So far, the only person about her age outside of her own House who had approached Scarlet was Ron, for her questionnaire. Harry, still a shy boy with low self-esteem, had kept his distahough she suspected that would ge soon, especially if her predi about him being the Gryffindors Quidditch reserve pyer was correct. The Weasley twins, perseptive as they were, noticed her preference for a low-profile school life. They respect her space when others were around, but they got along splendidly with her in private, and they seemed to enjoy the secrecy of it.

  Hermione, oher hand, was someone Scarlet expected to approach her for study sessions, no more than that. But she never imagihat Hermione, often described by Ron as bossy girl and proactive, would seek her advi something more personal.

  As Scarlet observed Hermione’s frustrated expression, she nodded ahe way toward her training room. Of course, Hermione had no idea where they were headed, assuming they were simply going back to the dorm.

  “We left the table early, so there shouldn’t be too many people around,” Scarlet said as they walked, breaking the silence. “What do you need advi? Future pnning? Study schedule?”

  “No,” Hermione replied, clearly agitated. “It’s Harry, Ron, and Malfoy!”

  “Huh?”

  “Malfoy challenged Harry to a wizard’s duel tonight at midnight, and Ron’s agreed to be his sed!” Hermione excimed in frustration. “I told them not to break the rules, but they just won’t listen!”

  Scarlet stopped iracks, and Hermione followed suit. They were now standing beside a window, close to a staircase that led to Scarlet’s training room – a pce she had no iion of taking Hermione.

  The pieces of the puzzle were starting to e together. Scarlet thought for a moment and then signalled Hermioo pause for her to process all the informatiohered so far.

  Harry, the protagonist from Gryffindor, the house known for bravery - though bravery often bordered on recklessness and a pent for trouble, always seeking adventure and challenging the status quo.

  And then there was Draco, the rival, from Slytherin, the house of ing and ambition, where breaking the rules table as long as it brought bes, even if it meant discarding morals.

  No students were allowed out of their dorms after ten o’clock. Draco, who had been offended during the flying lesson earlier, had challenged Harry to a duel. Harry, of course, accepted without much thought – recklessness being a typical Gryffindor trait. But Draco...Draco was ing. All he o do was sleep soundly in his bed, knowing that Harry would be caught out of bounds and punished. It erfe for revenge, requiring minimal effort on his part.

  With Draco out of the picture, Harry and Ron – possibly apanied by Hermione, who would likely try to stop them – would iably wander into the forbidden third-floor, disc the secrets hidden there. This, of course, was a crucial plot point iory, if my theory was correct. Perhaps Professor Quirrell would be there too? No, that’d be too early in the school year...But tonight was clearly a pivotal night for the trio.

  Again, should I interfere with the story? What would happen if I altered the storyline? Or have I already ged it without realizing? Holy, I’d rather not go sneaking around at night...But what if they get hurt? Sigh...

  “It’s a trap,” Scarlet finally said after a long pause, leaving Hermione puzzled.

  “A trap?” Hermione asked.

  Scarlet expined, “Draco was lying. He’s not pnning to meet them tonight. But Harry and Ron will be out of their dorm after ten, and if they’re caught, they’ll be punished. Even if they try to expin that Draco suggested the duel, the professors will just think they’re making it up to get him into trouble.”

  Hermione was stunned, “But...it ’t be...”

  “Slytherins are known for their ing, whether used food or bad,” Scarlet said, somewhat impressed by Draco’s tactic. “With just one suggestion, he get his revenge while maintaining his owation, leaving his oppos t about their own downfall. He’s got the makings of a great strategist, someone you’d want on your side. But as an oppo, he’d be a real headache. I’ve always admired that kind of ing.”

  “What?” Hermione was clearly appalled. “There’s nothing good about being ing!”

  “But it minimises a lot of losses and maximises the bes,” Scarlet tered. “I am a businesswoman, after all. Besides, think about aimes, when swords and spears cimed tless lives. Having a ing strategist on your side would save many lives. I mean, many lives.”

  Hermione was still taken aback by Scarlet’s words.

  “Anyway, back to the duel,” Scarlet tinued. “Now that you know it’s a trap, you’ll probably warn the boys. But I guarantee you they won’t listen. They’ll think you’re either lying or overthinking it, and go ahead with their pn regardless.”

  “But that could get all of us into trouble!” Hermione said, her voice ced with ay.

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Because of the points...”

  “Hermiohink again,” Scarlet said, looking her directly in the eyes. “Are the points really that important? Imagine you’ve graduated and you’re applying for a job. What would your future employer sider? Your performan school? Yes. Yrades? Yes. Your House points?”

  Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but no suitable words came to mind.

  “No, Hermiohe House points aren’t really that important. They’re just part of a school petition - for fun, for motivation, to ence you to improve during your time here. But that’s not the only purpose of the points system,” Scarlet expined. “It’s about teamwork, uanding your housemates, and learning to work with your oppos. You o accept that Gryffindors are naturally reckless and fearless, which is why they’re known as brave heroes. Pros and s coexist, you know.”

  “Just like Slytherins.” Scarlet went on. “They’re ing and ambitious, always looking for loopholes and ways to bend the rules without breaking them. They’re willing to take risk if the rewards are high enough. They’d be a great support if you had them on your side, but you’d o ensure you have enough to offer them. Otherwise, they’d leave you behind without a sed thought.”

  Hermione remained silent for a long while before finally looking up at Scarlet. “So, there’s no point in me rep them to the prefects, right? Because they’ll still find a way to sneak out, and they’d hate me if they found out it was me who told the prefects.”

  “Yes. Besides, even if you mao stop them tonight, they’ll eventually get into other situations and find a way out after ten or break the school rules anyway. You ’t stop them every time,” Scarlet said, nodding.

  “Then what should I do?” Hermione asked, sounding lost.

  “Sleep well and don’t worry about it,” Scarlet replied. Hermione’s eyes wide her words. “Or, sihey don’t seem to think things through when they act recklessly, you could be their brain and think for them.”

  “But...I...”

  “It’s your choice. Just go with what feels right to you; there’s no definitive answer here. Besides,” Scarlet grinned, “it’s normal for a student to break the rules every now and then. I’m sure every student at Hogwarts has gotteion at least once before they graduate. The professors are probably used to it.”

  Hermione, “...”

  “Anyway,” Scarlet tinued, pulling a jade pendant from her bag and handing it to Hermiohis is an ented talisman. It’ll protect you from ohal blow, but it’s not useful for much else. Oh, and one more thing.” She took out her notebook, dreentacle, tore the paper, and gave it to Hermione. “If, for any reason, you need my help, just tear this pentacle in half. I’ll know and e to you as soon as I , though I doubt there’s any real da Hogwarts. It could st for a month, and dissolve into ashes when time es.”

  “...Thanks, Scarlet,” Hermione murmured as she drifted into deep thought while walking towards their dorm. Scarlet tinued on her way to the training room.

  The Weasley brothers weren’t there, but it was clear they were making steady progress on her quill from what they’d left at their er.

  She went to ay table reserved for her, finally finding some time to pn out her school years.

  Skipping grades wasn’t possible at Hogwarts. She could do it in Muggle schools because she had knowledge from her previous life. Primary school had been easy, middle sanageable, but high school subjects were more challenging. She'd inally po accelerate her Muggle education, hoping to press three years of middle school into one and three years of high school into two. However, now that her time is divided with her magical studies, she realises she’ll have to take exams year by year, like a normal Muggle student. The only differeween her and her Muggle peers would be that she’s homeschooled and takes her exams during school breaks.

  What else...Oh, I’ll need someoo summarise the wizard neers and magazines for me, Scarlet mused. It’s always better to have more information than none, but I’ll o find the right person for the job...Not the Weasleys – Ron's too simple-minded, and Fred and Gee are better suited for iing. Well, it seems I’ll have to ask around.

  Scarlet jotted down a few notes in her notebook before finally startiraining. She returo her room promptly at half-past nine. After taking a shower, she found Amelia and Maya still flipping through magazines.

  “Hey, Scarlet, look what we’ve got here!” Amelia excimed, holding up a magazine. Maya seemed excited too. “Gilderoy Lockhart's release, Year with the Yeti! We order it from the bookstore now!”

  Scarlet frowned, “Who’s that?”

  “You don’t know who he is?” Amelia hurried over to Scarlet’s side. “He’s an adventurer who’s fought monsters and werewolves! He’s written down all his experiences in his books –he's a famous and charming author!”

  “How do you know he’s charming?”

  “He’s won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row!” Amelia said, shoving the magazine in Scarlet’s face.

  Scarlet took the magazine and studied the so-called charming guy...Holy, he was good-looking, but with a hint of cheesihat Scarlet found off-putting. When a guy knows he’s handsome and tries to strike a pose in front of the camera, it just feels cheesy, y, and awkward - especially when he doesn’t even know how to pose like a proper model...Well, definitely not Scarlet’s cup of tea, but she respected Amelia’s taste and gave her a polite smile.

  “Well, maybe it’s because I’m from a Muggle family, but I’ve never heard of him. Anyway, I’m more ied in the book you mentioned. you tell me more about it?”

  That night, Scarlet and Maya listeo a two-hour lecture from Amelia on how cool, charming, and heroic this cheesy fellow was, and how thrilling the stories he wrote were. Amelia even brought out his entire series of books and proudly shared them with her roommates. Maya accepted them eagerly, while Scarlet took them more sceptically.

  Scarlet flipped through a few pages and, holy, the writing was very good. She started to think she might have misjudged this fellow by his cover. However, she soon found insistehat didn't quite add up...As an author herself who had written about her true experiences from her previous life, she knew what genuine experiences should look like. But this book...it glorified the protagonist - clearly Gilderoy Lockhart himself – a bit too much.

  Either this guy was narcissistic, or he had embellished parts of his “true experiences”, or maybe both. It didn’t quite match the reasoning behind the heroic acts...Did he pirate lory? Buy stories from meraries ahem fidential so he could cim the experiences as his own? Scarlet mused but shrugged it off. After all, it wasn’t her business - she was still enjoying the book.

  “Amelia, I borrow your books?” Scarlet asked. It was te, and she really o sleep.

  “Sure!” Amelia said, pleased that her roommates liked her book reendations. “I’ll leave them here, so just take them whenever you want to read.”

  “Thanks!” Scarlet put the book baelia’s desk and y down on her bed. Her pocket watch read a quarter to twelve - far ter than she’d po go to sleep. “Good night, everyone.”

  “Good night.”

  “Sweet dreams!”

  Qiya