I must admit, you are a noble young sorcerer.
Professor Moody's deep voice echoed in the dimly lit entrance hall, and Harry Potter's flushed face, the first to react, turned pale. Staring at Moody's terrifying blue eye, she shivered slightly with fear.
Harry immediately widened his eyes in alarm, his heart racing as he remembered the fleeting blue light outside Hagrid's hut. Looking at Moody's eye, Harry instinctively shouted out.
"You were just outside the window at Hagrid's hut earlier!"
"Oh, very good, Mr. Potter, you're quite perceptive --"
Professor Moody had no intention of hiding anything. Looking at Harry, his tone was filled with admiration.
"When I returned from patrol in the Forbidden Forest and saw three people in Invisibility Cloaks sneaking towards Hagrid's house, as a professor, it wouldn't make sense for me not to check things out, would it? What if they were three dark wizards plotting something?"
If you could see through the Invisibility Cloak, then how could you not have discovered who they were?
Harry was inwardly cursing, but he dared not point out the lie of Professor Moody.
"So, Miss Granger --" Professor Moody's blue eye focused on Hermione, and for some reason, Harry felt that Moody was not as angry as he seemed to be. In fact, he seemed quite pleased with their actions.
"I must admit, you've surprised me."
Professor Moody walked with a cane, his footsteps echoing loudly as he approached Hermione. He was not much taller than Hermione, but because she was bowing her head, she looked much shorter than him. He looked down at her from a superior position, and the sound of his injured throat was like that of a windbox letting out air.
"In my long career, I've seen many thoroughly evil characters. I've sent many of them to Azkaban myself, but I never expected to find a young wizard like you --"
Professor Moody looked at the top of Hermione's head, speaking with appreciation.
"You respect life, Miss Granger, even the pitifully lowly house-trained wizard. You want to help them fight for their rights. I can tell you that among those who claim to be righteous wizards, there aren't many with your kind heart --"
Hermione raised her head, looking disbelieving.
She had thought that she would be greeted with a storm of rebukes from Professor Moody, thinking back to what Professor Moody had done when Malfoy attacked Harry last time, she thought she might even get a couple of spells. But to her surprise, Professor Moody actually praised her.
This, however, made Hermione feel embarrassed.
"I shouldn't have lied to you, Professor Moody, I - I just -"
Hermione's explanation was interspersed with a crying tone, and Professor Moody cut her off directly.
"There's no need to explain, Miss Granger. No one wants to be punished."
Moody moved aside, leaving a gap in the door for them,
"Now, you all should return to your dormitories. Brian sometimes wanders around the castle at night; I'm not sure if he'll be so generous as to let you off."
"Are you going to let us off?"
Ron said in surprise,
"Not dock our points, give us detentions, or tell Professor McGonagall about our night-time wandering?!"
"If you want me to do so, Mr. Weasley! Professor Moody issued a terrifying laugh, 'I'm not above helping with that!'"
Harry and his friends practically ran up the stairs in the hallway, completely ignoring the fact that Professor Moody had been standing in the dark hallway, watching their departing backs with deep eyes until they disappeared.
"I didn't expect him to let us off!"
Stepping into the dimly lit common room from the portrait of Mrs. Fat, Ron breathed a sigh of relief and spoke up.
"And that eye of his can see through Invisibility Cloaks –" Harry said immediately, "No one else but Professor Dumbledore and Professor Brian has ever had such a power!"
"I have to go back to the dormitory right away. I need to come up with a plan for our publicity campaign before I go to bed."
After this, Hermione wasn't feeling down but instead felt encouraged, her eyes shining brightly as she hurriedly walked towards the girls' dormitory.
"You're crazy!" Ron shouted after Hermione's back, "Your little elf almost got us all killed by Moody!"
Hermione marched up the spiral staircase of the girls' dormitory with a lithe stride, completely ignoring Ron's shout.
"I think she's gone mad!" Ron said angrily to Harry, "When will she ever stop being such a pain?"
Harry shrugged and said nothing.
Hermione did not become quiet as Ron expected. Instead, she faithfully practiced what she had said.
For the next month, nothing new happened at Hogwarts. If anything, it was only because of Hermione Granger's（Home-trained Wizard's Rights Promotion Association）. Since that night, Hermione didn't go to Hagrid's hut every day, but whenever she had time, she would force Harry and Ron to visit Dudm.
Harry and Ron were also fortunate enough to witness the extraordinary growth rate of Dobby. In just over a month, he had grown from not much larger than a dwarf to nearly as tall as Dobby.
Hermione had been trying to teach Dobby to rest and enjoy life, but it had no effect, and the order she gave him not to do household chores for Hagrid was ineffective because, for Dobby, working was a form of rest and enjoyment.
Since Dobby moved into Hagrid's hut, the appearance of Hagrid's house had completely changed.
The small house, which had always seemed dark and filled with the smell of magical creatures except on sunny days, now shone bright. Dobby had cleaned the windows and floors of Hagrid's house, stained with grease and dirt for nearly half a century, until they were spotless, and the nearly half-century-old stove had also regained its metallic luster.
Hagrid's damp and smelly blankets were always spotless, and his pet dragon Dudo's black fur had become sleek and shiny.
Dobby would also sneak into the vegetable garden when Hagrid was asleep and pull out the weeds, get rid of the pests, and water the plants. In short, except for not knowing what to do with Hagrid's pet Dragon Duducy, Dobby had pretty much arranged everything in Hagrid's life.
"Leave it with me, Hermione --"
One day, Hermione couldn't bear to see Dobby's endless hard work anymore and was about to secretly bring it back to the castle to keep as a pet. But Hagrid, with his beetle-like black eyes, begged her earnestly,
"I promise to teach Dobby how to enjoy life!"
However, Hermione still brought Dobby back to the castle. She hid him in the wardrobe of the common room for only two days before returning him to Hagrid's hut, which was now in disarray. She couldn't explain to her classmates what had happened to the shiny, reflective floor of the common room or the clean, neatly folded intimate clothes on their bedsides. These clothes had never been handed over to the school laundry service.
Lavender shrieked and wanted to tell Professor McGonagall about it. Fortunately, Hermione managed to hold her back with some excuses.
Additionally, Hermione's Home-trained Wizard's Rights Promotion Association also faced setbacks.
She really announced her views on the unfair treatment of house-trained wizards at the P.E. class under Professor Brian, taking advantage of the time when everyone was in line practicing dodging. It can be imagined that how Slytherin students laughed at her.
"You're seeing yourself in those little creatures, aren't you, Granger?"
Pansy Parkinson loudly laughed.
But Hermione was undeterred. She continued to hold a jar for collecting dues and tried hard to convince Ernie to join the association.
Not that no one joined; Ginny, Luna, and Hannah were indeed willing to listen to Hermione's chatter and pay their two silver Sickles in dues. Zhang Qizhang also joined, having been personally invited by Harry. But looking back on Zhang Qizhang's startled expression when she first heard about it, Harry felt that Zhang Qizhang might have just been embarrassed.
Moreover, Professor Brian also made some contributions. He generously gave ten gold galleons and did not stop Hermione from messing around in his class. This alone was enough for Harry to agree with Hagrid's words that Professor Brian was an extraordinary wizard, not just strong.
Late October, Wednesday evening.
On Wednesday evening of late October in Professor Brian's P.E. class, a new situation occurred.
(End of Chapter)
