Harry's blazing action so terrified everyone watching that not even Crumplebean's Mum forgot to be angry. She was only putting up with the bunch of empty-headed little witch in her library because she is being polite to Crumplebean who is a guest at Durmstrang.
But what about Harry Potter?
Crumplebean's just-relaxed eyebrows have once again creased together, and he looks at the boy in front of him who is half his height, with a confused expression in his eyes.
He knows that the green-eyed boy in front of him is Harry Potter, a bigger name than him in a certain sense. He had faced him twice, once during the World Cup and the second time yesterday when he and his two friends were visiting Hogwarts with him. His attitude was quite friendly both times, especially his red-haired friend who was his fan.
But what is happening now?
He refuses to get any closer, wanting to attack him instead. But Harry Potter's posture and look is indeed intimidating, making it seem like he has been trained.
"Oh, don't be like that, Harry!"
Hermione finally snapped out of it, calling in a panic.
She is probably the only one who knows why Harry behaves like this, because he probably sees all strangers as potential targets to persecute. It's hard to say that being protected is good, but it's definitely a pleasant feeling. However, this may cause some trouble if there are any conflicts with Durmstrang's warriors.
"We should go out and talk."
Hermione dragged Harry behind her without a word, ready to explain to Crumplebean. However, Mrs. Patil's eyes had become unbearable, and she shivered in fear. So, she whispered something to Crumplebean.
There were people in and out of the library entrance, so it was not a good place for a conversation. Without thinking twice, Hermione led the two boys to the place where Professor Blaine helped the house-elf last time. When she turned around, she found Crumplebean was examining the corridor they were in and the closed classrooms.
"Oh—"
A spider the size of an infant's fist crawled over their heads from the giant spider web. Hermione flicked her hair, her tone was a bit unnatural.
"We don't need so many classrooms for our classes. Some places have been unused for centuries. So, it looks not that clean—"
Harry wrinkled his nose. Now was not the time to be so clear about explaining things to Crumplebean as he was yesterday when he was acting as a tour guide.
"I find it quite interesting--"
To everyone's surprise, Crumplebean was not upset by the poor environment and didn't keep up with Harry's exaggerated reaction. He was eagerly looking at a sculpture at the end of the corridor, which had a broken arm.
"Our castle isn't as tall as Hogwarts, just four floors. It's not as comfortable or interesting here--"
Harry seemed to notice that there wasn't such a heavy sense of being a Quidditch international star on Crumplebean's body. He usually didn't like to talk, and he was probably just worried about his awkward English pronunciation. For example, now, he muttered something about Durmstrang, but occasionally he would still come up with a few odd Bulgarian words that Harry and Hermione couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Can you help me get a signature?"
Crumplebean suddenly turned to Harry and Hermione and said abruptly.
That is an interesting request. Generally, it is only other people who ask Crumplebean for signatures. Yesterday, when Harry saw the girls at Hogwarts asking Crumplebean for signatures as they strolled around the campus.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other in astonishment, and then, a realization flashed in their minds.
"Whose do you want?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"Bryan--" Crumplebean said melancholy, "I don't know many people, I'm not sure if Bryan will think..."
"Excuse me!" Harry helped Crumplebean fill in the word he couldn't spell.
To be honest, Crumplebean was much more approachable than Harry had imagined, and most importantly, he showed no hostility towards Hermione, who is also a warrior. He even congratulated Hermione, and the tone of his words sounded much more comfortable than Ron's last night.
When Harry asked him why he didn't let Malfoy help--these days, dinner, Durmstrang sits next to Malfoy, Harry and Ron saw Malfoy always trying to be helpful to Crumplebean.
Crumplebean mumbled something, and Harry didn't quite catch it, but it seemed that he thought Malfoy wasn't very reliable. And this comment made Harry's impression of Crumplebean even better. At the same time, he also realized that he had just been impolite.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do--"
To apologize, Harry accepted Crumplebean's request.
They started to walk back. Crumplebean told Hermione the reason why he appeared in the library,
"I'm researching for the first project--"
When the subject of the competition project came up, Hermione's expression became worried. She wanted to know what direction Crumplebean was exploring, but before she could say anything, she realized that she shouldn't ask because the competition rules required her to rely solely on herself, and asking another warrior about their thoughts would be cheating.
"Preparation?"
Harry looked confused and blinked his eyes. From Hermione, he learned that Professor Karkaroff advised the warriors to be psychologically prepared for the test. However, it seemed there was nothing specific in it.
"But what did the Ministry of Magic say? How can you find anything from books?"
Compared to Hermione, Harry was much more unrestrained. He didn't care about any regulations and asked directly. Crumplebean also showed magnanimity, sharing his own ideas with them.
"Yes, they haven't said anything, but there are clues--"
Crumplebean raised his thick eyebrows, looking at Hermione's side profile pretending to ignore. The little exhibitionist taste in his eyes reduced the intimidation he brought to others with his idol status to the minimum.
"The specific project is top secret, but generally it's one of those types. If you find the records of past tournaments, you can probably guess what they want the champions to confront."
"Oh!"
Hermione's eyes lit up instantly. That was such an obvious approach! If it wasn't for her worries about the unusual warrior status falling on her head and Ron, she should have thought of it too.
"--I'm not familiar with Hogwarts Library."
"Crumplebean used his awkward accent again, "--I-I'm-not-very-good-with-maps."
"I couldn't find any records on this subject. Your librarian seems to dislike answering questions--"
"I can help! I'm pretty familiar with the library!"
Hermione said happily.
And Harry, who acted like a bodyguard, shrugged helplessly when he heard Hermione's words. He seemed to have already anticipated that today might be a day when they couldn't leave the library.
As Harry had predicted, Hermione gathered all the books from the library that had anything to do with the Triwizard Tournament. The pile of books was so high it could have been used to build a wall. The three of them spent all their time recording key contents from the books, only briefly leaving to grab some food for lunch and dinner when Harry hurried downstairs to help them get it.
Of course, he also encountered Ron in the Great Hall. But when he asked Ron to go to the library with him to help Hermione and Crumplebean find the study room, Ron hemmed and hawed, saying that he had already agreed to meet Seamus in the afternoon.
This made Harry feel a bit annoyed, and he also couldn't help feeling a little strange. He dimly sensed that, since last night, Ron seemed to be deliberately avoiding Hermione.
He didn't have much time to ponder this issue. After the thought flashed through his mind, he pushed it aside. Now, the most important thing was to help Hermione find any clues about the competition content.
"Mad!"
Only when Mrs. Patil repeatedly asked them to leave the library did Hermione and Harry take out the parchment that recorded the status of the Triwizard Tournament for centuries. Crumplebean left earlier, telling them that Professor Karkaroff didn't allow them to stay in the castle too late.
"They actually had the champions confront Dementors, werewolves, ghosts, and Basilisks--"
When they passed the bridge, Hermione suddenly stopped and shouted in disbelief at the dark lake glittering in front of her.
"But that's all illegal!"
(Chapter complete)
