September passed quickly, and October arrived.
Before long, the heat had completely broken, and the weather had turned quite chilly.
Hogwarts was tucked away in a Scottish valley, so it had no choice but to get cold earlier than Spinner's End or London down south.
Hagrid was already growing huge pumpkins in his patch in preparation for Halloween.
The pumpkins were growing to an absolutely ridiculous size. I wasn't sure whether it was because the seeds were naturally large, Hagrid was exceptionally good at cultivation, he had used magic to make them grow, or all of the above.
The awkward first-years were slowly getting used to this strange place called Hogwarts.
The reason they adapted so quickly owed a great deal to the Weasley twins, who constantly set off dung bombs in the corridors to make Filch's life miserable, or held honorable duels with Peeves.
"Fred, George. Why do you keep fighting Peeves? What's the point? You can't even touch him anyway, can you?"
"Now, now, foolish little brother. This isn't about winning or losing. There are times when people must fight even knowing they can lose. / That's right. This is a very important duel to decide Hogwarts' greatest troublemakers."
Despite their pranks, a lot of people liked the twins.
Of course, part of the reason they were so popular was that their pranks were funny, but an even bigger reason was that they were, in their own way, rather gentlemanly about it.
They had a few rules they always followed. First, they never played pranks during class.
Second, they never attacked anyone first.
Lastly, when testing the strange magical items they made on students, they always asked for consent beforehand.
After Ron enrolled, the test subject was almost always Ron.
Ron, who didn't get much pocket money, would sell himself out for just a few Sickles.
In any case, Hogwarts had been fairly relaxed and peaceful so far.
During that time, Hermione and I always went to the library together to study.
"Hello, Leonard, Hermione."
"Hello, Nick."
"Off to the library for another date today?"
"Of course."
"Ha ha, you two. Students with this much passion are rare these days."
"Thanks, Nick. We'll be going now."
The two of us always kept the same routine.
Except for mealtimes, classes, and sleeping, we always went to the library first to finish our homework.
Then we spent the remaining time studying various bits of knowledge about the wizarding world.
Sometimes I would sneak in a little affection toward Hermione when no one was looking—though all that really amounted to was holding hands—and on one occasion, we nearly got caught by Madam Pince, the librarian.
Hermione had been so startled that she wouldn't let me do anything like that for a while afterward.
Over the past month, by always being with Hermione, I had managed to get a fairly good chance to learn more about her.
From what I observed, Hermione seemed almost obsessed with exploring knowledge about the wizarding world, probably because she came from a Muggle background.
She must have felt that, since she was starting later than the other little wizards, she needed to study even harder.
That didn't mean Hermione had neglected her studies in Muggle society, though.
I wasn't all that different.
I had only ever encountered this world through the Harry Potter series, and I didn't remember everything in the books. Besides, the books didn't describe everything about this world either.
So the two of us threw ourselves into studying knowledge far more than anyone else, and no one spent as long in the library as we did.
Our relationship hadn't really progressed any further.
More precisely, I deliberately kept things at the level that children our age would normally do—holding hands and getting embarrassed, that sort of thing.
What could eleven-year-olds possibly do that was all that impressive? At best, a cheek kiss. If they really went far, maybe a kiss on the lips.
The rest was something time would handle on its own.
We still hadn't gone through puberty, so there were no hormonal changes to speak of, and we had no reason to take an interest in the adult world.
I knew plenty, of course, but there was no reason to show it, and I couldn't have if I wanted to.
Still, we always walked around the school hand in hand, and the professors would often smile warmly when they saw us.
Hermione was still embarrassed by it, but I wasn't embarrassed at all.
Harry and Ron were thoroughly sick of the two of us going to the library every day.
I invited them every time I saw them, but those two never once came along.
And then they would always ask me to let them copy my homework.
So I never once let them copy it.
One day, with October already halfway gone, we finished our homework and studied in the library as usual.
Only when the library's opening hours ended and Madam Pince came around to lock up did we leave hand in hand.
"Len, what do you usually do after you and I part ways and you go back up to the boys' dormitory?"
Hermione asked me.
"Hera, have you finally started taking an interest in me? That's a good sign."
"Stop teasing me and answer the question."
"What do I do in the boys' dormitory? Hmm... magic power training? And some personal exercise?"
"Training and exercise? How?"
"Training is... lifting heavy objects with magic power, and focusing on controlling magic power with smaller objects. As for exercise, the room isn't big enough for aerobic workouts, so I just do a bit of bodyweight training."
"Lifting things with magic power is training? What are you talking about? I don't understand."
She didn't understand? Hermione didn't understand something?
"It'd be better if you saw it. I'll show you in the Room of Requirement."
We went to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor and opened a large room suited for magical practice.
This time, wooden scarecrows had been lined up all around the walls, and floating targets hung from the ceiling as well.
I gave Hermione a demonstration.
"Look. This is the training I do."
I sent out my magic power and pulled one of the scarecrows toward me so it flew up.
"What? How did you do that?"
"How did I do what?"
"How did you do what? You didn't even take out your wand or say a spell."
"Why would I need to?"
"You know how difficult that is!"
"Well, I guess it is. But isn't that a good thing? It's nice if your boyfriend is skilled."
"It is, but... you know that's really hard, right? Could you teach me too?"
"Of course. Watch closely."
I made the scarecrow spin in the air again.
"See?"
"And?"
"And? That's it."
"Don't tease me and tell me properly."
"I told you, that's really all there is to it."
"Don't joke around! You're telling me to just watch the demonstration and learn it without even explaining how to do it?"
Hmm... how should I explain this?
"Hera, when did you first experience a magic surge?"
"Hmm... not long ago. I was nine. I only found out after coming to Hogwarts, so it was pretty late. I got angry because something annoying happened, and the cup on the table shattered."
"Didn't you feel anything then?"
"Feel anything? I just... felt like I was somehow different from other people."
"No, not that. That feeling that, for some reason you can't explain, you might be able to do more. Didn't you feel that?"
"Maybe? Or maybe not. I'm not sure. I was too flustered then."
"For me, it happened when I was even younger. I think I was about three or four? One of the kids at the orphanage was sleeping, and something fell on top of him. I thought, 'No!' and the thing floated in the air. That's when I realized I was different from everyone else. So I practiced every day to learn how to control that power."
"Wait, you were from an orphanage...?"
"Huh? Yeah. Hadn't I told you?"
"No, you idiot! Why are you only saying that now?"
"I mean, so what if I was an orphan?"
"That's so sad..."
"Oh, are you worried about me?"
"Of course I am! Those awful people! They'll be punished for it!"
"It's okay, Hera. I'm really fine."
"Don't pretend you're okay. How could you be okay?"
Hermione's big eyes were already starting to fill with tears.
Good grief, she was far too softhearted... It felt nice to be worried about, but it really wasn't a big deal.
"Hey, I really am fine. Let's stop talking about that and get back to practice."
"So how exactly are you supposed to practice this?"
"Can't you feel your magic power?"
"Can you do that?"
"Can't you?"
"I can't."
What a headache. Why couldn't she?
"Hmm... how about thinking of it as controlling the scarecrow?"
"Really? Okay, I'll try."
Hermione stared at the scarecrow for a long while, then shook her head.
"It doesn't work."
"Then let's try something smaller."
I asked the Room of Requirement to summon a sphere about the size of a baseball.
"Let's practice with something this size."
Hermione tried again, but it didn't budge at all.
"I don't know. I can't get any sense of it at all."
Even though she seemed to be trying not to show it, Hermione's face had grown a little gloomy from the repeated failures.
Why wasn't it working? There was no way it shouldn't work...?
"Hera, think about it carefully. Every wizard realizes they're different after experiencing a magic surge, right?"
"Right."
"You shattered a cup, and now you can't even move something this small? Does that make sense?"
"Uh... I guess not? But what am I supposed to do if it really won't work?"
"Hera. I said this when I taught you how to ride a broom, but magic is the study of self-confidence. There is nothing you can't do if you just believe you can. If you have strong belief and confidence, there's nothing impossible."
"...Really?"
"Of course it's real. Let's take floating magic as an example.
From a scientific standpoint, does that make sense? No, right? Objects fall to the ground because of gravity; that's how the world works.
But wizards can ignore the law of universal gravitation without even knowing what it is and still make objects float in the air.
I think, Hera, that knowing too much might actually be a poison for you.
Magic can ignore the laws of the world and do whatever it wants. It's very childish and emotional.
If you whine because you don't like something, the magic inside you just grants that wish."
"Pfft, what is that?"
"But it's true. So try thinking of it as throwing a tantrum."
"Uh... I've never thrown a tantrum before."
"You've never thrown a fit because you wanted a toy?"
"No. If I just asked for one, they would buy it for me."
Ah... both of her parents were dentists, right?
"Your parents must have really cherished you."
"Of course. My parents love me very much."
"Have you ever seen them fight?"
"No, never. That's why I only realized later, after I was a bit older, that other families actually do fight."
Now I had a rough idea why.
Hermione's home was so peaceful and happy that there was never any major emotional upheaval. And her naturally calm personality probably played a part too.
Anyway, I now had a rough idea why Hermione's magic surge had come so late.
But that wasn't the important part.
Right now, the question wasn't why it had happened that way, but how to solve the problem.
Emotional ups and downs... teenagers always have a lot of those, so that might be possible then.
But that was too late.
If she was my girl, she had to grow strong together with me.
"Hera, I have one idea, but I don't know if it'll work. Want to try it?"
"Is it dangerous?"
"No, not at all. It's completely safe."
"Then I'll do it. What is it?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I pulled Hermione toward me and kissed her on the forehead.
Then I quietly looked at her face.
Hermione had a rather dazed expression on her face, one I would never normally see from her.
I stepped behind her, placed my hand over the back of hers, interlaced our fingers, and extended her arm toward the scarecrow.
Then I began to flow a tiny bit of magic power into the back of her hand. Just a little. Really just a little.
And then I did nothing else.
I didn't know whether it would work or not.
I had simply tried it on a whim, thinking that if there was too much in her head, maybe all she needed was to empty it out.
It was a rather baseless idea, but not entirely baseless.
Did I want to fail? Of course not.
I just couldn't think of anything else.
At this point, Hermione's magic training was no longer the important thing.
I just... didn't want to see her sad again because this failed too.
Time kept passing.
Hermione still hadn't quite come to her senses, but she would recover soon enough.
If not now, I didn't think there would be another chance. Please... please let her be able to feel her magic.
Then the little bit of magic power I had breathed into the back of her hand suddenly began to move up her arm and inward, without me even telling it to.
Before I could even realize that it wasn't my doing, my magic entered Hermione and began gently drawing out her own magic.
Like... taking a homebody girlfriend by the hand and walking her through the park.
My magic took her magic by the hand and together they approached the scarecrow and lifted it up.
Hermione's interlaced hand began to move.
The magic, and the scarecrow, moved along with it.
She seemed to have realized something now.
Yes! That's it!
The scarecrow began flying all around the Room of Requirement, following the fingertips of Hermione's hand.
How long did it fly around for?
Then the scarecrow suddenly dropped to the floor.
It seemed Hermione's magic had run out.
I stepped around to the front and checked her face.
Her peach-colored face, flushed with excitement, was smiling at me.
It was the first time I'd ever seen Hermione smile so happily.
My face was practically splitting open.
"Len. So this is what you meant? I've never experienced anything so exhilarating before..."
"What? The first time? Then does that mean all the dates we've had until now weren't very good?"
"No, that's not what I meant— Stop teasing me! You know that's not what I meant."
"Haha, sorry. Anyway, do you understand a little better now? Right now, your magic is just almost completely spent. I was the same at first; I could only use a little. But after steady practice, I've become pretty strong now."
"How far can you go now?"
"Hmm... I don't really know. I haven't used my power to the limit recently. Since it came up, why don't I try it now?"
I changed the Room of Requirement again.
The room became much larger, and several hundred more scarecrows appeared.
I concentrated my magic and began lifting them.
Still manageable.
I focused even harder.
The scarecrows kept rising.
I had used quite a lot of power, but I still felt like I could do more.
I had summoned so many scarecrows; if I gave up here, it would be embarrassing in front of Hermione, wouldn't it?
This was the perfect chance to show her what I could do.
I drew almost all the magic within me out and focused it on the scarecrows.
More, more, more! I can still do it!
The scarecrows were almost all lifted.
If I pushed a little further, I could raise them all, but if I did that, I'd probably pass out here.
That wouldn't do.
Today would have to end here, regrettably. I wanted to show her more, but I had to hold back.
When I cut off the flow of magic, the scarecrows crashed to the floor with a loud racket.
Ow, my ears.
Still, I'd used so much power today that I was pretty tired.
"Len! You're incredibly strong, aren't you? How much have you practiced?"
Still, seeing Hermione so impressed made the effort worthwhile.
"Ever since I first experienced a magic surge, I've done it almost every day. But I didn't know I was this strong either. Before I came to Hogwarts, I could barely lift one scarecrow."
Come to think of it, maybe I had gotten much stronger after getting a wand.
Wands definitely do have amplification and guidance functions for magic power.
But wasn't this a little too strong...?
"Anyway, if you keep practicing steadily, you'll get stronger too."
"Thanks, Len. But this is magic, right?"
"Right."
"Then besides lifting objects like that, you should be able to do other things too, right? Like starting a fire."
"Huh? Come to think of it, you have a point. At first I thought this was what Muggles call telekinesis, so I only used it to control objects. But it seems like it should work. Want to try?"
"Yes, let's."
I focused again on one of the scarecrows and imagined it burning.
Then my magic responded to my will and began kindling flames on the scarecrow.
What? It works just fine? This is a total bargain.
So it wasn't just telekinesis?
But... why am I so sleepy? My eyes keep closing.
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