The rose tucked in the pastry box is a real flower. The one who presented it to Hermione must have done some magic to it, each pink petal dripping with beauty, shimmering like dewdrops cascading down a string in the morning light.
No girl would not love beautiful flowers.
Looking at Hermione sniffing the rose and smiling happily, holding it as if she couldn't let go, Ron smacked his lips, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
As he had predicted after Hermione became a warrior, Hermione's fame has spread beyond Hogwarts School, and all the witches and wizards who have been paying attention to the Triwizard Tournament are now aware of Hermione Granger, the little witch.
People were impressed by her wisdom and courage in the first competition.
Because the Triwizard Tournament is competitive in nature, Hermione gained especially strong support from the residents of the British magical community due to her excellent performance in the competition. For example, the owner of Three Broomsticks Pub, Mrs. Romilda Vane, immediately welcomed her with a warm smile and offered them three butterbeers as soon as she saw Hermione entering.
A flicker of despondence crossed Ron's eyes.
The girl Harry liked, Cho Chang, was taken away by Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff. So what about him?
Taking a deep breath, Ron tried to suppress the bitterness in his heart. Anyway, Hermione said they would be best friends for life, so should he be happy that his friend has become more excellent and popular?
Hermione's smile spread, infecting Harry as well. Like Ron, he didn't want the bitterness in his heart to affect Hermione. He was about to say something to her when, suddenly, a little problem arose.
The pink rose presented to Hermione by one of the fans suddenly flashed a faint glow on the petals to the stem, and this strange color vanished as soon as it touched Hermione's fingers. It appeared and disappeared too quickly for Hermione, who was admiring it, to think it was just an illusion.
Immediately, the rose's delicate center trembled gently. A breeze seemed to appear from nowhere under Hermione's nostrils, and then, the vibrant petals lost their color at a visible rate—withering—turning to sand.
Before they could react, the pink rose had already turned into a pile of ashes, drifting down and disappearing completely into the ground, blending in with the dust.
The silence caused by astonishment lasted for several seconds. Leaning back in her chair, Hermione involuntarily straightened her body, and Ron stared at Hermione's frozen fingers, mouth agape.
"Is this a prank, is it?"
"Perhaps it is——"
Harry blinked blankly. He saw the disappointment flash through Hermione's eyes and hesitated before saying.
"But I think... well, this flower looks like something that was made with magic. Perhaps, it's just that the magic has worn off. Generally, things made with magic will disappear quickly if they're not sustained by magic, right?"
This explanation is more reasonable and easier to accept, Hermione's expression became much more pleasant.
"It seems that it must be——"
Hermione brushed away some remains of the ashes on her hand, and looked over the pastry box on the table with a smile, saying, "It managed to last until I saw it——"
The slight uneasiness had come to an end, but Hermione had lost the interest to stay here anymore.
As Harry had previously said, they still had a paper assigned by Professor Bran to deal with, and finding a way to survive underwater was the most important task at hand. With only a month until the second competition, Hermione couldn't relax completely until they had it settled.
"Let's go——"
Hermione stood up, wrapped her scarf and cloak, and said while putting away the pastry box.
"We can go to the library to do our homework first. I guess Professor Bran's paper will take at least half a day, then we'll go to the PE classroom to help Ron practice dodging dungbombs. Oh, sometimes I really feel like I'm putting too much effort into this class—"
"Can you give it up, isn't it?"
Ron said with a smile, "Tie the scarf into a knot."
"Don't talk nonsense, Ron—"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Professor Bran will kick me out—"
Listening to Hermione and Ron bicker, Harry's mood suddenly improved, his thoughts clearing up. At the same time, he felt a bit off, as if he had forgotten something important.
The three of them walked out of Three Broomsticks Pub one by one, the cold and fresh air blowing across their faces, giving them a sudden burst of energy after feeling slightly drowsy in the stuffy environment.
The sun had risen higher in the sky, and the light from the dusk-golden sky bathed the ancient village, wrapped in silver and white, and the boundless plains in gold. Even the invisible air seemed to have color.
The only slightly unpleasant part was that the ground had become more slippery, and Harry and the others walked forward, supporting each other.
Fortunately, there was a layer of cobblestones on the main street of the village, which made it easier to walk. But after leaving the village, the muddy fields between the fields might be much worse than this morning.
Harry glanced at the Honey Duke's candy shop on the side of the road. He was hesitating whether to follow Ron's suggestion this morning and go back to Hogwarts through a secret passage in the Honey Duke's warehouse. However, a jolt of piercing cold from his right arm, which he was holding Hermione with, snapped him out of his thoughts.
How could Hermione's arm be so cold?!
Harry and Ron both turned their heads in astonishment, and at the same time, the one holding Hermione's other hand also turned around, looking at her with a similar expression of shock.
Their steps stopped in unison.
Staring at Hermione, the shock and fear in Harry and Ron's eyes erupted like a volcanic eruption!
Hermione's cheeks had turned a pale, lifeless color, more like a corpse floating in water. Her brown eyes rolled back, revealing a deathly white sclera, without any sign of life!
Under the magic, Hermione's tangled hair suddenly became soft. However, the problem was that her hair floated slightly without any wind blowing through it, making Hermione look more like a corpse floating in water!
"You—"
Harry only had time to say a word, then--
Boom!
On the busy main street of Hogsmeade, the seemingly petrified Hermione's body erupted from within an extremely powerful, dark magic storm!
This violent magic caused the air to shake, and those affected by it, including Harry and Ron, were thrown backward without uttering a word. Then, the force spread further, affecting people within a radius of about 30 feet around Hermione. Those who were hit by it stumbled backward as if they had been slapped!
Plash!
Crash! The glass in the shop windows on both sides of the road shattered, and tiles from the eaves fell like rain to the ground.
"Ah!"
A woman's shrill and ear-piercing shriek echoed in the air after the sound, followed by Hermione's body, emanating black smoke and falling backward. She landed heavily on the wet stone pavement, convulsing violently.
I don't want to die.
The clear sky and white clouds filled her blurred vision, and a drop of tears, filled with boundless despair, slowly rolled down her eye corner.
(The end of this chapter)
