Seeing the shoe floating on the lake, Hermione subconsciously stopped.
She looked in the direction of Asia and found that the girl who was obviously older than her was also looking at her timidly.
The moment their eyes met in mid-air, Asia lowered her eyes in panic, as if she didn't dare to look at Hermione.
Hermione stayed where she was for three or four seconds, and in the end she didn't turn a blind eye to this matter.
She waved her magic wand lightly, and the black leather shoe floating on the water like a boat flew out of the lake and was held in her hand.
Hermione cast a drying spell on the wet shoe and walked towards Asia.
She could tell that this girl with long pale blond hair was very beautiful. She had soft facial features that made people feel protective when looking at her. She had a slender figure and was a good candidate for ballet.
With such appearance conditions, he was bullied by a female student who was more noble than himself. Needless to say, normal people can see the reason.
Many times the reason for campus bullying is very simple. It is nothing more than students' vanity and jealousy. It is rare for conflicts to arise that are fundamentally conflicts of interest like adults do.
Hermione did not walk in front of Asia, but after getting close, she put the shoe on the ground.
"Why not try to resist?"
She looked at the girl and asked calmly.
The different styles of school robes of the two Hogwarts schools made it easy for Asia to identify Hermione. Her face was pale and she did not dare to look up at Hermione's face, as if she was afraid of the rules in the castle.
, rather than wanting to talk to Hermione.
Hermione actually didn't expect to hear any answer. She just asked casually after seeing Asia's current situation and thinking of the days when she was enslaved in this castle.
In fact, with the current Hermione, she still has no way to figure out why the poor people who are oppressed and enslaved in such a miserable environment still want to resist and maintain their independence of thought in such an environment in Hogwarts Castle.
However, these mixed-race wizards who were also bullied and discriminated against only wanted to settle for the status quo and never had any intention of changing the current situation.
After learning from Jon that people like Cedric among mixed-race students were just outliers, Hermione asked him this question.
Jon also responded to her with some of his insights.
He said that human nature is always moderate. When people are enslaved and at the bottom of society, they will try their best to resist, because they may die if they don't resist, and they may die if they resist, but if they resist
If you succeed, there may still be a glimmer of hope for survival.
But for mixed-blood wizards, although they have also suffered discrimination from pure-bloods, it is far from life-threatening. If they dare to resist, there is a high probability that they will die.
In addition, there was an even worse class of Pork people as psychological comfort and benefit exchange, so they also suffered unequal treatment. Almost no one among the mixed-blood wizards wanted to try to overthrow Voldemort's bloodline rule.
Hermione could understand part of Jon's explanation. She switched herself to the position of a mixed-race wizard and thought about it. If she had been treated like a mixed-race student when she entered Hogwarts Castle, she would definitely not be content.
The current situation, but even if they resist, it will not be mainly to overthrow Voldemort's rule, but to try their best to correct the reform within the system and improve the status of mixed-blood wizards, so as to strive for equality.
After thinking about this, Hermione actually no longer had much contempt for these mixed-race students, but instead felt full of pity.
Compared to the hemp breeds who seem to be oppressed to death, these mixed-blood wizards are the ones who will never be able to stand up under the enslavement of this bloodline rule.
After placing her shoes on the ground, Hermione turned around and prepared to go back in the direction of the Hogwarts carriage without expecting any decent answer from Asia.
It was only after she took two steps forward that she vaguely heard a weak voice coming from behind.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Hermione's steps didn't stop, she still walked forward with her back to the girl.
After experiencing this incident, Hermione did not take it seriously.
In addition to attending classes, she usually has a lot of energy tied up with tasks in the castle. In addition to reading books in her spare time, she basically stares at the Marauder's Map and observes the movements of various characters in the castle.
After the incident of the first project, Voldemort seemed to have noticed something even if he didn't find anything in the castle. He increased his vigilance enough. Not only did he increase the security of the entire school, but he also transferred people from the Ministry of Magic.
More Aurors have been deployed to enforce a strict curfew and patrol the castle at night.
This makes it more difficult for Hermione to infiltrate the castle again. She must first understand the usual patrol habits of these Aurors before thinking about the next infiltration work.
On the third day after meeting Asia, one morning, Hermione got off the carriage and walked along the edge of the Forbidden Forest to try to find some herbs that might be useful to replenish the greenhouse on the carriage.
The second time I saw the girl who looked very suitable for ballet dancing.
Asia obviously seemed to have come to her on her own initiative, otherwise no students from the castle would come to where the carriage was.
Even if Barty Jr. and Snape did not explicitly stipulate it, this area has spontaneously become a taboo in the hearts of the students. Let alone coming to the carriage, even approaching in the direction is cautious.
And Asia found a good opportunity. It was class time now. She seemed to have no class. She saw Hermione walking on the edge of the Forbidden Forest from a distance in the tower of the castle, and then she avoided it like a frightened deer.
He opened the eyes of the Aurors who were guarding the castle and came over with a nervous blush.
"What do you want to do?"
After Hermione saw her, she became more vigilant.
She was not fooled by the girl's appearance. Ever since she was taken away from her parents at the age of eleven, Hermione had always had the most basic suspicion of any stranger in any situation.
Even when she first confirmed Jon's identity, it took her three full months, and finally she made a huge gamble to establish initial trust between the two.
But the girl in front of me is obviously far from that level.
"Asia..."
Asia stopped about five meters away from Hermione. Her voice was still so weak, but it sounded like she was easy to bully.
"My, my name is Asia Connaird."
Hermione still looked at her with alienation in her eyes.
"Then what?"
"Thank you for helping me pick up my shoes that day..."
"Easy to do."
"I want, I want...can I get to know you?"
Asia seemed to have mustered up the courage to say such a sentence.
Hermione didn't answer immediately, she just looked at this girl. The dark green Hogwarts Castle robe with a silver border that symbolized the mixed-race college looked very decent on her body, and her long pale blond hair was taken care of.
He is meticulous and wears a pearl white bracelet on his wrist.
When she saw the bracelet, Hermione's eyes briefly paused for a second. The style of that thing was a bit special, and it was obviously not a creation of the wizarding world where most jewelry was still in the medieval style.
"Hermione Granger, if you only wanted to know my name, you have achieved your goal now."
Asia had a cheerful smile on her face, but she didn't seem satisfied to just leave after knowing Hermione's name, but continued to ask.
"What are you looking for?"
Hermione no longer looked at her at this time, but lowered her head to check the surrounding bushes.
"Herbs, or magical plants."
"These things are rarely found on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Professor Graplan told us that only in the depths of the Forbidden Forest can there be precious resources."
"If I could enter the Forbidden Forest, of course I would go deep to look for it, but obviously I can't do that now."
Hermione said casually, showing that she didn't talk much about sex with Asia, but had a distant attitude.
"Don't you like me too?"
Asia clearly felt Hermione's alienation. She asked timidly with a little grievance in her voice.
Hermione still said without raising her head.
"There is no like or dislike, it's just that the camp we are in is not suitable for us to have more communication. If you just want to get to know me and express your gratitude to me, then this is enough for today. If you are
If you want to make friends with me, then I suggest that we wait until we liberate Hogwarts Castle before we can get to know each other formally."
Asia pursed her lips.
"Mr. Principal, he is very powerful..."
"Of course, no one will deny this, but he is not invincible, right?"
Hermione seemed to have found her target. She stared at a plant with some yellow leaves among the bushes, and then took out a small shovel from her robe pocket.
"In the past, he could only carry out some underground terrorist activities in the UK. Even if he defeated Professor Dumbledore later, didn't he just lose once not long ago?"
"But if you fail, you will definitely die..."
"If there is no freedom and dignity, then life is worse than death."
After Hermione finished saying this, she seemed to have completely lost her desire to talk to Asia. Instead, she squatted next to the plant she had identified and began to carefully dig it out of the soil with skillful movements.
Asia looked a little lost. Instead of staying here to pester Hermione, she turned around and trotted away towards the castle with red eyes.
It wasn't until the sound of her footsteps completely disappeared that Hermione, who had successfully transplanted the herb into the conjured flower pot, turned her head and glanced at Asia's back, which was gradually approaching the edge of the black lake, and then she did not continue in the forbidden area.
Lin stayed outside and returned to the carriage with the herb in his arms.
She sent the herbs into the greenhouse, then returned to her dormitory, stayed there for about three minutes, and then left the dormitory and walked straight towards the principal's office.
After that, Hermione never met this girl named Asia.
The conversation between them seemed to have completely given up on the weak girl, and she no longer wanted to get to know and be friends with Hermione.
So the time came to the end of October.
During this period, Jon would go to the Black Lake almost every time he had time to stay there, but more than a month passed, and he still didn't find anything in it.
During this period, he also learned something about this always calm, mirror-like lake from Cedric. He learned that after Cedric entered Hogwarts Castle to go to school, he had never heard of anything big.
Squid rumors
That behemoth seemed to have disappeared from the bottom of the lake after the castle changed hands, and never appeared in front of the students again.
Sometimes Hermione would come to the lake with Jon, but while Jon was fishing, she would read a book and observe the movements on the Marauder's Map.
"Today looks like another fruitless day."
Jon lifted the fishing rod, sighed and threw the almost four-pound fish that had bitten the hook back into the lake.
Hermione, who was also sitting on the grass, raised her head. She glanced at the Marauder's Map out of habit, and then comforted her.
"It's still some time before the second project starts, so don't be too anxious."
"How did the task assigned to you by Professor Dumbledore go?"
"Still waiting for the opportunity, I can't take any action for the time being. I need to see what's going on in the castle."
"You still have to be cautious. If you encounter a situation where you need to make a choice, you must choose the one that can guarantee your safety. Learn from me, your own survival is the most important thing."
Hearing Jon's last rather proud words, Hermione rolled her eyes calmly.
She could feel that Jon really thought that he was a person who cherished his life, but in fact, whether in her or other students' minds, Jon was the most reassuring every time he went out to do something.
It is also the most disturbing.
What's reassuring is that he can always solve all difficulties satisfactorily, but what's unsettling is that when encountering situations that require sacrifice, he will always prioritize himself.
Just like when he was exiled on the sea, every time he got off the ship, he promised everyone that he would give priority to protecting his own life, but every time he basically put himself in the most dangerous situation and let other students go first.
It's just that Hermione can't get enough of Jon's "lack of self-awareness".
Because from this point of view, they are actually the same people, just like Hermione once thought about giving up on herself and letting Jon rescue all the other lower-grade Mug students.
Just as they finished their relaxing time at the lake today and walked towards the carriage, Hermione suddenly seemed to notice something while looking in the direction of the castle and stopped.