speaking, staring at the fireplace in the workshop, no longer glancing at Lupin.
"She is very noble," Lupin said softly.
"I would never have such a noble thought. She was just a kind person to the point of being foolish, an idealist to the point of being naive. She awakened the good side of me—which usually lies dormant. She always tried to awaken me from my numbness, the me who was a little better than the Draco Malfoy of the past." Draco stared at a piece of wood in the fireplace, where warm flames danced.
Lupin cleared his throat and said in a hoarse voice, "Oh, that feeling...I think I know it very well too..."
His choked voice puzzled Draco. He glanced at Lupin.
Staring into Lupin's moist eyes, he suddenly realized something. "You liked Lily, didn't you? Just like I like Hermione."
Lupin didn't answer. He took a large gulp of his drink and stared at the fireplace with Draco.
Draco neither expected nor was interested in receiving any answer from him; she remained a constant thought in his mind.
They drank in silence until Draco gave a wry smile. "I've never met anyone like her before. She's completely out of place in the world I know. I'm scared. She's new, exciting, and unsafe to me. I've tried to stay far away from her, but somehow I've gotten closer and closer. I clumsily tried to provoke her, humiliate her, scare her away, or bring out the worst in her. Even just a little bit, as long as she and I had something in common..."
"To provoke her, to humiliate her...that's a bit of a git move," Lupin smiled again. "A childish, arrogant little brat."
"Yes, I've always acted like a git. All the choices I made were wrong. Do you think I wanted this? Nobody told me what was right. By the time I realized it...I'd messed everything up. But then I had a chance, and I finally didn't want to run away anymore. I tried to start over. I tried so hard, so very hard, but I still don't understand her...I don't understand what she's angry with me for." Draco's cold mask cracked, and strands of distress seeped through.
He tapped his glass, performed a Refilling Charm, and silently drank his second Butterbeer.
"I didn't quite understand most of what you just said," Lupin said, scratching his head in a strange tone. "But I do understand one thing. I understand what she's concerned about. She's probably insecure about her Muggle-born identity."
"Absolutely not," Draco said firmly. "I've never met a more confident girl, and I've rarely seen her so upset about something like this..."
"Listen to me—I've been one of your teachers, and I know Hermione is a confident young witch—" Lupin looked at Draco's obedient nod and found it a little funny. "Although she didn't care about this matter at first, she still hears some negative feedback about blood status from time to time in her daily life."
"You mean someone said something to her?" Draco gave him a sharp look.
"It's not that simple. The hurt doesn't just come from direct words, but perhaps from indirect attitudes. You probably don't feel it because you're a pure-blood wizard, one of those Merlin supposedly favours. For us—Muggle-borns, half-bloods, even werewolves—this feeling of being treated differently is subtle. We are constantly affected by the subtle attitudes around us," Lupin said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh, I never thought of it that way. I thought Gryffindor would be more open-minded," Draco said. "At least they wouldn't say or do anything to Muggle-born witches and wizards."
"Every House has enlightened and unenlightened people, pure-bloods and non-pure-bloods. To judge good and evil solely by the House is naive and childish. It wasn't until many years later that I understood this." Lupin laughed sarcastically. "Dark wizards aren't just from Slytherin. Didn't Gryffindor produce Peter Pettigrew?"
"Oh, that's unbelievable," Draco muttered. "I thought you'd be more biased."
"Leaving aside whether I am prejudiced or not, what we need to consider today is whether you yourself harbour prejudice, or even arrogance. I don't think the words of those around you would anger a witch as resolute as Hermione. Rather, it is you—the self-righteous prejudice inherent in your pure-blood upbringing, the habitual arrogance that you inadvertently reveal—will it hurt the heart of a Muggle-born young witch?" Lupin scrutinized Draco's face.
"But I'm stating the truth—"
"Even if what you say is true, such as werewolves being dangerous or giants being ferocious, this attitude still makes people uncomfortable. Especially since she is a sensitive, intelligent, and empathetic young witch—she will care about this. Perhaps she'll wonder if your avoidance attitude will one day be projected onto her."
"Oh—" he said dryly. "She's just being stubborn."
"She might not be so angry if it were a stranger; the more important the person is to her, the more intense her reaction will be."
"Listen to what you're saying! Is there any reason left in you?" Draco's resolve softened, but his words remained sharp. "She should know that's not what I meant!"
"I don't believe you're the only one at Hogwarts who's wary of giants. Why is she only angry with you?" Lupin coaxed patiently—as if they were back in a Hogwarts classroom—the boy before him was his only student at the moment. "She craves your support; she values your understanding. Of course, you don't look down on her, but this can't be resolved by tacit agreement. You need to clearly tell her your thoughts."
"I told her long ago—"
"That's not enough. You need to reassure her again and again when she's doubting you, and emphasize your thoughts again and again, until she stops doubting," Lupin said gently.
Draco secretly took Lupin's words to heart, muttering under his breath, "The way you're talking, like some love guru. You haven't even—have you ever actually been in love?"
"I can't say I understand love very well. But for a time, Harry's mother, Lily, treated Harry's father, James, almost every day with anxiety and anger because of the arrogance he inadvertently displayed when he spoke..." Lupin smiled and said, "They were blinded by their own involvement, but we on the sidelines saw it very clearly. She treated him differently from others. She cared about him too much."
"Really? She's angry with me because she cares about me?" Draco finally smiled.
"You idiot, that's not the point!" Lupin looked at his foolish behaviour with a half-smile, hint of nostalgia in his eyes, and said something he had said years ago. "The point is, you have to apologize right away—for your hurtful arrogance—you have to show your stance, understand her, support her, and never make the same mistake again!"
"I will! I'll go right away!" Draco said, a little embarrassed and annoyed. "How could you call me an idiot? This idiot has to brew your Wolfsbane Potion every month!"
He downed his Butterbeer in one gulp, slammed the empty glass on the workbench, glared at Lupin who was looking on with amusement, and stormed down the stairs to find his Hermione Granger.
George, who happened to be walking upstairs, stared in surprise at Draco's retreating figure and asked in disbelief, "Remus, what's wrong? Did you two have a fight?"
"Quite the opposite. We get along perfectly—I've even discovered some very interesting things." Lupin rubbed his eyes and said to George with a grin, "The frozen serpent of Slytherin, warmed by the lionheart of Gryffindor..."
---
[Goyle's Diary (Part Two)]
Weather on January 1, 1995: Snow
The Christmas holidays are my favorite time of the year!
At this time of year, I can perform my best feat—"devouring a roast turkey in three bites"—at the dining table at home! My parents always have a look that makes them want to cry (actually, they're both amused and exasperated). I guess they're very proud of me!
At this time of year, the dining table at home is usually piled high with roasted meat and boiled potatoes, but unfortunately I don't have much of an appetite today—because the holiday ends today—I was full after eating just one bowl!
My parents seemed relieved. Little did they know that I had secretly eaten a large plate of delicious mini sausages and a big bowl of buttered peas before dinner.
Complete 300 hits on a Bludger at home.
Soon we'll be heading to King's Cross Station to catch the Hogwarts Express back.
I'm not writing anymore. Before I leave, I need to figure out how to mix some braised meat and cranberry sauce with my rice!
Weather on January 2, 1995: Cloudy and unpredictable.
Yesterday evening, when Vincent and I were eating flaming Christmas pudding at the House table, we heard a Christmas horror story: we actually had to do homework during the holidays!
Nott, who happened to be passing by, saw that we looked worried and, for the first time ever, gave us a suggestion.
That night, we cried our eyes out in the common room in front of Draco.
He didn't speak for a long time.
I peeked at him through my fingers and saw that his face was pale, and he was glaring at us fiercely before ordering us to start writing immediately.
We wrote from nine o'clock last night until five in the morning. Finally finished!
While Draco was still catching up on sleep and too tired to get out of bed, Vincent and I secretly ate twenty shiny, fragrant chicken drumsticks at the breakfast table to celebrate that we had handed in our assignment on time.
Draco probably found out about this.
After he finished his Arithmancy and Divination classes, he suddenly and coldly demanded that we run twenty-five laps around the Quidditch pitch.
Why are there five more laps than before?
But neither Vincent nor I dared to argue—we were both a little guilty.
Ran twenty-five laps honestly and completed three hundred Bludger hits.
Weather on January 3, 1995: Light snow
I've discovered a big secret: Draco didn't notice at all that we ate so many chicken legs yesterday!
He was in a bad mood because Granger was ignoring him!
Today, he ran into Granger in the corridor. Granger held up the book in her hand, covered her face, and walked away!
Draco asked me, "She's avoiding me, isn't she?"
Of course I couldn't say anything, I still had a Acid Pop in my mouth!
I could only mumble, "Well...maybe she didn't see you..."
While Draco was in a daze, I quickly swallowed the sweet.
His face was terrifying.
Complete 25 laps of running on time and hit the Bludger 300 times.
Weather on January 5, 1995: Sunny
Today, Granger was carrying her books when she almost got knocked over by a clumsy first-year as she walked around the corner.
However, she didn't fall—because Draco, who was passing by, reached out and caught her.
This coincidence is simply unbelievable!
Vincent said she deliberately fell into Draco's arms, but I don't think so.
Because the next second, her face turned red, she yelled for Draco to let her go, and then she ran away with the books in her arms.
Draco looked smug.
He stared intently at her retreating figure, his platinum-blond hair appearing noticeably shinier.
I guess he's in a good mood today.
In the afternoon, he even had us practice flying broomsticks, saying that we could run five fewer laps in the future!
Run five fewer laps!
Merlin, you must have heard my devout prayers every night.
It's no wonder I've been offering you Fizzing Whizzbees and liquorice wands every day!
May you soon ascend to paradise!
Complete 20 laps of running, 300 Bludger hits, and 30 minutes of flying practice.
—Wait a minute, even though I ran fewer laps, why do I feel even more tired?
Weather on January 6, 1995: Gloomy
Actually, the weather was alright today, but Vincent and I felt a chilly atmosphere at the dinner table.
Looking back, Draco was glaring fiercely in the direction of the Gryffindor table.
"Too close," he muttered, tearing his ham sandwich apart with his fork.
I asked Vincent why Draco was taking his anger out on something as lovely as a ham sandwich—was the ham sandwich at the Gryffindor table more delicious?
Vincent told me it was because a senior Gryffindor boy was talking to Granger and showing all his teeth.
While Vincent was talking, I grabbed an extra sandwich from the bread basket.
Snatched food always tastes better!
Complete 20 laps of running, 300 Bludger hits, and 30 minutes of flying practice.
Weather on January 7, 1995: Sunny
Today is Saturday.
Vincent and I finished running twenty laps, hitting the Bludger three hundred times, and completing thirty minutes of flying practice early in the morning.
Strangely enough, from Monday to Friday, I always feel sleepy and dozing off during morning classes.
I get all energized when I don't have classes on Saturdays and Sundays!
Seriously, I woke up very early this morning and I'm not sleepy at all!
When we returned to Hogwarts Castle in high spirits, Vincent and I heard Draco talking to the Weasley twins in the corridor.
"...Bulbadox Powder looks pretty good. I think you should find a few people to test the effect...like..." Draco's voice was very low, and I didn't hear it clearly.
"...Oh, we've been thinking about doing this since last year..." the twins said to Draco with a grin.
Weather on January 8, 1995: Sunny
While eating our tenth toasted pancake at breakfast today, Vincent and I heard that a boy in Gryffindor had boils all over his body and had been rushed to the Hospital Wing.
Parkinson and Zabini, having nothing better to do than visit the Hospital Wing, returned and laughed hysterically for half an hour in the common room.
"Kenneth Towler is so ugly even his parents wouldn't recognize him!" Parkinson shouted. "I heard him crying and taking off his pyjamas in the Hospital Wing! I bet what you see next is quite something!"
Upon hearing this, Vincent covered his clothes in horror.
Oh, by the way, Kenneth Towler is the Gryffindor boy who spoke to Granger and smiled at her earlier.
I don't know why I brought this up.
Granger seemed completely unaware of this, still glaring at Draco with a defiant air, like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.
She probably had nothing to do with it, right?
Complete 20 laps of running, 300 Bludger hits, and 30 minutes of flying practice.
Weather on January 9, 1995: Cloudy
Complete 20 laps of running, 300 Bludger hits, and 30 minutes of flying practice.
By the way, Gryffindor's Cormac McLaggen was also admitted to the Hospital Wing this evening because of boils all over his body.
I asked Vincent who that was, and Vincent said it was the boy who sat across from Granger this morning and kept making faces at her.
Weather on January 10, 1995: Strange
Patricia Stimpson of Gryffindor was the third person to go to the Hospital Wing because of boils.
This happened so suddenly!
She was perfectly fine at noon today when she loudly proclaimed in the corridor, "Granger is probably brilliant at making Love Potions!"
Parkinson didn't dare go to the Hospital Wing to join the commotion.
She earnestly told us that there might be Doxies in the Gryffindor common room, and that we should stay away from those Gryffindors.
Doxies are quite scary.
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, and complete 30 minutes of flying practice.
Wait! I just brushed past Patricia Stimpson at noon today! Could I have caught Doxies from her?
I went back to my dormitory and took a huge shower.
Weather on January 11, 1995: Cloudy
Thank goodness I didn't get any boils!
It was worth it for me to offer Merlin even more Fizzing Whizzbees and liquorice wands all night!
May Merlin bless you!
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, and complete 30 minutes of flying practice.
Weather on January 12, 1995: Quite bad.
Draco confiscated all the Fizzing Whizzbees and liquorice wands I offered to Merlin this morning!
He wouldn't even listen to my explanation of what they were for!
I looked at the sweets being poured out with a "whoosh" and felt like crying.
They were so beautiful, flowing away like a waterfall.
Oh well!
Complete 20 laps of running, 300 Bludger hits, and 30 minutes of flying practice.
Weather on January 13, 1995: Cloudy
The Doxy problem is getting worse.
They have already spread out of Gryffindor.
Eddie Carmichael of Ravenclaw—the bloke who went to the Gryffindor table yesterday to introduce Granger to "Quidditch tactics"—was the first to suffer.
Hufflepuff's Zacharias Smith—who this morning loudly praised Krum for "how wise it was not to choose a Muggle-born as a dance partner"—followed closely behind.
The Doxies are outrageously rampant!
How did they get from the Gryffindor common room on the eighth floor to the Hufflepuff common room on the ground floor?
The Slytherin common room is probably the last sanctuary at Hogwarts.
Draco seems completely unafraid of being infected with anything from Gryffindor.
He stubbornly sat next to Granger in History of Magic, staring at her side profile intently for the entire lesson, even though she didn't say a word to him or give him a single glance.
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, and complete 30 minutes of flying practice.
Weather on January 14, 1995: Cloudy
Slytherin has fallen too!
It wasn't Draco, but Malcolm Baddock, a first-year student.
That Baddock, all he does is run around recklessly all day—now he's really in big trouble, isn't he?
Come to think of it, he seems to be the same student who almost knocked into Granger at the corner last time.
What should have been a joyous Saturday turned into a day of fear and unease in the Slytherin common room.
Everyone kept their distance from each other, afraid of catching Doxies!
I was a little scared, so I took shower like crazy.
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, and complete 30 minutes of flying practice.
I took another crazy shower.
Got up in the middle of the night and, without Draco's knowledge, started offering Merlin Fizzing Whizzbees and liquorice wands again!
Weather on January 15, 1995: I don't remember.
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, and complete 30 minutes of flying practice.
When Parkinson passed by the Quidditch pitch today, she joked that Vincent's hairstyle looked like a cauldron lid.
Vincent was so angry that his face turned red.
He couldn't stop in time and accidentally crashed into the stands, breaking his arm.
Draco appeared very agitated when he came to check on Vincent's injury.
He scolded Parkinson so badly that Parkinson cried.
Zabini came to confront Draco, wanting him to apologize to his girlfriend.
Draco said he would apologize if Zabini won his Wizard's Chess game.
Zabini lost, of course.
No one at all of Hogwarts has ever beaten Draco!
While they were busy playing chess and didn't pay attention to me, I took out a Cauldron Cake that I had hidden in my trouser pocket for who knows how long and quickly popped it into my mouth!
Weather on January 16, 1995: Cloudy turning sunny
Today I went with Draco to the Hospital Wing to see how Crabbe's arm was recovering, and I found Granger there too!
She was standing indistinctly behind a curtain, seemingly leaning closer to someone.
"Be confident...I think you're very pretty...as long as you get rid of those—" she said with a smile.
"Hermione, who are you talking to?" Draco stormed over and yanked open the curtains.
Behind the curtain was a girl with acne all over her face.
"What are you doing?" the girl said in terror, covering her face.
I know her.
She is Eloise Midgen, who lost her nose while trying to treat acne at the start of the school year.
This was mentioned by Daphne Greengrass in the common room.
Granger glared at Draco, arms crossed. "Close the curtain," she said coldly.
Draco glanced at her, said nothing, and abruptly pulled the curtain shut again.
When he turned around, I saw that he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
As he walked briskly out of the Hospital Wing, I quickly put a bag of nut brittle under Vincent's pillow and told him, "This is my last bag. Eat it and get better soon."
I reluctantly said goodbye to my last bag of nut brittle.
I had been hiding it in a pair of smelly socks, which is why Draco didn't find it. Hehe!
Completed 20 laps of running alone, hit a Bludger 300 times alone, and completed 30 minutes of flying practice alone.
I'm starving.
Weather on January 17, 1995: Cloudy turning to light snow.
Draco is in a bad mood again today.
During Herbology, Granger still didn't give him the slightest bit of a friendly look.
During dinner, he stared blankly at the entrance of the Great Hall, unaware that his goblet was being filled by the enchanted teapot beside him.
"She laughed too much," he said.
I peeked over and saw that Krum and a few Durmstrang students had just passed Granger, who seemed to be smiling.
For some reason, I have a vague but bold guess: Krum might be the next one to get Doxies.
Completed 20 laps of running alone, hit a Bludger 300 times alone, and completed 30 minutes of flying practice alone.
Weather on January 18, 1995: Snow
Krum didn't have any problems; I was wrong.
This matter probably has nothing to do with Granger or Draco.
However, I no longer care about this!
Good news today: Vincent has fully recovered!
I no longer have to train alone, enduring the bitter cold!
Vincent was in good spirits. I quickly pulled him downstairs to see what was going on—someone had sailed the Durmstrang ship into the middle of the Black Lake and frozen it over.
The Durmstrang students spent half an hour walking on the ice, slipping and sliding the whole way, before finally reaching the shore. The Beauxbatons girls on the shore were all laughing heartily.
Some of the Hogwarts girls laughed, but most of them expressed their sympathy for Krum.
Draco seemed to be in a good mood today—I guess it's because Vincent has recovered—and he started teaching us a new Chaser drill.
We studied it twenty times, but we still couldn't quite grasp it.
Complete 20 laps of running, 300 Bludger hits, and 30 minutes of flying practice.
Weather on January 19, 1995: Snow
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, complete 30 minutes of flying practice, and practice the new Chaser drill for 30 minutes.
It was so cold in Astronomy tonight! Vincent and I almost froze to death.
Draco doesn't seem to be afraid of the cold.
He even took off his own robes and casually draped them over Granger's shoulders.
Granger didn't speak. She kept a straight face, took off his robes, and stuffed them back into his hands.
Draco draped them back over her shoulders.
We turned our heads left and right to watch them play this "two-person game of musical chairs" for the entire lesson.
Wait, what was this lesson about again?
Wait, why are these two still able to hand in the classwork assigned by Professor Sinistra when class ended?
Why were only Vincent and I put in detention?
Weather on January 20, 1995: Extreme blizzard
Draco gave us a day off today.
He said the weather was too bad, the ground was too slippery, and the wind was too strong, so we couldn't train.
Vincent and I were overjoyed.
But in the middle of the night, I couldn't sleep, so I went to the Great Hall to secretly practice running laps—and ran into the sneaky Vincent.
We huffed and puffed as we ran twenty laps around the Great Hall before going back to sleep.
A Chocolate Frog before bed is better than being a god.
Weather on January 21, 1995: Cloudy and unpredictable.
Today is Hogsmeade weekend!
I saw a joke product called "Bulbadox Powder" at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes that could make people grow boils all over their bodies.
I didn't have a chance to look closely; there were so many students crowding around to buy things that Vincent and I were almost squeezed out of shape.
So Vincent and I went to Honeydukes and quickly forgot about those joke items.
What a wonderful day!
We spent the whole day battling it out in the sweet shop, stuffing all our pockets full.
Even better, Draco, who was with us, didn't even notice that we had bought sweets.
On the way back to Hogwarts Castle, he had a long face the whole time, just like Vincent's face when he's struggling with "what to eat tonight."
Vincent said that Draco and Granger had probably had another row.
I nodded vigorously at him while sneaking a taste of freshly bought pink Coconut Ice. It was delicious!
Complete 20 laps of running, hit the Bludger 300 times, complete 30 minutes of flying practice, and practice the new Chaser drill for 30 minutes.
The new Chaser drill is really hard to learn.