I burst out of Potions class and sprinted toward the Great Hall with everything I had.
There was still time, so if I hurried, I could make it for lunch.
If I missed lunch and my stomach started growling in Hagrid’s hut?
Congratulations! You have won Hagrid’s rock cookies!
Fortunately, I made it to the Great Hall in time.
My body in this life really did seem to be a gift. In more ways than one, my physical condition was excellent...
Looks, athleticism, height. And though I had no use for it yet, ahem... that part of me was excellent too.
Was this what Western physicality was like...?
Harry and Ron, who had been waiting for me in the Great Hall, said I had been far too late and worried that something might have happened.
"Leonard, what did Snape want with you? He kept you there until you couldn’t even eat! He really is as vicious as they come."
"I’ll tell you on the way to Hagrid’s. For now, let’s eat first."
"Right, hurry up and eat. It’ll disappear soon."
I brought over what food was left, bowl and all, and wolfed it down like a storm.
It wasn’t exactly satisfying, but it was enough to count as a meal.
"Now that we’ve eaten, let’s go to Hagrid’s hut."
When Hagrid came up, Ron offered up the little he knew about him.
"I’ve heard a few things about Hagrid from home. They said he’s huge and looks scary, but he’s actually kind."
We got to our feet and headed for Hagrid’s hut.
I had meant to gloss over it, but Harry seemed curious about why I’d had that meeting with Professor Snape.
"By the way, Leonard, why did Snape call you in?"
"It was nothing. Turns out Professor Snape lives very close to the orphanage I used to live in, so we knew each other a little. He was asking whether I was doing well at school."
"Ah... sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it..."
"It’s fine. I don’t mind at all."
"You don’t have to pretend you’re fine, Leonard... You’ve got us, you know? Think of us as your family now."
"I really am fine, but thanks anyway."
No, seriously, I really don’t feel anything. And now I’d somehow become a poor kid who grew up without any love from his parents.
I was definitely loved by my parents in my previous life.
While we were talking, we had already arrived at Hagrid’s hut.
The shabby little hut looked far too small for a half-giant who stood 3.5 meters tall.
When Harry knocked on the wooden door, there was a flurry of noise inside, and then the door opened to reveal Hagrid.
With Hagrid’s massive frame filling the doorway, the pressure he gave off was incredible.
"Hello, Hagrid. We’re here."
"Ah, Harry, you’re here. Are these your friends? Come on in."
We went inside and sat down on a sofa so huge it was practically a bed.
No, this wasn’t a sofa, this was basically a bed. Right, the scale really was different.
"Want some cookies? I baked them very nicely."
"Yes, please."
Ron! No, no, no! Stayyyy!!
Harry and Ron picked up the delicious-looking cookies and bit into them with a crunch, then their expressions froze.
"Wow... these are... really... tasty... Leonard, aren’t you going to eat? They’re really good. Try one."
No, you idiots? You’re going to die with me, is that it? No Christmas presents for you.
"No, I just ate, so I’m full."
Hagrid took out teacups and poured us tea as he said, "Pretty good, aren’t they? I really do bake cookies well. By the way, what are your names?"
"Oh, I’m Ron Weasley."
"Ah, right, I thought so. That red hair gives you away. Anyone can tell you’re a Weasley. I sweated buckets trying to stop your twin brothers from going into the Forbidden Forest."
"I’m Leonard Oppenbach. Nice to meet you, Hagrid."
"Oh, right. I suppose I can call you Ron and Leonard from now on?"
"Of course, Hagrid. Call us whatever you like."
"By the way, Leonard, you really are handsome. Just like Tom... no, never mind. Forget I said anything."
What? Tom? Was he saying I looked like Voldemort...?
What sort of insult was that? Comparing me to that balding bastard.
Anyone could see I was far better-looking. I won’t forget this insult, Hagrid.
While we were introducing ourselves, Harry was looking around the inside of the hut.
I followed his gaze and looked around too.
Unlike how it looked from outside, the inside of the hut was bigger than I’d expected.
For Hagrid, it was probably a bit cramped, but still not unlivable. I suspected Dumbledore had cast a space-expansion charm on it.
"So, anyway, Harry. Are you settling in at school all right?"
Hagrid asked after Harry’s well-being.
Harry told Hagrid about what had just happened.
"Well... Snape really seems to hate me. He looks like he’s dying to bully me whenever he sees me. Even in the first class, he asked only difficult questions and took a ton of points from me."
"What? That’s nonsense. Why would Snape hold some grudge against you?"
Look at that. He couldn’t even make eye contact while he was saying it. Who would believe you like that?
Hagrid brushed the topic aside and turned to Ron.
"Your brother Charlie is doing well, isn’t he? I always liked him. He was very interested in magical creatures, just like me."
While Ron and Hagrid talked about Charlie, Harry was looking at the Daily Prophet under his teacup.
Then Harry saw the front page and called out to Hagrid in surprise.
"Hagrid! This break-in at Gringotts! Wasn’t that the same day we went to Gringotts? Vault 713—that’s the vault we took the item from, right?"
"What? No. And that’s not something you should be worrying about. Stop talking nonsense and have another cookie."
Hagrid condemned Harry to a rock cookie for the crime of embarrassing him.
"Uh... no, Hagrid, I think we should get going now. Right, Ron? Leonard?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Yes, Hagrid, we should probably head off. See you next time!"
Harry decided he needed to get out of there before his teeth were all shattered, and the rest of us, not exactly eager to stay any longer, agreed.
As expected of the boy who survived Voldemort’s hand. You had to show this level of evasive maneuvering.
*
The next day.
After breakfast, we started wandering all over the school to memorize the routes.
Why on earth did students need a maze like this?
Even second-years could easily end up late for class if they made one wrong turn.
Of course, the moving stairs were damn cool, but wasn’t this basically a hindrance to classes?
In the afternoon, Harry and Ron played wizard chess in the common room while I watched from the side.
Harry found the moving pieces fascinating, but I was indifferent. Aside from the fact that the pieces moved on their own, it was just normal chess.
If anything, it was worse than normal chess, since it sometimes ignored the player’s moves. How dare a mere piece get uppity and lecture the person playing the game?
As expected of Hogwarts’s chess master, Ron was definitely good for his age.
Of course, his skill wasn’t world-champion level. He was just the best in the school.
He clearly had a good head for reading the board, but he didn’t study... You should really do some work.
Leaving Harry and Ron to their game, I began getting ready for my date.
I went up to the dormitory and took out the outfit I’d saved for this day from Madam Malkin.
When I held it up against myself and looked in the mirror, the design was better than I’d expected for wizard-made clothes.
Was I underestimating wizards’ sense of style? It wasn’t the absolute best, but well, they say the face completes the fashion.
*
Before I knew it, it was time for the date.
Ugh... a date with Hermione... my mouth was going dry.
"I’m off."
Harry and Ron cheered me on and told me to have a good time.
"Yeah, have a good date."
With the resolve of a man prepared to die if necessary, I headed down the stairs.
There were only upper-years relaxing in the common room. Hermione didn’t seem to be down yet.
Since there still seemed to be some time left, I started watching the upper-years playing Gobstones.
But this... wasn’t this just marbles?
It was 1991. Was it really normal to still be playing marbles?
Did they really have that little to do?
As expected, all these lazy bastards deserved to have their wands confiscated.
If they needed something, they just solved everything with magic, so of course there was no progress.
No wonder Muggles had overtaken them.
What? Wizards? Those people couldn’t even go to the moon, could they? Trash, then.
After watching Gobstones for a while, I got too bored and just sat on the sofa by the fireplace.
Then I saw three girls coming down from the girls’ dormitory stairs.
Hermione, in her casual clothes, was coming down with Parvati and Lavender in tow.
"You two, I’m really fine. You can go back up now."
I immediately stood up to greet Hermione.
"Hi, Hermione. You dressed up nicely? You’re always pretty, but you look even prettier today."
The one being complimented was Hermione, but somehow Parvati and Lavender looked happier than she did.
"Hi, Leonard. Hermione asked us to help because she had a date, so we put in a little effort. Have fun!"
"Yeah, thanks. I’ll make sure she gets back safely."
Hermione’s face turned red again, and she couldn’t say anything.
"Let’s go, Hermione. Take my hand."
Gathering my courage, I asked Hermione to hold my hand.
"What? Isn’t that a little fast...?"
"Fast? What do you mean? You’re not planning to go on a date and not even hold hands, are you? Should I just go back upstairs?"
"N-no! I’ll hold it!"
Trying to calm my pounding heart, I took Hermione’s hand and left the dormitory.
But... so what now?
Was Hogwarts really this empty...?
"So where should we go now? We’ve only been here a week, so the only places I know are the classrooms..."
Hermione seemed to realize the problem too.
"Uh... same here. Then should we just walk wherever our feet take us?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. Oh! Except for the third-floor corridor on the right, the one Professor Dumbledore warned us about."
"Of course. We’re good Gryffindors who follow the rules."
So we just started walking aimlessly, wherever our feet took us.
But we really did just walk. Without saying a word.
For something called a date, neither of us was saying anything.
Wow... this was seriously awkward.
What was I supposed to say...?
Then Hermione spoke first.
"Um... Leonard. Do you like me...?"
"Of course I do. Why?"
"No... it’s just weird that you like me..."
"Why? What’s weird about it?"
"My hair’s all frizzy... I don’t know how to dress up... I’ve never once thought I was pretty... But then you, someone so handsome, say you like me, and it’s a little confusing..."
They say men look in the mirror and think they’re handsome, while women do the opposite, and Hermione seemed to have no idea how pretty she was either.
"No? To me, you’re the prettiest girl at Hogwarts. I’ve never seen anyone as pretty as you."
"You like me because I’m pretty?"
"Of course. I told you on the train, didn’t I? I wanted to get close to you because you were really pretty."
"Then if you meet a girl prettier than me, will you get close to her too...?"
"Haha, you’re already jealous. That’s nice. So you do like me too, then?"
"N-no!"
"No? You don’t like me?"
"N-no, that’s not what I meant-"
"No? Then it means you do like me."
"That’s not it! I’m not jealous!"
"What a shame... I was hoping you were jealous..."
"You’re weird... do you like it when your girlfriend gets jealous and all that?"
"Why? Is that bad? Isn’t it weirder not to be jealous? If your boyfriend is laughing and joking with another girl, shouldn’t you get jealous? I think I’d get really angry if you were laughing and chatting with another man one-on-one."
"...We’re not even dating yet..."
"We’re not...? You won’t go out with me...?"
"...I will."
"What? I didn’t hear you properly."
"I’ll go out with you..."
Hermione’s face turned bright red as she answered so softly I could barely hear her.
Did I hear that right...?
"Really? No take-backs?"
"Yes... fine. Why are you so shameless...?"
What was there to be ashamed of?
Still, I supposed it was understandable.
At this age, if you so much as pooped in the school bathroom, the whole school would hear about it.
"Hermione, affection is important. People don’t know unless you say it. I really like you. Will you say you like me too?"
"..."
"Go on."
"I like you too..."
Overjoyed, I pulled Hermione into a hug.
When I held her, she seemed to smell faintly of grapes.
"Wow, how long have you even been together and you’re already this far? / Percy’s only just started dating, and the first-years are already out here fooling around. / That’s really impressive. As expected of the / Gryffindor we approved of!"
"Fred, George. Do you two have any idea what you just did? You dare interfere with my love life?"
"Uh... well... sorry. We were trying to catch Percy in a romantic moment and got carried away. But hey, we’re innocent too. / Yeah. You two had been standing here for ages. Maybe it’s your fault for making us want to come look?"
Hermione’s face went red again, and she lowered her head.
I pulled her closer so she was tucked right against me.
Those obnoxious little pests.
I was furious.
About as furious as the Marauders’ Secret Map.
"How did you even know we were here doing this? This place hardly gets any foot traffic."
"Well, you see. / It’s because we’ve got something absolutely amazing. / We don’t show it to just anyone, but / we think you’re worthy of it. / You’re the brave Gryffindor we approved of!"
The Weasley twins pulled out a sheet of parchment.
"This is the / Hogwarts secret map. / Our great trophy, found in Filch’s office!"
I took the parchment from them and unfolded it.
Sure enough, Hogwarts was all laid out inside it.
Amid the countless moving footsteps, Hermione’s and my footprints were facing each other.
So Potter and his gang really made this when they were students?
They were undeniably talented. And with that talent, they went around committing school violence. Trash bastards.
"So you’re saying you’re giving me this map as an apology?"
"That’s right. We got that map in first year. / We’ve used it so much we’ve memorized every route now. / It also has a bunch of secret passages in Hogwarts, so / make good use of it."
"Fine, since you’ve given me such a valuable thing, I’ll let this go today. Oh, and I have a favor to ask."
"A favor? From Gryffindor’s super rookie? / You’re asking us for a favor? Now I’m curious."
"From the looks of you, you probably have a lot of friends, right?"
"Of course. / We’re friends with everyone in every house. / We even have a few friends in Slytherin. / So what’s the favor?"
"Tell every friend you know. Hermione is my girl, so don’t touch her. You know what I mean, right?"
"Leonard, what did you just say? Are you out of your mind?"
Hermione was startled.
"Hermione, don’t worry. Once they already know we’re dating, it’s only a matter of time before the rumor spreads. It’s better if we just say it openly first."
"Yeah, yeah. / We’d have spread the rumor ourselves anyway. As expected of the super rookie. / That was a very quick judgment."
"That’s enough. You two should head back in now. We still have things to talk about."
"If that’s the order of our super rookie! / Then it would be only natural to obey!"
The twins saluted in perfect sync and left.
But Hermione still seemed embarrassed about making our relationship known.
"Leonard... is this really okay?"
"What, do you want to keep dating me a secret? I’d rather shout it all over the place. That we’re dating."
"No... it’s just... embarrassing..."
"Then are you never going to date in front of people? It’s fine, what’s the big deal? Just do it confidently."
"Really...? I suppose we can’t hide it forever..."
"Mr. Oppenbach, Miss Granger. It is late. Please return to your dormitories at once."
???
At the unexpected voice, Hermione froze again.
I held her in my arms and turned around.
The owner of the voice was Professor McGonagall, who must have spotted us while making her rounds.
"Yes, Professor! It’s already that late? A good Gryffindor should go in early and get some sleep."
"Indeed, Mr. Oppenbach. Students who go around causing trouble like the Weasley twins are no longer welcome."
"Of course, Professor. Then we’ll be off now. Thank you for your hard work."
At Professor McGonagall’s instruction, we held hands and went back up to the Gryffindor common room.
When I glanced back for a moment, Professor McGonagall was smiling with a pleased expression.
But Hermione seemed worried that the professor had caught us dating of all things.
"Leonard... what if the professor thinks we’re shameless kids...?"
"Don’t worry, Hermione. Professors actually encourage students dating, as long as it doesn’t interfere with studies."
We reached the Gryffindor common room before long.
Because it was late, only the crackling fireplace was making any real presence known in the room.
"Then, Leonard, see you tomorrow. I had fun today."
"Wait, Hermione. From now on, just call me Ren."
"...Okay, Ren. Good night."
"Um... can I call you Hera?"
"Sure, that’s fine. I really should go to bed now. Bye, good night."
"Yeah, Hera. Get back safely."
Hah... today was pretty productive.
I turned around and headed up to the boys’ dormitory as well.
The guys in our room had all changed into pajamas and were chatting away.
"I’m back."
"Oh, Leonard! You’re back. How was the date?"
"Yeah. Very satisfying."
"Oho, as expected of Leonard. You never disappoint. Seamus, you heard him? Pay up already."
"Damn it... this actually worked out..."
These idiots had made a bet on my date?
"What’s this? You guys made a bet?"
"Just me and Seamus. I bet it would go well, and he bet it wouldn’t."
"So how much did you win?"
"A whole Galleon!"
Wow. Ron was willing to stake that much money?
That just showed how dependable I was, I supposed.
"Good job. As expected, you’re the only one who’d wish for my love life to go well, Ron. Your brothers came by earlier and interrupted our date."
"They did...? Those two are always interested in other people’s love lives. Sorry, I’ll apologize for them."
"No, it’s fine. I squeezed plenty of compensation out of them."
"Really? Then that’s a relief."
"We should probably get some sleep now. Good night, everyone."
"Yeah, good night to you too."
We turned off the lights and lay down in our beds.
But of course, I still couldn’t sleep at all.
I suppressed my excitement and tried hard to fall asleep again.
Ah, I forgot to make an Unbreakable Vow. There’s forgetting things, and then there’s forgetting things.
I’ll have to do it right after breakfast tomorrow.
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